CHAPTER 413: CHAPTER 298: ANNOYING PERSON_2

Hanamaru Hanabi thought for a moment, then shook her head: "No, I’m not very familiar with him either... it’s just that he frequently comes up to chat..."

Kitagawa Sakisa seemed to share your dislike for that classmate: "What about Uesugi, can you call him over to warn Sekine, otherwise that guy will keep sending you gifts every day, or I can ask my brother to teach him a lesson."

"No way."

Kyujuu Rika rejected the latter half of Kitagawa’s words, one word at a time, "Family influence is prohibited on the university campus."

"But that guy is so annoying! He always has a fake smile on his face." Kitagawa Sakisa swung two air punches forward, "So annoying, so annoying."

Ayaka Rika: "Why don’t we tell the school about this?"

Kyujuu Rika: "Sekine is still quite well-mannered, he knows what he can do."

Kitagawa Sakisa: "Giving gifts counts as harassment too!"

Hanamaru Hanabi looked at everyone and said softly, "I’ll just refuse him myself... It’s better to make things clear."

——————

Tokyo University, Central Library.

The sunset glowed, igniting a golden hue in the sky.

Uesugi Sakura stood up from the small table and chair by the glass window, stretched his shoulders, twisted his neck, and then stepped towards the wall of books to return the book he had been reading all afternoon to its place.

Afterward, he grabbed his laptop bag and left the Western-style decorated Tokyo University library.

Exiting the school gate, the sky had not yet fully darkened.

Intensely focused on reading, his mind was somewhat weary.

Uesugi Sakura walked into a FamilyMart, grabbed a can of black coffee from the beverage section, and went to the counter to pay.

"Are you hiring clerks here?"

"Uh...?"

"I asked whether you’re hiring clerks?"

"...We are," the female clerk finally responded to his question after a short pause, "but... you’d have to ask the store manager about such matters."

"How much is the hourly wage?"

"...1420 yen."

"Not bad, the average hourly wage for convenience stores in Tokyo is just 1000," Uesugi Sakura fished out some coins from his pocket to pay for the black coffee, "Thank you."

As his silhouette disappeared through the convenience store door, the female clerk finally realized she’d answered his question ambiguously.

"Why did he ask that? Could it be this handsome guy is thinking of working at our store!?"

Uesugi Sakura walked along the evening street, looking up at the still-visible loop-eight clouds in the sky.

The twilight outlined his profile, his appearance indeed meeting the public’s standard of a handsome guy.

The loop-eight cloud is beautiful, like a long, narrow band in the night sky, and got its name because it appears over the Tokyo loop eight area, but its formation is due to Tokyo’s worsening car exhaust emissions.

The polluted exhaust forms a beautiful sight over Tokyo, leaving one to wonder if it’s nature’s sarcasm towards humans.

He opened the can, chugged the chilled black coffee in one go.

Uesugi Sakura tilted his head back, his throat bobbing continually, as the coffee flowed into his stomach, he flicked his arm backward, and with a clatter, the can landed with precision into a trash bin ten meters away.

Across the street, a young student holding his mother’s hand was amazed to see this.

"It looked just like a shooting star!"

"Mom, so cool! I want to learn!"

"Learn what?" the mother carrying a plastic bag wasn’t as energetic as the little boy.

"Learn to toss cans like a superhero!"

"Alright, let’s head home, today I’m making meatballs for you."

In the little boy’s view, meatballs were evidently more important than tossing cans, and he quickly lost interest in superheroes, following his mom down the streets of Tokyo.

Uesugi Sakura wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed on the street, but it didn’t matter as he was heading home anyway.

Today Aei and her sister were coming over, and he thought of buying some desserts so Hanabi wouldn’t have to do both cooking and baking.

He wasn’t familiar with places to buy bread-like products, so he searched online.

Spotting a nearby pastry shop called "asterisque" with good reviews, he used navigation to walk there.

In the evenings and at night, Tokyo’s izakayas and yakitori shops are busiest, and Uesugi Sakura could hear the sounds from them even from across the street.

They say Tokyo people are very quiet, but it’s the same everywhere.

Everyone needs a release sometimes, and for office workers, drinking is a good outlet.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t like drinking, or rather, he would never drink or smoke in his life.

Many people might find this boring, but he believed it was a way to ensure good health.

Smoking damages the lungs, and drinking harms the body, both are carcinogenic.

Many do not take cancer seriously, yet cancer is affecting younger people increasingly, with more young individuals diagnosed.

Once their bodies hurt inexplicably and they finally go to a hospital only to discover they have cancer, they realize their future efforts seem aimless.

They would wonder how they got cancer at such a young age...

Uesugi Sakura had seen more than once, people who liked staying out overnight in Tokyo.

They usually have irregular diets, resulting in issues with pancreatic enzyme secretion, leading to pancreatic duct blockage and pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis is the culprit for undetectable pancreatic cancer, even in health checks.

This is the king of cancers, patients often suffer immense pain, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 1%.

This knowledge was shared by seniors from his medical department, irregular diets and high-fat foods are genuinely detrimental.

That’s why he would drag Hanamaru Hanabi for daily runs to exercise, so she wouldn’t develop any illnesses.

Such a good girl like her is hard to come by.

After selecting bread and strawberry cake in the warmly lit pastry shop, Uesugi Sakura paid and left with the bag.

Boarding a train at Nezu Station, he leisurely rode home.

"Welcome back, Sakura-kun." Hanamaru Hanabi smiled at him.

"Why so quick today," Uesugi Sakura smiled back as he changed his shoes, handing her the laptop bag and cake, "Were you waiting at the entrance the whole time?"

"Of course not."

"I know, you missed me so much you couldn’t wait to come meet me." Uesugi Sakura quickly took off his shoes and put on his preprepared slippers.

Hanamaru Hanabi held his laptop bag in front of her, not denying his words, smiled and said, "I bought fish roe today."

Uesugi Sakura peeked into the room and heard the sound of cartoons, "Have Aei and the others come too?"

Hanamaru Hanabi whispered to him, "Yes, they were really happy to come over as guests."

"After all, they get to eat Hanabi-chan’s cooking again." Uesugi Sakura reached out to pinch her little nose leaning in.

Hanamaru Hanabi holding things in both hands, could only shake her head, "No pinching the nose."

"Disliking me?" Uesugi Sakura knew pinching her nose made her feel ticklish all over, and deliberately asked.

"Sakura-kun... you’re asking knowingly again."

Uesugi Sakura then smiled and said, "Alright, is there anything you need my help with today?"

Hanamaru Hanabi thought carefully: "Chop the chili peppers."

"Hmm? Making spicy sauce again?"

"It’s really tasty!"

Simply fiery spicy sauce, Uesugi Sakura silently thought, "Don’t let Aei and Chiaei eat your spicy sauce."

"Why?"

"Playing dumb again?" Uesugi Sakura flicked her forehead swiftly this time she couldn’t avoid, "Your spicy sauce had me almost visit the hospital’s proctology department, I don’t know what your stomach is made of to digest peppers."

"Peppers are tasty..." said Hanamaru Hanabi in a weak voice, her head aching.

"Let me remind you, spiciness is a sensation of pain, not of taste."

Uesugi Sakura once tried to analyze the reason little Hanabi loves eating chili peppers.

They say eating peppers creates a painful sensation, thus resulting in a pleasant feeling of satisfaction.

In some ways, liking chili peppers might suggest a masochistic tendency.

But based on years of interaction with Hanamaru Hanabi, he could affirm she wasn’t like that.

She was a decent girl who would cover her head for ages if someone flicked her forehead.

Calling her a masochist, Uesugi Sakura would need to self-reflect on whether his own thoughts were not pure enough.

For even knowing what a masochist means.