Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard

"Hanami, just let her go." Mrs. Hanamaru waved to her daughter, signaling her to sit down.

Hanamaru Hanami plopped down on the tablecloth, "Hanabi usually listens well, but today she ran out in such a hurry. Could it be that... she's having an early romance!?"

"How could that be."

Hanamaru Hiroki gazed at the crowd, looking at the Sakura Tree.

Hanamaru Hanami had always been curious about this.

"Dad, why do you always stare at the crowd every year when we come here?"

Hanamaru Hiroki turned around, picked up a can of beer, took a sip, and said: "I'm reminiscing about someone."

"Who...?"

"Your brother-in-law." Hanamaru Hiroki calmly stared at the can's pull tab.

"Brother-in-law...?"

Hanamaru Hanami looked completely unaware, looking back and forth at her parents' faces, "Brother-in-law!? Do I have a brother-in-law? That's not right... I don't have a sister..."

Mrs. Hanamaru had to explain: "You have a sister... it's just that she..."

Hanamaru Hanami asked in surprise: "How come I didn't know about this."

Hanamaru Hiroki: "You were too young."

Mrs. Hanamaru: "Now that Hanabi has also grown up, it's no problem for you to know..."

Hanamaru Hanami was processing this inadvertently revealed fact, and after a while, she continued to ask:

"Then, what kind of person was my sister?"

Mrs. Hanamaru was silent for a moment: "She was a good child... just like Hanabi..."

"What... was her name...?"

Hanamaru Hiroki: "Hanamaru Hanabi."

"The same name as Hanabi...?"

Mrs. Hanamaru nodded.

Hanamaru Hiroki continued drinking his beer, thinking back to fifteen years ago, to the night when his third daughter was born...

Crying just like Hanabi, the same appearance...

Plus the words Sakura left with Aei for him before leaving...

He began to believe... in the so-called reincarnation.

But since Hanabi has returned... where has that rascal run off to?

Hanamaru Hiroki couldn't understand.

Mrs. Hanamaru also glanced at the flowing crowd not far away: "I just don't know where Sakura is now... If he sees Hanabi... he'll surely think of her..."

"Sakura... is the brother-in-law?"

"Yes."

Hanamaru Hanami saw Hanamaru Hiroki still gulping down his drink and went to stop him: "Dad... stop drinking for now. Kenichi and Nobuko are bringing Aei and the others over later."

Hanamaru Hiroki put the beer can down:

"Alright, I'll drink later."

...

"It's so beautiful."

Hanamaru Hanabi stopped among the noisy crowd, the scattered Sakura blossoms against her cute and delicate cheeks.

The annual cherry blossom season was her favorite time.

"Ah, right, I still have to take this bento to grandpa."

The girl smiled sweetly at the box in her hand and returned the same way as before.

Lush shrubs, a path paved with blue stones, green water that reached the branches extending from the shore into the lake.

Continuing down, there was the old Imperial Pavilion covered with old vines in the Imperial Garden.

Walking past here, Hanamaru Hanabi saw Uesugi Sakura sitting on a bench ahead.

She smiled, carrying the bento box in her hands, walking gracefully and evenly towards him.

"Grandpa, I've come to see you."

She noticed that grandpa seemed to have fallen asleep again.

He sat on the bench, hands resting on a cane, forehead leaning against it.

Hanamaru Hanabi gently nudged his arm and softly called: "Grandpa, don't sleep, you'll catch a cold this way..."

The girl placed the bento box on the bench beside him.

"Grandpa... Hanabi brought you something to eat... By the way, grandpa, what is your name? Hanabi still doesn't know..."

Hanamaru Hanabi carefully nudged him again.

"Grandpa."

"Grandpa..."

"Grandpa...?"

Suddenly, Hanamaru Hanabi took a small step back, covering her mouth.

"Gra-Grandpa!?"

Immediately, passersby around them looked at the old man sleeping on the bench.

Cherry blossoms were blown by the breeze; they swept across the crowd, passed through the girl, and swirled over the ground.

At this moment, if you looked from below the front of the bench, you could see the peaceful and happy smile on Uesugi Sakura's aged face...

...

(End)