Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard Chapter 529: Spin-off: Horizon 4

Uesugi Sakura stood still, gazing at the brand-new building ahead for a long ti.

Isn’t the world just like this?

New things replace old things, new events fill the gaps left by old mories, making people forget the past beauty, the monts they were moved.

Hanamaru Hanabi’s smiling face lingered in mory, her timid voice, the joy she showed when receiving a gift, are all veiled under sothing called mory.

The wind blew around, the rain pattered on the umbrella, and in this chill, Uesugi Sakura recalled the question she often asked when she was in a bad mood, leaning against his chest.

"Sakura-kun... will you forget Hanabi...?"

Uesugi Sakura touched the silver watch in his hand and rembered the dream he had been having frequently... A girl stood in a dreamy wheat field, the rustling wheat was blown by the wind, she gazed up at the bright moon in the sky, her hair gently swayed with her white dress, bathed under the moonlight, no matter how hard he ran, the girl only left an elusive silhouette on the glowing horizon.

The school’s preparatory bell rang, and Uesugi Sakura could only pull himself away from nostalgia.

Upon arriving at the school building, Uesugi Sakura first found Aei, who was sharing snacks with her classmates.

"Aei."

The little girls saw him and were quite surprised; they greeted him in unison and then whispered behind Aei, telling her, "Your dad looks so young."

Actually, it’s her brother!

But little Aei didn’t correct them, letting the misunderstanding continue.

Seeing Aei had such a young and handso "dad," the girls all looked at her with envy.

Is this so kind of elentary school competition?

Uesugi Sakura also rembered that in elentary school, classmates often talked about their parents’ jobs, proudly sharing how impressive they were.

After the little girls left, Uesugi Sakura asked Aei:

"Aren’t you afraid of the parent-teacher eting?"

"Umm, why should I be afraid?"

"I heard from Chiaei that your recent grades have been quite poor."

"Is brother going to spank Aei?"

"Not as far as spanking."

"Then there’s nothing to worry about!"

Little Aei suddenly laughed in front of him, and that laugh... Uesugi Sakura thought it was sowhat like Hanabi’s.

"Brother should be happier," Aei said, hands behind her back, swaying her dress as she looked up at him, "Sister Hanabi also told Aei that in the future, I should try to make brother happier."

"... When did Sister Hanabi tell you that?"

"Umm, it was when we were resting in the hospital."

Uesugi Sakura was silent; she had known for a long ti about the future, yet back then, he was still so happy.

"Take to et the teacher first."

The parent-teacher etings here are all one-on-one, with two teachers communicating privately with the parents, talking about the child’s activities in school, their friends, how their mood and personality have been recently, and so on.

Uesugi Sakura t Aei’s horoom teacher, a slightly plump woman.

She was also his and Hanabi’s horoom teacher when they were children.

Seeing Uesugi, she was quite surprised.

"So you’re the one accompanying Aei this year."

"Hmm..."

Hearing this, Uesugi Sakura was a bit reluctant to admit it.

"Where’s Hanabi-chan? Last year when she ca, I was a bit surprised. I didn’t expect she was pregnant, haha. Although it wasn’t very obvious, I could still tell."

Imanishi Shiri, recognizing this forr student, couldn’t help but smile.

She rembered that so years ago, he and Hanabi had co to school to celebrate Children’s Day together.

These two childhood sweethearts, from marriage to having children, must be living a very happy life now.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t know how to respond.

Crash.

A cup suddenly shattered on the classroom floor.

Imanishi Shiri turned around to find that Aei, having gone to get so water, accidentally dropped and broke a glass cup.

She hurried over, asking, "Are you okay?"

"I’m okay."

Imanishi teacher patted her head gently, smiling as she said, "Be careful next ti."

Uesugi Sakura recalled that back in the days, this sowhat chubby teacher was equally gentle and kind.

"Teacher will first talk to your brother about your recent performance."

The parent-teacher eting was essentially underway, and Aei peeked around the classroom door, trying to sneak a look.

Uesugi Sakura listened to Imanishi teacher rambling, hearing her talk about Aei’s antics at school, like how she once hid a boy’s howork, leaving clues that made him think another boy had taken it, and the two boys almost got into a fight over it in the classroom.

Aei, who was peeking at the door, noticed Uesugi Sakura glancing at her and quickly pulled her head back in.

Apart from this incident, Aei had been performing well at school, except her grades weren’t that great.

"Thank you, teacher."

"It’s nothing, it’s my job to do so."

"Oh, sotis, seeing you all, I really lant how fast ti flies; the sight of you and Hanabi sitting at the sa desk feels like just yesterday."

Imanishi Shiri sighed, sharing the sa sentints as Uesugi Sakura.

He suddenly asked, "Imanishi teacher, is there anything about Hanabi I don’t know?"

Imanishi Shiri paused for a mont, then gently smiled and said, "Yes, I rember that Hanabi-chan used to stand outside the classroom secretly watching you while you were inside reading, unaware of her presence, always reading books that weren’t fit for your age group.

"Once, I recall it was after school in the afternoon, Hanabi suddenly ca to holding a brand new ’Dandelion,’ asking how she could understand... ’Dandelion’ was not a book ant for your age group, its dialogues were too long, obscure, and difficult to understand, but she wanted to read it so badly."