Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 371 - 276: The Active Children’s Day

Chapter 371: Chapter 276: The Active Children’s Day

After chatting for a while with the two little girls, Uesugi Sakura finally got a rough understanding of their situation.

The older sister had rarely seen their father since childhood, and the younger one had never seen him.

Their mother often went out, spending lavishly, but never cared for the family.

As for now, she no longer came to visit the two sisters.

They were currently living in an apartment building, unattended.

Uesugi Sakura felt that someone from the Child Protection Bureau should come to take care of the sisters, but ever since he mentioned that, they might have to go to an orphanage, Chiaei remained silent.

"Brother, are you going to tell someone about me and Aei’s situation...?"

"No."

Uesugi Sakura looked at Chiaei, who was gazing at him, feeling helpless.

Regarding the fate of the two children, he had planned to discuss it with Hanabi and even consult with Teacher Imanishi and their mother.

But now, it seemed that doing so would be deliberately deciding their fate.

Although telling people from the Child Protection Bureau was for their own good, such goodwill could not be used to determine their future.

For now, to get more contact and understanding of the situation, it was better to respect their own wishes.

Besides, an orphanage was not a pleasant place to go, and if adopted, the sisters might end up being separated.

As the elder sister, Chiaei saw more things than her younger sister and was more confused, having to personally take care of many things.

Housework, food, taking care of her sister; earlier, she probably didn’t even know where to pay for the water and electricity bills and the apartment maintenance fees.

"Mm, thank you, brother..." Chiaei lifted her small face and sincerely thanked him, the tiny tear mole beside her right eye made her look especially mature and polite.

Aei put down her pen and raised her drawing, "Ah~ Finished the drawing."

"Aei... what did you draw?" Chiaei asked.

Aei placed the drawing in front of her with both little hands and said in a childish voice, "It’s how we looked when we were eating together just now, Sis Hanabi feeding me, sister and brother just watching us eat, brother looking at Sis Hanabi, sister watching me."

She observed the details quite well, knowing who was paying attention to whom.

Unfortunately, the drawing skills were pretty lacking.

Uesugi Sakura could only identify himself by the glasses on the little black figure.

"Sis Hanabi!", Aei lifted the drawing toward Hanamaru Hanabi, who had just arrived, "Sis, come see my cunning artwork."

Hanamaru Hanabi was momentarily stunned, not exactly understanding what she meant.

Cunning...?

Uesugi Sakura, for a moment, didn’t realize she was praising her own drawing.

Chiaei: "Hey! Aei, you’re using the idiom wrong."

Aei: "Eh?"

Chiaei: "Who would say that about their own work!"

Aei: "But, I’m talking about myself, not my drawing."

It turns out she wasn’t saying the drawing was cunning, but that it was her cunning creation.

Chiaei: "Even if that’s the case, it’s not used to praise someone."

Aei, again using a childish voice mimicking an adult tone: "There’s nothing wrong with being cunning~"

Chiaei pouted: "Honestly..."

Hanamaru Hanabi found the sisterly squabble cute and smiled as she asked, "What did Aei draw?"

"It’s sister, brother, and me," Aei pointed at the drawing, "The one with glasses is brother, the one with purple eyes is Sis Hanabi, the one with a tear mole is sister, and the plain one is Aei."

Hanamaru Hanabi: "Aren’t you wearing a hat?"

"Oh, right!" Aei’s little eyes rolled upward, trying to see her hat-covered head, "Can’t see without a mirror, huh."

Hanamaru Hanabi sat next to her, leaning in with a smile and said, "How about I help you draw it?"

Aei naturally agreed and took the opportunity to crawl into Hanabi’s lap, watching her sketch line by line on the paper.

For the sake of maintaining the style of the whole drawing, Hanamaru Hanabi twisted the lines exactly as Aei had drawn.

"Sis Hanabi’s drawing is just as ugly as Aei’s."

"When I was Aei’s age, my drawing skills weren’t as good as yours. My drawings were also messy and ugly. My first drawing didn’t even look like a stick figure."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. If you don’t believe me, you can ask brother."

Hanabi’s first drawing was actually of Uesugi Sakura.

And it really wasn’t good-looking.

But from that moment, Uesugi Sakura would never underestimate any simple drawing again.

Because even if drawn by a child, before the moment it’s given away, every stroke on the blank paper carries pure affection.

Chiaei: "Brother... really likes sister, huh..."

Uesugi Sakura tilted his head to look at her, finding her earnestly gazing back, those shining eyes seemingly hiding corners unreachable by the sunlight.

"Yes," he nodded, "if nothing unexpected happens, we’ll get married this year."

Chiaei smiled and blessed, "Brother is very gentle, Sis Hanabi will surely be very happy."

Her smile, full of blessings, was exceptionally healing.

"Thank you."

Uesugi Sakura understood that to the sisters, happiness was definitely something to be longed for.

Indeed, from her earlier description, it was clear their mother was someone unreliable.

Probably when the sister was lying in the crib crying, the house was empty all night.

Their mother’s nightlife was spent amid the neon-lit hustle and bustle of Tokyo, while the two-year-old sister was in a pitch-black room unsure of what to do, shaking the cradle, trying to comfort the crying baby sister.

Chiaei’s eyes, which should have been clear, had been polished with a layer of enduring strength from long years of life.