Chapter 650: Chapter 407: Fishing by the Seaside_2
The fishing spots for everyone were still somewhat spaced apart, unlike a few days ago when they were packed together.
"Seems like I came at the wrong time."
Hanamaru Hanabi heard the voice, turned back, and saw Uesugi Sakura smiling at her.
She also noticed the fish bucket he was holding.
"Sakura-kun, did you catch something already?"
"Not that fast, considering I’ve been out for two hours. I was hoping to eat the fish you caught."
Today, Hanamaru Hanabi was wearing a white blouse with a bow, layered with a light-colored long-sleeve jacket, and a short sea-blue skirt revealing her smooth and slightly chubby white silk thighs.
Sitting by the seaside, when the breeze blew, her hair strands would occasionally brush past her ears, covering her eyes.
She would always squint slightly and then tuck the stray strands back into place.
Uesugi Sakura took all this in. After she fixed her hair, he couldn’t help but lean towards her ear, whispering, "My wife is really cute."
Then, with her slightly bashful expression, he pulled her small hand, warming it in his palm.
He felt that wasn’t enough; her hand was still a bit cold.
So, he brought her small hand to his mouth, covering it with his hands, and then breathed a warm puff into the middle.
Hanamaru Hanabi noticeably recoiled a bit.
"It feels... Sakura-kun is still the same as before."
"The same how?"
"The same perv... "
"Hmm? Just warming your hand, how can that be pervy?"
"It just is... pervy."
"If I were being pervy, I’d warm my hands with your legs."
As Uesugi Sakura said this, Hanamaru Hanabi quickly withdrew her hand, pressing her skirt against her tightly closed legs.
Blushing, she said angrily, "Sakura-kun, you pervert!"
"You can’t call your husband that."
"Just a pervert!"
Uesugi Sakura found her extremely adorable, his smile growing stronger.
"My wife is very cute."
"Even if Sakura-kun compliments Hanabi, Hanabi won’t be happy!"
"The way you say it sounds like you’re hiding your happiness."
"I’m not!"
Uesugi Sakura chuckled, "How about I teach you how to fish? You’re casting your line at the wrong distance."
As he spoke, he moved his chair closer behind Hanamaru Hanabi, reaching over her shoulder to hold the fishing rod in front of her.
"Here, hold this."
Hanamaru Hanabi instinctively reached for the fishing rod he handed her.
At that moment, Uesugi Sakura directly held her small hand, guiding her to slowly turn the reel.
The situation was quite intimate.
Hanamaru Hanabi felt a bit odd being semi-embraced in front like this:
"Sakura-kun, teaching fishing... isn’t supposed to be like this, right?"
"This is called hands-on, personal instruction."
Seeing her hand being held, Hanamaru Hanabi realized something was amiss and quickly moved away from his front, standing up.
"You’re bad."
Saying that, she turned and ran off, leaving Uesugi Sakura holding her fishing rod.
This... is she even leaving the rod behind?
...
Five minutes later, Uesugi Sakura found Hanamaru Hanabi with Kitagawa Sakisa and the others.
"Uesugi, why don’t you teach me how to fish too?"
"Men and women shouldn’t have such close contact."
"..." Catching the fishing rod, Kitagawa Sakisa was stunned for two seconds, looking at Hanamaru Hanabi and then at him, angrily saying, "Be serious!"
"..."
Uesugi Sakura glanced at the rod in her hand, "You’re using fly fishing too?"
"Yes."
"Do you find it pretty?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No problem."
"None of you know how?" Uesugi Sakura asked.
They all nodded.
"Haven’t caught a single one today."
"Alright then, but later you have to share a grilled fish with me."
"That’s no problem."
Uesugi Sakura took the hook Kitagawa Sakisa handed over and started repeating the fishing technique that Todaka Keichiro had taught him not long ago, "First, swing the hook in the air along with the rod, then...."
...
After teaching for a while, they were still tangled up in how to cast the line.
They seemed unable to create circles in the air with the line as they should.
"Practice more," was the only suggestion Uesugi Sakura could offer, sitting down beside them, planning to rest for a while.
However, as he sat, he noticed a brown wallet on the pebbled beach behind him.
He stood up, walked over, bent down, and picked it up.
Inside, there was a phone, a wad of 150,000 yen, and several hundred-yen coins.
Uesugi Sakura also found a student ID inside.
"Kobashi Rikai?... From the same university as Hanabi and her friends."
He examined the photo on the student ID and confirmed that he didn’t recognize the person, so he took the wallet back to show Kitagawa Sakisa and the others.
"Know her? From the same school as you guys."
"Kobashi Rikai?" Kitagawa Sakisa examined the student ID for a while, looking at the line of text below the name, saying, "He’s from the Oil Painting Department. I don’t know him."
She handed the student ID to Kyujuu Rika.
"Rika, do you know him?"
Kyujuu Rika looked at it, shook her head, "Must have dropped it while passing through here."
Then passed it to Hanamaru Hanabi and Ayaka Rie, and they both said they didn’t know him.
But there was some impression, probably having seen him a few times at social gatherings.
The wallet ended up back in Uesugi Sakura’s hands.
He scanned the beachline but didn’t see anyone who matched the photo of the girl.
Kitagawa Sakisa said, "You can’t see that far just by looking like this, let’s hand it over to the President when we go back to the hotel for them to handle."
Uesugi Sakura looked over the rather plain wallet from all sides, "That’s the only option."
Just then, the phone inside started ringing.
"It’s probably the owner." Kyujuu Rika said.
Uesugi Sakura answered the call casually:
"Hello."
A flustered female voice quickly came through, "Sorry! Sorry! Did you find my wallet?"
"And you are?" Uesugi Sakura asked deliberately.
"I’m Kobashi Rikai, there should be my student ID in that wallet."
"Then there’s no mistake."
"Sorry, sorry," the person on the other end repeatedly apologized, "May I ask where you are? This afternoon, I can come fetch it. I apologize for the inconvenience."
Uesugi Sakura wasn’t in the habit of going out of his way to return things personally. Since she was coming back to get it, he figured he’d just wait.
"This afternoon... I should be at the beach near the lighthouse, yes, the fishing spot here."
"How will I recognize you? Any distinguishing features...?"
"I’m wearing a silver watch on my wrist."
"Alright, thank you so much!"
After hanging up the phone, Uesugi Sakura placed the phone back into the wallet.
"All set?" Kitagawa Sakisa asked.
"Yeah, she’ll be coming to pick it up this afternoon."
Uesugi Sakura said nonchalantly, continuing to supervise their fishing technique.
...
At another fishing spot on the other side of the coastline.
"Thanks."
The girl took her phone back from Kobashi Rikai’s hand, saying to her:
"Rikai-chan, how can you be so careless, to the point of dropping your wallet and phone this early in the morning."
"It was a bit careless..."
"Hey, judging from the voice, it seemed like a guy found your wallet, hope it’s not an old man? If you end up having to treat him to a meal or something, be cautious."
"It’s not an old man..."
"If it’s not an old man then great, but let me tell you, when you go retrieve your stuff, make sure to..."
"Hmm... hmm..."
Kobashi Rikai nodded absentmindedly.
She was thinking about how to use this opportunity to meet him.
Should she straightforwardly say she’s his fan...?
No, that’s no good.
He definitely wouldn’t like girls who just approach like that.
Should be more normal...?
Try to slowly get closer?
She didn’t know, wasn’t sure.
Kobashi Rikai felt conflicted internally; she knew she shouldn’t do this, but... she always thought about wanting to say a few words to Uesugi Sakura.
Just, to convey her feelings as a fan.
No... she absolutely didn’t mean to break up their marriage.
Yes, absolutely not.
It’s just, just a fan’s affection towards an idol.
Thinking of this, Kobashi Rikai’s mood brightened as she looked out at the sea.
The sea breeze was truly refreshing.