Chapter 623: Chapter 395 Another Hanabi
Uesugi Sakura stepped out of the classroom and immediately ran to the school bike parking area.
He got on his bike and rushed to the vicinity of yesterday’s family restaurant.
...
The intersection surrounded by flowers.
As he parked his bike, Uesugi Sakura took out his phone to ask Hanamaru Hanabi where she was.
After sending the message, he immediately walked into the family restaurant across the street.
Uesugi Sakura was looking for the waitress who had poured him cola the previous day.
He went to ask a waiter first about the situation.
"Excuse me, the slender girl who worked here yesterday afternoon, is she not here today?"
"Slender...?"
"The one with the rabbit accessory on her hand." Uesugi Sakura reminded him a bit, seeing the waiter didn’t seem to know who he was referring to.
The waiter suddenly understood, "Ah... it should be Nanbo, she’s still a high school student. It’s probably school time now, so she wouldn’t be here. She only comes to work here in the afternoon."
"Do you know which school she goes to?"
"Who are you...?"
"Me? I’m her friend. Her parents said she went missing, so I’m here to help find her." Uesugi Sakura casually made up a reason, not caring whether it was believable.
Seeing that he was quite anxious, the waiter didn’t think much and immediately told him:
"It should be Hamamatsu North Private High School... I’m not very close with Nanbo, so I’m not entirely sure."
"Hmm, thanks."
Uesugi Sakura quickly left the restaurant and searched for the location of "Hamamatsu North Private High School" on his phone.
As he was about to click on the map tool for navigation, a message from Hanamaru Hanabi popped up.
Uesugi Sakura promptly clicked to check.
’Sakura-kun... are you coming over now?’
Standing by his bike, Uesugi Sakura tapped on the phone screen to reply:
’Hanabi-tan, don’t do anything foolish.’
Uesugi Sakura quickly got back on his bike, and Hanamaru Hanabi’s reply soon popped up again.
’Sakura-kun Sakura-kun Sakura-kun Sakura-kun, Sakura-kun really cares about Hanabi... so happy... so happy...’
Seeing this message, Uesugi Sakura felt a tingling on the back of his neck.
Is Hanabi-tan turning into a yandere?
Doesn’t make sense; I haven’t done anything to provoke her.
Quite the opposite, it’s been very happy recently.
Though she gets a bit jealous sometimes, it’s within normal limits.
Uesugi Sakura also deliberately did this to make her even more adorable.
By showing her photos of other girls and saying they’re pretty, she’d get jealous and pouty.
Could it be...
Another Hanabi...?
The Hanabi that appeared in his dreams before.
Uesugi Sakura grew anxious as he rode beside the pedestrian path, using one hand to send another message to Hanamaru Hanabi:
’Are you Hanabi?’
In less than three seconds, Hanamaru Hanabi’s reply arrived.
’...’
’...’
’...’
’...’
...
One ellipsis after another quickly popped up in the chat box, one after another, with the bubble sounds of messages received continuously coming from his phone.
The hair on Uesugi Sakura’s forehead was blown by the wind as he gripped the vibrating phone’s screen with one hand, breaking into a sweat.
Then, the messages suddenly stopped.
The phone’s vibrations also ceased immediately.
Uesugi Sakura parked his bike by the roadside and checked the last message sent by Hanamaru Hanabi.
’Sakura-kun... Sakura-kun... Sakura-kun... Hanabi knows... Hanabi knows, it must be that woman from yesterday who contacted Sakura-kun... Hanabi saw her once... she doesn’t like Hanabi, she spoke ill of Hanabi... she said Hanabi was bad...
’Hanabi is actually very good, both cute and pretty... even makes lots of delicious food for Sakura-kun... Hanabi knows... Sakura-kun is willing to believe in Hanabi... Sakura-kun must believe in Hanabi... Sakura-kun... Sakura-kun must believe in Hanabi...
’Right, right! It’s all, all that woman’s fault... she shouldn’t have asked Sakura-kun for his contact... Sakura-kun suspects Hanabi... it’s all her fault, all her fault...’
’Sakura-kun... just wait a bit... soon... Hanabi will be able to be happily with Sakura-kun...’
After reading the latter messages, Uesugi Sakura quickly put away his phone.
Don’t do anything foolish...
————————
"Mmm... mmm..."
The rooftop of a tall building.
Nanbo Arisa only knew she had been kidnapped; she didn’t understand why or what the kidnapper’s goal was.
From the moment she left home in the morning, she inexplicably fainted, and when she woke up again, she found her hands and feet bound, mouth and nose covered, and her eyes blindfolded with a cloth, with only a little sunlight seeping in through a narrow gap in the fabric.
She seemed to be tied to a chair.
She had tried to make noise, but could only produce muffled sounds.
She sensed she was at a great height, as there was a continuous gust of strong wind blowing from behind.
She must have been bound for about two hours now.
Her captors had tried several times to push her toward the edge of the rooftop.
At that moment, she could clearly feel an indescribable depth behind her, the feeling one gets when looking down from a tall building.
Like acrophobia.
Once again, she was pulled back from the edge by her captor.
It seemed meant as a punishment for her.
Now, the punishment was over.
Nanbo Arisa’s extreme anxiety finally eased a bit, as she gulped in the outside air through the gaps in the cloth covering her face.
She was very scared.
She was just an ordinary high school girl.
"Who... who are you...?" Nanbo Arisa couldn’t see the figure in front of her, so she asked aloud.