Chapter 563: Chapter 371 National Sword Dao Competition
The air was constantly filled with the smell of medicine.
Uesugi Sakura saw an elderly man in a hospital gown with an IV bottle, wobbling as he walked out of the ward. He had no one to support him, all alone. The hospital is a microcosm of the warmth and coldness of human relationships, where life, illness, death, parting, and loneliness all find reflection.
"Sakura, the report is out."
Uesugi Sakura nodded and glanced at the electronic display hanging on the wall in front.
Numbers 43, 44, 45, with the first one grayed out as the examination was completed, the second number in red indicating a consultation in progress, and next, it would be his turn.
"Hanabi, why don’t you sit down for a bit?" he said to the girl beside him.
"Okay."
Hanamaru Hanabi sat down next to Uesugi Sakura.
Hanabi was such an eye-catching beauty that wherever she went, she attracted attention.
Because of this, her cuteness and refreshing appearance seemed out of place in the stifling hospital.
Not long after, number 44 pushed open the door to the consultation room.
A young man emerged.
He was alone, appearing to be in poor spirits.
As he walked out, he saw Hanamaru Hanabi sitting on the wooden long bench, staring for a moment due to her beauty, then, noticing the handsome boy next to her, he lowered his head, turned around, and silently left with the diagnosis in hand.
"Came alone for a check-up?" Hanamaru Hanabi said, gazing at the departing figure.
"Going for a check-up alone is quite lonely, isn’t it?" Uesugi Sakura said, looking at Hanamaru Hanabi’s profile.
"Yes."
"So when you’re sick, remember to ask me to accompany you."
"When Hanabi is sick... Sakura is always by my side."
Uesugi Sakura smiled.
When the doctor in the consultation room called Uesugi Sakura’s name, the two of them walked in together.
Today they came for a follow-up; originally there was some time before they would visit the hospital, but at Uesugi Sakura’s request, it was moved up by a few weeks.
Hanamaru Hanabi also put down her work to accompany him to the hospital.
In the consultation room.
The doctor who was the chief surgeon last time, Doctor Nasu, carefully examined the MRI images of Uesugi Sakura, pondering seriously.
"Strange....." he muttered in question.
"Strange...?"
Doctor Nasu looked at the slightly worried Hanamaru Hanabi and said with a smile, "Ah, no need to worry, your boyfriend’s condition is fine. What’s interesting is that it has actually—disappeared, can you understand that? Completely as if there was no illness, no surgery at all."
Hanamaru Hanabi secretly held Uesugi Sakura’s hand under the table, revealing a happy expression on her face:
"Is he cured...?"
"For a condition like his sigmoid sinus meningioma, we dare not remove it completely... Originally, there should be some parts left that couldn’t be excised... but now, it’s gone."
Doctor Nasu looked at the imaging from left to right with an amazement that seemed to suggest he had seen something unprecedented in his decades of experience.
"In any case... he is cured."
...
"Hmm hmm~"
Uesugi Sakura pushed the bicycle, smiling as he looked at the beaming Hanamaru Hanabi beside him, "Are you really that happy?"
"Happy, of course, I’m happy. Sakura’s illness is cured! Of course, I’m happy." Hanamaru Hanabi clung to his arm, smiling sweetly.
"Since you’re cured, how about I treat you to some ice cream?"
"Sure!"
Hanamaru Hanabi leaned closer to his shoulder with joy.
Uesugi Sakura smiled faintly, parked the bicycle by the roadside, and led her to a small shop to buy a very ordinary ice cream.
He bought it for her, and the girl ate it happily.
Uesugi Sakura took her to sit at a small table in front of the ice cream shop, surrounded by the pedestrian street bustling with people, and the beech trees above them gleamed brightly in the sun.
Hanamaru Hanabi was adorable when eating, her cheeks pink and her way of eating delicate and exquisite.
As long as you stayed by her side for just a moment, seeing her contented expression while eating, you’d be filled with a sense of happiness.
Having such a childhood friend who rejoices or worries for you is really wonderful.
"Do you want more?"
"Yes! I want more!"
——————
On August 31, there was just over a month left until the wedding day.
Looking at the imminent date on his phone, Uesugi Sakura always felt an endless sense of emotion. He gently stroked the smiling face of Hanabi on the phone screen with his thumb, and a feeling of cherishing arose spontaneously.
Hanabi... my Hanabi...
"Junior! It’s time to draw numbers." Kusunoki Kubomaru’s voice interrupted his beautiful longing.
"Okay."
On the day of the national Sword Dao competition, the Tokyo Martial Arts Hall was filled with crowds, tourists, and cameras.
Not only were there many ordinary spectators, but also people from all walks of life who studied Sword Dao and swordsmanship were there to observe and learn.
Every year’s champion is bound to have some outstanding characteristics; regardless of the length of the matchup, even if it’s just a second, one can see the psychological, technical, and experiential battles at play.
Hokkaido, the Tohoku Region, the Kantou Region, the Central Region, the Kansai Region, the China Region, the Shikoku Region, the Kyushu Region, Okinawa, all nine regions had four teams qualify.
It was still the elimination system.
Uesugi Sakura didn’t care who the opponent was; he simply went up to draw the sequence and waited for the event organizers to assign an opponent.
He closed his eyes and waited in the rest area. About fifteen minutes later, the matchup schedule was out.
They were going to face a team from Ehime Prefecture in the Shikoku Region.
Encountering a familiar place name right at the start left Uesugi Sakura with no choice but to be contemplative.
His master was probably recognizing family ties with his grandfather in Ehime Prefecture now.
Uncle was grandfather’s nephew.
This sudden relationship, no matter how you think about it, seems odd.
"Who’s going first?" Koshin Kagami asked the others as he saw the opposing team’s tall and burly players.