I Thought This Was a Slice of Life

When he arrived at the recording studio, Hanazawa Sakura was already there.

"My boy, you're here."

"Good morning."

Shuya smiled and sat down next to her.

After waiting a while, the recording officially began.

The plot reached the tenth episode.

After Yuzuki Sasaki had been missing for several days, Uesugi Yuichi finally realized something was wrong.

He tried calling her, but couldn't get through because Yuzuki's phone had been confiscated by her parents.

She didn't have any classmates from her school in the art class, so without her phone, no one knew her situation.

Uesugi Yuichi began to feel uneasy, terrified that she would never come back again.

While her help in taking care of Hikari-chan was certainly an important reason, Uesugi Yuichi valued Yuzuki Sasaki's talent for painting even more.

He believed that Yuzuki was very gifted, and he didn't want her to give up on painting.

A few more days passed.

Uesugi Yuichi became increasingly distracted.

He often bought the wrong items, frequently lost focus while talking to people, and occasionally tripped over lamp posts while walking.

In the end, he even started using the wrong colors while painting.

At the end of Part A, he finally realized the special position Yuzuki Sasaki held in his heart.

It wasn't a romantic relationship; he considered her a very important student of his.

Uesugi Yuichi made up his mind, confirmed the high school name she had written down when she registered, and embarked on a journey to find her.

"Wait for me, Sasaki. I won't give up!"

Inoue Hikoo, coordinating with the storyboard, said resolutely.

The scene shifted to Part B.

The high school Yuzuki attended.

Yuzuki Sasaki hadn't been able to sleep well at all these past few days, and she looked so haggard that large dark circles had appeared under her eyes.

She wearily brushed off the concerns of her friends.

Yuzuki hadn't expected her parents to be so ruthless.

"Sigh."

The sigh emitted by Hanazawa Sakura seemed to weave sorrow directly into the character.

The plot transitioned to after school.

With her backpack on, Yuzuki Sasaki walked out of the school gate feeling lonely, only to find countless girls looking curiously toward the entrance, occasionally gasping and whispering to each other.

Yuzuki Sasaki looked over and saw a handsome man dressed in a smart outfit standing outside the gate, looking quite nervous.

It was none other than Uesugi Yuichi.

Yuzuki Sasaki knew that Uesugi-sensei was a handsome middle-aged man, but she hadn't expected him to look so dashing—and so much younger—after shaving his stubble and putting on a suit.

"Sasaki!"

As Yuzuki looked over, Uesugi Yuichi happened to look back, and their eyes met in a moment of silent understanding.

Feeling nervous under the gaze of so many girls, he waved his hand, looking relieved.

"Uesugi-sensei?"

Yuzuki rushed over in pleasant surprise.

"Um, Sasaki, well..."

Uesugi Yuichi became nervous under the scrutiny of the people around them.

"Wait, Uesugi-sensei, it's not safe here, come with me somewhere else!"

Yuzuki Sasaki suddenly remembered something and panicked, pulling Uesugi Yuichi to leave.

But Uesugi Yuichi didn't move, and he asked in confusion, "What?"

This caused them to miss their chance.

"Yuzuki!"

A woman who looked somewhat similar to her walked over, grabbed Yuzuki's hand, and pulled her away from Uesugi Yuichi.

"Mom?!"

Yuzuki's startled cry let Uesugi Yuichi know her identity.

Incidentally, Yuzuki's mother was played by Extra Girl.

Uesugi Yuichi was left speechless under the sharp, piercing gaze of the middle-aged woman.

He stammered, "H-hello? I am Yuzuki Sasaki's..."

Yuzuki's mother interrupted him, glaring.

"I am not well, and I don't want to know who you are! Please stop pestering my daughter! Otherwise, I'm calling the police!"

"Mom! P-please don't be like this!"

Yuzuki Sasaki was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.

Furthermore, the well-trained speed at which the surrounding crowd gathered made her suspect she would become quite famous by tomorrow.

"Let's go!"

Yuzuki's mother didn't want her daughter to be pointed at, so she pulled Yuzuki away at a brisk pace.

As she was being dragged away, Yuzuki kept looking back, wanting to speak to Uesugi Yuichi, but her mother blocked her every time.

"Sasaki! Wait!"

Uesugi Yuichi tried to chase after them, but someone grabbed his shoulder.

He turned around and froze.

A patrol officer passing by on a bicycle smiled at him, revealing a set of sparkling white teeth.

Uesugi Yuichi wailed, "No, I didn't do anything!"

"Alright, alright, we can talk about it at the station... By the way, buddy, do you like katsudon?"

"Noooooo—!"

Uesugi Yuichi was dragged away by the police, leaving only his miserable cries behind.

At six in the evening, after being lectured, Uesugi Yuichi was finally released.

"What a disaster... but the katsudon was actually pretty good."

Uesugi Yuichi sighed as he walked down the street, wiping the grease from his lips.

Back home, he paced around his room restlessly. He didn't want to give up, but he truly had no idea where Yuzuki Sasaki lived.

Unable to come up with a plan, he could only watch Hikari-chan boredly using his psychic powers to play with a paintbrush.

"Wait... psychic powers?"

Uesugi Yuichi lunged at Hikari-chan, his eyes shining. "Hikari-chan! Do you know where Sasaki lives? Can you take me there!"

Hikari-chan glanced at him.

"Da!"

He nodded vigorously!

"Great! Let's go! We're going to find Sasaki right now!"

Uesugi Yuichi picked up Hikari-chan, hoisted him onto his shoulders, and set off valiantly.

Part B ends.

"OK, good work everyone."

Inoue Hikoo said to everyone.

"Dad, this episode was great too."

Shuya said to him.

It is very difficult to make a slice-of-life plot interesting.

But this episode was high quality. He could imagine that once all the frames were drawn and the music was added, it would create a perfect, romantic, and melancholic atmosphere.

Yuzuki's disappearance, Uesugi Yuichi's struggle and realization, the joy of successfully finding Yuzuki followed by the disappointment of being rejected, and finally, the resolve to set off again.

Shuya looked forward to the next episode even more.

Hanazawa Sakura smiled. "And the acting has improved, too."

"Haha, thanks, it's all thanks to my wife's excellent teaching."

Inoue Hikoo laughed smugly, but he left immediately after.

Animation production is very busy, after all.

Hanazawa Sakura had another set to rush to, so she had to leave as well.

Seeing Shuya walking out of the company with her, she asked casually, "Are you heading home, Shu-chan?"

Shuya shook his head. "No, I made plans with someone a few days ago to go to the amusement park today."

"With the Quintuplets?"

"Mai-chan."

Hanazawa Sakura paused, her expression becoming subtle.

Section 33 32 The False Us

Shuya did not see Hanazawa Sakura's expression.

He simply said, "Alright, bye-bye. You go get busy, I'm going to catch the train."

Saori had to take Hanazawa Sakura to the next recording studio and couldn't drop Shuya off, so he decided to just take the railway himself.

In the Japan Administrative District, elementary school students all go to school on their own, so for someone of Shuya's age, taking the train by himself was no big deal.

Furthermore, after Shuya started working out recently, his physical development had accelerated abnormally. Combined with the fact that he had always been taller and bigger than his peers, he now looked like a seven or eight-year-old child, making it even less of an issue for him to travel alone.

Hanazawa Sakura watched her son's retreating back with worry.

It wasn't that she was afraid Shuya would get lost, but rather that she was afraid he would get "cleaved" in the future.

When people's jealousy flares up, it's hard to say what they might do...

Hanazawa Sakura had always been worried about Shuya's love life.

He claimed to be devoted to Rena, but he had already maxed out the affection of the Quintuplets, now even Mai-chan was asking him out to play, and recently she had often heard him mention Senior Sister Seisen.

She couldn't help but worry.

Shuya had no idea what his mother was thinking about him behind his back.

He put on the mask he carried with him and entered the station; the afternoon train was not crowded, and there were even seats available.

This outing was something Mai-chan had invited him to.

She said she was supposed to have lessons that afternoon, but her teacher had fallen ill, so she was free.

Her mother told her to practice on her own, but Mai-chan turned around and asked Shuya out to play. Shuya hadn't been very willing at first, but he thought about how Mai-chan only had him as a friend, and heard her say she had never been to an amusement park.

With his heart softening, Shuya agreed to go with her.

He also felt quite sorry for the little girl; having to take such intensive lessons at such a young age, she didn't have the adult mind that Shuya possessed to be able to endure it.