Green plums cannot become lovers.

In short, he can do what their parents can do, and he will do even more of what their parents cannot do.

Protecting them and never abandoning them—that's what childhood sweethearts are all about!

As An and Asuka thought to themselves, they couldn't help but chuckle. Then, after glancing at the happy group of people not far away, they stood up and walked towards the convenience store across the street.

Calculating his expenses, three popsicles cost 300 yen, and taking the girls out for a fast food meal cost another 2700 yen. This was his expense for living alone for almost a week.

But as long as it brings a smile to their faces, it's worth spending any amount of money.

An and Asuka walked into the convenience store. The coolness inside made them feel comfortable, and they slowed down their shopping. They just wanted to enjoy the air conditioning for a while longer.

When An and Asuka came out again, one of them had a bag filled with water and the other with some snacks.

In such hot weather, doing so much exercise definitely requires replenishing fluids and sugar, so he bought electrolyte water and chocolate for the two girls.

But we can't just buy things for the two of them. Everyone is so kind and willing to take Shizuka and Marina along to play, so we should definitely thank them properly and maybe even bribe them a little.

After all, it's always good to have more friends.

An and Asuka returned to the small park with their tote bags, but before they even arrived, they could hear arguing coming from afar.

"This is our territory, you girls get out of here."

"This is a public place, not your territory."

"I say yes, so it is. If you don't leave me now, I'm going to get physical."

"you dare?"

Upon hearing that someone was about to resort to violence, An and Feibiao immediately quickened their pace. He had only been buying something, yet this classic scene had unfolded.

Volume 1: Chapter Sixteen - An and Asuka are extremely angry and enraged

Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly heated, An and Asuka quickly ran over and stood between the two groups. He looked at the five boys in front of him.

What are you going to do?

"who are you?"

The boy who was in the lead among the five did not answer, but instead asked a question with an arrogant expression.

"My name is Anwa Asuka."

An and Asuka replied calmly that they didn't care about the attitude of these guys, as long as they could reason with them.

"Anhe Feibiao, what an effeminate name. If I didn't see you, I would have thought you were a middle-aged woman."

The boy in the lead started laughing, and the people around him joined in.

They had expected to see their opponent get angry as usual, but after laughing for a while, the boy in front of them didn't show any expression at all, and the group of girls were also looking at them with strange eyes.

The group felt a little embarrassed, so they stopped making sarcastic remarks.

"I don't care who you are, this is our territory, you'd better get out of here right now."

Before An and Asuka could speak, a group of girls behind him immediately retorted.

"This is clearly a public place!"

"You guys are so annoying!"

"Hmph, since they can't win against others at school, they come here to bully us girls."

"You bullshit!"

It's unclear what remark struck a nerve with the group, but the leader of the boys retorted anxiously. An and Asuka also realized that these boys and the girls behind them attended the same school.

"That's right. Last time I saw you playing chess with someone, Uesugi, and you lost your snacks and secretly wiped away tears."

The boy, who was already somewhat angry, blushed immediately after hearing that his secret had been revealed.

"It seems I have no choice but to teach you a lesson today."

"Do you want to bully girls?"

"We're bullying you girls!"

As he spoke, Uesugi immediately took action, quickly running towards the girl standing on the far side and pushing her to the ground with such force.

"Humph."

"Shizuka!"

"You f***ing..."

Anwa Asuka clenched his fists instantly as he looked at Kuze Shizuka lying on the ground. He took a deep breath and stared at the smug guy in front of him.

"How about that, scared now?"

"Snapped!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a slap rang out, making Uesugi's head buzz and silencing everyone present.

It took Uesugi a while to cover his face, feeling the burning pain on his cheek, before he finally realized that he had been slapped hard.

"you....."

"Snapped!"

He reached out his hand, trembling slightly, pointing at An and Asuka. But the next second, another slap came flying at him.

"I finally managed to get Shizuka to smile... and you dare to bully her..."

An and Asuka wished they could tear this bastard to pieces.

It took him so long to gradually get the girl to open up. He always took good care of her and tried his best to make her happy.

Now that things are finally starting to look up, they're being bullied by this clueless guy.

Who knows what kind of psychological trauma this will leave on Shizuka?

The thought of this drove An and Asuka crazy, and the more they looked at the guy in front of them, the more disgusted they felt.

"I......"

The two slaps completely stunned Uesugi. He stared blankly at the boy in front of him. Although there was no angry expression on his face, he could sense that the boy in front of him was extremely angry and furious.

Uesugi was terrified. The boy in front of him didn't even have the aura of a sixth-grade student. Only middle school or even high school students had such a terrifying aura.

He covered his cheeks, and tears finally streamed down his face.

"I...I didn't mean to, please don't hit me, waaaaah!"

"Apologize."

An and Asuka calmed down and gave orders to the boys with a blank expression.

“Apologize to everyone sincerely, or I’ll slap each of you twice more.”

"Waaaaah."

"hurry up!"

"Don't yell so loudly, we'll apologize."

The boys shrank back in fright, then tearfully apologized to the girls.

"I'm sorry, Kirisaka-san."

"Humph!"

"Sakura-san, I'm sorry."

"Heh~ Now you know what fear is, huh?"

"Chiyo-kun, I'm sorry."

"Tch, what a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

Every time the boys apologized, they were met with laughter from the girls. But by then, the girls had lost all anger and dared not resist; they just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Hanami-kun, I'm sorry."

"Hehe, let's see if you dare to bully me again."

The blue-haired girl laughed triumphantly. She had wanted to teach these boys a lesson for a long time, but unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to beat them.

And now, the other party is obediently apologizing to me. What a wonderful day.

Finally, Uesugi bowed deeply to Shizuka Kuze.

"I'm sorry, Kuze-kun. I was too loud and my movements were rough. I'm very sorry."

"..."

Shizuka Kuze subconsciously took a step back, looking at the people in front of her, unsure of what to say.

"Shizuka, say something harsh to them."

An and Asuka encouraged from the side, saying that at this time, they needed to say some harsh words to intimidate these guys.

Seeing the encouraging look in the boy's eyes beside her, Shizuka Kuze mustered her courage slightly and whispered to the boys in front of her, "You, you bunch of bad guys, you can't do this again..."

The girl's voice was soft, with a hint of timidity, sounding like the gentle cry of a deer, not to mention her completely harmless words.

It sounds like she's being coquettish.

The sight of Shizuka Kuze caused several boys to widen their eyes in surprise, staring blankly at her. After a closer look, they were astonished to find that the girl was rather pretty.

"I, I..."

Uesugi's voice was stammering, and when An and Asuka noticed his strange look, they immediately stepped in front of Kuze Shizuka.

What are you doing?

"No, it's nothing."

Upon seeing An and Asuka, Uesugi immediately snapped out of his daze and shook his head repeatedly.

"If everything's alright, you can go now."

"If your parents ask when you get back, just say the person who hit you was Wu Song, understand?"

"understood."

Although they didn't know who Wu Song was, the boys nodded repeatedly.

After seeing off the mischievous boys, An and Asuka finally breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, these guys were cowards; otherwise, if they had teamed up, he might not have been able to escape unscathed.

Then, he picked up the bag he had temporarily placed on the ground and looked at the girls beside him.

"Here are some water and snacks I bought for everyone. Please take them and have some."

Upon hearing this, the girls cheered happily. Today, they not only chased away the bad guys, but also got to eat sweet drinks and snacks.

"Thank you, Anhe!"

"My name is Anna Hachimi, nice to meet you."

The blue-haired girl was very outgoing. Holding water and snacks in one hand, she stretched out the other hand towards An and Asuka, revealing two rows of big white teeth as she introduced herself.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too."

An and Asuka smiled and took the girl's hand.

Volume 1: Chapter 17 Are you happy?

"That's all for now, bye-bye."

"Bye-Bye."

As the sun began to set, it was time for the children to go home. Although a small mishap occurred along the way, the outcome was still quite good.

As An and Asuka watched Shizuka wave to everyone with a faint smile, they felt happy too.

Shizuka is finally starting to open up, which is a very good sign. If she continues to work hard, she will definitely be able to live a normal life like other children.

"Let's go too."

After saying goodbye to everyone, An and Asuka set off on their way home with the two girls and a dog.

The setting sun stretched the shadows of the three of them longer and longer, and the orange afterglow fell on the boy beside them, as if draping him in a transparent and flowing cloak.

In the girl's little inner world, whenever she was bullied, she would fantasize about a hero in a cloak coming to save her.

But none of her previous fantasies came true, until that day when the boy came into her life.

Every day with him around was filled with warmth and a sense of security. Even when they weren't very familiar with each other at the beginning, she was both hopeful and cautious when he approached her, but she never resisted him.