"Oh."
Shouko rubbed her forehead. Feeling a bit embarrassed after her thoughts had been exposed, she couldn't bring herself to look Tsuna directly in the eye.
"It's this late already, Shouko. You should go back and sleep," Tsuna glanced at the time on the laptop and reminded her.
They had been out for almost the entire day, and he was starting to feel a bit sleepy, too.
"Mhm, mhm." Shouko yawned and nodded. "Tsuna, good night." She stood up and waved at him.
She had been so engrossed in reading the light novel he had just written that she hadn't felt sleepy at all.
Tsuna replied without lifting his head, "Good night."
He checked his email, found that he still hadn't received a reply from Futaba Publishing, and then closed the laptop.
"What's wrong?" He closed the computer, and out of the corner of his eye, noticed that Shouko was still standing by the door, not moving. He asked, puzzled.
Shouko didn't speak. She quietly turned the doorknob, pulled the door open, confirmed there was no one on the stairs, then quickly turned around and ran to his side.
She placed a kiss on his sleepy, slightly confused cheek and then ran downstairs at lightning speed.
Tsuna stared blankly at the doorway, slowly stroking his still slightly damp left cheek with his left hand.
Well...
The sleepiness that had just come over him vanished again because of this girl.
"Running so fast, be careful not to fall, Shouko!"
"Don't worry, Auntie."
"Bang!"
"Click..."
Tsuna got up and closed the door she had forgotten to shut when she went downstairs, also blocking out the sound of chatting from the first floor.
---
"Beep beep beep..."
"Tsuna, Futaba Publishing replied to you!" Shouko yelled toward Tsuna, who was outside the living room doing something, straining her voice.
Tsuna, who had just finished washing his hands and came out of the restroom, didn't reply, but quietly quickened his pace.
He knew that even if he replied loudly, Shouko wouldn't be able to hear him clearly, so it was better to return to the living room quickly to check.
"Why is your email still locked? My birthday and your birthday are both wrong; are you using Auntie's birthday?" As soon as he came back, Shouko asked, very puzzled.
Tsuna walked over and sat beside her, took the mouse that still held some residual warmth, and waved his hand casually. "I just set it randomly. The password is 12138."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tsuna entered the string of numbers he had just mentioned in front of Shouko.
"12138?" Shouko muttered softly.
She wondered if this wasn't the birthday of some random woman born on the 13th of December at 8 o'clock or something.
But before she could think too much, her attention was diverted by Tsuna's next words, which were faintly tinged with joy:
"They finally replied. Today is just the deadline for the last day of the week."
The computer page loaded for a while, and the only thing that appeared before their eyes was five words: "What is this stuff?"
"Tsuna, it's okay, that person must be blind." Shouko quickly raised her hands to cover his eyes immediately and comforted him.
She truly thought this Futaba Editor was blind.
The light novel Tsuna had written was clearly so good and appealing; how could it be like what he said?
Tsuna let her hands cover his eyes. "I've already seen it clearly, okay?"
When he first saw this reply, a little disappointment was indeed about to surface. After all, he had been looking forward to it for a long time.
But that disappointment was quickly pushed away by Shouko's sudden action.
Shouko was right; this Futaba Editor must be blind.
If this person is blind, then he'll submit to the next publishing house. After all, there are plenty of publishing houses in Japan. As for the other editors at Futaba Publishing, he directly ruled them out.
"Th-th-then..." Shouko stammered a bit upon hearing this.
In the past, it was always Tsuna who comforted and soothed her. On the other hand, as for her...
She had never had a chance to comfort...
"Alright, I'm not as fragile as you think." Tsuna raised his hands, firmly held the hands covering his eyes, and began to knead them.
A profit!
Since entering junior high, Shouko had grown up and wasn't very willing to let him hold her hands. So, it was a profit, right!
Tsuna exited the slightly annoying page with one hand, while his other hand firmly held Shouko's left hand.
"It's just one Futaba Editor. It's not like all the editors are as blind as that one."
As for her right hand, because he didn't hold it firmly, she took the chance to slip away.
"Mhm, mhm!" Shouko nodded, raised her right hand, and gave him a thumbs-up. "Tsuna, I believe in you!"
Just then, Shizuka walked into the living room from outside with two glasses of cold milk. She placed the milk on the coffee table in front of them before asking, puzzled:
"What's wrong? Was it rejected?"
As for Shouko's previous words, she had heard them too, and she guessed right away that her own smelly boy had been rejected.
"Yes, no need to comfort me, Mom," Tsuna nodded.
Shizuka saw that he was still holding Shouko's hand and there was nothing unusual, so she rubbed his head hard:
"Stop overthinking things, who said I was going to comfort you?"
As she finished speaking, she also swallowed the comforting words she had thought of earlier in the dining room.
Shouko spoke up to defend him, "Miyamura Auntie, this is the problem of that Futaba Editor. It's not a problem with Tsuna's novel."
"Really?" Shizuka clearly didn't believe what Shouko said, but she didn't immediately deny it either.
"Really! What Tsuna wrote is really good!"
"Is that so? Let me take a look."
"Quick, Tsuna." Shouko nudged Tsuna, who was still playing with her hand.
Tsuna, who had originally planned to give his Mom a surprise after getting a contract, said he didn't care anymore. He operated the computer to bring up the document for the first volume of his submission.
Then he moved the laptop screen in front of his Mom.
"Let me see." Seeing this, Shizuka focused her attention on the dense Japanese text Tsuna had written.
As time passed, Shizuka went from being indifferent at first to becoming increasingly focused later on.
She had read many light novels and similar books during her high school and university years. Even after getting married and having children, she would occasionally buy and read them if she found a good one.
As for the light novel 'Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day' that Tsuna wrote, it's undeniable.
The opening is entirely on par with the vast majority of mediocre content already published on the market.
As for the small handful it couldn't measure up to, that was only because there was just one volume; she couldn't make a fair evaluation without knowing about the subsequent parts.
---
"Tsk tsk tsk..." About ten minutes passed, and Shizuka shook her head and smacked her lips.
"What's wrong, Mom? Did something get stuck in your teeth?"
"Auntie, are you okay?" Shouko raised her hand, patted him, and asked.
Shizuka reluctantly withdrew her gaze from the last line, nodded, and spoke her thoughts: "That editor really is blind."
---
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