By the time Tsuna walked into the living room, only two taiyaki were left on the coffee table. Just as he was about to pick one up to taste, Shizuka stopped him verbally.
"Go eat your dinner first."
"Okay." Tsuna had nothing to say upon hearing this and turned around to leave the living room.
"Tsuna, remember to heat it up before eating!"
"Got it!"
With that, Tsuna took the food Shizuka had left for him out of the refrigerator and walked toward the kitchen island.
If she hadn't reminded him, he would have really intended to eat it cold. It was just a little cold; he felt it wasn't a big problem...
Pitter-patter...
Footsteps sounded behind him. Before he could turn around, he saw a petite figure pass him and block the entrance to the kitchen.
Without a word, she snatched the two plates from his hands. "I'll heat them up for you."
"It's just heating it in the microwave, I can do that..."
He reached out to take them back, but she stepped back, dodging him.
Shouko ignored him, turned around, and walked to the black microwave. With her two clean little hands, she rolled up her sleeves and peeled off the cling film from the plates.
Tsuna hesitated for a moment before choosing to walk in. Even if he couldn't help, chatting was good...
"I'll do it, Tsuna, you wait outside for me. I'll bring it out when it's ready."
Before he could speak, Shouko preempted him, her cute eyebrows furrowing. She raised her fair little hand, intending to push him out of the kitchen.
Ultimately, Tsuna had no choice but to obediently sit at the dining table and wait, while also not forgetting to take out his phone to pass the time.
"I'm home."
"(Safely arrived.jpg)"
He opened LINE and saw the message from Nishikata. He casually replied with an emoji and then put his phone aside, the screen going black.
He quietly began to think. From this angle, he couldn't see Shouko in the kitchen, so he didn't plan on staring blankly at her figure...
"Okay Tsuna, hurry and eat."
He didn't know how much time had passed when Shouko's voice pulled his thoughts back. What came into view were a pair of slender arms.
Tsuna withdrew his gaze and was about to get up—
"I'll serve your rice." Shouko anticipated his movement and pressed him back into his chair.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. He felt the 'wifely' vibe from Shouko becoming stronger and stronger, but it was probably just an illusion...
As Shouko brought back a steaming bowl of rice, she turned and ran back to the living room to get a taiyaki. The two began to 'eat and chat.'
She asked about Tsuna's experiences today and the situation with the handheld game console. He answered everything truthfully, one by one.
When they were together, a slight curve always played on her lips.
——————————
"Everyone, don't be late tomorrow!"
"Yes, yes, yes..."
"Miyamura, let's have an exciting Pokémon battle!"
"Tsuna is already asleep..."
"Go to bed early, good night."
"Good night everyone."
Tsuna withdrew his gaze from the 'LINE' group chat and turned his head to look at the girl who had taken over his bed. "Shouko, everyone has said good night. Shouldn't you go back to sleep?"
Shouko casually waved her hand. "No rush, it's only ten o'clock, and school starts in three days. I don't want this spring break to end..."
With that, she flipped over like a dried fish.
"..." Tsuna felt a hint of speechlessness.
However, what Shouko said was also true. School was starting in three or four days, and everyone had learned which high school they were going to a few days ago...
A week ago, everyone took advantage of Nishikata's day off and had a meal at the sushi restaurant where he worked part-time. At that time, Shouko was very reluctant to part ways.
That is, until she learned that everyone was going to the same high school, Ginkgo Sakura High School.
But before she could be happy, Takagi poured cold water on her by saying that with so many people in high school, it was still unknown if they would be in the same class...
According to Tsuna's online research, the former name of Ginkgo Sakura High School two years ago was Ginkgo Gakuen High School and Sakuragaoka Girls' High School.
That's right, they were two schools, and for some unknown reason, they merged. Sakuragaoka Girls' High School was originally a high school for only girls, but it isn't anymore.
At that time, it was said that many students protested, but it was eventually quelled, and after that girls' school merged, many girls also transferred.
However, this had nothing to do with them, who were about to become freshmen, after all, that was two years ago.
"Tsuna, I don't want school to start." Shouko threw her phone aside with the screen black, flipped over, and complained.
Afterwards, Tsuna listened to her complain for a while, responding to every sentence, albeit perfunctorily.
Finally, Shouko remembered that she had to get up early tomorrow. She said "Good night" to him and got up to leave his house.
Ajitani said the gathering was to celebrate everyone getting into the same school, to say goodbye to spring break, and to congratulate Tsuna on his book selling well...
Everyone didn't refuse at the time and agreed. Tomorrow happened to be Nishikata's day off.
"Ding dong..."
"Tsuna, good night."
Pulling back his thoughts, he replied with a good night message, got up, skillfully turned off the light, lay back on the bed, and plugged in his phone to charge before closing his eyes.
The deep blue sky looked like it had been washed with water, slowly fading to light gray. The easternmost part showed a milky tea-colored light, as if someone had quietly lifted the corner of the night's blanket.
Tsuna returned from his morning run, took a shower, and walked into the living room to see Shouko dozing off. He chose not to wake her and moved quietly.
It wasn't until everything was done and he had finished breakfast that he slowly woke her up.
"Morning Tsuna, and why is your hair dry??"
"What time did you go to bed last night?" Tsuna asked in return. "You didn't draw illustrations until one or two again, did you?"
As for the illustrations for the second volume of Anohana, he had already assigned this task to Shouko. There were five color illustrations and twelve black-and-white ones.
And this time, unlike last time, there wasn't such a rush, so he entrusted all the black-and-white and color illustrations to her to complete.
After all, this kind of thing should be left to professionals. For the illustrations of the first volume, with two different colors, anyone professional would likely be able to tell they were done by two different people.
Jun also saw it at a glance, but she didn't say anything at the time and only mentioned it during a later chat.
Shouko rubbed her sleepy eyes and shook her head. "I went to bed after twelve..."
"You said you were going to get up early before you left last night." Tsuna rubbed her head, feeling a little helpless.
"I said I was going to get up early, I didn't say I was going to go to bed early..."
Tsuna could clearly feel the guilt in her words, and he increased the force of his rubbing.
She leaned back to avoid his 'salty pig's hand' and started playing with him. She had been a little sleepy, but after this little interlude, the sleepiness had completely disappeared.
After a simple tidying up, the two said goodbye to Shizuka in the dining room, put on their jackets, and went to the entrance to change into their outdoor shoes.
"Auntie, I'm leaving!"
"I'm leaving."
"Be careful!"
"Click..."