By the time Shouko arrived at the Miyamura house, the sky was already filled with stars, and the streetlights were turning on one after another.
"What a shame..."
"What's a shame, Miyamura Auntie?"
As soon as Shouko entered the living room, she saw Shizuka shaking her head and muttering about what a shame it was, which made her curious.
Shizuka patted the empty seat beside her and waited for Shouko to sit down before explaining:
"Because the high school you're attending is a bit far, I wanted you to ride bicycles to school to make it easier, but—"
Before she could finish, Shouko guessed what Miyamura Auntie was regretting...
"Tsuna can ride, and I can ride on the back."
"Oh, you..." Shizuka raised her hand and poked Shouko's fair forehead. "Carrying someone on a bicycle is illegal. If you get caught, you can be fined up to 50,000 yen."
"But with Tsuna watching me, it should be okay, right...?"
"No, that's still too dangerous."
Before Shizuka could even speak, Tsuna, who was sitting by the coffee table scrolling on his phone, quickly spoke up and rejected her suggestion.
"That's right." Shizuka nodded. "It's better to wait two more years and let Tsuna get a driver's license."
"..." Tsuna felt it would be better to say that Shouko's hearing impairment might be cured in a year or two...
"Why not let Tsuna get a regular two-wheeled motorcycle driver's license? That would solve it, wouldn't it?" At this moment, Daisuke walked into the living room with a book tucked under his arm. "Just right, he's also turned 16, he can take the test."
His eyes lit up, thinking his suggestion was viable.
The final discussion concluded with everyone agreeing to Daisuke's suggestion.
Tsuna also planned to go back to his bedroom to check relevant information, wondering if he could get the driver's license directly this weekend.
The two returned to the second floor. Under Tsuna's guidance and with some reference opinions, Shouko began to continue drawing illustrations on her tablet.
Tsuna also chose not to disturb her. At this time, what Shouko needed most was quiet so she could calm down and draw.
He also started searching for information about motorcycle driver's licenses on the computer.
The age requirement is 16 years or older. A regular two-wheeled license allows riding motorcycles between 125cc and 400cc.
The cost is approximately 150,000 to 250,000 yen, including training and test fees.
(200,000 yen is about $1,814.21 in 2018)
Tsuna just felt it was ridiculously expensive. Getting a car driver's license in his previous life didn't cost this much...
The test contents include balance tests (slow straight-line riding, slalom); cornering, uphill and obstacle avoidance; emergency braking (stopping within a specified distance below 30km/h).
However, he also saw that it wasn't that expensive to directly take the test for about 30,000 to 50,000 yen, but the test content also included written exams and other questions.
He felt the probability of him directly registering and passing was not very high.
The website he was searching on also gave a friendly reminder: New drivers should prioritize driving schools. Systematic training significantly increases the pass rate and avoids time and money spent on repeated tests.
Following these procedures, a license can usually be obtained within 1 to 2 months.
So, it was impossible for him to get the driver's license directly this weekend.
Considering safety issues and his lack of familiarity with some traffic laws in Japan, after a moment of hesitation, he still chose to find a driving school.
"Shouko, you keep drawing. I'm going downstairs to find Dad."
"Okay, okay." Shouko waved at him without lifting her head.
He went downstairs and briefly mentioned the issue to his dad in the study. His dad said it wasn't a big problem, chatted for a few minutes, and then asked him to leave the study.
Returning to the second floor, Tsuna briefly mentioned it to Shouko, telling her not to get excited yet and to continue drawing illustrations. He, on the other hand, began reviewing some high school knowledge.
Several hours flew by, and the first day of April ended with the two of them saying goodnight to each other.
---
The pale cherry-blossom-colored sky washed over the utility poles, dyeing the streets and alleys a translucent pink-orange.
Groups of students in navy blue uniforms walked across the fallen petals, their backpack metal buckles and lunch boxes clinking softly.
The morning breeze lifted the cherry blossom hair clip from a girl's hair, causing the Miyamura behind her to stand on tiptoe to reach for it, but startling the grey pigeons pecking at bread crumbs by the roadside.
When the distant sound of the train bell came, a Miyamura wearing round-rimmed glasses was using the tip of his sports shoe to push a swirl of petals around.
Tsuna and Shouko arrived at school on time. As soon as they put down their bags, many girls surrounded them to chat.
Not a few were curious why Shouko had a hearing impairment but could speak normally.
She explained the reason very naturally, which made many girls envious.
It was just a little regrettable that Shouko didn't introduce Tsuna next to her to them, leaving them with one less legitimate reason to strike up a conversation.
A cool breeze rolled into the room, stirring the hair by the girls' ears and the fringe on Tsuna's forehead.
Formal high school life began at this moment.
"Dong... dong... dong...!"
"Students, class is dismissed. Remember to be careful on your way home, and those interested in high school clubs shouldn't miss today's club recruitment."
As the dismissal bell rang, Nanase Teacher closed her textbook on the podium, waved goodbye to the students below, and turned to leave the classroom.
Several people quickly packed their bags and headed together towards the club recruitment area.
Soon they arrived at the recruitment area in the corridor on the first floor of the first teaching building.
The corridor was squeezed into a colorful canyon by club display boards, and the air was filled with the scent of still-wet ink from flyers.
Green smoke rose from the matcha bowl held by a tea ceremony club senior, as a freshman kneeling on the tatami mat was being fed warabi mochi wrapped in red bean paste.
In the transparent box of the biology club next door, beetle elytra rubbed against each other with a rustling sound, mixing with the crisp sound of the cheerleading club's clappers in the distance.
The burnt aroma of yakisoba bread wafted from the direction of the sports clubs, where someone with a bandaged hand was pinning a badge onto their uniform pocket, the metal school badge scraping softly against the shirt.
The three girls didn't know which one to start browsing first.
Unlike the three girls, Tsuna simply glanced over and withdrew his gaze. He felt it wasn't much different from the club recruitment area in junior high.
Until a club squeezed into a corner caught his eye...
It wasn't because the club was particularly flashy, but because it felt bizarre to him...
Because the club's name was "Far East Magic Napping Society in Summer," Tsuna guessed that the simpler translation of the name was the Napping Club...
And another thing that attracted him was that this was the club founded by the male and female leads in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions...
Just as he was wondering if he was mistaken, the crowd blocking the club moved away.
There, a girl sleeping with her head on a pillow, and a person next to her who had left a slight impression on him yesterday, confirmed his thought.
Especially when that Miyamura was staring intently at the girl's sleeping face...
Although he only knew 'a little bit,' in his impression, it seemed like this club didn't exist at the beginning of the school year...
Adding to that, Nanase Teacher said yesterday that they were upperclassmen, so there was only one possibility...