"I've already signed you up for your motorcycle driver's license."
At the dining table, Daisuke swallowed the food in his mouth. "It's in Shibuya. I'll send you the location and contact person later. You can go directly there tomorrow afternoon. If it's fast, you can get the license in two weeks."
"Mhm." Tsuna nodded while chewing his food.
Shizuka quietly enjoyed her dinner on the side.
"As for the motorcycle, when the time comes—"
"When you get the license, just tell me what kind of motorcycle you want. I know about that." Shizuka interrupted Daisuke at this moment.
Daisuke nodded. What he had just said was basically what she meant.
When it came to motorcycles, he really didn't know as much as Shizuka. He probably only knew two things: they have two wheels and are very noisy, and that's it.
"Then the money for the motorcycle—"
"You don't need to worry about that. Just keep your earnings."
"..." He always felt like his mom looked down on him...
If it were someone in their rebellious phase, they might have already proven themselves, but unfortunately, he wasn't. He still preferred to just lay flat...
After talking about this for a few more minutes, Shizuka shifted the conversation to Uzaki Tsuki, who came to their house that afternoon.
Tsuna and Daisuke both listened quietly, occasionally responding with a sentence or two.
Sometimes, he felt like his mom was about to become the intelligence chief in this area. Hmm... she would soon be on par with Grandma (Miyamura Yu)...
By the time Shouko came to his house again, the sky was already twinkling with faint starlight.
He simply and clearly told her about the driver's license.
"Tsuna, I want to go with you tomorrow too."
"It'll be very boring." Tsuna, sitting in front of the computer, refused without thinking.
"It's okay. It won't be boring with you accompanying me. I'll be good and listen, and I won't run around!" Shouko raised four fingers on her right hand and swore seriously.
"Didn't you agree to continue visiting the club recruitment booths with Takagi and the others tomorrow?"
"Hmm..." She was thinking about what reason to use to politely decline Takagi and the others' invitation...
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Club recruitment only lasts for 7 days, and aren't you still hesitating about joining the Art Club?"
Tsuna looked back at her distressed expression and couldn't help but shake his head. "It's the same if you come with me after the recruitment ends."
"But if that's the case, we won't be able to go home together after school for the next few days..."
"..." Tsuna was momentarily speechless...
"How about this? If you agree to one simple condition of mine, I'll agree." Shouko blinked her eyes and met his gaze.
"Wh-what condition...?" He had a bad feeling...
"After you get your driver's license, only I can sit on the back of your motorcycle," Shouko blurted out without hesitation.
It seemed like she had thought of this condition long ago and had been waiting for him to ask...
"???"
Seeing him not speak, Shouko appropriately lowered the condition a bit. "Okay then, how about this instead? From now on, only one girl can sit on the back of your motorcycle. Men don't matter."
"..." Tsuna suddenly felt a bit speechless. It seemed like this wasn't much different from the previous meaning, was it?
"What if Shizuka wants to sit...?"
"Godmother recently got a new car. She wouldn't care for your motorcycle."
"..."
"Then... how about Aunt?"
"Didn't Mom buy her old car at a low price when Miyamura Auntie got a new car half a month ago?"
"..." If Shouko hadn't mentioned this, he would have almost forgotten.
"What about Yuzuru?"
"Yuzuru can ride Hachiko. She doesn't need to ride your vehicle."
Hachiko: '...'
Yuzuru: '...'
After thinking it over, he finally nodded slowly and agreed to Shouko's condition. To be honest, it seemed like no girl would actually sit on his back seat anyway.
After this matter was pleasantly decided, Shouko continued her unfinished illustration, while Tsuna started looking at questions and answers related to the written test.
If he didn't pass the first part of the exam, it would be awkward. Although the probability was very low, it wasn't zero.
——————————
The next day.
"Thump... thump... thump...!"
"Alright, students, school is dismissed. Be careful on your way home." The Japanese language teacher on the podium closed the textbook, turned around, and left the classroom.
Tsuna said goodbye to Shouko and the others and immediately left the classroom through the back door with his school bag.
"Shouko, why isn't Miyamura going home with you today?!"
Ajitani turned back in surprise. She hadn't heard clearly just now and thought he said he was going to the restroom until her peripheral vision noticed he was carrying his school bag.
Shouko simply explained the reason to them. She hadn't mentioned this matter to them today yet; after all, it wasn't anything important.
Under Ajitani's surprised gaze mixed with a hint of 'envy', Shouko pulled her along to the club recruitment area.
The two of them tacitly kept a little distance from Takagi and Nishikata behind them, giving the latter two a little private space.
"Then what will you do when you go back later?" Ajitani asked curiously.
"I'll go back by myself, of course. I'm not a three-year-old child. Are you afraid I'll be kidnapped by a lollipop?" Shouko playfully hit her arm.
"That's true." Ajitani nodded and didn't ask anything further.
The four of them split into two groups and continued to browse the clubs they hadn't visited yesterday.
"You two!" A bamboo sword suddenly jabbed out from the side, stopping steadily about five centimeters from Shouko's and Ajitani's noses.
The girl with a high ponytail peeked out from behind the Kendo Club's signboard, her eyes under her headband curved into crescents:
"Want to try splitting a cherry blossom in half? Our club has a national championship third-place winner as a coach."
Shouko quickly waved her hand to refuse, taking half a step back, but her lower back bumped into a certain easel.
The palette clattered to the ground, and the splashed cobalt blue paint bloomed on her round-toed shoes.
"Oh my," the senior wearing a beret raised her sketchbook, and on the paper were the side profiles of the two of them looking dumbfounded. "This touch of panicked blue is simply a stroke of genius."
Ajitani fumbled in her bag for a wet wipe, and just as she was about to hand it to Shouko, the Astronomy Club's folding tent suddenly unfolded above her head.
An artificial galaxy flowed across the dark blue fabric, and the boy wearing round-rimmed glasses pushed up his reflective lenses:
"Students, do you know? The Cancerid meteor shower is coming next week, and the telescope on the top floor of our club—"
He deliberately lowered his voice. "Can see the koi the director is secretly raising on the terrace."
"..." The two of them, feeling speechless, had thought he was going to reveal some kind of scoop.
The twilight deepened.
Ajitani and Shouko held chocolate cookies given by the Cooking Club, and their pockets were filled with cosmos seeds from the Gardening Club.
The sound of guitars from the Light Music Club in the distance mixed with the sound of dribbling from the Girls' Basketball Club. Shouko looked at the five club application forms of different colors in her palm.
At this moment, she missed Tsuna a little...