Three days passed in a flash. Tsuna obtained his motorcycle driving license without surprise, and the club recruitment came to a successful conclusion.
Only a few people in the class remained in the Go-Home Club, while the rest chose their preferred clubs. As for how long they would last before quitting, no one knew.
The few who chose the Go-Home Club were naturally interviewed by Nanase Teacher, but they were all asked insignificant questions.
Tsuna had just walked into the teacher's office a minute before and was 'invited' out within a minute or two. The others weren't as fortunate.
"Tsuna, what did Nanase Teacher ask you when she called you to the office?" Shouko glanced around the classroom, feeling curious since he was the only one who had returned among those called away.
"Hmm..." Tsuna paused packing his bag, recalling Nanase Teacher's few trivial questions. "She just asked why I didn't join a club and what I'd be doing after school."
Just as Shouko was about to ask more details, Ajitani, who was sitting in front of her, turned back and interrupted their conversation, "Shouko-chan, let's go."
"Okay, okay." Seeing this, Shouko stopped asking more questions, knowing she could inquire later. She stood up, put on her backpack, and said, "Tsuna, I'm leaving now."
Currently, in the Art Club, everyone wasn't very familiar with each other, and they didn't ask too many questions. So, Shouko always brought her tablet to the Art Club to work on unfinished illustrations.
As for her identity as an illustrator, only Ajitani and 'Miyagi Yuki' in the Art Club knew.
This was because, when she encountered any difficult problems, she would take her tablet to ask Miyagi Yuki-senpai for advice, so naturally, Miyagi Yuki-senpai knew.
After greeting Tsuna, who was still packing up, the group left the classroom one after another.
Feeling like a lonely old man again, Tsuna didn't hesitate and decisively left school with his backpack.
Rather than waiting for Shouko to finish class, he figured he might as well go home and return to pick her up later. Besides, he had an appointment with Shizuka today to choose a motorcycle.
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It was mid-April, three forty in the afternoon. Thin clouds couldn't block the sun's heat.
Scattered students walked along the paths in the residential area, backpacks on their backs, their dark blue uniform jackets puffing slightly from the wind. Occasionally, one could spot someone holding the wrapper of an ice pop just bought from the convenience store.
"I'm back."
"Ding dong..."
Tsuna's voice and the notification sound from his phone rang out simultaneously.
He walked into the living room but didn't see Shizuka, so he casually tossed his backpack onto the sofa, took out his phone, and opened LINE.
「Miyamura Teacher, we can start a small-scale promotion next weekend. Do you have any ideas?」
「Just follow the normal procedure.」
He didn't know much about promotion, so it was better to leave all this to Futaba Publishing...
「(OK.jpg)」
「Jun, when can it be put on the shelves in bookstores?」
Seeing that it showed 'read' and guessing the other party was typing, Tsuna didn't pay attention to it anymore. Instead, he moved to the coffee table, started peeling an orange, and waited.
He waited for a while until the phone screen lit up again before picking it up to check.
「If nothing unexpected happens, the 24th of this month.」
Seeing this, Tsuna exchanged a few more pleasantries with the other party, and the conversation ended. At the end, Fūno Jun vaguely brought up the other volume of Anohana.
However, Tsuna brushed it off with the excuse that he needed to revise some content.
"Click..."
"I'm back."
"Tsuna, let's go." Shizuka stood at the entrance and shouted inside.
"Mom, where are we going to buy it?" Only after getting into the back seat of Shizuka's car did Tsuna ask in confusion.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes through the rearview mirror, Shizuka fastened her seatbelt, started the car, and explained, "We're going to 'Red Baron' in Shin-Kiba, Koto Ward. It's the main store of Japan's largest motorcycle chain. They have a complete range of models, so you should be able to find one you like."
"That far...?" Tsuna looked at the pedestrians receding outside the window, a little surprised.
"It takes about 25 minutes by train, including transfers. Driving directly there also takes over 20 minutes. There's not much difference."
Hearing this, Tsuna didn't ask any more questions, such as why they weren't going to a branch store...
But it was probably because Mom considered that the main store had a complete selection of motorcycles...?
Over thirty minutes later, Shizuka and Tsuna walked out of the parking lot. The two stood at the intersection in the Shin-Kiba industrial area, looking at the store.
Red Baron's neon sign flickered in the shadows, the interlocking parts of the gear-shaped turnstile gleamed with oil, and when pushed open, the hinge made a crisp click, like the kickstarter of an old motorcycle.
Hundreds of steel beasts rested in the three-thousand-tsubo space. Sunlight streamed through the three-story-high glass curtain wall, flowing like liquid mercury over the chrome fuel tank of a Ducati 900SS.
Tsuna felt a strange sticky sensation on the soles of his sports shoes, a mixture of some kind of antifreeze and rubber, and his nasal cavity filled with the peculiar sweet and pungent smell unique to nitromethane.
It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't particularly pleasant either.
A staff member approached, exchanged a few pleasantries, and after understanding their needs, began showing them around. The staff member answered every professional question Shizuka asked.
At the same time, this confirmed in the staff member's mind that this buyer wasn't some novice. They were also surprised by the professional questions Shizuka asked.
In contrast, Tsuna continued to observe the store's environment and the vehicles.
He didn't understand much about these things and wasn't very knowledgeable about them. It was better to leave these matters to his mom to handle.
Anyway, when the time came, he just needed to choose the one he liked.
Moreover, he had a strange feeling that this motorcycle might need to be replaced after two or three years...
Finally, under the guidance of the staff member, Tsuna tested the motorcycles he could ride with his current height.
Shizuka also considered the usage environment, commuting needs, maintenance costs, etc...
Why test height? Because the sense of security when parking a motorcycle with the balls of your feet touching the ground and the tips of your toes touching the ground is completely different.
Ultimately, under the recommendation of the staff member and his own consideration, Tsuna chose a 398cc black street bike that he had test ridden earlier.
This 398cc black street bike had sharp angles, and the matte black paint surface was covered with fine metal particles.
The steel tube trellis frame diagonally cut through from below the fuel tank, the short tail design left the rear wheel completely exposed, and the six-spoke aluminum alloy wheels reflected a cold light.
The silver inner tube of the upside-down front fork contrasted sharply with the black outer tube, and the bright red Brembo logo on the radial four-piston calipers was particularly eye-catching.
The most striking feature on the entire bike was the raised intake port design on both sides of the fuel tank, resembling a folded line drawn with a ruler.
The LED headlight assembly consisted of three rhombus-shaped lamp beads, which would light up sequentially from bottom to top when started.
The instrument panel was a monochrome LCD screen embedded in a carbon fiber baseplate, with the red zone marked at the extreme of 11,500 RPM. The exhaust pipe was hidden beneath the seat, and the stainless steel tail section had a diagonal cut outlet with a burnt blue effect.
The curb weight was only 167 kilograms, and in a standing posture, his knees could just grip the anti-slip pads at the narrowest part of the fuel tank.