By the time Shouko arrived at the Miyamura residence again, the night sky was already filled with stars.
Tsuna was currently discussing with Shizuka about the books to be stocked in the bookstore on Thursday.
Around 4 p.m. that afternoon, Shizuka received an unknown package, and combined with what Tsuna had just told her, she understood everything.
"Aren't you going to have a limited signed edition for the first sales day?" Shizuka pulled Shouko to sit beside her, asking curiously.
Tsuna waved his hand. "Jun mentioned it to me, wanting me to sign over five hundred copies, but I refused, citing lack of time."
"..."
"Then Tsuna, how much can the price of your signature increase?" Shouko asked curiously.
"You're being a bit presumptuous, Shouko." Tsuna raised his hand, intending to poke her fair forehead, but she leaned back and dodged him.
"Since it's a new author and a new book, the price will only increase by about 100 yen."
At that time, Jun also told him that for a signed limited edition, it would be an 80/20 split, with him getting 80% and the publisher 20%, meaning he could get 80 yen.
Finally, after a few more brief chats, Shizuka chased Tsuna and the others out of the living room, telling them to go back upstairs to do their homework.
Even Daisuke, who was quietly eating fruit by the coffee table, was sent back to the study to deal with work, under the pretext that he was disturbing her drama watching.
"Tsuna, look, Futaba Publishing has already released the preview of your new book on their social media."
Back in the room on the second floor, Shouko excitedly held up her phone to him.
The content on the phone was exactly as she said, and there were already over ten thousand comments under that preview message.
Tsuna nodded, having no particular thoughts about it, as this had all been agreed upon initially.
After a few more words, both of them began to attend to their respective tasks: Shouko's illustrations, and Tsuna's review and revision of his other light novels.
However, every now and then, he could vaguely feel Shouko glancing at him from the side.
"Shouko, is there something you want to ask me?" Tsuna, unable to bear it any longer, finally chose to speak first.
He thought it must be a question about the illustrations, which made Shouko hesitant to ask.
"Hmm…"
Shouko put down her stylus, organizing her thoughts in her mind. Ajitani had told her to act coquettishly with Tsuna…
But then the problem arose… she didn't seem to know how to act coquettishly… or rather, how to begin…
"Is there something wrong with the novel illustrations?" Tsuna leaned his head over.
There was nothing unusual about the drawing on the tablet; the male and female protagonists were still uncolored. He then felt even more confused, so it seemed it wasn't an issue with the illustrations…
Shouko pushed his head away, hesitated for a moment, then decided to be direct. "Tsuna, are you hiding something from me…?"
A classic girl question, which was met with a stunned reaction from Tsuna, who quickly began to brainstorm.
"..."
"..."
Only the whirring of the computer fan remained in the room.
"Alright, I'll be honest," after a long pause, Tsuna shook off the jumbled memories in his mind, looking at the feigned serious Shouko.
"Yesterday afternoon, I picked up 1,000 yen downstairs at Futaba Publishing."
With that, he intended to take out that 1,000 yen from his wallet to prove his innocence.
"..."
"Not that." The expression on Shouko's face almost couldn't hold, as she interrupted his action of taking out his wallet.
"Not that?" Tsuna gently pushed down his reflective glasses. "Could it be that last weekend, I secretly ate the strawberry on your cake…?"
"..."
"Not that either…"
"Uh…"
"Then was it the week before last, after school, when I was asked out to the rooftop by a girl for a confession…?"
Shouko was startled; she had never heard anyone mention this matter before.
However, since Tsuna still hadn't brought up what she was asking about, she could only take a deep breath, grit her teeth, and deny it: "Not that…"
"Still not?" Tsuna saw that she had no reaction and continued to recall, "Hmm…"
Subsequently, Tsuna told Shouko about all the big and small things that had happened in April that she didn't know about.
It wasn't that he was deliberately hiding them from her; it was just that he felt there was nothing worth mentioning, so he hadn't brought them up.
Unless Shouko asked him directly, he would tell her.
"Also… not that!" Shouko's fist clenched.
"Not that either? Then there's really nothing left, alright." Tsuna shrugged, unable to think of anything else now.
Shouko suppressed her emotions, forcing out a gentle smile. "I just wanted to ask why the browser on your phone is locked."
At that moment, he suddenly understood. He then walked to the bed, picked up his phone, and unlocked it in front of her, using fingerprint unlock instead of a numerical password.
"I've forgotten what this password is; I always use my fingerprint. You can record yours too later."
Tsuna very naturally handed her the phone, and the browser on the screen was already unlocked.
Shouko snatched the phone without a word, nervously and curiously tapping into the browsing history, and the result made her 'disappointed' enough to hand the phone back.
To say disappointed wasn't quite right; it was just a bit different from what Ajitani had told her.
Tsuna's browser history was full of search records related to publishing houses and motorcycle driving licenses; there wasn't a single unknown website…
It was so normal that it made her a bit suspicious, but the facts were right before her eyes.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Shouko immediately began to apologize to Tsuna, who was sitting on the bed, and even sincerely signed an unequal treaty.
Three knee pillow coupons, two hug coupons, and one kiss coupon that Tsuna had earned by haggling with his eloquence.
"Alright, I forgive you, Shouko. Next time, please don't be so suspicious. If you have anything, you can just ask directly."
Tsuna held up the six freshly made coupons in his hand, barely suppressing the corners of his mouth from curving wildly upwards.
There must be something wrong with the browser, but it's just some limited edition photo books, nothing serious.
They were mainly shared with him by Shin-chan and Nishikata, and he accidentally saved them, so if anyone is to blame, it can only be those two.
As for why the browser history Shouko saw now was so normal?
That's because he was well-prepared, had already made a backup, cleared the history, and only left the irrelevant ones.
Half a month ago, he noticed that Shouko was hiding something from him, and every day she came to his place, she would borrow his phone to play for about thirty minutes, and wouldn't let him watch.
He wasn't like Masao, so he quickly discovered the problem by checking the daily app usage statistics on his phone and immediately noticed the anomaly.
"Tsuna, since you've forgiven me, let's talk about the things you've been hiding from me now!"
Shouko forced a kind smile, and before he could react, she pushed off with both feet and pounced on him.
"Wait—"
The six scattered coupons on the floor, and Shouko straddling Tsuna, instantly made the room chaotic.
"The vanished strawberry, the rooftop confession, the harassment from the girl, threatening Yuzuru to run errands for you, and secretly taking photos of me drooling in my sleep!"
"You've hidden quite a lot from me!"
"Wait, I can expla—"
---
"What are these two kids doing up there? So noisy…"
Shizuka chose not to go up and check, but instead turned up the volume on the TV.