Shouko felt that Tsuna was a bit ungrateful. He was playing with his hands, but his eyes were still focused on her feet.
Shouko's voice interrupted him in his thoughts He collected his thoughts, and his eyes fell on her small feet.
Because they were at home, Shouko did not wear white socks or anything like that.
Her pink ankles were still rounded, but her ten toes showed the delicate and bony feeling unique to girls, curled up like unripe grapes.
The girl also shrank her toes in embarrassment because of the boy's gaze.
Shouko said shyly in a low voice, "Tsuna... stop looking, my feet are filthy..."
Upon hearing this, Tsuna quickly averted his gaze. He was a gentleman and changed the subject without hesitation:
"Yes, it's a good thing we came back early today; otherwise, we would have been exposed to the sun all day like them."
"I heard from Midori that she got a degree darker." Shouko didn't want to discuss what happened just now, so she followed his topic.
The two began to chat and study until the evening alarm that Tsuna set rang.
They spent the first half of the time chatting and doing homework, and the second half was Tsuna acting as a teacher, helping Shouko review her recent homework.
As Tsuna got up to turn off the small clock on the bedside table, Shouko turned her head and glanced at the time, seeing that it was already half past ten.
She, too, felt a tinge of sleepiness creeping in. She yawned silently, set down her pen, and raised her right hand. "Tsuna-sensei, I'm sleepy."
Seeing the drowsiness creeping onto her face, Tsuna removed his glasses, pointed to his bed, and raised an eyebrow, joking,
"Then go to bed. I'm a little sleepy too. Let's go together."
After putting away her workbooks and other things, Shouko's eyes flickered between his face and the bed. She stood up, cursed him, "You rascal!" and quickly ran downstairs, fearing he'd catch her.
"I'm kidding! Slow down! You might fall!" Tsuna urged.
But it had little effect. She seemed to speed up even when she heard his voice.
Shizuka, who was watching a TV series in the living room, heard hurried footsteps outside. She was still wondering why she was running so fast when she saw Shouko stop at the living room entrance.
"Why are you running so fast? What if you fall down the stairs? Did that boy bully you?" Shizuka asked three questions right away.
Upon hearing this, Shouko quickly raised her hand and shook it: "No, no, Tsuna didn't bully me. And I've been running up those stairs since I was a child, I won't fall.
Don't worry, godmother." After the words fell, she patted her chest, trying to make herself look more convincing.
Shizuka raised her left hand and extended her index finger, poking Shouko's forehead helplessly: "People who say such things often fall the worst."
Shouko stuck out her tongue upon hearing this.
Shizuka saw that her eyes were already sleepy, so she didn't want to say anything preachy:
"Okay, go back to bed, it's so late." She turned around and wanted to go back to the sofa to sit down and continue watching the drama.
"Godmother, godmother." Shouko quickly called her.
"What?" Shizuka Miyamura looked back in confusion.
After a moment's hesitation, Shouko slowly spoke, "Um... um...
It's just me... I... I... I want to ask if the hand cream you bought me earlier works on my feet." Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, her head lowered.
"What?" Miyamura Shizuka wondered if she'd misheard. Could that have come from Shouko?
Without waiting for Shouko to repeat herself, Shizuka observed the tips of her ears, which were beginning to turn red. She had already guessed the reason and tentatively asked,
"That boy, at such a young age, has such a peculiar interest?"
Shouko suddenly looked up at her and said excitedly, "Auntie, what are you talking about! It has nothing to do with Tsuna..."
Without waiting for Shizuka to answer her previous question, Shouko bolted out,
not even changing her slippers.
Seeing her like this, Shizuka could easily guess the answer. After finishing that episode, she silently decided to go up and talk to Tsuna.
Otherwise, if this continues, this time it's his feet, next time who knows whose feet will be involved.
She wants to nip this gradually perverted idea of his in the bud.
---
After the TV episode ended, Shizuka still felt a little unsatisfied, but thinking of her son—his business was more important—she stood up from the sofa without hesitation and walked to the second floor.
"Knock... knock... knock..."
"Tsuna, are you asleep?"
"No."
"Mom..."
Tsuna looked at his mother, who seemed to be acting suspiciously, and his intuition told him that there was a high probability that nothing normal would happen next. "Mom, why did you start knocking on the door when you came in?" He looked at Shizuka, who came in and sat on the chair, a little confused.
"Hehe... I was just worried that you were busy?"
Shizuka glanced around the room, and although she didn't see anything suspicious on the surface, she chuckled and answered the question irrelevantly.
Shizuka looked at Tsuna lying on his side in bed, staring back at her. Suddenly, she felt unsure how to ask. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly spoke,
"Well... never mind. It's okay. You should get some rest. I'll be going downstairs."
The question that had just reached her lips was swallowed back. She felt now was not the right time. What if Shouko was just asking casually...
though she felt the probability of that was so small it could be ignored.
Since Shouko had no objections, she couldn't say anything.
Before leaving, Shizuka raised her hand and gently tapped him on the head before closing the door.
Puzzled, Tsuna watched her come up mysteriously, then leave hesitantly, and finally, before leaving, she slapped him in the face.
---
"Mom, you should get some rest. Good night."
Shouko noticed Yaeko still typing away at her keyboard in the living room. She guessed she was still working on something, so she mentioned it to her and headed back to her room.
Upon hearing this, Yaeko paused, glanced at Shouko at the entrance to the living room, and then retracted her gaze.
"Remember to drink the hot milk in the dining room before bed."
"Okay,"
Shouko nodded in response to Yaeko in the living room, then walked to the dining room, where she immediately spotted the glass of milk on the dining table.
After finishing it in a few gulps, she rinsed the clear glass and returned it to its place.
"Hands and feet are similar, so hand cream should be similarly effective," Shouko muttered to herself as she returned to her room, pulling out the hand cream that Shizuka had bought her from a drawer.
"Never mind, the effects aren't that different anyway."
She sat down by the bed, opened the hand cream, and without hesitation, squeezed a little onto her feet, gently rubbing them in.
"I really don't understand. What's so beautiful about feet? Is it because I'm not good-looking?
I'll ask Miyoko tomorrow if there's any skincare products that are good for feet."
---