"Knock, knock, knock..."
It was around ten o'clock when Daisuke emerged from his room, knocking on the door across the hall.
"Tsuna? Are you asleep?"
Daisuke received no response, but instead heard hurried footsteps from within.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Tsuna opened the wooden door and looked at Daisuke, puzzled.
Daisuke glanced inside, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, then turned his gaze back to Tsuna.
"Your mom asked me to come over and switch rooms with Shouko."
"Okay," Tsuna nodded. He didn't think much of what his father had said. After all, he had anticipated this possibility when he heard the knock on the door earlier.
"Shouko."
"Shouko..."
"Shouko? Stop pretending to be asleep. You heard it, didn't you?" Tsuna called out several times without receiving a response, finally feeling helpless and exposing her little trick.
Still receiving no response, Tsuna was about to call out a few more times when Daisuke interrupted him.
"Forget it, let Shouko sleep here. You should go to bed early, too. I'll go back and tell your mom."
"Okay," Tsuna nodded.
Daisuke closed the wooden door to Tsuna's room and walked back inside.
"Why are you here again? Where's Shouko?" Shizuka heard the door open and looked up to see that it was Daisuke. A look of disdain immediately crossed her face.
"That's unfair," Daisuke quickly explained, raising his hands in defense. "I went to call her, but Shouko was already asleep, so I came back first."
Shizuka was a little skeptical when she heard Junko say Shouko had slept with Tsuna all afternoon, and now she was still asleep so early.
She eyed her husband suspiciously before nodding. Seeing his innocent expression, she ultimately chose to believe him.
"Okay."
---
At the same time, after confirming his father had returned to the room, Tsuna walked over to the futon where Shouko was lying. Before he could reach out to expose her little trick,
Shouko was the first to burst out laughing.
"Tell me, why are you pretending to be asleep?" Tsuna sat down on the tatami beside her, looking at her speechless, and asked in confusion.
Shouko shook her head, lifted the quilt, sat up, and looked into his eyes. "I don't know, I saw my uncle coming over, and suddenly I didn't want to go to my aunt's place, so I pretended to be asleep."
"And how long has it been since we last slept together? Several years—"
"Stop, stop, stop, wait a second." Tsuna hurriedly interrupted her because she seemed to be getting more and more outrageous. "We are sleeping in separate rooms, not together, okay?"
He looked at her innocent face. If he didn't know that Shouko was still very innocent, he would almost think she was saying something lewd.
"No!" Ignoring his rolling eyes, Shouko grabbed both sides of the quilt with both hands and lay back down, covering herself in the process.
Tsuna stood up and returned to his position, lying down, then slowly complained, "Not even close, okay!"
One was leaning against the wall on the left, and the other, the same, was leaning against the wall on the right.
"Tsuna."
"What for?"
"Tsuna, Tsuna?"
"Just say it if you have something to say."
"Tsuna."
Tsuna, feeling a bit overwhelmed, grabbed the pillow he was using and threw it toward her.
"Hehe, your pillow is mine." Shouko, who was hit, stuffed the white pillow into her quilt without hesitation.
Tsuna picked up the watch next to him and looked at the time. "It's past eleven o'clock now, aren't you sleepy?"
"I've been sleeping all afternoon. It's all your fault for not waking me up; that's why I'm not sleepy at all this late at night, okay?" Shouko complained, looking at the ceiling.
The main reason was that she was sharing a room with someone, and she was a little excited and couldn't sleep at all.
It just so happened that Shouko's words triggered a memory in Tsuna's mind.
He thought about what he had said earlier in the hot springs, saying that Shouko would wear a swimsuit to show him tonight.
"You promised me a request this afternoon. Is that still true?" Tsuna lay on his side, and Shouko stared at him.
Shouko thought about it, confirming that it had happened, but she suddenly felt that Tsuna, who was bringing it up at this time, had bad intentions.
After hesitating, she nodded. "Tell me about it. I'll see if I agree to it first."
"I want you to wear the swimsuit you bought me earlier."
"Okay," Shouko agreed without even thinking.
This direct action made Tsuna feel a little embarrassed and confused.
Normally, he wouldn't have flirted with shyness before refusing without a second thought, or even calling himself a pervert. Why did he agree so quickly this time...?
And there was no expression on her face at all? This shouldn't be the case...
"What's that look on your face?" Looking at his bewildered expression, Shouko felt like he was asking for a beating, thinking of something rude.
"No, no, it's okay. I'll go out now while you change into your swimsuit." Tsuna quickly gathered his thoughts, stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and walked out.
He didn't give Shouko any time to regret it.
"Okay, come in."
Four or five minutes passed before Tsuna's voice rang from the room.
Without a word, Tsuna excitedly opened the door and walked in. He saw Shouko wrapped in the blanket, exposing only her head and hands.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah!" Tsuna closed the door and nodded without hesitation.
He hadn't even seen Shouko in the swimsuit; he only knew the color, nothing else.
As Shouko loosened the blanket, Tsuna's excitement instantly calmed.
The swimsuit Shouko had chosen was no different from any other summer outfit, revealing only her arms and thighs...
Everything else that needed to be covered was covered, and everything else that shouldn't be covered was covered too.
"Alright, you've seen enough. Get out of here. I need to change back into my pajamas." Shouko felt like laughing at his expression, but she forced herself to shoo him out.
She was afraid that if she laughed out loud, he'd get angry and make a move on her.
Although she felt a certain inexplicable anticipation, this wasn't right... not right...~(￣︶￣)~
"Okay..." Tsuna nodded calmly, walked out, and closed the wooden door behind him.
He appeared calm, but inside, he was already choking with regret...
What a shame! Such a shame! It would have been better if he'd seen Shouko in her swimsuit in junior high!
Back in their room, Tsuna and Shouko resumed their playful banter.
They chatted and played until two or three in the morning, only to fall asleep the next day. Tsuna wasn't awakened until the next morning by Shizuka's screams in the hallway.
"Yaeko, what did you say? That bastard is back for you again?!"
---