"A light novelist?" Tsuna stared at the ceiling, trying to put it in simple terms that the five-year-old could understand.
"Someone who writes a lot of interesting stories."
"So, do light novelists have colleagues they can work with?" Shouko sat up in bed and looked at him.
"Illustrators, huh...?" He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"The kind who draws?"
"Yeah." Tsuna nodded, then briefly explained what an illustrator does.
"Then... then I want to be an illustrator!" Shouko's eyes sparkled, and she excitedly raised her hands. "That way, I can illustrate Tsuna's books!"
"When I do, my expectations will be very high."
"I don't care, I want to be your illustrator!" The five-year-old shook her head, then pounced on him, nuzzling her cheek against his.
"Because that way, I can be Tsuna's illustrator for his future light novels!"
The memory ended abruptly with Shouko's words. Tsuna turned to look at Shouko in disbelief, surprised that she still remembered this.
"Hehe..." Shizuka vaguely guessed the reason when she asked why: "It's because of this brat again." As soon as she finished speaking, Shizuka seemed to be a little jealous and picked up the pillow that was leaning on the sofa and threw it at Tsuna, who had been staring at Shouko.
Shouko heard this and muttered softly: "Tsuna smells good, not bad..."
"What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly just now."
"It's okay, Auntie, you heard me wrong, I didn't say anything." Shouko quickly waved her hand.
Shizuka caught the pillow that Tsuna had thrown back and put it back in its place. After checking the time, she stood up and said to the two of them:
"I'm going to buy groceries. What do you want to eat?"
Tsuna used the remote control to switch to the Japanese variety show channel and shook his head: "Whatever I want is fine."
He didn't have any opinions on what to eat for dinner. After all, whatever his mother made was delicious. Even if it was unpalatable, it couldn't be that bad.
"What about Shouko?"
"Huh?"
"You'll eat at Auntie's tonight. I've told Grandma Nishimiya not to prepare your meal tonight."
"Then, just like Tsuna, anything's fine." Shouko didn't refuse.
"Okay, I'm leaving then," Shizuka nodded, leaving the living room without hesitation.
Before long, the sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard outside.
Shouko slid over to Tsuna's side, watching a variety show with him, sometimes laughing out loud at the funny moments.
Time flew by, and it was time for a nightcap—
"Tsuna, I'm going back to home."
"Yeah, good night."
"Good night."
Shouko closed the door for him and slowly made her way downstairs.
"Are you going back home?" Shizuka, who was doing yoga in the living room, heard Shouko's footsteps coming down the stairs and asked when she reached the living room entrance.
Looking at Shizuka, who was sitting on the yoga mat inside and doing strange movements, Shouko whispered:
"Yeah, Aunt Miyamura, you don't have to prepare Tsuna's lunch box tomorrow. I want to try it tomorrow."
She wanted to give Tsuna a surprise tomorrow.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, Auntie. I just wanted to do it myself." Shouko shook her hand, said goodnight to her, and left.
"I wonder if that brat saved the world in his previous life." Shizuka murmured softly after hearing the door close.
"That's not right. Tsuna has been with Shouko since she was a child. He has been taking care of her since she was a little girl."
"Ah!?"
"You scared me! Why are you walking so quietly?" Shizuka looked at Daisuke, who suddenly appeared at the door, patted her chest, and glared at him.
"You were just too lost in thought, okay..."
"Yeah?"
"It's all my fault. It's all my fault. I'll make a little more noise next time I come over."
---
"Mom, where's my lunch box today?" Tsuna, who had just finished blow-drying his hair in the living room and walked into the dining room, wondered, noticing his lunch box missing from the table.
Shizuka swallowed her sandwich and said apologetically, "I woke up late today and didn't have time to prepare anything. So, I'll have to ask you to go to the school store and buy some rice balls and other food."
"Yeah," Tsuna said, pulling up a chair at the dining table and sitting down, nodding in response. He didn't think it was a big deal.
He remembered that when he came down early this morning, he saw the lights on the first floor were off, and thought his mother wanted to sleep in a little, but she had overslept.
"Click..."
"Shouko is here," Shizuka, still eating breakfast, called out at the sound of the door opening.
"Good morning, Aunt Miyamura." A moment later, Shouko walked into the dining room, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder. She greeted Shizuka the first thing she saw.
"Cute!"
Shizuka glanced over, her eyes instantly brightening. She looked at Shouko, adorable in her sailor uniform, and it was hard to describe.
Tsuna paused his meal to look over and could only say, "Oh my god!"
"What's the deal with cute or not..." Shouko said shyly, a bit overwhelmed by Shizuka's constant compliments this early in the morning.
But she still glanced at Tsuna, and seeing the expression on his face, she felt nothing but satisfaction.
"Look, Tsuna's completely stunned, and you still say it's not cute?"
"Of course not!" Tsuna quickly defended himself, turning back to his breakfast.
He was clearly admiring her, not being stunned.
"Where's Uncle Miyamura?" Shouko noticed the table was missing.
"Him?" Shizuka waved her hand. "He doesn't have to go to the office today, he's still sleeping."
"Oh oh." Shouko walked over to Tsuna, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
As Tsuna ate, he suddenly caught a whiff of the distinctly young girl's body fragrance.
A few minutes passed before Tsuna swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and grabbed the half-full glass of milk, gulping it down in one gulp.
"I'm full."
"A little more?" Shizuka, chewing slowly, looked up at him and inquired.
"No, leave it for Dad. Shouko and I are going to school."
"Wait."
"What's wrong, Mom?" Tsuna was a little confused by her sudden call.
After confirming Shouko was still in the bathroom, Shizuka hurried into the kitchen, retrieved his lunch box, and handed it to him.
"Didn't you get up late and not make it?"
Shizuka ignored him, took the schoolbag beside him, opened it, and stuffed it in without hesitation.
"Just take it. Why are you so talkative?"
Tsuna obediently shut up at that. He could tell his mother was hiding something from him, and it was most likely related to the lunch box.
Combined with the fact that Shouko had been studying with her recently, he immediately guessed most of the answer. As for why she suddenly gave him the lunch box, he had no idea.
---
"Let's go, Auntie."
"Be careful on the road."
"Got it." x2
After watching the door being slowly closed by Tsuna, Shizuka withdrew her gaze.
Although she had promised Shouko yesterday, she still knew what Shouko's skills were like. She was afraid that the boy would not be able to get used to the food, so she went to the canteen with Shouko to buy rice balls and other things, and those things were not healthy.
So she got up early in the morning and hurriedly prepared this bento, and even added more, so that he and Shouko could share it without any big problems.
(End of this chapter)
---