The morning light fractured into pale golden cracks on the damp slope.
The instant the hem of the sailor uniform skirt brushed against the puddles, the tip of the boy's canvas shoe suddenly exerted force, and splashing water droplets skimmed past the hem of his blue-gray standing collar uniform.
The dark patterns carved into the concrete by last night's downpour were being ground away by their playful antics.
The girl's round-toed leather shoes deliberately stepped into a puddle, and the scattered fragments of a rainbow happened to collide with the boy's rising smile.
The reflection of the school gate's iron bars swayed in the accumulated water like piano keys, and the lingering echoes of their laughter were kneaded by the wind into the rustling of convenience store plastic bags.
Tsuna held her hand and, before business hours began, they visited all the interesting stalls they hadn't gotten to yesterday.
The light music club's live rehearsal, the history club's recreation of Sengoku period armor, the science club's display of fascinating experiments, and the anime character exhibition.
Students sold their self-made handicrafts, such as felted wool, hand-painted postcards, and Japanese-style accessories.
Among them, Shouko took a liking to a handmade cat doll that slightly resembled Tsuna. After some effort and spending five hundred yen, she successfully acquired it.
"Tsuna, look, for just a moment, it really felt like you!"
On the way back to the classroom, Shouko excitedly held the cat doll up to Tsuna's face.
"How is this like me?" Tsuna looked speechlessly at the gray cat doll that seemed to have dead, fish-like eyes.
"Look, look, just for that one moment, didn't it feel alike?" She raised her hand to avoid his outstretched hand.
Seeing that she was holding the cat again, Tsuna gave up on the idea of snatching it.
"Tsuna, can you hold onto this cat for me for a few days?" As they approached the classroom, Shouko suddenly held out the doll she was hugging to him.
"?" He accepted the doll, which still held some warmth, without hesitation.
Before he could ask, he heard her explanation: "Remember to hold this doll when you sleep at night. I'll come back to get it in a few days."
"..." Tsuna's hand paused as he unzipped his backpack.
Good heavens, is this a scent-marking? And is it really okay to say it so directly...?
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Shouko's ear tips were already tinged with red before her words had even finished.
After a pause, Tsuna still chose not to say anything, silently putting the black cat doll into his bag. Shouko, who was standing next to him, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
"You two, if you keep this up, business is about to start," came Ajitani's helpless urging voice from behind them.
Shouko turned and greeted her, then linked arms with her, talking about various topics concerning the School Festival.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tsuna replied perfunctorily, quickening his pace towards the classroom.
He wisely chose not to listen in on the two girls' conversation.
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The carp streamers propped up in the morning light still swayed at the eaves, and the twilight had already seeped into the unextinguished oil stains of the takoyaki stall.
The black curtain of the haunted house curled up in the corner of the corridor, like time crumpled by screams; when the indigo-dyed tablecloths of the handmade market were folded, they shook off a few ginkgo leaves clinging to the scent of soba noodles.
The astronomy club's constellation lanterns fell one by one, and unspoken promises from the girl floated in the residual warmth of the tea kettle.
As the last arrow pierced the air at the archery range, the kendo club's bamboo swords split the slanted sunlight into fine gold leaf, which rustled down onto the empty playground.
Who was laughing and saying, "See you next year"? Skirts brushed over the ground covered in confetti, and footsteps and shadows were stretched long, long by the twilight.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
Ajitani stood in front of the classroom lectern, which had just been restored to its original state, and clapped her hands forcefully, instantly quieting the noisy classroom:
"Everyone worked hard these past two days!
Tonight, Yuki and I will tally the revenue from these two days, and we'll distribute it to everyone tomorrow!"
She didn't offer too many words of comfort; that simple sentence instantly revitalized most of the students who were slumped in their chairs.
Ajitani looked at Teacher Fujiro, who was standing at the doorway, and saw her smile faintly, shake her head, and turn to leave.
She instantly guessed Teacher Fujiro's meaning and shouted loudly to the students below: "Minna-san! School's over, be careful on your way home!"
The quiet classroom instantly erupted into laughter again, mixed with the sound of chairs scraping against the floor.
"Shouko, stop looking. Nobody's going to steal something like this."
"Mhm, mhm."
Shouko nodded, but her gaze remained fixed on the standee placed by the door, afraid it would be stolen in the final moments.
Tsuna glanced at his watch; it was already past 5:30 PM.
Business was better today than yesterday, so with everyone's agreement, the operating hours had been extended past 4:00 PM.
Adding in cleaning and restoring the classroom to its original state, over an hour had passed in the blink of an eye.
At noon, his mom had even brought Aunt and Yuzuru here for lunch, but because they were too busy, neither he nor Shouko came out to see the three of them.
He only heard Takagi and Nishikata mention it in the back kitchen.
"Let's go, Tsuna, stop spacing out." Shouko slightly bent her index finger and tapped his desk.
"Mhm." Tsuna collected his thoughts, stood up, and walked to the door with her, ready to help her carry the troublesome standee home.
"Ajitani-chan, Tsuna and I are leaving now. Bye-bye, see you next week." Shouko waved to Ajitani, who had sat back down at her desk.
"Shoko-chan, are you really not going to wait for me for a bit? I'll finish tallying with them quickly."
Ajitani blinked her big eyes at her, tears seemingly welling up in them.
She had to tally the revenue from the past two days with a few students who held positions in the class before she could go home.
Takagi and Nishikata had been cleverly 'arranged' by her to return the rented clothes, so they had effectively left early...
"Mhm..." A scale began to appear in Shouko's heart. In just a short while, the scale tipped towards her side.
She nodded, agreeing: "Then Tsuna and I will wait for you in the hallway outside."
"Mhm, mhm, I love you..." Ajitani's previously pitiful expression changed completely, and she blew her a kiss.
This cute expression and action made some boys who were secretly watching her freeze for a moment, and a few even regretted not recording it with their phones just now.
The two walked out of the classroom and stood by the hallway window, looking down at the students playing below, with Tsuna's life-sized standee placed beside them.
Around five in the afternoon, everything outside was covered in the twilight's glow.
The lights inside the school building also turned on at this time, and a faint reflection could be seen in the windows.
Shouko's cute face was reflected on the glass tinted with twilight.
Tsuna's attention couldn't help but shift from the sunset to that face.
Twilight melted the glass into an amber frame, the girl's nose pressed against the cool window surface, her eyelashes casting butterfly shadows in the reflection. The evening glow gilded her outline with honey, and even the white mist spreading on the glass became blush.
The boy subtly took out his phone from his pocket, aimed it at the girl, and the instant he pressed the shutter, their gazes met.
The soft click of the electronic shutter and the influx of footsteps shattered the amber stillness.
Tsuna couldn't help but frown; this broken phone from Japan always made a sound when taking pictures. This wasn't the first time he had complained about this issue...
He and Shouko turned their heads simultaneously. The few people standing behind them, looking awkward, were Kawai Miki and Ueno Naoka, who had ordered at their store these past two days.
Between them was a girl he and Shouko had never seen before, likely from their class.
Following the principle of politeness, he and Shouko simply greeted the three of them and were about to continue admiring the view outside.
But Kawai stopped them: "Um... Miyamura-kun, please wait a moment."
Seeing that their movements had stopped, she quickly introduced: "This is our classmate, her name is Mizusai Hoeko. She has a few words she wants to say to you..."
After speaking, she patted the girl's back, as if encouraging or cheering her on.
The girl wore thick black-rimmed glasses and looked like someone who would be easy to bully.
With a flushed face, the girl took half a step forward and suddenly looked up to meet Tsuna's gaze: "Um... um... um..."
She stammered for a while, unable to finish her words, and then lowered her head, her face red with embarrassment, no longer daring to make eye contact with him.
Shouko, who was standing by, was smart enough to understand the girl's intentions. Her internal alarm bells rang loudly, and her vinegar jar tipped over.
She frowned slightly, her small face stern, and silently moved two steps toward Tsuna, then very naturally linked her arm through his.
At the same time, she didn't forget to pull the life-sized standee closer with her other hand, as if declaring her ownership and telling the girl opposite not to harbor unrealistic fantasies.
The girl opposite did indeed notice her actions out of the corner of her eye and even looked up, deliberately glancing at her.
Just when Shouko thought the other party would retreat upon realizing the difficulty, she unexpectedly found the courage from somewhere, quickly pulled a pen and a notebook from her pocket, ignored Shouko, and handed them to Tsuna:
"Um... um... Miyamura-kun, I just want your contact information, there's no other 'meaning', could you please write down your phone number for me...?"
He could clearly feel the shyness in the girl's words, and she emphasized the word 'meaning' particularly heavily.
The students who hadn't left the classroom yet were gradually starting to notice the scene in the hallway.
Ajitani, who was originally focused on analyzing the revenue from the past two days, was prompted by her friend beside her, and she naturally looked at the few people in the hallway through the window.
Shouko was startled upon hearing this, not expecting this girl to actually come to steal her Tsuna.
She immediately increased the pressure of her grip, released the standee with her other hand, and instead tightly hugged Tsuna's arm with both hands, while also leaning her body closer to his chest.
She wanted to use her body to block the pen and notebook for him.
She also noticed the gazes of the classmates looking over from a distance. She, who usually dared not have too much physical contact with Tsuna at school, no longer cared about that at this moment.
She didn't want to lose her confidence in front of this girl.
This scene happened almost instantly. By the time Tsuna reacted, he only felt his arm being enveloped by two soft objects, and he could clearly smell the faint fragrance of the girl in his arms.
His ear tips began to turn red rapidly.
Just as he was about to speak to refuse, the girl in his arms didn't give him the chance.
Shouko saw that he wasn't saying anything and noticed his ear tips turning red rapidly out of the corner of her eye. She thought he was embarrassed to refuse because it was the first time he had been asked for his contact information directly.
As soon as this thought popped into her head, she confirmed it. With a hardened heart, under everyone's watchful eyes, she stood on tiptoe and gave the boy a quick peck on the side of his face. (T/N: Let's gooo!!!)
"Hmph!"
Afterward, she didn't forget to turn back and let out a light snort of provocation at the three people, but found that they seemed to be stunned.
It wasn't just these three; the students watching the scene from a distance were also a little stunned, and Ajitani, who was sitting in her seat, had her mouth wide open...
Shouko's rationality kicked in at this moment. She realized she seemed to have done something big under everyone's watchful eyes...
The temperature of her face rose even faster than Tsuna's, who had been kissed. She felt like she couldn't face anyone and there was no crack in the ground for her to crawl into...
She could only keep burying her face in Tsuna's chest, hoping everyone wouldn't look at her.
Tsuna also felt the unusual state of the person in his arms who was experiencing social death. Just as he was about to continue speaking his refusal, the girl opposite quickly ran away.
Leaving behind the stunned Kawai and Naoka, who, upon realizing what had happened, greeted Tsuna and Shouko and also fled the scene instantly.
"Class Monitor, there was a sudden incident, Shouko and I are leaving first, sorry."
Tsuna met the gaze of Ajitani, who was still staring at them from inside the classroom, shouted to her, then picked up the standee beside them, took Shouko's hand, and also fled the scene.
And Shouko, if she hadn't been held by him, would have run even faster than him.
Seeing that the protagonists had left, everyone dispersed, including some boys and girls who had still held fantasies about Shouko and Tsuna.
After this little interlude, almost all of them had given up hope.
In a corner unnoticed by everyone, Teacher Fujiro pushed up her glasses and stared at the backs of the two protagonists.
She didn't look away until the two disappeared down the stairs, then sighed softly, shook her head, and continued down the stairs.
She was planning to turn a blind eye to this matter.
Regarding their relationship, she had already received phone calls and concerns from Shizuka and the Principal at the beginning of the school year.
There was no need to call the parents again to talk about them being in an early relationship or anything like that. Even if they were called, it likely wouldn't have much effect...
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The silhouette of a bat cut through the twilight sky, and the chirping of insects wove a glowing web among the grass blades, until the moon bit through an ink sac, scattering silver-like stars into the folds of the raven-feathered darkness.
"What's going on? Did you make Shouko angry today?" Shizuka was watching a drama in the living room, not forgetting to ask.
Since this brat came home past six o'clock, it was now almost ten o'clock, and Shouko hadn't come over.
Strange, too strange.
"How could that be..."
Tsuna stopped typing on the keyboard, the scene from this afternoon involuntarily flashing through his mind, feeling a little guilty:
"I've been too tired these past two days. Maybe Shouko went home, ate dinner, took a bath, and fell asleep."
"Mhm..." Shizuka nodded upon hearing this.
It was indeed possible, after all, she had witnessed how busy their maid and butler cafe was during lunchtime these past two days.
"Oh, right, have you finished checking your light novel?" Shizuka suddenly changed the subject.
"Mom, do you want to read it?" Tsuna checked for typos and details in the first half without looking up.
"Mhm.
The drama I'm watching finishes tomorrow, and I don't have anything else I want to watch for now, so I thought I'd read your light novel to pass the time."
"Okay, tomorrow is my day off, I'll bring it to you." Tsuna agreed without hesitation.