"Pfft… haha…"
Ajitani burst out laughing when she saw that one person was missing from the member list in the 'LINE' group, and then refreshed it to find that Tsuna's avatar, who had just been speaking, had disappeared.
Shouko : "Thank you, Junko-nee! (Kiss.jpg)"
Junko: "(Hug.jpg)"
…
The Girl in the group were chatting animatedly, while the avatars of Nishikata and the two males remained gray, quietly lurking in the message stream.
They didn't send a single message until they finally said goodnight to each other.
Late at night, in the living room on the second floor of a hot spring inn in Osaka.
"Seriously, little brother! Can't you show some backbone?" Junko pressed the phone screen off, so angry she slapped the tatami mat beneath her.
"How long has it been? You still haven't dared to click a friend request?"
"I… I was afraid of disturbing your chat…" Mitoi Iori's voice grew softer and softer, almost shrinking into a ball.
"What if, what if the fact that I added Ajitani gets posted in the group… how embarrassing would that be?"
Junko listened until her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head.
Unable to bear it any longer, she snatched Mitoi Iori's phone.
"Hey, hey, hey! No, no, no!"
Before he could pounce to grab it, her fingers flew across the screen a few times, then she slapped the phone back into Mitoi Iori's arms with a "thwack."
"Done. What's the big deal?"
Junko stood up briskly, deliberately avoiding his tearful face, her voice carrying a hint of casual dismissal.
"No need to thank me, I'm going back to sleep."
Just as she stepped out of the doorway, she couldn't help but glance back at Mitoi Iori, only to see him already grinning foolishly. She shook her head speechlessly and continued walking towards the bedroom.
This cheap little brother was beyond saving; she didn't even need to think to guess that he was now fantasizing about his life after marrying Ajitani.
As for why this group was created so many days later? That was because she was afraid that someone would start to renege before the reward was even in hand.
...
Ajitani: "(Confused Tilt Head.jpg)"
Mitoi Iori stared at the message from her, typing and deleting text in the input box, the cursor blinking until midnight.
Finally, he managed to send one message, but until he woke up the next day and drifted back to sleep, Ajitani's chat box never lit up again.
Days passed like turning pages of a calendar, only pausing slightly the day before the Sports Festival. The date for tomorrow on the wall calendar had already been heavily circled in red.
During this time, the class's Sports Festival event list had long been filled with the names of participants, almost exclusively group events, ensuring no one would be left out.
The warm evening light streamed through the curtains, bathing Nishimiya Shouko's bedroom.
Tsuna sat cross-legged by the low table, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the tabletop, staring out the window in a daze.
"Tomorrow… maybe I should take the day off…" This mumble was almost swallowed.
"Hmm?" Shouko tilted her head at the sound, her gaze shifting from what she was doing. "Tsuna, what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly."
"Nothing." Tsuna's gaze fell on Shouko 's face. He shook his head, shaking away those distracting thoughts.
He thought that if he dared to ask for leave, the class monitor might just drag Shouko along to block the door tomorrow and forcibly drag him to school!
As for why he was in Shouko 's bedroom, it was because Shizuka and Old Deng went to Kyoto for a two-person world (wedding anniversary) a few days ago, and wouldn't be back until next weekend.
His breakfast, lunch, and dinner all had to be eaten at Shouko 's house. He had originally planned to just get by with convenience store ready-to-eat food, but as soon as he tentatively brought it up, he was shut down by Shouko's firm attitude.
As he thought, the surrounding scenery faded before his eyes, but the scene from last Friday afternoon after school clearly emerged.
——————
"I'm home."
"Mom, I'm home."
"How was school today?" Shizuka's smiling voice came from the living room.
Shouko , a step ahead of Tsuna, kicked off her shoes and padded barefoot across the wooden floor, heading straight for the living room entrance.
But just as she reached the doorway, she suddenly froze as if acupunctured, slowly turning her head to look at Tsuna, who was still in the entryway neatly arranging his shoes. She lowered her voice.
"…Hey, Tsuna, did Uncle not go to the office today?"
"Huh?" Tsuna was also bewildered by what she said.
But before he had much time to wonder, Shouko walked into the living room and directly asked Daisuke, who was sitting on the sofa staring at the TV.
"Uncle, aren't you going to the office today?"
Daisuke didn't even need to open his mouth to explain; Shizuka, who was curled up on the sofa poking her phone, loudly chimed in.
"Our wedding anniversary is in two days. We plan to go to Kyoto for a few days before coming back."
As for a two-person world, in front of the children, she ultimately found it a bit difficult to say. If Yaeko had been asking, it would have felt much more natural.
"Huh?"
Tsuna shuffled into the living room carrying two school bags, his gaze immediately drawn to the two glaringly large suitcases propped against the wall.
"What plan? Why didn't you guys tell me anything about it?!"
"Forgot."
"…" Tsuna suppressed his speechless emotion, sat beside Shouko , and continued to press for answers. "Then when are you going?"
"In a moment," Shizuka picked up her phone to check flights, but Daisuke had already picked up her sentence. "We have to rush to the airport in about half an hour."
"…"
Before they left, Shizuka counted on her fingers and explained everything she could think of. Finally, at the entrance, she stood on her tiptoes and ruffled Tsuna's hair, smiling with narrowed eyes as she instructed.
"These few days we're not home, you must eat well, and don't do anything bad while we're gone, okay…"
Tsuna, with his ruffled hair, listened to his Mom's gentle words, which also carried a faint threat, feeling a bit helpless and amused.
He watched Shizuka get into the passenger seat and the car's taillights turn the corner and disappear completely before slowly retracting his gaze.
Beside him, Shouko was still tilting her head slightly, her arm still extended in that direction, waving up and down in small motions.
Back inside the house.
"Tsuna," Shouko kicked off her slippers, then softly leaned her side against his arm, looking up to ask, "How will you manage breakfast and dinner these days?"
The two of them going off to their two-person world seemed to remove an invisible barrier.
As soon as they returned to the living room, her courage surged, and she practically glued herself to him, impossible to shake off.
Tsuna instinctively raised his hand to push her shoulder, but she, as if a switch had been flipped, leaned her head forward and pecked his cheek with a "chu," then hugged him even tighter, refusing to let go.
Normally, in the living room, she wouldn't even dare to make this move. Even if Shizuka wasn't there, she would be afraid of being seen, but now it was different.
Tsuna said without thinking, "A convenience store."
"No!" Shouko frowned, almost stomping her foot, her finger unconsciously poking his chest.
"Eating too much of that isn't healthy. Those are for people who are busy like tops and don't have time to cook!"
"Hey, hey, hey," Tsuna leaned back slightly from her poking, both annoyed and amused, as he grabbed her wildly poking finger.
"Shouko, you're looking at this with tinted glasses. Those products have all been vetted before being put on shelves. How could they be unhealthy?"