"Then… that won't do…"
Shouko felt as if his direct gaze was burning her, and her eyes involuntarily began to wander, her voice deflating little by little.
"It's settled then!" Saying that, she broke free from Tsuna's embrace, got up and ran, leaving the latter half of her sentence without looking back:
"I'm going back to help Granny prepare dinner!"
"Hey…"
Tsuna had just raised his hand to call out to the rapidly disappearing figure, but his voice got stuck in his throat.
"Bang!"
All that responded to him was a dull thud of a door closing, which sounded particularly harsh in the suddenly quiet living room.
"…"
Night gradually permeated the windowpanes.
"Tsuna, dinner is almost ready, come over now and we can start eating~"
A message notification abruptly interrupted his casual chat with Nishikata.
Tsuna glanced at the time at the top of his phone screen, then threw out a "Talk later," got up, grabbed the jacket draped over the back of the chair, pulled open the door, and clattered down the stairs.
"Click…"
"Excuse me!"
The first to run out to greet him was the fluffy Hachiko, followed by Yuzuru, who was chasing after its tail.
"Dinner is ready…—"
Tsuna was squatting, absentmindedly scratching Hachiko's chin, and had just drawn out his voice to call out, when Yuzuru, who had squatted down, cut him off crisply:
"Onii-san!"
Yuzuru leaned into his face, full of gossip: "Sister said you've been abandoned by Uncle and Auntie these past few days, is that true?"
"…"
Onii-san couldn't help but roll a perfect eye, muttering softly: "What are you talking about…"
He raised his hand and gently pushed away the curious little head that was too close:
"They just went to Kyoto for a trip, that's all." With that, he patted his pant legs and stood up.
Hachiko immediately rubbed its nose against his hanging fingers. Tsuna took the opportunity to lightly kick its butt, then slowly sauntered towards the dining room.
Passing by the living room, he didn't forget to greet Yaeko, who was watching TV on the tatami mat.
Seeing that the table was still empty, Tsuna turned and ducked into the kitchen: "Granny Ito, I'll lend a hand!"
As soon as his voice fell, Shouko , who was busy with her back to the door, finally noticed him. The wooden spoon in her hand was still stained with sauce, and she turned around, driving him away without hesitation.
— — — — — —
"Tsuna! A… Gang…!"
Shouko dragged out his name twice, and seeing that he was still staring blankly at the air, she simply slapped a hand on his cheek and rubbed hard:
"Where's your soul? Are you thinking about some woman? So engrossed?"
"Huh?"
Tsuna, whose face was distorted from being rubbed, finally came to his senses. He grabbed her still-mischievous wrist and, without thinking, changed the subject:
"I was thinking about those online commissions you took."
"Commissions? What's there to think about? It's not like they didn't pay a deposit or anything."
Over the past few months, especially with the recent preview of the new book 'i want to eat your pancreas', many people online saw the cover and illustrations and still thought it was Nishimiya sensei.
Her little broken Twitter account's follower count soared, and private messages asking her for commissions and avatar drawings kept dinging non-stop.
Shouko specifically picked a few online commissions that paid deposits first, as a safety net.
She no longer had to worry about pocket money at all.
But a few days ago, when she brought a small stack of cash home and tried to hand it to Grandma Ito in the kitchen, her wrist was suddenly gripped by a warm but strong hand.
It was Granny Ito's hand.
That hand, stained with cooking oil and clearly jointed, gripped her like an iron clamp, and the rag in her other hand was even still dripping water.
Granny Ito's brows were habitually furrowed, her voice not loud but carrying an undeniable heavy force, and she looked down at Shouko 's eyes, stating unequivocally:
"Even if you don't use this money, you can save it. The family isn't so short on money that we need an underage child like you to support us!"
This scene left a deep impression on Tsuna, the bystander. Later, he couldn't hold back and tried to mediate, but…
Not even a ripple was stirred.
It's not good for a future mother-in-law to become increasingly strong-willed…
… … … … …
"Once these new commissions are done," Shouko 's fingertip swiped across the tablet, tapping save, "I can properly work on the illustrations for 'Your Lie in April'."
She put the tablet aside, her gaze falling on someone's face. His gaze seemed to be nailed to the window, staring outside without blinking.
Tsuna looked at her upon hearing this: "You don't have to rush that much. It's fine to take a break for ten days to half a month before drawing."
"I'm afraid I'll start taking commissions again if I'm idle."
"…"
Seeing this, Tsuna stopped trying to persuade her. After chatting for a while, Shouko got up to help Grandma Ito prepare dinner.
He followed her, but after only a few steps, she feigned dislike and drove him out of the kitchen, so he could only stay in the living room by himself and watch TV.
Yuzuru, on the other hand, had taken Hachiko for a walk in the park and hadn't returned yet.
Granny Ito's work hours were not very fixed, but most of the time she only rushed back when dinner was ready and about to be served.
The next morning.
"Bang…! Bang…!"
Fireworks exploded in the sky, announcing the start of the sports festival, accompanied by the clamor of students and cheers from the stands.
"Ha~" Tsuna raised his hand to cover his mouth and yawned boredly.
This scene fell into the eyes of many, and yawns seemed contagious. As soon as his action ended, the next one followed.
"Miyamura!"
Ajitani, bright in her gymnastics uniform, stood before him with her hands on her hips, swinging the red and white striped relay baton with a whooshing sound:
"It's about to start, you need to be full of spirit!"
"Mm-hmm." He nodded perfunctorily and turned to walk towards the spectator stands.
The senior track was in full swing, and it was still early for their class to compete.
Classmates took the opportunity to slip away, some strolling back to the class spectator stands in twos and threes to wait, and many more headed straight for the family section, gathering in groups and greeting each other warmly across the railing.
"Onii-san, how late did you stay up last night?"
Before Tsuna had even warmed the bench in the family section, Yuzuru's small head leaned against the railing of the stands, blinking and crisply exposing him:
Tsuna waved his hand weakly: "I forgot, I was too sleepy and just fell asleep."
Before he finished speaking, his gaze furtively glanced towards Shouko , who was chatting with Takagi, her eyes curved in a smile.
"But, didn't you say last night that you recently made a new friend who also studies here? Why haven't I seen him come to chat with you?"
"Too many people, he might have social anxiety," she said, glancing at her phone, "I sent him a message but he hasn't replied."
"Social anxiety…?" Tsuna wondered: "Why couldn't he be chatting with his parents?"
Yuzuru rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head to look at him: "He told me yesterday when we were walking Hachiko that his parents aren't free today, so social anxiety is the only option."
Tsuna's eyelids were too heavy to lift another inch, and he weakly hummed a question through his nose: "…Hmm? Yesterday?"
He shifted his leaning angle: "Then, how long have you two… known each other?… How did you get in touch?"
Purely to force his eyelids to stay open and not droop, he let these two questions escape his mouth.