Tsuna knew that it was just after the New Year, and most children at this time would carry some New Year's money.
After the child saw Tsuna take the coin, he turned around and prepared to leave. Just after taking two steps, Tsuna's voice came from behind the child:
"Hey hey hey... Wait a minute."
The child turned around and looked at Tsuna in confusion. Tsuna smiled gently and said, "I want the other half. I want the other half." As he spoke, he held up the 500-yen coin in front of him.
The child stared at the coin in Tsuna's hand, then looked down at the 1,000-yen banknote he was holding. "What's the difference?" he asked curiously.
"I want the other half," Tsuna repeated, without offering any explanation.
After a moment's hesitation, the child handed over the banknote and took the coin from Tsuna's hand. As he did, he muttered under his breath, "Idiot." Then, after confirming with Tsuna again and again that there was no catch, he turned around and ran off.
Shoko lowered her head and spread out her ten fingers, trying to count the difference between the 1,000-yen banknote and the 500-yen coin. But the more she counted, the more confused she became, her eyebrows slowly knitting together.
Tsuna chuckled softly, gently patting her head. In a warm voice, he said, "It's okay, Shoko. Let's go in and play Shin-chan, and the others should be there already."
Shoko looked up at Tsuna with a silly, curious expression and asked, "Tsuna, why did you have to take the 1,000-yen banknote?"
Not wanting to ruin the reliable image he had in her heart, Tsuna quickly took her hand and changed the subject. "Because banknotes don't fall as easily," he said with a straight face. "Come on, let's go to the park."
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When the two walked into the children's play area in Futaba Park, they saw Shin-chan and five others surrounding a wall, not knowing what they were doing.
Shoko walked up and asked curiously: "What are you doing?"
"It's Shoko and Tsuna, look at this." Nene raised her hand and pointed at the thing they were surrounded by.
Tsuna saw a chubby red Shiba Inu puppy in an empty square cardboard box. On the front of the cardboard box was written "Please adopt me, I'm three months old, I've been dewormed and vaccinated three times, and I'm a male."
The Shiba Inu sat in the middle of the cardboard box, wagging its tail and looking at everyone.
Shin-chan squatted in front of the cardboard box and looked at the words written on it, saying the words intermittently. Then he said with an embarrassed expression: "It's a pity that it's a male. I still like females; otherwise, I would take it back to Shiro."
Tsuna looked at the puppy, then looked up and around, thinking that the person who abandoned the dog was a bit of a gambler. If the puppy were placed here, if it met a naughty child, the dog might not live until the afternoon, but if it met a loving person, it might pester its parents to adopt it.
Kazama stepped forward, gently lifted the puppy out of the cardboard box by its front legs. The puppy didn't bark or resist it simply let him hold it, wagging its tail even more enthusiastically. Looking at it with eyes full of sympathy, Kazama said to the others, "What a cute and well-behaved puppy. It's so sad that someone abandoned it here."
Without missing a beat, Shin-chan chimed in with a straightforward suggestion, "Then you can take care of it."
Kazama held the puppy with an embarrassed look on his face and said to Shin-chan with a sigh: "Hey... But I live in a luxury apartment, and we don't allow cats and dogs to be raised."
Ever since the puppy was picked up, Shoko hadn't taken her eyes off it. She wanted to go up and pet it, but Tsuna gently held her back, worried the puppy might bite her.
After hearing Kazama's response, Shin-chan turned to Nene and asked softly, "What about your family, Nene? Can you take it in?"
Nene rubbed her hands gently, looked at the puppy, and then retracted her gaze, looking down at the ground, and said, "But my family already has two kittens, and my mother won't raise a puppy."
"Oh… that's right!" Shin-chan suddenly lit up, raising his head with confidence. "Let's not tell Masao, and secretly leave it at his house!"
"Shin-chan! I'm right here!" Masao cried out in exasperation, clearly unamused by the idea.
Just then, Bo-chan spoke slowly and thoughtfully, "Shin-chan's family already has Shiro. Nene has a kitten. Kazama won't take it. My sister won't either. Masao's out… so what about Tsuna's family?"
Tsuna looked at everyone looking at him, and then He looked at the puppy in Kazama's arms, quietly wagging its tail. He felt that the puppy had been so well-behaved from now until then on. If there was nothing wrong with it, it would be nice to raise it. It just so happened that his mother was bored at home alone.
Without replying, he let go of the hand holding Shoko, walked forward, and took the puppy from Kazama's arms. This chubby puppy was really cute. He touched it here and there, but it didn't resist, just kept wagging its tail.
Tsuna suddenly felt a burning gaze on him. He instinctively turned to look at Shoko and saw her glaring at him with a hint of annoyance. Without missing a beat, he turned to the others and said, "I'll take the puppy home and ask my parents first. I need to check with them." With that, he gently cradled the puppy and walked back to Shoko.
Shoko let out a soft huff and said with a pout, "You wouldn't let me hold it before, and now you're carrying it around."
Tsuna chuckled and gently explained, "I was just worried the puppy might bite you. I waited to make sure it was safe first." As soon as he finished speaking, he carefully handed the puppy to Shoko with both hands.
Shoko's eyes lit up as she took the puppy into her arms, holding it tenderly.
Kazama stood nearby, watching the exchange. He sighed and looked at Tsuna with a speechless expression, but didn't say a word.
Shoko happily took the puppy and held it gently in her arms. Seeing her joy, Tsuna quickly reminded her, "Shoko, it's okay to hold and pet it, but don't bury your face in its fur. It might be a little dirty."
Shoko nodded cheerfully in response.
With that, Tsuna took her hand and turned to the others. "We're heading out. I'm going to ask my mom if we can keep it."
After saying goodbye to everyone, Tsuna and Shoko left together, the puppy nestled safely in their arms.
The two walked slowly to the door of the Miyamura house. Tsuna stepped forward and knocked. After a short pause, the door opened, and Shizuka peeked out. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Tsuna? You just went out, why are you back so soon?" she asked, her voice full of curiosity.
Before Tsuna could answer, her gaze shifted to the puppy nestled in Shoko's arms.
"Oh my… What's with this puppy? Where did you find it?" Shizuka stepped out and gently took the puppy from Shoko, cradling it in her arms as she inspected it carefully.
Tsuna noticed the warmth in Shizuka's eyes and quickly explained, "At the park, we found this puppy, which had been abandoned. It's already over three months old."
Shizuka gently stroked the puppy for a while, noticing how well-behaved it was. She seemed to like it quite a lot. Then, turning to Tsuna with a serious expression, she asked, "Do you want to adopt it? Your father and I will discuss it, but remember, if you adopt it, you must take full responsibility. No abandoning it afterward."
Tsuna glanced at Shoko beside him, looked up, looked into Shizuka's eyes seriously, and nodded in response.
Shizuka held the puppy in one hand and gently stroked Tsuna's head with the other, teasing with a smile, "You little bastard, you have to look at Shoko specifically, but since my Shoko likes it very much, I will agree with you." She snorted softly.
Passing the puppy back to Shoko, Shizuka glanced at her hand that had been petting the little dog, then stopped patting Tsuna's head. "Wait here," she said, before heading inside to grab her wallet and car keys. She was going to take them to the nearby pet hospital.