A cool breeze suddenly brushed Tsuna's nape. He turned to find Shouko staring blankly at a spot in the night sky where a half-burnt silver thread remained.
For the next few days, Ajitani appeared punctually at Shouko's doorstep every evening.
Aside from feeling a little nervous when facing Yaeko, she quickly hit it off with Yuzuru.
Yuzuru also knew the purpose of Ayumi's daily visits but wasn't particularly interested in light novels, so she didn't pay much attention.
Compared to staying home reading novels and comics right after school, she preferred taking Hachiko out to play wildly with friends.
"Shouko-chan…"
"What's wrong?" Shouko stopped what she was doing and looked questioningly at the soft, slumped creature on her bed.
"You said…" Ajitani hesitated repeatedly but still asked the doubt in her heart, "What will happen to the female lead, 'Maori Hino,' later on?"
Shouko shrugged helplessly. "Ajitani-chan, don't try to get spoilers from me. I haven't even read this book after Tsuna finished writing it."
In fact, she hadn't read it, but she had heard Tsuna tell the story before, and it was a depressing one.
"What!? You haven't even read it yet?"
Shouko didn't understand the surprise in Ajitani's eyes.
"I always wait until the release day to read them, except for 'Anohana.' Since that was Tsuna's first book, I was the first to read it."
The last sentence carried a faint sense of pride.
Ajitani rolled over and continued pressing: "Then if you don't understand, how do you draw all your character illustrations?"
"If there are any character-related questions, just ask Tsuna directly. No one understands the characters in his books better than he does."
With that, Shouko put down her stylus and stretched lazily with a comfortable groan.
Ajitani muttered softly, "That makes sense…"
Her gaze was fixed on Shouko's figure as she stretched, and her hands unconsciously touched her own. Words of envy caught in her throat as she grabbed the papaya milk from the nearby table and drank it all in one gulp.
"Ajitani-chan, drink slowly, don't choke. There's plenty of papaya milk."
"…"
— — — —
"Miyamura, that bastard!!"
"My 'Toru-kun'…!!"
Shouko saw her with snot and tears, and a few words of comfort had no effect. She could only silently hand her tissues.
"He… how…?" She sniffled. "How could he… do this? Is it that hard to write a pure romance with a happy ending?"
With that, she tried to burrow into Shouko's embrace, but Shouko pushed her away with a slight hint of disgust.
"Ajitani-chan, how about you wipe your nose first…?" Shouko said tactfully, not forgetting to hand her another tissue.
Ajitani took the tissue and blew her nose with a wet 'plop' sound. "No, I have to beat him up, otherwise I can't swallow this anger."
She was about to get up, but Shouko, with quick reflexes, hugged her waist and helplessly advised, "Ajitani-chan, don't be impulsive."
"How about… how about this, tomorrow when I see Tsuna, I'll help you hit him, okay?"
Ajitani sobbed and sat down again, extending her pinky finger. "Let's pinky promise… and when you hit him, remember to hit him twice more."
Shouko looked at her tear-stained little face and nodded repeatedly, assuring her, "No problem, no problem."
As for hitting Tsuna twice more? After promising, she completely forgot about it. She would just go through the motions then…
This time, with Shouko by her side to comfort her, Ajitani cried even harder than last time. Yaeko even knocked on the door in the middle to check on her, but left after Shouko said it was nothing.
Finally, Ajitani called her family and stayed overnight at Shouko's house.
The next day, after Ajitani left, Shouko immediately went to Miyamura. The moment they met, she didn't forget to gently punch him, expressing her dissatisfaction from last night.
A few days later, he received a barrage of messages from Nishikata on his phone, mostly complaints about the ending of 'Anohana.'
The clever Tsuna glanced at them, replied with a 'read' receipt, and ignored them. However, for the next few hours, his phone's vibration didn't stop.
— — — — — — — —
"Tsuna, tomorrow we're having dinner at Nishikata's part-time sushi restaurant. Where do you think we should go after we eat?"
Shouko lay on someone's soft bed, her small feet swinging up and down, hitting the mattress, asking casually.
"Hmm…"
Tsuna leaned back in his chair, his gaze moving up and down with Shouko's movements. "I'm fine with anything, it's up to you all."
Thinking that school would start in a week, he couldn't muster much enthusiasm, and with the high temperatures of the past few days, he still felt it was best to stay home. But he also didn't want to disappoint Shouko.
"Then we'll see what Takagi-chan and the others say then." Shouko rolled over and smiled at him. "If they haven't decided either, how about we just go home and stay there?"
"Mm-hmm."
The next day, the high temperature distorted the air, making distant objects appear to shimmer.
"Ding-a-ling…"
Tsuna pushed open the wooden lattice sliding door, and the ceramic wind chimes hanging on the door frame made a dull sound. The cold air from the air conditioner, mixed with the salty smell of seaweed, instantly took away the heat from everyone.
They immediately spotted Nishikata standing behind the L-shaped bar, neatly scraping tuna blood from a translucent cutting board with a bamboo slice. They all tacitly remained silent, not wanting to disturb him.
Warm yellow spotlights hung overhead, and six place settings already had green bamboo chopstick rests. The edge of the wasabi jar still had faint green residue that hadn't been wiped clean.
"Welcome…"
Tsuna politely nodded to the server at the wooden bar. "Five people, with a reservation."
Then the staff led them to the six-person table they had reserved yesterday. Tsuna took two menus and handed them to Shouko beside him and Takagi opposite him.
"You all—"
"Sister Mimatsu, these are my friends, I'll take care of it." Just then, Nishikata, dressed in a sushi restaurant assistant chef's uniform, appeared behind the server, also interrupting Tsuna's question.
"And I've already asked for leave from Uncle Matsumoto, don't worry."
"Alright then, thank you." With that, the server turned and left.
Nishikata skillfully pulled out a notepad and pen from his apron pocket, a smile on his lips. "What would you like to order, esteemed guests?"
"The free sushi set, please," Ajitani raised her hand, speaking without reservation.
"…" Nishikata's smile dropped a few degrees.
"Ajitani-chan, that's too much," Takagi pulled down her hand and looked at Nishikata. "We're here to cause trouble."
"Exactly, exactly," Shouko nodded in agreement.
"…" Nishikata's expression could no longer be maintained.
"Nishikata, just go with your recommendations, and also see what kind of dessert they want," Tsuna finally couldn't bear to watch any longer and interrupted them.