"You guys have fun. I'm leaving first." Jun checked that she hadn't left anything behind, and without waiting for them to try to make her stay, she slung her small bag over her shoulder and ran off.
"No, Jun..."
By the time the woman looked again, Jun had already slipped out of Futaba Publishing and squeezed into the elevator.
The elevator's hum mixed with the clanging sound of the train rolling over the rail gaps.
"I'm home."
Click...
As the lights illuminated the dimly lit room, the cozy yet slightly messy living room came into view.
A few drops of solidified stains clung to the edge of the coffee table, and several empty cans, all special offer beers from the convenience store, were scattered around.
Jun casually hung her shoulder bag on the hook behind the door, then turned and entered the bathroom.
—
"So, this is the big deal you said had to be discussed in person?" Tsuna leaned back on the long bench by the window of the convenience store, the outer wall of his iced coffee cup covered in condensation.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead as Nishikata, who had crumpled his straw wrapper, frowned across from him.
"This... isn't this a big deal?" Nishikata looked at him in disbelief.
"The big deal you're talking about means you sent a message to Takagi-san this afternoon, and she hasn't replied yet?"
"No... what else...?"
"Didn't you ever consider that Takagi-san might have been busy this afternoon and didn't have time to check her phone?" Tsuna was speechless.
"That's not very likely, is it?" Nishikata looked at him, disbelieving.
Tsuna stood up, ready to leave, but was promptly hugged by the quick-witted Nishikata around his lower body. "I believe you! I believe you! I asked you out because there's something else I need to tell you, alright!"
A child a few meters away suddenly stopped laughing, and a mother pushing a stroller pulled her toddler further to the side, away from them.
A worker on the other end of the bench, looking at his phone, turned up his headphone volume by two notches, and the plastic bag holding his deli food rustled with the intentionally created noise.
Tsuna sat back down on the bench, waiting for him to continue speaking without saying a word.
"What I... what I want to say is—" Nishikata lowered his head, the iced cola can spinning a half-circle of water stains in his palm.
His knuckles unconsciously rubbed the aluminum can's pull tab. "It's... before summer vacation ends, I plan to find Takagi-san... um... confess."
"Then you—"
Ding-dong...
A unique phone ringtone interrupted Tsuna's words. He looked speechlessly at the pocket where Nishikata's phone was.
"You—"
"Miyamura, wait a moment," Nishikata raised his hand to interrupt him. "Let me see what Takagi-san sent me first."
Saying that, Nishikata frantically pulled out his buzzing phone from his pocket, also bringing out two 100-yen coins.
Dong-dong...
Sigh...
Tsuna saw that Nishikata had no reaction, sighed softly, and could only bend down to help him pick up the coins that had rolled onto the ground. He looked up and saw the silly smile on his face, becoming even more speechless.
Seeing Nishikata giggling at the bouncing bear emoji next to Takagi's 'LINE' avatar, he subconsciously moved a little further away.
"Miyamura, look, Takagi explained to me that she was busy this afternoon and didn't have time to check her phone." Saying that, Nishikata showed him the chat content on his phone.
"..." Tsuna suppressed the urge to punch him twice.
"So, are you still planning to confess before school starts?"
"Confess? What confession? Did I say anything like that?"
Tsuna watched him play dumb and said nothing more, standing up and looking back at him. "Go home?"
There was no point in saying anything more at this point, and Tsuna chose not to interfere too much with Nishikata's romantic affairs.
He didn't believe Takagi had no feelings for Nishikata, and as for whether Nishikata's confession at this time would be successful, that was hard to say...
"Mm, let's go." Nishikata happily put away his phone, picked up the trash he had generated, and followed him.
—
"'I want to eat your pancreas'..."
The glass door slid open, pushing aside the mist. Jun tilted her head, holding the buzzing hairdryer, and water droplets from her hair rolled down into her snow-white cleavage.
The loose bath towel was pulled open at a small corner, revealing un-wiped watermarks on her shoulder blades. She swiped her phone screen twice and muttered in confusion:
"I don't know why Miyamura-sensei chose such a title this time. People who don't know would think it's some kind of horror or thriller..."
Jun shook her half-dry hair and balled up the wet bath towel, tossing it into the washing machine.
She pulled open the refrigerator, grabbed a can of beer, with a half-opened bag of potato chips tucked under her arm, and plopped down on the sofa, lighting up her phone screen.
Puffed food crumbs rustled downward, and the cold light of the screen made the un-wiped water droplets on her collarbone shine.
Time passed minute by minute, and Jun's brow furrowed tighter and tighter:
"I've already guessed the ending. Most likely, the female lead's treatment fails, and she dies in the hospital bed. Miyamura-sensei's skill has regressed. This blatant 'knife the female lead' was obvious from the start, hahaha..."
Saying that, she suddenly grabbed an empty can next to her and squeezed it, deforming it with force:
"And they told me it was a youth healing type! I didn't see any healing at all!"
—
"I'm afraid if I confess to Takagi-san now and get rejected, we won't even be able to be friends."
Tsuna ignored the suddenly emo Nishikata behind him, concentrating on riding his motorcycle, and also suppressing the urge to throw him off.
"Miyamura, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Is the wind too strong for you to hear?"
"..."
"That shouldn't be? Your current speed is only around 20, isn't it?"
"You said Takagi-san feels about me—"
"We're here. You can get off."
"Oh." Nishikata reluctantly shuffled off the motorcycle, still planning in his mind to linger on the seat a bit longer to continue pouring out his woes to Miyamura.
"Miyamura, how about—"
Before he could finish, Tsuna directly raised his hand to interrupt:
"Nishikata, you have to have confidence in yourself. If you confess to Takagi-san, she will definitely agree. Believe in yourself, okay? You can do it."
After saying that, he gave Nishikata a reassuring look, and without waiting for a reply, he revved the engine.
The lingering sound of "Bye-bye" hadn't even dissipated, and the motorcycle had already turned the corner and disappeared.
"..."
"I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to come to my place for a bit..."
Nishikata stared at the street corner for a long while, finally sighing softly before retracting his gaze and pulling out his keys from his pocket.
He suddenly remembered as he turned around that Tsuna still had his two hundred yen and hadn't returned it...
He wanted to chase him, but the person was already gone, and it was only two hundred yen. He felt that Tsuna probably wouldn't even care about it. Most likely, he didn't return it because he saw Nishikata was busy at the time, and then forgot about it in the next moment.
He had already thought of excuses for Tsuna, and the sudden buzzing of his phone in his pocket made him instantly forget about it.
—
Click...
"I'm ho—"
"Tsuna, welcome home!"
The living room curtain suddenly swung open, and Shouko unexpectedly poked out half her body, grinning and cutting off his words perfectly.
"How did you know I was back?" Tsuna looked at the girl bouncing toward him, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curving upward.
"That's because I guessed it, of course!" Shouko puffed out her impressive chest.