"I was the one who told you that, wasn't I?" Shizuka walked out of the living room, glanced at Tsuna, and, after confirming nothing was amiss, went back inside.
Shouko playfully stuck her tongue out at him. "I can't believe Mom would expose me."
The two returned to the living room and chatted on the sofa for a few moments. After Shizuka left for something, Shouko suddenly turned her water glass, leaned forward, and asked in a feigned casual tone,
"Tsuna, did Nishikata have something urgent to talk to you about when he called you out late last night?"
Tsuna instinctively waved his hand. "Nothing, he was just being his usual crazy self."
"Ah...?"
Seeing her confused expression, Tsuna patiently explained the whole story of what happened in the hour from when he left to when he returned.
"Huh?" Shouko still looked bewildered. "He called you out just for that little thing?"
Tsuna shrugged. "It's alright. From Nishikata's perspective, it's not a small matter..."
He understood, but he was still speechless.
Listening to him, Shouko put herself in his shoes, and indeed, if Tsuna ignored her from noon to evening, she would also get anxious...
Although she had other options, like going directly to Tsuna's bedroom, Nishikata didn't have that option.
Moreover, Takagi-san and the others were together in the afternoon, and they definitely had time to check their phones. The result was also obvious: it was highly probable that Takagi-san deliberately replied so late...
Shaking her head, she tossed out all the jumbled thoughts and then asked another question she was concerned about:
"So, did Nishikata finally say when he's going to confess?"
"No." Tsuna shook his head, handed her a peeled orange, and guessed, "It should be soon. Nishikata's Mom's assist at noon was really powerful.
Although he brushed it off with an excuse, Takagi-san probably didn't believe him. Even the silly class monitor could see through his excuse at a glance."
"..." Shouko gave him a helpless glance. "Tsuna, if Ajitani-chan heard that, she might beat you up."
"It's fine, I believe you'll protect me."
Tsuna smiled at her, and Shouko subconsciously nodded.
The two played around in the living room for a while until Shizuka returned. She then disdainfully grabbed them by their collars and pushed them up the stairs.
---
"This!" Jun rubbed her sore eyes, and when she came to her senses, she slapped her thigh and jumped up, her charging cable still tangled around her ankle.
She pushed away the stray hair stuck to her forehead, her nails tapping on the phone screen with a clicking sound. The lock screen brightly displayed the large numbers "03:07."
"How is it 3 o'clock already? I thought I only watched for a little while??"
Before her words even fell, she grabbed a trash bag, and the leftover plastic wrap-covered rice balls and empty cans on the coffee table rolled into it.
The faucet had just rinsed the oil from her hands, the rag was casually tossed into the sink, and she had already slipped into bed, the charger still digging into her pants pocket, not yet taken out.
"Calling the old man this late, asking for leave will definitely get me scolded. Even on 'LINE' it might..."
Jun took off her chest equipment and casually tossed it onto the headboard. She thought that if it weren't for the fear of sagging, she'd be too lazy to wear this cursed thing at home...
After much hesitation, she decided to set an alarm and ask the old-fashioned geezer for leave around seven or eight in the morning, and also finish the more than half-read book.
But no sooner had she closed her eyes than she suddenly opened them again. Her previous thought had already been overturned. Since she was going to ask for leave anyway, why not just read until she finished asking for leave in the morning and then sleep?
Thinking this, she felt the plan was very feasible. She picked up her phone, which was still charging, and continued to read. As for whether she would successfully get leave, she hadn't considered that at all.
Her asking for leave was just to inform her dad; she didn't need him to approve it, as long as he knew...
Time passed imperceptibly. When her alarm rang again, she looked at the window with two panda eyes, feeling the morning light filtering through the curtains.
Without a word, she picked up her phone and called the person saved as 'Dad.'
"Beep beep..."
"Beep beep beep..."
"Denied."
As soon as the call was answered on the other end, before she could even speak, she heard that merciless voice come from the phone.
"..." Jun, whose intention was guessed in advance, was a bit speechless and awkward.
"Dad, it's enough that you know. Love you."
"Beep..."
"..."
President Kazeno looked at the disconnected call, then at his wife's curious and puzzled gaze beside him, and sighed helplessly.
---
In the following days, apart from Nishikata quitting his part-time job at the sushi restaurant and his occasional message harassment, Tsuna thought things would remain calm until school started. That was until Jun called him.
As soon as the call connected, Tsuna was the first to ask, "What's wrong, Jun?"
"Miyamura, you're not even human!"
"Beep beep beep..."
Tsuna looked at the disconnected call, thinking about Jun's clearly tearful words, and immediately guessed the general reason, feeling a bit amused and frustrated.
Because when Ajitani finished reading 'I Want to Eat Your Pancreas,' she said almost the same thing, and she cursed even worse than her...
"What's wrong, Tsuna?" Shouko stopped what she was doing and curiously looked at the dazed person. "Just now, I think I heard Jun crying."
"Nothing." Tsuna leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "Maybe Jun had some work-related issues that didn't go well. She hung up before saying anything."
After that, he asked in return, "Oh, right, Shouko, how's the illustration commission I gave you coming along?"
Shouko gave him a helpless glare. "How long has it been? That's illustrations for an entire book, and they need to be both colored and black-and-white..."
"No rush. Jun just finished I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. I guess it'll be several months until the book is printed, so take your time."
As soon as he sent the entire book I Want to Eat Your Pancreas to Jun, he immediately gave Shouko the commission.
Excluding the book cover, twelve color illustrations, and over twenty black-and-white ones, he sometimes felt he was making things a bit difficult for Shouko...
"Jun should tell me the book printing time in the next few days. Let's see. Besides, school starts in two days." Looking at the ceiling, he got a headache whenever he thought about school starting.
He really didn't want school to start, especially in such hot weather, with everyone crammed into one classroom, and only three fans overhead...
"That won't do." Shouko tilted her head and retorted,
"I need to work harder. Once this commission of yours is done, I'll take on more commissions. I promised I'd support you, after all."
Tsuna just smiled and said nothing. The only sounds left in the room were the tapping of the keyboard and the 'pat-pat' of raindrops hitting the window.