Tsuna heard the sound of a chair scraping behind him, and before he could fully turn his head, his peripheral vision caught Nishikata leaving his seat.
He didn't pay much attention, but after a while, he saw Nishikata return to his seat, ears red, head down, not speaking, and constantly tapping on his phone.
Receiving a subtle hint from Shouko, Tsuna turned back to him, asking with concern, "Nishikata, are you alright?"
"No... nothing."
Nishikata shook his head repeatedly, then put down his phone, looking as if he had let out a sigh of relief, and the redness in his ears gradually faded.
Before Tsuna could press further, he saw Ajitani and two others enter through the back door of the classroom and walk to the empty seats behind Nishikata.
Tsuna saw the three of them trying to suppress their laughter and silently prayed for Nishikata for a second.
Nishikata also noticed the movement behind him. Just as he was about to speak, Ajitani cut him off, feigning seriousness: "Takagi-chan, do you have thorns on you?"
Takagi touched her shoulder upon hearing this and said in surprise, "How could I have thorns on me?"
"Eh... I don't have thorns either," Ajitani said, looking at Rinko beside her. "Rinko, do you have thorns on you?"
"Thorns?" Rinko quickly shook her head in denial. "How could a normal person have thorns growing on them?"
Nishikata lowered his head even further, pulling out his phone and switching between text messages and 'LINE,' pretending to be busy and not to have heard anything.
"Eh..." Ajitani's nimble eyes darted around, wandering over Takagi and Rinko's faces. "How come I remember someone saying he had thorns on him... It's really strange, how could someone have thorns growing on them?"
"Eh... I've heard that too." Takagi glanced at the seemingly busy Nishikata, her eyebrows subtly raised, taking in all the details with her crescent-shaped eyes.
"I remember how that saying went..."
Her words paused, as if she were truly recalling. "It was something like... 'You can't have thorns on you... but you...'"
Before she could finish, Ajitani, with her smiling eyes, eagerly interrupted, "You don't have to prick people, but you can't be without thorns!"
"Oh, oh, oh..."
"That saying is so... so incredibly literary. The person who came up with it is not simple..." Rinko could no longer hold back her laughter and had to cover her mouth tightly, afraid of laughing out loud.
"No, no, I need to stay far away, I'm afraid of getting hurt..." With that, Ajitani pressed her lips together and quickly left the classroom through the back door.
Rinko followed closely, not forgetting to give Takagi a 'it's up to you' look before she left.
Takagi knew there were still two spectators, so the act couldn't stop. She casually placed her hand on Nishikata's shoulder.
The moment she touched him, she immediately pulled back, exclaiming in surprise, "Ouch! It's... it's prickly!"
Then, looking at the backs of the two who had left, she took the opportunity to pat Nishikata's head. "You, huh? Thorn Bro?"
With that, she turned and followed the other two, not forgetting to let her light laughter reach Nishikata's ears.
After the three left the classroom, Tsuna only heard bursts of laughter from the hallway entering the classroom, clearly distinguishing Ajitani and Rinko's voices.
When his gaze turned to Nishikata, he suddenly noticed something was off. Nishikata had his head down, his expression completely unreadable, with only his ears glowing red.
It was very strange...
And Shouko, who was sitting next to him, was also trying to suppress her laughter, feeling a bit embarrassed to laugh out loud.
After this incident, Nishikata seemed to have been stimulated, and his 'LINE' updates did not contain any more chuunibyo remarks for several years afterward.
Only on the night he successfully proposed to Takagi did he update it once, and the next day when he went to work, he was mocked by his neighbor Tsuna with the same words.
---
"Clap, clap, clap..."
A sudden round of applause echoed from the dance studio entrance, drawing the attention of everyone practicing.
"Minna-san! Today's practice ends here. Good work!"
Nanase-sensei walked into the dance studio, having her little attendant, Ajitani, distribute the freshly bought cold drinks.
When the students received their drinks and wanted to continue practicing, Nanase-sensei interrupted them.
"It's already so late today. Everyone go home now, or your parents will worry."
With that, Nanase-sensei gave them no chance to hesitate, waving them out of the dance studio. She didn't forget to lock the door with a key.
Seeing this, everyone could only wave goodbye and leave.
On the way, Shouko looked at the sunset reflecting on everyone's faces and sighed helplessly.
"It's only just past five-thirty. I wanted to practice more."
Ajitani felt the warm evening breeze on her face, stirring the wisps of hair on her forehead, and defended Nanase-sensei.
"After all, the School Festival is next Wednesday. Nanase-sensei is also worried that everyone might be too nervous or that something unexpected might happen."
"I can't believe the School Festival is next week already, time flies." With that, Takagi, beside Shouko, turned to Nishikata, who was always lagging behind the three.
"Right, Prince Piggy?"
Nishikata, caught off guard, stumbled into her crescent-shaped smiling eyes. His eyelashes fluttered twice, and he nodded clumsily before turning his face away, his Adam's apple bobbing restlessly.
Bathed in the sunset's glow, no one noticed his ears gradually turning red.
"Bye-bye."
"See you tomorrow."
The five of them parted ways at the school gate, feeling both anticipation and nervousness for the School Festival next Wednesday.
---
Night fell as the temple bells chimed.
Tsuna stood on the second-floor balcony, clearly smelling the earthy scent in the air, and warned, "It might rain heavily later. Shouko, do you want to go home first?"
With that, he turned around and saw Shouko rolling around on his bed, wrapped in his neatly folded air-conditioning quilt, making the bedding messy.
...
"No." Before he could speak, Shouko interrupted him. "I can wait until the rain stops to go home then."
Tsuna locked the window, sat down at his computer desk, feeling a bit helpless.
"Then you might as well go back with an umbrella; you'd only need to wash your feet." As he mentioned feet, his gaze unconsciously drifted towards them.
But Shouko didn't give him the chance, immediately pulling her feet into the blanket, while also giving him a defiant and victorious smile.
...
Tsuna, unable to bear it any longer, immediately pulled out a yellowed piece of paper from his drawer and waved it in front of Shouko.
Shouko poked her head out from under the blanket, looking at the paper in his hand in confusion. "Tsuna... this paper is...?"
She recognized the paper in his hand but didn't know which one he was holding now. Over the years, she herself couldn't remember how many slips of paper she owed Tsuna...
Tsuna curved his lips, handing the paper to her. "A 5-minute lap pillow coupon. I'm using it now."
Hadn't he hoarded so many coupons for years precisely to use them when she provoked him? Although the final right of use was hers...