"Beep beep beep… beep beep beep…"
A hand stretched out from beneath the covers and accurately smacked the alarm clock as morning light streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains.
"Ha…"
Tsuna yawned, rubbing his messy hair as he sat up. After a brief moment of blankness, he changed out of his pajamas and went downstairs for his morning run.
It was not until Shizuka placed the steaming breakfast on the table that he pushed open the front door, panting.
In the morning light, his fringe clung to his heated forehead as he stepped into the still-chilly kitchen, radiating warmth.
"Hurry up… you…"
Shizuka, who had just set the fried dumplings on the table, was about to tell him to hurry and take a shower before eating. However, when she looked up and noticed his particularly eye-catching neck, her words abruptly stopped.
Tsuna did not notice the helpless look in her eyes. He grabbed his chopsticks, picked up a hot dumpling, stuffed it into his mouth, then turned and slipped away before his mom could start nagging.
"…This child…"
Just as Shizuka was about to speak again, Tsuna disappeared in the blink of an eye. Coincidentally, Daisuke wandered out of the bedroom, yawning.
Her gaze instantly locked onto him, and her attention immediately shifted.
Meanwhile, someone in the bathroom was staring intently at himself in the mirror, or more precisely, at the seven or eight glaring hickeys scattered across his pale neck.
"…Hiss…"
He could already imagine the amount of attention he would attract at school later.
And the "culprit" behind all of this appeared innocently at the entrance to his home. Compared to Tsuna, her neck was in much better condition, with only a single obvious mark.
"Shouko, have you had breakfast?"
As Shouko walked into the dining room, Shizuka's gaze landed on the small red mark just above her collarbone, faintly visible against her fair skin.
Daisuke noticed it as well, but after a quick glance, he did not pay it any further attention. He trusted his wife completely when it came to educational matters.
Mostly because he had just been lectured for stepping into the dining room with his left foot first.
"I have."
"Are you full? Would you like some more?"
"No, Mom, I'm very full," Shouko replied, patting her stomach and smiling at Shizuka.
After greeting them, Shouko picked up the hairdryer and went into the living room to wait for someone to come out.
"Click…"
Tsuna casually rubbed his wet hair with a towel and emerged, the warm steam from the bathroom still clinging to him.
In the soft light of the living room, Shouko sat cross-legged by the coffee table, scrolling through her phone. Hearing the sound, she naturally looked up, and their eyes met.
Almost immediately, her gaze uncontrollably drifted to his neck.
Shouko pressed her lips together, her throat bobbed, and in the end, she could not hold it in.
A soft laugh escaped her as she hurriedly raised a hand to cover the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of crescent-shaped eyes filled with mirth.
"…"
Fearing he might "discipline" her, Shouko quickly pressed her lips together to suppress her laughter and simultaneously lifted her chin.
The meaning was obvious.
Look, I have one too. You cannot use this to discipline me.
Seeing her smiling eyes, Tsuna did not hesitate at all. He immediately reached out and vigorously ruffled her head.
"Shouko, didn't you plant a bit too many of these couple anti-counterfeit tags?"
"You… you didn't… talk… like… that… last… night!" Shouko's puffed-up bun face was instantly pinched by Tsuna's large hand.
Her cheeks caved in, her lips forced into a round pout, and her hard-won momentum deflated like a punctured balloon.
The two bickered playfully for a while, only calling a truce when Shizuka walked into the living room.
"I'm heading out!"
"I'm leaving."
"Click…"
"These two kids…" Shizuka shook her head helplessly and looked toward Daisuke, who had just turned a page of his newspaper. "Your page turning is bothering me."
"…"
Monday morning light spilled onto the street, and students carrying their school bags still wore the relaxed smiles left over from the weekend.
The road to school instantly became lively. Boys chased one another, school bags clanking behind them. Girls walked in groups of three or five, arm in arm, chatting happily, their laughter ringing like silver bells.
Excited conversations of "Did you watch yesterday's variety show?" and "That new game is so fun!" rose and fell.
"You two… this…"
In the noisy back row of the classroom, Ajitani looked at Tsuna as he sat down. The latter half of her sentence, "playing quite wild," was swallowed back just as it was about to slip out.
Tsuna noticed Ajitani's awkward expression and guessed what she had been about to say.
Earlier, when they entered the classroom, almost every classmate who greeted them had worn the same look.
"Look! Ajitani-chan, couple anti-counterfeit tags~"
As she spoke, Shouko pulled two bento boxes from her bag and placed them into her desk. After doing so, she seemed to shed the lingering shyness she had felt while walking to school.
Her fingertip casually tapped the faint strawberry-colored mark above her collarbone.
"They're mine and Tsuna's!"
Her voice carried unmistakable pride, her chin lifting slightly.
"…"
Ajitani's eyes widened subconsciously. If Shouko had not said it herself, she would have thought only Miyamura had one.
After a while, Takagi and Nishikata entered the classroom. Their first glance also caught Shouko's "achievements" from last night.
Nishikata could only express envy.
Takagi, on the other hand, asked about their date from yesterday.
Ajitani, standing nearby, felt a surge of irritation when Takagi mentioned yesterday. However, when she looked at Tsuna, he was already fast asleep, so she could only turn around and complain to Shouko again.
It was not until the class bell rang and Tsuna was nudged awake by Shouko that Nanase-sensei entered the classroom and began her usual five-minute pre-class talk.
Tsuna gazed out the window at the sparrows perched in the cherry blossom tree, his attention drifting away without him realizing it.
"Bang…!"
"Dong… dong… dong…!"
The sparrows scattered at the sound of the dismissal bell. The teacher closed her textbook, assigned some after-school homework, and left the classroom. Tsuna snapped back to reality amid the noise.
"Tsuna, Ajitani-chan and I are going to the Art Club now. Do you want to come with me?"
Shouko looked at her still-dazed boyfriend, the corners of her mouth lifting unconsciously.
"No," Tsuna refused almost reflexively. "I'll come pick you up on my bike at five."
"Alright. See you," Shouko said, slinging her neatly packed school bag over her shoulder as she stood.
Ajitani walked over from the left aisle, and the two exchanged a knowing glance before walking side by side through the sparse desks, leaving the gradually empty classroom behind.
Takagi and Nishikata greeted Tsuna before grabbing their bags and hurrying off toward the Literature Club room.
Tsuna picked up his own school bag and left the school without lingering. After mounting his motorcycle in the parking lot, he rode off toward home.