"Ah!"
Shouko, who was still chatting with Takagi, exclaimed, immediately drawing the attention of the surrounding girls.
Shouko ignored the girls' curious gazes and quickly slapped away Ajitani's wandering hands. "Ajitani-chan, what are you doing?!"
"I saw a mosquito about to land there, so Shouko-chan, you know."
Ajitani, having satisfied her urge, tried to brush it off with a laugh, but Shouko wasn't that foolish. She glared at her and said nothing more.
"Oh, Shouko-chan, don't be angry," Ajitani said quickly, trying to act cute. She puffed out her chest. "If it's really that bad, you can pinch it back."
Shouko saw her say this without blushing or showing any hint of embarrassment. She even sensed a subtle hint of pride from her. After confirming that the buttons on her back were still fine, she gave Ajitani a kind smile. Ajitani, seeing this, already began to regret her words.
However, once she confirmed that Shouko wasn't angry, she unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
"Slap..."
"Shouko-chan, even if you're not pinching, don't slap so hard..." Ajitani covered the red mark appearing on her left side, biting her lip as she said, aggrieved, "What if, after this slap, they don't grow anymore?"
"Ajitani-chan, you're overthinking it."
Takagi quietly watched the two of them continue to bicker, but Shouko didn't dare make any big moves. Only when she was at a disadvantage would Takagi step in to help.
Tsuna, waiting outside, didn't see the three of them emerge—faces flushed—until the class bell was about to ring.
He was very sensible and didn't ask too many questions, walking with them towards the gymnasium.
His intuition kept telling him that if he were to ask at this moment, he would most likely receive eye rolls from all three of them.
As the group entered the gymnasium, they were hit by a mixed scent of sweat and wooden floor wax.
The square, off-white building's exterior walls were adorned with a few rusty drainpipes. The second floor had four rows of frosted glass windows embedded in it, through which blurred, moving figures could be seen.
Near the basketball hoops, several orange soft mats were piled up, and a volleyball net, like a giant white zipper, divided the court into two halves.
The door to the sports storage room in the corner was ajar, revealing stackable vaulting boxes and several worn relay batons.
Scattered conversations floated in the air, but they were quickly drowned out by the sports teacher's whistle.
"Just in time, assemble."
The plastic shoe cabinet at the entrance was crammed with various sports shoes. As Tsuna and the other three changed their shoes, several girls next to them were slapping their indoor shoes against their heels, their black long socks creating slight indentations on their calves.
The group found their assembly spot, and under the combined leadership of the two sports teachers and the class representative, Ajitani, the class quickly split into male and female groups.
Under the guidance of the two teachers, the warm-up exercises quickly concluded, and the physical tests for both male and female groups began in order, according to the printed list.
"Shouko-chan, are you really okay...?" Takagi, who was ahead of Shouko in line, turned back and looked at her worriedly.
"Don't make your movements too big; it shouldn't pop open."
There hadn't been any problems even with their roughhousing in the changing room earlier, so if she just softened and slowed her movements during the test, there shouldn't be any major issues.
Shouko thought this and gave Takagi a reassuring look.
Takagi, seeing this, said nothing more. She turned back around and took a few deep breaths; the next person to be tested would soon be her.
At this point, saying anything more was useless; those buttons wouldn't change just because of a few words from her.
And the outcome was indeed as Shouko had thought: there were no major issues with the previous few tests, as she had slowed down her movements.
Except for being a bit constricting...
"Alright, last item, sit-ups!"
As the sports teacher at the front of the line announced, the girls' team divided into pairs to supervise each other.
"Shouko-chan, is this really okay...?" Ajitani held Shouko's feet, asking worriedly.
"I'll just do two or three to show I'm participating," Shouko waved her hand.
She had endured the previous tests, and now she had immense confidence.
Ajitani pursed her lips, reminded her to slow down her movements, and then said nothing more.
This was incomparable to the previous tests. When doing sit-ups, she clearly knew the pressure would definitely be on that area...
However, considering Shouko would only do a few as a gesture, it should be fine...
As the sports teacher's whistle blew, Shouko began to do sit-ups with difficulty, all the while worrying about those buttons...
Until midway...
"Pop..." A faint tearing sound reached Ajitani's ears.
Shouko, halfway through a sit-up, froze. She hadn't heard clearly, but as the person involved, she could distinctly feel a button popping open on her back...
"Th-th-this...this, Shouko-chan..." Ajitani's voice trembled.
Shouko's fingertips frantically searched her back, touching the sole remaining button dangerously swaying between the fabric.
"Shhh..." Shouko interrupted her with a whisper, slowly lying back down on the mat. "If I move gently... it should hold until I get home..."
She was now a bit afraid to move, but not moving would only attract more attention...
Sweat was tracing dark marks along her flushed neck, spreading into the collar of her uniform.
"..."
After a brief exchange, it was time for them to switch places. It seemed Shouko's silent prayer had worked, as the button didn't pop until after school.
It had been holding on, struggling.
"Ajitani-chan, should I wait for you at home?"
"Mm-hmm, I'll bike to your house first, then park the bike there, and we can walk together to buy it. After that, I'll just bike back."
Ajitani straddled her bicycle, repeated the plan she had just thought of, and then biked ahead towards Shouko's house.
"What are you two going out to buy later?" Tsuna turned back, looking at Shouko, puzzled.
Shouko tightly wrapped her arms around his waist and whispered something into his ear.
Regarding the softness he felt behind him, after almost a month, he had become somewhat immune and no longer reacted as he did at first.
Tsuna, hearing this, didn't ask any more questions. He quickly put on his helmet, started the bike, and soon overtook Ajitani.
He had originally wanted to go along, but after hearing what it was for, he didn't have much desire anymore. For girls going to buy innerwear, his presence would only lead to social embarrassment.
If it were just Shouko, it might be fine, but there was also Ajitani...
————————
At three-thirty on an early April afternoon, dark blue uniforms swayed sporadically on the ramp next to the street corner convenience store.
Several middle school students ambled along, swinging canvas school bags, their athletic shoe soles scuffing over the cherry blossoms scattered on the roadside. From the rumbling sound of the train passing over the elevated bridge came the crisp crunch of girls biting into ice pops.
"When you go out later, be careful." Tsuna deliberately parked his bike at Shouko's doorstep, took off his helmet, and turned back to remind her.
"Tsuna, are you really not coming with me to buy it?" Shouko returned his helmet, reluctantly separating from him to get off the bike.
"No, you two go—"
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a subtle sound of fabric tearing from Shouko's back.
He watched Shouko's face quickly flush red, and before he could say anything, Shouko covered her chest and turned to run.