"I'm home."
Shouko skipped back home. As she passed the living room, her peripheral vision caught sight of Yaeko still watching a drama, which made her a little puzzled.
"Mom, you're not asleep yet?"
"Hmm." Yaeko gave Shouko a strange look, then nodded. "There's warm milk on the table. Remember to drink it."
She hesitated, wondering whether she should talk to Shouko about male and female physiology, even though the school had probably already covered it. Not to mention, it would be best to take protective measures. But at that moment, she wasn't sure how to bring it up.
"Okay, Mom. You should also go to bed early."
Shouko's light voice interrupted Yaeko's hesitation. When she looked again, Shouko had already disappeared, leaving only the faint sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway.
After much thought, Yaeko decided she would talk to Shouko alone after work tomorrow.
As soon as she entered her bedroom, Shouko nimbly flicked off her slippers, which flew off with two soft 'thwacks'.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she eagerly aimed for the soft bed, diving into it!
Ignoring the red marks on her knees from hitting the edge of the bed, she covered her mouth, unable to stop herself from rolling around in excitement.
"Oh, right, I still need to change the note."
After a while, Shouko rubbed her knees and fumbled for her phone on the nightstand. She opened the 'LINE' app, tapped on the avatar labeled 'Tsuna', and began to make revisions.
Before, she had been afraid Tsuna might see her phone, so she hadn't dared to make the notes too obvious. But now, it was different. She even thought about changing the affectionate note every day.
"Hmm…" Shouko stared at the avatar labeled 'Boyfriend-kun', her heart filled with uncontrollable glee.
"Tomorrow, I'll take Tsuna's phone and change the note for him. Hehe…"
"Oh, right, and the avatar."
She started searching online for cute couple avatars. Time slipped away, and before she knew it, it was '23:53'.
"…"
"It feels like a lot of people are using these…"
Shouko stared at the glowing screen, hesitated, and finally decided to create a unique one herself in the next few days.
——
The next day…
"Mhm, got it, Mom, don't worry."
Tsuna, sitting at the dining table, was a bit fed up with his mom's nagging first thing in the morning. He picked up the milk beside him, drank it in one gulp, then got up and called out to Shouko, who was giggling foolishly in the living room, before heading straight for the entrance.
"I'm leaving."
"Uncle, Auntie, I'm off!"
"Click…"
It wasn't until the sound of the front door closing echoed that Daisuke smiled faintly and set the newspaper aside.
"I still think some things don't need to be explicitly told to Tsuna; he understands."
Shizuka walked out of the kitchen, tidying Tsuna's dishes as she shook her head in disapproval.
"It's better to remind them about these things. Young people have a lot of passion, and I don't want Yaeko coming over with a dark face to argue with me."
"You didn't say that last night. You even said you wanted to hold your grandchild soon."
Daisuke looked at Shizuka with a teasing smile, which only earned him her speechless eye-roll and a light, airy slap.
——
The school gate in the early morning was the liveliest, with students in uniforms hurrying towards the entrance and greeting each other.
Bicycle bells, laughter, and footsteps mixed together, filling the area in front of the school with vibrant, youthful energy.
Tsuna, holding Shouko's hand, weaved through the bustling crowd, feigning grievance as he complained, "Look, you bit me until the skin broke last night."
He leaned in closer for her to inspect, then quickly pulled back when she tried to tiptoe and steal a kiss.
"Tsuna, don't hide! I'll just blow on it—no stealing kisses!"
Shouko kept shaking his arm, her gaze fixed on the broken skin on his upper lip.
Tsuna looked at her with a 'do you think I believe you?' expression.
Seeing that he didn't believe her, the 'cunning' Shouko came up with another idea: "Then how about I give you some compensation?"
"No, with your compensation, you probably won't lose out yourself, right?"
At his words, Shouko pursed her lips tightly, puffing out her cheeks like a little punching bag, silently declaring her small indignation.
Tsuna's finger reached out to poke Shouko's puffed-up cheek, but she dodged nimbly, shrinking her neck. He almost got bitten back.
"Morning, you two."
"Ohayo, Ajitani-chan."
"Morning."
The clever Ajitani pushed up an imaginary pair of reflective glasses with her middle finger, then crossed her arms and propped her chin, looking at them suspiciously.
She had a hunch that something was off with these two, definitely hiding something big from her!
"You guys…" Ajitani organized her words, "You guys——"
"Ajitani-chan, how did you know Tsuna and I are together?" Shouko tilted her head back, interrupting her.
"…"
'I didn't know, thank you!'
Before she could even complain, Ajitani realized the focus had shifted, and immediately adjusted, looking at the two of them with surprise, almost screaming:
"What! You two are together!? When did this happen?! How did I not know?!"
The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to attract curious gazes from the nearby students.
Shouko was very pleased with Ajitani's surprised expression, unable to suppress the smile on her face any longer.
She felt that this was how a normal person should react first, although she didn't mean that Mom wasn't normal…
"Just yesterday, I confessed." Seeing too many eyes on them, Shouko quickly reined in her slightly arrogant expression.
"You confessed?!"
"Ajitani-chan, keep your voice down, keep it down!" Shouko momentarily wanted to cover her mouth, and also retract her immature thought from just now…
More and more eyes were looking at them, and she suddenly felt that Mom's reaction yesterday was actually quite good…
"Oh, oh…" Ajitani nodded, then pointed to her covered mouth. Once Shouko let go, she quietly pressed on:
"What's going on with you two? Such a big thing, and you didn't tell me beforehand…"
Saying that, she wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of her eyes, complaining pitifully, "I thought we were the best friends in the world."
"I——"
"Interruption."
Both looked at the person who suddenly spoke.
"Shouko and I are the best in the world."
"…"
Ajitani suppressed the urge to roll her eyes because what he said also made sense.
"Ajitani-chan, yesterday I just couldn't help but confess when the emotions hit, so I couldn't tell you in advance," Shouko ignored the disruptive person and comforted her.
"Besides, I told you as soon as I got to school; you're the first one to know." Saying that, Shouko held up three fingers, ready to swear.
Ajitani pressed down her hand, still believing Shouko's words.
"Then when Takagi comes later, can I be the one to tell her?" She also wanted to see Takagi's surprised expression.