"Have you been waiting long?"
Before Yuzuru could lift her head, her scalp was already covered by that familiar fair hand, ruffling her hair.
Tsuna, leaning against the railing, watched the playful sisters, a gentle smile on his lips: "Let's go then."
He gestured to them: "I'll treat you to dessert."
"Wait a moment, my friend is also on the way."
"Alright."
Tsuna nodded. One more wouldn't make a difference, and one less wouldn't either. It was also a good chance to thank the other party for taking care of Yuzuru lately.
After waiting for a while.
"Th-that…"
"Yo!"
Tsuna and Shouko looked in the direction Yuzuru was greeting, their gazes simultaneously sweeping towards the stairwell.
They saw a pudgy Fat Man with a poofy head, standing there awkwardly, nervously twisting the corner of his clothes.
"…"
Shouko and Tsuna were both stunned for a moment, but Tsuna adjusted his expression in the blink of an eye.
"A… A man??"
"Sis, what kind of expression is that? Haven't I told you?"
"Have you!?" Shouko's voice instantly rose.
This clear voice made the parents and students who had not yet dispersed look over.
The gazes cast upon them, in their intensity, clearly smelled of gossip.
"Uh… uhm…" Tomohiro, who had been ignored, interjected: "Sh-should I come another time? It doesn't seem quite right now… Haha…"
"Let's go, this isn't the place to talk. Let's change locations," Tsuna said softly, naturally taking Shouko's hand.
As soon as he moved, his gaze accurately fell on Yuzuru beside him, and he subtly nudged his chin in Tomohiro's direction.
Yuzuru nodded knowingly, then stood up briskly, darting a few steps to Tomohiro's side, who was still a bit reserved.
She grinned, and without hesitation, slapped him on the shoulder:
"Why are you standing there stunned? Let's go, let's go! This is an opportunity not to be missed! My Onii-san said he's treating! Just pretend I'm treating you, and eat him out of house and home!"
With that, Yuzuru gave him a thumbs-up and quickly caught up with Onii-san and Shouko ahead.
…
A dessert cafe with classic decor, located at the street corner near the School gate.
While Yuzuru and Shouko were ordering, Tsuna found a four-person table against the wall.
On the way there, he had already learned the other party's name. He seemed to be a reserved and socially anxious boy, but it was still hard to make a judgment.
Tsuna's gaze returned from the two sisters ordering at the counter, and he looked at Tomohiro, who had been silently keeping his head down beside him, and proactively started a conversation:
"Yongshu, how did you and Yuzuru meet?"
As for the version Yuzuru told, he didn't believe a word of it. Only that idiot class monitor would believe it.
Tomohiro saw that Shouko and the other Girl were still ordering, and the sense of restraint on him seemed to lessen a lot, but his explanation was still a bit stammering.
Tsuna observed from the side and also noticed this, realizing that the other party would still be a bit reserved and stammering in front of girls.
He even subconsciously wanted to stay away.
But why wasn't he like that when talking to Yuzuru? This was a point of curiosity for him now.
"Oh… so that's how it is."
Tsuna, who had heard the whole process, nodded. He planned to tell Shouko the details later, but for now, he would let Yuzuru fully enjoy this meal.
When the two sisters finished ordering and returned, as soon as they sat down, Shouko's smile instantly vanished, and she looked at Tomohiro with a suspicious expression.
She suspected that the other party had ill intentions in approaching Yuzuru.
"I ordered your favorite mango cake for you! No need to be polite with me, okay!"
"R-really? Th-thank you…"
Tomohiro forced an awkward smile, his expression seeming a bit stiff after they returned.
"…"
Tsuna, silently drinking cold water, inexplicably felt a strange sensation, like 'he was a father-in-law meeting his future son-in-law.'
Hmm… he was the father-in-law…
Seeing that Tomohiro had no intention of chatting, Yuzuru turned her face and smiled at her sister beside her:
"Sis, our school is also having a School Festival in the middle of next month. Will you and Onii-san come then?"
"Alright," Shouko retracted her gaze and readily agreed, "Just tell me when the exact time is set. I'll just tell Mom. What about Tsuna?"
As she spoke, she looked at Tsuna opposite her, and Yuzuru's gaze followed.
"I'm free anytime," Tsuna shrugged lightly, his gaze turning to the quiet Tomohiro beside him, "What about Yongshu? Will you go?"
Tomohiro, who had been silently acting as an invisible person, flinched when mentioned, as if startled.
"I… I'll be quite busy next month, so I probably won't have time."
The three of them nodded, not taking his answer to heart. Tsuna had only asked casually because he hadn't spoken much.
When the desserts were served by the Girl, the Shouko sisters started talking about other topics. Tsuna also chatted with Tomohiro from time to time to ease his awkwardness.
By the end, Tsuna added Tomohiro as a 'LINE' friend, and his impression of him was quite good.
"Bye-bye."
"See you."
As they left the dessert cafe, the clouds in the sky were already ignited. Yuzuru waved to Tomohiro.
As soon as Tomohiro's figure disappeared around the corner, Yuzuru immediately approached a certain person with a grin:
"Onii-san, I'm still a bit hungry. Can we go back to the store and get another takeout order?"
No sooner had she spoken than Shouko's finger "thumped" her on the forehead:
"You won't be able to eat dinner later. Be careful, Mom will scold you."
"Blech…"
Yuzuru turned and stuck out her tongue at Shouko, then quickly ran away before she could raise her hand to swat her.
"You two, slow down, be careful not to fall!"
Tsuna watched the chasing sisters and shook his head, then turned back into the store and indeed packed two portions of dessert.
…
After the three of them returned home, Tsuna told Shouko the story of how Yuzuru and Tomohiro met in the living room.
She successfully received a lecture.
Afterward.
"Onii-san! How could you do that!?"
"I'm breaking up with you! In the future, for the betrothal gift (dowry) when you marry my sister, I'm going to charge you extra!"
Tsuna looked at her angry expression, only smiling without speaking. He was afraid that telling the truth would hurt her little heart.
He was even afraid that when he married Shouko, she wouldn't even want the betrothal gift and would just run off with him.
"Yuzuru! What are you saying?!"
Shouko came out of the kitchen and happened to 'see' Yuzuru say that.
"Huh? N-nothing at all, Sis!" Yuzuru's voice carried a hint of guilty panic, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Before she finished speaking, as if some activation switch had been pressed, the familiar chasing scene once again played out in the narrow living room!
In the small space, sofa cushions were askew, and slippers scraped against the floor with urgent "pat-pat" sounds.
Occasionally, there were also Yuzuru's exaggerated "ouch" fake falls and Shouko's whispered "see where you can run."
This final chase ended with Shouko tripping over her own feet and accidentally falling into Tsuna's arms.
Yuzuru, seeing this, very tactfully left the living room. The entire living room was left with only the two of them embracing, Shouko's slightly hurried breathing, and the uncontrollable, rapidly spreading heat on her cheeks.