"Knock, knock..." Tsuna and Shouko left the room and knocked on the doorframe across from them.
Without waiting for a response from Shizuka inside, Tsuna opened the wooden door and, seeing her lying on the tatami, scrolling through her phone, asked,
"Mom, Shouko, and I want to walk around the neighborhood."
Shizuka didn't even glance at them. She waved her hand toward the door and said sleepily,
"Go to the living room and tell your dad to let Itohara take you. I need a nap."
She placed her phone, the screen black, on the tatami beside her and closed her eyes.
Seeing this, Tsuna silently closed the wooden door and slowly walked away, hand in hand with Shouko.
At the end of the wooden hallway, the soft chime of wind chimes mingled with the faint chirping of cicadas in the mountains.
"Knock, knock..."
"Come in."
Waiting for a response from the person in the living room, Tsuna opened the wooden door and activated the wind chimes hanging on it.
When his white-haired grandfather saw it was Tsuna, his serious expression instantly turned amiable. He asked with concern,
"Tsuna, what's wrong?"
"Dad, I want to go for a walk around the area with Shouko."
Seeing that only his grandfather, uncle, and father were present, Tsuna and Shouko nodded and greeted them before explaining their purpose.
"Hehe..." Before Daisuke could say anything, his grandfather, who was sitting next to him, put down his teacup and chuckled, "What's so good about walking in this deep forest?"
Hearing his grandfather's words, Tsuna opened his mouth to explain, thinking he was trying to refuse, but he changed the subject.
"But I understand. After all, children can't sit still. Itohara should be entertaining tourists on the first floor with his sister."
"You can go down and let him take you for a walk around the area. But don't go into the deep forest behind the mountain."
When Tsuna heard his grandfather mention Itohara's name, he couldn't help but think of how he had been infatuated with Shouko the moment they met.
He was about to openly decline his grandfather's offer. After all, why would they bring a third wheel when they were just two out for a stroll?
But then he thought, why would he reject his grandfather's offer right then?
As for that brat Itohara, he could just find a random excuse to get rid of him.
Having figured it out, Tsuna swallowed the refusal that was about to hit his lips and replied, "Okay."
He nodded to the three of them, closed the wooden door, and headed down the stairs at the other end of the hallway with Shouko. While chatting with a tourist at the front desk, Junko noticed the two people coming down the stairs. She nodded and exchanged a few words with them before watching them leave. When the two approached, she politely reintroduced herself to Shouko, who was standing next to Tsuna.
Because there were so many other tourists, they had greeted their aunt and the others before going upstairs without giving the little girl much thought. Then, as soon as her younger brother came down, he kept whispering in her ear about how cute the girl was. Now, taking a closer look, she really was just as he'd said.
After introducing themselves,Junko glanced at the stairs, making sure no one else was coming down. Then, turning to Tsuna, she asked curiously,
"What's the matter with you two coming down?"
As she finished speaking, she reached out and touched Shouko's head.
"I want to go for a walk around with Shouko." Tsuna didn't care for her sudden move; Shouko didn't resist or say anything.
Just then, Itohara, emerging from the storeroom, overheard the chatter. He looked over and spotted them at the front desk—more precisely, Shouko, standing next to Tsuna. He hurried forward, eager to hear what they were saying.
But his gaze kept casually glancing at his sister's hand on Shouko's head, his eyes filled with a desire to try and rub it.
He figured since his sister was already touching her, it shouldn't be a problem for him to wait for her to withdraw her hand, right? Besides, she was still his sister, anyway.
A brother rubbing his sister's head—no matter how you look at it, it's fine, right?
Junko saw her younger brother approaching, and considering they were unfamiliar with the area, she thought it would be a good idea for him to lead the way. She withdrew her hand and softly suggested,
"That's perfect. Let Ito take you for a walk around the area."
"No need. Shouko and I are just going to walk around. We're not going into the mountains," Tsuna said, waving his hand away without a second thought.
"Yeah," Shouko agreed.
Meanwhile, Itohara's mind automatically blocked out the chatter, only noticing his sister's hand had withdrawn.
He silently emboldened himself, offering a few soothing words before decisively extending his left hand.
Noticing his movement from the corner of her eye, Shouko dodged without hesitation, grabbing Tsuna's arm beside her. She glared at Ichihara and demanded, her face stern,
"What are you doing?"
This drew the attention of the other two present. Seeing Itohara's hand hovering in mid-air, they couldn't help but understand what he was up to.
"Haha..." Junko glanced at the angry Shouko, then at her younger brother, who had hurriedly withdrawn his hand. She quickly laughed and changed the subject:
"Tsuna, you two, go for a walk if you want, but don't go to the back hills."
Before Tsuna could even respond, Junko changed the subject again. With her left hand on her waist, she reached out with her right hand and twisted Ito's ear, demanding angrily:
"Ito, Ito, why did you come out of the storeroom empty-handed? Did you forget what I told you to get?
The customers are waiting!"
Ito saw the stare his sister had given him and quickly climbed down. "Oh, oh, I forgot. I'll get it now."
He quickly slapped Junko's hand away, rubbed his slightly red ears, and ran to the storeroom.
"Sorry, Shouko, Ito isn't usually like this. I'll teach him a lesson later. It's not okay to touch a girl's head so casually." After watching him run off, Junko turned back and apologized sincerely to Shouko.
What!? You've already changed the subject. Why apologize?
My brother's done something wrong; he should apologize, right? And how can changing the subject mean he doesn't need to apologize?
Anyway, I'll go home tonight and tell my father about his stupid behavior today.
Tsuna, who was still rubbing Shouko's head to comfort her, tried to pull back. He felt like Junko was mocking him, but she didn't hear that in her words...
Before Tsuna could move, Shouko raised both hands to hold her head, glaring at him with her beautiful eyes. The meaning was clear.
But this glare was utterly different from what she'd given Itohara before.
"Come on, aren't you guys going to go shopping?" Junko said gently, noticing another tourist approaching.
She was already getting fed up with the eye contact between them...
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