"Goodbye."
"See you later, you two."
As the red light turned green, they watched Nishikata and Takagi walk away, shoulder to shoulder.
He lowered his head and exhaled a puff of white mist, then firmly clasped Shouko's cold hand in his palm and tucked it into his warm coat pocket:
"Let's go too."
Their eyes met briefly, and in the next instant, a knowing smile simultaneously lit up both their eyes.
"I didn't expect Kitano to actually give Ajitani-chan a gift."
The snow crunched softly under Shouko's boots. The tip of her nose, not covered by her scarf, was a little red from the cold.
Tsuna looked at her in confusion: "Is something wrong?"
She smiled, her eyes curving, and shook her head.
At that time, Kitano did awkwardly give Ajitani a Christmas gift, but she quickly sent him away with a return gift.
Ajitani was almost used to dealing with such situations; before Kitano, five or six other boys had also been sent away by her in the same manner.
Tsuna and the others didn't see the confession on Christmas Day, but they did see a few boys returning gleefully with Christmas elf cookies.
Tsuna felt he might see them gleefully again tonight…
… … …
Pushing open the front door, a strong Christmas scent enveloped them.
Tsuna called out twice and, confirming his mom wasn't home, guessed that she must have gone shopping and bought ingredients for tonight with Yaeko.
His dad wasn't there because he was missing a bag carrier.
The living room heater hummed to life, dispelling the winter chill.
"Do you want to call Yuzuru over to play?" Tsuna then turned sideways, his gaze falling on Shouko beside him, who was busy trying to wriggle out of her thick coat.
She was wrestling with the down jacket cuff tangled in her scarf, a few strands of hair restlessly brushing against her slightly flushed cheeks.
Shouko shook her head: "She made plans to go out with her two little best friends today, so she probably won't be back until dinner time. Hachiko was even taken by her."
At her mention, Tsuna suddenly remembered.
Yuzuru's school had already started their winter break on the 23rd, but their lousy school stubbornly dragged the holiday until the 27th.
"I'll go get the tablet and ask Grandma if she wants to come over."
"Hey! Shouko, put your coat on before you go!"
"No need! I'll be right back!"
… … …
Winter sunlight was very stingy.
Just past four in the afternoon, the sun eagerly sank towards the mountain ridge; in a moment, the last ray of golden light completely disappeared.
Before the five o'clock bell, deep night had already fallen silently, streetlights lit up one after another, illuminating the city's dusk with their dim yellow glow.
The front door was gently pushed open, bringing in a biting winter chill.
"I'm home."
"Tsuna, Shouko, are you hungry?"
Shizuka stepped in wearing leather boots, casually swinging a small handbag.
Yaeko beside her seemed a bit flustered; her high heels hadn't even been scuffed off, and the rustling grocery bags she was carrying were already placed on the genkan floor.
Tsuna poked his head out from the living room at the sound: "Mom, didn't you go grocery shopping? Where are the groceries?"
"Behind."
Tsuna watched them turn into the kitchen, still perplexed, when with a "creak…" the door opened, and his old man squeezed in, huffing and puffing, carrying several large bags of groceries.
Seeing this, he quickly went to help, carrying all of tonight's ingredients to the kitchen.
Daisuke wanted to lend a hand in the kitchen, but as soon as he approached the door, he was shooed out by Shizuka.
He rubbed his nose and turned away dejectedly, just in time to go to the garage to start the car and pick up his mom for dinner.
Grandma Ito, unable to sit idle in the living room, also got up and walked towards the kitchen.
Shizuka saw her enter and quickly advised:
"Auntie, Yaeko and I are enough here. You wait in the living room; dinner will be ready soon."
"That's right, Mom," Yaeko echoed.
"Oh dear…"
Grandma Ito waved her hand with a smile: "I can help you peel garlic and lend a hand, that way we can eat sooner and not let the children in the living room get hungry."
Shizuka and Yaeko tried to persuade her a few more times, but with no effect, they could only let her be.
Later, Shouko also wanted to help, but before she could even speak, she was firmly sent back by Shizuka's strong attitude.
Her own brat hadn't even moved, so she felt bad asking Shouko to help, even though they weren't short-handed now…
Just as she was thinking, she caught a glimpse of that brat walking over.
"Beat it."
"Alrighty."
Without extra words or actions, a single glance made Tsuna understand, and he turned around, quickly returning to the living room to play on his phone.
After a while, frequent knocking came from the door, accompanied by Yuzuru's boisterous voice.
Just as six o'clock struck, the dining table had become a feast, fragrant with food. Family and friends sat around, cups filled with various drinks.
With everyone's joyful "Merry Christmas!" they began to eat.
… … …
"Come back early."
"Be careful outside."
"Tsuna! No staying out all night!"
"Got it! I'll be back by ten!"
"Click…"
The sound of the door closing cut off the laughter inside.
"Let's go."
Tsuna, with his school bag on his back, exhaled a puff of white mist, took Shouko's hand, and hurried towards their destination.
…
"Ding-a-ling—"
The opening and closing of the door brought a clear chime, followed by the somewhat thin greeting of the staff:
"Welcome…"
Tsuna nodded slightly in acknowledgment, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat empty shop, then walked directly towards a quiet corner by the window.
Just past seven, it was usually a bustling time, yet this small shop had only two or three scattered tables of customers.
Under the warm light, the only staff member on duty was wiping the counter, while the manager was leisurely organizing something behind the bar.
"Will you send the location to the class monitor and the others?"
Shouko nodded in agreement, her fingertips quickly tapping the phone screen a few times, sending the dessert shop's location into the 'LINE' group.
Then she got up and went to the front counter to carefully choose drinks.
Tsuna had just taken his first bite of dessert when the shop doorbell chimed softly.
Looking up, Ajitani walked in, skipping, carrying a small backpack, her hair still seeming to carry a bit of the cold from outside.
Before she could settle down, Takagi and Nishikata also pushed the door open one after another, both with backpacks loosely draped over their shoulders.
As soon as they sat down, the staff brought the drinks Shouko had ordered, placing them on Ajitani's table for the three of them.
"Exchange now?"
Ajitani untied the scarf around her neck and playfully raised an eyebrow.
"Mm." Tsuna didn't think much and nodded immediately.
Almost simultaneously, with a few soft "shhh" sounds, five pairs of hands uniformly unzipped their backpacks.
They neatly pulled out carefully wrapped small gifts with small cards attached, and with a few "pats," precisely stacked them in front of their corresponding friends.
"This texture… Miyamura…" Ajitani squeezed the gift Tsuna gave her, narrowing her eyes at him: "This… it's not another scarf, is it?"