My childhood sweetheart is Nishimiya Glass

Chapter 234 New Year's Eve Buckwheat Noodles

Judging from their assets, it's not like they can't afford tutors, and hiring four or five tutors at once wouldn't be a problem for them.

Hiring a tutor in Japan does feel a bit 'dangerous'...

Inoue Nishiki, on the other hand, was not as calm as him. He hurriedly took out his phone from the obi of his white patterned kimono and added Tsuna as a friend.

A-Gang waited until she added him as a friend before putting his phone away. When his eyes met the girl's, she looked away before he could.

The three parents standing nearby ignored the two and continued their conversation.

Once Inoue Nakateru realized he had achieved his goal of helping his daughter, he stopped trying to shift the topic to Tsuna.

The girl waited for Tsuna to accept her friend request, and immediately clicked on his profile picture to see if he had any selfies or anything like that.

Suddenly realizing that the current situation was inappropriate, she casually put her phone away.

Later, Inoue Nakateru politely declined Miyamura Shizuka's request to stay for dinner, and left the Miyamura house after Inoue Nishiki said goodbye to the three of them.

Shizuka Miyamura glanced at the time, stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare lunch, while Daiki Miyamura took out his phone to invite his fishing buddies to go fishing in the afternoon.

Ah Gang, sprawled on the sofa watching TV, had taken a break from the holidays and didn't feel like writing...

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As the morning light pierced through the leaden-gray clouds, the thirty-seventh drop of water was dripping from the eaves, and the mechanical sound of the convenience store's automatic door opening and closing startled the crows on the power lines.

At 12:07, the thin golden sunlight pierced through the clouds, and the glass curtain wall of the department store refracted the beams of light into diamond-shaped spots, drifting past the white mist exhaled by young employees holding hot coffee.

The four o'clock bell rang from the direction of Senso-ji Temple, and the withered ginkgo branches traced Sanskrit-like patterns in the wind.

His 'leisurely' life was disrupted only when Shoko returned.

"Click..."

"I'm back!"

"Welcome home." Tsuna's calm voice came from the living room.

"Where are your aunt and uncle?" Shoko walked to the entrance of the living room and saw only Tsuna in a strange posture, which puzzled her.

"Dad went fishing, and Shizuka and Aunt Nishimiya went shopping."

Tsuna turned to look at her and saw her chuckling as she waved the beautifully packaged dessert box at him.

"Tsuna, come and try this. This chocolate cake is absolutely amazing." She put the cake on the coffee table, turned around and walked to someone's side, reaching out to pull him up from the sofa.

He was like a puppet on a string, being pulled by her to sit down at the coffee table. Shoko even thoughtfully opened the box for him and pushed a piece of cake in front of him.

He got up and left the living room, then skillfully went into the kitchen, took out a sterilized fork, returned to the living room, and handed it to someone.

Under her expectant gaze, Tsuna scooped out a piece and put it in his mouth, nodded in praise of the cake, and then, as usual, pushed the half-eaten cake back in front of her.

"You eat, I just finished eating and I'm not very hungry yet."

"Then you can eat it later. I'll put it back in the refrigerator first."

Shoko hesitated for a moment, but still firmly refused, repackaged the piece of cake, and put it in the restaurant's refrigerator.

"..." Tsuna remained silent throughout, quietly watching her operate the device.

He had anticipated her response and hesitation, and her response was exactly the same as before.

However, the time she put it in the refrigerator, her own mother, who had a sweet tooth, ate it.

"Tsuna, did any guests come over this morning?" Shoko asked curiously as she sat down next to him. Tsuna nodded. "Yes, Dad and Mom's college classmates came to wish them a Happy New Year. How did you know?"

"I saw a New Year's food gift box on the table that I hadn't seen this morning, so I guessed it."

Before she could even finish speaking, she lightly slapped him on the back, feigning anger and threatening him:
"Also, don't hunch over! You'll end up as a hunchbacked old man!"

"Hey hey hey." Instead of sitting up straight, he lay down on the tatami mat and looked at Shoko's profile.

Seeing this, Shoko lay down as well, turned her head to look at him, and shared the interesting things that happened when she went out with Takagi and the others that morning.

Tsuna listened quietly, occasionally responding with a word to reciprocate the emotional value the girl shared.

At 2:32 PM, the ferry whistle on the Sumida River startled the flock of pigeons circling around the Tokyo Skytree.

As the sun sank completely behind the Shinjuku Metropolitan Government Building Twin Towers at 3:50 p.m., the cold wind carried the melody of "The Girl with Flaxen Hair" from a piano cram school, shattering on the reindeer paintings in the department store windows.

At 4:00 PM sharp, the announcement of Ueno Zoo's closing time resonated with the bell of Zojoji Temple.

"Tsuna..."

After replying to Ayumi Ajitani's message, Shoko began to hesitate.

Tsuna paused the TV broadcast, and seeing his embarrassed expression, she instantly guessed what she wanted to say:
"Go ahead and get it if you want to eat it, I won't say anything to you."

"What if you want to eat it?"

"Just leave me a bite."

"Okay, I'll save you a couple of bites!" Shoko held up her index and middle fingers to him, patted her chest generously, and even bounced them back.

After saying that, she got up to get the cake from the refrigerator.

Don't get me wrong, that rebound was because the down jacket that Glass was wearing was of good quality.

She returned to the living room and began to taste it, occasionally feeding someone a bite.

It wasn't until after 4:30 PM, when Shizuka Miyamura and Yaeko Nishimiya returned with the ingredients for tonight, that she quickly finished the last bite.

As soon as Shizuka Miyamura and Yaeko Nishimiya returned, they went straight to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for tonight's meal. Shoko tidied up the coffee table and then went to help them.

Tsuna was left alone in the living room, and later Shizuka Miyamura called him to peel garlic.

In the past, the two families would eat together during the Lunar New Year. The main dish was still buckwheat noodles, but the side dishes were quite plentiful.

When they were children, Shizuka Miyamura had explained to Tsuna and Shoko why they were eating soba noodles today.

The general idea is that, according to tradition, on the evening of December 31st, New Year's Eve in Japan, most families choose to eat soba noodles.

In Japan, buckwheat noodles are said to be easier to bite than other noodles, symbolizing "cutting off the troubles, illnesses and disasters of the old year" and welcoming the new year with a refreshing mindset.

Because the word "buckwheat" (そば) is a homophone for "nearby" (そば), it symbolizes "family reunion" and also implies the wish for "wealth to come near".

Furthermore, traditionally, noodles must be eaten before midnight on New Year's Eve; eating them after the New Year is considered to "cut off good luck in time," which may affect one's fortune in the coming year.

"You little rascal, you can even space out while peeling garlic." Shizuka Miyamura chuckled and gave him a light tap on the head.

Nishimiya Yaeko and Shoko, standing to the side, chuckled and continued with their tasks, already quite used to this scene.

As for whether Shoko would feel sorry for him, yes, she would, but she had just finished cutting chili peppers. If she went to comfort him, he would probably refuse.

(End of this chapter)