My childhood sweetheart is Nishimiya Glass

Chapter 277 Is this really a healing story?

After a brief discussion about the novel, Miyagi Yuki took the book back to her seat and continued working on her unfinished oil painting.

Shoko and Ayumi chatted briefly before continuing to color the unfinished illustration, while Ayumi stared blankly at the chibi-style figures on the canvas.

The book cover and promotional posters for "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" were completed under her urgency, and the final version was further optimized by Futaba Publishing House.

Otherwise, even if we use the painting she rushed to finish, there will still be many problems.

Time passed by unnoticed. As the five o'clock bell rang, Shoko and Ayumi packed their things, said goodbye to the seniors in the club, and left the art club.

After several unsuccessful attempts to persuade her along the way, Shoko could only explain the reason to Tsuna, who was waiting at the school gate, and the three of them walked together toward the bookstore in Futaba Street.

Tsuna realized it had been a long time since he had taken a walk with Shoko, so he parked his motorcycle at the school gate and walked with the two of them.

Only Ayumi Ajitani, who was chattering away nearby, was somewhat eye-catching...

Across the zebra crossing, Tsuna and his friends could see the Futaba Bookstore perched on the street corner, its natural wood exterior glowing in the setting sun.

The entire second-floor glass window resembles a honey cake, reflecting the gradient of orange-pink hues from the horizon.

A brass wind chime hung at the entrance, and a promotional poster more than a meter tall stood beside it, featuring the content of 'Anohana,' which was released by Tsuna today.

Unlike the book cover, this time it's a scene of the grown-up main characters gazing at the female lead from afar, and the sharp-eyed Ayumi Ajitani even noticed a problem with the poster.

Ayumi Azurani pointed to the poster with a blue sky as its background, her curiosity overflowing:
"Shoko-chan, why does Menma have tears in her eyes on the poster?"

Because this is somewhat different from what Shoko told them. Shoko said it was a healing story, but looking at the poster and the little expression on the female lead's face, you can't see it at all.

"Ayumi-chan, it's just a poster, you can't tell anything from it. Besides, if I told you, wouldn't that be a spoiler?"

Shoko laughed it off, no longer feeling guilty about lying like she did back then.

Instead, I'm a little excited, looking forward to seeing how Ayumi and her fans react when they see the second volume.

I just inexplicably wanted to take a look, and also to satisfy my little 'mischievous' urges.

Tsuna ignored the two people behind him. As he pushed open the door, it rang, and the cool air from the air conditioner mixed with the smell of paper rushed out.

Four rows of bookshelves divide the space like a grid, with a white label with black lettering hanging at the top of each column.

The long wooden table by the window was the liveliest spot, where three girls in school uniforms sat around, their textbooks covered with scratch paper scribbles of formulas.

"Wouldn't it be faster to solve this problem using vectors?" The girl with the ponytail poked a small black dot on the paper with her mechanical pencil.

The short-haired girl next to me suddenly slapped her thigh: "Wait! I had something similar in my error notebook last week!"

Such discussions take place almost every day in this bookstore.

The spiral staircase next to the cashier is painted mint green, and several books are stacked on the steps waiting to be put back in their place.

Intermittent laughter came from the second floor. Through the railing, several boys could be seen sitting in the tatami area, their backpack straps dangling from the low table.

The coffee machine hummed and gurgled in the corner, the air filled with the aroma of toasted latte, mingled with a low grumble from a boy upstairs: "These reference books are thicker than bricks!"

The three of them entered the bookstore without attracting much attention, as everyone continued with their own tasks.

Ayumi Ajitani, holding Shoko's hand, headed straight for the new book section of the light novel column, following the signs.

Tsuna went to the cashier and asked the clerk about the sales of "Anohana" that day. However, when Ayumi Ajitani came over to pay for the light novel, the clerk didn't reveal any information.

Only after Ayumi Ajitani successfully paid did the shop assistant look around before slowly speaking:
"If I remember correctly, this book has only sold about eight copies since it went on sale at 8 a.m. this morning."

Most people just come in, ask a few questions, get the information, and then leave.

Tsuna thanked her and then walked out of the bookstore with Shoko, who was waiting for him.

To be honest, the result was pretty much what he expected, and even a little beyond his expectations.

He was a new author with a new book, and hadn't made any name for himself yet. He was already happy if he could sell five or six copies a day, considering the price was what it was, and the high price was one of the reasons.

In addition, it was the book's first release day, and the books were wrapped in plastic film, prohibiting free browsing, which was also one of the reasons.

Tsuna and Shoko escorted Ayumi to the crossroads where they parted ways, and then the two returned to school the way they came.

Around 5 p.m. in late April, students who had just finished their club activities walked out of the school gate with their backpacks slung over their shoulders, their uniform shirts billowing in the wind.

Groups of two or three, laughing and joking, turned into a convenience store to buy iced sodas, while the rumble of trams passing by on the tracks in the distance mingled with the chirping of cicadas in the air.

"Aunt Miyamura, I'm back!"

"I am back."

Without receiving any response, Gang guessed that his mother had probably gone to buy groceries and hadn't returned yet.

"Tsuna, when do you think our school will start offering swimming lessons?" Shoko asked casually after changing her shoes first.

As the temperature rose, she became somewhat dissatisfied with the few old fans in the classroom and began to miss the two swimming lessons a week.

"About two weeks later." Tsuna shrugged helplessly. "Shoko, you should be praying that our class isn't chosen to clean the swimming pool."

"And we still need to clean the swimming pool...?"

"Yeah, it's not like in junior high school, where our school's swimming pool was cleaned every week."

A-Gang didn't understand why she was surprised and went into the living room before her.

"Then wouldn't the water in the swimming pool be—"

Before she could finish speaking, Tsuna waved his hand to interrupt her: "Don't worry about that. It will be changed every day, and it will only be cleaned once a week."

Honestly, he couldn't even imagine what would happen if the water had to be changed only once a week.

"Oh." With that, Shoko tossed her schoolbag onto the sofa, walked over to the tatami mat next to him, and sat down.
"That's alright, we can all clean it together, it should be quick."

"Nanase-sensei will probably only call six or seven people to go, one classroom. Shoko, you'd better not even think about it."

"Oh."

After a few brief words, the topic ended, and Shoko moved on to a new one, while also taking the time to take out the homework assigned by her teachers from her schoolbag and start writing.

Neither of them chose to mention the sales figures or other issues related to the release of "Anohana" in bookstores today.

Not long after, Shizuka Miyamura returned home. Shoko, seeing this, also went back to help Grandma Nishimiya prepare dinner, and Tsuna was also dragged to the kitchen by Shizuka Miyamura to help out.

(End of this chapter)