My childhood sweetheart is Nishimiya Glass

Chapter 397 Nishikata and Takagi under the setting sun

Tsuna also received a share, but she chose to give it to Shoko to pass on to him.

Takagi did the same thing as Ayumi Ajitani after school.

As for whether it would end up in Tsuna's hands, they stopped caring, since he was there when the glass was collected.

Watching Ayumi Ajitani and Shoko's figures disappear into the back door of the corridor, Kitano's last hope was completely extinguished.

He lowered his eyes dejectedly, hastily grabbed his schoolbag strap, and resignedly shuffled toward the door.

"Tian, ​​I think... I've been dumped..."

"Ha...you're kidding me. You haven't even fallen in love yet, how could you be heartbroken?"

Tanaka, who was waiting to the side, winked mischievously and smiled brightly. He caught up with him in a few steps and bumped his shoulder.

"Don't be discouraged. There are still two years left. I believe the class monitor will see your good qualities."

"real…?"

"Really! She'll definitely reject you very formally then! That'll make you give up completely!"

"You... (Japanese swear word)"

Kitano raised his hand to chase after Tanaka, who was dodging, and the two of them playfully mingled into the flow of people leaving school.

…………

The five o'clock bell rang again, and the sunset had already set the sky ablaze.

As the club activities ended, students gradually returned home, and the campus became empty again.

However, if you look closely, you can still find a few figures around the corner of the corridor as dusk falls.

Whether leaning against the window or facing the breeze, the young men and women faced each other.

Shoko rushed into Tsuna's arms at the school gate, and Ayumi Ajitani also came out of the school pushing her bicycle at that moment.

After a brief greeting, Tsuna and his companion chose to walk home.

Ayumi Ajitani naturally understood and did not disturb her. She deftly bent down to pedal, and her figure quickly disappeared into the winding homeward path under the fiery clouds.

The two who were lagging behind had just stepped out of the school gate when the three of them were no longer in sight.

"It seems that Nishimiya and the others have already gone back."

As soon as Nishikata finished speaking, a gust of cold wind rushed towards him, and the chill seeped into his collar without warning.

Takagi and Nishikata instinctively shrank back, exchanged a glance, and tacitly decided to stop lingering at the empty school gate and quicken their pace.

We hurried along that familiar path, side by side.

We just turned into a sheltered alleyway.

Takagi suddenly stopped, turned to the side, and her smiling eyes fell on the several carefully wrapped paper bags in Nishikata's hand:

"Hey, Nishikata-kun..." she asked softly, her voice slightly puffed out, "How many copies did you collect today?"

"what?!"

Nishikata was lost in thought when Takagi's sudden stop and turn startled him so much that he almost bumped into her.

She staggered forward a couple of steps before managing to steady herself, the paper bag she was carrying rattling loudly.

He stumbled back two steps, his face flushed, whether from the cold wind or something else, was unclear.

“Just… just two sets,” Nishikata glanced quickly at the small paper bag in his hand, “They were given to me by the class president and Nishimiya-san, they’re both… obligatory chocolates…”

"That's all?" Takagi didn't look away; instead, he took another half step closer.

She tilted her head slightly, and in her eyes, which were bathed in the glow of the setting sun, she clearly saw Nishikata's hastily turned away profile.

"No...nothing," Nishikata hurriedly shook his head, but kept his gaze averted, not daring to meet Takagi's eyes, which seemed to be able to see through his thoughts.

The words had barely left his mouth when he seemed to suddenly remember something, and he abruptly added, "However..." He held up one finger: "My neighbor's classmate did call me over this afternoon," his voice carrying a hint of honest confession.
"She secretly tried to trade her chocolate for the one the class monitor gave her... the 'obligation chocolate'..."

"Uh..." This time, Takagi was a little stunned. "This happened this afternoon...?"

She was somewhat surprised that her neighbor hadn't given up on the idea.

“Hmm…” He nodded: “Back then, you went out with the class monitor and Nishimiya, and she took the opportunity to come looking for me and also for Miyamura.”

"Did Miyamura agree?"

“No.” Nishikata immediately shook his head vigorously. “That was Miyamura’s exact words.”

As he spoke, he immediately imitated Tsuna's serious and resolute tone from back then:
"Don't even think about it. The chocolates they gave me as a token of their obligation won't end up in my hands; they'll only end up in Shoko's stomach."

The same goes for the obligatory chocolates given by other girls; they were all received by Shoko on her behalf.

The last sentence was also confirmed when they went to wash the lunch boxes at noon. They could only go out once and when they came back, there were indeed several more chocolates in Tsuna's desk drawer.

But before I could even see whether it was a duty chocolate or my favorite chocolate, it was all snatched away by Shoko.

She even said fiercely that she would take it back and feed it to Hachiko!

"Pfft..." Takagi covered her mouth and laughed at his appearance.

In the twilight, Takagi smiled brightly, and Nishikata's earnest performance suddenly made him lose his composure.

By the time he came to his senses, Takagi was already holding a piece of chocolate and steadily handing it to him.

"Hey... Valentine's Day chocolates this year." Takagi tilted her head and smiled.

Nishikata accepted it dumbfounded, already having already thought of names for his future children.

"Let's call her Nishikata Chi..."

"Huh...? What did you say, Nishikata-kun? I didn't hear you."

"!!" Realizing he had accidentally blurted out his true feelings, Nishikata's cheeks flushed instantly, and he quickly shook his head and waved his hands to explain:

"N-nothing! I didn't say anything!"

"Hmm...? Really?" Takagi drawled, tiptoeing and taking another small step closer.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze almost meeting his evasive eyes:

"But I heard it clearly... that sound was definitely coming from your mouth."

"Ah, ah! I remember now!"

Nishikata, who was already under immense pressure, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and jumped back a step:
"Miyamura Tsuyoshi said he has a life-or-death matter! It's extremely urgent and I need to go back and deal with it! Um, Takagi-san, see you tomorrow...!"

After saying that, without giving Takagi a chance to react, she grabbed the chocolate bag and ran past her without looking back.

Against the backdrop of a sky shrouded in fiery sunset clouds, it vanished in the blink of an eye, becoming a blurry afterimage of a school uniform.

"Pfft... What a blatantly clumsy lie!"

With a knowing smile playing on his lips, Takagi watched the figure disappear in a disheveled state around the street corner before leisurely withdrawing his gaze.

Turning into the alley, her steps became much lighter: "Xi Gong Xiao Qian...? That's a good name, then... I'll use that as my name from now on."

…………

Back home after escaping, Nishikata was leaning against the doorframe in the entryway, panting heavily, inwardly cursing himself for being so weak.

"Tooth white..."

"I forgot to ask Takagi-san if this chocolate is her favorite or a favor..."

He took out his phone and opened LINE, wanting to ask Takagi-san directly, but he didn't have the courage to send that question...

The clever boy then tried to determine if it was his special chocolate by looking at the details, but after examining it for a long time, he couldn't figure it out...

(End of this chapter)