Chapter 81 The mooncake competition ends, and Karasuno heads east once again...

After the competition, Karasuno went to Tokyo again for joint training with other schools. Summer was coming to an end, and the refreshing ice cream was turned into mini mooncakes by Kaze. Sawada Tsunayoshi was puzzled. In fact, he thought the dessert called mooncake tasted a bit strange, but Kaze liked it, so he chewed it carefully and actually found a little sweetness in the messy flavor.

But this was not a good move. As soon as he showed that the taste was okay, there were many more mooncakes on the dessert plate at home the next day. The little leader was in pain, but he felt that it was rare for Feng to express his preferences, so he should support him. He hugged the mooncake, which was half the size of his face, and ate it voraciously.

When Ippei came home from school, he saw Tsuna eating a five-nut mooncake like that. His braids, which he had finally managed to straighten, bounced back up into little pigtails, and his black eyes were filled with shock and admiration.

"Mr. Tsuna, you can actually eat so many mooncakes!"

Sawada Tsunayoshi covered his cheek. Ippei's simple words touched him deeply. He took a bite out of the rock candy without any defenses, and the crunching sound made his teeth ache. He licked his teeth and wondered why there were stones in the mooncakes.

Sensing something amiss from Yiping's words, he cautiously glanced around, confirming Feng wasn't there. He crouched down to Yiping's eye level and asked tentatively.

"Yiping, do you like this mooncake too?"

The little girl was a bit conflicted. She should say it was delicious, but she didn't want to lie to Mr. Tsuna, so she honestly shook her head.

"Yiping doesn't like to eat five-nut mooncakes."

"Huh, Ippei doesn't like it either?"

These words probably made Ippei feel ashamed; the little girl's face was flushed, and she looked very embarrassed.

Does this mooncake only appeal to the wind?

Sawada Tsunayoshi stared at the mooncake, which he had already eaten more than half of, leaving only a small piece. Actually, the outer crust of the mooncake was quite delicious, but the filling inside was really not worth mentioning.

Yiping thought for a moment and then said, "Mooncakes are for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Master will prepare more then."

The little girl has been here for several years, and her Japanese is much more fluent than before; she can now speak a complete sentence.

So at this moment, Tsunayoshi perfectly understood the bad message that Ippei was conveying. He was now hesitating whether to keep eating this mooncake until the Mid-Autumn Festival that Ippei mentioned, or to wait until the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat the mooncake again.

Actually, neither of these two options is much better.

Sawada Tsunayoshi closed his eyes. "When is the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

He still wanted to be accommodating to Feng's personal preferences.

Ichiping answered crisply, "Well, probably another month."

"So long!?" I still couldn't tolerate this strange taste.

He looked at the nearly empty plate of mooncakes and felt troubled. Yesterday was the first time he had eaten them, and everyone had eaten a piece out of curiosity. But after they found out what they tasted like, no one wanted them today. Thinking of the wind, the young man sighed. He couldn't possibly eat all of these mooncakes by himself.

That would kill people!

Seeing the little girl in front of him, staring expectantly at him and not leaving, Tsuna looked left and right, then quietly lowered his voice and asked,

"Hey, Ippei, do you want to eat something?"

He didn't want to force Ippei, who didn't like mooncakes, to help him solve the problem. Before that, he had already asked everyone in the apartment today. After watching the game, Basil didn't return to Italy for some reason, but stayed in Japan with them, even bringing his work with him.

That's alright, since they have plenty of rooms anyway. To show his welcome, Lambo immediately offered his own five-nut mooncake as a congratulatory gift for moving.

But Basil was a ruthless man. Sawada Tsunayoshi watched in trepidation as the other man ate the entire mooncake with a blank expression, and afterwards even asked him with a smile.

"Lord Tsunayoshi, is there any water? This mooncake is a bit too sweet."

This is beyond just being a little cloying!

The young leader exclaimed in amazement as he handed over a glass of water.

But this also gave Tsunayoshi some ideas. He asked around and even Hinata, who had been secretly not following the meal plan given by Shoichi, sat up straight and said that she was going to start controlling her sugar intake and that she would give up on mooncakes.

You've never controlled your sugar intake before!

Ippei thought for a moment, "Wait a moment, Mr. Tsuna."

She retrieved a knife and, under Sawada Tsunayoshi's gaze—"Even if you don't like it, don't waste food" and "It's just a mooncake, it's not a crime"—cut the mooncake into eight pieces.

Then he took out a piece and said, "I'll eat these."

"Ippei doesn't like to eat it, right? You don't have to force yourself because of what I just said, okay?"

The girl shook her head. "Master requires us to eat some every Mid-Autumn Festival, but Yiping doesn't like five-nut mooncakes. Master said he can cut a small piece."

She stuffed the small piece of mooncake into her mouth and mumbled, "Eating it like this is acceptable."

Tsunayoshi's expression was complicated. He suspected that this was the correct way to eat it, but Feng ate the mooncake normally without saying that it should be cut open.

The wind was definitely not right!

But upon closer reflection, although eating a whole one would be too greasy, a small piece would be more palatable, he still had reservations.

"Won't the mooncakes spoil if we eat them like this?"

"No, mooncakes can be kept for many days!"

Yiping remembers it like this: there were always mooncakes that could never be finished during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but even though they were eaten so slowly, the mooncakes never went bad.

"I see." The young leader looked at the knife that hadn't been put away on the table and fell into deep thought while looking at the mooncakes.

After a while, the sound of footsteps echoed on the floor where they were sleeping. Sawada Tsunayoshi was holding a plate with the mooncakes that had been cut in half earlier. He had eaten a small portion, and there were six left.

Knock on the first door,

"Mukuro, do you want some mooncakes? They're already cut up!"

This was the scene that greeted Rokudo Mukuro when he opened the door. His smooth hair cascaded over his shoulders; the boy naturally preferred to be comfortable at home, his long, curly, brown hair always loose, swaying with his movements. At that moment, the young leader held a plate to his face, as if seeking praise.

Want one?

The sticky taste from yesterday was churning in his stomach, and Rokudo Mukuro suddenly lost all appetite. He was about to speak when he saw Sawada Tsunayoshi's silly face beside the plate, and he fell silent, changing his words instead.

"I'll take one."

Sawada Tsunayoshi's expression immediately brightened, and he quickly used his fork to pick up a piece of mooncake and held it to Rokudo Mukuro's lips, fearing that the guy in front of him might change his mind and not eat it.

Mist Guardian swallowed his anger and ate the piece. The sweetness flowed through his taste buds and into his heart. He thought to himself, this should be considered a work injury.

So the others didn't escape their leader's bombardment either, each grabbing a piece and leaving. Sawada Tsunayoshi thought to himself that this was quite effective.

When Feng returned, he noticed that two pieces of pastry were missing from the refrigerator plate, which he found strange. He knew that he was different from the younger generation of children.

Although they don't look that different, he is actually quite old inside, and his tastes are very different from Yiping's. For example, his apprentice doesn't like this mooncake, but Feng has been eating it for many years. Anyway, it's only during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He thinks it's quite delicious even though he hasn't eaten it for a year.

This year, his hometown heard that his curse had been lifted and he had a fixed place to live. They even sent him a few boxes of mooncakes. There were many flavors in them, including some that Feng, this old-fashioned guy, had seen before and some he hadn't. Thinking that Tsuna and Ippei always bought sweets together, the flavors shouldn't be too different. He put away the boxes of new flavors, intending to take them out on the festival day. But he was craving something, so he opened the box of five-nut mooncakes first.

Yesterday, everyone ate one mooncake, so I guess no one will come to eat this one today. But Feng also thought about letting the kids eat a lot, since he can eat it slowly himself.

One piece is understandable, since Tsuna is shy and would probably be too embarrassed to eat one piece for his sake, but who ate the other piece?

The wind stroked its chin, deep in thought.

On the escalator, Reborn was carrying a small piece of mooncake. Feng turned to look at him and calmly pointed out...

"When did you start liking mooncakes? Did you give away the box I gave you for the festival before?"

Reborn probably still thought the pastry, with its filling peeking out from the messy cross-section, looked unappetizing, but he still forced himself to swallow it and looked up to answer the question.

“I didn’t like it. Tsuna was practically begging us to eat it.”

"That's it. Everyone gets one a day, and that box of mooncakes should be finished soon." In the training dormitory, Sawada Tsunayoshi rested his chin on his hand and shared his solution.

Hinata lay down beside him. "But Tsuna, I don't think they'll obediently eat the mooncakes after you leave."

The room wasn't just filled with people from Karasuno; friends from other schools also came over for a visit.

The wooden rabbit was itching to try it. "Is it really that bad?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi felt he still needed to prove the mooncake's worth: "It's not that it tastes bad, it's just that the texture is very peculiar."

He nudged Hinata, who nodded in agreement. "If you only eat a small piece, the taste is acceptable, but if you eat the whole big piece, ugh, you'll probably get sick of it."

"It's not that exaggerated, is it?"

“Absolutely,” Hinata retorted to Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Kozume put down his phone. "Mooncakes? I've had them before, but the taste was alright. They weren't as bad as people say."

It would be better if this wasn't mentioned, because once it was brought up, the young leader's mood became complicated again.

"That's true. There are other flavors of mooncakes at home, such as lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk, and many other flavors, but Feng's favorite is the five-nut mooncake. It's strange that the other flavors aren't like that."

"Then we can certainly try it." Kuroki seemed thoughtful, feeling that such a magical taste was worth experiencing.

“That’s a good idea,” Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded. “When we have the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ippei said that her master will receive lots and lots of mooncakes as a gift. I can ask Kaze to bring some mooncakes from their house and then share them with everyone.”

Tsuna happily edited the text message, even specifying that he wanted mooncakes with five-nut flavor. Kaze found the message very strange.

These days, very few people give five-nut flavored mooncakes as gifts. Even Tsuna himself doesn't like them, so why would he want that flavor?

However, he was still happy that some of his preferences were being affirmed.

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Author's Note: The Elderly and the Wind

The taste of the five-nut mooncake is actually not bad. The author apologizes for unintentionally offending everyone (kneeling).