Chapter 55: Cherry Blossom Pendant, Buttons, and Resin
Although he said he was leaving, it would take some time to process the visa and enrollment procedures. It wasn't until Irie Shoichi actually dragged his suitcase to the airport that Sawada Tsunayoshi truly felt the reality of being all alone.
The cherry blossoms have long since faded, and dark green leaves are climbing up the treetops; summer is approaching.
Eri Irie got her driver's license right after graduating from high school. On the day she saw Shoichi Irie off, she drove them to the airport together.
Sending a junior high school student to school alone was too much for the Irie family, but because Irie Eri was also busy with university admissions, in the end, Irie's parents went abroad with her to help Irie Shoichi with the procedures.
Irie's father carried the luggage and went to the boarding gate first, while Irie's mother waved to them from there.
"Xiao Zheng, say goodbye quickly."
Shoichi Irie exclaimed "Ah!", gripped the backpack straps tightly with both hands, and looked down at Tsunayoshi Sawada.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was looking at the pendant on his chest, which was made of resin and contained one or two cherry blossom petals. The light pink color surrounded the clasp in the middle and hung steadily around Irie Shoichi's neck.
Noticing Tsunayoshi's gaze, Irie Shoichi picked up the pendant. Sunlight refracted through the airport's transparent glass, and the small piece of resin glowed with a warm yellow halo under the white light.
Is it pretty?
Tsuna nodded. "It looks nice, but... are those my buttons?"
He pointed to the pendant, and Irie Shoichi didn't hesitate.
"Yes, because I really like it, so I want to carry it with me all the time."
The red-haired boy awkwardly put down the pendant, and a light pink hue, like cherry blossoms, slowly rose to his face.
It seems there's nothing left to worry about.
Sawada Tsunayoshi took a deep breath, and then relaxed his shoulders.
For some reason, Irie Shoichi's departure was far more difficult for him to accept than Hinata Shoyo's farewell. Perhaps it was because he knew that Hinata was destined to be the rising sun high in the sky, and would not stay for any particular moment.
But Zheng Yi is different.
Two rays of sunlight appeared in his life at the same time, one blazing and dazzling, the other bright and gentle. Tsuna was surprised to find that he had never imagined that Irie Shoichi would leave.
He swallowed all his unspoken reluctance and sadness, which turned into warm tears that streamed down his cheeks.
He could control his mouth, but his emotions quietly showed through his eyes, which were full of feeling.
Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi is really, really, really heartbroken.
The last petal that touched his heart was the pendant on Shoichi Irie's chest, the button that once warmed Tsunayoshi's body, now placed on someone else's heart.
It seems that why the other person suddenly left and his sad feelings are no longer important at this moment, because no matter how far apart they are, Shoichi and Tsuna will never forget each other.
After the plane took off, Sawada Tsunayoshi and Irie Eri did not stay at the airport for long and went back to Namimori.
On the way, Eri Irie probably knew that Tsuna was feeling bad, so she thought of talking about something else to ease his mood. But as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn't help but steer the conversation back to Shoichi Irie.
"I don't know what that guy was thinking. He had to apply to foreign universities out of the blue, and those professors actually accepted him. Geniuses are just unreasonable."
She spoke with a proud expression, and Sawada Tsunayoshi perked up.
"Xiao Zheng has always been very talented in music."
"Hmm?" Eri Irie glanced at him questioningly through the rearview mirror.
"Didn't Zheng Yi tell you? He applied to a science and engineering university."
"Eh!?" Sawada Tsunayoshi leaned forward, practically clinging to the seat in front of him.
"But doesn't Xiaozheng really like music? How could this be?"
He was saying he wanted to become a musician just a while ago,
No, what Xiao Zheng actually said was, "...Forget about the great musician, I can give you his autograph later."
It's unclear what kind of mental storm Sawada Tsunayoshi is going through, but Irie Eri also seems to be wondering why Irie Shoichi isn't explaining things to Tsunayoshi.
“Around the time you were graduating, Zheng Yi was in a bad mood for several days in a row. At that time, you and Xiang Yang were busy with graduation matters, and it seems that he did not come to see you for this reason. He just stayed at home in silence and dazed.”
"I...I don't know!" he exclaimed in astonishment.
"Oh, that's normal. He didn't want to tell us at first, but we noticed that he was acting strangely. He probably thought he was hiding it well, but with family members who love each other, we could tell he was acting wrong right away."
"As for Zhengyi, my mother and I guess he probably saw lives slipping away before his eyes, but he was powerless to stop it, so he must have been very sad."
“After all, we asked him why he didn’t pursue music but instead went into scientific research. At first, his mother tried to persuade him to study these things, but he absolutely refused.”
Tsuna knew this, and he had been quietly supporting his childhood friend's journey to pursue his dreams.
"What did he say?" Sawada Tsunayoshi asked somewhat anxiously.
He said, "Studying music won't save the people you want to protect."
Eri Irie probably found it funny, and she continued, "He was able to get into this university thanks to you and Shoyo. Because of you two, he never stopped researching sports and health, and he kept reading related books. With this foundation, the professor on the other end took a liking to him at first sight and even called my parents. What else could we do but let him go out and explore?"
She smiled helplessly, "He really doesn't follow the rules, does he?"
"Actually, I knew that once I went to university, I would inevitably have less time to spend with him, but I didn't expect him to leave so decisively."
Decisive to the point of being almost resolute.
Sawada Tsunayoshi responded softly. If these were the only reasons, why didn't Irie Shoichi tell him directly instead of keeping it from him?
And the long string of words that Zheng Yi said to him before they parted.
"Tsuna-kun, take good care of yourself while I'm not around, and don't be picky about food..."
Tsunayoshi, sir?
When did Shoichi start calling him Tsunayoshi-kun?
It seems to be around the time of graduation season.
Xiao Zheng, what are you thinking?
This question lingered with him as he entered the second year of junior high school. Even though he had asked Irie Shoichi about it, whether openly or subtly, the other party always changed the subject. After a few times, Sawada Tsunayoshi realized that the other party probably didn't want to answer, so he didn't ask any more questions.
His life was uneventful, with nothing particularly noteworthy. Every day he went to school, came home, went to the baseball club with Takeru, and then blatantly slacked off, only playing volleyball at Coach Suzuki's club.
Suzuki kept saying that he would slack off when Hinata wasn't around, but the new kids at the club really liked this older brother and would pester Sawada Tsunayoshi to play volleyball with them every day.
Occasionally, Hibari would drag him to spar, and then he would be sore all over and carried home by Hibari. Sometimes, because Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't want his mother to know he was injured, Hibari would climb over the windowsill as he wished.
Sawada Tsunayoshi rolled around on the bed. "Don't be so affectionate in random places, Hibari-senpai!"
Having just endured inhuman torture the day before, Tsuna slept soundly the next day. When his mother woke him up, he panicked, missed a step, and tumbled down the stairs.
Then he met the person who disrupted his peaceful daily life.
Even though his values were shattered and rebuilt, Sawada Tsunayoshi, in his mental daze, still held fast to his principles and remained determined not to become a mafia member. He didn't mention these things to Hyuga and Irie Shoichi, nor did he reveal them to Rokudo Mukuro in his dream.
He already felt guilty for accidentally dragging A-Wu into this, and he wanted his other friends to stay as far away from the Mafia as possible.
Haven't you been playing volleyball lately?
Rokudo Mukuro listened to his complaints, which were nothing more than that he had been too busy lately to even have time to play volleyball. He had to avoid Coach Suzuki on the street, otherwise the other man would look at him with a very resentful gaze until Tsuna felt guilty.
Sawada Tsunayoshi swallowed the ice cream in one gulp and nodded angrily.
"Because my grades were so bad, my mother hired a tutor to force me to study harder."
Thinking of those terrible bombs, Tsuna became even more depressed.
"So you're saying why you're hiring a tutor for me?"
What he actually wanted to say was why the tutor had approached him, but to avoid letting Mukuro know about the Mafia, he phrased it differently.
But Rokudo Mukuro thought of the other party's complicated test paper. Although he didn't like Sawada Tsunayoshi's childhood friends and felt that their close relationship was not good.
But once the high-achieving student left and no one was there to help Sawada Tsunayoshi study, this lazy bum immediately reverted to his "passive" state, focusing on maintaining his grades to the point where his childhood friend wouldn't be so angry that he'd fly back from abroad overnight.
It was tough on Rokudo Mukuro. Even though he didn't go to school, seeing such terrible grades would make him cover his eyes and exclaim that they were unbearable to look at.
So Rokudo Mukuro nodded instead, "You really should study hard, otherwise I'll start to worry about whether you'll be able to get into high school."
Sawada Tsunayoshi sullenly ate a few more bites of ice cream, saying, "My grades aren't that bad."
Like I said, we can't really make Zheng Yi so angry that he flies back to beat him up.
Tsuna finished the dessert in the last few bites, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction. Recently, there have been more kids in the house, and he has to fight for food, otherwise that devil will say that if he can't eat it, it's because he's not strong enough.
But he never wanted to inherit the Vongola, so Sawada Tsunayoshi could only mutter to himself, but he thought the lively atmosphere was quite nice.
Rokudo Mukuro remembered something else, "How is that classmate you mentioned before who disliked you and transferred from Italy to Japan doing now?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi previously thought Gokudera was too fierce, so he couldn't help but complain about it in front of Rokudo Mukuro. However,
"It's all resolved now. It was just a small misunderstanding," Tsuna added after thinking for a moment.
"We have a pretty good relationship right now."
Rokudo Mukuro wasn't surprised by how things turned out. "He'd be blind if he didn't like you."
"Oh, by the way, I'll be going to Japan in a while. Let's meet up after I'm done with my work?"
He remembered the real reason he had come: he had originally planned to check where in Italy the classmate was from if he was truly blind.
However, Rokudo Mukuro laughed, knowing that he would soon be able to easily eliminate all the Mafia in the world.
After that, he could go find Sawada Tsunayoshi without worry.
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Author's Note: There's a reason why Xiao Zheng left, I'll explain later [cat emoji]
I'll soon be writing the plot I've been wanting to write!
Xiao Zheng (belike): Learning music won't save the Vongola (?)
At this time, Brother Dahai was still worried about his child's studies.
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