The Sound of a Silent Life-Chapter 61: [62] Believe in science!

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"Brother Tsuna, are you lying to kids? How come I’ve never seen it or heard my friends at school talk about it?" Yuzuru stared at him suspiciously. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Tsuna quickly changed the subject. "Okay, let’s make the kite first. I’ll tell you when I remember which channel it’s on."

Seeing her unconvinced look and that she was about to speak, Tsuna cut her off: "I’ll cut the paper into diamond shapes first, and you can draw whatever you like on them."

He swiftly used the scissors to cut out four identical diamond-shaped white sheets and handed them to the three of them, then pushed the colored pencils over. "Go on, draw something."

"Anything is fine?" Shouko asked curiously as she took the paper.

Tsuna lowered his head and replied, "Yeah, you can draw on both sides." Then he picked up a knife and began cutting bamboo to match the size of the paper.

Shizuka saw him pick up the knife and worriedly reminded him, "Tsuna, be careful with that knife."

Tsuna reassured her casually, "Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be careful."

She was still a bit unhappy about him using a knife. He’d told her yesterday that he needed it to cut bamboo, and she’d been against it until he secretly cut a small piece to prove he could handle it. She’d finally given in though not without giving him a lecture and two light smacks on the butt.

Seeing how focused he was, Yuzuru couldn’t help but be surprised. "Brother Tsuna, did you learn this from TV?" She thought to herself this technique didn’t look like something you could pick up by watching TV. Besides, wasn’t he always glued to his sister? Why had she never heard Shouko brag about this?

Shizuka, standing by, was surprised too at first, but then she thought about how her child had always been different from other kids, so clever and good with his hands, so she didn’t find it strange anymore. She just worried he might cut himself.

As for why he didn’t seem like an ordinary child and whether he needed some old village exorcism, feeding magic water, whipping with willow branches, sprinkling black dog or rooster blood, or going to a shrine to find a shrine maiden to drive out evil, well, sorry, she hadn’t thought about it. She chose to believe in science!

(Except the shrine maiden part—after all, this was Japan. She wasn’t sure about other places.)

Without getting an answer, Yuzuru turned her head and whispered to Shouko, "Sister, did you know Brother Tsuna was this good?"

Shouko didn’t answer, just shook her head slowly. Ever since Tsuna picked up the knife to cut bamboo, her worried eyes hadn’t left his hands. She felt a bit regretful, if she’d known he’d use a knife for something this dangerous, she wouldn’t have insisted on making a kite.

Tsuna paused to measure the bamboo with the paper template but noticed it had gone oddly quiet. He looked up and saw Shouko and Yuzuru staring at him. He couldn’t help but ask, "Why aren’t you drawing? Why are you looking at me? I’m not much to look at. It’ll take me five or six more minutes to finish cutting this."

Shizuka, after making sure he was doing fine, had started drawing without a care.

Shouko, seeing him stop, said worriedly, "Tsuna, I don’t want the kite anymore. Can you stop cutting?" Earlier, she hadn’t dared say anything, afraid she’d distract him and he’d cut himself.

Tsuna comforted her in a gentle voice, "Don’t worry about me. I’ll be careful. Just focus on your drawing, don’t let me finish all this and you’re still not done."

He could tell, she’d been so excited to make a kite two days ago but now suddenly didn’t want one anymore. Of course, he knew why,she was worried about him.

"But...."

Tsuna interrupted her before she could finish. "Don’t worry, Shouko. I’ll go slowly. Don’t you trust me?" He gave her a reassuring look.

"What about me? What about me? Brother Tsuna, why aren’t you reassuring me too?"

Yuzuru asked playfully. Obviously, she and Shouko had both been watching him, so why only coax Shouko?

"Yes, yes, Yuzuru, hurry up and draw too. Once you’re done, you can fly your kite," Tsuna said with a small laugh, brushing her off.

"It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry." Yuzuru looked smug now that he’d finally talked to her too. She chuckled, waved her hand, and sat back happily.

Tsunayoshi: *...I swear I want to bop her on the head.*

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About ten minutes later, Yuzuru laughed. "Okay, I’m done!" She set down her colored pencil and picked up her masterpiece from the tatami to admire it.

"Show it to Auntie." Shizuka leaned over and immediately saw what she’d drawn, but still pointed at the puppy and asked, "Who’s this little dog?"

"It’s Hachiko!" Yuzuru puffed out her chest proudly, hands on her hips.

Tsuna glanced at it and, yep, totally her style, pure cute girl vibes.

"Great job! It looks just like Hachiko," Shizuka clapped and praised her.

Too bad Tsuna hadn’t brought Hachiko over when he called them. Otherwise, Yuzuru’s masterpiece might have had a live model.

"Alright, give me your paper. I’ll make the kite for you," Tsuna said, taking the diamond-shaped sheet she handed him. The others had finished drawing a few minutes ago, but she’d been so curious about what everyone else was doing that she’d only just wrapped up.

He fixed, glued, cut ribbons for tails, tied strings, and in ten minutes, all three kites were done.

"Okay! You can go test them out now." Tsuna handed the kites to each of them according to their drawings.

Shouko’s kite had two families drawn on it. One of them showed a little boy with black hair. Tsuna didn’t ask who it was.

Shizuka’s kite was simpler, just a boy and two girls sketched on it.

"Be careful. I’ll clean up the dust on the floor," Shizuka said, refusing to take the kite from her son and instead getting up to fetch cleaning tools for the tatami.

The three apologized softly to her, put on their outdoor shoes at the entrance, and headed out.

"Wait a sec, I’ll go get Hachiko," Yuzuru called out as soon as they stepped outside, handing her kite to Shouko.

So the three of them took Hachiko along to the same place they’d flown kites last time. Since it was the weekend, there were plenty of kids and elderly people strolling around.

"Yuzuru, do you want me to show you how to fly it?" As they reached the brown bench where they’d rested before, Shouko asked curiously.

"No need, sister! Back in kindergarten, Teacher Yoshinaga taught us. She didn’t let us actually fly one, but with my genius brain, I remember everything! Hahaha..." Yuzuru puffed herself up proudly and waved Shouko off.

"Woof..." Hachiko barked helplessly. No one understood what he meant.

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