𝒦𝑜𝓃𝑜𝒽𝒶 𝐻𝒾𝑔𝒽

𝓢𝓴𝓲𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓵𝓸𝓬𝓴

⸻⸻⋅☾  🏪☽⋅⸻⸻

The next morning, I tried to get up before Mum and Dad, but failed. After a painfully awkward exchange, I hurried to get changed and headed to school.

Before class, I told my friends that my dad was back. A few of them seemed surprised  and others questioned why I didn't seem more excited, but Boruto was thrilled.  He really admires my dad and has been taking business lessons from him, which he talks about like it's some exclusive training. Sometimes, I swear the only reason my dad comes home is for those sessions with Boruto and I always tries to act like it doesn't bother me.

...

Just before the bell for third period, ChoCho strolled up to me.

"Wanna skip?" she asked, like it was no big deal.

A few years ago, I would've lost my shit and would've immediately denied. But my next class was medical science—a class my mom signed me up for—and it was so fucking boring. So, this time, I shrugged and said, "Why not?"

...

When the teachers weren't looking, we slipped around the oval and snuck out through the back doors. Once we hit the street, ChoCho suggested we head to her parents' store. I hesitated, knowing her parents would catch us skipping, but she assured me they were out today, and someone from her clan was covering. When I asked if this girl would rat us out, ChoCho just grinned and promised she wouldn't. So, with that reassurance, we headed to the store.

...

When we arrived at the sote, we pushed through the front door and was immediately greeted by a girl with vibrant pink hair streaked with purple.

"Skipping class? How bad", she teased, smirking at us with a raised eyebrow.

ChoCho and I exchanged amused glances, chuckling a little. She leaned over to me and whispered, "See? I told you she wouldn't care."

I relaxed a bit. The girl just shook her head, still grinning, as if she'd seen this all before, and waved us inside.

....

ChoCho's parents own a convenience store packed with all kinds of snacks . While we browsed through the shelves, piling our cart high (since everything was free for us), I suddenly heard a familiar laugh. When I glanced over the aisle, I spotted Inojin and Himawari laughing together at something he'd said. If Boruto saw them now, he'd probably skin Inojin alive. I couldn't help but smile thinking about how he'd react.

ChoCho and I exchanged a look, and she smirked.

"They've been hanging out for ages, but nothing's official yet."

"That's great—I'm happy for them, but Inojin's seventeen turning seventeen this year, and Hima's turning fifteen. Isn't that, like, at least a little illegal?" I chuckled.

"Don't worry," ChoCho replied. "Inojin said he wouldn't confess anything until she's at university with him."

We stopped talking when we heard Inojin and Himawari's laughter suddenly die down. When we turned around, they were staring at us with nervous expressions as Inojin approached us.

"Skipping too?" he laughed.

"Yeah, and if you rat us out, we're taking you down with us" ChoCho teased.

Himawari forced a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry, Hima, she's just joking," I reassured her.

"I know... just don't tell Ni-chan," she said, glancing anxiously at Inojin.

"We won't," ChoCho promised with a smile. "Now, get back to whatever you two were talking about," she added, giving Inojin a playful shove.

...

We managed to slip back onto campus without anyone noticing. Finally, when the final bell rang, ChoCho, Sumire, and I headed over to Sumire's apartment to hang out for a while.