The next day, as the two entered the classroom through the back door, they noticed a stash of torn and carelessly discarded books on Shoya's desk, chair, and floor.
Seeing this for the first time, Shouko's pupils constricted, and she couldn't help but mutter under her breath.
"That's too much..."
From childhood, she had been raised under Tsuna's protection.
Because she could speak normally, her subsequent interactions were like any other, aside from the initial surprise when she introduced herself to others.
Over time, no one felt the need to care for or exclude her.
Some even forgot she was hearing-impaired after spending so much time with her.
With Tsuna by her side, bullying and exclusion were averted.
Seeing she wasn't the person they were waiting for, some of the people in the classroom silently averted their gazes and returned to their own business.
"Let's go," Tsuna observed as Shouko stopped and offered her hand, leading her back to her seat.
He had guessed that this was likely to happen yesterday, but he had no honest thoughts or opinions about it.
"Tsuna, do you think it will be like yesterday when Ishida comes and sees this?"
After stuffing her bag into the hole in her desk, Shouko turned to ask him, thinking of Shoya's crazy behavior on the podium yesterday.
At her sudden question, Tsuna raised his hand to touch his chin, thought seriously, and finally shook his head.
"According to his personality... yes."
Before Shouko could say anything else, he added, "The first time, the second time, even the fifth or sixth time, he would resist.
But as the number of times increases, he will no longer resist.
And as the number of times increases, their behavior towards him will become more and more serious."
Shouko obviously didn't believe his speculation and retorted, "No way? Then tell Mr. Takeuchi—"
She stopped talking before finishing. She knew Mr. Takeuchi's personality. He might still be resentful of Shōya because of their escape last time, and he wanted everyone to highlight his behavior.
"Shouko!"
A shout snapped Shouko out of her thoughts. Turning, she saw Miyoko standing in the hallway, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder.
Before she could even greet him, she was already complaining, "I feel like I've gotten a shade darker, and my legs are so sore when I woke up this morning."
Miyoko placed her schoolbag on Shouko's desk and pulled up an unoccupied chair, slapping her thighs with her hands.
Shouko, seeing her distressed expression, quickly offered solace.
"No, it's still the same as before. I don't see any change, okay? Isn't that right, Tsuna?"
As she finished her words, she sent a series of eye glances to someone nearby.
"Yes, yes, yes," Tsuna said perfunctorily, before slumping back onto the desk to catch up on some sleep, ignoring their conversation.
Yesterday, his mother's inexplicable behavior had kept him awake all night, and he later wondered if she had some incurable disease.
However, as soon as this idea came to his mind, he dismissed it. At that time, he didn't forget to raise his hand and pat his forehead, expressing why such an unlucky thought even came up!
Then he patted away the only sleepiness...
"Really?" Miyoko ignored Tsuna's perfunctory words, raised her left hand to touch her cheek, and looked at Shouko with joy.
"Yeah!" Shouko nodded sincerely.
---
"Dong... Dong... Dong...!"
"I'll go back to my seat first. I'll come to see you after class."
As the bell rang, Miyoko glanced at the classroom door, stood up from her chair, and returned to her seat.
Takeuchi entered the classroom two or three minutes later, carrying a moral education textbook.
As he reached the podium, Takeuchi noticed the state of Ishida's seat. He casually glanced in Tsuna's direction, then turned to Miki and said calmly,
"Ishida's absent today. Kawai will arrange for someone to clean up the mess on Ishida's seat."
"..." Miki suddenly wanted to slap herself in the face during the class monitor election at the beginning of the semester.
With that four-eyed jerk watching from the podium, did the person she chose have the right to refuse?
Wouldn't asking her to arrange for someone to clean up Ishida's seat now simply make her an enemy of the person she chose?
"I'll go," Miki thought, unable to come up with a good way out of the situation. She could only stand up, resigned to her bad luck.
Takeuchi, perched on the podium, said nothing. He glanced at her, nodded, then looked away, turning back to the textbook.
Tsuna glanced briefly at the two of them before turning his gaze out the window at the blue sky.
He watched as a flock of unknown birds appeared in the patch of blue sky outside the window.
In the blink of an eye, they soared out of the sky, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"What's so good about that out the window?" Looking at his entranced expression, Shouko asked curiously from the seat beside him.
Tsuna averted his gaze, turning to the girl, whose face was filled with joy and a touch of curiosity. He slowly shook his head and said softly, "There's nothing to see. I was just looking."
"Did you hear Mr. Takeuchi's last words before he left the classroom?" Shouko, already accustomed to this response, changed the subject.
Tsuna rubbed his head, thinking quickly, and asked in confusion,
"Are you referring to what Takeuchi said about taking graduation photos in a few days?"
Indeed, there was only one week left until graduation; time truly flew by.
Our Shouko would soon become a junior high student, with a hundred and twenty months left before she could enter the workforce.
In the past few months, nothing big happened, but there were a lot of small things in the class, but none of them had anything to do with the two of them.
"Yes, yes, we should go to the gymnasium together to take a class photo." Shouko's joyful words interrupted Tsuna's thoughts.
Tsuna felt that group photos didn't matter. After all, it was already great to be able to remember such an event when they grew up.
Some people might not even remember the names of their classmates after a few months.
Before he could say anything, Shouko added:
"I just don't know if you can bring a camera to school. I want to take a photo with everyone then."
"Just ask Takeuchi when the time comes, but it shouldn't be a problem."
Tsuna raised his hand and pinched her cheek, trying to calm her down first, as the photo was still a few days away.
Shouko slapped his hand without hesitation and said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "We are still in the classroom, why are you touching me?"
After she finished speaking, she looked around the classroom, and when she found that no one noticed, she breathed a sigh of relief silently, but she still glared at him with her beautiful eyes as a warning.
"..." Tsuna was a little speechless.
He felt that even if the two of them hugged each other, they would pretend not to see it, and would only be surprised if they saw it.
---