After watching the two leave, Tsuna was about to catch up on some sleep when Shouko stopped him:
"Tsuna, Teacher Takeuchi said we'll have a study session this class. How about you help me review the lessons I didn't understand a few days ago?"
She didn't care that Shōya had been taken away by Teacher Takeuchi, or whether Ishida was wrongly accused. After all, it wasn't her, Tsuna, who had been taken away.
Homework was more important.
"Okay," Tsuna nodded in agreement, moved his chair next to Shouko, and began to teach quietly.
Miki, already used to it, chose not to pay attention and continued chatting with Naoka about what had just happened between Shōya and Shimada.
Not long after, Shimada by was called back, and upon his return, some sharp-eyed classmates noticed that his eyes were slightly red, as if he had been crying.
Tsuna noticed it when he returned and figured he might have secretly bought onions to rub his eyes with.
After five or six minutes, the homeroom teacher returned to the classroom and sent Shimada away. Ten minutes later, he returned unharmed, but Shōya was nowhere to be seen.
"Knock… knock… knock…!"
"Keisuke, come out with me." As the bell rang, Shimada walked over to Keisuke's desk and knocked on it. After leaving the message, he left the classroom.
Keisuke had many questions in mind, so without much hesitation, he followed.
Shimada led Keisuke to a corner of the teaching building where no one would notice. He checked the surroundings, just in case.
After confirming there were no issues or cameras, he smirked slightly and looked at Keisuke nonchalantly. "Ask anything you want."
This expression was in stark contrast to the pitiful look he had shown before in the classroom.
Keisuke grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and demanded, "What do you mean? If you sell Ishida out now, will I be next? What about six years of friendship?"
Shimada patted his hand, trying to get him to let go, but was about to say something when Keisuke interrupted, "Don't think I don't know. Ishida and you climbed over the wall and left—it was probably your idea."
Shimada listened quietly, his expression never changing. He chuckled and asked, "And then? Are you done?"
Seeing no response, he slapped away the hand gripping his collar. "If you don't break ties with Ishida now, you'll definitely be implicated later."
Keisuke didn't respond. After leaving these inexplicable words, he left the corner, leaving Shimada alone to think.
Please—he just asked him to come down to answer a question, not to hear a lecture.
---
Having just returned to the classroom, Keisuke arrived shortly after Shimada.
Without a word, he moved his desk and chair to another corner, distancing himself from Shimada.
While Hirose felt Shimada was being disloyal by betraying his friend, he still trusted his well-intentioned advice. He had also long noticed the looks some students in the class gave, as if threatening to target Shōya.
Everyone in the classroom was puzzled by his behavior, but they didn't question him further.
"Baka! I didn't expect the prize for first place to be so generous!" Word quickly spread throughout the grade about the prize for the singing competition.
Along with it came a rumor that the grand prize was sponsored by the father of Miyamura Tsunayoshi, the top student in the grade, and that Class B had already been chosen as the winner.
However, due to Shōya's trickery, President Miyamura supposedly couldn't stand it and had the principal randomly select a class to take first place.
Shōya became infamous in sixth grade because of this. As for why Shimada was not mentioned in the rumor, no one knew.
Tsunayoshi was already quite well-known, and after everyone learned that he was the son of President Miyamura, it became even less likely for them to mock him—except for Miu.
However, these rumors, whether true or false, weren't believed by many. Still, they were deeply imprinted in the minds of some students in Class B. They didn't believe them outright, but they needed a reason to convince themselves.
The rumor came at a very timely moment.
"Bang!" A loud noise rang out in the noisy classroom.
The scattered students turned their heads toward the source of the sound. Several boys had overturned Shoya's desk and chair, scattering his textbooks and pens across the floor.
"You—" Miki didn't quite understand what they meant, but was stopped by Naoka as soon as she opened her mouth.
Miki looked at her in confusion, but Naoka shook her head without explaining. Seeing this, Miki could only swallow her words.
She saw that the boys had only overturned the desk and chair without doing anything more excessive, so she didn't interfere.
She harbored some resentment toward Shōya. As class monitor, she might have offered a few words of advice, but since Naoka had stopped her, she felt even less inclined to speak.
"Dong… Dong… Dong…!"
As the bell rang, Teacher Takeuchi entered the classroom, math textbook in hand, followed by Shōya.
The others glanced at him briefly before looking away. Tsuna saw no visible injuries on his body or face, but noticed the awkward way he favored his left foot as he walked.
Shōya returned to his seat to find his textbooks scattered, his desk and chair overturned, and most notably, Keisuke's seat moved away.
Takeuchi, standing on the podium, noticed the state of Shōya's desk and chair but chose to ignore it.
Shoya glanced briefly at Keisuke in the corner before silently bending down to pick up his textbooks and restore his desk and chair. He paid no attention to Shimada, who was standing on the other side.
Keisuke, who had been watching Ishida Shoya, noticed his glance but, for some reason, forced himself to look away, not daring to meet his eyes.
---
"Dong… Dong… Dong…!"
"Let's go home." Homeroom teacher Takeuchi closed the textbook in his hand, said this, and quickly left the classroom. Before leaving, he looked at Shōya deeply.
Shōya packed up simply and left the classroom alone.
"Shoya, why are you back so early today? Did Teacher Takeuchi say anything? And what's wrong with your leg?"
Miyako, still cutting a customer's hair, noticed Shōya coming in from the front door and spotted his limp. She asked worriedly.
Although Miyako was speaking, she didn't stop cutting the customer's hair.
When he ignored her, she continued, "Where are Shimada Kazuki and Hirose Keisuke? Why didn't I see them today? I even prepared snacks for them."
"Shut up!" Shōya, who had remained silent until then, suddenly yelled at her because of her last words, threw his schoolbag on the chair, and ran to his room.
His outburst startled both Miyako and the female customer. Miyako quickly apologized:
"Sorry, sorry. This kid has been having a lot of mood swings lately."
As she finished speaking, she glanced toward the room where Shōya had disappeared.
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