The next day, Shōya walked into the classroom alone, backpack on his back, to find his desk covered in graffiti and vicious comments in various colors of chalk.
"Bang!" Ishida's forehead bulged as he slammed his hand on the desk, shouting at the scattered students:
"Who did this?! You pick a fight just because you don't like me? What's the point of this little trick?"
This action caught the attention of some students chatting in the classroom, but he only received teasing and mocking glances.
Seeing no one respond, Shōya happened to notice out of the corner of his eye that the buzz-cut guy he had fought with before was still laughing. He suddenly rushed over, grabbed his collar, and shouted, "Did you do this?!"
"Let go! I don't care about you!" the buzz-cut man said with disdain, grabbing Ishida's hand.
The tone of his voice made Shōya assume he was the culprit. When he felt the kid's grip tighten, Ishida's anger surged.
Shōya was completely enraged by this attitude. He shook off the man's hand and punched him in the face. The two scuffled, knocking over several tables and chairs until the class monitor, Miki, arrived to stop them.
Ishida glared at the boy before turning and leaving the classroom to get some water from the bathroom to wipe the tables.
Miki was overwhelmed. She had planned to ask Ishida to put the tables and chairs back to their original state, but seeing his expression, she decided it was impossible.
She simply ignored it. If someone asked about it, she could say it was Ishida who did it. Even if Mr. Takeuchi came to investigate, she could use this excuse to shift all the blame onto him.
At this moment, Tsuna and Shouko walked into the classroom from the back door and saw that the back row was a mess. Books were scattered all over the floor, and several tables and chairs had been knocked down.
The most eye-catching thing was the desk covered in graffiti.
The two walked back to their seats and sat down.
"Isn't that Ishida's seat?" Shouko whispered in Tsuna's ear. "Who do you think did this?"
Tsuna ruthlessly pushed the cute head that was almost touching his face away. "Nishimiya-san, if you have that much energy, you'd be better off memorizing a few formulas."
Shouko, watching Tsuna like this, felt a sudden urge to tease him. Squinting her eyes, she quipped, "Tsuna, isn't this what they call jealousy on TV?"
Tsuna ignored her, ready to slump down on the table to catch up on some sleep.
Seeing him feign indifference, Shouko's mischievous urge grew, and she added a few more teasing words.
Tsuna looked up at her speechlessly, silently plotting how to teach her a lesson before Shouko got too carried away.
A gentle female voice interrupted whatever Shouko was about to say.
"Miyamura-san, are you free now? I have a math problem that's been bothering me all night. I'd like to know if you can solve it."
They both looked over and saw the class monitor, Miki, standing in the aisle with a math workbook.
Tsuna, feeling drowsy, thought this was like a pillow arriving just in time — the perfect opportunity to get involved without much effort.
Shouko, standing nearby, remained unfazed, knowing Tsuna would absolutely refuse and, moreover, push the problem onto her.
She was about to offer to take the workbook, hoping Tsuna might teach her if he could, but she was interrupted by a voice she knew all too well:
"Okay, show it to me."
Tsuna's words startled both women. Miki had always assumed Miyamura wouldn't teach her and would push it onto Shouko, but she had always asked politely anyway. To her surprise, he actually agreed this time.
Just as Miki was about to step forward, she was stopped by Shouko's slightly anxious voice:
"No, no, class monitor, why don't you show me that question? If I know how to do it, I can break it down for you in more detail. Tsuna is embarrassed to talk to girls!"
Tsuna, leaning on one hand, watched as Shouko delivered such a long speech in one breath, feeling a bit amused.
If it weren't for Miki, he would have been tempted to make the same joke she had made before — "Are you jealous?"
Seeing that she didn't respond or argue, Miki obediently handed the workbook to Shouko and pointed to the problem.
Shouko took it and immediately felt stumped, realizing she didn't know the answer either. She tried to analyze it mentally, but still couldn't solve it.
Although she had an answer in mind, she wasn't sure if it was correct and didn't want to give someone the wrong solution.
"Let me see it, and I'll teach you both," Tsuna said, catching Shouko's apprehension and reaching for the workbook.
Shouko quickly moved to sit next to him, fearing the class monitor would take his seat.
Seeing this, Miki looked for an unoccupied chair in the aisle to listen to him.
The two of them anticipated Miki's thoughts and said in unison:
"Class monitor, you should sit in front of me. The student in front hasn't arrived yet."
"Miki, you should sit in front of Tsuna. That student hasn't arrived yet."
As soon as they finished speaking, Tsuna turned to look at Shouko with a playful expression, earning a glare and a soft snort from her.
Miki could only pull up the chair and sit down. Watching the two of them interact, she suddenly felt a bit redundant.
Tsuna then spent about five minutes explaining the math problem in great detail, citing numerous similar examples.
Miki had never heard Tsuna explain a problem before, but now it was like thunder in her ears. It felt like his every smile and frown shone with a divine aura — a bit dazzling. He was much more professional than that four-eyed idiot. His explanations were engaging and easy to understand. There was no such thing as Shouko's claim that he was embarrassed to talk to girls.
After listening to him, she felt she could apply what she had learned to other situations.
"Miki, Miki, we're done. Class is almost over. You should go back to your seat, or Mr. Takeuchi will come over and say something," Shouko finally said, unable to bear it any longer after seeing Miki stare at Tsuna's face since he finished explaining.
The point was, Tsuna hadn't said anything yet! It was really infuriating.
"Oh! Oh!" Miki quickly came back to her senses. She hadn't expected to be so engrossed in staring at someone's face. Fortunately, Shouko called her, or she didn't know how long she would have kept staring.
She could feel the heat rising rapidly to her cheeks. After saying thank you, she even forgot to take the workbook and hurried back to her seat.
The people around her were all confused by her sudden flustered retreat.
---