Before leaving, Shizuka couldn't help but lecture Miyako on childrearing.
Miyako didn't object, her left hand tightly grasping Shoya's, unwilling to let him go, nodding repeatedly in response.
She even made a note of key points, planning to take out her phone and write them down after he left.
Shouko, holding Tsuna's hand, watching his mother speak and Miyako's serious expression, was speechless.
She wasn't afraid that the more she taught, the more likely it would backfire. With someone like Squirrel Hair, the more she disciplined, the more rebellious she'd become.
He was speechless but also silently decided that his mother wouldn't be raising their child from now on, even if Shouko tried to snatch it away.
Tsuna shook his head at this thought, trying to clear his mind of the happy married life he and Shouko had. It was too early to dwell on it now.
Shouko looked at Tsuna in confusion: "What's wrong, Tsuna?" She was a little confused as to why he suddenly shook his head.
Tsuna suddenly wanted to tease her when he heard this, and said silently with a smirk on his face: "We must not let our future children be raised by my mother, trust me."
At first, she was a little confused as to why he didn't say it out loud, but then she understood his lip language and shyly slapped the hand that was holding hers.
"Bang!"
Shouko started excitedly. "What nonsense! Kids... something..." She paused, took a deep breath to cool her face, then whispered,
"Kids are still a long way off!"
Tsuna looked at her reddened ears, his lips curling up unconsciously. He then jokingly said,
"Shouldn't you be saying who wants to have a baby with you?"
Before she could finish her words, Tsuna raised his hand to his mouth again, feigning surprise. "Are you saying! You want to have a baby with me!?"
Afraid the others might overhear, he observed them. His mother and Aunt Nishimiya were chatting with his spiky-haired mother, their attention distracted.
Takeuchi had returned to class.
Only Shōya was still watching, but it didn't matter. He could just ignore him, an unimportant, irrelevant person.
"You...you..." Shouko stamped her foot in anger, realizing she was at a loss for words, completely lost for words to refute.
Honestly, she did want to, but seeing his playful eyes and smirk, she felt like she'd be at a disadvantage if she just admitted it.
Just as Shouko was still pondering how to refute him, a soft laugh reached her ears. It turned out that this woolly head was quick to understand.
Shouko tapped her blushing cheeks with her fingertips and suddenly gave a sly smile: "Auntie Miyamura! Tsuna said your parenting tips are harder to memorize than math formulas!"
"Huh?" Tsuna couldn't believe Shouko would pull that trick.
His smile shifted to Shouko's.
The others, interrupted by Shouko's words, turned their heads to look over there. Miyako saw them, saying goodbye to the two of them:
"Then my child and I will be leaving first." With that, she took Shōya's hand and left.
As the two of them walked away, Shizuka's previously gentle expression suddenly collapsed, and she glared at Tsuna with a stern look.
If he didn't give her an explanation, she would let him know why the flowers were so red.
Tsuna looked at her expression, and without even a thought of defending himself, he let go of Shouko's hand and ran towards the stairs.
"Tsuna, wait for me." Shouko hurriedly followed, leaving the two of them to stroll slowly behind.
---
In the classroom, Takeuchi glanced at the clock. Class still had a few minutes left. He looked at Miki and said calmly, "Kawai, after class, have someone clean Ishida's seat."
"Huh?" Miki stared at him in disbelief. He told her to arrange for someone to clean it—what difference did that make from just telling her to clean it?
"Bang!" Takeuchi slammed his hand against the blackboard behind him. This sudden action startled some students distracted by their conversations.
He was already a little pissed about what happened that morning, and now that she didn't immediately agree, her face filled with resistance, his suppressed anger suddenly flared up. He shouted at the crowd, "Don't think I'm unaware of your little tricks! I'm not blind!
If I don't see that desk and chair cleaned by the end of class, you all must gather in the playground!"
Without even waiting for the bell, Takeuchi slammed his textbook onto the podium and stormed out,
leaving everyone in the classroom looking at each other in bewilderment.
Seeing the uncharacteristically idiotic four-eyed jerk, many students couldn't help but wonder if Shōya had reported him to his parents.
Otherwise, the perfunctory four-eyed jerk wouldn't care, and he'd already seen it twice before and never mentioned anything.
But this time, he was acting out of character.
Miki watched him leave with a soft sigh. Turning to ask the girl next to her tentatively,
"Nao, wait a minute—"
She barely finished her words when the girl cut her off with a resounding, unyielding retort:
"No, I refuse. I almost got hit by his textbook that time, and he didn't even apologize afterward. Why should I help him clean his desk and chair?"
Miki could only shut up and turn to ask the others.
"Naoka—"
"No, and besides, Miki, can't you find someone who doesn't have a grudge against Ishida?" Naoka, hearing her name called, refused without a second thought.
"What's the difference between this and looking for a needle in a haystack?" Miki was speechless.
"Dong... Dong... Dong...!"
As the bell rang, Miki complained, but she still honestly went to ask the students who hadn't left the classroom for break.
"Assholes!" After asking to no avail, Miki returned to her seat and slumped over the table, muttering, "If you won't go, then I won't go either! Let's die together!"
With a minute or two left before class, Naoka, who had returned early from outside, saw Miki slumped over the table, seemingly devastated. She slowly added a further insult:
"No one has cleaned Ishida's desk and chair yet. Miki, aren't you afraid of being scolded by that four-eyed jerk?"
"I've asked everyone, and no one's willing to go. Let's just wait and get scolded together," she replied flatly, ignoring the other person's words.
She had already asked everyone, and if they were to get scolded together, they wouldn't blame her. They'd blame Shōya for reporting him to his parents.
That's right! Blame him.
"Dong... Dong...!"
---