Two or three minutes after the bell rang, homeroom teacher Takeuchi walked into the classroom, math textbook in hand.
"Kawai, what's going on? You think I'm just talking nonsense, right?" His first glance was at Shoya's desk and chair in the back row, puzzled.
"Teacher Takeuchi, I—"
"Bang!"
Takeuchi didn't want to hear any more useless explanations. He didn't wipe it, and slammed the textbook onto the podium, interrupting her.
With deep impatience, he spoke slowly, "Okay, everyone, go down to the playground and gather. We'll have physical education class next. If you don't come, expect your parents to be called!"
With that, he grabbed the textbook and left the classroom, ignoring everyone and leaving no room for negotiation.
"What's going on?"
"He's actually giving us physical education!"
"Great!"
"Is he mentally ill?"
After confirming that homeroom teacher Takeuchi had left, many in the classroom raised their hands and cheered loudly, while others, who hadn't spoken, quietly gathered their things and prepared to leave.
Only a few people stared at them in silence, knowing that things were about to get tough. This was definitely not just some simple gym class.
After everyone had gathered on the playground, Takeuchi had Miki take roll call. Only Tsunayoshi, Shouko, and Ishida Shōya were missing.
And just as those few had expected, homeroom teacher Takeuchi had them run around the playground, without specifying a specific number of laps before stopping.
"No, no, let's just follow those girls behind us," Miki said breathlessly to Naoka, who was standing beside her.
Seeing that she showed no sign of stopping, Kawai quickly spoke up, "Naoka, it's okay. Those behind us have already walked almost a lap and are fine."
"And..." She paused, taking a few breaths before continuing, "And that four-eyed jerk didn't say anything after seeing this. Doesn't that mean he agrees?"
Ueno Naoka hesitated, then slowly slowed down, joining Miki in a quick walk.
At that moment, Miyoko ran up to the two of them, stopped, and broke into her own pace, then confided her inner thoughts:
"Are we going to have to run when the sun is at its hottest? I can't even stand walking, let alone running!"
"He can't possibly have us doing PE all morning. He's not crazy," Naoko retorted without a second thought.
"Huh..." Miki took a deep breath and chimed in, "That's right, Miyoko, don't dwell on that kind of thing, okay?"
Miyoko didn't say anything more derogatory. She had a vague feeling that without Miyamura and Shouko around, he would do anything.
"Dong... Dong... Dong..."
Teacher Takeuchi looked at the sweaty crowd gathered before him and said calmly, "Class dismissed! We'll meet in the playground next period."
With that, he headed for the school smoking room.
"Damn it! What the hell!" Several boys muttered curses.
"If we just walk and don't run, it's actually pretty good."
"Haha... That's right."
"Walking around the playground down there is much better than attending classes in the classroom."
Miki and Naoka ignored the noise behind them and walked straight to the bench in the shade. Kawai took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead, his voice weak:
"Damn it, is Miyoko really right?"
Ueno Naoka slumped back in the chair, took the tissue, and smiled bitterly: "If you stop, you will be scolded. If you walk, he will turn a blind eye... There's no need to guess the result."
"There's no need to guess the result, it will most likely be as Miyoko said."
The whole day, everyone in Class B spent walking around the playground, especially when the sun was the most vicious.
And Takeuchi would hide in the shade and watch them, and if anyone stopped, he would yell at them at the top of his voice.
Fortunately, no one got heatstroke, but Takeuchi was the only one who felt fortunate, and the others dared not speak out.
The person who was scolded the most behind his back today was Takeuchi, and the second one was Shōya. In the minds of most of them, this was all caused by the other party reporting to the parents.
There were also a few discerning people who weren't sure whether Shōya had reported to the parents or not. They had never held any opinion about the incident, but after being tortured for a whole day, they were quite resentful toward him.
Tsunayoshi and Shouko had also been scolded by them. They didn't understand why it was such a coincidence that the two of them happened to meet today.
Until Miyoko said, "Do you think that it was because Miyamura went back early today that Mr. Takeuchi dared to let us walk downstairs like this?"
The resentment in the hearts of some of them dissipated silently. This sentence also reminded them of the rumor a few days ago, which mentioned that " Tsunayoshi is the son of President Miyamura."
---
"My legs will probably be disabled tomorrow, and I can only rely on you, Shouko, to support me tomorrow."
"Okay, okay, bye, see you tomorrow."
Shouko hung up the complaint call from Miyoko, raised her hand, and slapped Tsuna, asking him to stop playing with his hands.
Sometime she even wondered if he would get tired of playing with his hands and start playing with her feet.
How dirty would that be?
"What's wrong?"
Tsunayoshi stopped what he was doing, tilted his head with a confused expression, and was a little curious about what they talked about on the phone for almost an hour.
Shouko told him the content of the call without thinking: "Miyoko complained to me that Teacher Takeuchi made them run around the playground all day today."
She also omitted the bragging words the other party had said to her.
After Shouko finished speaking the details, she patted her chest and said thankfully: "Fortunately, we came back early today, otherwise we would have to spend a whole day in the sun like them."
Tsuna, immediately guessed Takeuchi's intention. He was probably taking his anger out on everyone because of Shōya, and he happened to be away.
But doing so would only deepen their hatred for Shōya, and most would blame him.
They wouldn't blame the people who had graffitied Ishida's desk and chairs in the classroom, and this behavior would likely intensify.
Today it was graffiti, so would it be tearing up his textbooks tomorrow?
A few saw the truth, but because of this incident, they would likely stand by and watch, seemingly uninvolved.
As for stepping in to stop it, there was probably no such person.
"Tsuna, even if you stare at my feet, I won't give them to you. Don't even think about it!"
---