"Takagi-san, are you looking for something?"
As she watched him emerge from the convenience store on campus, she felt in her pockets and then glanced around, a puzzled expression on her face.
Takagi finally glanced toward the gymnasium and slowly shook her head. "It's okay, let's go," she said, following Takagi towards the school building.
She figured she'd better wait until she could check the lost and found. Blindly searching wouldn't be very effective, as she couldn't even remember when it went missing.
The only thing she knew for sure was that it disappeared after she entered the school.
The two returned to the classroom and ate their bento with Tsuna, who was waiting for them.
After finishing their bento, Tsuna and Shouko took a look at the class schedule when no one else was looking.
8:20-8:30 was morning assembly, 8:40-12:10 was morning classes, 12:10-12:55 was lunch break, and 1:00-3:10 was afternoon classes.
Recess was ten minutes long, and Fridays ended at 2:00 PM sharp. This would be their daily routine for the next three years of junior high.
Tsuna thought it was fine, not much different from elementary school, the only difference being the ability to join clubs. Of course, joining a club delayed the afternoon dismissal until after 5:00 PM, but thankfully, club membership wasn't mandatory; it was entirely up to the individual.
Time flew by, and afternoon arrived. Teacher Fujiro led everyone to collect uniforms, a change of clothes for gym and swimming classes, and school shoes—seven sets and two pairs for summer and winter—afterwards. She then led the students to their class's wooden shoe cabinets on the first floor.
Seeing that each cabinet had its own name labeled, Tsuna easily found his own and Shouko's. "Takagi-san" had separated cabinets.
After they had all found their respective cabinets, Teacher Fujiro led everyone back to the classroom, giving them a few instructions and reminders about classroom cleaning duties. The two students were assigned to different groups of two.
As for the school's public areas, Grade 1-2 is responsible for the corridors on the second and third floors of Building 1, rotating each semester. These cleaning duties are handled by teams of four, each taking a daily rotation.
Coincidentally, Tsuna and Shouko clean the classrooms, while Takagi, and Nishikata clean the public areas.
"Also! Most importantly, you must wear your school uniform to school tomorrow. Got it?!"
"Got it!" x31
"Okay, that's all I have to say. School's dismissed."
Teacher Fujiro stood at the podium, briefly glancing at the students below who had become noisy after the dismissal announcement, then slowly left the classroom.
"Let's go too, Tsuna," Shouko asked, turning to her shoulder after putting the eight books she'd distributed today into her bag.
"Yeah." Tsuna, having nothing else to take, put his exercise books and pens in the desk hole and stood up, trying to reach for Shouko's bag.
But Shouko shook her head and dodged.
"Takagi-san, see you tomorrow!" Shouko smiled and waved to Takagi behind her, then took her school uniform, turned around, and walked out of the classroom quickly.
Seeing this, Tsuna hurriedly followed with an empty schoolbag.
Takagi looked at the backs of the two people until they disappeared around the corner. She slowly packed up her textbooks before standing up and leaving the classroom.
"I remember it was a boy who brought it. I can show you the surveillance video at that time. Do you want to see it?"
"Yes, thank you."
Takagi stood in the lost and found room, watching the teacher click a few times on the keyboard, and the scene at that time was restored on the computer screen.
Looking at the boy's face in it, she felt a little impression in her mind, but she just couldn't remember where she had seen him.
Finally, she said "thank you" to the teacher and left the lost and found office with the handkerchief she found.
---
"I'm back!"
"Welcome home."
As the two entered the living room, carrying their school uniforms, Shizuka, sitting on the sofa, eagerly asked, "How's your first day of school today?"
She reached for the uniform from Shouko's hand as she spoke.
"Yeah, I met a lot of enthusiastic classmates today." Shouko sat beside her, watching her unwrap the transparent plastic wrapping surrounding her uniform. Tsuna, feeling left out, placed his belongings on the tatami mat beside him. He picked up some grapes from the coffee table, ate them, and searched for a light novel on his phone. He'd then go to a physical store to see if they had any.
As for why he didn't just read it on his flip phone, Tsuna said he wasn't used to it, not at all. Physical books were better.
"Not bad. I'm looking forward to seeing you in this uniform tomorrow, Shouko." Shizuka pressed the uniform against Shouko's body, comparing it, and nodded with satisfaction.
After folding the uniform and stuffing it back in her pocket, Miyamura looked at her son, who had been silent since returning home.
Since she'd already asked Shouko, how could she possibly have ignored her own brat? She asked decisively,
"Prince Aloof, what about you? How was your day?"
"Pfft..." As soon as Tsuna said this, Shouko couldn't help but burst out laughing before she could even reply.
Truly, another nickname for Tsuna called Aloof.
"I didn't talk to you when I got home, is that a big deal?" Tsuna said, covering his phone and looking back at his mother.
"Everything's fine, don't worry, Shizuka."
"That's fine." Shizuka was used to his response; she hadn't expected such enthusiasm when she asked.
"By the way, you should have clubs in junior high. Have you decided which one you'd like to join?"
"Hmm... I'm kind of thinking about joining the art club," Shouko hesitated before speaking slowly.
"Art club? Why?" Shizuka was a little surprised.
Tsuna paused chewing at the coffee table, a long memory flashing through his mind, from his last year of kindergarten.
One night, Shouko came to play in his room and curiously asked a question.
"Tsunako, today, Teacher Ageo asked us what we wanted to be when we grow up. This is for tomorrow's homework.
Can I know your answer now?" The adorable little girl lying on his bed wiggled her feet, turned her head to look at the person lying next to her, and asked curiously.
"Hmm..." He rested his head on his arm, a little surprised by Shouko's question. He had thought he could just give a casual answer tomorrow about Teacher Ageo's question.
But it wasn't until Shouko asked that he began to think seriously.
"I think I want to be a light novel writer..." He hesitated before answering.
He had thought his father's agency would definitely be run by him, but then he realized that these were two different things, and it wouldn't stop him from writing light novels in his spare time.
Shouko was a little confused about what this profession was. She looked at his profile, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Hmm... light novel writer? What's that?"
She had seen the boys in her class making hand gestures, and they all said things like police officers, maintenance workers, gym teachers, delivery drivers, big bosses, scientists, and so on. She had never heard of a light novel writer and had no idea what it was.
(End of this chapter)
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