Tsuna's move to the oven to preheat caught the attention of some of the students still working on the project.
"So fast?"
"How long has it been? They're already preheating the oven?"
"Those two probably learned it at home."
"No, no, no, I think it's probably Nishimiya-san who did it, and Miyamura-san was just helping out."
"Maybe..."
"Miyamura-san's obviously not good at this."
"Okay, okay, everyone, be quiet. They've done it. They're great. It's none of your business. Instead of whispering, why not speed up?"
Mr. Toi, who was still directing Nishikata's group, was a little fed up with their behavior and shouted down the discussion.
He had previously watched Miyamura and Nishimiya's group, and it was pretty much the same as his.
Especially at the beginning, when he'd caught a glimpse of Miyamura's knife skills, he'd been a little impressed.
But even though he admired them, Miyamura was still a little bit behind him.
After the oven preheated, Tsuna donned oven mitts and placed the one or two pans of cookies Shouko had made in the middle rack of the oven, closing the door. He set the timer on his phone and returned to Shouko to chat. During that time, other groups finished their cookies, but with only six ovens, the next ones had to wait until the previous ones were done. Mr. Toi also took out his previously baked cookies, let them cool, and passed them around to everyone to taste.
"Shouko, mine's for you."
"What's wrong? Mr. Toi's cookies are delicious," Shouko asked, puzzled, taking the still-warm cookies he offered. Before he could explain, Shouko, vaguely guessing the answer, quickly interrupted him, saying, "Okay, I get it. No need to explain."
"But, Mr. Toi's cookies are really delicious. I don't want you to miss out, so how about we each have half?"
"That's fine," Tsuna nodded.
Then he saw Shouko open her mouth and bite off half of the cookie, two silver threads escaping as she released it.
"Here you go," Shouko chewed on the cookie half and held the other half directly to his lips.
Tsuna hesitated for a moment... He noticed that the split end of the cookie was a darker shade than the rest... He was about to glance around to see if anyone noticed him when Shouko unceremoniously stuffed half into his mouth.
"It's really delicious, I'm not kidding." Shouko had already swallowed the cookie and was looking at him with a smile on her face.
He could only accept his fate and bite off half. There was still a tiny bit left, and he was about to reach out to take it when Shouko quickly stuffed the half he had bitten into her own mouth.
"Shouko-sensei, this is so unhygienic..." Tsuna protested.
Shouko ignored his helpless expression and said, "I don't dislike it, so you shouldn't dislike it either."
With that, she quickly left her seat and walked off to chat with Takagi and Ajitani.
Tsuna could only silently swallow the cookies in his mouth. Mr. Toi had really overdosed the sugar. It was so sweet, he was afraid he'd get diabetes if he ate too much...
A buzz from his watch and a ding from the oven signaled they were done. He walked over to the oven, donned oven mitts, and removed the two trays of butter cookies from inside to cool on the counter.
He remembered Mr. Toi's instructions to let them cool on the baking sheet for five minutes after removing them from the oven, then transfer them to a rack to cool thoroughly.
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"Dong...Dong...Dong...!"
"Alright, students, pack up your places and tools and go home."
This homework class was combined from two afternoon classes. Because Mr. Toi thought that one class was not enough time for the students to bake all the cookies, he discussed it with Teacher Fujiro and took up one of her classes.
"Tsuna, can I take two bags of these cookies and exchange them with Takagi and Ajitani?" Tsuna, who was still wiping the table, nodded in agreement without thinking.
The two plates of butter cookies made a total of three bags, and each bag was about ten yuan. Anyway, Shouko kept the bag with the largest amount for him.
The other two bags didn't matter to him.
Seeing that he had no objection, Shouko took the two bags of cookies and exchanged them with the two girls.
After Shouko happily returned to her seat and began cleaning up, Tsuna hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking,
"Shouko, can you give me half of that bag of cookies Takagi-san gave me?"
"What are you doing?"
Shouko's guard instantly soared, she paused, narrowing her eyes as she eyed him suspiciously.
Tsuna hurriedly explained, "Don't get me wrong, I just want to trade my half with Nishikata."
He was afraid that if he didn't explain, she would label Takagi a dangerous suspect.
"Okay," Shouko gave him one last suspicious look before nodding in agreement.
She often spent time with Takagi-san and had some suspicions about Nishikata's situation.
She then divided half of the bag of cookies Takagi had given her and repacked it into a new, elegant, clear plastic bag.
"Call Nishikata over," Shouko said, still feeling a little uneasy.
She had already believed Tsuna's words, but what if? She didn't want to take that gamble.
"Yeah." Tsuna put down the rag and went to call Nishikata over.
But seeing him grinning idiotically as he held a bag of cookies, he suddenly felt like he didn't need it...
"What's wrong? Where's Nishikata-san?" Shouko asked, puzzled, seeing him return alone.
"It's okay. That kid already got the cookies Takagi-san gave him." Tsuna shook his head.
"Then let's go. I'll take them back and share them with Aunt Yuzuru and the others."
She had already taken care of the cleaning while he went to call for help, but it wasn't much anyway, just a few dishes and a tabletop wipe.
As for the floor and the workbench where Mr. Toi was demonstrating, those were the students on duty today.
"Yeah."
Tsuna and the others said hello to the three people still cleaning the tabletops and left the baking room.
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Time flew by, and it was past ten o'clock that evening. After sending Shouko, who was already feeling sleepy, downstairs, she returned to her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
This afternoon, he returned home with the three bags of cookies. Within a short while, the bag he and Shouko had made was completely divided up by Yuzuru and his mother.
He only managed to grab two, and he regretted it deeply. He wished he had eaten them on the way.
As for the other two bags, they were divided up by Aunt Nishimiya, Grandma Nishimiya, and his father.
Shouko also promised him that she would make more for him on her day off...
(End of this chapter)
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