A Silent Voice: My First Kiss Was with Nishimiya Shouko

"This student isn't injured, is he?" As soon as Takeuchi-sensei led the two into the teachers' office, they were met with the slightly mocking voice of Ms. Minagawa—a voice Takeuchi-sensei found especially grating.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Minagawa," Akira greeted politely as he spotted her seated further inside.

Minagawa-sensei chuckled as she returned the greeting. "Hehe… Good afternoon, Miyamura. Let me guess, you're fighting with classmates again over Shouko?"

In her impression of him over the years, Miyamura Akira only ever got into trouble when others picked on Nishimiya Shouko, so she figured it was the same this time.

"No, but it's similar. Most of the reason is… me."

Akira spoke casually with her, completely unfazed by being summoned to the teachers' office, surrounded by staff. He lacked the usual tension most students had in these situations.

"Hey, hey, hey, Minagawa! This is my class," Takeuchi-sensei cut in, annoyed. "Why are you casually chatting with my student?"

Minagawa-sensei stopped talking with a smirk and went back to her lunch. With that handled, Takeuchi-sensei retrieved his phone and handed it to Ishida Shoya.

"Call your parents. They need to come in."

He had already pieced together the situation and decided that handling it through the parents would be easier. He wasn't interested in wasting energy, especially since Akira wasn't injured.

Shoya took the phone and called his mom's number, then handed it back. Meanwhile, Akira pulled out his phone watch—courtesy of his mom—and dialed.

"Hello? Who is this?" Shoya's call connected first.

Takeuchi-sensei put it on speaker and spoke calmly, "Hello, I'm Ishida's sixth-grade homeroom teacher. There was a conflict with another student. Could you come to school? Don't worry, he's not seriously injured."

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there." The voice on the other end was anxious, and the call ended abruptly. Both Takeuchi-sensei and Shoya turned to look at Akira.

"Hehe… What's wrong, Akira?" came Miyamura Shizuka's voice from Akira's phone, warm and cheerful.

"Mom, I—"

"Wait! Don't tell me. Let me guess," she interrupted with amusement. Akira rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see him.

"Are you hurt? And how badly is the other person injured?"

This was routine. Whenever her son called during school hours, it was inevitably about a fight. She didn't need details to know.

"I'm fine. The other guy just got hit on the shoulder."

"Alright, I'm hanging up. Can't talk while driving. I'll be there in two or three minutes."

"Okay. Drive safe."

When he hung up, he noticed Takeuchi-sensei staring at him oddly.

"Something wrong?" Akira asked, confused.

"No, no," Takeuchi-sensei replied quickly, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, outside…

"Akira's been gone a long time," Shouko said, sitting on the bench and swinging her legs. Her voice sounded worried.

Ito Chika, sitting beside her, swallowed her food and offered, "Don't worry, Shouko. Maybe he's just waiting in line to get hot water."

"Yeah," chimed in Matsuoka Miu around a mouthful of rice, "if you're hungry, just start eating. You don't have to wait."

"It's fine. I'm not really hungry, just… worried."

Just then, Shouko spotted a familiar figure at the school gate. Her eyes widened.

She jumped up, set down both bentos she was holding, and said, "Chika, Miu—watch our lunch for a bit. I think that's Aunt Shizuka. I'll go check."

"Sho—" Miu started to call after her, but Shouko had already dashed off.

At the gate, Miyamura Shizuka had just finished speaking to the security guard when she spotted Shouko running toward her.

"Shouko? Why are you out here?"

Shouko froze in place, confused. "What do you mean 'why'? This is school. Where else would I be?"

"…Wait. The fight wasn't because someone bullied you?" Shizuka blinked in realization.

Before she could say more, Shouko turned on her heel and sprinted off. "Shouko! Be careful!" Shizuka called out, hurrying after her. Now she knew—this time, Akira had gotten into trouble without it having anything to do with Shouko.

Back on the bench, Miu blinked at the sudden flash of motion. "Sho—" She stopped again. Shouko was already gone.

Back in the teachers' office…

Akira sat bored in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Shoya looked equally miserable. Takeuchi-sensei was quietly eating his bento while other teachers continued their work or lunch.

"AKIRA!!"

Akira nearly jumped from his seat. At first, he thought he was hearing things, but then a warm blur tackled him.

"Shouko—!?"

She was hugging him tightly, completely ignoring the seven or eight adults in the room. Then, she pulled back and began inspecting him—his arms, his cheeks, his hands—everywhere.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" she asked, eyes red, breath slightly labored from running.

Akira blinked. "I was just about to get a tissue to wipe your sweat…"

He pulled one from his pocket and gently wiped her forehead. Only once she was sure he wasn't lying did Shouko finally relax.

Then she turned—eyes narrowing—and glared daggers at Ishida Shoya.

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POWER STONE!!!

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