The Sound of a Silent Life

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Tsuna opened the letters from his grandparents one after another. The first one he opened was from Yuu. He pulled out the yellowed white paper, but there wasn't a single word on it. He turned to his grandmother, who was watching TV nearby, and asked:

"Grandma, why did you send me a letter with no words?"

Yuu didn't quite understand what Tsuna meant, but she could roughly guess from the puzzled expression on his face and the blank letter in his hand. She smiled and explained:

"Hehe… I didn't know what to write at the time, and it's hard to say what will happen in the future."

She had another sentence in her mind, but it was better to keep it to herself: If I pass away one day, the pain they've finally forgotten will come back when they see this letter; so why bother?

"What about this one, Grandma?" Tsuna took out a yellowed photo and a sheet of white paper from the letter left by his late grandfather.

Tsuna had no real thoughts or feelings about the grandfather who passed away before he was born.

Looking at the photo, a child in open-crotch pants was making a peace sign to the camera. Tsuna looked up and compared it with his father's face, then asked curiously, "Is this Dad when he was a child?"

Yuu took the photo from him, thought for a moment, and then laughed as she explained, "Daisuke's all grown up now, and there's only a little resemblance left. But Tsuna, you really do look a lot like the child in this photo."

"Really, quite similar," Shouko said as she took the photo and compared it with Tsuna. She agreed that it was just like what Grandma Yuu had said.

Later, Tsuna himself felt they weren't that alike, but the four people present all thought the resemblance was strong.

It was past nine o'clock, and Yuu was starting to feel sleepy. She gently began ushering them out: "Okay, okay, we've finished looking. You all should head home now—I need to rest early."

As for why she didn't ask them to stay the night and leave the next day, that was simple: she had asked several times before and always got the same response—it was only a 30-minute drive, so they'd just go home. So she stopped asking and instead just sent them off directly.

"Okay then, we'll head back first. Mom, if anything comes up, remember to call me," said Daisuke, standing up first from the tatami and speaking gently to Yuu.

Shizuka followed, stood up, stretched, and groaned before speaking slowly: "Okay, Mom. If you need anything, just call me directly. Sometimes Daisuke can't answer his phone at the office."

"Goodbye, Grandma."

"Bye, Grandma Yuu."

As everyone walked to the entrance to change shoes, Shizuka suddenly thought of something and looked up at her mother from the corridor, reminding her: "Mom, remember not to eat leftovers; it's really bad for your health."

Yuu casually brushed it off: "I know, I know, don't worry." She understood Shizuka was concerned about her, but still found her a bit naggy.

After the four got in the car, Tsuna suddenly thought about his grandmother's personality and asked slowly and uncertainly, "Will Grandma secretly dig up the time capsule to look inside?"

"Your Grandma's not that bored," Shizuka immediately denied the idea.

Shouko chimed in, "Yeah, I don't think Grandma Yuu would do that either. Tsuna, you're overthinking it."

After watching the others drive away, Yuu sighed, went back inside, and got a hoe. She walked to the spot where they had buried the time capsule earlier in the afternoon and dug it up within seconds.

As for guilt? Sorry, not even a little. She thought, I might not even be here in ten years. I'm just curious about what they wrote. I'll read it and bury it back exactly the same. Besides, they buried it in my yard anyway.

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"Ring… Ring… Ring…!"

"Okay, that's it. Class is over."

Mr. Takeuchi, who was sitting on the podium, closed his math textbook as soon as he heard the bell, left a brief comment, and walked straight out of the classroom without a second glance. Tsuna silently watched him leave.

In his heart, Takeuchi was no longer a teacher.

After about a month of classes, Tsuna had a good grasp of his attitude both in class and in daily life.

Terrible! That's the only word for it. He wasn't a criminal or a complete disaster, but he was undeniably a terrible homeroom teacher; terrible in every way. Teaching ability? Nonexistent. Teacher's ethics? Missing.

To put it simply, he was there to put in time and collect a paycheck. He was careless in class and showed no concern for whether students understood the lesson.

If a student raised a hand to ask something they didn't understand, he would yell at them, saying they didn't get it because they weren't paying attention.

In the first few days of school, some students raised their hands to ask questions, but without exception, he scolded them from the podium. After that, no one dared to raise their hand again.

Especially during language class, he had the entire class take turns reading the text. By the time everyone had read, there were only ten minutes left in the period, and he rushed through the explanation of the passage in a single breath.

His speaking speed was so fast that not only did Shouko, who had a hearing impairment, struggle to keep up, but even students with good grades couldn't fully understand what he meant.

Fortunately, Shouko would go over the material she didn't understand with Tsuna every night.

"Ishida! What did you do this time!?" Takeuchi's loud voice suddenly cut off both Tsuna's thoughts and Shouko, who had been taking notes in class.

The two of them turned their heads toward the hallway window. Outside, they saw Takeuchi gripping Ishida's arm, clearly dragging him toward the teacher's office.

A crying girl was following behind. It seemed like Ishida had done something to make the girl cry, and she had gone to report it. Ishida didn't resist and let herself be dragged away quietly. He even gave the crying girl a sharp glare.

Why wasn't Hedgehog-head afraid? Because Takeuchi was all talk. He would take Ishida to the office, say a few scolding words in front of the other student, and then let her go.

As for the crying girl who might call her parents to complain? He'd just say he had already lectured Ishida severely. If the parent was still unsatisfied, he'd suggest they call Ishida's mom to come to school.

And the result? Almost always—no, definitely—Aunt Ishida would come and bow in apology again. Once, Tsuna had seen an unreasonable parent trying to hit Ishida's mother, and only Takeuchi's intervention stopped it.

Otherwise, the teacher himself would've been in trouble.

Ishida felt guilty for a while and behaved himself for a few days. But soon enough, he went back to his old ways.

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