The Sound of a Silent Life

Because of Takeuchi's lame and perfunctory attitude, some of the gangsters in the class, including Ishida, had let go of their worries and become more and more aggressive over the past month.

As soon as Shouya walked back into the classroom, he noticed the scattered gazes, especially the strange look Tsunayoshi gave him, and angrily said, "What are you looking at!?"

The others quickly averted their eyes, afraid he would notice them.

Shouko noticed that Shouya's gaze had fallen on Tsuna and hurriedly advised, "Tsuna, don't look at him. He's fierce and ugly." She didn't want Tsuna to get hurt fighting someone like him.

"Yeah. Was there a math problem you didn't understand?" Tsuna heard Shouko's worried tone, turned back to look at her childish face, and asked softly.

Just as Shouko was about to respond, a cheerful voice interrupted: "Yes, yes, yes! Tsuna, can you teach me too?"

The two of them turned toward the voice and saw the class monitor, Miki, standing in the aisle behind them with a math textbook.

Upon recognizing the person, Tsuna responded flatly, "Class monitor, please call me by my name. Thank you."

In the past month, Miki had become an ordinary friend of Shouko, but after some observation and subtle signs, he found that this class monitor actually had two faces.

On the surface, she was an excellent student—helpful, gentle, and quiet—but behind others' backs, she belittled, slandered, and spoke ill of them without hesitation.

However, he had never heard her speak badly of Shouko.

"Okay. Can Miyamura teach me this math problem?" Miki, already a bit used to his attitude, walked up to Tsuna, placed the math textbook on the desk, pointed to a problem, and asked.

Tsuna glanced at it, then shook his head, shrugged, and said helplessly, "Sorry, class monitor, Teacher Takeuchi explained this one too fast. It's a bit complicated, and I don't understand it right now."

"Alright. Teach me once you've figured it out." Miki, sounding a bit disappointed, picked up her textbook and turned to leave.

Shouko, who had been listening to their conversation, waited until Miki had returned to her seat before tilting her head and asking in confusion, "Tsuna, didn't you teach me this question last night? How did you forget it?"

Before Tsuna could explain, a female voice interrupted her: "Shouko, do you really not understand, or do you 'really' not understand?" The owner of the voice approached Shouko and gently rubbed her face.

"Miyoko, did I say something wrong? How can there be two 'reallys'?"

Shouko saw who it was and didn't resist, letting the girl do what she liked while still mumbling over whether she had used the word incorrectly.

Of course, the girl—Sawara Miyoko, as Tsuna remembered from Shouko's introduction—knew when to stop. After satisfying her impulse to hold hands, she withdrew her fingers, raised the corners of her lips, and teased:

"Haha... One day, when someone else takes your Tsuna away, you'll understand what I meant."

"What are you saying? Tsuna's not... he's not mine..." Shouko shyly retorted.

Tsuna ignored their banter and instead looked speechlessly at the girl in front of him; short black hair, brown eyes, and a few freckles on her face.

She was another good friend Shouko had made in sixth grade. Her name was Sawara Miyoko. After a month of observation, Tsuna concluded she was truly gentle and very different from Miki. She had no hidden side.

He could feel it personally, and from how she treated Shouko, he could tell she genuinely wanted to be friends, not like the others with ulterior motives.

She had even sincerely asked Shouko to teach her sign language, even though Shouko could already speak, saying it would help her communicate with hearing-impaired friends in the future.

Sawara joked, "Yes, yes, he's not yours yet." Seeing that class time was about to start, she waved goodbye to Shouko and returned to her seat in the front row.

Shouko, watching her go, suddenly recalled Sawara's earlier words and Tsuna's behavior. Her mind sparked with realization. Her cheeks flushed pink as she muttered to the boy next to her:

"Tsuna, the reason you didn't want to teach Kawai... is it because you were afraid I'd get the wrong idea?"

"Yes."

"...…!" Upon hearing his blunt response, her already slightly red face turned crimson. She dropped her head onto the desk, unable to look at him; or let him look at her.

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After Keisuke, who sat in the back row, heard Shouya's revenge plan and told the others, he exclaimed, "Shouya, you're going too far!"

"Yeah, this time your plan is really a bit much," added Shimada, who usually encouraged these things but was shocked by the extremity of this one.

Seeing their sincere expressions, Shouya scoffed, "So what? It's just teaching that kid a lesson. Let him learn something. Worst case, pay for a piece of clothing." He paused, then added:

"It's hot anyway, and I already found out where to get some buckets."

Keisuke, standing nearby, initially wanted to refuse, but didn't want to ruin their relationship. So he changed his words and said, "No, I won't go with you this time. I'll cover for you."

"Fine. Figures, you're always so timid." Shouya curled his lips in disdain and turned to Shimada for a response.

"Keisuke and I will cover for you together. If it's just him and something goes wrong, you'll be the one who gets in trouble. And you'll get scolded by that bastard Takeuchi," Shimada replied seriously.

"That makes sense." Shouya nodded.

Shimada asked in confusion, "But how can you be sure she'll go to the toilet during class?"

"Just wait. No rush." Shouya waved his hand casually.

"Dong... Dong... Dong...!"

Time passed to the last class of the afternoon. As the bell rang, Takeuchi entered the classroom. As soon as he reached the podium, he said casually, "This Japaness class... okay, like always—one by one."

Ignoring the grumbles from students, he began on the far left side.

As soon as the first student finished reading, Shouko whispered to Tsuna beside her, "Tsuna, I'm going to the toilet." After reassuring him not to worry, she walked up to the podium and informed Mr. Takeuchi in a low voice.

Mr. Takeuchi approved without a second thought.

Two or three minutes later, Shouya clutched his stomach and rushed up to the podium with a pained look on his face.

Mr. Takeuchi didn't question him. It was the fifth time today that Shouya had left class to use the toilet. He probably had a stomach ache or caught a cold. Without asking, Takeuchi just waved him off with disdain.

Shouya walked out of the classroom, clutching his stomach, and quickly turned toward the sixth-graders' exclusive bathroom.

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