The Sound of a Silent Life

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"Where's Ueno?" When it was Naoka Ueno's turn to stand up and read, Takeuchi noticed that her seat was empty and turned to ask the class monitor next to him.

"Takeuchi-sensei, I don't know either." Miki stood up from her seat and replied indifferently.

"Sit down. The next one will continue reading." Teacher Takeuchi smacked his lips after hearing this and had no intention of asking anyone to go out and look for her.

"Why hasn't Shouya come back yet?" Keisuke, who was waiting in his seat with a bit of worry, whispered to Shimada, who was sitting leisurely next to him.

Shimada looked up at the clock hanging on the blackboard above the podium before speaking casually, "Indeed, it's been more than ten minutes."

In stark contrast to his relaxed attitude, Tsuna, sitting in the middle row, had been feeling uneasy for the past five minutes.

He was hesitating whether to go to the bathroom to see if something had happened to Shouko. After all, the hedgehog-headed guy also went out—but it still seemed unlikely.

He can't be so crazy as to break into the girls' bathroom, right? Besides, he and Shouko didn't have any grudges against each other. In the past month, the two of them hadn't even interacted.

Besides, girls usually spend a long time in the bathroom, and Shouko might just need some personal space. He couldn't imagine that she had been bullied just five or six minutes after leaving him...

"Miyamura? Miyamura...?"

"What's wrong, Mr. Takeuchi?" Tsuna was interrupted from his thoughts by a gentle voice. He looked up at Mr. Takeuchi, who was gazing at him kindly from the podium, and asked curiously.

Takeuchi, who was holding a Japanese textbook on the podium, clearly caught a flash of panic in his eyes and said worriedly, "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?"

Some of the students below looked at the bespectacled teacher on the podium and couldn't help but curse him silently in their hearts.

"I'm fine, Mr. Takeuchi. I'm going to the bathroom."

During that brief moment of conversation, Tsuna made up his mind. He quickly stood up from his chair, left a remark, and ran out through the back door without waiting for Mr. Takeuchi's permission.

"Miyamura! Miyamura!"

Takeuchi called out several times but received no response. Instead, Tsuna only quickened his pace. Fearing that something might have happened, the teacher threw down his textbook and said, "Be good, I'll be back soon," before hurrying after him.

Seeing Takeuchi leave the classroom, the students began to stir. The girl in front of Miki turned around and said excitedly,

"What's going on? I smell gossip!"

Miki looked at the girl's excitement and shook her head speechlessly. "I don't know, but Miyamura looked anxious." She paused, the girl Miyamura cared most about flashing into her mind, then added,

"It's probably something to do with Shouko."

Keisuke, who was sitting in the back row, watched the two leave. He quickly reached out to shake Shimada beside him, seeking advice.

"Did Miyamura see something? Should we go check it out with him?"

Shimada slapped the fat hand that was shaking him and replied with a scowl, "Are you stupid? If we go out with him now, won't that four-eyed bastard think we're his accomplices?"

He felt it wasn't enough and added, "If you want to go, go. Usually, the three of us hang out the most. Don't you think that four-eyed bastard will assume we're in on it too?

And this time, it really has nothing to do with us. This was all Shouya's idea. It's not like we didn't try to talk him out of it."

With that, he rolled his eyes at Keisuke.

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"...Ugh..."

Tsunayoshi, who hadn't yet reached the restroom, heard a vague cry coming from the direction of the girls' bathroom. Just as he picked up his pace, he saw Shouya hurrying out of the girls' bathroom with a guilty and flustered look.

Shouya also saw the person he hated—Miyamura—running toward him. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed the other's raised left hand. Before he could react, a sharp slap landed on his right cheek, sending him crashing onto the concrete floor. Warm blood started flowing from his nose.

"Ah!"

Still feeling unsatisfied, Tsunayoshi wanted to jump on him again, but a familiar scream stopped him in his tracks. Checking on Shouko was more important.

Just as he turned around, a familiar figure ran out of the bathroom and threw herself into his arms. He also recognized her familiar scent.

"Shouko, are you okay? Did he do something to you?" Tsuna tried to gently push the soft body away to check for injuries.

Shouko shook her head, but noticing Tsuna's attempt, hugged him even tighter.

"Ugh..."

Tsuna was stunned when he heard the sobbing again, because it didn't come from Shouko in his arms, but from inside the bathroom.

A little embarrassed, Tsuna asked, "Shouko, you're here... then who's still in the bathroom?"

Shouko looked up at him, her tone still shaken: "It's Ueno. You scared me to death just now."

"Miyamura!"

Tsuna was interrupted by Takeuchi, who had caught up behind him.

Having seen the entire scene, Takeuchi ignored the pair hugging and ran past them to help Shouya, who was still lying on the ground, dazed.

Noticing the boy's nosebleed wasn't stopping, he angrily turned to the two students and asked, "Do you have any tissues?!"

Only then did Shouko notice Shouya's miserable condition. She quickly let go of Tsuna, shyly took out a small pack of tissues from her pocket, and handed them to Teacher Takeuchi.

She silently prayed that Takeuchi wouldn't call her parents for hugging and kissing Tsuna at school... hehe...

Teacher Takeuchi, unsure of how to stop the nosebleed, took the tissues, pulled out two or three to wipe the blood, and then rolled up the rest into a plug and stuffed it into Shouya's nostrils.

Tsuna watched but didn't bother correcting him. Instead, he turned his head and looked into the bathroom, where Ueno Naoka was squatting and sobbing.

What met his eyes was her upper body, soaked, and her pants not much better, though not as bad as the shirt.

Naoka noticed him looking and quickly covered her chest, which was visible through her wet blue-and-white T-shirt.

Before he could look more closely, Shouko raised her hand to cover his eyes and said shyly, "T-Tsuna, what are you looking at!?"

"No, no, I didn't..." Tsuna quickly turned his head away.

"What's going on? What happened?" Teacher Takeuchi finally noticed Naoka in the bathroom and angrily asked everyone present.

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