"Let's go, let's speed up, or we'll be late if we keep going this slowly."
"Mm-hmm."
Nishikata glanced at the time and decisively quickened his pace toward school with Takagi.
On the first day of the second semester, the morning light filtered through the branches of the banyan tree adorned with wish slips, scattering Broken Gold onto the bustling heads.
Outside the school, some clutched their clothes; inside, some charged around holding high posters for club recruitment. More stood on tiptoe in front of the bulletin board, the jingling pendants on their backpacks betraying the frequency of their heartbeats.
The air was filled with the scent of new textbooks' pulp, the aroma of baking from the cafeteria, and a certain indescribable flutter belonging to the age of youth.
"Tsuna, when do you think we should apply for a club?" Shouko took two packs of wet wipes from her backpack, handed them to Tsuna, who was sitting next to her, and asked.
Tsuna nodded his thanks, reached out to take them, and pulled out a few sheets to wipe the table and chair, which already had a little dust on them.
"After school this afternoon, should we go to the club recruitment area first to check the application process for joining the Art Club or something?"
During the walk, he had silently decided to give up on the go-home club; joining the Art Club with Shouko wasn't a bad idea either...
Anyway, going home alone after school was boring, and considering Shouko's situation, he really wasn't comfortable letting her join the Art Club by herself.
"Okay." Shouko nodded, reaching out to take the dirty wet wipes from his hand.
But he raised his hand and dodged, and the ones in her hand were snatched away by him instead.
"I'll take them to throw away and go to the restroom while I'm at it."
Shouko watched him leave the classroom through the back door, and just as Tsuna left, Nishikata and Takagi entered the classroom through the front door.
"Good morning, Takagi-chan, Nishikata."
"New semester, please take care of me, Nishimiya."
"New semester, please take care of me too, Shouko-chan."
Takagi, standing beside Nishikata, also imitated his words, adding a playful line, just short of a formal bow.
"Here." Shouko also politely replied, "Please take care of me," and handed the two unused packs of wet wipes to them.
"Arigato." x2
"Oh right, Shouko, where's Tsuna?" Takagi asked curiously after receiving them, glancing at Tsuna's seat.
Hearing this, Shouko quickly looked around. Seeing that no classmates had heard Takagi-chan's words, she silently breathed a sigh of relief while also lightly patting her arm.
"Tsuna went to the restroom."
"Oh, oh." Takagi Sana's lips curved into a smile, two barely perceptible pixels.
After wiping his table and chair clean, Nishikata left his seat to find friends in other seats to chat with.
Not long after, Tsuna also returned to the classroom. After nodding and greeting Takagi, he lay on his desk, preparing to take a quick nap.
His Shouko was already occupied by Takagi, so this was his only option.
Plus, after finishing his writing last night, he didn't go to bed until past eleven, so he could catch up on some sleep. Otherwise, he might be so bored during the upcoming opening ceremony that he'd fall asleep standing up.
But he had only just closed his eyes for a moment when he was woken up by the sudden arrival of Ajitani.
No, to be precise, it was the increasing number of girl gathering around Shouko and the other two, sharing stories about their winter break in a flurry of voices.
The main source of charm that could gather so many girls was two people: one was the Class Monitor, ' Ajitani,' and the other was due to Shouko.
As for Takagi, her presence among the girl in the class last semester wasn't very high.
But it was undeniable that these three girls ranked high in the boys' group ratings.
However, most boys knew that Shouko was firmly tied down by Tsuna, so Shouko's rating was much lower than the other two.
And the girls in the class seemed unaware that the boys had this rating, just as the boys were unaware that the girls had privately created a rating list for them.
And it was a real-time updated rating.
Tsuna also learned about this rating from Shouko one time, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find out from her what rank he was in the class.
————————
"Clap, clap, clap!!"
A sudden sound of applause rang out in the noisy classroom, and everyone looked towards the source of the sound.
After seeing who it was, they quickly returned to their seats and sat down. Tsuna, who was still lying on his desk, was shaken awake by Shouko.
"Quiet down, everyone." Teacher Fujiro, standing at the classroom door, waited until they were all seated before slowly walking to the podium.
"I'll give you one day to gather your souls that haven't quite returned from winter break, alright?"
After speaking, Fujiro's eyes scanned the students below, comparing them one by one with her memory. Only after confirming that no one was missing did she continue:
"Our learning progress is already behind other classes. Starting this second semester, we need to speed things up."
"...…." Tsuna in his seat felt speechless because this sentence sounded very familiar.
Was this sentence really every homeroom teacher's catchphrase? And across all countries?
"Ahem." Teacher Fujiro saw that some students below were already zoning out, so she lightly coughed, drawing their attention back, and then continued:
"First, let me talk about today's schedule. We will line up to go to the gymnasium for the opening ceremony later.
When we come back, the Class Monitor will have a few boys move this semester's textbooks from the materials room. It's still the same eight books."
"Okay, Teacher Fujiro." Ajitani quickly responded.
Teacher Fujiro nodded at her, "After that, we'll rearrange the seats and briefly discuss the specific arrangements and precautions for this semester.
In the afternoon, you will line up with me to go to the gymnasium for a 'health checkup.'"
Teacher Fujiro looked up at her watch, "Alright, that's the specific schedule for today. If I've missed anything, I'll add it later. Everyone, go outside and line up."
As Fujiro's words fell from the podium, the harsh scraping sound of chairs being moved across the floor immediately filled the classroom, mixed with the complaints of some students.
"Let's go, Tsuna."
Shouko called out to a certain person, then linked arms with Takagi and walked out of the classroom together.
Tsuna also snapped back to attention from Fujiro's second-to-last sentence, stood up, and went to the outside corridor to line up with Nishikata, who was waiting for him.
He had a strong impression of the 'health checkup' that Teacher Fujiro mentioned.
In elementary school, Minato Elementary School would have students go to the gymnasium for a health checkup in the first semester every year.
Namikaze Middle School required a checkup every semester. As for other middle schools, he wasn't sure if it was the same.
The main purpose of the 'health checkup' was to ensure the students' physical and mental health and to detect diseases or developmental problems early.
However, not much was checked, basically just weight, height, vision, hearing, teeth, and so on.
Speaking of 'physical and mental health,' he inexplicably thought of Shōya and the others he encountered after school last time. He hadn't run into them much since.
But regarding Shōya being ostracized and isolated in class, he would hear others mention it about once or twice a month.
As for whether he was being bullied, he hadn't looked into or inquired about that.