"Miyamura, let's go." Nishikata patted Tsunayoshi, who was standing in front of him.
"Okay."
Tsuna pulled back the messy thoughts in his mind and slowly moved forward with the team.
After five or six minutes, the team arrived at the gymnasium and walked to their class's designated spot under the guidance of Teacher Fujiro.
In no time, the gymnasium, which had been quite spacious, became very crowded, accompanied by noise.
And in front of the gymnasium, a middle-aged man in a brown suit stood on the platform at some point.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The Principal held the microphone and coughed a few times, confirming that the sound system was working properly before continuing: "Alright, students, quiet down. I'll just say a few words, and then we'll be dismissed."
As the Principal's words on the platform fell, the homeroom teachers below also coordinated well in managing their respective classes.
They told the students who were talking to shut up or lower their voices.
After hearing the students' voices quiet down, the Principal on the stage began to display his skill in talking nonsense.
"I don't know how long the Principal will talk this time," Nishikata, who was standing behind Tsuna, complained in a low voice.
Tsuna raised his left hand and held up three fingers. "According to previous times, it's at least 30 minutes. The Principal's nonsense is too powerful."
"Other middle schools seem to have chairs for students to sit on during the opening ceremony. Why don't we have them?!!" In the Girl team next to them, Ajitani complained in a low voice.
Shouko glanced at Teacher Fujiro at the very front, and after confirming that she was also spaced out, she quickly comforted Ajitani, who seemed about to collapse in front of her:
"Alright, Ajitani, just bear with it, and it will pass."
"Right." Takagi, who was behind Shouko, nodded in agreement.
This scene played out more or less in every class, and the homeroom teachers basically didn't manage the students much after the Principal started his speech.
"Alright, that's all I have to say."
"Clap...clap...clap...!!!"
Immediately, there was a burst of warm applause from below, and the Principal also walked off the stage with a smile on his face, holding the microphone.
"Alright, everyone who needs to go to the restroom or get water, you're dismissed. Just come back to the classroom in twenty minutes," Teacher Fujiro, who was at the front of the line, shouted loudly to them.
Teacher Fujiro also quickly left the gymnasium amidst the jeers of some boys in the class.
"Well, this time it's a new record, he talked for about an hour." Tsuna looked at the timer on his watch.
"Let's go, Miyamura, stop looking. Let's hurry back to the classroom and sit down." Nishikata patted his shoulder.
Tsuna's gaze, however, turned towards Shouko, and their eyes met at the same time.
'Tsuna, I'm going to the convenience store with them, do you want to buy anything?'
He understood what Shouko was saying through her lip movements, then shook his head, waved at her, and left with Nishikata beside him.
He was still quite at ease knowing that Shouko was with Takagi and Ajitani.
Not long after, Shouko returned to the classroom with two bottles of juice and the other two.
"Tsuna, what flavor do you want?" Shouko showed him the juice she was holding.
Tsuna looked at the orange and grape juices in her hand, which were labeled as 100% pure juice, and shook his head.
"You choose first, the remaining one is fine for me."
"Okay, okay." Hearing this, Shouko handed him the bottle of grape juice without hesitation.
Tsuna took it and put it into his desk drawer, then, without disturbing her and Takagi's conversation, he also turned around and started chatting with Nishikata.
Although it was mostly Nishikata talking, and he would nod or agree and answer a few sentences, often the questions that Nishikata didn't understand were easily answered by him as soon as they were asked.
Nishikata naturally didn't feel that he was being perfunctory or anything like that, but rather that the box of topics seemed to have opened.
This was interrupted until Teacher Fujiro came to the classroom. Afterwards, Teacher Fujiro told everyone about the things to pay attention to this semester.
The class schedule was also re-posted next to the blackboard. Not long after, eight boys carried textbooks into the classroom.
Then, under the distribution of Teacher Fujiro and the Class Monitor, everyone had eight textbooks in about ten minutes.
Time flew by to noon break.
"Tsuna, here you go." Shouko naturally took out a black bento box from her backpack and handed it to Tsuna.
Tsuna joined his desk with Shouko's and the desks of Takagi and Nishikata behind them, then reached out and took it, saying, "Thank you."
Fate is truly unpredictable. They change seats almost every semester, but the four of them were not separated by Teacher Fujiro.
The four of them were still sitting in their original seats in the back row, only Ajitani's seat was moved to the front by Teacher Fujiro...
But this didn't prevent her from coming over to join them for lunch at noon. She just moved her chair from the front to the back.
Before eating his bento, Tsuna wanted to drink something to moisten his throat. Coincidentally, he had finished the water he had brought, so he took out the juice that Shouko had bought for him.
Then he easily twisted open the lid, it could even be said that there was no resistance at all.
"Shouko, aren't you going to explain??" Tsuna raised his hand and pinched Shouko's cheek, who was looking at him from time to time.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Tsuna." Shouko shook her head slightly with a blank look mixed with innocence.
The three people around them silently ignored their interaction and ate their bentos on their own.
"Are you sure you didn't secretly drink this bottle of juice?" Tsuna leaned closer to her ear and whispered.
He didn't want to attract the attention of the scattered students in this quiet classroom.
Shouko still shook her head. "Tsuna, you haven't left your seat since you got this bottle of juice, how could I steal a drink? This is slander."
"I'm talking about before you handed it to me." Tsuna changed to pinching both sides of her face with both hands.
"I said no, do you believe me?" Shouko raised her hands and held his hands.
Just as Tsuna was about to shake his head and say something, he was interrupted by Takagi's calm voice:
"You two, pay attention to your image. Our school is very strict about puppy love."
Hearing this, Tsuna withdrew his hand and didn't plan to ask the question further. He picked up the bottle of juice, took a sip, and started eating the bento that Shouko had prepared for him.
Silently ignoring the eye contact between Takagi and Shouko.
"Thank you, Takagi-chan." Shouko blinked frantically at Takagi, who was sitting opposite her.
"It's nothing." Takagi returned a reassuring look.
"Are your eyes uncomfortable?" At this moment, Ajitani, who was next to Takagi, asked with concern.
"Pfft..." Tsuna, who had originally ignored it, almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This sentence naturally attracted the attention of Nishikata, who was quietly eating opposite Tsuna, and he asked with concern:
"Is Takagi uncomfortable somewhere? Do you want to go to the infirmary to get it checked?"