The next day.
"Dong... dong... dong...!"
"Class dismissed, students."
As the class bell rang, a white-haired teacher on the podium closed his textbook and slowly walked out of the classroom.
"Let's go, let's go! Next period is P.E., let's play basketball."
"Count me in, count me in! This time I definitely won't drag you down. Last time was a mistake."
"That was your excuse the time before last too!"
"I really don't understand these boys. What's so great about playing with a ball? They always come back sweaty after class."
"Exactly."
"And some of them are covered in sweat, and the smell is terrible, but he says it's some kind of manly scent."
"Screw his manly scent! My dad never smelled that strong. Body odor is just body odor!"
Meanwhile, the students below immediately became noisy before the teacher had even left the classroom.
"Miyamura! Want to play ball?"
The first to look at the boy were Shouko and a few girls in the classroom.
"No, maybe next time." Tsuna, who was in his seat, shook his head at the boy who invited him and gave him an apologetic look.
Since last semester, he had used one of the four weekly P.E. periods to play basketball with them.
Sometimes he joined by himself, and sometimes others invited him.
"Alright."
The boy who was refused nodded indifferently and ran out of the classroom with his friends.
"Tsuna, why aren't you going to play basketball with them?" Shouko finally looked away and asked in confusion.
He put the textbooks from his desk back into his schoolbag, waved his hand, and said, "Because we still have to report to the club after school later, and I don't want to go there covered in sweat."
Just then, Ajitani walked up and interrupted their conversation: "Shouko, Takagi-chan, let's go. Let's go to the changing room to change into our gym clothes."
"Okay, okay."
Shouko and Takagi behind her stood up at the same time.
"Tsuna, I'm going first."
"Okay."
"Okay."
Shouko, who received a response, smiled lightly at him and followed the steps of the other two.
"Miyamura, let's go. We should also change." Nishikata slowly looked away after seeing Takagi walk out of the classroom, stood up, and invited him.
"So troublesome..."
Tsuna complained, took out his 'gym clothes bag' (a special bag for storing gym clothes) from his schoolbag, stood up, and walked out of the classroom side-by-side with Nishikata.
"There's nothing we can do about it." Nishikata nodded in agreement, evidently sharing Tsuna's thoughts.
The two quickly walked to the boys' changing room and quickly changed into their gym clothes. As for being shy or anything like that, Tsuna said they were all just kids who hadn't even grown all their hair yet.
Shy about what?
"Let's go." Nishikata finished changing first. After seeing him come out at the door, he patted his shoulder and said.
Tsuna simply glanced at the gym clothes he was wearing, a loose white round-neck short-sleeved shirt, similar to a polo shirt but simpler.
And embroidered on the chest was the gold-bordered text "1-2", meaning first year, class 2.
Loose dark blue knee-length shorts with an elastic waistband + drawstring design.
"What's wrong? Is there somewhere I didn't wash properly?"
"Nothing, I saw it wrong." Tsuna shook his head and denied it: "Let's go, let's hurry to the gymnasium. We should be assembling there."
"Okay, okay."
---
As soon as the two entered the gymnasium, Tsuna spotted Shouko, who had already changed into her gym clothes.
She was currently sitting on the maple floor chatting with Takagi and Ajitani.
And it was as if she sensed something, their gazes met just like that.
Takagi Sana and Ajitani beside Shouko also followed her gaze and saw Tsuna and Nishikata who had just entered the gymnasium.
Tsuna admitted that every time he saw Shouko in her gym clothes, his heart would flutter fiercely, because she was truly adorable.
Similar to the boys' gym clothes, a white top, but the cut was slightly more fitted (but not too tight), with a boat neck collar, and the class number was also printed on the chest.
Dark blue sports shorts, but slightly shorter (above the knee).
Against the backdrop of these gym clothes, Shouko looked even more petite and cute.
It was a shame she wouldn't wear them for him to admire at home, only saying she would wear them for him to see in the future...
"Beep!!!"
Just then, a whistle sound echoed in the empty gymnasium.
A small number of girls who were closer to the whistle sound quickly covered their ears, complaining: "So noisy!"
"Mr. Sakai! Can you please consider the students who are closer to you?"
But this complaint had no effect whatsoever.
"Assemble!"
As the whistle stopped, Mr. Sakai, who had reached the center of the gymnasium at some point, shouted.
"Let's go, let's go assemble first." Tsuna reached out and pulled up Shouko, who was sitting on the ground.
Nishikata hesitated for a moment and, like Tsuna, reached out his hand to Takagi, not daring to hold her hand rashly, but waiting for her choice.
Takagi's lips curved slightly upwards as she placed her hand on his suspended one, saying, "Let's go."
"..." Ajitani, who stood up by herself, looked speechlessly at the four of them.
The students in the gymnasium stopped what they were doing and rushed to assemble at his location.
Around thirty students formed four lines within three or four minutes.
"Beep!"
Mr. Sakai waited for them to line up, but seeing that they were slow to quiet down, he didn't hesitate to blow the whistle hanging around his neck again.
Seeing that they had completely quieted down, with resentment in their eyes, he laughed heartily:
"Today we'll do a short running test. After you finish running, I'll let you disperse and play."
As he finished speaking, he took out a long plastic board from behind him, with a record sheet attached to it.
"Mr. Sakai, how many meters are we running?" Just then, Ajitani, who was at the front of the line, asked curiously.
"Just two hundred meters, it'll be quick." Mr. Sakai wrote and drew on that paper, "Class Monitor, you manage them. I'll go mark the start and finish."
"Yes."
As soon as Mr. Sakai walked away, the lines became noisy again, and Ajitani let them talk, as this was something she couldn't control.
Five or six minutes passed, and Mr. Sakai returned to the front of the lines. The students immediately quieted down again.
"Now, everyone go over there, one line for boys and one for girls. Class Monitor, you divide them."
Mr. Sakai stopped his movement of preparing to blow the whistle, gave an order, handed the paper to her, and walked towards the starting line he had marked.
The quiet gymnasium suddenly filled with the sound of footsteps. Under Ajitani's sorting according to the paper slip, the lines were divided in five or six minutes.
"..." Tsuna felt a bit speechless seeing that he was assigned to the last spot in the boys' line.
However, that bit of speechlessness was soon dispelled by the arrival of Shouko.
Mr. Sakai still remembered clearly that Shouko was usually not involved in strenuous exercise or running.
In the past, he would let her rest aside.
And with Ajitani's assistance, she also assigned Shouko to the last spot in the girls' line.
"Tsuna, good luck later! I'll cheer you on!" Shouko clenched her fists and promised.