"White Girl and Seven Dwarf Black Friends!"
"Little Girl Selling Gems!"
"Old Man Bull Cosplaying a Young Loli to Seduce Daddy Big Head!"
Before Ajitani could even step onto the podium, the students below eagerly clamored to announce the opera programs they wanted to perform, with a few deliberately disruptive voices being the most prominent.
"Clap, clap, clap…" Ajitani clapped her hands forcefully. "Alright, everyone, quiet down for a moment. We'll go one by one."
With Nanase-sensei's supportive gaze, the noisy classroom immediately turned into whispers. Ajitani then looked at the girl on the far left of the first row.
"Rinko, you go first."
Saying that, she pulled a piece of chalk from the chalk box on the podium, skillfully broke it in half, and turned to write the opera program the girl had reported on the blackboard.
"Romeo and Juliet."
In the time that followed, the blackboard became half-covered with white chalk, and the few who had initially caused trouble were too embarrassed to shout out the programs they had thought of earlier.
When it was Tsuna's turn, he glanced at the programs on the blackboard and casually reported an opera title. He wasn't very interested in any of the programs on the board.
As the last person finished reporting their name, the voting session began. After a heated discussion among the class, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was ultimately chosen.
Nanase-sensei saw that there was little time left and didn't want to occupy it further, so she let them go home for the day, and they would continue to organize and assign individual tasks tomorrow.
"Miyamura…"
"…"
Tsuna had just packed his schoolbag when he heard Ajitani call his name. Coupled with her hesitant expression, he had a bad feeling…
Takagi and Nishikata, who had already gotten up, stopped in their tracks, looking at Ajitani with confusion.
"Ajitani-chan, is there something you want to ask Tsuna to do?" Shouko, who was sitting next to him, eagerly asked first.
"Class monitor, you're not thinking of asking me to write the script for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' are you?" Tsuna guessed.
"Mhm, mhm…" Ajitani nodded. "You see, we'll be assigning individual tasks tomorrow, and I want you and Shouko-chan to write it together. What do you think?"
"Just me and Shouko?"
"Isn't that enough?" Ajitani's gaze lingered on their faces, then she explained:
"I think this way the script can be produced faster, and we can free up more people to work on other things."
Tsuna didn't agree immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Shouko, who was sitting next to him. Their gazes met simultaneously.
Shouko looked at him with smiling eyes. "Tsuna, I'll listen to you."
"…" Tsuna hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
This task was quite easy for him, and it would also free up time for Shouko to draw illustrations for I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.
He also wouldn't have to do any physical labor in this hot weather, which could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
"Is there a time limit?" The five of them walked out of the classroom. Tsuna looked at the three walking ahead in the corridor and asked curiously.
"The sooner the better. It's best if you can hand it in to me tomorrow." Ajitani turned back and winked at him.
"…"
"It's best if it's different from the original story, and you should adapt the story content more. The Prince should also appear earlier."
Looking at Ajitani's incessant chatter, Tsuna suddenly felt a little regretful, only feeling that he had agreed too soon…
"If you have any suggestions for changes or elements you want to add, you can tell Shouko directly on her phone. I'll make sure to add them in reasonably."
"Alright." Ajitani gave him an OK gesture.
The group separated at the school gate. By the time Tsuna and Shouko returned home, the night sky had gradually replaced the blue curtain of the day.
"Tsuna, take a look. These are all the elements Ajitani-chan wants to add."
Saying that, Shouko put her phone in front of him, showing him their chat content from the past few hours.
"…"
"Why are there even battle elements in here?" Tsuna scrolled through the chat history with the expression of an old man on the subway looking at his phone, becoming more speechless the further he read.
"Are you planning to hold an opera performance for the School Festival?"
Just then, Shizuka walked into the living room, carrying a plate of washed fruit. She looked at the two discussing by the coffee table and asked curiously.
"Mhm, mhm." Shouko nodded, reached for a few strawberries, and explained, "Tsuna and I were assigned the task of writing the script."
"Isn't that great? It's right up your alley, and you can even slack off a bit." Shizuka slapped away Tsuna's outstretched hand. "There's a whole bunch more in the fridge. Go wash them yourself."
"…" Tsuna was a little speechless.
Seeing this, Shouko got up and ran out of the living room with a 'pat-a-pat-a' sound. "Tsuna, I'll go wash them for you."
Tsuna proudly lifted his chin towards his mom, his small eyes full of boastfulness.
"If you don't confess soon, someone else might snatch her away."
"Soon."
"Heh…" Shizuka no longer looked at him but instead watched the Mary Sue drama playing on TV.
When Shouko returned to the living room, her peripheral vision occasionally noticed Shouko feeding strawberries to her smelly son. Eventually, she kicked them out of the living room, citing that their bickering was bothering her eyes.
———
"Here's the script you wanted."
Early the next morning at school, Tsuna took out a stack of printed papers from his schoolbag and placed them in front of Ajitani.
"That fast!?" Ajitani was surprised.
"Quick, quick, let me see first."
"As expected of Miyamura, he finished something he was only asked to do yesterday in one night."
"Rinko, don't snatch it! Let everyone see it together! And Little Gray! Don't secretly touch my butt!"
The surrounding girls also immediately gathered around Ajitani because of the commotion, scrambling to see the script, but Ajitani unceremoniously sent them back to their seats.
"I didn't include some of the too outrageous elements," Tsuna returned to his seat and sat down. "You take a look first. If you're not satisfied anywhere, I'll modify it when I get back."
He didn't want to be too fast, but considering that he would definitely have to revise it later, he could only speed up a bit, and finishing it earlier also meant he could rest earlier.
"Alright, I'll take a look first." With that, Ajitani focused on browsing the still-warm script.
She was confident in Tsuna's abilities. After all, the 'Anohana' on the market and the 'I Want to Eat Your Pancreas' that Futaba Publishing had already announced were the best proof.
Because of this script, Ajitani didn't participate in the conversation among Shouko and the others behind her for the entire morning.
"Dong… dong… dong…!"
"Everyone, let's take a break. We'll continue next class."
As the lunch break bell rang, the elderly teacher on the podium, clutching his textbook, walked out of the classroom with a smile.
"Ajitani, Ajitani, have you finished reading that script? Can't I—"
"No!" Ajitani unequivocally crossed her arms. "Rinko, there are still some issues with that script. I'm going to discuss them with Miyamura later, so I can't let you see it yet."