"Alright then…"
The blue-haired girl, Rinko, had no choice but to leave dejectedly, and the few girls who had originally intended to surround her also stopped in their tracks.
Ajitani politely persuaded the few girls who didn't believe in evil to leave as well.
"Miyamura, why didn't you secretly give it to me this morning?"
After they left, Ajitani slumped weakly onto her desk, pouting and looking displeased at a certain person.
"My bad, my mistake." Tsuna took the two bento boxes Shouko handed him and replied perfunctorily.
"…"
Ajitani wanted Shouko to rein him in, but then she remembered that Shouko was the one being reined in, so she could only sigh lightly and choose to forgive him.
"Ajitani-chan, don't be angry. Eating now is what's important."
"You're right." Ajitani immediately perked up, took her bento from the desk compartment, and handed it to Tsuna. "I'll trouble you. Arigato."
Tsuna nodded, took her bento, and went downstairs with Nishikata, who was waiting behind him, to heat their bentos.
"Miyamura, I want to ask how you managed to finish that 'dozen' scripts in one night?" As they walked down the stairs, Nishikata couldn't suppress his curiosity and decided to ask.
Although he knew Miyamura's ability, he still found it incredible, especially since he knew Ajitani had included some outrageous elements in them.
Tsuna skillfully dodged students rushing to the convenience store for lunch and spread his hands helplessly:
"There are plenty of opera scripts for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' available with a quick search online.
I picked one that looked good, quickly skimmed through it to confirm there were no issues, and then added the class president's requests. The whole process took less than three hours."
"…"
Seeing Nishikata remain silent, Tsuna continued, "Besides Snow White and the Queen, the lines for the other supporting characters didn't exceed ten sentences, and the performance would only take about 30 minutes."
"Then… then…"
Tsuna noticed Nishikata's stammering demeanor, saw his ears gradually redden, and combined with Nishikata's pure-hearted, male high school student personality, Tsuna immediately guessed the question he was holding back.
"The prince who ultimately kisses Snow White awake only has four lines from his appearance to the curtain call. Can you guess which four lines?"
But clearly, Nishikata's main concern wasn't the latter part of the sentence. His eyes confirmed there were no classmates around, and just as he was about to ask, Tsuna mercilessly shattered his illusion:
"You don't need to think about it. The kiss will be staged. It's impossible for you and Takagi-san to actually kiss."
"Wha—" Nishikata subconsciously wanted to retort.
"And we don't even know if you and Takagi-san will get to be the prince and princess. You could be the king, and she could be the princess."
"…" Nishikata subconsciously swallowed, feeling a strange flutter in his heart…
Nishikata acquiesced until they had heated their bentos and returned to the classroom. When Takagi-san noticed his abnormality, he blushed and repeatedly shook his head, saying it was nothing.
During lunch, Ajitani kept discussing script revision issues with Tsuna.
Shouko quietly took advantage of his distraction to quickly transfer vegetables from her bento to his and then secretly moved his tonkatsu away.
Seeing the increasing amount of vegetables in his bento box, Tsuna pinched her soft cheek. Just as he was about to ask, Shouko hastily softened and pleaded for mercy:
"Tsuna~ Oh, I was wrong…"
As Tsuna kneaded her soft cheek, he stared at her greasy lips and wondered, "Shouko, if you don't like vegetables, why do you add so many to your bento?"
"Grandma insists that a balanced diet of meat and vegetables is healthy. I was afraid she'd nag me, so I added more greens," Shouko said, feeling a little guilty as she saw herself reflected in his eyes.
"Then what's with you stuffing so much tonkatsu into mine?" Tsuna asked while rubbing her cheek with his thumb, his fingertip sinking into her soft cheek.
"Because I told Grandma you have a lot of physical activity at school and need more protein to keep up…"
Shouko explained guiltily. The latter part of the sentence, "This way Grandma won't nag me," circled her lips three times but was ultimately swallowed back.
"…"
Tsuna kneaded for a short while, then reluctantly let go of her. Shouko, seeing that he had completely believed her reason, openly began exchanging side dishes.
"You need to eat some vegetables too." Tsuna, unable to bear it, lightly flicked her head.
"Oh…" Shouko rubbed her head, looking wronged.
"Ah…"
"?"
As Shouko looked up, she saw Tsuna dangling a golden, glistening piece of tonkatsu in front of her with his chopsticks.
The slight grievance in her heart immediately vanished, and she bit into it without hesitation.
Her cheeks immediately puffed up like a hamster's, and as she chewed, she suddenly mumbled indistinctly, "Tsuna, I forgive you!"
"I thank you for forgiving me…"
The other three had long grown accustomed to this scene. Takagi and Nishikata silently chose to ignore it, while only Ajitani, sitting opposite Tsuna, watched the two with an aunt-like smile.
——————
The bento boxes from the lunch break were still spread out on the desks. In the blink of an eye, the clicking sound of backpack buckles could be heard from the back of the classroom, and outside the window, the synchronized running chants of the baseball club mixed with the September cicada chirps poured into the classroom.
"Dong… dong… dong…!"
As the special dismissal bell rang, the students in the class tacitly remained in their seats, waiting for Nanase-sensei to enter the classroom.
"Let's see…" Nanase-sensei walked into the classroom with her laptop, then projected its contents onto the large screen behind her.
Considering that Ajitani was organizing a program about opera for the first time, she only asked Ajitani to assist her.
Nanase-sensei's gaze swept over the students below, finally lingering for a few seconds on Tsuna's listless face before retracting it:
"This is the overall head of the opera performance, mainly responsible for coordinating the overall situation, managing the progress of various departments, and liaising with the school's executive committee for budget and venue applications.
Is there anyone who would like to apply to try it?"
The result was as she expected; not a single student below raised a hand, and Ajitani, fearing she might mess up, also did not raise her hand.
"Then, for this overall head position, I will take it on myself. Does anyone have any objections?"
The students below shook their heads one after another; they felt more at ease with a teacher assisting.
"Alright, but if I take it on, there will be remuneration."
The students hesitated for a moment, feeling that Nanase-sensei's decision was reasonable. After all, it was impossible for her to help for free; no one would choose to work overtime without pay during their off-hours.
"Good." Nanase-sensei nodded, looking at everyone's reactions below, then turned to Ajitani, her gaze softening as she said,
"Then the class president will assist me. This time, I will guide you through the process, and for the remaining two opportunities, you'll have to rely on yourself."
Ajitani had no objections to this, though she was a little regretful that she couldn't perform on stage.
For the director and stage manager roles, Nanase-sensei invited the well-known music teacher and assigned several people to assist her, learning at the same time.