Part 6: The Eraser Incident
Haruto bent down, picked up a fallen sharpener, and smirked. "You know… looks kinda fun."
Souta popped his head out from behind a chair. "Wanna join, Haruto?"
Amaya grinned. "Yeah! We need reinforcements!"
Arashi groaned. "Don't even—"
But Haruto was already crouching beside them, stacking a few erasers like ammo. "Alright. Who's the enemy?"
Souta pointed dramatically toward the far side of the room. "Yuna and Misaki formed an alliance. They're hiding behind the shelves."
"Got it," Haruto said, narrowing his eyes in mock seriousness.
Arashi sighed. "I can't believe this."
"Too late to stop me now," Haruto grinned, flicking an eraser. It soared perfectly through the air—
—and smacked Daigo right on the forehead as he entered the classroom.
The entire room froze.
Daigo stood in the doorway, one hand still on the doorframe, blinking in disbelief. A small red mark was forming on his forehead. "...Who," he began slowly, "just declared war on their Sensei?"
No one moved. Even Amaya covered her mouth to hide her laugh.
Haruto raised his hand. "Technically, it was an accident."
"Accident?" Daigo repeated, his tone rising. "You threw it with the precision of a trained shinobi!"
Arashi tried to hold back his laughter, but a small snort escaped.
Daigo glared around the class. "Everyone—back to your seats! Now! And whoever's idea this was—"
"Was Souta's," Amaya quickly pointed.
"Hey!" Souta protested. "You started it!"
"Both of you," Daigo said, exasperated. "After class, you're cleaning this room until it sparkles!"
He then looked at Haruto. "And you, Mr. Inazuma, maybe you should spend less time aiming erasers and more time aiming for attendance."
Haruto rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Fair point…"
Daigo pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear, every year this class gets more ridiculous."
As he turned to the board to start the lesson, Amaya leaned toward Haruto and whispered, "Worth it though, right?"
Haruto smirked. "Totally."
Arashi sighed again but couldn't help a small smile. "You're all hopeless."
Daigo turned back to the board, chalk in hand, his face still slightly red from the earlier eraser incident. "All right, class. Let's continue. This time, answer carefully. If you're near water… what's the first thing you don't do?"
Haruto leaned back in his chair, lazily raising a hand. "Touch it."
Souta pointed at him dramatically. "Correct. Touching it is a bad idea. Ten points for common sense!"
Amaya groaned, waving her hands. "Wait… that's the same answer I gave for the lightning question before break! That's wrong for water!"
Haruto shrugged, smirking. "Same principle. Don't touch it."
Arashi snorted quietly from the back. "Technically correct… but it's going to confuse everyone."
Daigo rubbed his forehead, sighing. "Haruto… I swear, you're going to give me a headache before lunch."
Haruto leaned forward, chin in hand, grinning faintly. "Maybe. But at least they'll remember it."
The class giggled. Amaya shook her head, half-frustrated, half-amused. "You really don't change, do you?"
Haruto just smirked, completely unapologetic.
The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day. Haruto stretched lazily, brushing a few stray strands of red-and-blue hair from his face.
"Class is finally over!"