"Teacher Takeuchi, what's our chorus song?"
A sudden voice echoed through the noisy class, and the entire room fell silent. Everyone looked up at Takeuchi at the podium, curious about the answer.
"'Monster's Narrative Poem,'" Teacher Takeuchi stated calmly, without much hesitation.
"Huh?"
"I thought we'd vote on what to sing."
"Yeah, yeah."
"I've never heard of this song."
As Teacher Takeuchi finished speaking, the classroom erupted in complaints from the students.
"Teacher Takeuchi, practice hasn't started yet. Can we vote on one ourselves?" Miki, the class monitor, stood up and asked, bearing the expectant gazes of everyone.
Teacher Takeuchi, looking down at the math textbook on the podium, paused for a moment, glanced up at her, and replied calmly,
"No, I've already decided."
He wished he could have chosen the simplest nursery rhyme, but since it was President Miyamura's request, there was nothing he could do.
"Ahem!" Teacher Takeuchi finally turned to the page he was supposed to teach. He coughed softly and said, "Okay, class is starting. Everyone, be quiet. If you keep making too much noise, you'll be asked to stand outside."
The once-noisy classroom devolved into whispers, but Takeuchi chose not to intervene. He picked up the textbook and began explaining.
He just wanted to keep their voices to himself.
"Tsuna, what do you think the first-place prize will be?"
Shouko, overwhelmed with curiosity, covered her face with the math textbook and turned to whisper to someone staring blankly out the window.
But after calling out softly a few times, Tsuna didn't respond at all. Shouko was inexplicably a little annoyed. Why was this person still staring outside in a daze during class, not paying attention at all?
She glanced at Mr. Takeuchi on the podium, and after confirming that he didn't notice her, she reached out and patted the person in a daze without hesitation.
The person who had been fantasizing about being a hero and fighting wits and courage with the white dragon was brought back to reality by Shouko's gentle touch.
"Huh?" Tsuna turned his head to look at the pufferfish who was covering his face with a math textbook and frowned in confusion, wanting to reach out and poke her bulging cheeks.
Since he had an idea, he took action. Without waiting for her to explain anything, Tsuna stretched out his left index finger and poked her fair face.
Shouko slapped his outstretched hand away and glanced once more at Mr. Takeuchi at the podium. Once she was sure he hadn't noticed, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, with renewed irritation, she turned to him and whispered,
"What are you doing? We're in class."
Tsuna followed suit, casually pulling a textbook from a drawer and opening it to cover his face. He quipped,
"Hehe... I was just wondering, since you're not paying attention in class, don't think that hiding your face with a textbook will prevent Takeuchi from seeing you."
He also spoke slowly, knowing Shouko couldn't hear such a quiet voice, so she could interpret it by lip reading.
Takeuchi, on the podium, glanced at the two people below him, watching them chat furtively with their textbooks covering their faces. He felt a pang of silence.
Especially since Miyamura was holding his language textbook. Did they think that hiding their faces would prevent him from seeing them? It only made them stand out more.
"How dare you ask? You were still staring out the window during class." After saying that, Shouko snorted, put down her textbook, and ignored him, focusing on the lesson.
He planned to teach her a lesson after class.
Seeing her paying attention in class, Tsuna lowered the textbook covering his face and realized he was holding it upside down. However, since Takeuchi hadn't noticed, he ignored it and continued to stare at the blackboard.
Since the fireworks festival, life had been uneventful, with not much changing. His relationship with Shouko remained the same.
The only thing that had changed was Yuzuru's love for photography. I think it was the day after the festival.
Yuzuru dug out her mother's camera, which, of course, had been completely cleared. Curious, he asked her what had been inside, but she replied,
"It's a secret. You'll find out when you get married," followed by a lopsided smile.
Yuzuru casually snapped a few photos and showed them to everyone, earning praise.
Even Aunt Yaeko praised her several times, though only she knew the first one was genuine. The rest came only after her mother pinched her arm and threatened her.
But her favorite part was showing her photos to Shouko, always earning sincere praise and a pat on the head.
Was this the reason Yuzuru fell in love with photography? It could also be that everyone's encouragement sparked her interest.
Maybe in a year or two, she'd stop thinking about it. Anyway, more than half a year had passed, and she still loved taking her camera everywhere.
At first, I'd asked my mom if she wasn't afraid Yuzuru would break her new camera.
She gently rubbed my head and said, "Yuzuru should take it everywhere and shoot rather than just let it sit in the closet gathering dust. Besides, what's the point of buying a camera if you don't use it?
Besides, even if it breaks, your Aunt Nishimiya can easily buy a new one with her current salary."
At the time, I thought her last sentence was the key point.
——————
"Dong... Dong... Dong...!"
"Okay, class is over. The next craft class will be music. Remember to come to the music room." As the bell rang, Mr. Takeuchi closed his math textbook, said something, and sauntered out of the classroom.
"Finally, class is over! Let's go pee!" Shōya shouted excitedly, hugging the two people on either side of him as soon as Mr. Takeuchi left the room.
This action also drew strange looks from some students in the classroom, including the two he was hugging.
However, he paid them no mind and walked straight out of the classroom with them.
After the last water-throwing incident, the girls in the class had already begun to ostracize him, and now it could be said that almost all of them disliked him.
For the past six months, he had been causing minor troubles, but the students in the class didn't dare express their dissatisfaction with him, fearing he would come back to haunt them. At most, they gave him disapproving looks.
"Tsuna, what do you think the reward for first place will be?" After putting her textbook back into her bag, Shouko turned to look at him and asked curiously.
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(I've edited the reason why Yuzuru Nishimiya fell in love with photography; it's clearly different from the original story.)