"The general situation seems to be that Ishida did something when school started, and then he was isolated by the whole class. Later, he couldn't take it anymore and beat up Shimada Ikki."
"Miyamura Auntie, why was that guy with the spiky hair isolated by the whole class, but he went after that blond guy?" Yuzuru, who had swallowed the food in her mouth, was very confused.
"I don't know why he went after him specifically. I heard that he was stopped by other classmates as soon as he started."
Shizuka shrugged, took a small sip of the iced water next to the table, and continued:
"These details are what those parents heard from their own children, so the truthfulness is uncertain.
Also, I heard that Ishida's mom intends to have Ishida transfer schools."
After hearing what Shizuka said, Yuzuru quickly forgot about it, changed the subject, and shared some interesting things from her school with the three people present.
After all, it didn't concern her or the people around her; he was just a passerby she had met a few times. If it weren't for what happened today, she wouldn't even remember such a person existed.
Tsuna silently ate his meal nearby, choosing not to join their conversation, still thinking about what his mom had just said.
After hearing her words, he almost instantly figured out the general reason for the incident. It was likely that Shimada had been spreading those awful things Ishida Shoya did in sixth grade everywhere since the beginning of the school year.
One of those things was about Ueno Naoka being splashed with water in the girls' bathroom back then, with rumors claiming Ishida had bullied others in sixth grade.
Coupled with what he had unintentionally overheard in the first semester, which later spread more widely, Shimada saw that the effect was about right and took the lead in isolating Shōya.
However, this was just a minor incident and didn't concern him.
He also didn't have any thoughts about suddenly becoming the only light in his darkness and saving him or anything like that.
The four of them spent nearly an hour eating before slowly returning to school.
The taiko drum in the northwest corner suddenly vibrated, and the cheering squad members, wearing 'Victory' headbands, rushed up the grandstand steps, making the wooden stairs shake like a wobbly bridge.
The lingering scent of oden drifted in the wind, mixing with the smell of freshly opened pain relief patches.
The broadcast speakers crackled with the sound of instruments being tuned, and the brass band members hurriedly held up their flutes, stained with rice grains.
When the iron door of the sports storage room creaked open, the slips of paper for the first event of the afternoon, the 'Red and White Team Obstacle Race,' fluttered in the sunlight like cherry blossoms in a snowstorm.
Shouko took Yuzuru to the class's spectator area to cheer for Ajitani, who was participating. As soon as Yuzuru arrived, she became the group's favorite.
Tsuna, meanwhile, took advantage of the time before his event started to take a nap with special earplugs, asking Shouko to come wake him up when it was time.
Shizuka chatted about everyday life with the surrounding parents and occasionally received questions from other parents about how to educate their children to improve their grades.
——————————
"Tsuna, it's time to get up. Your registered sprint race is in about ten minutes." Shouko spoke softly, shaking the person who was sleeping soundly.
"Slap…"
Behind her, Shizuka couldn't stand it anymore and slapped him on the thigh, forcing him to wake up.
"Uh, okay."
Tsuna rubbed his sleepy eyes, used his other hand to take off the earplugs in his ears, looked around, and then asked in confusion, "Where's Yuzuru?"
"She's playing with Ajitani and Takagi-chan in the class's spectator area."
Shouko raised her finger, pointing in the general direction of the spectator area. Only after he looked did she put her hand down, then sat beside him with a solemn expression.
After a few minutes, she still hadn't received a reply from him. The previous solemnity had long disappeared, leaving only dissatisfaction with him.
"Slap…"
"Wh-What's wrong?" Tsuna rubbed his thigh, which had been slapped by her.
Shouko met his confused gaze: "Ajitani-chan just told me that our school trip this year is going to be canceled."
"They haven't even announced it yet? Where did you hear that rumor?"
"She asked Teacher Fujiro at noon. Teacher Fujiro's exact words were that the Principal hadn't made a final decision yet, but it's very likely it will still be canceled.
He said it's considering the safety of us first-year students traveling."
Tsuna caught the flash of disappointment in her eyes. However, she had been looking forward to the school trip since the first semester, so he could understand. He changed the subject:
"How about we go to the 'Kasai Rinkai Aquarium' to see penguins when winter break starts?"
"Okay!" Shouko's emotions came and went quickly. She instantly beamed with joy: "We'll call Takagi-chan and the others to go with us and spend the whole day there!"
"First-year students participating in the class sprint competition, please gather at the starting line."
The sweet voice of the announcer interrupted their conversation, repeating the announcement three times.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you to tell them then."
Hearing this, Tsuna didn't say anything more. He stood up, ruffled the head of the girl in front of him, and quickly walked towards the gathering point.
"Tsuna, good luck!!"
The surrounding parents' attention was drawn by her shouting, and then followed her gaze to the back of the young man in front.
Tsuna squatted at the starting line, adjusting his spikes. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a white figure shaking in the third row of the parent spectator area.
That was Shouko standing there with a camera, the lens pointing directly at him.
He just felt that this scene seemed familiar.
"On your marks!" The referee's shout tore through the air.
Tsuna leaned forward, supporting himself on the hot track. His palm pressed against a small piece of gravel, the stinging pain reminding him of training a month ago.
He had fallen due to a mistake back then. When Shouko heard about it, her anxious expression as she rushed from the Art Club and the strands of hair stuck to her forehead came to mind.
Memories exploded with the firing of the starting gun. He shot out like an arrow from a bow, the wind constantly rushing into his ears.
The moment he crossed the finish line, the stopwatch froze at a new first-year record. Mr. Sakai rushed over, waving the scoreboard, but Tsuna staggered, holding his knees and gasping for breath.
The idea of just running at his usual speed was broken by that cheering voice from the spectator area.
"Congratulations, first place." Shouko's voice came from behind him, much softer than her cheering.
Tsuna turned around, and what greeted him was the iced barley tea she handed him. Water droplets rolled down the surface of the aluminum can, seeping into his still unsettled pulse. He took it without hesitation.
"Tsuna, Mr. Sakai said you broke the first-year record from previous years. As the new record holder, will you promise me one condition?"
"Didn't you say that backwards? Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Tsuna gasped for air, not forgetting to tease.
She suddenly tilted her head back and smiled: "Okay, I'll promise you one condition."
"Then I want to use this condition now."
Before Shouko could ask what it was, she heard his next words: "Help me open this iced barley tea."
——————————
The twilight was like tea with too much water added, blurring the white lines of the field into indistinct gray.
The ribbons hanging on the wire fence faded into the hazy yellow of an old movie, and a loose knot somewhere swayed in the wind, blurring half the strokes of the words 'Victory' at the edge of the sand pit.
The broadcast station, which should have been shut down long ago, suddenly leaked a series of noises, startling the sparrows dozing in the cherry blossom tree and shaking down a few golden sequins stuck in the cracks of the scoreboard.
Those were the stars the cheerleaders scattered into the air during the opening ceremony, now curled into crumpled remnants, pushed by the duty student's bamboo broom into small mounds.
"It's over, it's over."
"I'm exhausted, why do we have to clean up after it's over?"
"I want to ask that too, why is it us first-year students who have to clean up?"
"Because the second and third years did the decorating."
"I protest!"
"Clap, clap, clap…" A sudden round of applause echoed in the classroom full of complaints, and everyone's eyes turned towards the front door of the classroom.
"Everyone worked hard today. You can go home now, be careful on your way back." Mr. Teacher Fujiro, leaning against the door frame, left this sentence and turned to leave.
Immediately, the sound of tables and chairs being pushed and pulled, mixed with the sound of tables being slapped, rang out in the classroom.
"Let's go, Shouko. Mom and Yuzuru are waiting for us in the parking lot from this morning."
"Okay, okay!" Shouko reached out and took the hand he offered.
He pulled with force and lifted Shouko, who was sitting.
Shouko turned her head, said goodbye to Takagi and Ajitani who had walked up, then held Tsuna's hand and quickly left the classroom, walking towards the parking lot.
"Are these two not avoiding people anymore?" A girl next to Takagi looked at their clasped hands, completely puzzled.
Ajitani answered seriously: "Because Teacher Fujiro has already gone far away, and we are all minor characters who can't catch Shouko's eye."
"…" The girl didn't say anything more, nodded to the two of them, said goodbye, and quickly left the classroom with her backpack on.
"Did you forget anything at school, or are we going to the restaurant?" Shizuka, in the car, asked through the rearview mirror after the two got in.
Because she hadn't been home all day today, Shizuka didn't want to cook when she got back, so she called Daisuke, who was already off work, to choose a restaurant near home and grab a spot.
"Okay, okay."
"Okay."
Both nodded simultaneously, and Shizuka buckled her seatbelt and started the car.
On the way, Yuzuru chatted with the three of them about her impressions of the sports festival and how she was 'bullied' by Ajitani and Takagi in the afternoon.
"Ding dong!"
Suddenly, a phone notification rang out in the car, but Yuzuru didn't interrupt her words because of it.
Shouko took out her phone from her pocket, quickly muted it before checking who had sent the message, opened 'LINE', and immediately froze.
The person who sent the message was the girl who had added 'him' yesterday.
「Congratulations to Miyamura-kun for getting first place in the sprint race. I wanted to bring you water back then, but someone beat me to it」
「(Amazing.jpg)」
"What's wrong?" Tsuna leaned in beside her and asked in a low voice.
Shouko didn't hesitate, holding up her phone in front of him for him to see.
Only after he saw it clearly did she put her phone away, typed a message on the keyboard, sent it, and then immediately turned off the screen. She silently listened to Yuzuru talking with a curious expression.
The drive took five or six minutes, and Yuzuru also talked non-stop during that time, with Shizuka and Shouko occasionally responding.
When they entered the restaurant, Yuzuru's eyes lit up even more because she saw the woman sitting opposite Daisuke.
She guessed that the woman was Nishimiya Yaeko just from her back, and her steps quickened due to her happy mood.
At the boundary between dusk and night, the Yamanote Line train cut through the thickening frost with a warm yellow light band.
In the cold light of the platform's electronic screen, a silhouette wearing a camel-colored turtleneck sweater was looking up at the falling maple leaves, the initial light of the Tokyo Tower condensing on her eyelashes.
After finishing dinner, the group returned home, and Tsuna immediately ducked into the bathroom. After a nearly whole day of exercise, he felt sticky all over.
As soon as he came out of the bathroom, wiping his hair, he heard Shizuka's questioning voice from the living room:
"I heard you're going to the 'Kasai Rinkai Aquarium' with Shouko and a few friends during winter break?"
——————————
"Be careful when you and Shouko go to the 'Kasai Rinkai Aquarium' in a few days during the New Year," Shizuka, stretching in yoga poses in the living room, didn't forget to remind him.
Tsuna nodded, swallowing the orange in his mouth: "Don't worry, Mom, there will be a few friends with us then."
"There will be a lot of people after the New Year. I don't understand why you chose that time slot." Hearing this, Shizuka stopped her movements and paused the yoga teaching video on the TV with the remote.
"I don't understand either." Tsuna shrugged.
This date was discussed by everyone after Shouko told the three of them.
Of course, 'everyone' didn't include him; he was flexible. The decision was made closer to winter break. Everyone listened to Ajitani, and the time was set for January 5th, which was just after the New Year from January 1st to January 3rd.
Moreover, Shouko said that she chose this date because the 'Kasai Rinkai Aquarium' was having a limited collaboration event with her favorite chickenzilla.
He just couldn't figure out why an aquarium would collaborate with a chicken…
Tsuna pulled his thoughts back, looked up at the clock on the wall, '22:21': "Mom, get some rest early, I'm going back to sleep first."
"Good night." Shizuka nodded, and resumed playing the yoga teaching on the TV.
"Good night." He stood up, turned around, and left the living room, walking toward his bedroom on the second floor.
Since the sports festival ended, nothing major had happened until today, and only nearly a month had passed.
On the third day after the sports festival ended, Teacher Fujiro announced the cancellation of the first-year school trip before class.
The main reason given was that the Principal considered the first-year school trip unsafe.
Ishida Shoya's mother, Ishida Miyako, ultimately failed to transfer him. As for why the transfer failed, he didn't find out.
However, because of the failed transfer, Shōya was transferred by the Principal to the same class as Ueno Naoka and Kawai Miki.
He heard that he didn't experience any bullying or ostracism there.
However, because he was a newcomer and due to some rumors, not many people in the class made friends with him, and he was alone every day going to and from school.
Last weekend, when he went shopping with Shouko, he met him standing alone by the old bridge.
And judging by the other person's eyes, he didn't seem to recognize him and Shouko, which was very strange, but he didn't pay too much attention and continued shopping with Shouko.
"Click…"
Tsuna pulled his thoughts back, twisted the doorknob, and pushed the door open into his bedroom.
These weren't important. What was important was the command given by his Old Man for the upcoming New Year, telling him to stay home and help him receive visiting guests.
It was a bit of a headache. His Old Man was trying to get him introduced…
In previous years during the New Year, many people would bring gifts to visit his home, but he would always find an excuse to stay at Shouko's house.