Seeing this, Tsuna decided to take a nap. Since Shouko said so, he would definitely choose to 'respect' her.
Moreover, last night, he couldn't help but stay up until one or two o'clock just to research Japan's publishers and make comparisons one by one. In the end, he could only say each had its merits.
Ultimately, he chose Futaba Publishing, mainly because the changes in benefits and manuscript fees they announced two years ago made it hard for him not to be tempted.
Although he wasn't short on money now and might not be in the future, who would dislike having more?
In two years, the editors and managing editors at Futaba Publishing had changed completely—both big and small. But the only editor he had an impression of was still there.
That blind editor had even been promoted to managing editor.
However, he didn't plan to submit to him but would switch to an editor who had just joined Futaba Publishing.
As time passed and his wild thoughts drifted, sleepiness gradually overcame him, and he fell asleep.
By the time he woke up again, the class bell was ringing.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he looked up at the classroom's front door and happened to meet the gaze of Teacher Fujiro, who was standing at the entrance surveying the students below.
He politely nodded at her and then looked away, afraid that something might happen if he looked too long...
"Tsuna, remember to give it back to Yuki after class."
Shouko's voice sounded in Tsuna's ear. He turned his head and saw her handing back the student profile sheet. The blank spaces on it had been filled in.
There were no mistakes—it was like copy-pasting. The content was almost identical to the previous student profile sheets, with Shouko's alternate account filled in for contact information and 'LINE'.
"Cough, cough."
Just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by a cough from the podium. He could only reluctantly swallow the words he was about to blurt out and started acting like a good student.
"Quiet down, everyone. Take out your math textbooks. Let's start class."
The whispering classroom suddenly became quiet except for the sound of books being turned.
Teacher Fujiro on the podium was rambling on, while some individuals below the podium were lost in thought.
"Dong... dong... dong...!"
"Next period, go directly to the gymnasium to gather. We'll come back to class after taking the graduation photo."
Teacher Fujiro closed her textbook, left this sentence, turned around, and walked out of the classroom without looking back.
As soon as she left the classroom, cheers erupted, and the quiet classroom became noisy.
Tsuna took the student profile sheet, got up, quickly went to the desk of the previous student to return it to her, exchanged a few polite words, and then returned to his seat under Shouko's fixed gaze.
"Shouko-chan, how about we go to the Chickenzilla exhibition in Akihabara during the spring break?" Ajitani turned back to distract her.
This allowed a certain person, who was originally in danger, to escape.
"Okay, okay, Atsuya-chan, you set a time, and I'll see if I'm free that day." Shouko agreed without hesitation.
If nothing unexpected happened this spring break, she would just stay at home with Tsuna. Even if they went out, it would probably just be shopping.
The main reason was that Tsuna had things to be busy with this spring break, and the spring break was only about half a month long.
"Takagi-chan—"
Takagi, in her seat, saw Ajitani coming over and immediately raised her hand to interrupt her words: "Stop right there. I'm the same as Shouko. You set the time."
Seeing this, Ajitani was satisfied. She pulled over an empty chair, sat down, and started chatting with the two of them about other topics.
Nishikata, in his seat, didn't participate in the girls' conversation but was engrossed in reading the manga in his hands.
When there was only a page or two left, he couldn't help but complain to a certain person in the seat in front of him who was clearly spacing out:
"After finishing this manga, I'm going to be in a book slump again. Miyamura, do you have any recommendations?"
Hearing this, Tsuna could only exit his state of thought and glanced speechlessly at Nishikata behind him.
He had been asking this question for almost three years. Every time he read a novel or manga and reached the last bit, he would come and ask him.
It made him feel like an encyclopedia. However, he had indeed recommended many obscure but very readable novels to the other person.
"Let me think..."
Tsuna stared at Shouko's slightly plump profile and began to ponder, while Nishikata beside him didn't dare to disturb him at this moment.
"Got it. But you might have to wait until high school to see this book."
As soon as he said this, it also attracted the attention of the three girls who were chatting nearby. They were originally quite interested in light novels and manga.
Shouko wasn't very interested in these things at first, but influenced by a certain person, she gradually grew to like them over time, though not excessively.
And hearing him say this, she instantly thought of what Tsuna had mentioned to her: that he would submit a light novel again this spring break.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would indeed be able to see the physical book by high school. The main thing was that Takagi-chan and the others didn't know about this yet.
Ajitani was the first to be unable to contain her curiosity. She looked at him and asked, "What book is it? You have to wait until high school to see it?"
"Yeah, what genre is it?" Nishikata echoed.
Tsuna looked at everyone's curious gazes and slowly began, "Stepmom literature, biological siblings, forbidden love, younger partner, love triangle, grotesque."
"This..." Shouko widened her innocent eyes. This was completely different from what she expected...
"Is this really not 18+?" Takagi was shocked but also had her curiosity piqued.
On second thought, it seemed right. By the time they were in high school, they would be around 18, so they could read it then.
Ajitani didn't speak but started looking forward to the book he mentioned. For their age group, taboo knowledge in that area often piqued their curiosity more.
"I know what you're thinking, please rein it in, okay?" Tsuna swept his gaze over them speechlessly. "I'm talking about the knowledge you'll learn in biology textbooks in high school.
'Backcrossing F1 white-eyed male fruit flies with parental red-eyed female fruit flies,' or 'fruit fly hybridization' for short. What were you thinking?"
"Boring."
"Uninteresting."
"Tsuna, you..."
Takagi directly ignored him, Ajitani gave him a glare, and Nishikata continued reading his manga, while only Shouko gave him a light hit.
As this little interlude passed, the class bell also rang. Ajitani got up and went to the podium to organize the students to go down to the gymnasium for assembly.
---
"It seems like our class is the first one here." After coming down, Shouko looked at the empty gymnasium and couldn't help but feel puzzled toward the person beside her.
"Maybe it's one class at a time. Let's just take the picture first." Tsuna's gaze fell on the photography equipment below the platform. There was also a photographer adjusting the equipment nearby.
But that's right, there's still half a month until the graduation exam. It's normal to just take a simple photo now.
Graduation ceremonies and such only start being held when there are only a few days left.
"Clap, clap, clap...!" Teacher Fujiro, who had been waiting here for who knows how long, clapped her hands and shouted at the line: "Everyone, come over and line up according to your physical education class lines! Hurry up!"
Seeing this, everyone quickly dispersed and then reassembled, forming their lines in three or four minutes.