By the time Thursday rolled around, the classroom of 6-B had already settled into a more comfortable atmosphere.
The initial awkwardness of introductions and shuffled desks was gone, replaced with laughter, chatter, and the kind of easy warmth that came from friendships taking root.
For Haruya, it was almost surprising how natural things felt now.
Nagisa, Hazuki, and Tamao had grown especially close, their desks forming a little hub of constant conversation.
Whenever Haruya glanced their way, the three were always giggling over something or sharing secrets with the ease of girls who had known each other far longer than just a few days.
Right now was no different either.
Haruya leaned back on his seat, his chin propped on one hand by his chair's frame as he chatted with Yuma, who leaned slightly against the desk in front of him.
"You've been in Tokyo this whole time, right?" Haruya asked, tapping his mechanical pencil idly on the desk.
"Pretty much," Yuma replied. "I grew up in this neighborhood. Taira and I went to the same preschool and everything. I've been stuck with her since then."
The corner of Haruya's mouth twitched. "You make it sound like a burden."
Yuma's lips curved faintly. "Well, sometimes it is. She doesn't know how to sit still. But…" He paused, glancing over at the blonde girl currently laughing with the others. "…I guess I don't mind it too much."
Haruya followed his gaze and let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. Tamao-san is definitely different, but in a good way. Brightens the whole room without even trying."
Meanwhile, beside them, the girls had clustered around Nagisa's seat.
Hazuki sat neatly in her spot in front, while Tamao leaned over Nagisa's desk, her golden hair falling into her face as she gestured animatedly with her hands.
"And then, when I tried to bake cookies last time, I didn't realize at the time, but I had confused the salt for sugar!" Tamao confessed dramatically, her cheeks puffed as the other two erupted into laughter.
Nagisa covered her mouth, giggling so hard her shoulders shook. "You're so silly, Taira-chan!"
"It was an accident!" Tamao groaned, her face turning red. "Yuma wouldn't stop making fun of me for a week. He still brings it up sometimes!"
Hazuki, who usually kept her composure, let out a soft laugh herself. "That sounds just like something you'd do, Taira-chan. But it's charming, in a way."
Nagisa nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It makes you more relatable. But if you ever need help with baking, you should try asking Haruya-kun. His pastry is amazing!"
Tamao leaned closer. "Wow, so Haruya-kun's introduction at the time wasn't just a random thing. I guess it makes sense why you specifically added his name in your introduction."
The three of them laughed together again, their voices overlapping warmly, as if they had known each other for years instead of mere days.
From his seat, Haruya leaned back, watching them for a moment. He couldn't help but smile.
Yuma noticed. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Haruya said, shaking his head lightly. "It's just… they already look like best friends."
Yuma followed his gaze, then let out a quiet nod. "Yeah. Guess Taira got what she wanted, huh?"
Haruya laughed, "She's pretty good."
Before Haruya could say more, Nagisa's voice rang out. "Haruya-kun, Sudo-san. Stop whispering over there and join in already!"
Haruya and Yuma looked at each other with a smile, soon turning in the girls' direction, joining in their conversations.
Meanwhile, at a distance, another group of kids stared at Haruya and his group.
"Seems like they're having fun, huh, Ishida?" Ueno tilted her head.
Ishida snorted in annoyance. "Whatever, Ueno. I don't care."
"Ehh," Ueno seemed to notice an opportunity to tease him. "Are you still upset about being taught a lesson by him? It was your fault after all."
Miki Kawai, who was standing beside Ueno, nodded. "Maybe you should apologize to Sumeragi-san and Kubo-san. They seem like nice people, I feel like they'd be a nice group to hang around with."
The rest of the group, Keisuke and Kazuki, looked at each other.
"I don't know... Sumeragi-san was pretty scary that day," Keisuke trailed.
Kazuki covered his mouth with his sleeves as he stared at Haruya at the other side of the classroom. "I can kinda sense he doesn't like us very much either."
Ueno snickered, "After all, you guys keep causing trouble for other students. Besides us, who would want to get too close to you?"
Hearing this, the silent Ishida grew more annoyed and finally couldn't hold himself back. "You're so annoying, Ueno! We've already said we aren't interested in making up with them. If you wanna be friends with them so bad, then why don't you do it instead?"
Seeing that she had successfully ticked Ishida off, she playfully shrugged and eased it a bit. "Okay, okay. Jeez, you didn't have to get so mad."
"Whatever." Ishida ignored her and started to play around with his mechanical pencil.
Soon enough, their break had finally ended. Class was finally about to restart, with students returning back to their seats.
Their homeroom teacher, at the same time their literature teacher, Takuomi-sensei, entered the classroom, but did not immediately start class.
"Today, the transferee student will be joining you all in class," he announced, gaining everyone's intrigue, full attention towards him.
Even Haruya, who rarely listened to class, paid attention.
"I wonder if it's a girl or a boy," Nagisa whispered beside him.
Haruya shrugged. "We're about to find out."
And as if on cue, an unfamiliar girl entered the classroom.
The girl had dusty rose colored hair in a bob hairstyle, with her bangs flowing down her forehead.
Carrying a red bag, her outfit consisted of a light pink shirt, a plaid yellow skirt, and white sneakers.
On her shirt was a yellow tag that read: Nishimiya.
Ueno bumped her arm towards Ishida.
"Huh? What do you want?" Ishida complained.
"Lucky you, Ishida," she smiled slightly. "It's a girl."
Ishida groaned. "So what? You think I care?"
The new transferee, Nishimiya, walked to the front of the class and faced them with a smile.
The rest of the students muttered quietly with each other about their new classmates.
"Okay. Please introduce yourself," Takuomi-sensei gestured towards the class.
However, as if ignoring him, Nishimiya continued to stand still with a serene smile plastered on her face.
The rest of the class started to whisper to each other louder, talking about the strange situation.
Haruya and Nagisa both tilted their heads in confusion.
Suddenly, Takuomi-sensei seemed to realize something and tapped Nishimiya on the shoulder.
This made Nishimiya start moving, opening her red bag, she took out a notebook that read on the cover: For Conversations.
She slowly turned the pages, revealing the words written inside, which seemed to startle the entire class.
"Nice to meet you."
"I'm Shouko Nishimiya."
Haruya straightened his back and subconsciously leaned forward.
Nishimiya Shouko continued to flip the notebook's pages.
"Through this notebook, I hope to become good friends with you all."
She flips it once more, with each flip making the students' eyes go wider and wider.
"Please use this notebook to talk to me."
And for one last time, she flips to another page, shocking everyone.
"I'm deaf."
Shouko held the notebook up with a smile.
"What?"
"Seriously?"
"No way..."
The entire classroom was shocked and started to whisper loudly to one another.
"Oh no..." Nagisa suddenly felt sad for the girl.
Even the bright Tamao and the calm Hazuki could not keep their emotions in check, feeling pity for the girl who was similar to their age.
While everyone else was busy pitying Shouko, Haruya felt another emotion in him.
"She's pretty tough."
Despite the rest of the class obviously gossiping about her situation, Shouko stood bravely in front of them with a gentle smile.
Perhaps it had been that she was already used to this kind of situation, but Haruya couldn't help but praise her inwardly.
A girl with physical disabilities similar to his age who could face the shocked faces and pitying stares stemming from her disability.
He certainly didn't know anyone else but the girl currently standing in front of the class.
However, it seemed like Haruya wasn't the only one with a different feeling.
Ishida suddenly yelled from his seat, startling everyone around him.
"That's insane!"