The Sound of a Silent Life

"Shouko, you don't know how far Chi-chan has gone. She actually dislikes me!" Miu saw two familiar people standing at the classroom door from her seat.

She quickly stood up, ran over, hugged Shouko, and started complaining to her. Tsuna ignored their interaction—he was used to it. He nodded at Chika, who was walking up from behind.

"Chi-chan doesn't even want to sit with me. She says I'm noisy. But she's obviously a good kid!" Miu felt someone behind her, but she continued to complain.

"Pa!"

"Chi-chan, what are you doing?! Are you coveting the beauty of this beautiful girl?!" Miu quickly let go of Shouko, covered her butt, and backed away, staring at Chika in horror.

Tsuna leaned against the doorframe, watching the funny interaction between the two. At that moment, a gentle voice reached his ear.

"You didn't see anything just now, did you?"

He turned his head and saw that Shouko was looking at him softly, her pupils reflecting his face clearly. He instantly understood what she meant and hurriedly shook his head, pretending to be clueless. "See what? I don't know. I was just looking at the scenery outside."

Shouko narrowed her eyes and studied him for a moment. When she found no sign of guilt or panic on his face, she chose to believe him and turned to stop the two from playing around.

"Okay, that's enough. Let's find a place to eat lunch."

"Okay," Chika said, catching the salty pig hand Miu had extended.

"Let's go sit on the bench downstairs and eat," Tsuna suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." The two of them ignored the pair still playing and walked outside. Seeing that they weren't being waited on, Miu and Chika quickly stopped and followed.

It took the four of them several minutes to finally find an empty brown bench. As soon as they sat down, Miu couldn't help but complain to Shouko next to her.

"Shouko, you don't know. Our class teacher is still that awful Teacher Minagawa."

Miu wanted to continue complaining, but Tsuna interrupted her.

"You guys chat first. I forgot my water bottle—I'll go back and get it."

Miu wasn't annoyed. Instead, she kindly advised, "We'll have to climb all the way to the third floor again. Tsuna, aren't you tired? Isn't there direct drinking water on the first floor?"

She never understood why Tsuna disliked the direct drinking water. It obviously didn't taste weird, and she'd been drinking it since childhood without a problem. Besides, no one drank directly from the faucet.

Tsuna stood up and waved off the concern of the ponytailed girl. He patted the head of his little girl, who was sitting on the bench, and gently reminded her, "No, no. I'll be back soon. Shouko, remember not to drink that water."

He had advised Miu and Chika to drink less of the school water before, but it hadn't worked well, so he didn't bring it up again. At least Shouko listened to him.

"Yeah, I'll wait for you to come back before eating my lunchbox." Tsuna nodded to show he understood and ran off.

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"Shouya, you're not really going to tear up Miyamura's textbook after lunch, are you?" Hirose asked Shouya nervously while Shimada was in the restroom.

He felt like their target wasn't someone to mess with. The way he'd thrown that thermos earlier—it was as if Miyamura didn't fear the consequences at all.

Shouya looked at him incredulously, swallowed the food in his mouth, and replied with disdain, "What? Are you trying to talk me out of it?"

"Miyamura, he..." Hirose started, but Shouya cut him off:

"I promised Shimada several times. If I back out now, how could I be your boss in the future? And this is to teach him—and all the boys in the class—a lesson." He figured it was just a few textbooks. It was the first day of school. Worst case, he'd have to pay for a few books. He could call his grandma later. Besides, it was a good opportunity to assert his authority in the new class.

Seeing this, Hirose stopped trying to persuade him. After all, he wouldn't be the one getting hit or having his parents called.

"Shouya, you're still eating? It's been over ten minutes." Shimada's cheerful voice came from behind.

Shouya waved his hand without turning around. "Why the rush? Just a few more bites." He lowered his head and started eating rapidly.

Shimada sat beside him, a trace of disgust in his eyes as he watched Shouya wolfing down food. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he joked, "You going secretly or openly?"

"Huh?" Shouya blinked in confusion and looked up at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Ahem!" Shimada coughed and lowered his voice. "Think about it, Shouya. If you sneak around, you'll definitely get caught. If Teacher Takeuchi finds out, everyone will think you're a coward who only dares to do petty stuff.

But if you do it openly and draw the class's attention, people will think you're not afraid of Miyamura or the new teacher. The boys will think you're tough."

Shouya didn't reply but slowed down his chewing. He thought Shimada's suggestion made a lot of sense. He was going to do it anyway, and sneaking wouldn't help. He made up his mind.

Shimada noticed the change in his demeanor and quickly covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. Hirose just stood by, silently observing.

"I'll go." Shouya stood up after swallowing his last bite.

Shimada quickly reached out to stop him, pretending to be shocked. "You're really going? I was just joking."

"Nonsense. He dared to do that to me. I'm just giving him a little payback. Besides, I already promised you guys." Shouya looked at him in confusion.

Seeing this, Kazuki lowered his hand and sat down to watch the show unfold.

"Pa pa pa!!" Shouya strode to Tsuna's desk and slapped it hard. The whole class was startled, some even dropping their chopsticks mid-lunch.

"Ishida, why don't you take a break? What's with the noise?" Miki, the class monitor, looked up from her lunch and scolded him.

"Yeah, Masaya, what are you doing?" a male classmate asked curiously.

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