Teacher Minagawa wanted boys and girls to sit together so they would be less likely to play around and chat during class, which would disrupt her teaching.
After teaching for so many years, she knew that at this age, boys in elementary school didn't like playing with girls. They were afraid other boys would tease them, and they disliked how girls often played house or cried easily.
"Nishimiya Shouko, sit in the left seat in the middle of the third row."
When Teacher Minagawa called Shouko's name, she paused for a moment as she looked at the empty seats in the classroom.
"Okay." Shouko nodded nervously and walked into the classroom. After sitting where Teacher Minagawa had placed her, her eyes kept drifting to Tsuna outside the window.
"Miyamura Tsunayoshi." Once she saw Shouko was seated, Teacher Minagawa called Tsuna's full name loudly from the classroom door.
Because of her call, some boys and girls in line turned to look at Tsuna.
Tsuna, standing at the back of the boys' line, ignored their gazes and asked calmly, "What is it, Teacher Minagawa?"
"Sit in the empty seat next to Shouko." Teacher Minagawa looked toward Tsuna, locating him by his voice.
Tsuna answered with a simple "Yes." He walked straight into the classroom and sat down next to Shouko. The students, who still remembered his short but memorable self-introduction, now found him even more interesting thanks to Teacher Minagawa's arrangement.
Once Tsuna sat down, Shouko, who was standing beside him, said happily,
"Tsuna! I didn't expect Teacher Minagawa to seat us together like this."
When she'd heard Tsuna's name called, her heart had skipped a beat for some reason.
Tsuna explained to Shouko why they were seated together and promised her that they wouldn't be separated for the next six years.
"Really!?" Shouko didn't fully understand what relying on connections meant, but she only cared that they would sit side by side for the next six years.
Tsuna looked into Shouko's eyes, which seemed to overflow with joy. He didn't say anything but reached out and gently ruffled her hair. Just then, a young girl's voice interrupted them:
"It's my turn, it's my turn! I want to touch it too!"
Tsuna and Shouko looked over at the same time and saw it was the girl with the twin ponytails who had introduced herself earlier. She was standing in the aisle beside Shouko's seat, eyes sparkling as she stamped her feet excitedly.
"It's your turn, huh?" Tsuna thought she was joking and withdrew his hand from Shouko's head, signaling it was her turn. Shouko turned around and gave Tsuna a gentle glare.
"Hehehe~." Seeing Tsuna lower his hand, Miu was about to reach out to touch his hair too, but was stopped by a helpless voice from the door:
"Miu! Go back to your seat. I'll bring Chika over after school."
Miu shrank back at Teacher Minagawa's scolding and returned to her seat in the front row in embarrassment.
After everyone's seats were settled, Teacher Minagawa returned to the podium and announced, "Alright! Everyone, quiet down. Now we're going to hand out textbooks."
"Teacher, where are the textbooks?" Miu jumped up from her seat and looked around the podium.
Teacher Minagawa, clearly used to Miu's antics, answered calmly, "From now on, if you have something to say, raise your hand first. Don't just stand up. I asked some senior students to bring the textbooks. They'll be here soon."
"Oh…" Miu sat down again, but just as Teacher Minagawa was about to continue, Miu raised her left hand and waved it in the air.
"Matsuoka, what is it now?" Teacher Minagawa looked at the ponytailed girl sitting in her seat.
Miu shrugged. "I just wanted to see if raising my hand works."
From his seat, Tsuna could clearly see a vein bulging on Teacher Minagawa's forehead. He thought this girl might turn out to be as much trouble as Shin-chan.
"Teacher Minagawa, where should we put these textbooks?" At that moment, four older students entered the classroom carrying stacks of books.
"Put them next to the podium." Teacher Minagawa sighed quietly.
"I'll call your names to come get them."
*******
"Now check if you have all eight textbooks." Teacher Minagawa stood at the podium, watching the students curiously flipping through their new books.
Tsuna noticed that Shouko was sniffing the new books, so he didn't interrupt her at first. He checked the eight textbooks on his desk: Japanese, math, music, art, science, social studies, morals, and integrated studies. Japanese and math were the thickest; the rest were thin.
Seeing there was no dreaded English textbook but that there were indeed eight books, he turned back to Shouko and said, "Alright, Shouko, let me check yours too."
"Yeah!" Shouko stacked her eight books neatly on her desk and handed them to Tsuna. Then she picked up one of Tsuna's books and opened the first page, inhaling the fresh scent. She found the smell strangely pleasant, though she was also distracted by Tsuna's faint fragrance from time to time.
After confirming everything was in order, Teacher Minagawa said to the older students waiting by the door, "You can go back now. Good job today."
"Alright, Teacher Minagawa, we're leaving." The student at the front waved and left the classroom with the others.
Once they were gone, Teacher Minagawa picked up a sheet of paper from the podium, held it up, and said, "Okay, put your textbooks aside for now. You'll have plenty of time to read them later. This is the class schedule for the year. I'll post it next to the blackboard. Take a look after school."
After pinning up the schedule, she returned to the podium and continued, "After school, two people will stay behind to clean up, starting from the student on the far left.
Our class doesn't need any fancy positions. We'll just elect a class monitor and a vice monitor." Hearing this, the students immediately focused on the podium.
But Teacher Minagawa wasn't finished. "We won't pick the monitors today. You'll vote for them in a few days.
Also! From now on, I'll teach all your subjects myself, including PE and swimming."
Tsuna was a bit surprised. Everything before hadn't mattered much to him; he wasn't going to run for class monitor anyway, but he'd assumed different teachers would handle each subject. Now he felt a bit uneasy.
Teacher Minagawa then added calmly, "You need to bring your lunch to school. If you forget, there's a small store on the far right side of the school, but it's not marked on the building map."
At that moment, Miu raised her hand again. Teacher Minagawa saw her from the podium but looked reluctant to acknowledge her. She suspected Miu wouldn't ask anything serious.
"What is it now?"
Seeing Teacher Minagawa finally call on her, Miu stood up and asked something truly unexpected:
"Teacher Minagawa! Does the store sell expired food?"
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