Before leaving, Miyamura Shizuka couldn't help but give Ishida Miyako a few stern but well-meant parenting pointers.

Ishida Miyako didn't argue. She held Shoya's hand tightly, not letting him slip away, and nodded repeatedly in response. Every time Shizuka mentioned something important, Miyako even made mental notes, intending to write them down later.

Standing nearby, Akira, who was holding Shouko's hand, couldn't help but feel a little awkward watching his mother go on like this. He glanced at Miyako's earnest expression and nearly sighed.

He thought to himself, Isn't she worried this kind of over-disciplining will backfire? With a personality like Shoya's, the more pressure you put on him, the more likely he'll rebel.

While quietly observing, Akira made a small mental vow: If Shouko and I ever have a child, there's no way I'm letting Mom raise them. Even if she tries to, I'll stop her.

As soon as that thought popped into his head, he shook his head quickly—trying to clear the image of a future domestic life with Shouko. Too soon to be thinking about that stuff…

Shouko noticed. "What's wrong, Akira?" she asked curiously.

Akira glanced at her and suddenly felt like teasing. With a playful grin, he mouthed silently, "Our future child can't be raised by my mom. Trust me, okay?"

Shouko blinked, puzzled for a moment. Then she read his lips—and her face turned bright red. She slapped his hand lightly.

"W-what are you even saying!? Children… and stuff like that…" She took a deep breath and added softly, "It's way too early for that."

Akira noticed the blush that had spread all the way to her ears and chuckled softly. "Shouldn't you be saying something like, Who wants to have kids with you anyway?"

Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Akira leaned in and exaggeratedly covered his own mouth. "Wait… don't tell me… you do want to have kids with me!?"

He glanced around to make sure no adults were paying attention. His mom and Yaeko-san were still deep in conversation with Ishida Miyako, and Takeuchi-sensei had returned to class. Only Shoya was nearby, but Akira figured he didn't count.

Shouko stomped her foot. "You—you—you…!" She was so flustered she didn't know what to say.

To be honest, part of her did like the idea—but with that smug look on Akira's face, there was no way she could admit it. That would just give him the upper hand.

Just then, Shouko's expression suddenly shifted, and she smiled mischievously. She turned to Miyamura Shizuka and called out sweetly:

"Auntie Miyamura! Akira said your parenting advice is harder to understand than math formulas!"

"Huh?" Akira froze. Of all the counterattacks he was expecting, that wasn't one of them.

The grin that had been on his face transferred straight to Shouko's.

The adults turned their attention toward the two. Ishida Miyako gave them a polite nod and said, "We'll be heading out now."

Then she took Shoya's hand and left.

Once they had disappeared down the hall, Miyamura Shizuka's gentle smile faded, replaced by a suspicious glare directed squarely at her son.

Akira could feel the incoming storm and didn't even attempt to explain himself. He immediately dropped Shouko's hand and sprinted toward the stairs.

"Akira, wait up!" Shouko called, laughing as she ran after him.

Meanwhile, Back in Class…

Takeuchi-sensei glanced at the clock. A few minutes still remained before the next class. He looked over at Kawai Miki and said flatly, "Kawai, after class, arrange for someone to clean Ishida's seat."

"Huh?" Miki looked confused. "Arrange someone" might as well have been "do it yourself."

Smack!

Takeuchi suddenly slapped the blackboard with his palm, startling the few students who were chatting absentmindedly.

His frustration from the morning hadn't completely faded, and now, seeing Miki hesitate with visible reluctance, his patience snapped.

"Don't think I haven't noticed what's going on in this class!" he barked. "I'm not blind! If that desk and chair aren't clean after break, all of you can go run laps on the sports field!"

Without waiting for a reply, Takeuchi slammed the textbook onto the podium and stormed out, leaving the classroom in stunned silence.

Students looked at one another, startled. Takeuchi usually had a laid-back approach—this was the first time they'd seen him this worked up.

A few whispered: Did Ishida really go home and tell his mom everything? Because if he hadn't, there was no way Takeuchi-sensei would react like this over a desk.

Miki sighed, then turned to the class and whispered to Yuki, who sat beside her, "Could you help me with this…?"

Yuki didn't even let her finish. "No. I'm not doing it. He nearly hit me with his textbook once and didn't even apologize. Why should I help?"

Miki looked disappointed but moved on.

"Naoka—"

"Nope," Ueno Naoka cut in without hesitation. "Also, Miki, can't you pick someone who doesn't have beef with Ishida?"

Miki groaned. "Ugh. That's like finding a needle in a haystack."

Ding-dong—ding-dong!

The class bell rang. Miki, who had now been rejected by everyone, slumped forward dramatically on her desk.

"This is so dumb," she muttered. "If you're all going to refuse, fine! I won't do it either. Let's all go down together!"

A minute later, Naoka—who had just come back from the hallway—walked past her desk and smirked. "You do realize Takeuchi-sensei is going to flip when he sees that desk still dirty, right?"

Miki replied without lifting her head. "Doesn't matter. I tried. Let him yell at all of us. Honestly? Blame Ishida. If he didn't tell his mom, none of this would've happened."

And with that, the entire class sat in tense silence—waiting to see who'd be the first to snap.

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POWER STONE!!!

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