The second period was music class.
The class was preparing for the upcoming choir competition, and the song they were practicing was 'The Monster's Ballad'.
'Seriously, who picked this song? A new transfer student who already struggles to fit in, and you make them sing this?'
'The Monster's Ballad' tells the story of a monster longing for love, proving that even creatures labeled as monsters have hearts.
'Wait wasn't this song was chosen before Nishimiya even arrive here? Oh, well, that's fine then.'
Nishimiya was placed in the front row due to her height, while Hojou Kyousuke stood at the back with the other boys.
Singing was undoubtedly a challenge for Nishimiya.
Even though her grandmother had sung this song to her countless times and even taught her how to sing it, she still struggled...
She glanced around nervously, trying to figure out when to start singing.
Carefully, she observed Kawai Miki, who nodded and opened her mouth.
'Alright, now's the time! You can do this, Shouko!' Encouraging herself, Nishimiya took a deep breath and sang out, just as her grandmother had taught her.
The room fell silent except for the sound of piano playing.
She had started too early.
Miki was merely nodding along to the beat, and her mouth-opening was just a habit.
The music teacher looked flustered, but Kyousuke noticed that Nishimiya's rhythm was correct, it's just that her pronunciation was off.
Oblivious to her mistake, Nishimiya continued to sing earnestly.
"Nishimiya, you started too soon. I'll let you know when to begin."
Miki gently patted Nishimiya's shoulder, guiding her.
Class continued, and everyone resumed practicing.
But the brave girl who had once opened her mouth to sing never dared to raise her voice again.
"If this keeps up, we're doomed for the choir competition. We're definitely losing."
Ueno Naoka, standing beside Hojou Kyousuke, complained.
He wasn't particularly concerned about it.
After all, it was just an elementary school choir contest, probably something only the girls cared about.
Besides, maybe they wouldn't lose.
Kyousuke actually thought Nishimiya's singing wasn't bad.
But he remained silent, continuing to observe and wait.
Next period was Japanese class, and their homeroom teacher, Takeuchi, was leading the lesson.
This time, Kyousuke couldn't take a nap because Takeuchi was calling on students to read aloud.
It was now Ueno's turn.
"I'm not wrong, so I will never apologize..."
"What kind of tone is that, Ueno?" Takeuchi scolded sharply.
But despite it being phrased as a question, he had no intention of hearing her explanation or correcting her reading.
"Forget it. You don't have to read anymore. Next." He waved her off impatiently, eyes fixed on his textbook. Discover more novels at novęlfire.net
"What the hell, four-eyes?" Ueno muttered angrily as she sat down.
Kyousuke found it amusing.
Calling Takeuchi "scum" might be too harsh, but he was undeniably a terrible teacher both in teaching ability and ethics.
Ueno hadn't meant to read in an odd tone; she simply didn't know the correct way to express it.
A good teacher would correct the mistake after pointing it out.
But Takeuchi? He only scolded for the sake of scolding.
"Nishimiya." Takeuchi called the next name.
Still fuming, Ueno quickly patted Nishimiya's shoulder, reminding her it was her turn to read.
'Wasn't she annoyed just now?'
'Her attitude was completely different from before.'
'Maybe she really would become Nishimiya's friend after all.'
Nishimiya stood up and began reading, her pronunciation slightly awkward, but still understandable.
Takeuchi said nothing.
When she finished, he simply nodded and said, "Good."
"Are you kidding me?" Ueno muttered in frustration, clearly unhappy with Takeuchi's double standards.
Kyousuke observed the situation with interest.
He wasn't sure if Ueno and Nishimiya would end up as friends anymore.
In a child's world, even a small act of favoritism could create a rift between them.
Ishida Shouya stood up.
Noticing Ueno's dissatisfaction, he smirked.
"Wah-ree wah-ree wah-ree..."
'That brat, he was mimicking Nishimiya's speech.'
Laughter erupted throughout the classroom.
Nishimiya glanced around, confused, her large eyes filled with innocence.
She had no idea she was the target of a cruel joke.
Kyousuke's face darkened.
This wasn't just childish mischief anymore, mocking someone with a disability was unacceptable.
"Ishida, stop fooling around. Come to my office after class," Takeuchi scolded lightly, barely harsher than he had been with Ueno.
"Okay," Ishida replied carelessly.
In the office, Takeuchi would just say, "That's not nice," and that would be the end of it.
But Kyousuke wasn't going to let it slide.
Just as Takeuchi was about to call the next student, he stood up.
"Sensei, is Ishida mentally challenged? Shouldn't we get him checked at the hospital?"
"Enough, sit down, Hojou. I'll deal with Ishida after class."
Takeuchi's tone was noticeably different when addressing Kyousuke.
It wasn't just because Kyousuke was the top student in the class—he was also the source of several past headaches for the teacher.
"Takeuchi-sensei! This is serious, this is what a lot people called bullying!"
"Hojou, it's not that serious. Sit down."
The moment Kyousuke uttered the word "bullying," Takeuchi's head throbbed.
"No, we need to handle this now. Ishida should apologize to Nishimiya!"
Kyousuke refused to back down.
He knew Takeuchi would try to sweep things under the rug.
If Ishida wasn't punished now, he and his little gang would only get worse.
Takeuchi massaged his temples, clearly frustrated.
"Nishimiya, Ishida, come with me."
"Sensei, I'm coming too!" Kyousuke immediately shouted.
"Why...? Ugh, fine, do whatever you want."
Takeuchi was the kind of teacher everyone envied a lazy salary thief who only cared about coasting through the school day.
Whenever students got bullied, his go-to solution was dragging the culprit to his office for a meaningless lecture.
If the victim's parents complained later, he'd just throw the bully under the bus and pretend he had done his job.
But today, Kyousuke wasn't going to let him take the easy way out.