The lead boy looked down at his own palm.
He had used Hyuga-style strikes on a first-year little brat.
And he hadn't landed a single hit.
All of a sudden, the boy didn't dare attack anymore. He even felt a chill crawl down his back.
If this brat actually wanted to fight back, he'd probably already be flat on the ground.
"Boss..." one of the boys beside him spoke up, his voice a little cautious. "Let's go."
"Yeah, let's just go."
The boy stood there, staring at Shin-chan, his expression shifting again and again. In the end, he lowered his hand.
"Tch."
Then he turned and left.
After two steps, he looked back once more.
Shin-chan hadn't moved. He was still just standing there, watching him.
When the boy met those eyes, a thought suddenly popped into his head: Who exactly is this kid?
But he didn't dare ask.
He quickened his pace and left.
The others hurried after him too.
"Boss, wait for me."
"That kid's way too creepy..."
"Don't mess with him again."
Their voices gradually faded into the distance.
The hallway fell quiet again.
The sunlight still slanted in the same way, landing on those bright patches across the floor.
Shin-chan scratched his head and said regretfully, "The game's over already? I only just started having fun."
Shota opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. After a long moment, he finally muttered softly,
"Thank you."
Shin-chan waved a hand and turned back toward the classroom. "If they come back to play that game again next time, call me. I still want to play."
Shota stayed where he was, watching his back.
The sunlight hit that red shirt, so bright it was almost dazzling.
Shota raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, then followed after him.
The two of them walked one after the other down the sunlit hallway.
Their footsteps sounded softly, then faded softly away.
When Shin-chan got back to the classroom, he found several girls standing at the door.
They were all bunched together, whispering to each other, their faces a mix of excitement and nerves.
"This is the room, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, first-year Class A is this one."
"I watched the match yesterday. He was so cool."
Shin-chan walked past them, about to head inside, when a hand reached out to stop him.
"Excuse me, can you wait a second?"
Shin-chan looked up and saw a girl with a ponytail looking down at him, her face a little red.
"What is it?"
She bit her lip, then pulled out a pink envelope from behind her back.
"Um... could you please give this to Uchiha Toru for me?"
Shin-chan looked down at the envelope. On it, in cute handwriting, was written: For Uchiha Toru.
"This is..."
"Please." The girl clasped both hands together, her eyes sparkling. "Make sure you hand it to him personally, okay?"
The girls beside her crowded closer too.
"And mine."
"Please take mine too."
Suddenly, Shin-chan found three or four letters piled into his hands. Some even had stickers on them. He looked at the stack of letters, then at the girls' eager faces, and nodded.
"Okay."
He took two steps into the classroom carrying the pile, then stopped and turned back for a glance.
The girls were still standing there, watching him anxiously.
"Any more?"
The girls looked at each other, then two more stepped forward and stuffed envelopes into his hands.
"Thanks."
"Please."
Now Shin-chan had two more pink letters.
As soon as he entered the classroom, it was noisy inside. Some kids were chatting, some were fooling around.
And Uchiha Toru was sitting at his desk, looking a little overwhelmed.
His desk was piled with letters. Pink ones, pale blue ones, some even tied with ribbon.
Shin-chan walked over and added the letters in his hands to the pile.
Uchiha Toru looked up at him. "What's this?"
"There were a few girls at the door who asked me to deliver them." Shin-chan pointed toward the classroom entrance.
Uchiha Toru looked at the even bigger pile of letters and only looked more confused.
After several seconds of silence—
"What even is all this?" he asked.
Shin-chan tilted his head. "Love letters, probably."
"Love letters?"
"Yeah. Letters from girls who like you."
Uchiha Toru's face instantly turned bright red, and he even started stammering. "L-Like... like me?"
"Yep."
Uchiha Toru lowered his head and stared at the pile of envelopes in front of him. His ears were so red they looked ready to drip blood, and his voice got smaller and smaller. "But... I don't even know them."
Shin-chan sat down beside him, looked at the pile of letters, then at Uchiha Toru's expression, and said in a grave tone, "That's how love is. Impossible to predict."
"Then what do I do?" Since it was his first time dealing with something like this, Uchiha Toru asked for help instinctively.
"What do you mean, what do you do?"
"I mean..." Uchiha Toru pointed at the pile of letters. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
Shin-chan rubbed his chin and thought about it. Uncertainly, he said, "Read them?"
"And then what?"
"And then..." Shin-chan scratched his head. "Then I don't know."
Uchiha Toru looked at him.
Shin-chan looked back at him.
The two of them stared at each other.
"You've never gotten one before?"
Shin-chan shook his head. "Nope."
"Really? Not even one?" Uchiha Toru sounded a little surprised.
Shin-chan thought about it, then said very seriously, "Kids are too troublesome. I only like pretty big sisters."
Uchiha Toru opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. After a long while, he finally reminded him softly, "But... we're kids too."
"Exactly." Shin-chan nodded. "That's why I'm not interested in kids."
Looking at his completely serious expression, Uchiha Toru suddenly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Then why did you help them deliver the letters just now?"
"Helping is helping." Shin-chan said, "They asked me to help, so I helped."
Uchiha Toru lowered his head and looked at the pile of letters again, then let out a small sigh. "So what am I supposed to do with all these?"
Even by the time the dismissal bell rang, the two of them still hadn't found an answer.
Shin-chan packed up his schoolbag and walked over to Kakashi's desk.
Kakashi was packing his things too. At his feet sat a cardboard box filled to the brim with letters.
Pink, pale blue, white—some folded into heart shapes, some tied with ribbons, stacked neatly inside until they were practically overflowing.
Shin-chan leaned closer for a look. The envelopes were addressed to Hatake Kakashi, and some even had cute little drawings on them.
"These are all love letters too, right?"
"Yeah."
"That many?"
"Let's go." Kakashi picked up the box, his expression flat.
"Oh." Shin-chan followed him. After walking a couple steps, he couldn't help sneaking another look at the box.
Kakashi didn't say anything.
The two of them walked out of the classroom, down the hallway, and around to the back of the school building.
There were several large garbage bins there.
Kakashi walked over and tipped the whole box into one of them.
The pink, blue, and white envelopes poured out with a rustling cascade. A few came open, revealing neat handwriting inside.
Kakashi didn't even glance at them. He folded up the empty box and set it beside the bin.
Then he turned away.
"You threw them out?" Shin-chan scratched his head. "You're not even going to read them?"
"They're boring."
Kakashi didn't slow down even a little.
The people who wrote those letters had just seen him during the tournament and written those words because of that.
That was all.
~~~
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