"Hmm? What is it?"
"I told you about the election before, so I'm trying out different combinations of spices..."
"...Are you sure it's not poisonous?"
"Just eat it..."
"...!"
A hesitant and skeptical voice was heard, followed by a shocked gasp as Tsuna shoved a spoonful of liquid curry-like paste into the mouth of a tall, yellow, octopus-like person, whose expression turned mildly yellow in confusion.
However...
"Mmmm!"
Korosensei suddenly let out a gargled sound as he was about to spit it out.
Yet, a strong hand suddenly gripped his mouth as he turned to see Tsuna's cold eyes.
The guy whispered, "Eat it or I'll ban you..."
"Mmmm!"
Korosensei shook his head furiously, clearly showing his unwillingness.
However, Tsuna was relentless, and Korosensei felt a stronger grip than most people he had ever encountered.
He had no other choice but to gulp it down his throat.
Immediately...
"(!&#(*!&#*(!&#("
His entire body turned purple, his eyes widened, and he rolled on the ground in apparent pain, shouting gibberish loudly.
"..."
Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows at Korosensei's reaction, then used his pinky to taste the concoction himself, frowning deeper.
"...Is it really that bad?"
Karasuma couldn't help but ask, observing Korosensei still writhing on the ground.
He was a bit speechless; this monster was usually too overpowered, but he seemed helpless in front of Tsuna's cooking, which the latter took full advantage of.
"It's quite bad," Tsuna nodded before returning to the kitchen counter, where he seemed busy combining a new set of spices.
"..."
Karasuma couldn't help but scratch his head at this, then turned to look at Korosensei, who had stopped moving. The octopus's color had turned white, and he appeared completely lifeless as he sat up.
"Life..."
The octopus slowly slumped into a chair, looking like a lost soul as he gazed unfocused at the ceiling. "...isn't so beautiful anymore, is it?"
"Your life is hard, my life is hard, Karasuma-san's life is hard..."
Tsuna's response was cold as he walked out from the kitchen counter, carrying another substance that terrified Korosensei.
His white color turned bright purple immediately.
"Everyone's life is hard, stop complaining..."
Tsuna smirked, and Korosensei felt shivers down his spine as Tsuna approached. With his back against the wall, he pleaded, "Please..."
"Sure..."
"R-really?"
"Yeah, but you can't eat my food anymore..."
"Y-you evil demon!"
After the final league for the Interhigh, there was nothing else to do as the Interhigh would be held later in early autumn in Kanagawa.
Tsuna returned to his daily routine of training, working, and sleeping. He also made attempts to perfect his curry dish for the 43rd Annual Totsuki Autumn Election.
After some trial and error with spice combinations, Tsuna felt ready for the election.
As time passed quickly, Tsuna realized tomorrow was the time to return to the academy as he was about to close the restaurant.
"..."
He noticed Korosensei's gaze, which seemed to hold a grudge against him, as he chuckled, "Why? It's been a few days since then, and you still hold a grudge?"
"..."
Korosensei didn't respond; instead, his figure swiftly disappeared like a ghost.
"Well, I guess I'll go home as well. Thank you for the food, Ito-kun."
Karasuma nodded at him before slowly walking away as Tsuna closed the door. However, as he was about to clean up, he blinked when he saw the troublemaker still inside.
"Why is he angry, Tsuna?"
Rindo tilted her head cutely, expecting an answer, but Tsuna just rolled his eyes at her.
Without even being slightly affected by her cute act, Tsuna tossed her out like throwing out a wild cat as she struggled and shouted, "Tsuna-baka! Why are you so mean!!"
BAM!
However, Tsuna's response was to slam the door shut, and Rindo's shout drew annoyed glares from the neighbors, making her feel a bit embarrassed as she apologized and left.
The next day, the main building located at the center of the academy bustled with activity.
Students walked around, their murmurs echoing through the halls, filling the atmosphere with a sense of anticipation.
Today marked the start of the preliminaries for the autumn election.
"Hey, look..."
"There's that guy..."
"Yeah, I know."
Most of the students recognized Tsuna as they unconsciously made way for him.
He walked through the crowd casually, swiftly making his way into the building.
"That should be the door..."
Navigating through the corridor, he found the main door of the building designated for participants.
He opened it, revealing a long room that led to a massive hall filled with numerous students ready to participate.
"Oh! Tsuna!"
Tsuna noticed Soma and Megumi, who waved at him as he nodded before approaching them.
"It's been a while. Are you both doing great, I assume?"
He greeted them as Soma chuckled, "Nothing much. Anyway, Tsuna, what are you going to make this time?"
"Something quite simple..."
"Something simple?"
Megumi tilted her head in response. Tsuna patted her head, which made her blush as he asked, "What about you two?"
"Haha, who's finally arrived here..."
A loud voice was heard as they saw Takumi walking with someone quite skinny beside him. Takumi looked at Tsuna and spoke, "I suppose we can finally compete this time, Tsunayoshi Ito!"
However...
Tsuna ignored the guy as he smiled at Megumi, who was still blushing, and asked, "Megumi, is your father around?"
"Eh? Umm... my father has passed away..."
Megumi blinked her eyes confusedly at the question as she still answered it, albeit hesitantly, as she noticed a strange gleam in Tsuna's eyes at her response.
She thought Tsuna must've felt bad asking it now as she heard Tsuna saying, "Ah, sorry for your loss."
Though, unbeknownst to her, Tsuna wasn't feeling bad for asking such a question...
In fact...
"I hope we can meet, Megumi's mom. I will cure your loneliness..."
Tsuna was determined to help Megumi's mother since he knew being a single parent was not easy.
"...Did he just ignore me, Isami?"
Takumi looked at Tsuna, who kept talking with Megumi about her mother, as he whispered to the skinny guy beside him.
"Eh? Isami!?"
Soma was shocked to hear that as he looked up and down at the skinny guy whom Takumi just called Isami.
He asked, "Are you truly Isami?"
"Ahaha, yes. I lose weight every summer..."
Isami replied with a smile as he scratched his head. He continued, "Though, I will gain weight again after the winter..."
"...Is that even humanly possible?"
Soma was utterly confused right now.
Meanwhile, Takumi looked at them ignoring him, as he felt his mouth twitching. He muttered, trying to console himself, "...They're just a bit busy, chill. I'm sure they'd talk to me once they're done."
However, contrary to Takumi's expectation, more people came over yet nobody talked to him. Hayama joined in as Soma greeted him, Ryo and Alice also joined in as Alice began pestering Tsuna.
"Do you know that we're in the same group, Tsuna?"
Alice asked with a small laugh, looking quite playful.
Tsuna could see her excitement to compete against him once again as he chuckled, "Really, that's cool."
"Fufu... This time..."
Her playful expression slowly faded as she declared, "I will defeat you..."
"Oh?"
Tsuna chuckled as he nodded, "Sure, try your best because I will not be holding back this time..."
The atmosphere turned a bit heavy as everyone looked at both of them before joining in, saying they wouldn't lose either, while ignoring Takumi completely, who looked up at the ceiling depressingly.
---
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