The next morning.
When someone walked into the classroom, cheers instantly rang throughout the campus.
"Wow! It's Mizuki!"
"Mizuki's back! Our second year is finally whole again!"
Looking at all the beaming faces around him, Mizuki did not feel particularly moved. He merely thought to himself, If I'm too cold, it'll make things difficult for Soseki. But what should I do now? What would Soseki do if he were here?
With that in mind, Mizuki forced out a smile. "Th-thank you, everyone!"
Everyone was astonished by the sight.
"Huh? Mizuki smiled! He can smile?"
"Haha, Mizuki's changed a lot!"
"His smile is kind of ugly, but it's still better than that cold face!"
"Oh, right, Mizuki! Tell us how you got cured!"
Mizuki had already begun to feel irritated, but when he heard that, his spirits abruptly rose. "You might not know this, but Soseki, for my sake..."
"Oh! Wow!"
"Turning into a frog? That sounds so exciting!"
Hearing the waves of astonished cries, Asuma felt a little sour and looked at Soseki resentfully. "That's too much! You actually went without taking me along!"
As venomous as ever, Ibiki said, "What would you go for? So those doctors could practice on you?"
Shizune's eyes sparkled. "Soseki-kun is incredible! He really completed such an extremely difficult surgery!"
Soseki was somewhat helpless. "It was still too dangerous. If Mizuki hadn't insisted, I would have wanted to wait until I was more confident before operating."
Kurenai bit her lower lip and sighed softly. "Mizuki probably didn't want to fall too far behind the rest of us!"
Leaning back in his chair, Soseki stretched lazily in delight. "No matter what, it all worked out in the end!"
But at that moment, Takitani Ryosuke, the class's "walking news network," rushed in. "Big news, big news!