43. Baby Tooth Second Year
**To honor all the caffeine gum I've chewed recently, I present:**
**"DUDE, CHIYO LOST HER TOOTH."**
**I don't own anything.**
Little Chiyo repressed a yawn and tried to shake off how sleepy she felt. She glanced at the clock, internally cheering as the minute hand landed on the twelve. In the front of the classroom Yukari slammed her book shut, mid-sentence.
"Well that's it for today brats! I'll be seeing ya!" As she packed up her supplies, Yukari continued, "Oh and Chiyo..."The youngest student perked up. Her sensei snickered, "You need to get more sleep kid, you were dozing off there."
Half the class went up in a roar of laughter, while the other half let out cries of "Hang in there Chiyo!"
"Y-Yes ma'am." The prodigy sank down in her seat. Wrong move, now she was sort of comfortable.
"Peace!" With that, class was officially dismissed to begin getting ready for PE.
"Yo, Chiyo!" Tomo's chair flew back with enough force to knock the kid behind her onto the floor. In a second, she stood beside her friend's desk with her hand outstretched to offer a piece of gum. "You gotta try this! It'll totally keep you awake!"
Yomi and Kagura wandered over to see what their friend was yelling about. Chiyo blinked her sleep deprived eyes at the hyper teen, "Huh?"
"Caffeine gum! Here! It's like drinking a cup of coffee!"
Kagura grinned and nudged Yomi. "Guess that's why she's got so much energy."
Before the tall teen could remark how Tomo had _always _been like that, the hyperactive teen gave them a look. "I found this, like, yesterday. What are you talking about?"
"I wanna try!" Kagura snatched the gum from Tomo's hand and popped it into her mouth. Chiyo and Yomi watched expectantly. Their friend did not disappoint. Not a second later, the sporty teen's face scrunched up. "Oh gross!"
"Yeah, I know right? Keep chewing!" Tomo urged.
Kagura continued to make a face, but she chewed with enthusiasm. Chiyo propped her head in her hands, feeling a new wave of tiredness hit her. Yomi, somewhat amused by the idea of caffeine gum, nodded her head towards the back of the room. "Maybe you ought to give Osaka a piece."
Their spacey peer was out cold with her forehead flat against the school desk.
"How weird would it be to see Osaka hyper?"
Everyone shared a look of horror.
"I've kinda gotten used to the taste now." Kagura muttered, still looking on the verge of spitting the offending gum out.
"Don't lie." Yomi laughed.
"I don't think it's gonna work anyway! You're always hyper so how do you know that it-"Then Kagura's eyes dilated severely. She was still, frozen as something awoke inside her. Finally, she was frantically bouncing around the room. Her words were strung together, woven quickly and unintelligibly like another language.
Chiyo looked at Tomo, "May I have a piece?"
"Here champ." There was something distinctly evil about Tomo's grin, but that didn't stop the younger girl.
Outside in the perfect weather, Chiyo listened to Minamo refresh the class to the rules of softball. The gum's horribly bitter flavor had dulled and was now tolerable. This might've been the best idea Tomo had ever had.
Chew. Chew. The distinct feeling of a tooth being removed. Her heart stopped and her eyes widened. She didn't notice her peers dispersing into their designated position; she was a little busy spitting her gum into her hand.
"Chiyo-chan?" Minamo asked, noting how her best student hadn't moved.
"Uh..." Her voice wavered like she was on the verge of tears. She sniffed once before thrusting her open palm out for her sensei to look. "I-I lost a tooth ma'am."
A wad of gum, one molar sitting in a mix of spit and blood. Minamo flinched back, next she noticed how faint Chiyo looked.
"L-Let's get you to the nurse, alright?" Minamo pointed to her second favorite student (Kagura), changed her mind, then pointed to Sakaki. "You're in charge, I'll be right back!"
Chiyo cradled her tooth gum wad as Minamo put a comforting hand on her shoulder to lead her towards the school building.
Behind them, cheers of "Hang in there Chiyo!" rang out.