The empty paper clips by the academy window still seemed to hang beside Che's ears at night.
After school, he brought his workbook back to East Row Two. The sight of the corner of Kiyo's paper peeking out before being pressed back down, and Zhen Shu standing by the window watching the thin threads, did not vanish when the classroom door closed. After the paper was taken away, what remained by the window was not emptiness, but the trace of where paper had hung. Che carried that thought with him all the way home.
The night paths through the clan compound were narrower than the academy corridors.
Che came out of Nao's house to fetch water. He had just lifted the bucket to the well when he saw two figures stop at the mouth of the alley beyond the wall. The lantern hung low, its flame swaying crookedly in the wind. Their shadows clung to the ground, while the outlines of the clan crests on their backs stretched long behind them like overturned fans.
He had not wanted to listen.
But one of them mentioned "academy registration," and the other said, "Fire Release instruction can't stay this lax." The bucket lightly struck the edge of the well.
The well rope creaked.
The two people at the alley entrance both fell silent.
Che looked down at the bucket and cursed in a very modern way, but he lifted his face with an obedient expression. "Good evening. I just came out to prove that I know how to draw water."
The two clansmen looked at him. Che recognized the older one. He held a minor post in the Konoha Police Force, always wore dark clothes, and kept his cuffs neat even while walking. The other was younger, with a more direct gaze,