The next day, that list did not appear on the Ninja Academy's wall.
That only made the classroom more uneasy. If something was actually posted, everyone could at least crowd around to take a look, complain that the print was too small, or pretend not to care. But an unposted list was like a sheet of wet paper tucked inside a booklet—clean on one side, while no one knew whether heat had left marks on the other.
The moment Kiyo entered, he circled the notice board twice.
Morita Yu grew tired of watching him. "Keep circling, and the board will think it's being interrogated."
Kiyo lowered his voice. "What happened to yesterday's supplementary list?"
"You're asking the board?"
"It's close to the teachers' office. It might know something."
Che set down his bag without going over to crowd around the board. He had thought about that list last night too. Keisuke, Zhen Shu, Hayama, and himself. Konoha Police Force assisting with registration. The few words he had caught at the edge of the page had been enough to keep his mind churning all night, but he had not written them in his workbook. It was not that he did not want to. He was afraid that once he wrote them down, he would fill in everything unconfirmed and turn it into a complete old map.
Keisuke had arrived early. After sitting down, he only wiped his wooden sword. The old crack in its handle had been wrapped more neatly, the end of the cloth pressed beneath his palm, layer after layer, without his usual haste. Che glanced at him. "You look like you're attending a wooden sword wedding today."
Keisuke did not stop moving his hands. "Shut up."
"You're not allowed to give a toast at a wedding?"
Kiyo immediately