Che discovered the folded corner on the list the next afternoon.
The booklet still had not been made public. It was kept in Takuya's lectern drawer, wrapped in a dark blue cloth bag. Under normal circumstances, the students could not see it. But the afternoon wind was strong, the classroom door had not been shut properly, Takuya had been called to the office at short notice, and Kiyo had knocked open a crack in the window beside the lectern.
The wind blew in, lifting the edge of the cloth bag.
Half an inch of paper showed.
Che had been helping Kiyo pick up a pen that had fallen to the floor. The pen had rolled beside the lectern, and when he bent down, he happened to see a fresh crease on that exposed half-inch of paper. The crease was fine, as though someone had pressed it with a fingernail. The edge had not curled naturally; someone had deliberately folded it, then hurriedly pressed it back down.
He did not reach for it.
His hand stopped an inch from the pen.
Kiyo called from behind him, "Found it?"
Che picked up the pen and straightened. "Found it. It was trying to defect to the lectern."
"Pens can side with teachers too?"
"Depends on the benefits."
As he spoke, he tossed the pen back, but the corner of his eye remained on the edge of the cloth bag. Who had touched it? The teacher? Someone from the Konoha Police Force? Someone from the clan who had come to submit the list? Or a student? Once the question surfaced, it flowed as smoothly as the urge to complete the second half of a seal. It made him want to keep following the thread.
Don't fill in the rest.
Che returned to his seat,