The next day, an ear appeared beside the seating chart.
It was not a human ear. It was a cloth doll ear sticking out of Saori's schoolbag, grayish blue and soft, squeezed out through the opening just enough to press against the edge of the seating chart. When Teacher Mizuno entered and saw it, she paused.
Saori immediately shoved her schoolbag farther in.
The ear did not go back inside. Instead, it got squeezed even more crookedly.
Kiyo whispered from the back, "It wants to look at the seats too."
Morita Yu said, "Don't speak for a doll."
Teacher Mizuno placed the roll book on the teacher's desk. She did not scold anyone, only said, "Don't let it take up desk space."
Saori nodded and set her schoolbag by her feet. This time, the ear finally went down. Kiyo looked a little disappointed, as though he had missed out on an auditor.
Che sat by the window in the second row, with Aoki Haruka still on his left. Aoki Haruka had arrived early today. Two pencils lay on his desk: one had been sharpened too sharply at the end, while the other was so short it was nearly impossible to hold. When he saw Che sit down, he pulled the short pencil closer to himself.
"That character from yesterday," Aoki Haruka said quietly. "I wrote it wrong again when I got home."
"'Avoid'?"
"Yeah. I left out a stroke."
Che set down his schoolbag. "It really likes losing things."
Aoki Haruka smiled, a little more naturally than yesterday. Che noticed a faint old scar in the web between his right thumb and forefinger. It did not look like it had been made by a ninja tool, more like a wood splinter. Aoki Haruka noticed his gaze and drew his hand