On the morning of the third day, someone outside the East Corridor mentioned Uchiha.
The voice was not loud, nor was it directed at Group Two. Two older students passed beneath the corridor, one carrying a scroll and the other holding a practice wooden sword. The one with the wooden sword said, "There are a lot of Uchiha in Group Two."
The other said, "Post-disaster placement, I guess."
It was a short remark. So short that if Kiyo had not dropped his pen at that moment, no one in the classroom might have noticed.
But the pen fell.
With a thud, it rolled to the door. Kiyo bent down to pick it up and happened to hear the whole sentence. His movement froze, his backside still sticking up in the air. Morita Yu grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back into his seat.
Teacher Mizuno heard it too.
She did not go out to scold anyone. She merely finished writing on the blackboard: Direction.
"Continue," she said.
But the atmosphere in the classroom had shifted slightly. Zhen Shu tightened his grip on his pen, drawing an extra horizontal stroke across the paper. Keisuke looked toward the door, then withdrew his gaze. Saori lowered her head and touched her backpack strap; the doll ears remained hidden. Aoki Haruka, seated to Che's left, stiffened too, as if he did not know whether he was supposed to have heard it.
Kiyo put his pen back on the desk and spoke quietly. "They said there were a lot."
Morita Yu said, "You heard them."
"Yeah."
"Then write direction."
Kiyo lowered his head to write. After writing two characters, he stopped again. "Are there lots of directions too?"
Morita Yu did not scold him this time. He only said, "East, west, south,