Before morning class began, the line beneath the blackboard was still there.
Teacher Mizuno had not erased it yesterday, and she did not erase it today either. Morning light slanted in, chalk dust settled in the tray beneath the board, and a trace of old white was pressed between the lines, as if someone had deliberately left a breath there instead of letting it dissipate all at once.
The moment Kiyo entered, he stared at that line so intently that he nearly caught his schoolbag on the corner of a desk.
"What are you looking at?" Che asked.
"Seeing whether it's still here today."
"Did you dream it ran away last night?"
"Something like that." Kiyo hung his schoolbag over the back of his chair. "I was afraid it'd be gone when I woke up. Then yesterday's work would've been for nothing."
Saori sat in her seat with her doll in her arms, its bell wrapped in a thin layer of cloth. She glanced at the blackboard without saying anything, only drawing the doll a little closer. Morita Yu entered with a small folded piece of paper still pinched in his hand, as if afraid it might fly away on its own.
Zhen Shu arrived last, with a touch of impatience on his face. He looked up at the blackboard, and his footsteps slowed for half a beat. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he held it back.
Teacher Mizuno entered carrying a stack of papers and stopped beside the lectern without beginning the lesson. She spread the papers out, pressing them one by one into the blackboard tray. They covered half the line, but did not hide it completely.
"Let's look at this first today," she said.
Kiyo craned his neck. "What's that?"