The bell finished ringing, but the classroom did not immediately quiet down.
This was different from the East Corridor. There were few people in East Corridor Group Two; once the bell rang, even the sound of someone shifting a chair could be heard. Class One was like a pot with a loose lid. The bell merely turned down the heat a little, while it still bubbled inside. Some flipped through their notebooks, some quietly finished their homework, and some fished erasers out of their desks only to drop them again.
Naruto's eraser was the one that fell the loudest.
It rolled from the edge of his desk into the aisle, skirted a chair leg, and slowly came to a stop before Kiyo's shoe.
Kiyo lowered his head, as though he had spotted something that had come to seek refuge on its own.
Naruto held out a hand. "Hey, pick that up for me!"
Kiyo bent down and picked it up, but did not hand it over immediately. He first looked at the tooth marks on the eraser, then at Naruto.
"You bit it?"
Naruto's face stiffened. "I didn't bite that!"
Someone nearby laughed. "You totally did!"
"I didn't!"
Iruka set the attendance book on the podium. "Quiet. We'll investigate the eraser issue after class."
Kiyo handed the eraser back. Naruto grabbed it a little too hard and nearly sent it flying again. Che reached out and blocked it midway. The eraser bounced off his knuckles and landed back on Naruto's desk.
Naruto blinked. "Your hands are pretty fast."
Che withdrew his hand. "The eraser was just too mobile."
Naruto seemed not to understand, but he also seemed to find it interesting. He opened his mouth to say more, but Iruka's gaze had already landed on him. He could only pin