The new days did not begin on a morning that felt especially new.
Kiyo's shoelaces came undone again.
He sat on the threshold, staring down at the two dangling laces with an expression even more solemn than yesterday's. Yesterday had been his first day in Class One, and keeping his shoelaces tied had already counted as a great achievement. Today, as Teacher Iruka had said, they would go to Class One again in the morning and return to the East Corridor for supplementary lessons in the afternoon. Kiyo felt this was no longer a temporary borrowed door, but a long-term campaign for his shoelaces.
"Do you think it isn't suited for consecutive missions?" he asked.
Che slung on his backpack. "Or maybe you aren't suited for tying consecutive knots."
"That's disrespectful to both me and it."
Nao handed him a short strip of old cloth from the outer room. "Tie it around the outside. Not too tight."
Kiyo accepted the cloth strip as if he had been handed some kind of ninja tool. Saori watched for a while, then softly asked, "Will it think it's injured?"
Kiyo's hand paused. "Then what should I do?"
Che said, "You can tell it this is a forehead protector."
Kiyo's eyes lit up. He immediately lowered his head and told his shoelaces, "You have a forehead protector now."
Nao watched the scene in silence for a moment before finally saying, "Hurry up."
Thus, the first day of the new days began with a forehead protector for shoelaces.
The road to the Ninja Academy was the same as yesterday. The stalls steamed as before, and there was still unswept mud in the corners of the walls. The difference was that Kiyo did not check his shoelaces every three steps this time. He checked them every