Before the second class of the morning had even ended, notes were already making their way around Class One.
The teacher had not told them to pass them. Naruto had started it himself.
Holding a half-used pencil, he lowered his head and wrote two lines in the corner of a sheet of paper. His mouth did not stay still while he wrote, as though he was afraid his writing could not keep up with his talking. Che, sitting beside him, first saw his shoulder twitch, then saw him quietly slide the paper backward. When it reached Kiyo's desk, Kiyo had been carefully writing the second stroke of "neat" when he suddenly felt extra weight at the edge of his desk and immediately looked up warily.
"What's this?"
Naruto lowered his voice. "Read it first."
"Why do I have to read it first?"
"Because you're closest."
Kiyo frowned, but still picked up the note. The writing was large, every stroke crooked with a little too much force, but the meaning was clear enough.
It said: Are you coming back this afternoon?
Below that was another line: Does the desk get to decide?
After reading it, Kiyo's expression first softened a little, then immediately tightened again. He looked up at Naruto and kept his voice low. "Why did you write this?"
"To ask you."
"Didn't you already ask yesterday?"
"Yesterday was about the desk. Today is about you."
Naruto's words left Kiyo a little dazed. His fingers tightened, creasing the edge of the paper. He had wanted to stuff the note straight back, but Naruto was sitting even straighter than he was, his eyes bright as if he had been waiting specifically for this answer. After watching for a while, Che suddenly felt that notes were different from shouting. Shouting had sound,