Teacher Mizuno drew a new line on the wall of the East Corridor.
It was not the old chalk line beneath the blackboard. That line had long been erased, its traces faded until they were nearly invisible. The new line was drawn between the seating chart and the duty roster. It was short, only a palm's length, like a tiny bridge added between two sheets of paper.
Kiyo saw it the moment he entered.
"Teacher, the line is back."
Teacher Mizuno put the chalk back in its box. "It's not the old one."
"Lines have an old and a new?"
"They do."
Kiyo looked at the short line and asked very seriously, "What is it responsible for?"
"It reminds you that this side is where you sit, and that side is what you do." Teacher Mizuno pointed at the seating chart, then at the duty roster. "The line in the middle is for writing down who connected their place with their task today."
Naruto poked his head in through the doorway. "That sounds troublesome."
"You already wrote your name on the duty roster today," Teacher Mizuno said.
Naruto immediately straightened up a little. "So does that mean I connected them?"
"We'll see this afternoon."
Naruto slumped a little again.
Class One's exercise that morning was not difficult. Teacher Iruka had everyone find their seat on the seating chart, then find their name on the duty roster, and finally say one thing they were supposed to do that day. This process was easy for Morita Yu, difficult for Kiyo, and felt most like an exam for Naruto.
When Naruto stood up, he first found himself on the seating chart. After finding it, he went to look for his name on the duty roster, searching for so long that he nearly looked