When a little circle appeared on the duty roster, the first person to notice was not the teacher, but Kiyo.
He stood beneath the blackboard with his head tipped back, staring at the newly posted sheet as if he had spotted some mechanism that should not have been there.
"This wasn't here yesterday." He pointed at the tiny empty circle beside the name. "What is this for?"
Teacher Mizuno was wiping down the podium. Upon hearing him, she merely replied, "It will be used today."
That answer was more uncomfortable than no answer at all. Kiyo stared at those little circles for a long while before finally concluding, "It looks like it's waiting to hold someone."
Morita Yu said, "It holds tasks."
The East Corridor was a little quieter than usual today, because everyone looked first to see which line their name was on when they came in. Wiping the blackboard, collecting the Shared Box, sorting practice sheets, propping the brooms back against the wall—these small tasks that had once been scattered throughout the day suddenly seemed to take shape once the teacher had listed them one by one.
Naruto's face fell as soon as he saw his name.
"Why am I assigned to collect the box with Sasuke?"
Sasuke paused halfway through sitting down. "I wanted to ask the same thing."
"Then go ask."
"You have a mouth too."
Standing nearby, Kiyo thought that pairing was so wonderfully excessive that he wished he could write it right onto the wall. But Teacher Mizuno acted as though she had heard nothing and merely pushed the Shared Box a little closer to the side of the podium.
"Have it collected before noon and put it back where it belongs. The lid must be straight."
Naruto instinctively glanced at the lid. He