The words "hands should lag half a beat behind the bell" made Saori cover her own bell first.
"Not that bell." Iruka glanced at her.
Only then did Saori lower her hand, though her ears were still red. Kiyo quietly asked beside her which bell they were supposed to listen to if two rang at once, only for Morita Yu to cut him off with, "Listen to the teacher first."
There were no chalk lines on the podium today, no practice sheets, and no new circles on the duty roster. In their place was an ordinary little bronze bell. Mizuno set it beside the Shared Box and explained the simple rule: after the bell rang, count half a beat before reaching for something. Whoever moved first had to start over.
Naruto frowned as soon as he heard that.
"Why do we have to wait?"
"Because you always rush in first," Iruka said.
The words were so blunt that even Kiyo did not dare respond. Naruto's mouth moved, but in the end, he only turned his gaze away and fixed it on the little bronze bell, as if he wanted to pin it down with his eyes before it could ring.
For the first round, they had to pick up an old eraser. When the bell rang, Rina paused where she stood before reaching out, her movement so steady there was almost no excess to it. Saori was a little late because she instinctively listened first to the faint sound from her sleeve, but she did not panic. Kiyo was the most ridiculous of all. He seriously counted "half a beat" in his head, but counted for so long that by the time he reached out, the teacher nearly thought he had fallen asleep.
"Did you count an entire day?" Morita