Kiyo had figured out for himself that the old ledger recorded those who could stop first.
Because today, Teacher Mizuno had finally placed that ledger directly on the podium.
It was neither an attendance register nor a small stack of practice sheets. It was the old ledger that had been sitting beside the podium these past few days, its cover polished bright from being handled. Once opened, its page edges showed a faint old yellow, as if it had already recorded many things adults did not want children to see.
The moment Kiyo saw it, he straightened his back.
"Who is it recording today?"
"Today's duty assignments and practice acknowledgments," Teacher Mizuno said.
"What's an acknowledgment?"
"The page that remains after you've done it."
That explanation made Kiyo respect the ledger even more. Naruto, however, immediately frowned. "Practice has to be written in there too?"
"Part of it will be."
"Which part?"
Teacher Mizuno did not answer at once. She merely turned the old ledger around so everyone could see the columns already divided inside: name, duty, return, stop, remarks. The last column was narrow, yet it made everyone more uneasy than the others.
Sasuke glanced at it without speaking. Naruto stared at the word "stop" as though it had been written specifically for him.
The morning's practice was quieter than usual because of it. The children took turns going to the podium, placing down their practice sheets, then taking an item from the Shared Box and returning it to its place. Old erasers went back into the corner of the box, short pencils went deepest inside, and paper covers were flattened separately. Once they were done, they had to draw a short mark in the corresponding column of the old ledger themselves, indicating that they had handled that task.