The pebble outside the threshold did not roll again, but Che kept remembering that instinctive moment when he stopped.
When he returned to the clan compound in the evening, the sky had not yet fully darkened.
The roads through the Uchiha compound fell quiet earlier than elsewhere in Konoha. It was not that there were no voices, but that they were muffled by courtyard walls, paper windows, and door curtains, as though everyone was used to saving certain words for indoors. The roadside lamps lit up one by one. Wind passed the stone lanterns, carrying the warmth of dinner and the faintly damp scent of wood.
Che went home with Nao today. Sosuke would not be back until later, saying he needed to hand over some matters to another member of the clan. Nao carried a basket of vegetables and did not walk quickly. Whenever she saw standing water by the road, she would casually tug him aside, as though keeping him from dirtying his trouser cuffs was simply one of her habitual ways of caring for him.
"How were classes today?" she asked casually.
"Pebbles can deceive people," Che said.
Nao lowered her head to look at him. She did not laugh right away, only seeming to consider it seriously. "Then did you get deceived by yourself first?"
Che froze for half a beat, then laughed. "A little."
"Then your teacher was probably quite pleased."
In many Konoha households, a conversation like that might have been utterly ordinary. But whenever it happened to Che, a small place inside him always warmed. Having someone at home ask whether he had been deceived by himself first that day was ultimately different from adults only asking, "Did you learn it?" or "Did you embarrass yourself?"
When they reached the middle of the