The wind that afternoon was strange.
It was not strong, but it was not exactly light either. Whenever you thought it had stopped, it would slant out from behind the row of short trees by the field, lifting a thin layer of dust from the ground before quickly scattering it again. Most of the children did not want to return to the classroom during the noon break. They gathered by the field, outside the target range, or beneath the shade of trees to talk. A wind like this made even voices that were not particularly loud sound sharper.
Che had been standing by the wooden posts with Kiyo and Morita Yu. Kiyo was still turning Takuya's words—"Being able to do it doesn't mean you should"—over and over, even seriously considering, "Then just because I can eat three rice balls doesn't mean I should." Morita Yu had already grown too tired to correct him on whether he could actually eat a third rice ball.
Rina and Saori stood a little farther away, as though watching to see whether the wind would blow away the scraps of paper. Keisuke, meanwhile, stood farther out than usual, talking to two Uchiha children. Che recognized one of them. He was the boy who had used "the clan's honor" to pressure someone by the wall a few days ago—Uchiha Zhen Shu.
At first, the voices were not loud.
But when the wind carried a few of their words over, Che's heart still sank first.
"Why didn't you ask the teacher today whether that note on your evaluation was written too lightly?"
It was Uchiha Zhen Shu's voice, neither loud nor soft, yet deliberately sharp enough for everyone nearby to hear.
Keisuke answered stiffly. "What's it to you?"
"Of course it concerns me. Everything you do at