When the ninja academy let out, a sliver of the sun still hung in the sky.
The crowd at the entrance was always the messiest. Some hurried home, while others were still talking about who had been called on in class, whose remarks had been revised properly, and who had almost pulled it off during wooden sword class. The wind by the training ground was calmer than it had been in the afternoon. It could not blow away the heat, but it carried voices farther.
As Che, Kiyo, and Morita Yu walked out together, Che was already keeping an eye out. Not because he had to watch anyone in particular, but because the issue with Zhen Shu had never truly died down these past few days. Being suppressed by one sentence from Yamashiro Takuma beside the training ground did not mean the fire had gone out. After being publicly pushed down like that, what many children most wanted was to find a place without teachers to call a stop and win back what they had lost.
Sure enough, as they reached the stone path outside the academy where the tree shadows stretched longer, Zhen Shu slowed half a step behind the group of Uchiha children beside him, casually blocking Keisuke's path.
He did not completely stop him.
But he stood at just the right angle to make it clear: I'm not just passing by.
Keisuke had been walking shoulder to shoulder with another child, but his steps halted at once. Che was not particularly close, yet he could see clearly enough. His first instinct was not to go over, but to study Zhen Shu's stance.
His left foot was farther forward, one shoulder subtly pressed down. His gaze was not fixed entirely on Keisuke; instead, it occasionally swept over the