The Wind on the Way Back from the Side Courtyard

By the time the familiarization process ended, the wind outside the side courtyard had picked up.

It was not the kind of wind from the northeastern training ground that lashed across their faces, but a breeze blowing down from the direction of Hokage Rock, carrying the smells of food stalls, wood shavings, dust, and the distant river. The children came out through the side gate of the Academy, and the moment their formation loosened, their voices scattered.

Kiyo stretched. "I think I learned a lot of things I'm not allowed to do today."

Che said, "That's an important part of ninja education."

"When do we learn what we are allowed to do?"

"When you stop doing every single thing you're not allowed to do."

Kiyo thought about it seriously. "That might take some time."

Morita Yu was walking beside them and laughed at that. He was no longer as awkward as he had been at first. Though he was still somewhat uncomfortable walking alongside the Uchiha children, at least he was no longer rushing to explain himself like he had beneath Hokage Rock.

Saori walked half a step behind them, her doll pressed to her chest, its bell tinkling softly in the wind. Rina was on the other side, keeping a little distance from her without staying too far away.

Che noticed that every time Rina looked at Saori's bell, she quickly looked away. She wanted to ask, but was afraid it would be inappropriate. Saori had noticed too, but did not bring it up herself.

Not every question had to be answered.

And not every question had to be asked right away.

When the group reached the side courtyard gate, Keisuke suddenly stopped.

He stood beside the gatepost, watching Morita Yu talk with Kiyo, his expression unpleasant. Che had intended to pass by him, but Keisuke spoke first.

"You got close to them pretty fast."

He was speaking to Che.

Kiyo stopped at once, and so did Morita Yu. The wind swept through the gate, stirring a little dust from the ground. Mine and Yamashiro Takuma were talking ahead of them, not far away, but they had not turned around yet.

Che looked at Keisuke.

This was not a joke he could sidestep, like a crack by the sink or a table with uneven legs. Keisuke's dissatisfaction had been building for days, from the roster, to the classroom, to the sink, to the shuriken targets, all the way to the walk back. Now, those feelings had finally landed in front of him.

Che could keep sidestepping.

Or he could turn his words into a blade.

He chose a third option.

"We're not that familiar yet," Che said. "I just know his name. I know he runs fast. I know he doesn't pry about Saori's bell. I know he gets awkward when he apologizes."

Keisuke frowned. "Why do you remember those things?"

"Because only remembering 'them' would be easy," Che said. "Easy isn't necessarily right."

Keisuke sneered. "Do you think they'll remember us that way?"

Morita Yu's expression changed at those words.

Che did not answer for Morita Yu. He knew that if he did, he would be repeating the mistake of deciding for someone else whether they had been hurt.

Morita Yu spoke for himself. "I used to only hear my dad say that the Uchiha were very strong, and very hard to get along with."

Kiyo immediately said, "Who said the second part?"

Morita Yu looked at him. "You interrupted people just now. That's a little of it."

Kiyo choked on his reply.

Saori lowered her head, as if holding back a laugh.

Keisuke looked at Morita Yu. "What about now?"

Morita Yu pressed his lips together. "Now I know Kiyo's handwriting is bad, Che talks in circles, and Saori doesn't like people asking randomly about her bell. You..."

He looked at Keisuke and got stuck.

Keisuke's gaze turned colder. "What about me?"

Morita Yu forced himself to continue. "You really want to prove the Uchiha."

The sound of the wind suddenly became much louder.

It was not an insult, but it hit more accurately than one. Keisuke's face went red, then pale, and his fingers clenched. Che moved half a step forward—not to stand in front of Morita Yu, but to take up a position slightly between them, leaving both sides room to back away.

"He's not entirely right," Che said.

Keisuke looked at him.

"You're also afraid people will look down on the Uchiha," Che said. "There's nothing shameful about that. But if you have to win every word back for your clan, you'll end up exhausted, and you'll push away the people beside you."

After saying that, Che felt tense inside as well.

Because he was not only talking about Keisuke.

He was afraid too. He feared the night the Uchiha clan was wiped out, feared Konoha's records, feared being seen, feared being overlooked, feared that one tiny change he made would push the timeline in his memories toward something even more dangerous. He merely hid his fear in jokes and notes, while Keisuke hid his in pride.

Kiyo said nothing.

Saori's bell gave a soft chime, then fell still.

Keisuke looked at Che. After a long while, he said, "You talk like you're not afraid."

Che smiled faintly. "I'm scared to death."

That was so direct that even Kiyo was stunned.

Che continued, "That's why I don't want to turn everyone into enemies. There are enough enemies already. Don't start wholesaling them yourself."

Morita Yu could not hold it in; the corner of his mouth twitched before he hurriedly suppressed it.

Keisuke glared at him, but did not lash out again. Mine finally walked over, her voice low. "Are you done?"

Che raised a hand. "More or less."

"No fighting?"

"Not so far."

"Good." Mine looked at Keisuke, then at Morita Yu. "Finishing what you have to say is a little harder than throwing a punch. That's enough for today."

Yamashiro Takuma stood not far away and lowered his head to make a note in his booklet.

Che saw it, but he did not tense up immediately like he would have before. He knew it would be recorded. Keisuke's dissatisfaction, Morita Yu's answer, even his own words—"I'm scared to death"—might all become some kind of written record.

But this time, he did not regret it.

Not every moment that was recorded had to be hidden away.

On the way back, Kiyo walked beside Che and stayed quiet for a long time. At last, he blurted out, "When you said you were scared to death, was that true?"

Che looked at the road ahead. "That was a little exaggerated."

Kiyo let out a breath.

Che added, "But not entirely."

Kiyo no longer knew whether he should feel relieved.

Saori came up beside them and said softly, "Your eyes and mouth were in the same meeting just now."

Che froze for a moment, then laughed.

"So did the meeting pass?"

Saori thought about it seriously. "Temporarily."

The wind caught up with them from behind the side courtyard, fluttering the hem of his clothes. Hokage Rock stood in the distance, while the Academy's side gate slowly fell behind them. Che knew that today had not solved the problem between the Uchiha and Konoha, nor had it put out the fire in Keisuke's heart, much less changed the terrifying path beneath the future.

But for one short stretch of road, the group had not scattered.

And a few words had not turned into blades.

That was enough for him to write in his notes tonight.

When they returned to East Row 2, No. 7, Nao was already waiting at the door.

She did not immediately ask whether the familiarization process had gone smoothly. First, she checked whether anyone had scrapes, whether any clothes had been torn, and whether Kiyo wore the guilty look he got after causing trouble. Only after confirming there were no obvious problems did she ask, "How was today?"

Kiyo immediately said, "I learned not to rush through doors, not to grab water, not to snatch lines, not to turn words into blades, and not to let tables have too much backstory."

Nao paused at the last part. "What happened to the table?"

Che said, "Its legs were short. It was having a hard time standing."

Nao looked at him. "Did you really go to the Academy today?"

Saori gave a quiet laugh.

At dinner, Kiyo recounted the exchange between Keisuke and Morita Yu in a halting, disjointed way. When he got to Che saying, "I'm scared to death," he deliberately lowered his voice as though revealing a great secret.

Nao looked at Che.

Che lowered his head and drank his soup. "That was a little exaggerated."

Kiyo immediately said, "He said it wasn't entirely exaggerated."

Nao neither laughed nor pressed him for more. She merely pushed a small dish of vegetables toward Che. "You can say you're afraid. Don't wait until it wakes you up in the middle of the night."

Her words were gentle, but Che's hand froze around his chopsticks.

That night, he spread out his notes from the day. Half a step at the side courtyard gate, the smell of white cloth in the infirmary, the formation of three at the sink, the side of the shuriken target, the conversation in the wind on the walk back—none of it resembled a breakthrough in ninjutsu, yet all of it felt like some kind of earlier training.

He wrote:

"Today, I did not solve Keisuke, nor did I solve Konoha and the Uchiha. We simply did not fight, and we did not turn words into blades."

Then he wrote:

"After admitting fear, the group did not scatter."

He paused there.

This mattered more than he had expected. He had always believed that he had to appear fearless, or fate would see through his weakness. But today, he had said he was afraid, and Kiyo had not stepped away. Saori had even said that his mouth and eyes were in the same meeting.

Maybe fear was not a weakness.

Fear hidden where no one could touch it was what became a deeper crack.

The wind still howled outside the window, carrying a faint scent of dust from the walk back from the side courtyard. Che closed his wooden notebook, finally feeling that he could sleep a little earlier tonight.