After school that day, the sky was still bright, but the wind had grown a little harsher than at noon.
Che had originally been walking out with Kiyo and Morita Yu. Kiyo complained the whole way that his left and right hands were like two neighbors who refused to listen to each other. Morita Yu called him noisy, yet still replied whenever he spoke. When they reached the narrow path beside the Ninja Academy's side wall, Kiyo suddenly remembered the handwriting practice sheet he had left in the classroom at noon. He cried out and turned to run back.
"Wait for me! I wrote 'observation' crooked again. I can't leave it there for the teacher to laugh at."
Morita Yu looked speechless. "Can handwriting papers grow legs and run away?"
"They'll see it!"
He vanished as soon as he said that. Morita Yu could only turn back after him, insisting he was not going along with him, but was afraid Kiyo would get lost. Che stood at the entrance to the narrow path without moving right away, intending to use this brief moment of quiet to go over the sensation in his hands again.
The side wall happened to block the wind from the training field. The air carried a faint smell of sun-warmed lime. Several old training posts were piled at the base of the wall, their surfaces worn pale. Che rested his fingers against his cuff and was about to slowly walk forward when he heard voices from the other side of the wall.
They were not adults' voices, but voices of children his age.
"You got called on again today."
"So what?"
Che recognized the second voice at once. It was Keisuke.
His feet did not move, but his breathing naturally softened. It was not that he