"Notes from the Non-Ninjutsu Response Division," Chapter 13: A bowl of porridge in reply
The phone rang at 2:17 in the morning.
Serina was still awake. She sat beside the window of her apartment block, the closed spiral notebook spread across her knees. The broken watch wasn't on her wrist, but her breathing had found that "ticking" rhythm on its own. Cherry blossom petals carpeted the ground outside. The night breeze drifted in, carrying a hint of damp earth.
She picked up her terminal. The screen lit up, displaying "Konoha Kindergarten duty room."
"Hello?" She didn't turn over, just answered while lying on her side.
The teacher on duty was Misaki, a Chunin who had retired from the medical corps. Her voice trembled, but not with fear. It was the awed trembling of someone who had seen something she shouldn't have, yet couldn't quite be sure of it.
"Serina... come quickly. The children... the children are all saying the same thing. I didn't teach them, and it's not from a broadcast. They're saying it on their own. It started half an hour ago. One after another, they wake up and start saying it."
"Saying what?" Serina's voice stayed level. She made no move to get up.
"Just one sentence-'Lass, come have a bowl of porridge.'"
Through the phone, Serina could hear several soft little voices in the background, drowsy, almost talking in their sleep, yet perfectly clear:
"Lass, come have a bowl of porridge."
"Lass, come have a bowl of porridge."
They weren't crying out or talking in their sleep. It was a matter-of-fact invitation, spoken with the slightly nasal voices of children who had just woken up. Like a child at the next table leaning over at breakfast to ask, "What filling did you bring in your buns today?"