Before dawn had fully broken, people were already lining up outside the arena.
The line stretched from the main gate to the street corner, footsteps stamping amid coughs.
The gates opened, and the crowd filed inside in batches.
Kiyoshi went in with the crowd and took a seat in the fourth row on the east side.
His seat was a level above the stage, a little over three paces away.
With his forearm resting on the railing, he could see the entire front of the stage.
The lights at the front came on first.
The voices swelled, then subsided as the announcer began to speak.
The announcer's tone was flat, his opening remarks falling into the crowd one sentence at a time.
When he finished, he read out the matchups, line by line, without hurry.
The first line: Naruto against Neji.
The second: Hinata against Choji. The third: Shikamaru against Temari.
When he reached the fourth line, his tone neither rose nor fell.
"Fourth match, Uchiha Kiyoshi."
Kiyoshi stayed seated. He drew the forearm resting on the railing inward a little.
Some people in the stands turned to look at him, glanced twice, then turned away.
The person beside him turned sideways.
"Excuse me, pull your arm in. You're blocking the people behind you."
"Mm."
He pulled his forearm back and shifted one seat inward.
His neighbor moved inward too, then glanced at him again.
"You're not fighting today? What are you sitting here for if you're not fighting?"
"Mm."
His neighbor choked on his words, turned toward the stage, and muttered half a sound that never became a word.
His name had been read out in public, placed among those whose turn had yet to come. None of the explanations he usually found for that position fit today.
His