The courtyard was already filling by the time Roen stepped through the academy gate. Sand shifted under sandals, voices cutting across each other in short bursts as students moved toward the entrance in uneven lines. Someone jumped off the low wall and landed too hard, laughing it off while brushing dust from his sleeve. The door to the main building slid open and shut in quick rhythm as bodies passed through it without waiting. Roen crossed the yard without slowing, adjusted his step once to avoid a boy cutting across his path, and entered the hallway.
Inside, desks scraped as students took their seats, the sound rough against the wood floor. The windows were already open, letting in a strip of morning light that fell across the front row and stopped just short of the instructor's table. Roen reached his seat, set his hand on the edge of the desk, and sat without looking around. Aoi stepped in a moment later and slid into the row ahead, straightening her back before her hands even touched the surface. Daigo dropped into his chair with less care, the leg of it dragging once before settling. Kagehiro took the seat beside him, leaned back slightly, then shifted forward again when the instructor walked in.
The brush tapped once against the board.
"Form first," the instructor said, writing a single character in a slow, deliberate stroke. Ink spread evenly across the surface, the line held steady from start to finish. "You rush the end, it collapses."
Students lifted their brushes almost at once. Inkstones slid across desks, water added in uneven amounts, some too much, some not enough. One girl pressed too hard on the first stroke and split the line before she reached the middle. A boy near the window lifted his brush halfway through and left a gap where there shouldn't have been one.
Roen dipped the brush and set it down. The line came out straight, no drag at the end. He lifted it, turned the page once, didn't wait.
The instructor passed his desk without stopping.
He stopped behind Daigo.
"You're pressing."
Daigo didn't answer. He just looked at the line again, thumb shifting higher on the brush, then tried to pull another stroke through it. The tip caught slightly near the end and bent off.
Aoi leaned over slightly, didn't fully turn.
"Your hand," she said.
Daigo kept the brush moving. The end dragged again.
"It's fine."
"It isn't."
He stopped, looked at it, then went again, slower this time.
Kagehiro glanced once.
"You changed it."
Daigo frowned.
"What?"
Kagehiro tapped near the start of the line, then near the end.
"You didn't keep it the same."
Daigo paused mid-stroke, then finished it anyway. It came out worse.
He stared at it for a second.
"…it's the brush."
No one answered that.
The instructor had already moved on.
Roen turned his page and wrote the next character without waiting for instruction. The stroke came down clean again. He set the brush on the edge of the inkstone.
The instructor wiped the board with the side of his hand, chalk dust smearing before he cleared it properly with a cloth. He didn't explain the shift. He just wrote a short column of numbers, then another beside it, spacing uneven on purpose.
"Add it," he said. "Line by line. Don't skip."
Chalk tapped once against the wood, then he stepped aside.
Students bent over their desks. Some started too fast and wrote the wrong total before reaching the end. One boy counted under his breath and lost track halfway, erasing hard enough to tear the paper slightly. Another tried to line up the columns and ended up misplacing the second row entirely.
Roen looked once, wrote the first answer, then the next, and stopped. His brush rested against the edge of the desk.
Daigo leaned forward, squinting at the board like the numbers might change if he stared long enough. He started counting with his finger just above the page, tapping lightly as he went.
"…five… six… eight"
Aoi didn't turn.
"You skipped one."
"I didn't."
"You did."
Daigo went back to the start, slower this time, finger hovering closer to the paper. The tapping stopped halfway.
"…seven."
Kagehiro glanced over, then reached out and tapped the desk twice near the middle of the row.
"You jumped from here."
Daigo followed the spot with his eyes, frowned, then dragged his finger across each number again, this time not lifting it.
"…eight."
Aoi nodded once.
"That's what I said."
"You said it after I said it."
"You said the wrong one."
Daigo erased the line harder than needed and started again, this time writing each number under the last instead of across. The column tilted slightly anyway.
Kagehiro leaned back.
"You're fixing the wrong thing."
Daigo didn't look up.
"It's still wrong."
The bell cut through the room before anyone finished correcting it. Chairs pushed back at once, the quiet snapping into noise as students stood and moved toward the door without waiting for dismissal. Someone knocked into the edge of a desk and steadied it with one hand, muttering under his breath. The hallway filled quickly, voices overlapping as groups formed without planning.
Roen stepped out with them, turning into the courtyard as the crowd spread across the open space. Aoi moved to his left without saying anything, Daigo a step behind her, Kagehiro drifting into place on the other side. No one marked the formation. It settled on its own.
Daigo stretched his arms over his head as they walked, shoulders rolling once as he exhaled.
"That counting thing was stupid," he said. "They weren't even lined up."
"You just skipped," Aoi replied, stepping around a boy who cut across in front of them. "That's it."
"I didn't skip."
"You did."
Daigo dragged a hand down his face, then held it out in front of him like he could replay it.
"I counted everything."
Kagehiro glanced at his hand for a second.
"You sped up."
"I didn't"
"You did," Aoi cut in. "You rushed the middle."
They passed the well near the center of the courtyard, water spilling over the stone edge where someone had overfilled a cup. A boy stepped into it and slipped, catching himself on the rim with a loud laugh. The group shifted around him without stopping.
Daigo tried again under his breath, finger moving slightly as he counted nothing.
"…one, two, three"
"You're doing it again," Aoi said.
"I'm not even counting anything."
"You are."
Daigo dropped his hand.
Roen didn't look at him. "Don't move your finger."
Daigo turned toward him.
"I need to keep track."
"You lose it when you move."
Daigo held his hand still for a second, then tried counting again without it. His eyes slowed slightly, then he blinked and stopped.
"…eight."
Aoi didn't react.
"You checked twice."
"I didn't check twice."
Kagehiro's voice came from the side.
"You went back."
Daigo exhaled through his nose.
"I fixed it."
"You changed it."
Daigo looked at both of them, then forward again, shaking his head once.
"It still counts."
Kagehiro shrugged.
"Not the first time."
They reached the far side of the courtyard where the path split toward the training field and the next classroom block. Students peeled off in different directions, conversations breaking and reforming mid-sentence.
Aoi slowed slightly and looked toward the left path. "We've got field drills next."
Daigo groaned.
"More stance work."
"You need it."
"I just did it."
"You did it badly."
Daigo pointed at her. "You slipped yesterday."
Aoi didn't react. "And I corrected it."
Kagehiro stepped between them without changing pace. "You both slipped."
Neither of them answered that.
Roen turned toward the training field with them. The ground ahead was already marked with lines from earlier classes, footprints overlapping where students had stepped in and out of position. Daichi stood near the edge, watching the incoming groups without calling out.
They stepped onto the field.
No one said anything else.