After the midterm exams concluded, classes reverted to the usual routine – attending lectures, taking notes, and engaging in sparring sessions, with no major changes in direction. Except for one. However, that single subject was more than enough to stir up the entire first-year class.
“Alright, for the latter half of the first semester, there will be a group assignment. Since there are 30 students in Class 1, I will divide the class into six groups, each consisting of five students. You already know each other well, so please form your own groups and submit the group lists to me at the end of the class. If anyone is unable to form a group, I will assign you arbitrarily, so there is no need to worry.”
Group assignments.
Honestly, hearing about a group assignment doesn’t evoke much of a reaction. Those who are acquainted with the seniors have heard various stories, and they are reacting as if the inevitable has finally arrived. However, I don’t have a senior to fill me in on such tales, so I don’t understand why the others are already so troubled.
Nevertheless, when I hear the term “group assignment,” I assume it must be easier than it sounds.
The assignment, no matter how difficult, would probably still be at a first-year level. With five people together, solutions that one might not think of can be covered by the other four members. Even just by simple arithmetic, five people mean that problem-solving speed increases fivefold, right? Surely, the amount of work for a group assignment would never reach five times the usual workload, so it should be faster than individual assignments.
Besides, our group of five is already mostly set: me, Selian, Anne, and Yuli. We’ve been studying together throughout the semester and even prepared for the midterms as a team. There’s no reason to re-form our group with different students now. The only problem is where to find that one additional member…
“Ian! We’re just one member short for our group – how about joining us? Just by your notes, it’s already a group with three of the top students!”
The three top students Anne refers to are Selian, Yuli, and me, but why is she boasting on our behalf? Still, I guess she deserves credit for not including herself in the list.
“Huh? If I join, it’d be 100% because of you that our grade would get dragged down, I know that. And besides, I’ve already formed my group~”
Ian rejected Anne’s invitation and headed toward the boys he hangs out with. As we stopped her from lunging at Ian for teasing her, we began to think about who to recruit as our final member. Glancing around, we saw that most students had already formed their groups of five. However, a few stragglers were still floating around. We need to bring one of them into our group of five.
“Excuse me, do you happen to have an opening left in your group?”
The first thing I notice is the black horn-rimmed glasses, followed by her purple hair tied to one side and brought forward over her shoulder. There aren’t many students in our class who wear glasses, and the one standing before us happens to be our class president, someone with whom I’ve had at least some interaction over time.
Her name…
“Hmm? The class president joining our group? No problem, right?”
Her name…
“The class president? Of course, we welcome you! Right, Selian?”
“Of course.”
Her name…
“Then with Selian, El, Yuli, and the president, we’re unstoppable!”
What was it again? I’ve only ever called her “president,” so I’ve forgotten her name.
“Alright, then let’s finalize the list and submit it! The list… Ah! El is holding it, right? So just write down the president’s name! I’ll handle the submission!”
Looking down at the desk, there’s a piece of paper with the names of me, Selian, Yuli, and Anne written on it. All that’s left is to add the president’s name. Add it… but…
“…”
This is bad! What’s the president’s name again!? In a desperate attempt to buy time, I gave her a friendly smile and slowly reached for the pen.
Brain, work! Recall the president’s name!
The pen in my hand. Slowly, I move its tip toward the empty space on the list. Meanwhile, my brain is frantically digging through memories to find her name.
The pen finally touches the paper, making a dot.
But I still can’t remember her name.
My wild, darting eyes. And then, after their frantic search, they finally hit the jackpot.
Lena.
Her name tag, displaying her name, was pinned to her chest. While name tags are mostly disregarded and untouched even by professors, our president wore hers as a role model to the students. Despite occasionally showing a rigid side to her diligent nature, I now celebrate it. Hooray!
With Lena’s name neatly written on the list, Anne took care of submitting it to the professor.
Though there was a small hiccup, we successfully formed our group. Selian, Anne, Yuli, Lena, and me – with these five, our group is undoubtedly unbeatable.
There was a time when I truly believed that.
“Uh, El?”
“Hmm? What’s up, Selian?”
“Isn’t there too much text on the screen? Maybe we should reduce the amount…?”
“But wouldn’t it be better to show all the information we’ve gathered to the kids we’re presenting to?”
“It’s not better. I’ll take care of the editing.”
With that, Selian erased most of what I had written out, leaving behind a mere few lines.
“What are you doing, El? Why put a puppy in here?”
“Well, isn’t it cute? I thought it’d help focus the group’s attention.”
“Wow, you really know how to do that! Still, you’re El, after all!”
Anne clapped while praising me. I truly believe adding a picture of a tongue-lolling puppy was a stroke of genius.
“Take it out immediately!”
For some reason, whenever I touch something, without fail, someone calls out my name. Every time I touch something, it vanishes. Eventually, they stopped calling my name altogether, sighing deeply and simply reverting everything back to what it was before I touched it.
Why!?
“Hey… El, wouldn’t you mind doing a bit of data research instead? I’ll create the video material.”
Even my original role has been stripped away. At this point, even the least perceptive person could tell something was wrong.
Me… am I useless…?
In the end, I was ousted from my original role of creating the video material and ended up visiting the library to find reference literature for the research part. While searching for the books about the labyrinth in the relevant section, someone approached closely and pulled a book I was about to take off the shelf. Whoops, that was the one I was looking for…
“Here, this is the one you were looking for, right?”
The person who handed the book to me was Lena.
“Wait, wasn’t the video material supposed to be handled by you, President? Why are you here…?”
“It was originally my role to gather the research data. I came along in case you got lost to show you where to find the most useful resources.”
Lena said that and began guiding me around the library, showing me where the necessary materials were located.
“This book, despite its title, contains a lot of useful information about the labyrinth. It might be helpful to keep in mind.”
“Wow, I would’ve never touched this book. How did you even know about this? How does the president know about stuff like this?”
Lena remained close by my side, opening and explaining the contents of the book. Sure enough, the book contained much more information about the labyrinth than its title suggested.
As we went through the handover of the research duties, I couldn’t help but ask a question that had been on my mind.
“Hey, Lena, why did you decide to join our group? Wouldn’t the others in other groups have stopped you?”
“Well, yeah, they did try. But your group seemed advantageous for achieving good results. Besides-“
Lena, who was standing closely to me, suddenly hugged me tightly.
“Thanks to you, I’ve also become friends with Alicia. Though, I had no idea Alicia was this clumsy.”
As it turned out, Lena had a more friendly nature than expected, even though I didn’t know that before we became close friends. We had worried she might feel out of place joining our tight-knit group of four, but Lena blended in smoothly, contrary to our concerns.
“Oh, El! There you are! And… Lena?”
We were discovered by Selian in the bookshelf aisle. What brings Selian here?
“Since you two were taking so long, I came to look for you… What were you doing?”
Selian’s voice is colder than usual. Of course, she has every right to be upset; while they were working hard on the group assignment, I had left my post to hang out with Lena.
Unlike me, who is an expert in reading the mood (Selian-only), Lena seemed completely oblivious.
“Oh, hi, Selian. We were just finishing up the necessary data, so I was about to head back upstairs… Hmm?”
Lena released her arms, which had been hugging me, and started speaking to Selian, but then suddenly paused as if noticing something. She tilted her head for a moment,
and then,
“Wahk!”
She hugged me again tightly.
“?”
Then, just as quickly, Lena released her arms from around me.
“President?”
But Lena ignored me, silently repeating the sudden hug and release a few times.
“Hmm~ So, this was going on between the two of you?”
Lena made a mysterious sound and gave a sly grin.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“H-How dare you say that!”
Unlike me, who didn’t understand what she meant, Selian shouted with her head bowed deeply. Did Selian understand what Lena was implying?
“Hmm~? So, was it one-sided then?”
Lena, continuing to make cryptic comments, approached Selian and, instead of me, enveloped Selian in a tight embrace.
“Me? I have no particular prejudice about such things, you know? How about it? How about it? I think I can help you with it too?”
Although I don’t understand exactly what she’s talking about, Lena seems to be offering help to Selian.
Selian accepted Lena’s offer, and the two soon drew close, their faces almost touching, whispering something that only they could hear.
Even though I feel a bit left out… perhaps it’s good that the two are getting closer?
