We met up with Amami-san along the way and headed to school with her like usual. At the entrance, there was a large crowd.
The school posted the class list on the glass door of the school building. On the list were student names and the class they were assigned to for the year.
I was waiting for my turn at the very back of the crowd when someone tapped my shoulder from behind.
"Yo, Maki."
"Ah, morning, Nozomu. How did your practice match go?"
"Right, hear me out… I pitched a perfect game! Double digit strikeouts and no walks! All thanks to you, bro!"
"I-Is that so?…"
He seemed disappointed when he couldn't make it to the party at Amami-san's house, but he still managed to get great results at practice. By the way, it wasn't my fault that he couldn't make it to the party, but his coach. He should be venting his frustration at him instead of me.
"B-By the way, which class were you assigned to?"
"Class 4. I took a glance at the name list and there were a lot of sports club members there."
"I see…"
I knew that this would happen. Nozomu and I would never be in the same class from this year onwards. The school assigned the classes based on the students' career choices, so the students who were focusing on their clubs would be lumped together and so would the students who were aiming to go to college.
Nozomu was part of the former group, obviously and he even stated that he would continue playing baseball in college.
"Sigh… I knew that I wouldn't be in the same class as Amami-san ever again… You know, I was so happy when the teacher assigned her seat to be near ours last year…"
"Haha… Well, don't worry, I'll contact you if a good opportunity for you to be together with her comes up."
"Really? Are you sure?? You better keep your word okay? Right, the summer tournament… You'll have to bring her to cheer on me, okay?!"
"Y-Yeah sure, I'll do my best so please, stop gripping my shoulders… It hurts…"
After pacifying Nozomu, I finally got to check on my class.
Our school had a lot of students in each grade and had up to 11 classes in total per grade so it was quite a long list. Nozomu's story pretty much confirmed that class 4 wasn't my class, so I gotta check on the other classes.
"Sigh… I'm so nervous… I hope I'm in the same class as Umi…"
"You know, Yuu… Even if you pray this hard, your wish will never be granted…"
"I know, but, let me dream!!"
In the case of those two, it was pretty much guaranteed that they would be assigned to different classes.
Umi's grades were excellent, so she would most likely be assigned to class 11, the class where they assigned the honor students to. On the contrary, Amami-san's grades were a bit… Well, there was no way that she would be assigned to class 11.
"…Maki…"
"Hm?"
"…I hope that we'll be in the same class…"
"…Me too…"
I looked at Umi, who came to my side and grabbed my hand tightly and nodded at her.
Would I be in the same class as her? We couldn't predict that.
They assigned the students to class 11 based on how well they scored on the last exam and the quota for the class was 30 students.
My rank on the final exam was exactly 30th. This was my highest rank yet since I did my best to study so I could be in the same class as Umi.
I managed to get the bare minimum requirements to get assigned to class 11, all I needed to do now was hope for the best.
And so I checked the name list for class 11.
"There's my name as expected…"
Since the list was sorted alphabetically, we found Umi's name easily since it was located second from the top of the list. We had to look further down the list to find my name.
So we checked from the 5th name, 10th, 15th… Until the end of the list… And my name wasn't there.
"…Ah…"
"…My…"
No matter how many times I re-checked it, there was no 'Maehara Maki' in the list.
…Even though I was so close…
I should be on the list if they assigned it based on ranking, but we didn't know what exactly happened behind the scenes and it wasn't like we could just ask them about it.
"Sigh… Even though you tried so hard, Maki…"
"Well, it's fine. I'll just have to do better next year."
The roster of class 11 would change based on test scores, so I could still try for it again next year. I just needed to study harder. Next time for sure.
Since Umi will always be at the top, I had to do my best to be able to compare to her. My goal would be to graduate in the same class as her.
That aside, what class did I get assigned to?
"Ah, there's your name, Maki-kun!"
"Huh?"
"There, in class 10! Yagisawa-sensei's class!"
Amami-san pointed to a list posted right next to class 11.
There was no guarantee that we would be in the same school building because of how many classes there were in this school, but if I were in class 10, our classes would be next to each other and it would be convenient for us to meet up for lunch or after school.
I quickly scanned the class 10 name list.
Class 2-10 (Homeroom teacher: Yagisawa Miki)
Amami Yuu
.
.
.
Maehara Maki
"Ah…"
There it was, my name alongside Amami-san's.
"I'm glad that you're with me, Maki-kun! Ninacchi and my other friends are in class 7. For a second, I was worried that I'll be on my own… In any case, I'll be looking forward to it, Maki-kun!!"
"Mhm… Likewise."
Our group of friends were almost completely separated save from Amami-san and I.
"I see… So that's how it is…"
"Um… You okay, Umi?"
"Don't mind me~ I'm just thinking on how to bribe Yagisawa-sensei to change my class…"
Umi's smile at that time was a little bit scary.