After midterms ended, classes continued much like before—lectures, note-taking, and combat training, with little change in the overall flow. Except for one thing. And that one thing had the entire first-year class buzzing.
"Alright. For the second half of the semester, you'll be working on group projects. There are 30 students in this class, so we'll form six groups of five. By now, you should all know each other well enough, so form your groups and submit the list to me after class. If you can't form a group, don't worry, I'll assign you to one."
Group projects.
Honestly, the idea of group projects didn't bother me much. Some students, especially those who had connections with upperclassmen, reacted as though something dreadful was coming, but I had no such experience. I didn't have any seniors to share stories about these group projects, so I couldn't understand why some of my classmates were already groaning in distress.
But judging by the name alone, it didn't sound too difficult.
Even if the assignment was challenging, it couldn't be that bad—it was a first-year project, after all. With five people, one person's gaps in knowledge could easily be covered by the others. Plus, with five people working together, wouldn't we finish the task five times faster? The workload couldn't possibly be five times the usual amount of homework, so this should be a lot quicker than individual assignments.
Five-person groups, huh? Our members were already more or less decided. Cilly, Annie, Yuri, and I had been sticking together all semester, studying for midterms as a team. There was no reason to suddenly break up and join other groups now. The only issue was finding one more person to round out our group...
"Ian! We're one person short. Wanna join us? I mean, we've got three top-tier students based on the written exam, so it's a guaranteed win, right?" Annie called out to her twin.
The "top-tier" students Annie was referring to were Cilly, Yuri, and me. She seemed proud, but I wasn't sure why Annie was bragging about it. Maybe I should commend her for not including herself in that boast.
"What? If I join your group, I know you'll drag us down! Besides, I've already made my group," Ian replied, rejecting Annie's offer as he walked over to join the boys' group.
With Ian declining, we held back Annie, who looked ready to chase after him, and began considering who to invite as our fifth member. Most of the students had already grouped up. A few stragglers were still wandering around, so we needed to act fast to secure a full group. While we were scanning the room, someone approached us.
"Hey, if you still have space in your group, could I join?"
The first thing I noticed was her black-rimmed glasses, followed by the way her violet hair was tied over her shoulder. There weren't many students in our class who wore glasses, and the one standing in front of me was none other than the class president.
Her name was...
"Wait, the class president wants to join us? I don't see why not," I said, thinking hard.
Her name...?
"A class president would be a great addition! Right, Cilly?" Annie chimed in.
"Yes, of course," Cilly agreed.
Her name was...
"Alright, with Cilly, Elys, Yuri, and now the class president, we've got an unbeatable team!"
What was her name again? Since I'd always called her "class president," I had completely forgotten her actual name.
"Okay, let's write up the list and hand it in! The list... Oh, Elys, you have it, right? Just add the president's name, and I'll submit it," Annie said.
I looked down at the paper on the desk, which already had the names of me, Cilly, Yuri, and Annie written on it. All I had to do was add the class president's name.
Just... add it...
"..."
Oh no! What was her name again!? To buy some time, I smiled at the president and slowly reached for the pen.
Come on, brain. Think. What's the president's name?
I picked up the pen and carefully moved it toward the blank space on the list. My mind raced as I sifted through my memories, trying to recall her name.
The pen touched the paper. I made a small dot.
But I couldn't move the pen any further. I still hadn't remembered her name.
My eyes darted around in panic. Then, just as I thought I'd made a mistake...
Luna.
There it was, right on her chest—a nametag with "Luna" written on it. The nametags were practically useless, and none of the professors ever cared if we wore them, but Luna, our ever-diligent class president, wore hers religiously. I wanted to sing her praises for her responsible personality right then and there.
I quickly scribbled "Luna" on the list, and Annie took it to submit to the professor.
Despite a moment of panic, we successfully formed our group. With Cilly, Annie, Yuri, Luna, and me, our team was sure to be unstoppable.
Or so I thought.
* * * *
"Hey, Elys?"
"Hm? What's up, Cilly?"
"Um... don't you think there's a bit too much text on this slide? Maybe we should cut it down a little."
"But I thought it would be good to show everything we found during our research, to explain it fully?"
"...No. This is too much. I'll handle this part," Cilly said, erasing most of the text I had written, leaving only a few concise lines.
* * * *
"Elys! Why is there a puppy in this slide!?" Yuri exclaimed.
"But it's cute, right? I thought it would grab everyone's attention," I said, grinning.
"Wow! Everyone's attention is definitely going to be on that! You're amazing, Elys!" Annie clapped her hands, encouraging me.
I smiled smugly, convinced that adding a picture of a puppy with its tongue sticking out was a stroke of genius.
"Erase it. Now."
* * * *
"Elys?"
"Elys..."
"Elys!"
"Haa..."
For some reason, every time I contributed to the project, the others would call my name in exasperation. And each time, whatever I'd worked on would disappear. Eventually, they didn't even bother calling my name—they just sighed and undid whatever changes I made.
Why!?
"Uh... Elys, how about you focus on researching the materials instead? I'll handle the presentation," Cilly finally suggested.
Even my original task had been taken from me. At this point, even the most oblivious person could see what was going wrong.
Am I... useless...?
* * * *
In the end, I was kicked off the presentation team and sent to the library to research reference materials for our project on labyrinths. As I searched for the right books in the labyrinth section, someone stepped up beside me and pulled out the exact book I had been looking for.
"Here you go. This is the one you were looking for, right?"
It was Luna, the class president.
"Huh? I thought you were working on the presentation? What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.
"Well, researching was my original task. I thought you might need help finding the right materials, so I followed you to show you where everything is," she explained.
Luna then led me around the library, pointing out where all the necessary resources were located.
"This book's title is misleading, but it actually has a lot of useful information on labyrinths. It's worth checking out."
"Wow, I wouldn't have even touched this one based on the title. How do you know all this stuff, Luna?"
Luna leaned in close, flipping through the book's pages and explaining its contents to me. Sure enough, despite the misleading title, the book was packed with information on labyrinths.
As we continued working together, I couldn't help but ask something that had been on my mind.
"Hey, Luna, why did you want to join our group? Weren't there other teams you could have joined?"
"Well, yeah. But your group seemed like it would get good results. And—"
Before I knew it, Luna had wrapped her arms around me in a sudden hug.
"—I'm glad I joined. It means I get to work closely with Elysia. Even though I didn't expect you to be such a klutz," she added playfully.
Despite her serious demeanor as class president, Luna had turned out to be quite friendly. I had worried about whether she would feel out of place joining our tightly-knit group, but she fit in with us surprisingly well.
"Ah, Elys! There you are! And... Luna?" Cilly's voice called out from between the bookshelves.
What's Cilly doing here?
"I came to find you two since you've been gone for a while... What are you two doing?" Cilly asked, her voice colder than usual.
It was understandable. While the others were working hard on the project, Luna and I had spent a long time in the library, which might have looked like we were slacking off.
But while I could sense Cilly's mood, Luna seemed oblivious.
"Oh, Cilly! We were just about to head back after finding all the materials. Right, Elys?" Luna said, releasing me from her hug.
But then she paused, tilted her head curiously, and—
Without warning, Luna hugged me again.
...?
Then she let go, only to hug me once more. And again. Luna repeatedly hugged me, each time letting go only to embrace me again.
"What are you doing, Luna?" I asked, confused.
After several hugs, Luna finally grinned mischievously and said, "Heh. So that's how it is?"
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" I asked, still lost.
"W-what are you talking about!?" Cilly shouted, her face flushed as she looked down, clearly understanding something I didn't.
"Hm? Was it one-sided?" Luna mused, ignoring Cilly's outburst. She then walked over and hugged Cilly instead of me.
"I don't have any prejudices about stuff like this. So, what do you think? Should I help?" Luna whispered.
Whatever she meant by "help," she was clearly offering to assist Cilly with something.
Cilly, blushing even harder, leaned in close to Luna, and the two began whispering to each other, their conversation too quiet for me to hear.
I felt a bit left out, but... if they were getting closer, that wasn't a bad thing, right?