132 Group up
Finally, after a long Winter break. School had returned for Arata and the gang. Of course, after spending all that time not doing any schoolwork. There was only one thing their teacher wanted them to kick things back into gear on their return. That being to assign a group project.
Arata hated group projects. For obvious reasons, considering his past. However, his feelings on them had yet to change along with the rest of his life. There were two major reasons for this.
One being that his experience in group projects were never that great. In fact, he was forced to do one last year with Yogi. Something that was not very fun for him. The second being that the subject of reason number one was going to want to continue this trend.
"This sounds fun." Yogi clasped his hands together in excitement. "We gotta get in a group like last time." That boy had much fonder memories of the last time compared to Arata. He remembered that their other partners were Akiba and Akaki. Since they were all in the same class. This time would be a little bit different though.
"I guess that means I'm joining you two." Yuki added on. "Or, perhaps you want me to try and branch out?" The girl pointed out her continuing deal with Arata. So far, it had been working, since she had made efforts to try and talk with other girls in the classroom. It was a lot better than hiding behind her cousin all the time.
"It's cool if you want to join us." Arata didn't think now was the time to try and get over shyness. A grade was on the line, plus more help would be nice. Especially since Akiba and Akaki weren't with them this time. The latter was a very bright young man.
I guess that settle our group then." Yogi's statement would prove to be incorrect as another girl approached them. Said girl hopped up on Arata's desk to grab their attention.
"We should be partners." That wasn't really a request from Matsu. It was more of a command directed towards Arata.
"I kind of… Already have a group with Yogi and Yuki." He nervously pointed over to the pair sitting next to him.
"Aw, but who else am I going to be in a group with?" Unfortunately for her, the rest of the gardening club did not share this class.
"The teacher did say the groups can be up to four." Yogi was the one to offer the invitation. "So, you can still join us."
"I don't mind it at all." Yuki backed him up. She liked Matsu, that girl was always kind to her.
"I guess this is our group then." Arata accepted it, since this seemed to be about the best that could happen to him. Admittedly, the boy would've much rather to work alone on this project. It didn't seem that hard, just some analysis on a piece of literature that would involve a presentation. He never minded those, since they're easy when you know what you're talking about.
Now there was the next important matter to discuss. When and where to meet to work together and on what they should do a report on.
"What about this book?" Matsu was the first one to eagerly make a suggestion. She took out a book from her bag, which was one that had details on dozens of flowers to grow during the Winter.
"I'm sure it's a good book." Arata had no doubt that it was one with a lot of good information. "But, I think we're supposed to stick with something fictional." According to the information given to them. It seemed that they needed to write about the theme of a work.
"Then what about something with superheroes?" Yogi was the next to come up with a suggestion. He figured that not a lot of people would think of that as a theme. Arata agreed a bit on the theme being good, but there wasn't a book they had that could work with that. A shame, he thought. Especially when there was that popular manga about superheros called 'Your Adventurer School'. It was something that occupied a lot of his reading time since it's anime adaptation.
"I got nothing." Arata was stuck, so they all turned to Yuki. Who was really feeling the heat from their eyes.
"It's not like there's a-anything I really l-like reading right now…" She meagerly responded to the silent question they had for her.
"I thought there was that book you were really into." Yogi exposed her. "What was it called? Um���"
"It's called 'Bloom Out to me'." She answered for him, making sure to keep it hush so that their classmates wouldn't hear. "And I don't know if a light novel really fits the rules."
"Except that the teacher literally said that those were fine." Arata informed them. "And actually, that could be a good book to work with." He had never read it himself, but he did hear good things about it.
"It has bloom in the title, and flowers bloom. So I'm on board with it." It was very easy to convince Matsu of the idea. The reasoning was stupid, but there wasn't much more you could expect from that girl.
"Yeah, it'll be easy since you're pretty fond of the book." They outnumbered her three to one. So Yuki had no choice but to accept what the group wanted.
"Then where should we get together to have our meeting?" She asked, though she already knew the answer she wasn't going to like.
"Yuki's the one with the book. So we should go to her place." Yogi responded. Much to her dismay.
"I feel like we spend too much time at my house for studying, so I'd like that." Arata was tired of hearing his mom's constant teasing about bringing girls over to his room. It was getting to be a bit much, especially since she started adding Akaki and Yogi into the jokes about that.
What type of person did his mother take him for?
"Are you all… Sure?" Yuki was filled with anxiety. There was an elephant in the room yet to be handled among the group. That being Matsu and her lack of awareness for her hobby. "My house isn't all that special of a place."
"Don't worry." Arata whispered over to her. "Matsu is really nice, and I know that she'd never tease someone over the things they like."
"…" The girl continued to mull over the decision before finally speaking up. "Okay…"
And thus their plans were fully realized. Everyone was to meet at Yuki's house during the weekend to square away the assignment. Surely nothing special was going to happen while they were there. Just a nice simple group project, no different than just studying over at a friend's house.
Right?
