The Surprise Party
Today was the school's founding anniversary.
There was nothing forcing anyone to come to school, but as if Kizen refused to let even a public holiday go to waste, it had opened up a slate of optional supplementary lectures.
The classes were taught by the teaching assistants rather than professors, and only students with the lowest grades were required to attend — everyone else could pick and choose freely.
"Kizen and its students — both sides have completely lost their minds."
Dick grumbled from his desk, fiddling with one of his inventions.
"Curse Studies and Toxicology are already full, they say. Couldn't we at least take a break on the founding anniversary? Honestly."
Simon let out a small laugh and asked, "Do you have a mandatory one?"
"Yeah. Gotta go sit through Curse Studies."
"That sucks."
Simon, mercifully, had no required classes — the only one he was bottom-ranked in was Spirit Magic. Thankful for that small mercy, he laced his fingers together and stretched his arms out long.
"Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to the Dispatched Evaluation."
"Me too!"
Since the topic had come up, Simon floated a new idea.
"If we're heading to the Neutral Zone, we'll need to stock up on all sorts of supplies, right? Want to call Meilin and Cami and go shopping in Rochest together?"
At those words, Dick's hands stopped dead and his face went stiff.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, well — it's just, uh..."
Dick, who was always so unhurried, scratched his head with an awkward look on his face.
"I don't think I can do this Dispatched Evaluation with you guys."
Simon froze. "Wait, seriously?"
"Sorry. I made plans with some of the Class G kids a while back, so I'm joining their team."
A disappointed expression settled over Simon's face. "That's a real shame."
"Sorry, sorry. Go talk to Meilin. She said she'd be in the library all day."
Team rosters and reports were due by tomorrow.
Teams were four to a group — if one slot was empty, he'd have to fill it fast.
Simon nodded and immediately changed into his uniform.
The library wasn't hard to reach, and Meilin was even easier to find — her sky-blue hair stood out anywhere. Whether she'd stepped out for a break from studying, she was outside the reading room, chattering away with another girl.
Simon approached and called out. "Meilin!"
Meilin turned at the sound of his voice, and Simon hurried on. "Meilin, did you hear? Dick—!"
"Hold on, Simon. I'm in the middle of something important."
"Oh — sure."
His urgency had nearly made him rude. Simon nodded obediently, took a step back, and waited.
Before long, the two girls had launched into gossip again.
Half-listening, he gathered it was about somebody else's love life. So-and-so was dating so-and-so, but the boy had cheated, and the girl had cried and raged and thrown a fit, while the boy shamelessly showed not the slightest hint of remorse — that sort of repertoire.
As the story unfolded, Meilin flew into a rage. "Is she insane?"
"Right?!"
The two girls' gossip showed no sign of ending. Feeling the pull of some galactic-scale distance between himself and the conversation, Simon waited awkwardly at a polite remove.
Twenty minutes later, the other girl said her see-you-later and finally disappeared.
Only then did Meilin turn her attention to him. "What's up?"
"Ah, it's about the Dispatched Evaluation."
Finally, to the point.
"Dick's teaming up with kids from another class, so I figure our group needs to recruit a new member too, right?"
"Our group?"
At that, Meilin snorted out a laugh. Pfft!
"Hey! What's this 'our' business?"
"Hm?"
"You were planning on going with me?"
"...Uh, no?"
They'd spent all of yesterday talking about the Neutral Zone together, so he'd just naturally assumed they'd be teaming up.
"Ugh, honestly. Who teaming up with their own classmates for the Dispatched Evaluation? People would laugh at you if they heard."
She waved her hand as if the very idea repulsed her.
"Besides, we've been glued together every single day up until now. This is the time to get to know kids from other classes! I'm going with the girl you just saw, plus two from Class H."
"Is. Is that so?"
So mixing classes was the normal way to do the Dispatched Evaluation?
He was a little dumbfounded, but Dick and Meilin had both talked about it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You haven't asked Cami yet?"
Meilin asked. He shook his head.
"That's where I'm headed now. Do you know where she is?"
"She signed up for the Hemomancy supplementary lecture, didn't she? She should be at the Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall."
Simon arrived at the Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall, where the Hemomancy class was being held.
Peering in through a window, he could see a teaching assistant lecturing with fervent enthusiasm inside the classroom. It didn't take him long to spot Camibarez among the students — the small bat wings on her back gave her away.
Her wings fluttered with every note she took, and her ears perked straight up whenever the lecture hit something important. There was a strange, addictive charm to watching her like this.
"And that concludes today's supplementary lecture. Students enrolled in the afternoon session, I'll see you again in two hours."
"Thank you for your hard work!"
The Hemomancy assistant departed, and the students came pouring out of the classroom.
Simon leaned against the wall and waited so the other students could pass by quickly.
Near the very end of the stream, he spotted Camibarez emerging from the classroom, hugging her textbook against her chest with both arms.
"Cami!"
"Ah, Simon!"
She broke into a wide smile and came trotting over. Her wings flapped rapidly, betraying her good mood.
"What brings you all the way here?"
"Oh, well, it's just..."
Dick and Meilin are both teaming up with other people for the Dispatched Evaluation.
I need to find two more members.
That was what he meant to say — but instead, Simon found himself carefully leading with something else.
"Do you, by any chance, already have a team for the Dispatched Evaluation?"
"...Ah."
At that question, Camibarez's eyes wavered violently. Her face darkened, and she fidgeted, lips pressed into a thin line, before going quiet with her gaze fixed on her feet.
Simon forced a smile. "It's okay. You can tell me."
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry! The truth is, I already agreed to go with the members of the Sadam club..."
"Oh. Then I guess it can't be helped."
Only now did Simon realize the fire was licking at his heels.
The roster report was due tomorrow.
From then on, Simon ran himself ragged hunting for teammates.
"Ah, I'm really, really grateful for the offer! But we decided from the start to team up with our own group. I'm sorry."
His first stop had been Toto — same class, same club — but he already had a team.
"What? You're looking for group members?"
Next came Jamie Victoria, widely known as the Class A president.
She grabbed Simon by the shoulders in shock and shook him back and forth. "Did you guys have a falling out or something? What happened? Group 7 always got along so well, I never worried about you for a second!"
"No, we didn't fight."
As Simon explained the situation, she pulled a horrified face.
"What are you even saying?! Obviously you're supposed to do the Dispatched Evaluation with your own group from class!"
"Is. Is that right?"
"You think the Dispatched Evaluation is some picnic in the park? Of course it's way more advantageous to go with the teammates you've been in sync with for half a year! If you go with kids from another class, when are you supposed to build that coordination, work out your tactics, learn to move as one?"
"..."
Simon went blank. That part hadn't occurred to him.
"That's why I asked if you'd fought."
Jamie let out a deep sigh and went on.
"Unless a team's seriously on the rocks, everyone's going with their own group members. Me included."
"...I see. Thanks for talking it through with me."
"I won't pry, but if something's actually wrong with Group 7, you tell me straight, okay? Promise?"
"We really didn't fight."
So whose word was he supposed to trust?
Simon carried the question with him as he walked on. Next, armed with directions from Jamie, he went to see Claudia. The two of them had gotten fairly close after all they'd been through together recently.
"No, that is not okay! Isn't that going too far?!"
When Simon finished his story, Claudia raged as if it were her own problem.
"The class president's right — you're supposed to go with your own group. And! If she was going to team up with kids from another class, the least she could do was tell you in advance! That's basic courtesy! Meilin, honestly... And Cami too — I never would've expected that from her!"
"I appreciate you being angry on my behalf,"
Simon said with a smile,
"but trash-talking my group members right in front of me is a little much."
"Ah — th-that's? Sorry...!"
Claudia bowed her head in apology at once. But the moment she raised it again, sparks flew from her eyes.
"Still, that doesn't make it right! This is a matter that demands a proper apology later on!"
"..."
Even after parting ways with Claudia, Simon kept meeting student after student.
But he couldn't scrape together a single teammate. Almost everyone was forming their Dispatched Evaluation teams from their own established groups.
As Simon walked alone down the corridor, he glimpsed four students sitting in a circle in an empty lecture hall, chattering loudly and happily among themselves.
...Looks fun.
It stung a little.
This was the first loneliness he'd felt since coming to Kizen.
Simon trudged along. Everywhere he looked, students seemed to travel in tight packs of four. Seeing them enjoying themselves made the space beside him feel emptier than ever.
Still, it's too early to give up.
He'd check a few more Class A students, and failing that, Kajan, Lorraine, Fitzgerald — even Serne. She'd probably demand something bizarre again, but this was no time to be picky.
There's barely any time left.
Simon headed up to the third floor Claudia had told him about. His Class A classmate Cindy Vivace was running a study session in the empty lecture hall 302.
Cindy's probably doing it with her own group too, though...
Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Even if Cindy couldn't join him, he might come out of there with some useful information.
Arriving in front of lecture hall 302, Simon knocked lightly.
"Who is it?"
Cindy's voice drifted through the door.
"It's me, Simon. Mind if I come in for a minute?"
"Yeah, come on in!"
Permission granted, Simon threw the door open with both hands.
BANG-BANG-BANG!
POP!
Paper firecrackers exploded from every direction without warning.
"Happy birthday, Simon!!"
WAAAH—!
A chorus of fervent cheers rang out as confetti and flower petals rained down from the ceiling. Right in front of him stood an enormous cake.
...??
Simon looked around in a daze.
Inside the lecture hall stood Dick, wearing a pointed party hat and brandishing firecrackers; Meilin, clapping with a beaming grin; and Camibarez, smiling as she held out the cake.
Behind them were Jamie, Claudia, and even Cindy.
What is all this.
A birthday?
My birthday?
"Wait, don't tell me..."
"What do you think? It's all a surprise!!"
Meilin shouted, laughing.
Camibarez came closer, holding the cake out with both hands. "Make a wish and blow out the candles, Simon!"
Simon, still wearing a bewildered expression, blew out the candle flames — and the cheers erupted all over again.
Dick set off the rest of the birthday firecrackers, one after another.
"...Ahaha."
The sting of disappointment melted away like snow, leaving behind only something warm and tight in his chest.
Simon, thoroughly draped in confetti and paper decorations, pressed a hand to his chest and finally let out a breath — and smiled.
"...You really got me."
Dick cackled and slung an arm around Simon's neck. "Ha! You should've been suspicious! You really think we'd ditch you and join some other team?"
"I'm sorry for deceiving you, Simon!"
It had been a surprise from the very beginning. Jamie, Claudia, and Cindy had all been bought off with cake, too.
The birthday boy himself cut the cake and served it onto plates. It was so enormous that even after everyone took a slice, more than half of it remained.
"But hey, guys. I have a confession to make."
At Simon's words, the other three members of Group 7 flinched.
"Wh-what is it?"
Camibarez asked nervously.
"Hey! Don't tell me you actually went and recruited other teammates behind our backs!!"
Meilin cried, her face full of alarm.
Simon shook his head, then continued with an embarrassed look.
"It's not my birthday today."
A beat.
An awkward silence swept over the lecture hall. Then, in unison, everyone's eyes turned to Dick.
"Hey, you idiot! You said today was Simon's birthday!!"
Meilin exploded.
Dick, flustered, stammered for a moment before rounding on Simon. "But you circled the date on your dorm room calendar! It had your birthday written on it and everything...!"
"Ah, that one's my mom's birthday."
"..."
Silence fell once more.
Then, Meilin and Simon exchanged a sly look. Meilin snatched up the half-remaining cake and lunged—
SPLAT!
—slamming it dead center into Dick's face.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"So satisfying!"
Everyone burst into loud applause and laughter. Dick, his face caked in frosting and sponge, laughed right along with them and licked the cake off his lips.
"Ah, aaah! I can't see!"
So saying, Dick charged at Meilin's uniform to wipe his face on it.
"GYAAH! Hey! Don't come near me!"
"REVENGE!!"
Amid all the laughing and roughhousing, Camibarez came to Simon's side and said,
"Good luck on this dispatch too, Simon!"
Simon smiled back. "Same to you."
His chest felt warm.
It wasn't his real birthday, he knew — but he had a feeling he would remember the party they'd all thrown him today for the rest of his life.
"Ahh, I'm jealous. I wish my group had this kind of atmosphere."
As Claudia was murmuring this to herself, Meilin pounced and smeared cake across her cheek — and this time the two of them started brawling in earnest.