"Is she her mother?"
"No way! Doesn't she look too young?"
"B-But if she is, then...just how old is she?"
...Come on, it hasn't even been 5 minutes since we came in, give me a break. Is it impossible for you people to look at me and think, 'Oh, she looks nice!' Is that too much to ask for?! Because if it is, then I guess I must be one hell of a greedy bitch.
"Mama..." Of course, Sora seems to be aware of the eyes focused on us. Urgh, these annoying assholes are scaring my little girl! Should I just send them a nasty glare to make them turn to somewhere else? Somebody once told me that I have some pretty evil-looking eyes, so it should do the trick. But... I don't want to set a bad example for Sora... No. That wouldn't be a bad example! I'd be teaching her a way of self-defense against nosy and annoying people! It'd be justified! I'm TOTALLY not making excuses just because these people deserve it! Nononono, I would never do that!
"She said Mama..."
"So...she is her mother after all?"
"Poor thing, so young..."
...Can't they just shut up? I swear, the mouths of women in their thirties are just insanely tireless gossip machines. Shouldn't they be like, you know, focusing on their kids, and not on me?
"How unsightly... did her parents not teach her how to keep her legs closed?"
......Excuse me? I...DID NOT just hear what I think I did, right? Hahaha, yeah, there's NO WAY somebody would have the balls to say such a thing in a place full of children. Yup, I must be going crazy...
...Like hell I am. I turn around to look at the speaker, and—HOLY FUCK A FOSSIL?!
In front of my eyes, I see the most skinny, and fragile looking woman you can imagine. She seems to be between her seventies and death.
...Awww, was I a bit too rude to her with that joke? Sorry, not sorry.
Her entirely white hair is well brushed, but seems rusty and worn-out. She is wearing a thick coat that doesn't allow me to see how zombie-ish her arms are, but her face is more wrinkled than my underwear right after being in the washing machine. It looks as if she was wearing one of those ugly-ass plastic masks you can buy in superstores during the Halloween season. Honestly, she looks so pitiful that I feel a bit bad about that old hag. HA! As if! Fuck that bitch!
Anyway, how the fuck did she get in here? I wasn't allowed to go in when Ms. Alice believed I was Sora's sister, so how did this old mummy get in? Did she climb out of a tombstone hidden somewhere in the garden or something? Well... it's also possible that she's the mother of one of the kids here... which makes me feel bad for the kid in many different ways. Not that it's my problem.
"Hah. It seems that not only is she promiscuous, but a coward as well."
...Don't fall for her childish provocations, Sakura, you are more than mature enough to let her words slide. This is neither the time, nor the place to forcibly send a dinosaur back to the jurassic. Although it's quite infuriating, to be honest. I'd love to smack that denture of hers out of that hellhole she calls mouth, but... there are too many eyes around us. I could honor her serious efforts to anger me, but if I did enter a verbal fight with her, I'd also be putting myself in the spotlight, which I'd hate with all my being. And Sora is with me too, so the best thing I could do right now is retreat away from this old hag. I shouldn't let my baby girl listen to those kinds of words, after all. I mean, she doesn't understand what they mean, but still...
"Baby, should we go look for Achilles and Lily?"
"Nn? ...Nn!"
I take Sora by the hand and start moving away from the sack of bones who very clearly wants to pick a fight with me. The old lady snorts proudly as she sees us walk away, but doesn't try to stop us. I'm glad. In real life, drama can actually be evaded by being smart, you see? I'm not saying that you always can, but it's definitely possible to do so. Even more so when it comes to conflict between you and a stranger.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn around to look for Achilles and Lily, who should be standing here somewhere. It isn't even a few seconds before I find them, interacting with some parents on the other corner of the lobby. Well, Achilles is interacting with them—talking and stuff—while Lily lays on his arms with a grumpy, bored face. She has her chin against Achilles's shoulder, and so ends up making eye contact with me when I approach the group from behind. Then, she spots Sora next to me and waves her hand at her.
"Fufufu. Why don't you wave back at her?" My girl seems a bit indecisive about what she should do, so I decide to give her a small push, just to show her the ropes. Lily and the girls earlier are Sora's first friends ever, so she still seems to be a bit awkward about what "being friends" means. Though there's not much I can teach her about friendship, considering I have only ever had one friend myself...
A-Anyway! Continue!
"Ah! ...Nn." Sora follows my words and waves back at Lily.
In response, Lily turns to look at her father's face and points in our direction. Achilles turns to look at us, and I smile awkwardly as I hesitatingly wave my hand at him, just as Sora did just now. What can I say? Sora had to get her shyness from someone, you know?
Achilles smiles back and rather than waiting for us to approach him, he bids farewell to the people he was chatting with, and starts moving toward us.
"Sakura! Good to see you, it's been a while." It hasn't even been 10 minutes since we met outside, though... I save that comment in my mind and simply smile in response.
"Hi, Mr. Ach—"
"I told you to just call me Achilles, didn't I?" Urgh, you annoying weirdo. Why don't you understand that doing that makes me feel even more uncomfortable than using honorifics? Can't you just be a prideful idiot like most other people in this world? Haaaah, it's just...haaaaah...whatever. I feel defeated, somehow.
"That's right...Achilles."
"Good!" I smile awkwardly at his excited response, but before I can say anything else, a voice echoes from the center of the room.
"Dear parents, we are now going to begin with the activities we have planned for today." Oh look, it's Ms. Principal. Everybody turns to look at the tall woman as she gives her instructions.
"For this, we are going to divide all of you into groups. To make it easier for us to handle such a big amount of parents." Oh...groups? That doesn't bring back good memories... Back when I was in school, every time my teachers made group activities, I always ended up together with the most lazy, mean, and stupid idiots in my class...I always ended up doing all the work by myself...
"Mama? Are you o-kay?" Sora tugs on my coat.
"Yes, Sakura, are you alright? Your eyes look dead inside..." Crap, I wasn't supposed to be showing that.
"I-I'm fine, thanks." I pat Sora's head to reassure her, and smile to dismiss Achilles's words.
Ahem, so uh, yeah, leaving those memories aside, the point is that luck has never been on my side.
...Although, well...no...saying 'never' might be a bit too much...
I pick Sora up in my arms and gently pinch her somewhat chubby cheek. It's true that I've been unlucky most of my life, but... I wouldn't mind if that was because all my good luck had been reserved to making this cutie.
"Mawma?" Sora, probably noticing how I'm smiling like an idiot, tilts her head to the side and speaks in a funny tone—due to how I'm still holding her cheek.
"Fufufu, it's nothing. I was just thinking that maybe I'm much more lucky than I realize."
"???" She doesn't get it, but that's fine. She'll get it eventually: how she means the world to me.
Anyway, back to the Principal.
"I know most of you don't know each other, and I believe this to be a good opportunity to become acquainted, so we'll let you form your own groups. We'll give you 5 minutes to form them, so go ahead. We need five groups with seven families each."
Oh... I was concerned about having to group up with those nosy ladies and that decrepit grandma, but it seems that wasn't necessary. With that out of the way, who should we group up with? I know Achilles is a good option, as we are already acquainted and all, but what about the other 5 sets of parents? Well, with Achilles by my side, they should be easy enough to find. When you're timid, the only thing you need to do when forming a group is to find an outgoing character who can gather the rest of the members for you. And so now that I have found my outgoing idiot, I just need to—...huh? Achilles?
...Where the fuck did he run off to?! He was right here a moment ago!
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