I frantically start looking around, but can't seem to find Achilles anywhere.
Wawawawa! How did he hide so well in a few seconds?! He didn't even make any sound! Is this guy a ninja or something?!
"Mama! Mama!" Baby, now's not the moment, can't you see your Mama is too busy panicking?!
"There!" ...Huh? Sora points at the other end of the room, and when I turn my face in that direction, I see Achilles talking with some other parents.
...As expected of my baby girl, she knows exactly what I'm thinking!
"Haha...Thank you, baby."
"Hehehe...Nn! Nn! Mama's funny!"
...F-Funny? A-Alright, let's just...not think about how my daughter is laughing at me for now. What's important right now is dealing with the matter at hand, which would be finding a group before time's up. I hate that feeling you get when time's up and you found no team, so let's just get done with this. I don't think Achilles would refuse to group up with me, so I just have to go there, and ask to form a team with him and possibly with the people he's talking to. I have no idea what to do if they refuse me, but... I guess I'll deal with that when the moment comes.
I slowly approach the group of adults, and stand next to Achilles and Lily. Lily notices us right away, and greets my girl with a "Soraaa!" to which she replies with a nervous "H-Hi Lily..." Awww, look at the two friends socializing while being carried by their parents... so cute.
...As for Achilles, though, he is so lost in the conversation that he hasn't noticed we're right beside him. The other parents present, who have noticed my presence by now, are staring between me and Achilles with eyes full of curiosity. They are probably waiting for him to introduce me or something, as they saw how I was looking at him when I arrived.
"Ah, Sakura! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" A few seconds later, Achilles finally notices my existence, mainly due to Lily thrashing around in his arms while trying to hold hands with Sora. Also, what the fuck is that 'There you are!' supposed to mean?! Dude, Achilles, YOU were the one who left me behind without saying a word! Why the hell are you acting as if I dumped you?! You unreasonable asshole!
"Hahaha..."
"Come on closer, I'll introduce you."
"It's fine, it's fine." I can introduce myself very well on my own, thank you very much. I stop him with a slight wave of hand and turn to look at the crowd of curious adults. *Gulp* T-This is quite the big crowd, hahaha...is it too late to take Achilles's offer? N-No, don't get cold feet now, Sakura! You can do it! J-Just make sure you don't stutter!
"Hello, my name is Sakura, and this girl right here is Sora. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Sakura. My name is Julia, and this here is my husband Pete, and our son Jack." The first to reply to my introduction is a good natured young woman. She seems to be in her mid-twenties to her early thirties. I'm leaning a bit more towards the former. She stretches her hand out towards me, and I shake it the best I can while juggling Sora around.
The other parents then go on one by one to introduce themselves. Some of them are alone like me, and some others come in couples, like Julia and Pete. They all seem like nice people. As expected of Achilles, he has a nice eye for people.
"Do you think we could group up with you for today?" Once everyone is done with their introductions, I finally muster the courage to ask the question. What? I need to prepare myself before asking, you know? Being rejected is scary after all.
"Of course, of course! We were precisely missing one more member, so it's perfect." Julia takes the lead, smiling, and everybody follows after her with a nod.
"Thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it! More importantly, we should all go out some time! The kids can play together while we chat over some coffee and snacks!" One of the other parents, a brown-haired lady with short hair, smiles as she makes a suggestion.
"That sounds like fun!" Achilles claps in excitement, and all the other parents nod in agreement.
...Eh? Am I the only one who isn't eager to do it? I mean, it does sound like fun, but I feel like the conversation topics would run out pretty fast, no? Like what would we talk about?
Our kids are very young, so we can't talk about how they get into problems in school, or how they arrive late at night and we have to scold them. The only thing I imagine we could talk about is maybe how they didn't let us sleep when they were babies, or how they throw tantrums every time they have a chance. And even so, I don't have much to say in those two topics.
I did have to calm Sora down every time she woke up crying in the middle of the night, but it wasn't too much of a hassle, because I didn't sleep much anyway. Every night, I had to stay up either doing homework, studying, or working. Yup, I was already working by the time my girl was born. And so, I slept a few hours at most every night. It's a good thing I had a severe case of insomnia, 'cause I wouldn't have been able to survive those days without it. I know it isn't healthy to sleep so little, and I still have some pretty damn marked eyebags that show that, but I never thought it was a bother. Not having to carry crying Sora around until she fell asleep again, at least.
And with the other topic, Sora doesn't throw many tantrums. She is normally very calm, as a matter of fact. Like, right now, she's just waiting in silence looking here and there, while the other children present are all bothering their parents in some way. Lily just doesn't seem to be able to keep still while in Achilles's arms, which has the poor guy losing his balance every two seconds. The son of Julia, Jack, is non-stop tugging on his desperate-looking dad's pants, and the daughter of the brown-haired lady is crying while being carried by her husband. Sooo, yeah, my angel, who's only playing with her fingers in my arms, is the odd one out here. I'd be really worried about how calm she is if my Mom hadn't told me that I was also a very relaxed kid when I was her age.
And so with all that said, I can't imagine myself just sitting on the table with these guys while saying nothing. I know I'm probably exaggerating, but... I don't know, I just... don't think I'll be able to be part of the conversation without boring everyone.
"Sakura?"
"A-Ah, excuse me?" Wawawawa I was so lost in thought I didn't notice what was going on! Julia is standing in front of me with her phone out. ...Did she ask me for something?
"I'm sorry I got a bit distracted, what were you saying?"
"Ah! That's fine. I was asking for your phone number so I could add you to the group chat we are making." Hah?! Did I miss so many important things in the conversation just now?! My number?! A group chat?! What the hell are these people talking about?! W-Well, let's just play along for now, I can ask the details later.
"Ah, of course."
"Great, can you type it here?" Julia lends me her phone for a moment, and I type my phone number on it. Then, I give it back to her, and she saves the contact as 'Sunshine - Sakura' in her phone. Wow, that brings back memories; when I was in elementary, my Mom also used to write my school's name before the names when saving the contacts of my classmate's parents. Pretty smart, I guess.
"Very well, time's up! Now, does everybody have a group?" A few minutes later, the Principal resumed her instructions, and the activities began earnest.
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