Chapter 12: Team leader
Theo had the urge to pull out his hair.
"Why not?" He asked, being careful to keep his voice as quiet as possible.
"They've already been decided the moment you were accepted." The man said. "The teams are set in stone. You'll just have to get along with them or you'll have a really hard time in the future."
Why was the world so cruel? He had hoped that the few years that he would spend at the academy would be at least somewhat peaceful. But he couldn't even get that?
The young man then turned around and pointed towards the way they had come from.
"The right wing is that way. You remember the way I showed you?" He asked.
Theo nodded.
"Good. Then, I'll take my leave now." He said and started walking towards where he had pointed.
Theo just watched as the receding back of the man disappeared around the corner. He blankly stared in his direction for a few moments before turning towards his new room.
'Maybe the two others will be slightly more manageable.' He thought to himself as he opened the door once again.
The room was different now. The bed upon which the girl who had been questioned had sat on top of was almost completely barren of any sheets. What were once upon a time a part of that bed were now chaotically thrown about on the wooden floor.
"Well? Why aren't you answering my question?" The same black haired boy was still questioning the girl.
The girl in question had no covers shielding her. So, the blush on her face was all the more apparent. She was trying to use her hands to erect an imaginary wall to hide herself. It wasn't working very well.
"You're so cuteee~" Scarlett cooed.
She was sitting on the floor, at the edge of the bed, supporting her head between her hands and gazing up at the poor girl.
As Theo stepped inside the room, the bunny girl's ears twitched. He noticed a small gap appearing between her hands and saw the wide eyes with ocean blue pupils look at him.
When their eyes met, she quickly closed the gap, but it had been slow enough that the two others had noticed it.
They both turned to look at him.
Scarlett's eyes widened to a terrifying degree while her mouth did the same thing.
"Yess!" She stood up immediately and almost began bouncing on the spot.
Seriously, who was the bunny girl in this situation?
"Hello, again." The black haired boy nodded at him. "We never got to finish our conversation."
Ah, that was why he looked familiar. He was one of the people Theo had targeted with his chat and disappear act. The memories associated with the conversation quickly entered his mind.
Theo brought a hand to his face.
'I've got an idiot, an extremely shy one and the one person in this place who knows about my illicit activities as my teammates?' He wondered to himself. 'Why?'
The last question was directed at the world at large.
"Theo~." Scarlett appeared in front of him as he peeked through his hand. "Fancy meeting you here."
"The feeling's mutual." Theo said through gritted teeth.
"Your name is Theo?" The idiot asked him as he stepped closer to him.
The black haired boy wore the same eccentric robes as before. They weren't the billowing kind that were common around Hubrias, instead it looked like they stuck to his skin. There were dozens of differently colored flowers depicted against the black base.
Frankly, it looked hideous.
And he was scrawny. The boy looked like he would be blown over by the slightest breeze. Yet, he didn't look pale or unhealthy at all. So, Theo assumed that the skinniness wasn't because of a lack of nutrition.
"Yeah. My full name is Theodore Hall." The words left a strange taste in his mouth as he said them. "What about you?"
"My name is Era." The boy said.
"No last name?" Scarlett asked curiously, the boy successfully gaining her attention for a moment.
"None." He simply said.
Scarlett nodded, satisfied and focused her attention on him again. She stepped up to him, coming dangerously close.
"What are you doing here, Theo?" She asked while tilting her head. "Can you imagine my shock when I smelled your scent?"
Theo gritted his teeth again. "What about you? Daddy dearest must be looking all over for you. After all, his little princess just up and disappeared from her kingdom."
She smiled at him.
"That's a secret~." She took a step back and maintained the smile on her face. "But man. I'm glad you're on our team."
"Huh?" Theo said.
"How about we make him our leader?" She turned towards Era and asked.
"What?"
Era brought a hand to his chin. "That would be the best course of action, indeed."
Scarlett nodded sagely and turned to look at the blue haired girl. "Lucy?"
The hands had fallen down from her face which was now buried between her knees. A hand rose, before morphing into a thumbs up.
Scarlett clapped and turned to him. "It's decided, then."
"Hold on just a moment." Theo put a hand up. "Why are we deciding this? Wouldn't the one who put us in teams be the one to decide it?"
"Aha, I thought the same thing." Scarlett said and walked up to one of the four desks in the room next to what he assumed was her bed.
"But they left us instructions!" She said and pulled out a slip of paper that had writing on it. She cleared her throat and began reading with an arrogant and pompous tone. "Welcome to the Cobalt Academy. You are amongst the lucky few to have been admitted into our prestigious academy and thus have joined the ranks of fledgling arcanists."
She paused dramatically for a moment before continuing. "You have been sorted into four man teams. The reason as to why will be promptly explained in the first class of your very first day. But, before then, you and your teammates must designate a single leader by yourselves. Failure to do so will result in a severe punishment."
She put the paper back on the desk and walked back to them. "That's what it says."
Theo looked at Era for confirmation.
"Don't look at me." Era said lightly. "I do not know how to read Draph."
'Oh no.' Theo thought. The idiot was worse than he thought.
"How the hell did you get past the exams, then?" Theo asked. "No, how did you manage to establish an aetherial pathway if you can't read the instructions?"
Scarlett appeared beside him. She was too close, again.
"I thought the same thing!" She said before whispering against his ear. "His answer was so funny."
Theo glared at her and pulled away. Scarlett only giggled in response.
"It is because I am a natural genius!" Era threw his hands in the air as if though he was gods' gift to humanity.
Scarlett burst into laughter. "I told you!"
Theo let out a deep sigh and walked towards the one corner of the room which looked like it was still empty and stepped up to the desk.
There was a paper there. He picked it up and spent a few seconds reading through it. The contents were pretty much as Scarlett had narrated, but it definitely didn't have the pompous tone in it that she had.
And there was no mention of a severe punishment. If they failed to select a leader by tomorrow, they would only have to do some extra homework.
He put it back down and turned to look at the three others.
"Why do you want me to be the leader?" He asked.
Scarlett took hold of her ponytail and played with it. "It's only natural, you have the most qualities of a leader."
Theo narrowed his eyes. "What does a leader have to do?"
Era pointed at him and gave a brilliant smile. "You get to go to all the mandatory meetings, or something!"
Theo turned to look at him with a deadpan expression. "You do it, then."
"Sadly, I cannot. I tried to offer myself for the position, but these vultures shut me down on the basis that I cannot read." Era harrumphed loudly. "As if that is an important skill."
Theo turned to Scarlett. "You, then."
She turned around and began whistling. "I'm a girl, I'm not capable of such hard things."
Theo calmly walked towards her, took hold of her shoulders and turned her around so he could look her in the eyes. She had a smile on her face.
'Tch.' Theo thought. "If I'm the leader, I'm going to give you all the logistical work that pops up."
The smile faltered a little.
"No, no. I'm not good with that stuff." She said.
Theo leaned in and whispered so that only she could hear. "You know what I did, the reverse is also true."
He withdrew and smiled at her.
Scarlett was pouting. But Theo knew better than to feel bad for her.
"Alright, then. I guess I'll be the leader." Theo said and looked at everyone.
Scarlett looked at the blue haired girl whose head was still buried in her knees. She was desperately trying to regain her lost bed sheets while still remaining hidden.
"What about her? Why didn't you ask her to be the leader?" She asked while jumping on top of her blanket, preventing Lucy from drawing it in. It produced a little whine from the girl.
"Well, no offence to Lucy. But if she was our leader, I doubt we'd ever get anything done." Theo replied.
The girl in question didn't seem offended, instead, even through the desperate attempt to regain her lost blanket, she gave him a thumbs up.
Era nodded in response to his words as well, before he as well went towards Lucy and began barraging her with the same question.
Theo let out a deep sigh as he looked at the situation. It was going to be a hard time for him, but he did feel a little bad for Lucy. The poor girl was going to have it the roughest if she truly was like this.
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