This is a continuation of “Laboratory’s Christmas Eve.”
The perspective remains that of a supervisor who doesn’t appear in the main story.
“Hey, are you guys awake?”
As breakfast time approached, I knocked and entered the boys’ room.
“What’s all this?”
It looked like a bunch of fish had been washed up on the beach.
“Ah. Good morning, teacher.”
And for some reason, Maito was also there, despite it being the boys’ room.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, it’s just too cold. The other room, all alone, you know? It’s cold! So, I had no choice but to change and seek refuge here. I knocked properly before entering and even counted to 10 after knocking. It was a KO!”
It seems she wasn’t lacking in common sense to the extent of sleeping here… well, probably the boys sent her back. Considering it’s her.
“So, why do they all look like dried fish?”
“I don’t know, but they were clattering and rattling away until late. Come on, wake up.”
As she spoke, Maito started peeling off the futon from Hariu, who was still stubbornly sleeping under it. Stripped of his futon, Hariu rolled over and ended up buried under a stack of folded futons, falling asleep again. Hmm, this guy’s tough.
“Clattering and rattling, you say?”
“Must have been Mahjong, I guess.”
…Right, no matter how sleepy, we’re still going to do the experiments.
During breakfast, only Maito and President seemed energetic, the rest all appeared sleepy in one way or another. Suzumoto and Kadomi were sleeping while eating. You guys sure you can do experiments like this?
Once everyone had started their experiments, I busied myself with my miscellaneous duties, moving back and forth between the lab and the staff room, when I heard cheers from the courtyard. …A very familiar voice.
“Hey! What about the experiments?!”
What are they doing playing in the snow! What about the experiments! Really now!
“Ah, teacher! I’m not slacking off! I’ve put the samples in the constant temperature drying oven, so it’s just waiting time now!”
“We’re currently running the Soxhlet extractor, so it’s also waiting time for us.”
“We’re cooling the solution to recrystallize it.”
“The adhesive will take about 1 or 2 hours to set.”
…I see. So, they had it all figured out to this extent, huh? Got me there.
Since it’s a waiting time, I decided to observe as well.
“So, what are you making here?”
“Abroad, snowmen are usually made with three tiers, right?”
Yes, snowmen typically have three tiers.
“We thought we’d see how many tiers we could go for, just for the sake of it.”
Currently, they are… at five tiers.
“And now we’re making a scaffold for the sixth tier.”
…I see, so all the snow piling and compacting was for building a scaffold.
“Snowmen are fine, but don’t catch a cold, okay? And don’t forget about the experiments.”
“Okay.”
“Understood.”
“Got it.”
…Let me make a prediction. Half of them will either forget about the experiments or catch a cold.
When I went to call them for lunch, the snowman had impressively reached seven tiers. Kind of creepy.
“So, what are you guys up to now?”
After lunch, when I peeked into the laboratory, they were all engrossed in playing cards. …Uh, was it Indian Poker? Everyone draws just one card and holds it so that everyone else can see it except themselves. They then tell each other about their cards, mixing in lies, and based on what they hear, decide whether to exchange their card.
Once everyone decides whether to exchange or not, they reveal their cards to determine the winner and loser.
Let’s see how this goes.
“If you keep it that way, Maito-san, you’ll lose to Kadomi-kun.”
Kadomi has a spade of 5, and Maito has a heart of 8, so President is lying, but it doesn’t seem that way at all, which is amazing.
“President doesn’t need to change, pretty strong as is.”
Indeed, President has the king of diamonds, which is quite strong. Ah, I think the strength of the cards is such that 3 is the weakest and 2 is the strongest, right?
“Hey, how about mine? What do you think?”
“Hmm, Hariu might want to change. It seems there’s a higher chance of getting something better.”
“Got it, thanks. I’ll change. Katori has a 10, so without changing, you won’t be able to get first place.”
Hariu, hey, you were tricked by Katori and just discarded a joker.
“Kadomi-kun, tell me honestly, what’s my card?”
“2.”
“I see, thanks. Kadomi-kun’s is also 2. No need to change.”
“…Really?”
Hey, Kadomi, you have a spade of 5. You’d better change it. Since Suzumoto’s card is a 2, I really feel Kadomi can’t lie at all.
“Um, what about mine?”
“Kariya has a 7, Toriumi has a 9. With this, Kariya is going to be the last, right?”
Hagasaki just lies so smoothly. Kariya is actually holding a queen. The key is that Toriumi really does have a 9.
“Ah, then I’ll change. Hagasaki-kun has a 10, so he won’t be the last.”
“No, Hagasaki has a 6, so he will be the last. You better change.”
“And you, President, have an 8, right? Kariya changed and got stronger, so if you don’t change, it might be bad for you?”
…After such a confusing exchange, ultimately, Hariu, who had discarded a joker, drew a 2 and won first place by the suit difference, defeating Suzumoto. The last place was Toriumi, who drew a 4 after a redraw.
“So, Toriumi is… well, provide one embarrassing story!”
“Eh… Um, so, it’s a story from when I was in the second year of middle school…”
…It seems they were playing with a rule that allowed the first place to give an order to the last place. No wonder there was such tension! Are these guys afflicted with some illness that kills them if they don’t bet on something?
Later in the lab… Suzumoto and Hagasaki came in, looking desperate, saying, “We’re getting married!” before hurrying back, Kadomi silently performed a mysterious dance (apparently it was supposed to be mime), President gave an earnest speech on energy issues before leaving, and Katori came in to give a shoulder massage.
…You guys, it’s fine to have fun, but could you stop using me as part of your penalty games? I mean, it’s enjoyable but… ah, Katori, a bit more to the right. Ah, right there.
As time went on, they resumed their experiments or card games, and by evening, the training camp came to an end.
Finally over… Being with them is fun, but it’s tiring for someone who’s not as young…
Watching the members happily head back home, the lab felt kind of empty.
They’re really noisy, so there’s a real sense of emptiness when they’re gone…
Glancing out the window towards the courtyard, I saw what remained of the snowman they made, resembling an arch-shaped object… like only half of a giant Pon de Ring had been summoned from the ground.
The day after next. It’s winter break, but we have club activities.
“Good morning… huh?”
“Suzumoto, Hagasaki-kun, and Katori are absent due to colds, Kadomi and Hariu overslept, Maito-san and Kariya have family errands, and we can’t get in touch with President.”
…
“Toriumi, experiment?”
“It’s cold, can I go home?”
…
“Yeah, I think I’ll go home today too…”
You guys switch between ON and OFF too drastically!!
To add,
The Indian Poker they were playing does account for the suit differences, so it’s uncommon for there to be more than one person in the same rank.
However, there can be two last places. This happens under the rule “A spade of 3 beats a joker (meaning if there’s a spade of 3, the joker is the lowest)”.
This rule applies, and only if there are two jokers included without a strength difference between them, can there be two last places.
The marriage announcement by Suzumoto and Hagasaki was due to this situation.
By the way, the one who drew the spade of 3 was Kadomi.
