CH. 56 - Principal Ai's Evaluation

Eventually, Winter break ends, and the chilled morning comes where they all return to school. Haru yawns as he stretches in his chair in the clubroom.

“Dang, that Winter break went by really fast. We should try to have everyone over for Christmas and New Year’s next time.” Haru says with a smile.

“That sounds good to me.” Sugawara agrees with a cute smile in return.

"Maybe we can have Shiori and Hikigaya blow up something again." Lucy says with a smirk as Kitaro looks up from his phone.

"What?" He says but is ignored.

The group all hang out in the clubroom, and as they all chat with each other, Shiori is looking at a journal for the club. She sweats as she taps her pencil on the book. Chizuru notices and speaks.

“What’s wrong, Shiori? You seem stressed out about something.”

“It’s just that it’s already the new year, but we only have two problems solved when Principal Ai asked for three. Our club won’t be approved officially unless we meet her requirements.” Shiori says with stress filling her voice.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. But no one else has come to the club since Mr. Goda…” Hikigaya says as he droop a little. They both get worried looks as Chizuru gets a thinking look. She then has a revelation.

“That’s not true! Touma!” She shouts. They look at her confused. She pauses for a moment, but they don’t remember, so she sighs and continues. “Remember? Touma said that he wanted to get better at communication? I told him we would help him!” She says with a smile as they seem to remember her words.

“That’s right. But besides in homeroom, I haven’t seen him all day.” Shiori says.

“How could a guy that big go so unseen?” Hikigaya asks. Chizuru looks down in thought before getting an idea. She gets up and leaves the room for a moment before coming back a minute later with Touma following. They all get surprised.

“How did you..?” Lucy asks, stunned.

“I knew Touma was telling the truth when he said he wanted to improve his social skills, but I also guessed he’d be pretty shy about it. I found him hiding around the corner, probably too nervous to actually come inside!” Chizuru says with a giggle as Touma gets embarrassed. She guides him to take a seat at the long table they set up with the others as Tsuki stares in awe from his seat in the corner.

‘The big guy from the festival? What’s he doing here? I only heard that this guy is bad news…’ “Um, guys? Can I suggest-” Tsuki says as they all, including Touma, turn to look at him. In Tsuki’s eyes, Touma seems to be glaring intensely at him in a mean way. Tsuki gets scared and quiets down. “Actually, nevermind…”

Touma looks at him confused before he turns back when Kitaro talks to him.

“Glad you could make it, bro.” Kitaro says with a cool smile. He bumps him on the arm as Touma stares happily but shyly.

‘He just called me his bro!’ He thinks.

“So, Touma.” Shiori says. He stops blushing and looks at Shiori, who is on the other side of the table from him. “You have come to us today in search of help. And we, The Helpers Club, will provide you with just that. Now what is it you need help with?” She asks, playing the role. They all look at Touma, who gets nervous.

“...uh… I… um…”

They sweat as he stutters to get his words out.

“I see. It appears we have our work cut out for us. Shall we begin then?” Shiori says to the others. Touma looks surprised and worried.

“Uh… now?..”

“Alright! Another adventure!” Hisana cheers.

“This one ought to be funny.” Haru says with a snicker. Ryuji smiles and elbows Haru to be nicer to Touma. Touma nervously smiles as the club makes their way out of the room. They go to the courtyard and group up.

“Alright Touma. First things first, is there anything in particular with communication you have trouble with?” Shiori asks. He stands there in silence for a moment before shrugging.

“Every…thing..” He says nervously. Shiori sweats.

“Okayyy… well then let’s start with the basics. Show me what you got in- The Helpers Club’s state-of-the-art socialization simulator!” She motions towards a bench where Hisana is sitting and bouncing back and forth happily.

“Take a seat across from her and just start a conversation. Don't worry about what or keeping it going, just start it off.” Shiori says. Touma nervously sits across from Hisana and looks down. Hisana looks his way softly as he slowly looks at her.

“I… How are-”

“Stop right there! I knew it was too good to be true! You are just too cute for me! It’s okay, I understand. Our lives are meant to take separate paths. We were just never meant to be… But my heart can’t take hearing you say it, so I’ll just go! Just promise me one thing… when you see the sun setting on the horizon… Think of me!” Hisana says dramatically with tears in her eyes. She gets up and runs away crying as everyone looks confused except for Kitaro.

“There she goes again. Fabricating a whole love story in her own head.” He says. She stops a ways away then runs back.

“Oh, I know! Kitaro, you be my boyfriend!” Hisana says.

“No.” Kitaro replies.

“Aw! Why are you always so mean to me?! How many times must you reject me?!” She yells as she bangs on his arm, Kitaro ignoring her. Touma looks at them confused as Shiori facepalms.

“Alright, maybe someone not so complicated…” Shiori says with a frustrated, tired look as she looks over at Ryuji. Ryuji then sits across from Touma. They sit in silence as everyone watches with anticipation, waiting for anyone to speak. Ryuji and Touma look each other in the eyes directly and clearly, no hint of timidness as they sit in silence before nodding, satisfied, and turning to the others, giving them thumbs up. The others are confused as Haru laughs.

“Am I missing something or..?” Hikigaya asks, drooping.

“Maybe it was telepathic?” Sugawara says with a head tilt.

“I guess that’s progress..? Let’s move on from the simulator.” Shiori says defeated before they move on.

They make their way outside of school and see a girl stopped on the sidewalk. She is looking around on the ground and through her purse as if she has lost something. Shiori sees this and gets an idea.

“Ah, here’s a good test. She seems to have lost something. Why don’t you go over there and offer a helping hand?” Shiori offers. Touma sees her and is very hesitant, but they encourage him, so he goes anyway. He walks to her kind of droopy since he doesn’t want to do it but approaches her, nonetheless.

The woman sees him coming, and from her perspective, she sees a large, scary man coming her way. She gets nervous and sweats. Touma stops next to her and doesn’t say anything for a moment, creating an uncomfortable silence.

“C-can I help you?..” The woman asks nervously.

“...C-can I… um…” Touma struggles to get the words out. She begins to get more nervous as she sees him point to her purse that she was looking through. 

“O-oh, yeah, of course! Silly me! Here, just… don’t hurt me!” She takes her purse off then hands it to him before running away screaming. He sweats as he walks back to the others, holding the purse and looking upset.

“Sorry, man…” Hikigaya says.

“I-it’s okay… I’m used to it…” Touma says back. Chizuru perks up a bit at his words before Shiori decides to move on.

“Let’s try one last thing.” She says.

They come to a coffee shop as Shiori points her hand to the entrance.

“This one should be easy. I’m sure you’ve ordered food before, so just go in there and order a drink of your choice. I’ll pay.” Shiori says as she pulls out some money for him. Touma looks at the shop and sweats a bit before lowering his head and stepping inside. They watch him through the window as he goes to talk to the barista.

The barista greets him with a smile but starts to sweat a bit as Touma doesn’t seem to be saying anything. Then the barista slowly turns around and makes a drink before handing it to Touma and waving his hands. Touma then turns around and walks back out, holding a chocolate drink and looking distraught.

"So how'd it go?" Haru asks with a smirk.

"H-he didn't even let me pay for it…" Touma says quietly as Haru tries to hold back his laughter, turning away from him. Suiyoubi pats him on the back supportively.

"At least you got a free drink.?" Suiyoubi says as Touma sighs.

“I don’t even like chocolate…” Touma mopes softly. Haru starts laughing at the others sweat and Lucy facepalms. Shiori sighs.

“Well, this is going to be more work than I thought… Oh well, let’s call it for the day. We’ll have to keep trying tomorrow.” She says, a little defeated.

She leads them back to school before they get their belongings and head home. Suiyoubi sips the drink as she goes with Haru and Sugawara and the others go their ways as well. Touma follows Chizuru, Lucy and Ryuji as they begin their normal walk home.

After a bit, Chizuru splits off like normal, but Touma follows behind her. Touma looks upset from the events of the day. Chizuru seems to notice but can’t figure out how to talk to him. 

‘How should I talk to him? I want to offer him my support, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings either…’ She thinks as she walks in front of him, Touma following close behind subconsciously. Chizuru looks back at him while thinking, and he notices her staring at him. Once she realizes he saw her, she quickly spins her head around and blushes in embarrassment. 

‘Oh crap! He totally saw me staring! That’s so embarrassing…’ Chizuru thinks. Touma begins blushing too before looking ahead. Suddenly, a small cat comes running from down a small alley and onto the street in front of them. It turns and runs away from them. Touma notices the cat and takes a step to go after it, but before he can, Chizuru interrupts him.

“Oh look, a kitty! It seems scared.” She says before chasing after it. Touma reaches his hand out to her.

“W-wa… I…” He stutters some more, not being able to get his words out to her before she takes off. It runs a bit ahead and jumps into a bush. Chizuru gets on her knees and tries to call it out.

“Come here, little kitty. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” She says softly to it.

It peeks its head out and sniffs her hand before coming out to her. It rubs its head on her hand as she picks it up in her arms. She gets up and looks back at Touma and smiles. He smiles back before a couple guys come running out of the alley where the cat came from.

“Where did that stupid cat go?” One thug says.

“It went this way.” The other says.

“Dumb furball thinks it can break my stuff and get away with it?” The first thug growls. They eventually see Chizuru holding the cat in her arms. The cat gets scared again as Chizuru takes a step back.

“What the..? A girl?” He asks.

“She’s got the cat.” The other guys point out.

“I see. C’mon girl, give us that cat. We just want to play with it, that’s all.” The thug says, smiling as if that would make him look softer.

“N-no! I know you’re gonna be mean to it!” Chizuru shouts back, hiding the cat behind her embrace from the men. The thug gets an irritated look on his face at her words.

“Come on, kid. If you don’t, we might just have to be mean to you too.” He threatens as he pulls a knife from his pocket. Chizuru gets scared as she takes another step back. Before the guys could step any further, they get a chill as Touma steps behind them.

“Hey.” Touma says intimidatingly as they slowly turn around and look up to see him glaring at them. They yell in fear before bowing and running back down the alley.

“We’re very sorry!” They shout together before taking off. Touma watches with sharp eyes as they run away in fear. Chizuru exhales as she calms down and puts the cat down. 

“Touma… Thank you.” She says softly. Touma then sweats and holds his chest.

“He… He had a knife. That was scary…” Touma says with a breath of relief. Chizuru giggles a bit as Touma calms down. The cat then rubs itself against his leg appreciatively. Touma smiles and crouches down to pet the cat gently. “You’re a brave little guy, aren’t you? Good job.” Touma says softly as he pets the cat. Chizuru notices him talking openly to the small cat.

“You talk to small animals often, don’t you?” She asks softly. Touma just smiles and nods, still petting the cat.

“I-I think they’re super cute a-and they make me feel less scary. Because if t-this little guy isn’t scared of me, why should anyone e-else be?” He doesn’t take his eyes off the cat as he pets it. Chizuru is slightly surprised for a moment but smiles warmly. Then her eyes grow wide, and she smiles widely.

“Wait, Touma! You were just talking to me!” She shouts. He looks up confused. “Just now, you were telling me about how you feel without stopping or hesitating!”

He gets a surprised look when he realizes that too. Chizuru then speaks again.

“Maybe… that’s it. Maybe you just need to be yourself. Don’t try to hide how you feel or what you want to say. Don’t try to pretend to be someone you’re not. I think you’ve been trying to act 'proper' for everyone else, but since you’re so nice deep down, you just need to act natural and not hide from others. Just say what you’re thinking and I’m sure it’ll come out!” Chizuru overexplains with a big smile. Touma gets embarrassed and a little overwhelmed.

“Well… I… Um…” He begins to stutter and blush while rubbing the back of his head. Chizuru smiles and sighs a little. 

“We’ll… keep working on it. At least for now, I think we figured out how to help you.” She then smiles warmly at him, and he stops stuttering but blushes more as he sees how cute she is. His eyes shine as he admires Chizuru. She stops giggling and turns away from him. “Come on, we should probably get home.”

“R-right!..” He says, snapping out of it, as they continue down the street while the cat they saved stares at them before meowing and running off. 

In the clubroom, the group is making their way in and settling down as Chizuru walks in with Touma behind her. He is nervous and sweating a bit. 

“Hey Touma, my man! Good to see you!” Haru says with a smile as he raises his hand for a high five. Touma smiles a bit at the friendly gesture and high fives him back.

“Guys, I think we’ve had a breakthrough. Buuut~ I think Touma should be the one to tell you.” Chizuru says as she steps to the side. Everyone is surprised as they all look at Touma. He gets even more nervous and lowers his head. He then looks slightly at Chizuru, who gives him an encouraging look. He takes a deep breath and exhales before speaking.

“I… I appreciate your h-help, but… I think…” He hesitates for a moment before he lifts his head and confidently says- “I think I like Chizuru!” Touma says firmly with a slight blush on his cheeks. They all stare at him confused as his eyes grow wide and he blushes more intensely. “Wait! No, I… I think I like Chizuru’s way of helping me… S-she’s… got a different…method…” He begins to droop as he speaks. Chizuru smiles and sweats as she pats him on the back. 

“I think that was good enough for today.” Chizuru says softly. Touma sits down, holding his head in his hands as Hisana and Haru playfully pat him on the back.

“I think it’d be best if we simply encouraged him to speak his mind rather than do things he doesn’t want to do. His words are in there somewhere, he just has to get used to using them.” Chizuru says to Shiori and Hikigaya.

“I was gonna say, back during the Sports Festival, I could’ve sworn he was doing just fine.” Hikigaya points out.

“That was d-different…” Touma says under his arms with his head on the desk. He lifts his head with his eyes closed. “My sister was there a-and we had a job to do… I didn’t w-want to get in the way…” He drops his head back down as Chizuru motions towards him with a big smile.

“See? He can do it, he just needs some encouragement!” She says with a smile. The others smile and nod.

“Sounds good to me. Big guy just needs to speak his mind more. Seems simple enough.” Kitaro says while leaning back in his chair.

“So does that mean we can mark this problem as a success?” Sugawara asks when suddenly, the clubroom’s door swings open. They all turn sharply to look at the tall figure standing in the doorway. Principal Ai then steps in.

“I have come for my final inspection.” The principal says. Shiori sweats nervously as the principal steps further in and looks around. “I have heard about your stall during the Club Festival. You even made posters. Well done.” She smiles and looks to the other side. Everyone sits quietly and nervously as she inspects. “I can see you’ve made quite a few clubmates. More than what I required. Good job.” She says with a soft smile. Mormo raises an eyebrow at her.

“Who even is this broad? Coming in here and judging us-” Suiyoubi quickly covers his mouth as Principal Ai turns and looks at her. Suiyoubi smiles nervously as she quickly hides Mormo behind her back. Principal Ai smiles.

“Should I count the talking bear as another member or only a half?” She asks. Mormo gets angry and breaks free of Suiyoubi’s grasp and runs around to face Principal Ai.

“Listen here, sister! I ain’t just a half member! I’m a full time support member on this team! I’m more of a member than that guy!” He points his plushy arm at Tsuki in the corner.

“Hey.” Tsuki says.

“So yes, count me as another member. If you don’t, oooh boy! Will I feel sorry for you.” Mormo says as he crosses his arms and turns away from her. She stares in silence for a moment before smiling and crouching down and poking his head gently.

“You’re awfully cute, aren’t you?” Principal Ai asks. He looks back, blushing a little before getting angry.

“Don’t patronize me!” He shouts as Principal Ai stands up.

“Anyway, I had little doubt that you would be able to accomplish the first two requirements with ease. What I’m really here for is about your problem solving. Have you met the required amount?” She stares directly at Shiori, who sweats nervously.

“Y-yes we have.”

“Expound.” Principal Ai says.

“Well, on the day of the Club Festival, we got our first client. It was Suiyoubi. She had lost Mormo, so we spent the day trying to find him and eventually did, as you can see.” Shiori motions towards Suiyoubi as she smiles, and Mormo nods confidently at Principal Ai. 

“Then we helped Mr. Goda achieve his goal in the Sports Festival. He wanted to win his first festival as a teacher, and although we didn’t win, I talked with him after and he said he was very satisfied with what we achieved that day, claiming he felt like a winner, anyway.” Shiori explains. Principal Ai smiles and nods, accepting that response.

“And finally, so far, we have Touma. He came to us seeking help in improving his communication skills. And we have just succeeded in helping him with that too.” Shiori says with a nervous sweat. Principal Ai turns and looks at Touma. He gets nervous and looks away.

“Is that true? Do you think they have helped you?” She asks. Touma looks up at Principal Ai and hesitates. He then nods. “Go on. If they have really helped you, then I’m sure you can say it to me.” She pressures. The others look nervous as Touma sweats. After a moment of hesitation, he speaks.

“Yes. I think t-they have helped me…” He says softly. Principal Ai stares at him for a moment before smiling.

“Good enough for me.” They all sigh in relief. “It seems you have done well to meet my requirements. You no longer have to worry about being shut down or anything of the sort. The Helpers Club is now complete.” The principal proclaims. They smile and high five each other before she speaks again. “But don’t think this is time for you to just slack off. The student body president will ensure that you all continue your best work for your fellow students. Understand?”

Hikigaya and Shiori nod as she smiles back.

“Good. Now, carry on. Don’t let me distract you.” She says, turning around to leave. As she leaves the room, she stops in the doorway and turns back around. “Oh, and Shiori, Hikigaya.” They look at her. “Do keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing your progress.” She says with a smile before leaving. Shiori and Hikigaya both smile back.