CH. 38 - The Helper's Club Begins!

After school, the group gets ready to head home but this time with a couple extra faces, Kitaro and Hisana. They wave goodbye as they head home together, Sugawara and Haru doing the same, holding hands as they go. Shiori smiles while watching them.

“They’re so cute aren’t they?” Shiori asks. Chizuru nods enthusiastically.

“Aw, Shiori has a soft spot for cute romances?” Hikigaya teases.

“Shut up.” She rolls her eyes in agitation at his comment as he giggles.

“We’re gonna head home. See you guys tomorrow!” Hikigaya waves at them while Shiori does the same as they walk off. The others wave back as Lucy turns to Ryuji.

“You wanna get dinner tonight and watch a movie? I heard this new one came out called Grin. It’s a horror movie, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She asks with a casual smile. Ryuji doesn’t even look at her as she speaks.

“I can’t. I have things to do.” He then turns and begins walking away. Lucy looks confused and sad at his cold response.

“He… never turns down a movie night…” Lucy whispers under her breath.

“It’s okay, Lucy. Maybe he’s trying to finish a new recipe? You know how focused he can get.” Chizuru says, trying to cheer her up. Lucy lowers her head.

“No… It wasn’t like that… He’s been different ever since…” She thinks back to her yelling at Chizuru about not liking him, how she never will, and how he heard her say that. She strains as she thinks about what he could be feeling. Chizuru stares helplessly. “I didn’t… mean it…” Lucy says softly, clenching her fist as her voice breaks ever so slightly. Chizuru approaches her and gently places her hand on Lucy’s back. Lucy lifts her head a bit, surprised by the gesture.

“I know you didn’t, Lucy. But he doesn’t know that. I know you struggle with change and like the way things are now, but… things are changing.” She gives Lucy a sympathetic but reassuring look. Lucy composes herself a bit and gives Chizuru a weak smile.

“Heh, big talk for someone fresh out of the hospital.” Lucy jokes.

“It’s not my first time, you know.” Chizuru says back. They happily laugh together before Chizuru speaks up. “So, what’s this about a new horror movie?” Chizuru asks. Lucy looks at her, surprised a bit, but smiles warmly.

“You sure you can handle it?”

“I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to sleep again a few days after the movie.” Chizuru says with a sweat. They laugh as they head off together to enjoy the rest of the night.

Shiori sits with her eyes closed. She is back in the infinite flat desert with many clouds covering the sky. Although this time, there are few places in the sky where you can almost see through the clouds, almost see light peaking through. She opens her eyes, not wearing her patch like before. She sighs and looks at the ground for a moment before she hears a voice.

“Why are there so many clouds here?”

She lifts her head, a little surprised by the voice, as a young boy not much older than eight sits with his back against hers. His hair is large and spiky, but his eyes are covered in white light. Despite getting surprised by this visitor, she calmly answers the boy.

“I’m not sure. I came here a long time ago, and it was just like this. It used to even rain all the time.” Shiori explains.

“Did you at least have an umbrella?” The boy asks with a gentle, genuine tone.

“Nope.”

“Hm. That doesn’t sound fun at all.”

“It definitely wasn’t.” She chuckles to herself a bit. They sit in silence for a moment before she speaks again. “What am I supposed to do?”

“About what?”

“Hikigaya, Amber, everything that happened… I can’t stop thinking about it…” She lowers her head, trying to fight back the sadness. “So much went wrong, I don’t know what to do now.”

The boy doesn’t answer immediately. They sit together in silence once more before the boy speaks.

“I wish I could give you the answer.”

She lifts her head up a bit and stares off into the distance with a saddened look.

“Yeah, me too.”

They sit in silence one more time before the boy says something that piques Shiori’s interest.

“At least you don’t have to be alone here. The clouds can keep you company.”

Her eyes widen a bit as she turns around.

“You’re…”

The boy slowly turns to look at her with a warm smile as she stares at him with wide eyes before waking up in her bed.

She stares at the ceiling of her room before sitting up. She looks around the room before rubbing her eyes and calming down with a sigh. Soon, she leaves her room, now dressed in casual clothes and not pajamas, and approaches Hikigaya’s door. She pauses for a moment but knocks on his door. There is a pause for a few moments, with no response. After the moments of silence, Hikigaya opens the door. His eyes are rough and have bags under them as if he was crying or not sleeping. 

“What’s up, Shiori?”

“Are… you okay?” She asks softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Did you need something?” He answers casually. She gives him a look of disbelief but continues, anyway.

“We need to talk about Fullsky and Watchdog.” He looks a bit surprised but agrees. They both sit on his bed, facing each other as they talk.

“I know what we did was a good thing and probably saved a lot of people’s lives, but… I don’t think I can do it anymore.” Shiori admits to him. Hikigaya simply nods with a sigh.

“I know what you mean. When I first started, I thought I’d be fighting off thugs and street criminals. I didn’t realize there was such a large crime operation going on like the Syndicate.”

“I know I should use my powers for good and maybe one day I will be strong enough to be Fullsky again, but for now… I’m not ready for that responsibility.”

Hikigaya nods, agreeing. 

“I love helping people and beating up bad guys, but right now… I don’t know if I could bring myself to do it again…” He looks down for a moment at his hand with a sad look. Shiori knows why he feels the way he does and she, too, gets a sad look. Hikigaya then shakes his head just a bit and looks up with a soft smile. “Besides, Chief knows his way around the city. He can handle himself pretty well. He was before we showed up, that’s for sure.”

“Haha yeah. And after a loss like that, I’m sure the Devil’s Syndicate will be quiet for a long while. I will miss being able to help people out, though.” She says as she nods slowly. Hikigaya looks at her for a moment, then gets a smile and looks like he got an idea.

“Well, there is another way we can still help people.” Hikigaya says. She looks at him for a moment in confusion.

“You wanna make a club?!”

Back at school during the day, in their classroom.

“Yep.” Hikigaya says.

“Why?” Lucy asks.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love clubs. I was totally gonna try to join one or two during the festival, but you hate clubs.” Chizuru says with a pleasantly confused look.

“Mr. ‘Clubs are a waste of time and only morons join them’.” Haru mocks him as Hikigaya gives him an angry glare. Shiori looks surprised, learning something new about Hikigaya.

“Wow, so much disdain for clubs. What happened?” Shiori asks.

“Hikigaya over here used to think that hating things made him cool and interesting. Little did he know, it didn’t.” Haru answers with a mocking smirk.

“Alright, I get it. This is dumb and I shouldn’t've said anything.” Hikigaya says harshly and lays his head down in defeat as the group looks at him, then each other, realizing their poor response. 

“It isn’t dumb! It’s just unexpected!” Chizuru says quickly.

“Yeah, c’mon, tell us more!” Haru says too. Hikigaya slowly lifts his head and gives them a look of distrust for a moment before sitting up.

“Fine, but if you make fun of me again, that’s it.”

“Yes, yes.” They all say together, nodding and agreeing. Hikigaya smiles and continues. 

“So, you know the club festival is coming up where all the clubs try to recruit new people and new clubs make their first appearance, right? Well, I want to start a new Helpers Club and make its debut during the festival!”

“Helpers Club?” Sugawara asks, confused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hisana asks, also confused.

“My idea is that this club exists to solve problems. Like, something is missing, another club needs help, relationship trouble, anything you might need help with! Other students will come to us with a problem and we will fix it or do our best to help, eh??” He says enthusiastically. No one responds for a moment and they just give him blank stares. His smile slowly fades as no one responds. Kitaro then places a hand on his shoulder and looks him in the eyes with a casual expression.

“Hikigaya. That is a great idea for a club.”

“And it’s so you.” Lucy adds.

“The Helpers Club! Let’s go!” Haru cheers.

“Yeah!” Sugawara cheers too, as they raise their fists in the air with large smiles on their faces. The others all smile in approval.

“You guys really think so?” Hikigaya asks, pleasantly surprised at their reaction.

“Of course! It sounds like it could open the door for many fun adventures, too.” Chizuru says excitedly.

“The cooking club looks lame, anyway.” Ryuji says with a cool smile. Hikigaya smiles and looks at Shiori, who gives him a warm thumbs up. 

“Then it’s settled. This year, we’re gonna start our own club. The Helpers Club!”

“Yeah!” They cheer happily for a moment before Ms. Samuel calls to them.

“Shiori, Hikigaya. Principal Ai would like to see you in her office.” They look at her, then at each other, confused.

They both take a seat back in her office once again like orientation day over a year ago. Principal Ai sits waiting for them to fully sit down.

“Brings back memories, doesn't it?” Principal Ai asks playfully. Shiori smiles in response. “It certainly makes me happy to see such bright expressions coming from you two, especially you, Shiori.” Principal Ai says with a smile. Shiori looks at her, surprised for a moment, then blushes a bit out of embarrassment. 

“First off, I have to start with a good job. You made it through the year with only minor hiccups, but even then, those weren’t entirely your fault. I am proud of you two for that, but let me be clear. You aren’t off the hook yet. You both are to stay together like before and though your classes will still be scheduled for you, I will allow you to attend school events. On the condition that you will not be allowed to join any clubs until you prove yourselves another year.” She says plainly and directly as the two of them get shocked looks.

“What?!” They shout together.

“You can’t do that! It’s the one thing we were looking forward to!” Hikigaya says desperately.

“Yeah! What about our good record last year? Doesn’t that mean anything?” Shiori asks.

“I will admit, it did surprise me to hear so little about you both, but there is a reason we put you on this program in the first place.” Principal Ai says.

“Please, just hear us out real quick. We were talking, and we decided we wanted to make a club.” Hikigaya says, collecting his emotions just a bit.

“Yeah, it’s called the Helpers Club. The whole point of it is to help other students with any problems they have! Wouldn’t that help to prove ourselves?” Shiori offers. Principal Ai stares at them for a moment before grabbing her chin and thinking it over. 

“Hmm… I suppose that does sound like a productive idea. And combined with your year of good behavior, I really can’t find a good reason to deny the club request.”

Principal Ai has a look as if still trying to think of a good argument against the club while Shiori and Hikigaya get looks of joy as they see Principal Ai progressively becoming defeated.

“*sigh* Alright look. Based on your good behavior and valid point about the club, I am willing to allow you to develop this club. On the condition that you will need to have a club stall created in time for the festival, get at least four other members, and solve at least three problems, real problems, by the beginning of the new year. If those requirements are not met, I will personally see to it that this Helpers Club is disbanded immediately. On top of that, I am going to be more strict about your good behavior. If you step out of line and fall back to your old ways, I am shutting you down immediately. Am I clear?” Principal Ai says sternly.

“Very.” Shiori says with a big smile on her face. Principal Ai smiles in return, as if satisfied with their determination to make this work. 

“Great. I’m sure you know the festival is in a few days, so I’d get moving if I were you.”

They both get surprised looks, obviously forgetting when it was. They sit staring for a moment before Principal Ai motions for them to get going. They then quickly scramble to their feet and make their way out her door. Just as they’re barely out of her door, she calls back to them.

“Oh yeah, one more thing.”

They both freeze and look back. She reaches into her desk and pulls out a key she had at the ready. She tosses it to Shiori, who catches it and looks at her.

“Your club room will be Room 108 in the Club Hall. Don’t disappoint me now.” She gives them an approving smile as Shiori smiles back widely before taking off with Hikigaya. A man, another staff worker in the office, steps across the doorway, stopping in front of it with a cup of warm coffee in hand, staring at Shiori and Hikigaya as they leave the office. He looks back with a smile at Ai.

“You were gonna approve their club, anyway.”

Ai simply shrugs with a smile on her face as she turns to face her computer. Ayuma, the man, just chuckles a bit while shaking his head and continuing down the hall.

Shiori and Hikigaya come running back into the room. The others look at them with confused looks.

“Guys! We got a room.” Shiori lifts the key as the others smile excitedly.

Later, the group walks down a hallway in the Club Hall. There are lots of other students putting up banners and decorations as well as setting up booths in front of their rooms and other things.

“Wow, these clubs really take the festival seriously.” Haru says with a smile.

“Of course. This is the main time they can get new members and grow their clubs.” Ryuji responds casually.

“Yeah, well, these guys won’t know what hit them when they see our club!” Chizuru says with a determined look. They look at the room numbers and find a room on the second floor under 108. They stop for a moment outside the door before opening it.

Inside, it looks like any other classroom. A few desks around. Some closets and a few things lying about as this room was used for storage occasionally. They go inside and look around with unimpressed looks on their faces.

“As far as club rooms go, I’ve seen better.” Kitaro says, as Hisana elbows him a bit. 

“It definitely looks boring, but we’ll get it in shape.” Hikigaya says as he gives a smile to Shiori, who gives him a look of agreement.

“So, this is our very own club room?” Sugawara asks with shiny eyes of amazement. 

“Yup. This will be our special place for the Helpers Club.” Lucy answers. He gets a big smile on his face.

“I never thought I’d join a club…” Sugawara says softly as Haru looks at him with adoration and blushes while smiling.

“You’re so cute.” He says. Sugawara looks at him and starts blushing before Haru grabs him by the face and gives him a big kiss. While they do that, the others look around as Shiori speaks.

“Alright guys. The Club Festival is coming up soon, so we have to get started right away. Where should we begin?” She looks at the others, who stare at her blankly for a moment.

“Uh, sorry, I can’t help today. I gotta go shopping to make dinner for my family tonight.” Haru says.

“I’m with him.” Sugawara adds.

“Kitaro and I have stuff to do, too.” Hisana says as Kitaro nods. Shiori and Hikigaya both droop for a moment before straightening up. She rubs her forehead in slight frustration.

“Okay, fine, I guess we’ll start tomorrow, but we have to take it seriously! We only have a few days and all the other clubs have a head start on us!” Shiori says with a serious look. They all agree and begin making their way out of the room.

Out front of the school, they say their goodbyes like they normally do as they begin to walk home. Chizuru and Lucy follow behind Ryuji and talk until eventually Chizuru parts ways like normal. Lucy waves goodbye and turns back to face Ryuji. 

“Well, we better get going!” She laughs awkwardly as she walks past him. He doesn’t move from his position, however. 

“Lucy.” He says. She stops and looks at him, confused. “We need to talk.” He says in a direct but soft tone. Lucy begins to nervously sweat, but turns to face him. He stares at her intently, with no sign of nervousness or anxiety.

“W-what is it?” She asks. He stares at her as she stares back. There is silence between them as a warm breeze passes through the surrounding air.

“Lucy. I’m in love with you.” Ryuji says, without any hesitation or doubt. Her eyes widen as she blushes. He continues to stare at her as she lowers her head with a nervous look. She doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t say anything else. After a moment of silence, Lucy finally responds.

“Ryuji… I… We can’t… We can’t be together…”

He stares at her, but his eyes are widened with surprise ever so subtly. His expression then falls a bit, filled with a sudden rush of sadness, but just as quickly as it comes, he then smiles at her with shiny eyes.

“Okay.” He then continues to walk home after gently taking her hand and pulling her along, walking with her. She gets a look of surprise but then gets a look of sadness, as if on the verge of tears. “It’s okay. I still love you. Always.” He says as he gently pulls her along. Neither of them saying another word on their way home.