CH. 42 - A Coming Challenge

During a new day, back at school. Chizuru, Shiori and Hikigaya are walking down a hall, each holding a box of different papers. 

“Why does Ms. Samuel always make us do her grunt work?” Hikigaya asks, obviously annoyed by the work.

“I don’t know, but at least I’m accompanied by more than just you this time, am I right, Chizuru?” Shiori jokes with a smile as she looks back at her. Chizuru smiles and nods happily. Chizuru smiles as she walks slightly behind them. She looks out the windows into the courtyard of their school as she walks. She then notices Touma, the large, so-called delinquent of their class, walking in the courtyard. Suddenly, a small stray cat jumps out from the bushes at Touma. Chizuru has slowly stopped walking at this point to watch him. The others notice and stop as well.

“What’s up, Chizuru?” Shiori asks. They walk to the window and notice Touma too.

“Huh, wonder what he’s up to.” Hikigaya says.

“I’ve heard some things about that guy. Apparently he’s a big time bully. Taking people’s money in the hallways to let them pass type bully.” Shiori says.

“You think Principal Ai has him on a program like ours?” Hikigaya asks with a smirk.

“No way, ours is special, haha!” Shiori says jokingly as they step away from the window. Chizuru watches Touma as he crouches down to pet the small cat. He plays with the cat gently and has a look on his face of enjoyment as he blushes and pets the cat. Chizuru blushes a bit too.

“He doesn’t feel that bad to me..” She whispers and smiles warmly. The cat then runs away as Touma stands up and watches it leave. Suddenly, a flying kick is sent at Touma by a random girl. He guards as he slides back. Chizuru gasps as she starts running down the hall.

“Come on, guys! Touma is in trouble!” Chizuru shouts. Shiori and Hikigaya look at each other then get looks of determination before following her.

Touma blocks and dodges a flurry of kicks and punches as they make their way to him. Suddenly, Chizuru comes out of the hallway with the others nowhere to be found next to her. The attacker's eyes widen as her kick is stopped just before Touma’s face by Shiori’s left hand in front of Hikigaya’s right, grabbing her foot. They throw her back as she flips and lands.

She is a tall, dark skinned girl with long white hair pulled into a high ponytail. Her eyes are big with red pupils that almost look like fire exists in them. A big smile comes across her face as she taunts Shiori and Hikigaya to come get her. Hikigaya leads by charging her with a left straight punch, which she leans in right to avoid but staying close to Hikigaya, she lands a heavy knee to his stomach causing him to stagger before being thrown behind her. Then, Shiori follows with a left kick, but she beats her to it, landing a heavy kick to Shiori’s stomach, causing her to fall to her knees stunned.

Hikigaya comes back with a right hook, but she ducks under it and elbows him in the same spot as before, causing him to fall to his knees too. Shiori pants heavily as she holds her abdomen with a look of shock on her face.

“How did she… do that?..” She looks up at the girl who is now standing over her. The girl has a wicked smile across her face and a fiery look in her eyes. 

“Aren’t you two the impressive ones.” As she speaks, Chizuru watches from a distance. She has a concerned but slightly confused look on her face.

‘I don’t understand. Her feelings… they have no harmful intent. She’s… playing..?’ Chizuru thinks as Touma takes a step forward towards the girl.

“Alright, that’s enough, Emiko.” He says. Shiori and Hikigaya both look back at Touma with surprised looks as he approaches them.

“C’mon, Touma! I thought I raised you better than to let others fight your battles for you!” The girl, now known as Emiko, says with her hands on her hips. Shiori and Hikigaya stand and dust themselves off casually after catching their breath. Emiko turns and looks at them and then smiles widely.

“Wow! You two really are strong!”

“You caught us by surprise, that’s all.” Shiori says, a little bothered by the results of the attack.

“...you didn’t raise me, by the way… our parents did…” Touma says under his breath with Emiko’s back turned towards him. Despite this, she hears it and stiffens up before suddenly putting Touma in a chokehold. 

“Yeah, so what if they did?! I’m still your big sister, and I helped raise you too, got that!?” Emiko shouts. Touma struggles and nods the best he can to be released while Chizuru comes up to them.

“Wait, sister?”

Emiko stops struggling and looks at Chizuru with a surprised face before smiling. She lets Touma go, causing him to fall to the floor as she stands tall with her fists on her hips and chest pushed out. A spotlight appears on her.

“Why yes! I am Touma’s big sister, Emiko Armada! Fourth Year and three, soon to be four time winner of the Iris High Sports Festival!” She stands there proud as if waiting for applause when no one is impressed. Chizuru looks down to see Touma still on the ground rubbing his neck from the hold. She crouches down beside him.

“Here, let me help you up.” Chizuru offers her hand. Touma looks at her hand and blushes a bit, embarrassed before taking her tiny hand compared to his. Chizuru helps Touma up from the ground, and he looks at her. 

“T-Thank you..” Touma stutters out softly. She blushes when their eyes meet. She looks away after a moment as they stand. Shiori and Hikigaya talk, not even looking at Emiko anymore.

“Sports festival. Isn’t that the thing Mr. Goda keeps talking about?” Shiori asks.

“Yeah, something along the lines of he wants us to represent our class so he can be the winning teacher or something.” Hikigaya responds. Emiko stops her pose and gets angry in the background.

“None of you are even paying attention to me!” Emiko shouts. She then pauses, realizing what they said. A smile comes across her face. “So you’re the new second years I’ve so much about.” They turn and look at her with confused looks as Emiko continues speaking. “Mr. Goda used be my trainer. Eventually, he left to become a P.E. teacher, and imagine my excitement when I realized it was here. He told me since he’s a teacher for a different class, he’d technically be competing against me, and my winning streak was gonna end soon.” As Emiko speaks, Shiori and Hikigaya look at her, somewhat uninterested in her words but still listening. “All because he found two newbies who have talent like no other. Of course, I love a good challenge, but I didn’t actually expect to be challenged. Turns out, I might really need to watch my back this year, won’t I?” Emiko gives the duo a big approving smile. 

“Yeah, that’s all super interesting and stuff, but what does that have to do with beating us up or attacking Touma?” Shiori asks, obviously slightly irritated from getting hit earlier.

“Well, I gotta make sure my little brother is well trained in self defense. Believe it or not, Touma is a big pushover. He’s always let people walk all over him, so I gotta make sure he knows how to stand up for himself.” She gives a thumbs up as Touma looks unapproving of her actions.

“I’ve told you before, I don’t need to know how to fight. I need to know how to talk to people.. I want to make friends, but it’s hard to do that when talking is so hard and I’m this big and scary…” Touma looks down, upset by his lack of communication skills. The others look at him unsure of what to do, then Chizuru places her hand on his arm.

“If it’s friends you want, you can start by being my friend. Only if you want..” She says slightly nervous. He looks down at her and smiles a bit. As they do this, Shiori thinks to herself for a moment.

‘He wants friends and better communication skills, huh?.. This sounds like a job for…’ “The Helpers Club.” Shiori says. Touma looks at Shiori with a confused look.

“The… Helpers Club?”

“Yeah, it’s a new club we made. If you want to work on your communication and friend making skills, then you should come to our room after school. We’ll help you get sorted real quick.” Shiori says with a confident smile as Hikigaya smirks a little, impressed by her plug.

“Nice one, Shiori.” He whispers to her. She gets a confident smile and rubs her finger under her nose.

“I know.” Shiori says. Touma looks at them unsure, then back at Chizuru. She gives him a reassuring smile.

“We’re pretty good at helping people. You definitely should come.” She says warmly.

“If you think that’s the best thing to do…”

“Do it, little bro!” Emiko cheers as she gives him a thumbs up. He smiles a bit nervously then nods.

“Great. Now that's all in order, we should probably get back to what we were doing before Ms. Samuel kills us.” Shiori says casually while walking away. They nod then begin to head out, following her, before Emiko speaks.

“I suppose I’ll be seeing you both again soon, as rivals!” She says with a big, confident smile on her face. Shiori and Hikigaya turn to look at her, then at each other, then back at her with a smile.

“I guess so.” Shiori says. They then turn and head back upstairs with their boxes while Emiko rubs Touma’s head.

“Good job on making some new friends! I knew I was helping!” She giggles as Touma rolls his eyes a bit but smiles at her praise anyway. 

In Shiori’s room, at her desk, she sits writing in her journal that Hikigaya got her for her birthday almost two months ago now. As she writes, Hikigaya comes to her door.

“I’m glad to see you finally putting my gift to use.” He teases. She is surprised by him for a moment but smiles at him.

“Yeah, I’ve been planning to start something new and finally got around to doing it.”

“Something new? Like what?” He asks while taking a seat on her bed behind her.

“Well, I’ve been writing ideas out for a book I want to write, but I think I finally have it all together. I’m gonna start writing my full book.” She says softly.

“Oho finally! We’ve been waiting for you to start. Mom has been asking about you and when you would actually start writing so she could give you some tips.” Hikigaya says. Shiori laughs a little and nods.

“Sorry to keep her waiting.” Shiori says. They sit in silence for a moment while she writes, but then she pauses. Without turning to look at him, her face getting a conflicted look, she asks. “How is she doing? With everything that happened?..”

Hikigaya is surprised by her question for a moment but looks away with a neutral expression. 

“As fine as a mother would be right now. I’ve heard her cry every now and then, but your parents have really been helping her through it.” He answers. Shiori tightens her grip on her pencil.

“And... what about you? Are you okay?” She asks timidly. He is again surprised and looks at her this time. He pauses for a moment before answering.

“Let’s not talk about this right now.” He says softly, avoiding the question. Shiori turns and looks at him with an awkward smile.

“Right, right, sorry!” She awkwardly laughs and sweats a bit. They sit in silence for a moment more before Hikigaya speaks.

“Hey Shiori, if you… ever want me to, you totally don’t have to, but I could maybe draw up your characters or cover art or something...” He says awkwardly. Shiori is shocked by his offer.

“You’re saying that you, the great Hikigaya, are offering to draw my characters and stuff? You want to actually help me?” She says sarcastically. Hikigaya just rolls his eyes and stands up from her bed.

“Alright, yeah, I get it. I guess I just won’t offer then.”

“No, no, haha! I’m joking! I just didn’t expect you to ever offer something like that. You’re always so reserved about your art. I’d love it if you did that.” She says softly, with slight blush in her cheeks. He smiles back with blush in his cheeks too. 

“Well, you better whip me up some character descriptions if you want them drawn.”

“Yes sir!” She says while saluting him with a playful look on her face. He giggles to himself a bit before leaving her room. She smiles warmly before turning back to her desk to continue. 

At school during physical education class. 

“COME ON, MOVE IT! I WANT TO SEE SWEAT AND TEARS, LET’S GO!” Mr. Goda shouts at his class as he makes them run laps around the school track. Most of the class complains about running as he continues to shout at them. 

“Shiori! Hikigaya! Pick it up, you two should be done with your laps by now!” He shouts at them as they come around the bend on their last lap. As soon as they pass the starting line, they walk to the grass center trying to catch their breath.

“How *pant* long was that?” Shiori asks Hikigaya, catching her breath.

“We ran like *pant* three kilometers in five minutes.”

“Jeez…”

“Did I say you’re done?! Now drop and give me 100 push ups then flip over and do 100 sit ups!” Goda shouts at them. They look at him then roll their eyes before doing as they’re told. Haru and Lucy jog next to each other, both slightly winded but staying at a steady pace. Haru looks at the others as Mr. Goda shouts at them.

“He’s really been pushing them the past few days, hasn’t he?” Haru asks.

“Yeah, Chizuru said it’s because of the Sports Festival coming up.” Lucy answers.

“He wants them to be the head runners or something?” Haru asks.

“Yeah, something like that, but he hasn’t even actually asked them yet. He just assumes they will.” Lucy says. Haru laughs a bit while breathing heavy.

“Well, I guess we’ll see if they do. Our class is definitely gonna win if they decide to be our head runners, though.”

Lucy smiles and nods as they continue jogging. Shiori and Hikigaya finish up as other students like Ryuji and Touma begin to finish running their laps. Hikigaya sits up while Shiori lays on her back panting.

“Alright, good job. NOW GIVE ME ANOTHER THREE LAPS!” Goda shouts. They look at him for a moment before speaking,

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” They say in unison. Goda looks at them for a moment before shrugging.

“Worth a shot.”

He gives them an approving smile before turning his attention to the rest of the class. After class, in the locker rooms. Shiori sits on the bench in front of her locker as Hikigaya walks to his locker next to hers. He holds a small towel in front of her. She looks at it surprised then takes it. She begins wiping her sweat around her head as Hikigaya does the same with his own towel.

“Thanks.” She says with a smile. Hikigaya smiles back before beginning to take his shirt off. Shiori blushes a little as he does, noticing his body, but before long she notices some scars across his chest.

“Where were those from?” She asks quietly as not to bring attention to their conversation. Hikigaya is surprised by her question and looks at his chest.

“Oh, these were from one of the Pillars. You know, like Keeper. Her name was Sahara, I think. She had big claws and got me pretty good.” He answers casually and quietly before he pauses, remembering that night and the outcome. He shakes his head a little, brushing away the thoughts. “Yeah, usually I can heal faster than it could scar, but I guess she was a Pillar for a reason.” He tries to smile at her, but she can tell it was forced. He continues to change as he looks at her taking her shirt off. She takes her towel and wipes herself off around her neck and under her arms and across her belly. Distracted by her, he blushes and stares. She notices and blushes a little too, covering herself a bit and turning away.

“What are you staring at?” She asks, embarrassed.

“Oh, uh, nothing really. I was just curious uh… where did you get that sports bra? Is it new, I haven’t seen it before.” He asks, coming up with an excuse. Fortunately, it works.

“Yeah, I got a small pack of them when I went swimsuit shopping with your sister. I’m surprised you haven’t seen them yet, I wear them all the time.” She looks at her bra then at him with a smile, but it fades a little when she realizes about his sister. He smiles softly but obviously saddened. He shakes his head a little again.

“I’m glad you and Amber got to be so close.” He says as he puts his uniform on. Shiori nods a little, turning away with a worried look.

‘Shit! Why do I keep bringing it up? He’s obviously still hurt by it! I have to think of something to change the subject!’ She looks around for anything that can change the topic and sees the towel he gave her. She gets a look as if coming up with an idea. “Where did you get these?” She asks. He looks at her, confused a little but answers anyway.

“Mr. Goda handed them to me on our way in here.”

“Just to you? Think he’s trying to earn our favor?” She leans forward and lifts an eyebrow as if baiting him to think about it. He smiles a bit.

“Haha probably. Instead of outright asking for our help, he’s just gonna try to be nice and push us.” Hikigaya says. Shiori laughs a little back before pausing and getting a look as if getting another, bigger idea.

“Wait, Hikigaya that’s it!” She says excitedly. He looks at her confused as he grabs his bag from the locker. She gets a look of determination as she stares at him. “I know what the Helper’s Club’s next mission is!”