The Angel Of Assistance

He had a feeling of disbelief.

Could what happened just now have been mere coincidence?

Yet, the lingering heat in his chest showed no signs of cooling down, making it impossible to pass off as a lucky stroke of fortune or an absolute fluke.

At any rate, he couldn’t help but be intensely curious about the upperclassman named Akira Ikoma.

Unable to sit still due to his growing curiosity about her, Takumi decided to look into her background.

However, he had no one to ask for information about an upperclassman girl. In the first place, he simply had no friends.

Acknowledging his own naive approach, during the next break time, he hunched his shoulders and stealthily headed up to the floor where the second-year classrooms were located.

Fortunately, Akira was found almost immediately.

In front of the bulletin board, she was pinning up posters like sanitation and health newsletters.

Beside her stood another student holding the same set of posters.

It seemed she was lending a helping hand yet again.

From then on, he searched for Akira during every break time and continued his observations.

During every single break, she was either carrying handouts, bringing notebooks to the staff room alongside teachers, or helping out with something.

Even during class, he caught sight of her carrying bibs out toward the sports ground through the window.

After school, she was seen delivering documents to the student council room, handing cardboard boxes presumably containing equipment to students in athletic jerseys around the club building, or being called over by teachers to handle various favors.

She seemed to be offering a helping hand everywhere throughout the school, just like she had during lunch time.

She didn’t appear to belong to any specific committee or club.

Was that simply her natural disposition?

Voices calling out “Thanks, Ikoma-san!” and “You’re always a lifesaver!” echoed around her.

There were also male students showing foolishly enamored expressions toward her, as well as female students casting passionate glances her way.

—The Angel of Assistance.

Akira was apparently so popular that people whispered such titles about her. Hearing that, the epithet made complete sense.

He felt a desire to call out to her.

However, he was all too aware of the objective evaluation and impression people held of him.

If Takumi were to talk to her, who knew what might happen.

He had no intention of causing trouble for her.

Besides, she was always so busy. Calling out to her without any real reason would only get in her way.

Though, to be fair, he also simply had no idea how he should even talk to her.

Before he knew it, a considerable amount of time had passed.

The remaining people inside the school building had thinned out.

Just understanding her existence and personality was already a huge harvest for today.

With that thought, as he swapped his shoes at the entrance locker to head home for the day—

“…Guh.”

He was met with a sudden passing shower. The downpour was heavy enough to make him hesitate to step out without an umbrella.

Faced with the rain pounding violently against the ground, Takumi stood frozen on the spot.

Looking up at the sky, thick black clouds stretched across the expanse. There was no sign of it letting up anytime soon.

Now, what should he do?

There were a few umbrellas of unknown ownership in the umbrella rack, but he couldn’t just use them without permission.

Even so, he couldn’t stand here forever.

Just as he steeled his resolve to make a run for the station, someone lightly tapped his shoulder twice.

“Well, well, looks like you’re in a pinch with this sudden rain, underclassman-kun!”

“!? I-Ikoma-senpai…”

Startled by the sudden approach, Takumi’s shoulders jumped violently. Turning around, he saw Akira grinning playfully, looking as if a prank had succeeded.

Akira held out a somewhat plain-looking rain umbrella toward him.

“Here, use this! Um, if I remember correctly, you were the one who helped carry boxes at noon… Kimchi Hashio-kun!”

“Eh, no, but…”

“Don’t worry about me! I have a folding one. You can just put the umbrella in the rack by the second-year lockers later!”

“…Ah.”

Never dreaming that Akira would approach him, his mind went completely blank.

As Takumi stood there agonizing over how to respond, Akira quickly opened a folding umbrella she pulled from her bag, raised a hand with a “See ya!”, and walked off.

It all happened in a flash.

With Akira’s figure disappearing into the distance, Takumi stood dazed and motionless, holding the umbrella she had handed him.

This was the first time in his life he had ever borrowed an umbrella—or anything at all, really—from someone.

Not knowing how to process it, confusion outweighed feelings of joy or gratitude.

Yet, it certainly didn’t feel bad. A warm sensation gradually spread throughout his chest, and his feet felt light, almost as if he were dreaming.

However, a sudden notification from his smartphone snapped him back to reality.

“! Kotori…?”

Aside from his parents, Kotori was the only person who ever contacted Takumi.

«Help me! I have to wear eau de cologne to school tomorrow! They said it suits me and pushed it on me, and, um…»

It seemed there was another request for a routine.