Chapter 7: You Don't Have Friends, You Wouldn't Understand
The floor where the Service Club was located was as quiet as ever. Returning to this classroom after two weeks, Hayashida felt as if an entire era had passed.
"Knock, knock~"
Hayashida made a decision that went against Shizuka Hiratsuka's teachings—he knocked on the door.
However, after waiting for a while without any response from inside, Hayashida took a step back and looked up at the nameplate. It was blank, but this should be the right place, shouldn't it?
Hayashida didn't think he was so old that he'd forget a place he'd been to just two weeks ago, especially since this was the club he had recently joined.
Fortunately, he wasn't the type to sit around and wait. He decisively decided to follow the example of his wise teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, and open the door directly.
"Click~"
As expected, the classroom door didn't open. Strangely enough, Hayashida felt relieved by this outcome.
"Let me do it." A clear female voice sounded from behind him, making the hairs on Hayashida's neck stand on end.
How does this girl walk without making any sound?
The newcomer was none other than Yukino Yukinoshita. As the president of the Service Club, she naturally held the key to this classroom.
Yukino deftly inserted the key into the keyhole. With a sound from the lock bolt, the door opened.
"The teacher kept us a few minutes after class." Yukino explained why she hadn't arrived before Hayashida.
Yukino's International Education class was geographically closer to the Service Club, so normally she should already be inside brewing tea by this time.
"It's fine, I just arrived too." Hayashida felt this line sounded like the worst possible social platitude used during dates.
When the girl arrives later than the boy, shows an apologetic expression for being late, and then the boy replies with 'I just arrived too' to demonstrate gentlemanly manners—even though he's actually been waiting for quite some time.
Fortunately, Hayashida wasn't the boy in that scenario. The windows on this floor were closed, so there was no northwest wind to drink, and he had genuinely just arrived.
"Please come in." Yukino pulled open the classroom door and entered while slightly turning sideways, signaling for Hayashida to follow.
This gesture made Hayashida feel less like he was attending a club activity and more like he was visiting Yukino's home.
Thinking about it carefully, there wasn't much difference. After all, before he joined the Service Club, this classroom had only ever had Yukino in it—it was essentially her private territory.
Remembering this, Hayashida solemnly said: "Pardon the intrusion~"
Yukino was taken aback by these words and couldn't help but laugh as she reminded him: "This is a classroom, not my home."
"No, it's mainly because of your earlier 'please come in.' If I don't follow it with 'pardon the intrusion,' it feels like something's missing."
They took their seats, maintaining the familiar 2-3 meter safe social distance.
It seemed as if this seat hadn't been moved since that day he left, but judging by the lack of dust, Yukino must have cleaned it.
Though probably not specifically—more likely she just wiped it with a cloth during her routine cleaning.
Hayashida wasn't so self-important as to think she would specifically clean his chair.
"Your... leg, how is it?"
After sitting down, Yukino hesitated but still asked this question. It was apparent she still felt troubled about it, which was normal. For people with conscience, guilt isn't something that easily disappears, even when the victim has clearly expressed forgiveness.
Especially when that person is Yukino.
Although he hadn't known her for long, Hayashida could still glimpse the girl's character through certain details.
"The doctor said I still need to avoid running and jumping for now, but walking normally is no longer an issue."
"Is that so? That's good to hear."
Yukino felt slightly relieved, then remembered the request from Shizuka. Since it involved recruiting new club members, she decided to seek Hayashida's opinion.
"Recruit new members? Of course, you're the club president so it's your call." Hayashida had no objections. His goal was to help people solve problems and earn Wish Power Points. An additional member would mean an extra pair of hands.
Seeing that Hayashida didn't oppose the idea, Yukino felt they could take on this request, though they would first need to assess the person Hiratsuka-sensei recommended.
"Speaking of which, aside from Hiratsuka-sensei, has anyone else come to our club with requests?" Hayashida asked.
Yukino paused while pouring tea, placed the paper cup on Hayashida's desk, and shook her head regretfully. "As much as I hate to admit it, no, there hasn't been anyone else."
"I see... May I ask you a question, Yukino-san?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you have any friends?"
As soon as he asked, in Hayashida's perception, the emotional aura surrounding the girl began shifting colors rapidly, and her gaze drifted away.
Flustered, awkward, embarrassed, annoyed...
Hmm, seems like she doesn't.
Reading the feedback from his emotional perception, Hayashida understood.
Indeed, sometimes exceptionally talented people struggle to make friends.
But it's quite rare for someone like Yukino to have no friends at all.
Thinking this, Hayashida decided to give her an easy way out—he hadn't meant to embarrass her. In fact, he simply wanted Yukino to help promote the Service Club through her social circle.
Who would have thought she didn't even have a social circle!
"Well..."
"Um... could you first define what exactly constitutes a friend?"
Just as Hayashida was considering how to smooth things over, Yukino spoke up, sounding slightly flustered.
Hayashida: ...
He sighed. "Never mind. People who say things like that usually don't have any friends."
Yukino's face grew slightly flushed.
But she didn't know how to retort. If it were anyone else, Yukino would have already switched to her sharp-tongued persona. The problem was, the person in front of her was Hayashida—the same person her family's car had sent to the hospital just half a month ago, and who had only now recovered. This made it impossible for her to respond with her usual sarcasm.
"What does that have to do with whether I have friends or not?" Yukino protested faintly.
"By handling requests from friends, we can build our reputation. Otherwise, just sitting here in this classroom, we probably won't get any commissions," Hayashida explained.
Yukino had considered this before, but the key issue was that she didn't have any friends!
Wait—if she didn't have friends, did that mean Hayashida didn't either?
If he didn't, even better—she could throw his earlier "mockery" right back at him.
"You don't have any friends either?" Yukino shot back.
"I do have one, but he probably doesn't want to see me lately." Hayashida rubbed his chin.
He definitely had friends. Under normal circumstances, unless someone's personality was too difficult, even if they couldn't make many friends, they would still have one or two.
"If he doesn't want to see you, can he really be considered a friend?" Yukino felt there was something wrong with Hayashida's statement.
Yukino had expected him to explain, but instead, Hayashida simply replied, "Sigh, you don't have friends, so you wouldn't understand."