"Yukino-senpai, Yui-senpai, senpai, thank you again! I'll see you in a bit with the rest of the details!" Isshiki thanked us for agreeing to help her out again with an event at the community center, then ran off before I could try again to get out of this ordeal. At least it sounded like it would only be something like setting up chairs and cleaning up after. I hope. Either way there are two other problems I had to deal with: Yukinoshita and Yuigahama glaring at me.

"Hikki, you spoil Iroha-chan too much." Yuigahama gave up glaring and said so in what sounded like a distant tone.

"I thought we've gone over this, if she relies on us too much then it defeats the purpose of this club." Yukinoshita of course had her strong opinions on the matter. Not that I didn't understand what she's getting at, but calling this reliance is a bit too much.

"Geez, I try to be a nice guy and this is what I get. It'll probably just be setting up chairs and throwing away trash. Asking for help for something like that doesn't seem unreasonable. If anything, it shows that she can be resourceful and find cheap labor for menial tasks like that." Not bad, if I say so myself. Still, Yukinoshita sighed and held her temple.

"First, if I remember correctly you were doing what you could to avoid helping at all costs, so you obviously aren't doing this out of kindness. You aren't wrong however, about it probably being something like that. Actually, you're perfect for taking out the trash. Oh sorry, I meant that you're trash." She went on to pick up the book she was reading before Isshiki came in, and didn't continue her assault on my heart. Looks like her low expectations of me convinced her. That's okay with me.

"Hikki… what did she whisper to you, by the way?" Ugh, I hoped they wouldn't ask that. Isshiki reminded me about the receipts she's been keeping whenever we hang out, or even if I'm near her and she pays for stuff using the student council budget. Also, how am I supposed to say no when she approaches my chair like that, leans over me, holds onto my shoulder to support herself, and whisper into my ears with that tone?

"She was just reminding me about a favor I owed her. Actually, I think this is something I can take care of on my own. It shouldn't take more than an hour at most, and I'll just find somewhere to read while I wait for the event to finish."

I felt my face starting to get flushed so I grabbed my book as well and replied in a hurry. They began to glare at me again, I could tell without looking up to check. It didn't last long however. I heard two sighs and when I looked up they were occupied with reading. Yuigahama started studying during club so she could ask Yukinoshita or me for help, so I wasn't surprised. I might have been first to try to do homework here during club time, but of course Yukinoshita wasn't having any of that. The next day Yuigahama tried, and convinced (seduced?) Yukinoshita to let her and even to help her out. Hmm… what a nice friendship. Sarcasm aside, I really do think this is good to see. For someone like Yukinoshita, who probably hasn't had a friend like Yuigahama, it has really helped her break out of her shell. As for Yuigahama, I feel Yukinoshita is a great influence. She challenges her and is always willing to help her, whether it's teaching or simply listening to her. As I thought about this, the door opened with Isshiki coming back, as expected.

"I'm back! Are you guys ready to go?" Isshiki was carrying a rather large box, apparently stuff she needed for the event. She approached me and gave us a huge smile. Geez, you're too cute when you want to.

"Isshiki, what are we going to do? Just set up and clean up after? I can help you myself, doesn't sound like it'll take too long." I rose from my chair and made a motion to take the box from her. It bothers me a bit to see how trained I've become under Komachi's guidance, but I don't mind since it would be weird to let her carry that all the way. She gave me a sheepish smile as she handed it to me, but then made an exaggerated gasp.

"Are you perhaps hitting on me? I'm sorry but I'm really busy with school and being the student council president, so it won't work at this time. Also, you're not my type." Wow, she can't be this mean. Oh well, I was expecting to get rejected anyway. Wait, I didn't really ask her out.

"All right, I get it, I don't have a chance. Now let's get this over with." I tried to sound irritated and headed towards the door, but Isshiki just smiled back and got ahead of me to lead the way. As if on cue, I heard the other two quickly gather their belongings and follow us towards the hallway.

"We don't mind helping at all, Iroha-chan! We'll do a better job than Hikki!" Gahama-san, that second part wasn't necessary.

"Indeed, that man won't be able to do anything without supervision. Allow us to help as well." Well, they both sounded convincing at least. Makes no difference to me so I'm not going to stop them.

"Thanks to both of you! It'll be fun I promise!" And with that we were off to the community center.

The center wasn't too far from school. As usual, the three girls were walking slightly ahead of me, chatting happily and laughing. I could see a head of pink hair, in its dumpling ball hairstyle, swaying back and forth as Yuigahama alternated speaking to Isshiki, who would glance back occasionally and smile, and Yukinoshita, who would enter the conversation occasionally. Again, girls getting along is a nice thing to see.

The only thing that made this a pain was this huge box I was carrying. It wasn't really heavy as much it was bulky, but it was heavy enough that I had to shift it several times to be able to make it. I should have made that girl carry it after all. Sure, she was a girl, younger than me as well. Her frame is small, but she carried it herself from the student council room. And what about gender equality? The more noticeable differences between genders are body size and strength (and of course… never mind). If women started carrying boxes for men and do the heavy lifting, I bet in several generations the size and strength disparity between sexes would decrease. This just might be the revolutionary way of thinking we need to finally have equality for all.

As I was entertaining this stupid train of thought, we were finally across the family center. We were waiting for the signal to turn, and I noticed two figures exiting the center and head our way, as if to cross the street as well. I heard an excited voice, and immediately recognized both of them.

"Ha-chan!" Kawasaki Keika, aka Kei-chan, let go of her sister's hand to wave energetically at us, since her other was occupied with a small drink. Her sister, Kawa-something-san, seemingly embarrassed to having so many stares in her direction, also made a small wave.

Ah, for her it was probably those moments when you recognize someone from far away, and should probably greet them, but the distance makes it awkward. Like if they're too far and you call out their name (like Keika did) you just stare at each other until you get close enough to not talk normally.

I noticed Keika grab a sheet out of her small backpack, and with a huge smile ran towards us.

Kawasaki saw this too and yelled at her to get back, but she was already mid-street.

I saw her horrified expression and immediately scanned the road to see if cars or bikes were crossing.

A small van, probably from some utility company, honked its horn and slammed on the breaks.

As soon as I saw it, I dropped the box and ran towards the little girl who had frozen in place. I knew I wouldn't get there in time, but I hoped I could at least hold her and take most of the impact. If I saved a dog, and not a human…

I was able to pick her up, but as soon as I tried running-