Eventually Winter breaks ends and the chilled morning comes where they all return to school. Haru yawns as he stretches in his chair in the club room.
Haru "Man, that Winter break went by really fast. We should try to have everyone over for Christmas and New Year's next time."
Sugawara "That sounds good to me."
He says with a smile. The group all hangs out in the club room and as they all chat with each other, Shiori is looking at a journal for the club. She sweats as she taps her pencil on the book. Chizuru notices and speaks.
Chizuru "What's wrong Shiori? You seem stressed out about something."
Shiori "It's just that it's already the new year but we only have two problems solved when Principal Ai asked for three. Our club won't be approved officially unless we meet her requirements."
Hikigaya "Oh yeah, that's right. But no one else has come to the club since Mr. Goda…"
They both get worried looks as Chizuru gets a thinking look. She then gets a look as if having a revelation.
Chizuru "That's not true! Touma!"
They look at her confused. She pauses for a moment but they don't remember so she sighs and continues.
Chizuru "Remember? Touma said that he wanted to get better at communication? I told him we would help him!"
She says with a smile as they seem to remember her words.
Shiori "That's right. But besides in homeroom, I haven't seen him all day."
Hikigaya "How could a guy that big go so unseen?"
Chizuru looks down in thought before getting an idea. She gets up and leaves the room for a moment before coming back a minute later with Touma following. They all get surprised.
Lucy "How did you..?"
Chizuru "I knew Touma was telling the truth when he said he wanted to improve his social skills but I also guessed he'd be pretty shy about it. I found him hiding around the corner, probably too nervous to actually come inside!"
She giggles as Touma gets embarrassed. She guides him to take a seat at the long table they set up with the others as Tsuki stares in awe from his seat in the corner.
Tsuki 'The big guy from the festival? What's he doing here? I only heard that this guy is bad news…' "Um, guys? Can I suggest-"
He says as they all, including Touma, turn to look at him. In Tsuki's eyes, Touma seems to be glaring intensely at him in a mean way. Tsuki gets scared and quiets down.
Tsuki "Actually, nevermind…"
Touma looks at him confused before he turns back when Kitaro talks to him.
Kitaro "Glad you could make it bro."
He bumps him on the arm as Touma stares happily.
Touma 'He just called me his bro!'
Shiori "So Touma."
He stops blushing and looks at Shiori who is on the other side of the table from him.
Shiori "You have come to us today in search of help. And we, The Helpers Club, will provide you with just that. Now what is it you need help with?"
They all look at Touma who gets nervous.
Touma "...uh… I… um…"
They sweat as he stutters to get his words out.
Shiori "I see. It appears we have our work cut out for us. Shall we begin then?"
Touma "Uh… now?.."
Hisana "Alright! Another adventure!"
Haru "This one ought to be funny."
Ryuji smiles and elbows Haru to be nicer to Touma. Touma nervously smiles as the club makes their way out of the room. They go to the courtyard and group up.
Shiori "Alright Touma. First things first, is there anything in particular with communication you have trouble with?"
He stands there in silence for a moment before shrugging.
Touma "Every…thing.."
He says nervously. Shiori sweats.
Shiori "Okayyy… well then let's start with the basics. Show me what you got in the Helpers Club's state of the art socialization simulator!"
She motions towards a bench where Hisana is sitting and bouncing back and forth happily.
Shiori "Take a seat across from her and just start a conversation."
He nervously sits across from her and looks down. Hisana looks his way softly as he slowly looks at her.
Touma "I… How are-"
Hisana "Stop right there! I knew it was too good to be true! You are just too cute for me! It's okay, I understand. Our lives are meant to take separate paths. We were just never meant to be… But my heart can't take hearing you say it so I'll just go! Just promise me one thing… when you see the sun setting on the horizon… Think of me!"
She gets up and runs away crying as everyone looks confused except for Kitaro.
Kitaro "There she goes again. Fabricating a whole love story in her own head."
She stops a ways away then runs back.
Hisana "Oh I know! Kitaro, you be my boyfriend!"
Kitaro "No."
Hisana "Aw! Why are you always so mean to me?! How many times must you reject me?!"
She yells as she bangs on his arm, Kitaro ignoring her. Touma looks at them confused as Shiori face palms.
Shiori "Alright, maybe someone not so complicated…"
Ryuji then sits across from Touma. They sit in silence as everyone watches. They look at each other in the eyes before nodding and turning to the others and giving them thumbs up. The others are confused as Haru laughs.
Hikigaya "Am I missing something or..?"
Sugawara "Maybe it was telepathic?"
Shiori "I guess that's progress..? Let's move on from the simulator."
They make their way outside of school and see a girl stopped on the sidewalk. She is looking around on the ground and through her purse as if she has lost something. Shiori sees this and gets an idea.
Shiori "Ah, here's a good test. She seems to have lost something. Why don't you go over there and offer a helping hand?"
He sees her and is very hesitant but they encourage him and he goes anyway. He walks to her kind of droopy since he doesn't want to do it but approaches her anyway. She sees him coming and from her perspective, she sees a large, scary man coming her way. She gets nervous and sweats. Touma stops next to her and doesn't say anything.
Girl "C-can I help you?.."
Touma "...C-can I… um…"
She begins to get more nervous as she sees him point to her purse that she was looking through.
Girl "O-oh yeah of course! Silly me! Here, just… don't hurt me!"
She takes her purse off then hands it to him before running away screaming. He sweats as he walks back to the others holding the purse and looking upset.
Hikigaya "Sorry man…"
Touma "I-it's okay… I'm used to it…"
Chizuru perks up a bit at his words before Shiori decides to move on.
Shiori "Let's try one last thing."
They come to a coffee shop as she points her hand to the entrance.
Shiori "This one should be easy. I'm sure you've ordered food before, so just go in there and order a drink of your choice, I'll pay."
He looks at the shop and sweats a bit before lowering his head and stepping inside. They watch him through the window as he talks to the barista. The barista sweats a bit as Touma doesn't seem to be saying anything. Suddenly, the barista turns around and makes a drink before handing it to Touma and waving his hands. Touma then turns around and walks back out holding a chocolate drink and looking distraught.
Touma "I don't even like chocolate…"
The group sweats as Haru giggles to himself and Lucy facepalms. Shiori sighs.
Shiori "Well this is going to be more work than I thought… Oh well, let's call it for the day. We'll have to keep trying tomorrow."
She leads them back to school before they get their belongings and head home. Touma follows Chizuru, Lucy and Ryuji as they begin their normal walk home. After a bit, Chizuru splits off like normal but Touma follows her. Touma looks upset from the events of the day. Chizuru seems to notice but can't figure out how to talk to him.
Chizuru 'How should I talk to him? I want to offer him my support but I don't want to hurt his feelings either…'
She looks back at him while thinking and he notices her staring at him. Once she realizes he saw her, she quickly spins her head around and blushes in embarrassment.
Chizuru 'Oh crap! He totally saw me staring! That's so embarrassing…'
Touma begins blushing too before looking ahead. Suddenly, a small cat comes running from down an alley and onto the street in front of them. It turns and runs away from them. Touma notices and wants to go after it but before he can, Chizuru interrupts him.
Chizuru "Oh look, a kitty! It seems scared."
She then chases after it and Touma reaches his hand out to her.
Touma "W-wa… I…"
He stutters some more, not being able to get his words out to her before she takes off. It runs a bit ahead and jumps into a bush. Chizuru gets on her knees and tries to call it out.
Chizuru "Come here little kitty. I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise."
She says softly to it. It peeks its head out and sniffs her hand before coming out to her. It rubs its head on her hand as she picks it up in her arms. She gets up and looks back at Touma and smiles. He smiles back before a couple guys come running out of the alley where the cat came from.
Thug 1 "Where did that stupid cat go?"
Thug 2 "It went this way."
Thug 1 "Dumb furball thinks it can break my stuff and get away with it?"
They eventually see Chizuru holding the cat in her arms. The cat gets scared again as Chizuru takes a step back.
Thug 1 "What the..? A girl?"
Thug 2 "She's got the cat."
Thug 1 "I see. C'mon girl, give us that cat. We just want to play with it, that's all."
Chizuru "N-no! I know you're gonna be mean to it!"
Thug 1 "Come on kid. If you don't, we might just have to be mean to you too."
He says as he pulls out a knife from his pocket. Chizuru gets scared as she takes another step back.