The day I met him lies distinct within my memories. It was the middle of June and I was fulfilling a request made by the school's manga society. I went around the school putting up fliers and handing out brochures to advertise their new anthology. When I entered the first floor hallway, it was then that I came across Sakakibara-san. He approached me as I was struggling to pin a flier to the bulletin board.
"That seems a little too high for you to reach. Want some help?"
"Oh, if it's not too much trouble. Thank you very much."
He took the flier and pinned it at the very center of the board. I felt guilty upon seeing this as that spot was previously filled with materials from other clubs. Yet, he pinned the manga society's flier above them.
"There we go. Smack dab in the center! Looks good, huh?"
"Oh, umm… Indeed, it's eye-catching. Thank you once again for your help."
"No problem. By the way, I'm Sakakibara Daiki."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakakibara-san. My name is Kurebayashi Reina."
"Kurebayashi-san, huh… I'll be sure to remember that. Say, how bout I help you with the rest of those fliers?"
"Oh, there's no need. I'm already very thankful for the assistance you gave me. I could not possibly trouble you more than that."
"Nah, it's fine with me. I got nothing else to do anyway. And besides, what if you encounter another board that you can't reach?"
That remark of his made me laugh a little. I was still hesitant, but his insistence finally wore me down into accepting his offer.
After several days, he approached me again and told me that he wanted to join the volunteers club. I remember being so elated at that moment. I had been trying to recruit new members earlier that year without much success.
But with Sakakibara-san with me, I thought to myself that the club will once again be a place of gratification and fulfillment as it was before. Even if it is just one member, I was still so thankful that Sakakibara-san joined.
During the first week.
We received a lot of requests during the first week that Sakakibara-san joined. Most of the requests came from sports clubs that were in need of assistance with tidying up after activities were done. The tasks were mostly menial. However, the sheer number of them is what made it rather difficult.
"Why are we doing this? Aren't we supposed to be helping with concerns and requests from people in need?"
"What do you mean, Sakakibara-san? These clubs came to us with a request. I believe this would fall under the category you mentioned."
"Yeah, they did. But they have enough people to do these sorts of things by themselves. They don't really need our help."
"That may be true… But their request is still our duty."
It is true that such requests that involved menial and physical tasks became quite common after my seniors graduated. But the volunteer club existed to help people in need. And so, I trudged on. And with Sakakibara-san there, it felt a lot easier.
During the second week.
I received a request from a fellow student. He explained that he was in danger of repeating a year and thus needed help with studying. Of course, we were more than happy to fulfill his request. However, the student only wanted me to help him, and for the study sessions to be done at his house. When I agreed to his terms, Sakakibara-san suddenly snapped at me.
"Are you serious right now? How could you agree to such a sleazy request?! This guy is obviously shady!"
The student tried to retort, but Sakakibara-san pushed him to the side.
"If you or anyone else ever try something like this again, I swear I'll make you regret it."
That warning of his made all the color from the student's face disappear. He then let go and allowed him to hastily get away. To this day, I still do not have the slightest idea about why he did and said those things. But at the moment, I was truly afraid that I may have done something that angered him.
"So, you're like that, huh…"
Sakakibara-san said with a rather dejected and disappointed look on his face. He then excused himself and walked away. I did not see or hear from him again after that incident. He did not formally submit a request to quit the club, nor did he show any intention of wanting to continue. I still do not understand why he suddenly decided to not show up anymore or the meaning behind his words. However, regardless of his reason, I was truly vexed with him. I had thought that we could rebuild the volunteer club together.
But it turned out to be merely a fantasy of mine.