It was after school in Class D, the first year of Jilin High School.
　Ichigo speaks to Masato who is getting ready to go home while humming a song. It's a common after-school scene we see these days.

'Yuto, rejoice, it's work.

'Gee!　Ichigo, today!　I'm going to have to run some ... er ... stuff today.

　Yuto's face twitches as he shows a blatantly annoyed expression.



'G... okay!　Daily helper!　I'm glad it's coming to fruition! Bastards....

　Ever since Yuto was appointed as a helper, Ichigo has been brokering the work of a helper like this frequently. Honestly, it was a good inconvenience for Yuto, who wanted to work hard at his part-time job to make a living.

''........So what is it today?　I want one that's quick and easy.

'Oh!　Shigegami-san, you can come!　This guy is willing to help you with anything!

　Ichigo turns around and waves to the small, mature-looking bespectacled girl. Her classmate Shigekami Shiori, who was called Shigekami-san, came up to Yuto with a slight wince.

''Oh, um.......sorry, DoDu-kun.''

'Haha no!　Don't worry about it at all.

No, no, no. I don't care!　Shigegami-san. This guy wants to help people, he wants to help people, he wants to help people, he lives to help others, because he's a help-de-em.

Hey!　Don't talk about people like they're some weird French aristocrat!

　Shiori looked at her as if she was overwhelmed by their interaction, but she couldn't help but giggle.

''Oh I'm sorry.''

"Ha-ha, come on, Shigekami-san.

So why the hell would you say that, Ichigo?

You are a member of the library committee, and you have to organize the books in your order. However, the members of Class A and Class B, who were supposed to be coming with us, happened to be absent and couldn't come. See, our library is huge, isn't it?　So it's going to be a lot of heavy lifting, and it's going to help when you help me.

　Ichigo, who hadn't even listened to Yuto's tsukkomi, gave an overview of today's work.

''Ah, something like that.''

　Indeed, the library at Jilin High School is famous for its large size, so Yuto understands that organizing the books in one word is a lot of work. It's even more so when you have to do it all by yourself. Moreover, Shiori's petite and thin body made her clearly unsuited for hard work.

''I'm really sorry!　This is my job and yet...

All right, all right!　Let's go right away, Shigegami-san. I've never been to the library before, so can you take me there?

'Oh, yes!　Wait a minute, I have a book I need to return!

Shiori said and pulled out a few thick books on her desk.
　Ichigo turned his face to Yuto and smiled with a snicker.

''Well then, nice to meet you!　The Almighty Helping Hand!

Hey!　If you're not busy, help out too, Ichigo.

I'm busy, all right? I'm going to the bookstore.

What is that?

　Ichigo gestures to Yuto to lend an ear to him, and then whispers to him.

...What. Of course, you can borrow it...

　Yuto's eyes snapped open.

''That's a big deal!　Please put that first, Ichigo!

'Oh!　I got it!　Yuto.

　A scene where they put their fists against each other and watched their comrade in arms depart.

''Here you are........oh, what are you doing?''

'What!　Hey, it's nothing!　Then let's go, Shigekami-san.

Yes, yes...?

　Ichigo walked out to the hallway and waved to Yuto and the others, and Yuto waved back loudly as well, heading for the library. Shiori tilted her head at the situation as if she were seeing it at the harbor when the ship was setting sail.

''You're close, aren't you?　Du Du and Hakamada-kun?

'What?　Yeah, I guess so?　We've known each other since middle school, so........oh, Shigekami-san, what about that book?　It looks heavy, would you like me to hold it for you?

　Yuto noticed that he had a few thick hardcover books with him, and was about to hold out his hand to Shigegami-san's book.

''Huh?　No, I'm fine!　I mean, oh!

　As Shigegami-san moves away from Yuto in extreme panic, a book held by Shiori, which lacks stability, falls into the hallway. Yuto is surprised and quickly picks up two books. One of the books alone feels solid and heavy, and Yuto looks through its cover without thinking about it.

'Unfruitful Longing, The Loneliness of Greenwell.
The End of Love: A Knight and a Princess's Uncharacteristic Love

....

'Ah!　This is something I've been hooked on lately!　It's not that I read these things all the time...

　Shiori realizes that Yuto is looking at the title of the book, and she gasps and panics with tears in her eyes.

(I swear, she laughs!)　(They think I'm a weird kid!)

'Shigegami-san, it's amazing to read such a difficult book!　This is a classic love story, right?

...What?

I haven't read a book in a while. I was going to read something before, but I never did...

　Shiori can't help but stare at Yuto, who speaks in a natural way, even though she thought he would definitely laugh at her.

(Du Du-kun...........doesn't laugh. And........................amazing)

Oh, it's not that hard, is it?　It's true that the classics can be a bit difficult to get to grips with if you don't know the background of the time or the customs of the country, but once you understand that, it's no different from novels today.

'Heh, I see. Oh, Shigegami-san, can you tell me more about that?　Also, do you have any novels for beginners?　Even I could read it in a minute.

　Yuto picked up all the other books as well, admiringly.

''Eh... yeah!　What kind of things are you interested in, Du Du?

　As they walked towards the library, Shigegami and Yuto talked about the books.
　Shiori noticed that Yuto eventually got all the books for her. She was also happy to see that he was listening to her seriously about the books, and she became more talkative than ever.
　When they arrive at the unusually large library, Yuto is surprised to see that it's a wow, but he immediately helps Shiori energetically with the task of organizing the books, asking Shiori to give him instructions.
　Shiori seriously thinks that despite his appearance, Yuto is a powerful man, and his workload is probably dozens of times greater than Shiori's.
　Thanks to Yuto, the book organizing was finished quickly and Shiori could catch her breath.

''Thanks for today, Dudu-kun.''

'Yes, not at all!　This is all very easy to do. We can finish simple tasks like this very quickly. Ah!　Sorry!　Shigegami-san, I have a part-time job coming up, so I'm going to go now!　I'll see you tomorrow.

　Looking at the clock, a flustered Yuto said that to Shiori and ran out of the library before Shiori could call out to him.



　Shiori felt bad and decided to thank him again tomorrow.
　Shiori looked towards the doorway that Yuto had left for a while, but as usual, she decided to borrow a new book to go home, so she headed to the shelf that held the classic romance stuff that Shiori had been hooked on lately.
　To be honest, it could be said that it was a shelf of classics that she almost monopolized, as it wasn't very popular with the students. Shiori came to the front of that always-trodden shelf and looked for a ladder to take the books on the top shelf.

''Huh...?''

　That's when Shiori immediately noticed that the books on the shelves were in a different position.
　The romance books should have been on the top shelf of the classics.
　For some reason, it was now lined up in a place where even her petite self could easily pick it up.
　It was definitely on the top row to the second row, until yesterday, it was definitely on the top row.

''Don't tell me........it's you, Doudou-kun?''

　Shiori was alone in her speech, but it was as close to certainty as she could muster.

　Shiori recalls the exchange with Yuto, who had worked so hard earlier to help her organize the books.

'Shigegami-san, is the type of books you put on each shelf strictly determined, down to the rows?'

'What?　Oh, we have those shelves, but most of them are just divided by the back side of the shelf, side A, and the top and bottom of side B. We have a lot of books in our library, so depending on the genre, we use the whole shelf. Our library has a large collection of books in each genre, so depending on the genre, we have some books on the shelves as well. So, as long as we don't have a bunch of books in a row, we don't need to worry about it too much.

Oh, I get it!


　Shiori looked at the doorway of the library, far away from the classics shelves, and pictured the back of the boy who had just left. And now, she felt her cheeks flush with the strange feelings that had grown inside her.

　After that, Masato's reputation as a helper was good, and his reputation among his classmates rose to the top.