Two weeks have passed since then.
After all the classes ended and classmates started packing up to leave, Shoko called out to me.
“Yuichi, wanna go bowling today? Aki-chan and Match are coming too.”
“Sorry, I already have plans today.”
“Plans again? Like taking a nap?”
“I already took my nap during class just now.”
Shoko pouted in dissatisfaction.
“Lately, Yuichi, you’ve been kinda distant, haven’t you? Did you get a girlfriend or something?”
“I’ve just been busy with various things.”
The past two weeks have indeed been incredibly busy. Honestly, I underestimated what I was getting into.
“Yuichi-san!”
I heard a voice calling me from the classroom door. It was Mai Kawase, beckoning me over.
“It’s Kawase-san! Wait, is your ‘plan’ with her?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Wait, you two dating or something?”
“Why would you think that? …Though, yeah, I guess you could say I’m ‘with her.’”
Leaving Shoko tilting her head in confusion, I shouldered my bag and stood up.
“Time to go do some volunteer work.”
Ignoring Shoko’s shocked expression, I headed toward Mai.
Since Mai resumed her serious volunteering efforts, it’s been about ten days.
Whenever she’s got any free time, Mai seems to be participating in volunteer work. Pretty much her entire schedule has been packed every day.
She joined two volunteer clubs as an official member: one that patrols elementary school routes three times a month, and another that organizes and watches over the bicycles scattered around the station every morning, discouraging people from parking carelessly. I’ve been accompanying her to these too.
Each morning, Mai organizes the station’s bicycles before heading to school. Apparently, she’s the only one among the club members who does this every day, so even as a second-year in high school, she’s already on track to become the club president. “Once you get used to it, it’s really not that hard,” she says with a smile.
In addition, she seems to be doing things like handing out flyers and helping with donation drives. She even donates any change under 50 yen from her purchases at convenience stores.
Keeping up with all this left me completely drained. In just ten days, I was already worn out, so much that I found myself nodding off more and more during class.
I guess the reason Mai can keep doing it so effortlessly is that her motivation is on a whole different level.
While we have a kind of unspoken rule that I only join her for after-school activities, I’d often spot her around school, carrying teachers’ materials or helping with someone else’s cleaning duties, so I’d end up checking on her during lunch or other breaks.
As a result, we naturally started spending our lunch breaks together. Gradually, we went from being a little distant to calling each other by our first names.
“So, what’s on the agenda today?”
“Today, there actually weren’t any plans, but apparently a friend’s cat ran away, so I offered to help put up ‘missing’ posters and search around town.”
“…Well, alright then.”
“—Oh!”
Mai suddenly stopped in the hallway, looking at something. A girl ahead was struggling with a huge stack of papers.
“She’s in my class. Let me go help her real quick.”
Mai dashed over to the girl with the papers. Sighing, I followed behind.
“Kana-chan, let me help you!”
“Oh, Mai-chan! Perfect timing. Thanks!”
Kana handed the entire pile of papers to Mai. Naturally, Mai took them all and began to walk.
“I’ll help too.”
I stood next to Mai and offered my assistance.
“Huh, you too? Thanks.”
“Oh, in that case, take half of mine.”
I took a huge chunk of the stack from Mai, divided it into three equal parts, and handed one portion back to Kana, who had been empty-handed.
“What? Oh… oh, right, that makes sense.”
Looking surprised, Kana took her share of the papers and began walking.
Whenever Mai offers to help someone, a lot of people end up dumping almost everything on her. Mai’s known for being helpful, especially among her classmates.
My job—or rather, what I’d taken upon myself—was to make sure that while Mai was helping others, they wouldn’t unfairly burden her.
…No, it’s not really my ‘job,’ but something I just want to do. Mai’s okay with it too.
If three people are carrying papers, then the papers should be split three ways. Or, as the guy, I should take a bit more. I just want to make sure that basic things like that get done right.
“—Thank you, Yuichi-san.”
Mai said, flashing a bright smile.
She’s said those words to me so many times over the past ten days. Every time I help her, I can feel how genuinely thankful she is.
Mai says she doesn’t need anyone’s gratitude, but my resolve to support her has only strengthened over these ten days.
Doing good deeds and being thanked by others feels this rewarding. If that’s the case, I really want people to recognize and appreciate Mai’s efforts just as much as they deserve to be.
“—You have a younger brother?”
As I stuck a “Lost Cat” poster on an electric pole, I echoed back what she’d just mentioned.
“Yes, he’s about eight years younger than me.”
Mai was not only putting up posters but also handing them out directly to people passing by.
Getting a little bored of silently pasting posters, I’d casually brought up a topic, and that’s when she told me about her younger brother. The more I learn about her family, the more similar it seems to mine.
“I bet if your little brother’s anything like you, he’ll grow up to be quite the good citizen.”
When I said that, Mai hesitated a little.
“My brother… he’s been really sick…”
“Ah, sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. He’s always been frail, but over the past year, his heart got really bad… he’s been in the hospital ever since.”
“…This might be out of line, but are you sure you should be volunteering so much? Wouldn’t it be better to spend more time with him?”
“I live alone for high school, so I’m pretty far from the hospital. I can’t go after school that often, but I do visit him on weekends.”
“If you don’t mind, would it be alright if I came along to see him sometime?”
“Of course! I think he’d be thrilled!”
“Alright, then maybe this Saturday? I’m pretty sure I’m free.”
“Yes, I’d really look forward to it.”
Mai smiled, genuinely happy.
Once we finished putting up all the posters, we called it a day.
After saying goodbye to Mai, I walked home, observing the town along the way.
It’s something I’ve been doing a lot these past few days. Maybe I’ve been a bit influenced by Mai, but I’ve started to look around, wondering if there’s any good I could do myself.
And almost immediately, I noticed—opportunities for good deeds are surprisingly rare.
In fact, the kind of acts I think of—like picking up litter around town—seemed to be already taken care of by others. Just like Shoko said, the town really was spotless.
In manga, you’d often see scenes of elderly people struggling to cross the street, but I hadn’t encountered any such situations myself.
If people really want to do good, it feels like the only way nowadays is to actively pursue volunteer work.
—But if even volunteer work becomes oversaturated, then how would people be able to do good?
It may not be too far in the future that people who want to do good deeds will find themselves with no opportunities.
If that happens, the very concept of volunteering might crumble.
The balance between those who help and those who need help could reverse, leaving people practically “begging” for chances to help others.
At first glance, it might seem like an ideal world, but when I imagine such a place, I can’t help but feel a sense of unease.
