Toradora! Taiga's Shield

A Good Friend

It had been a fun trip thus far. Ryuuji got to help others while enjoying himself. Or maybe he was enjoying himself because he was helping others. Either way, it didn't matter. His lunch break had ended, signaling it was now time for his second shift: lunch.

Even though it was volunteer work, the charity still had Ryuuji and his fellow members working hard. It was actually like they had a job, other than the constant chattering, light-hearted atmosphere among the volunteers.

It was only Friday, and they still had two more days to go. Well, technically one and two-third days, as they were leaving to go back home after lunch on Sunday. The work was actually pretty fun, but it wasn't what got people to volunteer at the charity.

It was the freedom.

After eight o'clock at night, when they would finish with their last shift, they were to be sent back to the hotel. There, they would eat dinner and have free-time with friends. Some might even go outside and enjoy the nightlife...at least until ten o'clock. They also had the chance to go outside from 2 o'clock through 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

And there was everything nearby: a movie theater, several gift shops, a bowling alley, many museums, old buildings, and some local parks.

So yeah, the city experience was worth the work.

He already worked his first shift, breakfast, earlier in the morning. The experience he received was not like anything he expected. Not that he expected an unsafe place - there were supervisors and officers watching over them, after all - but he also didn't expect it to be the most friendly place ever.

However, as he was helping to serve food during his first shift, he found himself having nice conversations with the people there. He could see that not everyone there was homeless, but Ryuuji didn't care, neither did his superiors. It was clear that all the people coming in were in a struggle to find a good meal, and Ryuuji was glad he could help to give.

Plus, it's not like the food they were serving would be first-choice for many families, but to the needy, it was everything they needed: protein, grains, dairy, vegetables, and something edible.

And not only did he meet some great people; he also made great friends.

Or, at least, one friend.

"Alright Ryuuji," a girl said. "I guess we should be heading back now."

"Yeah, which duty are we assigned this time?"

"Uh, I believe it's cleaning," she replied.

Ryuuji groaned, "Ugh, really? That's, like, the one duty I don't want to do."

"I know, right?" she agreed. "Serving is so much better!"

"Yeah, that was lots of fun, but I'll hope that fetching the food won't be too bad for our third shift."

Her name was Aby, and Ryuuji just met her today. She, too, was in the cooking club, and similar to Ryuuji, she didn't know anyone else in the club. Naturally, they were both searching for a friend, so they found each other.

They had seen each other around school before, but there was no reason for either one of them to talk. She had her friend group, and he had his. But now, when no friend groups were around, there was a reason to talk.

Admittedly, he was cautious around her at first; he didn't want any love triangle to form among him, her, and Taiga. He had already dealt with one of those. However, upon learning about her life, he learned about her current boyfriend. He ended up making a decent friend.

While they were serving the homeless for breakfast, she told him about all her troubles relating to boys: her failed relationships, her rejections, and her drama in those relationships.