Day 2, Part 1: Common Misconception

Act 1: Body


I have a friend

But he's not just my friend

He's friends with everyone he meets

I love my friend so very much

That when he's not near

And he's with others...

. x . x . x . x .

Everyone is going to make fun of me, this is stupid as Hell. I give a frustrated groan, placing the palm of my hand against my forehead and leaving it there. The page is filled horribly, with my sloppy handwriting and extremely corny lines. The stereotypical stereotype of poems. Wonderful. I click my tongue and push my chair away from the small, office-esque desk. Glancing out of the one window in my room, I notice the sun barely showing through the morning clouds, leaving the outside world with a grey-ish dawn. It's '5:36' in the morning... why am I even still up. Roughly four hours spent trying to find words for something so stupid, so ridiculous, and it's not even well done.

Pathetic. God, I'm so tired right now... Standing up from the chair with a raggedy yawn, I grab the small notebook and move to place it in my schoolbag: the green pack sitting next to my desk. As I'm leaning down and unzipping the pack, my eyes widen. With a twitch of an eyebrow and another groan, I pick up the book Yuri had given me the other day. I'd entirely forgotten about it. To my chagrin, it falls from my clumsy grip and opens on a random page. Tossing my notebook into my bag without a care, I lower to pick 'The Portrait of Markov' up, only to stop.

Bare, for anyone to see, is 'I love him' written all over the page. Instinctively, my hand stops and clenches into a fist as my brows furrow. What? I pick up the novella and flip over to the next page. The same thing is written repeatedly, over and over again. The page after portrays the same, as does the next, and the next, so forth. "Neh," I shrug and toss the book back into the bag as well, Yuri must've given me the wrong copy. I still have to read it though, probably should've used my free period after lunch yesterday to just get it out of the way. I'll do it later, I guess. I just need to remember this time around. "I'm sure that's fine." She can crush on whoever, I don't know her that much.

Lifting the bag over my shoulder, thinking of the tall violet-haired girl before my thoughts drift over to Natsuki, I take a deep breath. "Guess it's time to pick up the midget." Superiority complex, I swear. Scratching at my cheek, I pick up my phone from my desk and unlock the screen to look for the baker's address. Both of my brows raise and I give a delighted nod. "Huh, not that far from here actually. Just a few blocks past Sayori's. Nice." I tap in a brief message, before dropping the phone into my right pantleg's pocket.

I leave my apartment and close the door behind me; the door clicking with a lock satisfies my ears. With another yawn, I continue towards my new destination... in the Goddawful hours of the early morning. She said early, this is the best I can do before I probably pass out.

'Heading out now, see you in a few.'

. . . . .

It's a little difficult, what with the scribbles, confessions and written words on the pages, but I begin reading 'The Portrait of Markov' as I make my way by the passing houses and the odd morning person. I figured I may as well get started on it, as I have to speak with Yuri about the story and such, so this was one of the better times to do it. Especially because once I have few or more pages down in my head, I'll be thinking about it the rest of the day. That way, I for sure won't forget.

But yeah, there's still the nuisance that is the iterated 'I love you's and such. How did she even find the time to write down so many lines on every page I've seen so far? "Dedication, I'll give her that," I mumble aloud as I flip over to the next page. At its current stage, the book had started out rather uninterestingly. The main character, a girl named Shiori, had encountered her long-lost sister as Yuri had mentioned. They've started to attend the same school, but it's weird. Every student or teacher they've introduced, besides Shiori, doesn't have a name. Despite that oddity, as of yet, things seem super chill, but I'm still waiting for the upcoming twist.

I blink and take in my surroundings. Holy shit, it was easy to get lost when reading, how had I never noticed that? Tch, must be what Yuri feels like all the time. I look at the numberings on the mail-boxes near me, counting them out. Huh, even more weird. It seems that while I was reading, I'd stopped myself in just the right neighborhood. "That's ah, that's a coincidence." I murmur, looking for the address that matches Natsuki's message. Where the Hell is it?

"41, 42, 44 — 44? The Hell's 43?" I blink as I look at the houses gathered along the street; 43 North West Doki Street apparently didn't exist. I close the book heedlessly and hold it in my left hand. Pulling up my cell from my pocket, I stare at the message she'd sent. 43, yeah. But where in the Hell-

The sound of a car starting pulls my attention upwards. A vehicle was pulling out from the house I stood directly in front of. I move out of the way as the beige automobile roars and rears out from the driveway. A pastel-pink-haired man with an angry look on his face was driving the car. He doesn't even notice me as I snicker. He was huge, not in a fat way, but definitely toned. Must be a law enforcer of sorts.

Wait, pink? Could that be Natsuki's dad? I glance down at my phone, '5:50,' and shrug. Must be heading off to work that means. I cast a glance at the mail-box in front the house and sure enough, it's 43. That doesn't make any sense... I was sure it wasn't here. Bah, I'm too tired to question any of this. As soon as, who I'm assuming is Natsuki's dad, is out of eyesight, I approach the mulberry door. Something claws in the pit of my stomach...

"Shit! I forgot to eat breakfast." I shout and smack the palm of my hand against my forehead once again before sighing... and then yawn because, for some reason, that sigh drew a yawn from me as well. Maybe it was hunger? Luckily enough, classes don't start for a couple more hours. Maybe I can convince both Natsuki and Sayori to have breakfast with me at a restaurant in town... I shake my head, realizing I'm drowning myself in thoughts once again, and pull up a hand to knock — the door opens and I stand with my fist up looking like an idiot.

Before me, stands Natsuki, a light-pink sweater adorns her torso; a cutesy white chibi-bunny sits pinned over her petite bosom. Her hair is all but a mess and undone from her tiny pigtails. She looks fucking adorable. I almost puke. She stares at me silently before laughing at my expression. "Hahaha! I knew I smelled loser coming from outside!" Apparently, loser is an odor now, cool. Regardless, I blush at both her appearance and statement, mainly from embarrassment. Obviously.

I don't even buy that, and I'm the one who thought it. Nice.

"Well? What're you waiting for, get in here already! It's cold this morning and I was just getting ready to go." She grabs my still upward hand's wrist and pulls me inside with a yank. I stumble forward, my vocal cords failing to work. What the Hell do you say when you've been dragged against your will twice in the same week? Especially by two cute girls? Yeah, exactly. Shut up, brain.

The inside of her home is warm and I release a content sigh as it mitigates the previous cold that embraced me. Natsuki stops and turns her head back to me with a smile, her hand still wrapped ignorantly around mine. "Welcome to the Akiyama Residence!" She holds her other hand out and shows off her abode. The walls are a similar beige to the vehicle that was previously parked in the driveway, the couch is a nice, not at all ugly, tan. The cushions looked as if they were made from suede or some other leathery material. A large television set sits directly in front of it. My attention turns to the kitchen, and as expected of a wannabe baker, it's ginormous. At least by my standards; I live in a slump.

I give an impressed whistle and nod. "And here I thought I'd be seeing stepping stools everywhere." She uses her free hand to slap me. Has she really not noticed she's still grabbing onto mine? I'm about to shake it off-

"Hey! Just 'cause I'm short, doesn't mean I can't kick your ass, Lemming." She huffs out but then giggles, but even that stops. She blinks and her eyes travel down our intertwined arms before she yanks her hand away. Her pupils were the size of pinpricks. "I told you not to try anything, pervert!" How the fuck does holding hands make me a pervert?! It's your fault! My mouth drops open and I want to retort, but only nonsensical noises escape it. I probably am a loser at this point, I can't even say anything to that.

"You-I... um." Yeah, exactly.

Her face goes flush and some form of weird, dopey smile forms as she looks away from me. I can swear I hear her mumble something along the lines of "just like in my manga" with a dreamy sigh. What the Hell is with everyone being so weird in the Literature Club? I mean, look at me. I'm a normal guy, right? I love myself, I love... uh... warm showers?... Yeah, I got nothing. Okay, so I'm relatively normal, at least I don't act like a weirdo in any way. Bah, everyone has their quirks, I guess. I lightly smack Natsuki on the back of the head like I would Sayori when she spaces out... and like she sometimes would me, when I space out.

She turns her head back at me and glares halfheartedly. "Hey! The hell was that for, ass!" I don't respond as she rubs the back of her head with a faux-pained expression. Tch, I didn't even tap her and she's making me out to be the bad guy here.

"Go get ready for school, we still have to pick up Sayori and have breakfast." I point, to where I think is her room, upstairs and tap a foot slowly against the ground. An impatient guy with an empty stomach, never a good combination. Speak of the Devil — he shall appear and such, my stomach growls at me after I mentioned breakfast.

"Yeah yeah, I didn't forget about Sayor-breakfast?" Her eyes widen a tad as she stares at me, an unsure expression 'gracing' her features. Huh, she must not have eaten yet. Score, I think we may be able to do this! I nod at her and her face breaks out into a grin before she takes off upstairs. I totally called that. It's not long before I hear the thumping of feet coming back down and she's in front of me, afresh.

With her blouse on backward and unbuttoned.

I give a sigh, covering my eyes with a hand as I shake my head. Isn't this something Sayori would do? As I've mentioned earlier probably all of these girls are so weirdly alike. It's uncanny. "Uh, hey. Shirt's facing the wrong way." She glances down and jerks in place for a moment, an embarrassed grimace replacing her grin.

With a roll of my eyes, I set 'The Portrait of Markov' on the mosaic-like coffee table next to me and tug on the collar of her blouse, pulling it off. Natsuki opts not to say anything and flinches under my sudden touch. "If you're going to be in a hurry, next time make sure to do it right. I did... maybe." Glancing over my shoulder at my backpack, thinking of the poem in it, I almost don't notice her bite gently on her lower lip. Her eyes connect with mine for a second, something hiding within her gaze; I turn my head away, holding her blouse out to her. "Just put it on, we only have a couple hours. Eh, give or take."

She pulls it over her shoulders, her arms poking through the sleeves, and she begins to button it up. Neither of us says anything more as we leave the house. Just like yesterday, I just have a feeling today's going to be weird — if not any stranger like it was the day before.

Why do I feel like I just forgot something?

. . . . .

"So... is this why you were late, yesterday?" Natsuki gives a boorish groan and I laugh at her. She perks her head up, glaring at me lightly from our spot underneath a bus stop's canopy. I lean back against the bench and urge her to do the same as I shrug in response.

"Yeah, pretty much," I start, raising a finger to scratch at the side of my nose uninterestedly. "But it's early today, so I don't have to fear getting manhandled by Hidei this time." I shiver lightly, to which Natsuki laughs as well. "I sent 'Yori," I ignore Natsuki's snicker and quiet ''Yori?', "a text last night, saying to meet me here earlier than usual. Here in about five minutes, actually. Hopefully, she saw it when her alarm went off." Natsuki's rosy eyes stare at me from my side and my cheeks begin to heat up a little.

"You know when her alarm goes off?" I nod with a laugh.

"Yeah I do," I chuckle, "set one on her phone to wake her ass up at six in the morning every morning. I thought it'd help with getting to school on time, but me thinks she just ignores it for the most part. I set a passcode so she can't turn it off." I wave my hand away, blowing off the fact that my plan didn't exactly pan out very well. "I'm just hoping she at least read my text before she decided to go back to bed."

"Well, did you at least mention I'll be with you two, today?"

I blink and purse my lips before releasing an awkward laugh. "Aha... ha no..." I had forgotten completely to tell Sayori about Natsuki's being here. Christ, I really hope she doesn't mind. It seems like I'm forgetting a lot of things, now that I think about it. I really hope this doesn't get me in trouble later. Nah, I'll be fine. There's absolutely no way this'll cause a problem. None at all.

A fist hitting my shoulder draws me back to the real world. "You doofus! I invited you both to hang out with me this morning," what? No you didn't. You asked to walk with us... er, well, me, but I'm counting it as an 'us' thing. "And you forgot to tell Sayori? Pfft." She huffs and turns away from me, she's about to continue talking, but another tuft of pink hair appears in my vision.

I go to wave at the newly approaching Sayori, but her wide smile shrinking causes me to stop myself. She slows down to a halt, just across the street from us, and she tilts her head. A look, one that appears to be almost like betrayal briefly flashes in her eyes, is cast my way; I feel my heart skip a beat. Maybe I jinxed it when I'd just thought that this'll go smoothly. I lower my hand to my lap and stare blankly back-

"W-Weyland?"

What the Hell do I say?

. x . x . x . x .

I want to die.


I like it, yep. This chapter is good, got's the 'Lack of Tact' Seal of Approval stamped all over it. Funny thing, this one was a bitch to write, too. Oh, I want to say sorry for the tad wait for this chapter, other ideas hit me and stuff. New Doki Doki fanfiction I'm not sure whether or not I want to take seriously and also "I'm Not Disabled, I Speak English," is in the works as well. Like I said, ideas hit me xDDD

I just realized that none of my chapter titles make any sense to me. I fucking love it.

Anyway, nothing much to really say besides that the poll will be open for a few more chapters before it's closed. I'll give everyone the final results when that happens haha~ Here comes them review replies!

Mark the Mark: Natsuki and Sayori fluff, eh? Too bad I love disappointing people by adding needless shit~ Joking, anyway, thanks for your comment and such, especially on a revived fic that's been dead for a year! Glad people still enjoy it, just makes me even more-so want to work on its coming chapters.

Vanillapowpow: Oh my GOD, you are the first person to point that out and I want to say thank you for noticing. I thought it was a cool detail to add from the beginning and when no one brought it up, I felt a little disheartened. But I continued to do it anyway! I love poetry and figured ending each poem as I end each chapter was a cool thing to do. Hope it was a unique idea, haha. Thank you for commenting!

DerpyDerp123: My own Doki Doki addiction brought me to writing this story xDD so I understand. And I'm sorry if it made you cry o; that was never my intention. Sure, I tried to make things a little depresso in the espresso in a chapter or two (and frankly, in an upcoming chapter), but I don't want it to be too hard-hitting; I prefer humor and happiness and also cynicism/pessimism. Anyway, thanks for commenting and saying that "Doki Doki-ish" moved you in such a way! Means a lot~

To those I didn't respond to personally, I would like to thank you for following, favoriting, reviewing or even just reading! It means a lot to me~

As usual, that's that for uh, that, eh? You're all the best and I hope you continue to enjoy!