"S-So, um..." Yuri began, shyly looking off to the side as she continued her conversation with MC. "A-Anyway... I-I'm glad you're not n-n-nervous about diving headfirst into literature when you're not a-accustomed to it..."

"Don't worry, Yuri!" Sayori interjected out of nowhere, sliding up to join their conversation after finishing her chat with Monika, who was now speaking with Natsuki. "MC always gives everything one-hundred and ten percent, no matter what!"

"He always helps me out!" Sayori added. "I don't even have to ask."

Sayori began listing off activities with her fingers. "Like cooking, cleaning my room..."

While Sayori continued to name all the stuff MC helps her with, Yuri closed her eyes for a moment and brought one of her hands up to her chest, musing whimsically as she thought of everything MC had helped her with. "He's so dependable..."

"Yeah! He's super, duper dependable!" Sayori enthusiastically agreed. "He helps me make breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day!" Picking up on Yuri's quiet compliment, she continued. "Has MC helped you too, Yuri?"

"H-Huh?!" Yuri's eyes shot open in surprise, bringing her other hand up to her chest due to the shock. "W-W-Well... H-He..."

"Um... H-Helped me make t-tea..." Yuri managed to stammer out.

"Oh, yeah!" Sayori blurted out in response, a determined look on her face as she turned towards MC and began to impatiently tap her foot. "You better have apologized for spilling all that water on Yuri, MC!"

"Ah!" Yuri cried out as Sayori chastised MC. "I-It's o-okay... I-It was an a-accident..."

Tugging at the ends of her blazer's sleeves to make sure her arms were completely covered, Yuri wrung her hands together. "I-I should have been more c-careful..."

Looking back at Yuri for a second before glaring at MC again, Sayori put her hands on her hips. "Well he should still say he's sorry!"

"Sayori's right, Yuri." MC said, turning towards Yuri and offering her a polite bow. "I'm sorry."

Bringing her arms up for a moment as if to stop him from bowing to her, Yuri swiftly brought her hands back down and bowed quickly in return, accidently slamming her forehead into the top of MC's head as she did so.

Reeling back from the pain of hitting the top of MC's head, Yuri held her now injured forehead. "Ow..."

Immediately jumping into action, MC ignored the slight soreness on his own head and checked on Yuri. "Here, Yuri. Let me see your forehead."

"Are you okay, Yuri?" Sayori asked, coming to her side with an expression of deep concern to match the one on MC's face.

"I-I..." With almost a tear in her eye, Yuri opened her eyes to see MC barely half of a meter away from her face, brushing her bangs to the side to check on her forehead. Staring intently into his eyes, Yuri swallowed her nerves as her face began to go flush. "I'll be okay..."

Gently rubbing her forehead, MC let go of her bangs and took a step back. "Your head should be alright, it doesn't look like we collided hard enough for a bump to form."

"Phew!" Sayori let out, brushing imaginary sweat from her brow. "That's good. I guess your head is getting a lot of abuse today, MC."

"Yeah, I guess it is." MC agreed, rubbing the top of his head. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"S-Sayori said something about you h-helping her make all of her m-meals..." Yuri replied, making sure that the conversation moved away from MC taking the blame for spilling water on her.

"Oh, right." MC acknowledged. "Well I do most of the cooking because Sayori almost set her house on fire."

"R-Really?!" Yuri asked, looking between Sayori and MC.

"I-It was only one time!" Sayori interjected, trying her best to defend herself for nearly burning her house down.

"Once was enough." MC replied. "Hell, I even have the scars to prove it."

Extending his right arm out towards the two girls, MC turned it over and revealed deeply scared skin. "Sayori tried to put out a grease fire with water." Running his left hand over the tissue, he grinned slightly. "I managed to get in front of her right as the water hit the flame." Looking back towards Sayori, who was trying her best to avoid his eye contact, MC smiled fully. "At least I was able to save those cute little eyebrows from getting singed off."

"Is that so..." Sayori awkwardly replied. Despite being reminded of nearly setting her house and her best friend on fire, Sayori looked happy, and a little embarrassed, as she ran her middle finger along her left eyebrow. "Ehehe..."

"Well..." Sayori paused for a moment to look MC over. "You are pretty strong, MC... A little fire barely even hurt you..."

Wanting to know where she was going with this, MC just stood there and smiled at Sayori.

"I mean... Here, Yuri. You can back me up on this, right?" Sayori asked, grabbing ahold of MC's arm. "Just look at this."

"I-I'm looking..." Yuri replied, staring directly at MC's muscles.

Playing along, MC let Sayori lift up his right arm up a bit. "Here, check it out." She said before slapping his bicep hard enough that the noise reverberated throughout the entire room. "Solid meat."

Their attention drawn by the loud noise, Monika and Natsuki looked over to see what was going on.

"Aww, am I just a big muscle man to you, Sayori?" MC asked with a chuckle.

"Of course not." Sayori replied. "You've also got a pretty face."

"You hear that, Yuri?" MC asked, looking extremely pleased with himself. "She thinks I'm pretty."

"I'd say you're more handsome than pretty." Monika commented, before the now fidgeting Yuri had a chance to reply to MC's statement.

"How very flattering." MC mused, happy as a clam.

"Hey, beefcake!" Natsuki shouted as she walked over to the group. "I don't know if you plan to just come here and have your ego stroked and your body ogled at, or what..." She said, glaring at Monika at the mentioning of ogling, who simply shrugged in response. "But if you don't take us seriously, then you won't hear the end of it."

"Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who keeps her manga collection in the clubroom." Monika said, her hand on her hip.

"M-M-M...!" Natsuki found herself stuck between saying Monika and manga.

"Manga is literature!" She shouted, before stomping away from the group and defeatedly plopping into a seat.

"Don't worry, I've got her." Monika said before she walked over to Natsuki and knelt down next to her.

"How motherly..." Sayori mused, looking on as Natsuki turned away a bit in her seat and crossed her arms as Monika started talking to her. "You're kinda like that too, MC."

"What, motherly?" He asked with a grin.

"No." Sayori responded with a smile that quickly turned to an expression of contemplation. "Well... maybe..." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "You're just really... really... what's the word?" Sayori asked aloud before quickly blurting it out. "Aesthetic! You're very aesthetic, MC!"

"I-I think you mean em-empathetic..." Yuri pointed out meekly.

"Yeah, that!" Sayori happily agreed.

"Well regardless, I'll take the compliment." MC said. "Thank you, both of you."

Seeing how brightly Sayori smiled when she looked at MC, Yuri seemed just ever so downcast. "Y-You two are really good f-friends, aren't you?" She smiled sadly. "I-I might be a little j-jealous..."

"How come?" Sayori asked. "You and MC can become really good friends too!"

"U-Um..." Playing with her long hair in an attempt to calm her nerves, Yuri looked away from both MC and Sayori.

"That's exactly right, Sayori." MC said, causing Yuri to peek over to him from the corner of her eyes. "I'd love to be friends with you."

A squiggly little smile spread itself across Yuri's face as she began looping her fingers through her hair.

"Oh, oh!" Sayori suddenly called out. "Yuri even brought you something today, you know~"

"W-Wait!" Yuri stammered out, her hands quickly going up to her chest. "S-Sayori..."

"Really?!" MC happily gasped. "For me?!"

"U-Um..." Yuri began, starting to play with the little red ribbon on her uniform as she kept talking. N-Not really..."

"Don't be shy~" Sayori encouraged with a big smile. "MC loves surprises."

"I-It's really n-nothing..." Yuri clarified.

"Yuri, it's okay." MC said in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"N-Never mind! S-Sayori made it sound like a b-big deal when it's really n-not..." Staring down at her feet, Yuri went back to nervously playing with her hair as she mumbled quietly. "Uuuuh, what do I do...?"

"Eh?" Noticing how anxious Yuri had become, Sayori's smile was replaced with an expression of worried guilt. "I'm sorry, Yuri, I wasn't thinking..."

Walking over to try and apologize, Sayori extended her arms to try and give Yuri a hug. But the moment Sayori got within arm's reach, Yuri backed away from her, holding onto her long hair so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Surprised that she had upset Yuri so much, Sayori looked over to Monika for help, but saw that she was still talking to Natsuki, who was at least now looking at Monika without her arms folded over in a huff.

Unsure of what to do, Sayori turned to MC for help. "He-" But she saw that her large friend was already going over to Yuri.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Yuri." MC softly cooed, placing a gentle and reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I didn't come in here with the expectation that I'd be getting anything in return. So any kind gesture of yours is greatly appreciated."

At MC's kind words, Yuri started to release the firm hold she had on her hair, but still had her eyes planted squarely on her feet. Seeing that MC had the situation under control, Sayori slinked away in order to give them some privacy to talk.

MC gave Yuri a comfortable squeeze on the shoulder intended to dispel her fears. "Whatever it is, I know I'll love it."

"P-P..." Yuri let her hair flow freely through her fingers until it hung back in its natural position. "P-Promise...?"

"I promise, Yuri." MC replied, letting go of her shoulder after offering it a friendly pat. "I won't make a big deal out of the gift if you don't want me to."

Raising her head up slowly, Yuri looked over to the nearby desk that had her gift resting upon it. "Alright..."

With several small steps, Yuri picked up the nearly dry copy of Portrait of Markov with both of her hands, treating the novel like a piece of fine China. The damp pieces of paper towel that rested between the pages sagged along the top edge of the back cover.

Looking back down at her water damaged present, Yuri ran her thumb along the moist spine. "H-Here..."

"I-I didn't..." Yuri extended her arms towards MC with the book held securely in her hands. "D-Didn't want y-you to feel..." She continued to stare into the soggy eye on the cover. "L-Left out..."

Having brought his hands forward, Yuri tenderly placed her gift into MC's waiting palms, savoring the pleasant contact her fingers made against his hands as she transferred the book to him.

"S-So... So I-I stopped by the b-bookst... bookstore on my way h-home yesterday and I, um..." Tilting her head up to take several quick peeks between MC's face and the gift he now held, Yuri felt her heart to begin to beat faster. "P-Picked out a book I thought y-you might enjoy."

"I-I've read it b-before, a-and it's a short read!" Yuri added, a bit louder than she intended to. "S-So it should... i-it should k-keep your attention, even if y-you don't usually read."

"N-Not that you have a s-short attention span, o-or anything!" Yuri blurted out in an attempt to clarify her statement.

"A-And I thought w-we could, y-you know..." Clearing her throat in an attempt to calm her nerves, Yuri continued to face MC, but avoided eye contact. "D-Discuss it... i-if you wanted..."

Observing each and every movement MC made with the book as he looked it over, Yuri unconsciously held her breath for what felt like an eternity waiting for him to say something back to her.

"Yuri..." MC began.

"Y-Yes?!" Yuri shouted out without exhaling.

"I love it, thank you very much!" At the sound of MC's enthusiastic gratitude, Yuri let out the deep breath that she had been holding.

"R-Really?!" Yuri eagerly exhaled, appearing as if a great burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Yeah!" MC replied, matching Yuri's happy tone. "I'd really enjoy discussing a novel with you."

Tilting her head down slightly in an attempt to hide her giddy smile, Yuri nodded vigorously. "M-Me too."

"Hmm... It's pretty much dry." While MC turned the book over in his hands, he felt the text block of the still closed novel. "But what do you say we let it sit out for a little while longer? I wouldn't want to open it now and risk damaging such a lovely gift."

"S-Sure! Of... Of course..." Yuri agreed, watching as MC turned to go and sit the book back down where it had originally been drying. "Lovely..." She whispered to herself.

"U-Um!" Yuri suddenly called out, before MC took a step.

"Yes, Yuri?" MC said, acknowledging her.

"S-Sayori is right..." Anxiously rubbing her fingers together, Yuri swallowed her nerves as she gripped her hands together. "Y-You are very, um... em-empathetic..."

Looking back at Yuri as she cautiously met his gaze, MC smiled while he tapped the spine of the book in his possession. "I'm paraphrasing here a bit. But someone my father really admires once said, a true friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read."

Her giddy smile now on full display, MC sat the book back down on it's impromptu drying rack and walked back over to her. "And about earlier, Yuri. Having someone that you can freely share your thoughts and concerns with, without feeling ashamed, is a very important thing to have."

"So if you'd ever like to get together and talk, about yourself, or books, or anything really." MC continued. "I'd be more than happy to be there for you."

"MC..." Yuri breathed out, her gaze shifting down from his eyes and onto his lips.

"Okay, everyone!" A very cheery Monika suddenly called out to everybody in the room. Causing Yuri to break out of her stupor. "Why don't we share the poems we wrote now?"

"Yay~!" Sayori yelled. "MC, I can't wait to read yours!"

"So are we all gonna read our poems in front of everyone?" Natsuki asked, exiting the closet.

At the thought of reading her poetry in front of everyone, Yuri's entire body tensed up.

"Nope!" Monika answered, immediately causing Yuri's posture to relax.

"We're gonna draw straws!" Monika said. "Well... chopsticks, but you get the idea." Pulling the four utensils out of her blazer pocket, Monika held them in her fist. "Whoever gets the matching chopsticks will go together, I've got two short and two long. So who'd like to go first?"

"I would!" Sayori shouted, waving her arm wildly.

"Sure thing, Sayori." Monika smiled, holding her hand out towards the rapidly approaching girl.

"What about you, Monika?" MC asked, while Sayori made her way over to her.

"I'm sitting this round out." Monika replied. "The chopsticks were just an idea I had after I ate lunch. I thought it'd be a fun way to choose who we share our poems with for the first time, we can just choose our partners after the first round."

"Wait." Natsuki groaned. "Were those all in your mouth?"

"Of course not, silly." Monika responded. "I got all of these from the cafeteria, they're all brand new."

"Alright!" Sayori said, hopping down in front of Monika and adopting a stance for good luck.

Rubbing her hands together vigorously, Sayori hovered her hand over the waiting chopsticks, making a claw with her thumb and forefinger.

"Come on, we don't got all day!" Natsuki bemoaned.

But Sayori was unable to hear Natsuki's complaint, she was in the zone.

"Okay!" Sayori roared, grabbing ahold of one of the chopsticks "I'm gonna get a big one!"

Rapidly pulling the piece of wood out from Monika's hand, Sayori's arm flung up before she quickly brought it back down to eye level to check on the length of her prize.

"Oh..." Sayori groaned, looking at the short chopstick. "Oh, well!"

"Who's next?" Sayori hummed, cheerily skipping away from Monika."

Watching Sayori's display with an awkward smile, Monika motioned for the next participant to come forward.

"I'm not following that act." Natsuki said, her feet firmly planted where they were.

"Would you like to go next, Yuri?" MC politely asked.

"M-Me?!" Yuri asked, still a bit shaken by the raw energy Sayori emitted. "O-Okay..."

Meekly walking over to Monika, Yuri simply brought her hand up to select one of the three remaining chopsticks.

Right as she was about to select one of the chopsticks, Monika turned her hand slightly so a different one rested between Yuri's fingers.

Looking at her with a confused expression, Monika only winked at Yuri and jostled her hand a little to encourage her to take the chopstick.

Turning her attention back to the chopstick, Yuri began to slowly pull it out of Monika's hand.

As the end of the utensil left Monika's grasp, Yuri stared at the long piece of wood. Gawking between the chopstick and Monika, Yuri swallowed nervously as she turned around and walked back to where she had been standing beside MC.

"How about we do the last two at the same time?" Monika asked.

"Fine by me." Natsuki said as she began heading towards Monika.

"Sure." MC agreed, following in Natsuki's footsteps.

Holding the two remaining chopsticks in her hand, Natsuki stood to Monika's right and MC to her left.

"I'll just take the closest one." Natsuki said, grabbing hold of the chopstick adjacent to her.

"An excellent choice~" Monika praised.

"Alright, then I guess this one's mine." MC mused, placing his fingers onto the only unspoken for chopstick.

"Yup!" Monika beamed at him. "Now both of you, go ahead and pull them out."

Simultaneously removing the chopsticks from Monika's grasp, Natsuki looked over to Sayori and Yuri on the other side of the room. "Alright, Sayori. I guess it's you and me."

"Alright!" Sayori squealed. "I get to see Natsuki's cute poem first!"

"Uwa!" Natsuki spat out, shuffling away from the rapidly approaching Sayori. "It's not cute! Don't call me or my poems that!"

Running away from Sayori, who had a wrinkled sheet of loose leaf torn from a spiral notebook in her hand, Natsuki stood by the desk she had placed her school bag on and opened it up to retrieve her own poem while Sayori excitedly jumped up and down right next to her.

"Go get her, MC!" Monika commanded, slapping him on the ass for encouragement.

Following her orders, MC sauntered over to Yuri with a smile on his face and a pat on his ass. "You got it, Club President!"

"Wow, Sayori wasn't kidding." Monika mused to herself, gazing at MC's backside as he walked over to Yuri. "He is pretty solid~"