Chapter 20: Uneasy Truce

My alarm clock wakes me up again. I lay in bed, waiting for the strength to get up to come to me. After listening to the ringing for about a minute, I hit the power button and jump out of bed. Half-asleep, I begin my normal morning routine.

I turn on the main room lights and head for the kitchen. I pull out a bowl and some cereal and have breakfast on the island. Once I'm done, I place my dishes in the sink and take a shower. The hot water does an excellent job of waking me up. I still have a cup of coffee afterwards, however. The morning sun rises above the horizon and shines through my windows, giving the room a peaceful vibe.

I meander around for a bit before I have to head out to school. I grab the poem I wrote last night and stuff it in my bag. I also place my laptop in a separate bag and sling the strap over my shoulder as I walk out. The daily commute is sprinkled with other students on their way to school. I make it to school around 5 minutes early and head for my classroom. Monika and Natsuki are already inside the room when I get there.

"Morning Nathan!" They say in unison.

I gingerly wave my hand in reply and sit down in my seat. I notice a manga novel sitting on Natsuki's desk, something she quickly hides once more students pour inside. Mrs. Omo eventually comes in and begins class. It's the same easy stuff we've been doing since I first got here. It seems an eternity passes before the bell finally rings and Mrs. Omo dismisses us. While packing up, Natsuki approaches me.

"Hey, Monika is on cleanup duty. We should get going to the club…" She says with a slight blush.

"Yeah, good idea." I say with a smile. I can't keep up my attitude around Natsuki, she's too cute.

"W-Well?! C'mon then!...dummy" She hurries.

I follow her out of the classroom and up to the clubroom. We walk in and see Yuri sitting at a desk inside.

"Hey Yuri." I greet.

"Oh, h-hi Nathan." She replies, clearly taken off guard.

I smile to myself as I sit down at a desk near the closet. I pull my laptop of it's bag and place it on the desk. While it boots up, I pull out my phone, put my earbuds in, and start listening to some music. I find myself listening to OK Go, a fairly mainstream alternative rock group. When I say they're 'mainstream', I mean they don't necessarily have anything that makes them stand out. They're still amazing, however, so I'll save my breath.

Because the world technically 'restarted', the progress I had on my short story was lost. I start over, but since I've already wrote this part before it goes fairly quickly. As I continue working, the others begin funneling into the clubroom. Hansuke shoots me a nasty look when he walks in. Everyone continues to do their own thing for the majority of the time. Because I'm listening to music, no one comes near me. I start wrapping up the 2nd chapter when Monika calls out to the clubroom.

"Okay everyone! It's time to share poems!"

I begin packing up my things. When I'm done, I see Natsuki standing in front of me.

"Let's share poems…"

"Alright."

I get my poem out of my bag and hand it to her. She takes about a minute to read it before she finally speaks.

"Well, it wasn't THAT bad…" She pauses. "It's a lot different than your poem at the festival."

"Yeah, I kinda just wrote down the first thing that came to me."

"Hey, if you don't put effort into this club, you won't hear the last of it!" Natsuki exclaims.

"Alright, alright, I try a bit harder next time."

"Good." Natsuki smirks. "Now, you should read mine."

Natsuki hands me her poem. It's much like her poem at the festival. Simple and effective. The poem has a nice rhyme to it, something I doubt I could pull off.

"It's a lot like your other poem. Simple, yet effective." Natsuki's face lights up as I continue. "I also really like how the poem rhymes, that's certainly not an easy thing to do."

"Yeah, you're right it's not easy! Only the best can pull that off!" She brags.

"A bit boastful, don't you think?" I joke.

"Well, I'd like to see YOU pull it off!"

"I think I'll take you up on that."

Natsuki's face turns red.

"W-What…"

"Tonight, I'll write a poem that rhymes and you can judge it. Sound good?" I explain.

"Y-Yeah, sure…" Natuki mutters as I hand back the poem.

I move across the room, trying to get to Monika. Before I can get their, Hansuke stops me.

"Hey man, listen…" He pulls me off to the side. "I didn't mean what I said yesterday. It's just I...I was a bit worried you'd try and hit on Sayori. She's my girlfriend, so, you know…"

Hansuke is interrupted by my laughing.

"Oh, that's what this is about?" I chuckle. "Ahaha, you don't have to worry about me. I respect people's boundaries."

"Oh, thanks man. Sorry for being an asshole about it." He apologizes.

"Nah, I'm sorry for being an asshole." I say.

"We good?" He asks.

"We good."

With that, we head our separate ways. I go towards the front of the room.

"Hey Monika."

"Hello, Nathan!~" She says with a smile. "Enjoying your first real meeting?"

"Yeah, it's fun in here." I say.

"That's good to hear!" She exclaims. "Now, we should share our poems."

I take Monika's poem and she takes mine. The subject matter of her poems is certainly different than in the game. Her poems are about nature, or at least using nature as a metaphor. The poems she used to write were about her epiphany, how she realized her entire life was almost meaningless. But, of course, she hasn't had her epiphany and never will. To them, this is the real world. But not to me….

"Nathan? Is something wrong?" Monika interrupts my thoughts. I recoil back, startled.

"What? Oh, no no, I'm good…"

"Alright…" Monika moves on. "What did you think?"

"Well, I love anything nature-related, so I'm pretty biased when I say it was amazing."

Monika begins blushing.

"Oh, thank you! Y-Your poem was great too!"

"Ahaha, thanks."

Monika and I hand each other's poems back and head our separate ways. None of the other girls seem interested in sharing with me, so I head back to my seat. Monika notices this and ends the poem sharing time.

"Well guys, we only have 5 more minutes. Guess I'll let you out early." Monika turns to me. "Did you enjoy sharing Nathan?"

"Yeah, it was alright."

"Oh Nathan! I'm sorry! I forgot to share with you!" Sayori exclaims disappointed. I see a jealous expression come over Hansuke's face.

"I-I forgot as well. I must apologize…" Yuri says, embarrassed.

"Oh, you're fine. Don't worry about it." I assure them.

"Yeah, it's not like his poem was good or anything…" Natsuki mutters.

I ignore her and begin packing up my stuff. Everyone else does the same. We say our goodbyes and head our separate ways. I walk home accompanied by my music. Arriving at my apartment, I do my usual nightly routine. Once I'm finished with dinner, I head to my room and begin writing my poem.

…..

"Whew, finished."

I put my pen down and admire my work. The poem not only has rhyme, but a decent flow to it. I quickly glance at the clock to see that it's around 10 o'clock. I eagerly jump into bed and let sleep take me.