There was no way to change what had just happened… we were all resolute where we stood, bearing a righteous anger, but that cloud of justice had quickly dissipated. The most pressing question was…
"Now what…?" Natsuki asked, sitting down at a desk. "What do we do now? I'm glad she's gone… but… I mean, now everything's all awkward." She chuckled dismally.
"Beats me." I sigh. She was almost close with the awkwardness. I would've called the feeling tension, or maybe shock… Sayori hadn't said a word since Yuri left. When I looked at her, she seemed to be lost in thought, struggling to contemplate something. I wanted to say something to her, but every time I glanced at her she turned away.
"I knew Yuri was kinda strange in the… uh, in the head, I guess. This really shouldn't surprise me as much as it does." Natsuki continued. "I just didn't think she'd get like that, you know?"
"Hey Natsuki… how did that argument even start? Like, what was going on?"
"Really? It was nothing, we were just talking, and then she got snippy with me for no reason. I don't know what it was."
"... Alright, if you say so…" Frankly, I didn't believe her… but now wasn't the time to press charges. Not that it even mattered much to me in the first place. We might be better off without Yuri.
"Ah… can I have everyone's attention, please?" Sayori struggled to say. We both acquiesced, and allowed her to continue. "We have a slight issue, now that Yuri is gone. The thing is… we need four members to be recognized as a club, and now we have… three." She stammered.
"That is an issue, yeah…" Natsuki reflected my thoughts verbally. "Does that mean they're going to stop the club…?"
"Once the advisory notice, yes…" Sayori scratched her hair nervously. "And the festival is coming up, which means… yeah! Ehehe…"
"No more Literature Club." I fill in the gap somberly. "Don't we, uh… have time to recruit a new member? The festival is next week, isn't it?"
"I can't be asked to remember." Sayori responded gloomily. "And If I may… uh... say something…"
Natsuki and I quietly allowed her to continue.
"It doesn't matter. Member or no member, I'm stopping the club." She looked down, her voice barren of any semblance of emotion.
"Wh-What?" I exclaim in surprise. "Why would you want to stop the club? Why-" I look to Natsuki, expecting her to back me up, or share my surprise. Instead, she looked just as downcast as well.
"Don't kid yourself, MC." Natsuki said with a sigh. "Remember when we talked outside? Really, nobody is in this club for literature. With Yuri gone, that's more true than ever. I just wanted a place to hang out with friends. This 'club' is a sham."
I couldn't refute that, but… part of me enjoyed the literature aspects, I suppose. Before I could say anything, Sayori spoke up again.
"It's true, it is a sham. When I started this club, it was… I don't really know what I was doing. I just acted on an impulse because, 'hey, I'm passionate about creative writing, why not start a club?' Never mind that I had no experience, or any reason to do that at all, I just felt like it was something I had to do. And… I did it." Sayori sat down in the teacher's chair. "And it was kinda… nothing, for a while. Yuri came, and since she was the first person to join, I called her my 'vice president.' When really, it didn't mean anything. Then you joined-" She pointed at Natsuki, "-and that added a lot. I was starting to look forward to the club. It wasn't an obligation anymore… I started to feel happier. Things were looking up. I even devised a plan to convince MC to join: asking you to make cupcakes, letting Yuri bring her tea set by claiming the teacher said it was okay... and it worked perfectly. Things were great. We were pretty much a club… those first few weeks were amazing.
Then Yuri started acting weird. Talking about morbid things, staring at MC when he wasn't looking obsessing over him… sending me weird threats, sending MC weird letters…"
"Wait, what?" I blurted, my eyes widening. Did she just say that Yuri sent her threats? And that she was the one writing me letters? There's no way that could have been true, I thought whoever was doing that delivered the letters while we were at school! And doesn't that mean that Sayori was receiving letters as well? That changes everything…! Could Yuri have been the one to clean my room, too? No... It doesn't add up... but, it's still within the realm of possibility. "Yuri sent you threats?"
"Yeah…! She did… she printed out these threatening poems, sealed them in an envelope, and got someone to deliver them to my house while we were at school… er, I think she did, anyways…"
"Whoa, back up…" Natsuki put a hand on her temple. "I know Yuri's a nutjob but this is something else! Do you know for a fact that she did this?"
"W-Well… who else could it be? I don't know that many people… and I didn't want to believe it was her! The whole reason I made everyone write poems was so I could compare the writing to see if they matched up, but after what she said to you… it couldn't be anyone else."
My head was starting to spin. Did any of this make sense…? What was Sayori going through? I ask breathlessly, "Do you have these threats with you right now?"
"No, I don't… they're all at my house still."
We didn't dare move as we all silently contemplated to ourselves… but our minds moved as one hive. We stood up, collected what was ours, and forged our way out of the clubroom. No more words were needed, we knew what we were doing. We were going to Sayori's house.
As we exited into the hallway, we were relieved to find that there was nobody in sight. Yet, I had to wonder where Yuri had gone to… my first guess is that she went to a bathroom or back into the computer lab, but maybe she had gone outside and headed home. That would be less likely, since she had to take the bus.
Maybe Natsuki was thinking along the same lines, since she seemed to be anxiously looking around a lot as we traversed the halls. We were allowing Sayori to lead us outside, but her pace was unenthusiastic and lagged. Despite that, we followed at an emulated pace.
Outdoors, Sayori stopped at the edge of the concrete plaza. "So uh… I'll see you later, Natsuki. MC and I are going home." She spoke with a peppy confidence that was hard to argue with.
I looked between Sayori and Natuski pensively, because I was under the impression that Natsuki was going to come with us. I wonder why she was dismissing her like that… My eyes caught Natsuki's. Her expression was annoyed, but I got the impression that Natsuki wasn't bothered. "Alright, then. See ya later." She shrugged, and began walking away from us, perpendicular from the street me and Sayori usually take. I couldn't bring myself to say anything, and joined Sayori to walk home.
A few minutes of silence followed us as we slowly meandered home. Then Sayori suddenly took hold of my arm and pressed against my body. "S-Sayori?" I vocalize, taken off guard.
"MC…! MC…" She buried her face against my chest desperately. "I-I'm so scared, MC… I don't know what to do…"
I stayed silent and exhaled patiently. I didn't know what to do either, in all seriousness… but saying that wouldn't help either of us. Her disposition earlier must have been a cover, and now that we were alone, she was letting her emotions out…
"MC... c-can we have another sleepover? I feel better when I'm with you. I don't want to be alone." She pronounced herself more matter-of-factly with every sentence.
"Wha…" I remember earlier this morning things got awkward when I suggested the same topic. What was with this sudden turnaround? "I… I don't know if I can, but uh… I'd be glad to have you over."
"Okay… okay…" Sayori sighed to herself and took a step away from me. "I'm sorry for throwing myself on you like that…"
"No, it's alright. I just need to catch up on my homework and all…"
"I know… I promise I won't distract you, ehehe…" She giggled to herself with a new sense of relief.
It was at that moment that my sixth sense starting to go off: it felt as if someone was watching us! I turned to search the area behind me. Nobody was obviously there, but there were plenty of objects to hide behind... It was probably nothing, or just the fear that someone saw the intimacy of what happened. We just continued on our way home with slightly raised spirits.
[Author's note: My apologies for the somewhat shorter chapter. This is... troubling. I've been in a bad place in terms of writing, and haven't made a lot of progress lately. This is actually the critical limit; I don't have any writing backlogged after this chapter currently. Hopefully that will change soon? I'm still committed to writing this... But if things get worse, I'll try to keep people updated.]