"Crap!" Sayori shouted as she rushed past her locker and towards the stairwell. "I'm late!"
That probably surprised nobody but herself. Sayori had a habit of letting time get away from her; her depression merely exaggerated it. Now, as she rapidly climbed the stairs, a click glance at her phone confirmed the worst: 3:23 PM. Club meetings started at 3:15.
"Late again," Sayori huffed and puffed under her breath. "Guys. . . wait. . . I'm. . . on my way."
Though out of breath, she made it to the third floor surprisingly fast. She grinned, approaching the literature club with wondrous thoughts bubbling in her mind. What fun antics would she and her friends get into today? Perhaps they'd start reading a book together, or they'd try a little creative writing assignment, or even discuss a literary trope and its prevalence over time. That last one was a little over Sayori's head, but as long as she was with her friends, anything would be great.
"Hey, everyone!" she greeted as she opened the door. "Sorry for being so late, I lost track of time. . . in. . . the gym. . . showers?"
Two pairs sat at directly opposite points in the room, which wasn't unusual in itself. Sometimes, when club members were allowed to just read in their free time, they'd sit away from other club members so that they could concentrate. What caught Sayori off guard is that neither party seemed to be reading. Instead, they were merely conversing among themselves, every now and again sending the other pair a very unfriendly look.
"What did I miss?" Sayori inquired, cocking her head.
Nobody acknowledged her.
"OK?" Sayori mumbled to herself. "Awkwaaaaarrrrdddd."
She closed the door behind her, set her backpack down, and made her way in between her clubmates. Nobody so much as acknowledged her, which did less to insult her and more to just weird her out further. "So, are we doing independent reading, I guess?"
No answer came from anyone.
Sayori crossed her arms and pouted. "Hey! What am I, the cafeteria meatloaf?"
Ignoring her, Natsuki peered around at Yuri, frowned, gestured first at her eyes, and then at Yuri's.
Yuri offered a bewildered shrug and a scoff. 'What are you doing?' she mouthed silently.
'I'm watching you," Natsuki replied, also mouthing. 'Like an eagle in the sky."
Yuri rolled her eyes and went back to reading.
"Can somebody please tell me what's going on?" Sayori requested loudly. "Why is the atmosphere today so, er, yucky?"
It was then that Monika seemed to notice Sayori for the first time. She gave her one of her trademark club president smiles. Those were always friendly, disarming, and very good at hiding one's true emotions. "Why don't you come over here and read with us, Sayori? I can tell you all about it."
MC peered out from behind his copy of the manga he was reading. He offered Sayori an equally friendly smile, the kind one would expect to find on the face of a old friend. "No, Sayori, read with us. We haven't read together in a long time, haven't we?"
Monika eyed him foully before she returned her attention to Sayori. "Don't you want to sit next to your club president, Sayori? Who knows? We might have important business to discuss."
MC suddenly rose from his chair. "Hey, no fair! Don't pull the authority card on her!"
But Monika did not back down. Instead, she rose to meet him head on. Her face had gone crimson from a frighteningly potent fury. Sayori knew she wasn't its target, but it still scared the crap out of her anyway. "Don't pull the childhood friend card, then!"
"I wouldn't have to pull any card if you didn't storm out of my house on our Valentine's date!"
Yuri threw her proverbial hat in the ring. "Well, maybe she wouldn't need to storm out if you didn't call her a bitch, huh? What do you think about that?"
MC opened his mouth to argue, but Natsuki abruptly poppedd out of her chair. "I can tell you what I think, Yuri. You're leaving out an important detail: He apologized for that! In fact, he even tried to come over the day after. Monika just shut him out! You call that maturity!?"
Monika, in a fit of anger, scattered some papers on her desk onto the floor with a swipe of her hand. "I wanted to be left alone! Is that a crime, Natsuki!? Stay out of our business!"
"Girls, girls!" Sayori shouted over the chaos. Nobody seemed to pay her any attention. Instead, everyone began to talk over one another. She rubbed her temples fiercely. All of this fighting was giving her a tremendous headache. When she opened her eyes again, she was frowning grimly. There was something she could do to stop it, but she found the idea somewhat desperate. Then again, desperate times called for desperate measures. Sayori ran to the front of the room, took her place behind the podium, and bellowed, "Everybody, shut the hell up!"
The room went quiet all at once. Everyone froze, their widened eyes all focused on Sayori. Just like when she first entered the room, nobody spoke. This time, however, all eyes were on her.
"Did. . . did you just swear?" Natsuki finally questioned.
Yuri, who had been in the process of reaching for Natsuki's hair, nodded. "I believe she did."
Sayori delivered a smug, victorious smile, as if she was a conqueror gazing out at an enemy's fallen bastion. "I did. Now, for the last time, can I get some answers? Why are we divided into fractions-"
"Factions," Yuri corrected.
"Yes, those things. Why are we divided into them?"
MC stepped forward. "I'll tell you my side of the story," he stated. "When I found out that Monika had told everyone here about our, uh, private interactions, I was very upset. But you knew what? I went through all the trouble of making her a Valentine's dinner anyway. I wanted Valentine's Day to be special, but I also wanted to have a conversation about what she had done. I didn't have the intention of shaming her for it, but she decided to shut me down-"
"I did not 'shut you down', MC. You were-"
"Be quiet!" Sayori commanded. "Or do I need to start swearing again?"
Monika gulped. Even with all the power she possessed, that threat was enough to put the fear of God into her. "No ma'am."
MC nodded graciously. "Thank you. So, anyway, she shut me down repeatedly, and frankly, that was very frustrating. I called her a bitch, which was not a nice thing to say. She had a right to take offense, and I apologized it, but she threw away my apology like it didn't matter. She wasted both her night and my own when all I wanted was forgiveness. Is that so unreasonable?"
Sayori scratched her chin in thought. "From what I've heard, it's not. Then again, Monika may have a different view," she acknowledged, turning her attention to Monika. "What's your side?"
Monika stepped forward. She was no longer angry, but still undoubtedly resolute. "I admit that maybe I should have talked to MC before I spilled the beans about that, but that doesn't excuse the behavior he exhibited that night. You see, he didn't just 'talk' to me about the issue. When I held my ground, he got angry. He wouldn't take no for a answer-"
"Because I couldn't just let-"
"Your time for talking is over!" Sayori reprimanded. "I already had to chew Monika out for interrupting you, so I'm giving you a free pass for this one. If you do it again, I'll side with Monika on this issue. Do you understand me?"
MC bowed his head in shame. He reminded himself never to get on Sayori's bad side anytime in the near future. When she wanted to be, she could be quite fierce. "Yeah, sorry."
Monika cleared her throat. "Anyway, he was becoming increasingly hostile about the whole thing, which isn't the boyfriend I've known for a while. He had a few good points, but the way he behaved was just saddening. Then, well, he called me a bitch. I never thought he'd call me something like that. He also compared it to telling everyone a, uh. . . Let's just say it's an embarrassing secret, if you catch my drift. I just wanted to go home in that moment, even if he did apologize. The night wouldn't be fun with that fight in the back of my mind all evening. The way I see it, I was saving us both the trouble of having to deal with the tension."
Sayori nodded. After a moment's deliberation, she spoke again. "You both raise some really good points, but the way I see it, neither of you are in the right."
MC and Monika looked at each other. For a moment, their gazes both softened. They both seemed to remember happier times. What Monika saw behind his amber glow was genuine remorse, and MC saw a similar regret in a sea of emeralds.
"Oh, come on!" Natsuki exclaimed. "Did you hear Monika's defense? It was so flimsy, wet tissue paper could outlast it!"
That exclamation shattered any chance of reconciliation. Almost instantaneously, the club devolved into a shouting match once more.
Sayori sighed, burying her head in her hands. "Why do I even bother?" she quietly muttered to herself. "This is all my fault. I should have never told MC what Monika said. If only I could still find a way to fix this."
She lifted her head again, preparing to go home, when she spotted Monika's papers scattered on the floor. An idea came to life in her mind, one that just might be able to fix everything. In spite of the discord, she smiled.
As it turned out, everyone else was too busy fighting to notice her walk purposely around them, scoop up Monika's papers, and place them in her bag. They were still too busy fighting to also notice her creep up to MC's backpack, unzip it, and take a few handwritten sheets of notebook paper with her. As the shouting match reached its peak intensity, Sayori picked up her bag, opened the clubroom door, and slammed it behind her as loudly as she could. She left, because there was nothing she could do to salvage things today. Tomorrow, though? If she played her cards right, there was a chance.
