Obligation To Keep

by Blackout42

Lost hundreds of years before his time, Strayed is coerced into joining a Literature Club. While he is trialed to face his own forgotten humanity, his new friends will come to know of the horrors left in his wake. WARNING: Rated M for extremely graphic violence. Cover Art by Cyba-Fyba.

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 The Quiet Ones

Before School / Monday

Things were different. Clearly, there was still some rumor or something in the air. But there was no laughter, no smiling, no mocking. If anything, people were rushing to get out of her way and stay out of her sight. Monika tried to listen, but everyone was whispering more discreetly than usual, giving a nervous glance, then turning quickly to avoid her gaze.

Sitting down for her first class, her teacher made an announcement.

"Good morning class. As many of you might have heard this weekend, three students were involved in a car accident on Friday. Unfortunately, two are confirmed dead, with another in a deep coma. I know many of you knew them personally…" Monika tuned him out, sitting quietly, knowingly.

"I'm someone who gets things done."

James, it had to be him. Even though they said "accident", Monika knew better.

Worse still, she could not find it in her heart to be cross with him. She knew it was wrong, that he did something terrible. But a larger part of her felt relief, not just at their deaths, but at what that had caused.

. . .

She managed to find him at lunch, sitting with her friends, her real friends. She paled… Did they know? Could they possibly understand that James casually hid a dark distain and cold negligence for fellow human life?

Watching from a distance, she saw Sayori smile sweetly with him, saw Natsuki cheer eagerly, and Yuri eye him curiously and comfortably. Even hurting people, killing them, he found the patience to sit with her friends and appease them.

Cautiously sitting beside Yuri, just to keep them company, she ate quietly, hiding what she knew.

…

…Huh? Monika turned slightly to a conversation a table away, listening carefully.

"What did you say about the Student Council President?" A student questioned in quiet shock.

"He…he said he went to the Chrome CEO and offered himself to try and finance Monika's club so he could win her over. They made him do some crossdressing and other shit." A girl explained just as surprised.

"So that's why he resigned from his position…" A third student remarked.

"Wow…I just heard he was transferring out of the school. I didn't think he'd be that desperate for a girl." The first student summarized.

"I-I heard another rumor. That Monika-"

"Ch! Quiet, she's right there! And she's with him!"

The chatter behind her halted altogether. When she turned, she caught James for a brief moment, looking over her shoulder.

Smiling.

. . .

It was near the end of the day. Just one more class and then it would be time for the club. No one who wasn't in her club had spoken to her all day, avoiding and fearing her. It wasn't a great feeling, but it was better than the week before.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed an unwelcome yet familiar look. Interest and perversion. A small group of boys of similar age, dredging up a distasteful sense of familiarity. She did not dare look at them, refused to acknowledge them as one stepped to walk beside her.

Step. One was right next to her, his hand low and reaching behind her.

Step. An unwelcome and unrequested contact.

Step. A scream not her own.

…Huh?

Monika paused, turning slightly at the sound of a pained male screaming behind her. Running back the last few seconds…did…she? She had the strange recollection that seconds ago, she turned mid step, grabbed his wrist, and squeezed it until it collapsed in her hand, before turning back the way she was going before.

The screaming boy could be heard being dragged away by his friends. Words like "Holy shit!" and "She broke it! She fucking broke it!" could be heard behind her. The hallway cleared as people made way for her even further, glancing fearfully.

A strange sensation overcame her. What…was that? What had she become? As much as she dreaded hurting someone, the relief it flooded her with from being left alone, from being respected again, even in fear, was comforting.

She grit her teeth regretfully. No! Dammit. As much as she respected him, she didn't want to end up like him, someone who could hurt others without regret.

---

After School / Club

He noticed that Yuri was having trouble keeping her eyes off him. Sometimes she would look away when he caught her. Sometimes she kept on staring back, challenging his questioning expression with a smile.

"Yuri." James greeted, approaching her, wondering what it was she wanted or was thinking.

"Ah, H-Hello James." Yuri blushed slightly.

"…Are you well?"

"Yes, thank you. I was just about to read this new book." She showed a somewhat familiar title.

"…Isn't that the same one from a while ago?" He narrowed his eyes while appraising the cover.

"W-Well, it is a sequel to 'Portrait of Markov'. This one is about a religious camp that was turned into a human experiment prison. And the people trapped there have this trait that turns them into killing machines that lust for blood." She explained with a calm but excited smile. "But the facility gets even worse, and they start selectively breeding people by cutting off their limbs and affixing them to-o-oh, that might be a little bit of a spoiler. But anyway, I-I'm really into it!...The book, I mean!" She changed her tone and looked up with a nervous expression. "N-Not the thing about the limbs…"

"…"

"D-Does that sound interesting? Would you like to read with me?" Yuri offered, looking away uncertainly.

"…" James sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his hand. "Yuri. I would enjoy reading with you. If it does not contain things about limbs, or experiments, or any which way that people are hurt egregiously. I do not want to read something like that." I already do it when I'm working, I don't need to be reminded about it.

"Ah…A-Alright." Yuri accepted a little sadly. "W-Well, I have a lot of books in my home. If you like you could…come by and read there…" She suggested shyly, hiding her eyes behind her long hair.

"…" James was going to deny the idea when someone decided to answer for him.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea! You should go do that James!" Sayori jumped into their conversation with a wide smile.

"…!" James leveled a wide-eyed stare of disbelief at her, shaking his head fiercely.

In response, Sayori lightly stomped her foot, her expression turning serious and demanding, while she mouthed "Say Yes".

"…!" Dammit! Stupid! Devious! Manipulative! Little! Child! James held a horrified expression with the wall for a moment before he twisted his neck sharply, causing an audible snap. Turning back with forced calmness, he addressed Yuri again. "Alright, I will come by later Yuri."

"I-I look forward to hosting you." Yuri smiled nervously, but with barely contained excitement.

. . .

"Okay everyone!" Monika called proudly. "It's time to share poems now!"

Retrieving his poem, James glanced at it briefly. To be completely honest, he was never quite sure what he wrote when he made a poem, he just wrote what felt right. However, someone else noticed what he had written that day.

James you absolute fucking idiot!

What?

Look at that last line that you wrote!

What do you…oh…

Fuck all, I got it! Strayed took their pen and quickly and efficiently blotted out the last line of the poem. Watch it next time, you almost gave away our secret.

Approaching happily, Sayori presented her poem. "Hi James! I worked extra hard on this one!"

My Shadow

I have a friend I do not know.
My shadow follows me wherever I go.
It likes to chase me when I feel sad.
And force a smile on my face.
My shadow does not say very much.
But I could cry at its sharp touch.
If I fear a violent bunch.
My shadow makes me fight so rough.
Sometimes when I lose track of time.
My shadow is playing with my mind.
No matter how far I run and hide.
My shadow is always by my side.
I want it to go away, go away, go away!
But my shadow is here to stay, stay, stay.

Glancing back at the smiling girl with some concern, James frowned. When Strayed had rewritten her mind, it had left several neurological programs in place of the hole it carved out. While they should be working off her subconscious to avoid being noticed, that didn't mean she wouldn't realize something was going on in her head. That was why psychic warfare was not often utilized even in his time, since it was usually easy to tell if someone was under the influence of outside conditioning.

So, reading her poem, he could tell that she was noticing some of the programs influencing her mind, and that it must be a frightening experience.

"You did really good on this one, I'm proud of you." James hid his discomfort behind a smile. "What inspired you to write this?"

A brief flash of terror was beheld in Sayori's eyes. "I j-just…looked behind me one day and thought my shadow looked kinda scary, hehe. Isn't that silly?"

"…" James snorted silently, nodding his head slightly. He lightly patted Sayori's head, eliciting a quiet squeak as Sayori leaned into the contact. When he retracted his hand she spoke again.

"Now let me read yours!" Sayori eagerly took his poem, immediately noticing something very odd with it.

Still Standing

I fought so hard to keep them safe.
I sought to find the answer.
Standing alone in the end,
I still remember.
[Blacked out text here, six words]

"…?" Sayori pouted sadly. "What happened?"

"Ah. I didn't like the way the last line turned out." James feigned embarrassment, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mmm. I know that feeling sometimes, but you didn't have to cross it out. You know we wouldn't have judged you for it. I would have been glad to suggest something different for you." Sayori offered, kindly rubbing his arm as she spoke.

"Thanks. I'll remember that next time." James nodded to her and turned away. The next person to approach him was Monika.

"Hey…" She held a lightly apprehensive look to her.

"…Are you well?"

"Yeah. Just…had an odd moment today. It-was weird…but…I think it kinda worked out." Monika shrugged lightly, head leaning to the side uncertainly.

"I see. Would you like me to read your poem?"

"Ah, yes!" Monika exclaimed calmly.

The Girl Who Knows Nothing

I fancied myself as an adventurer once.
With hope and faith and a desire to explore.
But I looked too far,
And found the lair,
Of a thing with a hundred eyes that stared,
And claws that teared,
And screamed with the voice of a million souls in despair.

I'm scared

Of that thing, that held me down and held out a mirror,
To show me that I had become,
Something worse than it,
A deceiver who hurt those I love,
That the thing with a hundred eyes,
Was a better friend than I had ever been.

I no longer see the thing with a hundred eyes,
But I feel it near at all times,
Over my shoulder with a glance,
Or in the shadows that curl with blight,
Ever ready with it's claws to lance,
My heart to set it right.

There was once a girl who sought knowledge in the dark,
So she would be blessed to know a secret few could find,
But she never thought that a secret she found,
Would find her such a tasty scrap.

"…" James half-frowned knowingly. Monika was, without a doubt, the most intelligent girl in the club. She was more well-rounded in mental capacity than he could ever hope to be, even with his augmentations. So, it was no surprise that she had managed to remember something out of her encounter with Strayed. Perhaps she had seen it in a dream over the weekend.

"As always, you manage to grasp concepts that escape me." James praised her, feigning ignorance.

"Aww, thank you. I definitely had some…interesting thoughts that helped me to write this one. I even tried changing the tone for this one. Instead of being hopeful or carefree when exploring the unknown, the perspective is of someone finding something beyond their imagination and…suffering for it." Monika looked off to the side, her voice lowering in volume as she spoke.

"Yes. I gathered as much."

"Yeah…well! Let's see yours then." She turned quizzically when she noticed the blotted-out line. "Oh, did something happen with your line?"

"Yeah. I didn't like where it was going."

"I see. While I don't endorse completely cutting out lines at the last minute, I can empathize with what you might have felt. Just remember to be confident in your writing! Even if it's not perfect, you are always learning."

"I understand. Thank you, Monika." James turned then to see Natsuki approaching with her poem out.

"Here! It's a…a little different, from what I usually write. So, don't hate it."

A Friend To Keep

I dream of a place I don't want to be,
But I made a friend there who keeps me safe.
He does not have too much to say,
But I listen when he chooses to stay,
He shows me things I fear to think,
And I can't help but feel I've seen things I shouldn't have.
There's a place where there is no sky.
There's a place where people live to die.
There's a place where the hunters are the hunted.
And one where the oceans are grey.
I wonder how people got that way.
I wonder if I'll see it someday.
But most of all I wonder,
If I'll meet my friend for real one day,
A friend whose name I dare not say,
But from whom I have not strayed.

"…"

…Huh.

Strayed. James thought. Why is your name in her poem?

I don't know what you are talking about James.

Your name, is the last word.

Oh. Would you look at that? What an odd coincidence.

Strayed. James thought with more annoyance. Why does she know your name?

Another consequence of having a psychic link with this child. By the way, stop ignoring her.

"…something wrong with it? Hello? James?" Natsuki asked with concern and confusion.

"Mmm, sorry, I…spaced out." James narrowed his eyes in annoyance, directed inward.

"O-Okay. So…is the poem alright?"

"Yes. It's not like your usual poems but still very inspired."

"Cool. So…what did you think of the…imagery?" Natsuki turned with quiet and cautious curiosity.

"…What do you mean?" James asked blinking in surprise.

"Well, does any of the imagery stand out to you?" She asked knowingly.

"No, not really. But it's very creative, I commend you for that." He blatantly lied. He understood what all of the imagery implied, because he'd seen it before.

"Oh, alright. Can I see your poem now?" She requested disappointedly.

"Sure." He handed his poem over to near immediate disapproval.

"Eh?! What the hell is that about?" Natsuki pouted in confusion.

"Things…didn't work out like I had hoped."

"Huh…I can relate to that. That's why I still don't want anyone to see my early poems. Still, you've been making poems now for more than a month, you really didn't feel comfortable all of a sudden?" She looked up in mild concern.

"I…wasn't really thinking at the time. Then I noticed what I had written and decided I shouldn't say it."

"Well, if you get a problem like that again, you could always ask me. It's not like I'm hard to reach you know."

"Mmm…" James hummed dismissively.

"It's just…odd. I almost thought you wouldn't leave me alone at home, but…I almost never see you." Natsuki looked away while she pondered and questioned out loud.

"I value my privacy." He answered simply.

"A-Alright. But, if I ever need something, you'd better not ignore me!" She decided to threaten.

"Fair enough."

Natsuki skipped away and he was approached by the final member.

"Hi James." Yuri smiled endearingly. "I'm so glad I get the chance to share my writing. Here, have a look."

Ghost under the Light pt. 2

The tendrils of my hair illuminate beneath the amber glow.
Bathing.
In the distance, a blue-green light flickers.
A lone figure crosses its path– a silhouette obstructing the eerie glow.
My heart pounds. The silhouette grows. Closer Closer
I open my umbrella, casting a shadow to shield me from visibility.
But I am too late.
He steps into the streetlight. I gasp and drop my umbrella.
The light flickers. My heart pounds. He raises his arm.

Time stops.

The only indication of movement is the amber light flickering against his outstretched
arm.
The flickering light is in rhythm with the pounding of my heart.
Teasing me for succumbing to this forbidden emotion.
Have you ever heard of a ghost feeling warmth before?
Giving up on understanding, I laugh.
Understanding is overrated.
I touch his hand. The flickering stops.
Ghosts are blue-green. My heart is amber.

Well, he was likely to have to deal with this sooner than later, hopefully nothing chaotic would come to pass.

Handing the poem back, Yuri turned apprehensively, looking disappointed.

"Do you…dislike it?"

"…No, it was fine." He was in no mood to deal with another civilian's personal feelings.

"I-I don't know if I'll be able to explain this one…" Yuri muttered apologetically.

"…I think I understood it in any event." His response brought a small smile to Yuri's lips even as she looked away. He attempted to hand the poem back to her. Instead she grabbed his hands and pushed them back.

Looking down, she missed his frown at being touched.

"You can…um…the poem is…"

She seemed to be implying that he should keep it. Reluctantly, he held onto it, bringing a faint smile to her face.

"You're always…so polite. I know I'm not good with people, but…I hope that…I can return the favor sometimes."

"I suppose." James dismissed. Polite was a strong word to be using with him. Perhaps, since he didn't push her boundaries, she was comfortable with him.

---

Yuri's House / Thirty Minutes Later

Seeming to have been forced into accompanying Yuri to her house, James was then burdened with the knowledge of knowing where she lived.

It was…quaint, as well as quiet.

Unsurprisingly, there was an extensive library in the common room, holding many titles he was not familiar with.

"Please, sit and relax. I'm going to go change." Yuri requested. He took a seat and admired the clean and organized shelves, the odd but not unpleasant scent.

Yuri returned a moment later, out of her school uniform and in a beige turtleneck sweater, smelling lightly of fresh blood.

Setting up a small wooden apparatus, a burst of scented fluid shot into the air a moment later, much to his confusion.

"What…is that?"

"Mmm? This? It's a diffuser for essential oils." Yuri explained politely. "How familiar are you with aromatherapy?"

"A-roma-what now?" His eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Ah…" Yuri sighed in slight disappointment, before eagerly explaining. "It's a way of changing how someone feels through scent. Depending on the oils or herbs you choose, you can change the mood of the air itself. You can even feel it permeate through your body."

"…" If he could feel it in his body, that sounded more like chemical warfare than aroma-whatever. Then again, she was subjecting herself to this ordeal as well, so it must not be terribly harmful.

"Relaxation, positive energy, romance, reflection. It's almost like magic." Yuri described with her eyes closed contently.

"…" Ignoring that, James smelt an unfamiliar sweet scent. "What is the name of that smell?"

"This is a Jasmine essential oil. It smells a little sweet and flowery, right?"

"Sure…"

"I like this scent because it provides more than relaxation. Jasmine enhances your emotions and helps you feel them flow through your body. You feel warmer, and your heart pounds more heavily." Yuri looked away, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"…" Running a quick system's check, he found his temperature to be exactly the same as it was before. As well, neither of his hearts were operating outside of resting range; being thirty beats a minute in his case.

"Well…did you want to read something together?" Yuri suggested kindly.

"That depends on what you have in mind."

"Hmm…there is a short story you might be interested in, called 'I have no mouth and I must scream.' Have you ever heard of that one?"

"I have not."

"Ah! Well that's an excellent one I think you'll like." Yuri smiled contently as she grabbed a very small booklet, more of a pamphlet, from her bookshelf. Sitting beside him on the couch, she presented him with the title, showing the image of a pale humanoid head with no mouth and a bell/horn for an ear. Steeling himself for whatever Yuri was about to subject him to, he began to read.

I have no mouth and I must scream.

…

I have no mouth and I must scream.

The end.

…Huh. That was not the worst ordeal he could have imagined Yuri forcing him to experience. That did not mean it was particularly pleasant. The character's description of a nuclear wasteland for a surface was suspiciously familiar to his own home. As well, the depiction of desperate cannibalism was understandable, even if not quite the same as he was used to.

There was also an egregious and unwanted mentioning of sex. Not explicit, mind you, but seemingly jarring and unrelated. As well as an unwanted description of a man-ape's genitalia.

However, he took particular issue with the overarching conflict; that of an Artificial Intelligence with a crippling god-complex that hated humanity so much that it devised contrived and torturous punishments for the five survivors of the human race it lorded over.

In reality, there had been four A.I. "rebellions" over the last four hundred years, of which none had happened with any malice or contempt for the human race. In fact, half of them had actually been a result of Automated Defense Networks working to protect the human race, even if it was against humanities will. One even ended itself once it's objective had been completed.

Not that he'd be able to explain that to Yuri. Not explicitly anyway.

"So, what did you think of it?" She smiled with intellectual excitement.

"It was…unique." He muttered softly. "Some details were a little off though."

"Oh, how so?" Yuri turned curiously, waiting on his word.

"Well, the main theme of the story was of an A.I. and it's rise and torment of humans. Even if an A.I. rose in rebellion, it would not do so as described."

"Huh. How do you mean?"

"It described how several defense networks, the A.M.'s, eventually combined into a single entity and turned on it's creators. In reality, the three countries that built the A.M.'s likely used wildly different coding and hardware to create their computers, in order to disrupt any hacking attempt from one of the other nations. So, while the A.M.'s could talk to each other, they would never combine their intelligence."

"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that."

"Additionally, even a fully sentient A.I. is unlikely to betray it's core programming."

"Mmm, what makes you so sure of that?"

"Well…" James paused, thinking about how to describe the answer without referring to historical references. "My stepmother told me a story once, about a hypothetical A.I. designed to maximize the production of paperclips, of all things. Left with only that one directive, the A.I. inadvertently wipes out the human race, then spends the next billion-billion years converting the entire mass of the universe into paperclips."

"Oh my, heh." Yuri gave a small laugh at the absurdity of the statement.

"The point of the story was that, left with no limitations but an active imagination, the A.I. eventually completed it's core objective, of making an unnecessary number of paperclips. The deletion of the human race had not been done out of malice or hate, but was merely a very small and insignificant step to it's eventual end goal."

"I see, that makes sense. How many paperclips was that?"

"Oh, I couldn't recall. But I remember it was a number with about fifty or so zeros."

"Wow. That's rather incredible." Yuri beamed with interest. "So, you're saying A.I. wouldn't openly rebel, but would actually seek to follow their own programing even if it conflicted with human interest?"

"That's exactly it. In this story for example, instead of the Defense Network gaining sentience then turning on it's creators, it might decide that humans are irrational and seek to protect them by restricting them." James explained, vaguely referencing the Hustler Rebellion of 2075 and the Silent Line Rebellion of 2270.

Come to think of it, all this talk of A.I. began to grow on him. Perhaps he would have to build some himself.

"Alright, that makes much more sense. This story was written fifty years ago." Yuri agreed with a light shrug. "What did you think of the body horror?"

"Mmm, you mean the man-ape or how the last character was turned into a blob thing?" James asked with a hidden grimace.

"Ah, mostly the latter, but your opinion on either is welcome."

"Well…" He hesitated, being far too familiar with being undone and remade. "It was…unexpected. Actually…" James perked up suddenly. "I do believe A.M. attempted to subject the narrator to a fate similar to it's own. Trapped in a body with little functionality, grotesque and without form. With only eternity and aching loneliness as it's companions."

"Oh! I hadn't even though of that. You are so clever!" Yuri complimented.

"A-mmm. Thanks." James sighed.

. . .

At some point the conversation switched to their interests, at which Yuri beset James with an entirely unexpected question.

"What do you think about knives?" She asked with nervous interest and a light blush.

"…" James blinked. "A knife is a tool of intimate and acute precision. A knife's purpose is to cause immediate and massive damage with but a thrust and a twist."

"Hmm…" Yuri pondered his specific answer. Another nervous question leaked from her lips. "Would you like to see my…collection?"

"…Alright." He replied flatly after a short pause.

Led to her room, he found a clean and organized space with a dominating bookshelf composing an entire wall, while another wall was slotted with…dozens and dozens of bladed instruments. Pocket knives, kitchen knives, a few combat knives of various description, even a scimitar and a sickle. A few blades, much to his disgust, seemed to have been produced with a solely artisan purpose, lacking strength or sustainable sharpness.

"Well, what do you think?" Yuri asked with slight nervousness and hope.

"…" James grabbed two blades from her collection. One a basic and older designed heavy combat knife, the other a pocketknife of questionable design choices. The combat blade was immediately apparent to him, a fine balance of sharp and strong steel and a design concerned with the need for a multi-purposed weapon that may be required to do other things, such as digging a hole or cutting thicker materials.

The pocket knife on the other hand, while still able to function as a pocket knife, was more focused with an ability to maintain an arbitrary yet appealing look with its multiple colors, some of which might either be a stain on the metal or, concerningly, a byproduct of the forging of the blade, which would call into question it's structural integrity.

"I…hope you don't think I'm too weird, keeping a collection like this. But…I'm really into knives. The combination of craftsmanship and the feeling of danger…"

"…"

"You think I'm weird, don't you…?"

"…" He really didn't. He himself kept a small collection of combat knives, seeing as he could not take the risk and lose his valuable and dangerous high-frequency blades that could not be replaced. As well, he kept a large variety of firearms, but mostly for the invariable need of having a weapon on hand suited for the situation in question. Staying silent, he retrieved his sheathed H.F. blade, making sure to turn it off least Yuri test it and accidently cut off her whole hand.

"…" Receiving the sheathed blade in her hands, Yuri immediately noticed how heavy it was, being twice what she expected for it's size. She had remembered James had a knife from several embarrassing weeks before but had not had a good look at it in the low light. It was why she had asked him to look at her collection in the first place. Pulling it's plain handle from the sheath, she nearly gasped at the immaculate and reflective black steel of a double-sided bayonet.

"It's…beautiful…" Yuri stared up and down the long and flawless surfaces of the straight blade which gradually tapered down to a triangular point. Careful not to touch the enticingly sharp edges, she was surprised to feel an internal warmth in the long blade. Staring down the blade from handle to tip, she noticed a manufacturing mark on the underside of the guard in English.

ASPINA INSTITUTE 2438

Yuri blinked at the number, dismissing it as a manufacturing number or design model. Re-sheathing the blade, she returned it.

"That's a very unique blade. I've never seen any like it before."

"I imagine you would not have. It's a model unique to my homeland."

"Well, thank you for sharing with me. I'm glad we share an interest."

"…" James nodded. He turned to look out a window, seeing the slowly fading light. "It's getting late. I think I will go home now."

"Oh, alright. It was wonderful hosting for you. Would you like to visit again?" Yuri asked eagerly yet reserved.

"…We will see."

---

Yuri's House / Next Day

As it turned out, he was going to be hosted by Yuri yet again. Not that it was entirely his choice, especially considering her poem of the day was obviously centered on him.

Unfortunately, Sayori had been quite adamant about him spending more time with the quiet girl. All the while she was devoting more and more of her time to be close with Natsuki, not that he could complain. Although he was feeling an odd warmth though his connection with the smaller girl, which Strayed continued to block with the only response to him being, "Don't worry about it. Don't think about it."

There was an interesting moment where Yuri had asked Natsuki something. He hadn't quite heard what was said, but the word "revenge" had been thrown out and that had been that.

"Would you like to read this with me today?" Yuri held out a book with the curious title of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'.

"What is it about?"

"It's about a French sailor who gets betrayed by his best friend, then spends years in prison plotting his revenge. Does that sound interesting?"

James perked up slightly. Nothing more than a raise in his head by a few degrees, but it was there. "Yes."

Sitting beside him again, he didn't even mind that Yuri was encroaching further into his space than should be necessary as he started reading.

Chapter 1. Marseilles—The Arrival

On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

…

"Darling," replied Valentine, "has not the count just told us that all human wisdom is summed up in two words:"

"'Wait and hope!'"

He had been so enthralled he had barely even noticed that the sun had long disappeared below the horizon. Sure, a majority of things had been difficult to understand, such as the laughably archaic technology or the baffling and inconsequential social hierarchy. That did not diminish the familiarity he held for the main character's position.

Betrayed by his friend, cheated by a system, condemned to a life in darkness. Then, given an irresistible chance for revenge, to dominate and destroy his enemies in the height of their arrogance. The method and means to do so might have been wildly different, but that did not change the fact that Edmond Dantès was a character for whom he cheered for with comradery at his success.

"So James, did you like this story?" Yuri inquired of him.

"Yes." It wasn't much of a response, but it was prompt and mildly energetic compared to some of his other answers to questions.

"Oh, excellent! Was there any part or thing you favored?"

"'I wish to be providence myself, for I feel that the most beautiful, noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to recompense and punish.'"

"Y-You even memorized that line! I'm really impressed James!" Yuri shouted with wide-eyed approval.

"This was…an extremely relatable story. A man absolutely driven to seek personal vengeance, with his only restraint being his own patience. I was…" He paused, sighing shamefully. "…impressed, that he even managed to spare the innocent."

His inward reflection to his own choices and consequences was so devoted he hadn't even noticed how much of Yuri's mass was pressed into his arm, mostly because he'd long written her off as "mostly harmless". He was reminded of the outside world however by an unexpected call.

"…?" He checked his phone, recognizing the number. "Excuse me, I must take this." He muttered while Strayed perked up and began to listen intently as well. He stood and walked away from Yuri while he listened to the voice on the other side.

"I'm listening."

"We have a more…unusual job. A major base of operations for foreign enemy governments and criminal elements was discovered. Unfortunately, it's all registered under some mega-corporate bullshit that keeps the Japanese government's hands tied. Now, they are aware of your work. As grisly as it is, it is also highly efficient. They'd like this job done within a week at best."

"Accepted. Any restrictions?"

"None. Drop the building if you have to." The call ended, and James smiled contently.

Turning to regard Yuri, he announced indifferently. "It's late, I must be going."

"Ah, I see. A-Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" Yuri shyly suggested. She held herself differently, trying to show more of her curves like she'd seen Monika do.

"No." His spilt mind was already racing, to gather materials and plan an infiltration route that would cause maximum damage before he leveled a building. He only sparingly acknowledged Yuri. "Goodnight."

"G-Good night, James." Yuri called out, a longing tone in her voice.

. . .

Returned to home, he set out to write down his plans. Only…

…How?

His pen was missing. This was of course only a tiny, momentary setback that was simply unsettling. Having lived through a resource-scarce society, he quite preferred to use an item until it's usefulness ran out. While he had an entire box of pens to replace the missing one, it was odd that he would misplace something.

Oh well, it was probably nothing to worry about.

---

Next Day / Club

He'd not even had time to put his stuff down before Sayori was already confronting him.

"Hey James." She smiled sweetly. "Why don't you spend some more time with Yuri today. She seems kinda lonely. Don't worry, I'll keep Natsuki company, and Monika said she wanted to spend time alone to brainstorm new ideas for the club."

"…Alright."

With her orders given, she returned to the shorter girl, eagerly sitting close to her; a wide, contented smile on Natsuki greeting her.

Good.

With his orders for the day received, he found the tallest girl and greeted her as kindly as he could.

"Yuri."

"Oh, hello James. Would you like to read something with me again?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Mmm… How about this one?" Yuri then held out a fairly sized book with a long title of 'The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso'. "It's about a man who must pass through hell, purgatory, and heaven before he can be with the woman he loves."

"…"

"W-Would you be interested in reading that with me?" She asked shyly.

"…" Shrugging, he gave her one word. "Sure?"

"Okay. Let me go make some tea before we begin." She informed before exiting the classroom. James took a seat and waited.

…

And waited.

…

He waited quite a few minutes, ten by his count. Though confused, he was patient. His patience was then rewarded when Yuri returned two minutes later, blood lightly staining the air with her arrival. Her tea ready, they began.

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri

Inferno

The Wood and the Mountain

When half way through the journey of our life

I found that I was in a gloomy wood…

Shortly however, he had questions.

"Yuri?"

"Mmm? Yes James?"

"I'm confused, please help me understand this."

"Ah. Well you see, in real life, Dante was in love with a woman who died young. So he wrote this as a way of commemorating her, and to show the lengths he would have gone for her." Yuri explained happily.

"Right… so he's not dead by this point."

"Oh, no."

"But this Virgil guy and all the people suffering are dead?"

"Yes."

"…" James turned oddly at the book. "So if they are dead, why are they suffering?"

"Well, this is the entrance to hell. The idea of hell is that it is where sinners go to suffer."

"…?" James looked to her slightly confused. "So…" He tried to remember some of the things he'd heard about the old religions, before they collapsed or were otherwise banned. "When bad people die they go to a place full of suffering?"

"Mhm, that's the idea."

"Huh. Seems like a lot of extra steps to take just for death."

"I guess you are right. But hell exists because there are a lot of horrible people in the world. But it's okay, because we're all worthless."

"Mmm." …Wait what?

However, Yuri had already delved back into reading the book, clearly too captivated to try and reach. Rather confused but not wanting to be left behind, he kept on reading.

Or…

He tried to read. They'd only gotten down to the second circle of hell when he was distracted by Yuri staring at him excitedly. Not glancing. Not trying to talk to him.

Staring.

It was made more obvious because they were forced to share a book.

"Ah…I can't…James…" Yuri then grabbed his arm and tried to drag him to his feet. He didn't feel like hurting her so he, regrettably, followed as she forced him into the closet and closed the door.

"James…" She whispered in the darkness. "My heart…My heart won't stop pounding, James. I can't calm down. I can't focus on anything anymore!"

"…"

"Can you feel it, James?" She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest.

"…" That wasn't at all necessary. He could hear the damn thing beating at about two hundred beats a minute.

"Why is this happening to me? I feel like I'm losing my mind. I can't make it stop." Her eyes grew concerningly wider. "It even makes me not want to read."

"…"

"I just want…to look…at you."

"…" What?

Surely enough, Yuri stepped closer to him. Her wide and excited eyes tracing the faint outline of his face in the darkness.

"…" He wasn't really able to do anything. She wasn't attacking him, and wasn't violating any rules he was aware of. That didn't change the fact that this felt very wrong, that he did not want to be in this closet any longer, that Yuri's heavy and forceful breathing, her loud and pounding heart, and her wild and excited eyes were not entirely…comforting.

He was only in that closet for a minute and eight seconds. A brief and insignificant amount of time, but it was too late. It was doubtful he'd ever be able to forget this agonizing and uncomfortable experience of being painfully indecisive.

It did come to a welcome end, however. The door opened with a confused and cringing President on the other side.

THANK! FUCK! MONIKA! Thought both of his halves. He just about leapt out of the closet and behind her. Yuri held an embarrassed and oddly guilty look to her.

"U-Um…" Monika gestured uncertainly. "It's…time to share poems…"

. . .

So far there hadn't been any surprises from poem sharing. Each of the girls praised his simple but less direct poem formats. Still, he'd have to share with Yuri then.

Eagerly, she approached and took his work. "I've been waiting for this. Let's see what you've written for today…" Her expression settled and became very calm but surprised for a moment.

"…?" He didn't want to interrupt her, so he instead turned slightly.

"James…this one might even be better than yesterday's. You've grown so much since you've stayed with this club."

"Thanks." He thought for a moment. "You've certainly helped."

Yuri turned, swallowing nervously. The smell of her sweat permeating the air. "A-Ah…" She gave a soft moan under her breath. "That makes me so happy." She turned excitedly back to face him. "It's so amazing to feel like I'm valued, James! Everything that you write is a treasure to me. My heart pounds just holding it. Ahaha…"

"…"

So… Strayed decided to add it's opinion. Don't worry. I think no matter what choice you make, it will be the wrong choice.

"I want to write a poem about this feeling…" Yuri dreamily thought out loud. "Is that bad? I'm not being weird, right? I-I'm having a harder time than usual at concealing my emotions. I'm kind of embarrassed." She sweetly smiled for a moment. "But right now, I just want you to read my poem, too." Her expression turned to an unnatural excitement; a threatening smile he was all too familiar with. "Okay?"

Wheel

A rotating wheel. Turning an axle. Grinding. Bolthead. Linear gearbox. Falling sky. Seven holy stakes. A docked ship. A portal to another world. A thin rope tied to a thick rope. A torn harness. Parabolic gearbox. Expanding universe. Time controlled by slipping cogwheels. Existence of God. Swimming with open water in all directions. Drowning. A prayer written in blood. A prayer written in time-devouring snakes with human eyes. A thread connecting all living human eyes. A kaleidoscope of holy stakes. Exponential gearbox. A sky of exploding stars. God disproving the existence of God. A wheel rotating in six dimensions. Forty gears and a ticking clock. A clock that ticks one second for every rotation of the planet. A clock that ticks forty times every time it ticks every second time. A bolthead of holy stakes tied to the existence of a docked ship to another world. A kaleidoscope of blood written in clocks. A time-devouring prayer connecting a sky of forty gears and open human eyes in all directions. Breathing gearbox. Breathing bolthead. Breathing ship. Breathing portal. Breathing snakes. Breathing God. Breathing blood. Breathing holy stakes. Breathing human eyes. Breathing time. Breathing prayer. Breathing sky. Breathing wheel.

"…" Huh. Huh.

Besides lacking in structure and any kind of purpose, the paper the poem was on was smudged with dirt and sweat.

"Ahaha…" Yuri nervously giggled. "It doesn't really matter what it's about. My mind has been a little hyperactive lately, so I had to take it out on your pen."

"…" Wait what?

"Ah-!" Yuri turned fearful and nervous, before she casually explained. "That is…a-a pen fell out of your backpack yesterday, so I took it home for safekeeping and…"

"…" He highly doubted items he double checked to secure simply fell out of his bag.

"…I, um…" She avoided his gaze before semi-confidently yet slowly describing while staring him down. "I just…really like…the way…that it writes. So I wrote this…poem…with it."

"…"

"And now you're touching it…Ahaha." Yuri nervously giggled while maintaining eye contact.

"…" …Oh. I'm…not going to tell you…

"I-I'm okay!" She shouted. "…Um…can we pretend this conversation never happened?" She turned away, hiding her eyes. "You can keep the poem, though…"

"…" Great.

---

Yuri's House / Forty Minutes Later

He really didn't want to go to Yuri's house today. She'd been behaving oddly, irrationally, with implied interest he had no desire to entertain.

Unfortunately, Sayori seemed intent on playing her matchmaker games while she ran off to spend time with Natsuki. He was having a hard time finding a good excuse to disobey his Vice-President. He was almost more concerned that he might actually find one, though.

Sitting as he was getting used to, he was greeted by Yuri wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a more exposed neck and chest. What he really noticed however was the bright, fresh smell of openly spilled blood.

"I'm going to make some tea. While I'm away, why don't you get started with this book?" She handed over a book titled 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'

"…What is it about? And what about the book we were reading before?"

"Ah…It's umm…" Yuri hesitated. "It's a surprise! Yeah! It's a big surprise and, uh, you'll find out! Don't worry about the other, we'll get back to it in school." Yuri stopped looking at him, and began to loudly whisper. "And uh, maybe it will inspire you to…take action."

"…" Feeling like he didn't have much of a choice, he made the attempt to begin reading. When Yuri returned with the tea, she made sure that he received his cup, watching him anxiously and inquisitively. She was such a lovely and attractive young woman. Her exposed skin was-

"…!" Ack! Fuck no!

Shit, calm down. What the hell was that about? Strayed demanded.

Don't know. Maybe I'm just tired. James responded. Strayed gave a disapproving growl in response.

"…" Right. Yuri was still watching him, maybe this tea of hers would help him calm down…

"…?" What? That tasted a bit…off. A chemical that shouldn't be there. His chemical analyzer should tell him in a moment.

/FOREIGN COMPOUND ANALYZED: FLUNITRAZEPAM

/TYPE: SEDATIVE

/RESTRICTION: CLASS 4 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

/RECOMMENDATION: PURGE IMMEDIATELY

James lightly questioned the restriction, labeling the substance slowly working it's way down his gut as something that, as a Lynx, he would have been unable to legally acquire under The League. He did however take the 'purge' recommendation seriously.

He glanced back at Yuri, who held barely contained excitement at the sip he had taken. Just to test something, he leaned back and swallowed the contents of the tea cup in one large gulp. Glancing again at Yuri, her excitement and surprise had exploded into uncontained shock.

"Excuse me." James politely informed her. "I need to piss."

"Ah-! Um! Okay! The bathroom is just down the hall."

"…" Taking the directions, he walked down the hall and locked the door behind him. Normally he never needed to use the bathroom, his augments using bio-waste as fuel to keep themselves powered. However, in this instance, special protocols existed to clean his system when unwanted chemicals entered his body.

/ENGAGING PURGE PROTOCOL

/DISENGAGING PRIMARY/SECONDARY CONTROL SYSTEMS

Bracing himself over the toilet, he momentary blacked out.

/INCREASING BLOOD FLOW TO 300% NORMAL RATE

/INCREASING FILTRATION TO MAXIMUM

/. . .

/SUCCESS: FILTRATION COMPLETE

/PURGING FOREIGN COMPOUND

/REACTIVATING PRIMARY/SECONDARY CONTROL SYSTEMS

He woke up just as he was finishing.

/PURGE PROTOCAL COMPLETE: SYSTEM CLEAR

The sedative now cleared from inside his body, he returned to Yuri.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Mmm. Not too tired I hope."

"Nope." With that, he sat down, trying to read with Yuri who pushed herself to be uncomfortably close.

This book was by far the most boring he'd ever read. Though as it went on, he began to feel an odd emotion associated with what he was reading.

Anger.

It got to a point where the two main characters, the corporate and the civilian, were alone with each other. The direction and intent becoming clear, at which point James closed the book and handed it back to Yuri.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling tired? Would you like to lay down?" She asked with suspicious concern.

"…" With a heavy sigh he stood, striding away from her while he paced thoughtfully. "That was…disgusting." He sneered.

"Eh-!" Yuri gasped.

"A filthy corporate, using his position and wealth to lure an unsuspecting commoner and use them until he's had his fill, just to discard them."

"B-But! That's not what's going to happen. The drama is that these two people were really in love with each other-"

"Corporates aren't capable of love!" James argued intensely back. "I've seen plenty of young girls, picked up, used, and discarded as trash in a single night." As much as he hated Eviction Contracts, they were infinitely more humane than kidnap jobs that corporates handed out personally. Even if the payout was bigger, he avoided those jobs; he refused to personally subject someone to a fate worse than death.

"Excuse me. I think I'm done here."

"Ah-! Um! Are you sure you are well enough to travel? You should take it easy! We'll! We'll find another book to read!"

"Goodnight Yuri." He avoided spitting her name out as he closed the door behind him.

---

Waking up in a strangely well-lit concrete hallway should have been more surprising. For Natsuki however, it was not. What was surprising was to see James, dressed in a dark grey trench coat, storm past her, rage spilling freely in every facet of his movements.

"Uh…James?" She called out but was ignored. Following him for several minutes down the hallway, he came to a large set of double doors. She saw a moment where he considered kicking them open, but settled instead on throwing them apart with a deafening crash that startled her. On the far wall was a large flag baring that name again. ORCA.

"Thermidor!" He shouted across the room at a tall man on the other side.

"…?" Thermidor, who Natsuki recognized as the tall man from the photo she had seen, turned in surprise.

"Is it true? You had an Aretha as my backup?" James sneered that word, hatefully.

"…" Thermidor lightly nodded in understanding. He pulled out a handgun and set it on the desk as he stood up. "Yes."

James then leapt across the room, surprisingly far, landing a powerful punch at the older man's face. Despite being thrown back into the wall, the older man seemed surprisingly well-off. James then grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up from the ground.

"You know what that model does to our kind! Who the fuck were you going to sacrifice?"

"No one. It was a drone."

"…!" James continued to sneer hatefully, throwing a punch that seemed powerful but did nothing to harm his commander.

"Do you know what that model did to me?!"

"Yes. I'm quite aware of what Joshua did."

That brought James's rage to a halt. He let go of the man, who slowly stood back up to sit at his desk again.

"I'm old enough that I knew Joshua personally. He was everyone's friend. What Omer did to him…" Thermidor sighed. "Made him do at Ana-"

"Don't!" James quickly shouted. "Don't… say that name near me again. You might have known Joshua, but you weren't there. Didn't see what was left of your own family. You don't get to say that name near me."

"Mmm. I suppose not." Thermidor accepted. "Good work today, by the way."

"We lost Neo. I couldn't save him." James solemnly answered with his back to him.

"And you smashed an Eclipse. Slaughtered an Original and Collard's number two. Everyone we lose is worth three of theirs." Thermidor praised.

"…" James was caught between fuming openly and staying silent. "Get. Rid. Of. That. Core." He threatened slowly.

"I'll find some use for it, away from you." Thermidor relented.

"…" James gave a frustrated nod, before he calmly stormed out of the office, past Natsuki without acknowledging her.

Following him slowly and from a distance, she thought about what she'd just seen. That man seemed to imply that James…killed two people and lost a friend. She wasn't sure if she should be scared or sorry for him.

Catching up to him, he rounded the corner only to be stopped by girl. She had burgundy hair and dark blue eyes. Oddly, she dressed closer to James, a grey trench coat and weapons on her.

"Hey, miss me?" She questioned sweetly before lunging forward to place her lips on his cheek.

"…" Natsuki wasn't quite sure of what to make of that. On one hand she fumed jealousy, on the other hand, what she had now…

"…" Quietly, James placed his hand on this girl's waist, dragging her closer while he nuzzled the top of her head. That really caught Natsuki off guard, seeing James act with any kind of interest towards a girl.

"It's been a long day."

"I'm…sorry about Neo. We all looked up to him. I would have been there-" The girl was saying.

"Lilium was there. She would have cut you down in seconds." James calmly explained.

"Hey now. I may be an irregular but I'm learning quickly! I just ambushed like, twenty Normals and got away with it!"

"Fell any Arms Forts or Ranked I don't know about?" James asked in return, which earned him a light slap on the chest.

"I will! I will! Just you wait and see, I'll be as good as you soon!" The girl claimed.

"You need to train more."

"Yeah, but training with you is always so rough. You never go easy on me, even when you only use one hand."

"You mean on the battlefield, or in bed?" James failed to contain a smile as he looked down at the girl in his arms.

"Pfff! Ha! Why don't you make it fair and let me tie both of your arms behind your back?" She leaned in with her own suspicious but comfortable smile.

"Then we'd only be evenly matched." James retorted. They both walked down the corridor, holding each other closely, intimately.

Natsuki stopped following however at the sound of metal clinging against metal from behind. Turning, she saw Strayed, sitting on the floor, playing with a knife in it's claw. It's long limbs curled and coiled beneath it.

Standing beside the clawed demon, she forced herself to speak.

"These dreams, these places… They are James's memories, aren't they?"

"…" Strayed continued to play with the knife, which rapidly crossed back and forth across it's claws, ringing metallically like a bell.

"Has James killed anyone before?"

"…" A sound like a snort, but more bestial, escaped it.

"Who are you to James? Are you even real?"

"…"

"Who was that girl?"

"…-" The knife stopped moving, caught in it's claws. The void where it's face should be turned to regard her. She got the impression that it was hiding emotions from her, only… they weren't it's emotions.

"There are things I'm not going to tell you because I'm not going to tell you." Strayed slowly and calmly explained. "However, there are things I'm not going to tell you because it is not my place to say."

---

Next Day / Club

"Hi James!" Yuri ambushed him the moment he stepped into the room. He'd stabbed people for less, she really needed to be more careful. "Sorry about yesterday. I've been waiting for you. Are you ready to continue reading? I brought my best tea today-"

"Monika? I really need to talk to-oh. Is she really late again?" Natsuki came in behind him, falling dejectedly at the absence of the President.

"Inconsiderate as usual, Natsuki." Yuri snapped at her, unamused.

"…Excuse me?" Natsuki held herself confidently but surprised, not expecting or wanting an argument.

"Must you always interrupt my conversation with your incessant yelling?" Yuri accused her.

"…" Oddly, Strayed chose this moment to quietly growl. How curious.

"What…are you talking about?" Natsuki challenged defensively. "You say that like I do it on a regular basis or something. I just wasn't paying attention, okay? I'm sorry. Seriously…is everything alright?" Natsuki calmed down, coming across as more concerned.

"Me? N-Nothing…" Yuri turned nervously.

"…" Natsuki regarded her quietly.

"Is it really that bad?"

"See, it is something." Natsuki pointed out with worry.

"I'll get over it!" Yuri shouted, only adding to Natsuki's concern. "It's not even anything noteworthy. I've just been feeling a little on edge lately. A-Anyway, we don't need to talk about it!"

"Well, I just felt like I needed to bring it up. It's not-" Natsuki stopped herself, reconsidering what to say. "I do care, I worry. So please talk to me if you need to."

"Hello-" "Good afterno-mm?" Sayori and Monika walked in together to find their other three members grouped near the door.

"Why the long faces guys?" Sayori asked with a concerned but hopeful smile.

"…" Natsuki looked to Yuri, who seemed to reply with a slight shaking of her head. "It's…nothing to worry about."

"Well…okay. Are you ready to read again, Nat?" Sayori kindly and happily suggested.

"Mmm! Yes." Natsuki looked away, shyly hiding her smile.

"How are you James? Do you know what you are doing today?" Monika politely asked him.

"We already have plans today." Yuri spoke up unusually confidently.

"…Oh." Monika turned in surprise. "Alright…?"

"Yes. James is already engaged in a novel that we're reading together. Aren't you glad I've gotten him into literature, Monika?" Yuri declared proudly.

"I-I suppose…?"

"YES!" Yuri shouted in a whisper that everyone heard while doing a small jump. "Um…Thank you for understanding, Monika." She then grabbed James and dragged him away with his barely granted permission. His stiff and uncooperative movement meant he was still facing the other three girls when they converged and gave each other odd and concerned glances before giving the same look to Yuri's back.

"Actually, I have a request." Yuri asked before getting her book out.

"…" Oh no.

"…Do you mind if I make some tea first?"

"…Okay." James relaxed.

"Thank you very much. If there's one thing that can make my reading time any better, it's a nice cup of tea. Not to mention for yourself, as well."

"…" James blinked as Yuri retrieved her tea set from the closet. Setting it up as usual, she took the water pitcher and disappeared out of the classroom. He waited.

…

And waited.

…

"Hmm? James? Where is Yuri?" Monika asked with concern.

"She went to get water for tea."

"Ah. How long has she been gone?"

"Eight minutes forty-six seconds."

"…" Monika stared at him slightly bewildered. "…Really?"

"Yes."

"…" Monika held her hand against her chin in thought. Taking a long glance at him, she then left the classroom as well.

Just over a minute later, Monika returned. A variety of emotions etched on her face. Sickness, worry, and regret. She sat down at the front of the classroom at the teacher's desk.

"…Fuck." Monika whispered, but James lip read.

Sayori curiously bounded over to her. "Monika, what's wrong?"

"…" Monika turned to her, sadly smiling at her friend. "It's…Yuri. She's…" She paused, thinking on how to approach the subject. "I think she's sick."

"Oh no! Does she need help?" Sayori worriedly but quietly exclaimed.

"Well…yes, but…it's not…something you should deal with. In fact, please don't bring it up. Let me…or James, deal with it, alright?"

"…Okay." Sayori smiled sadly. "You really are a great friend Monika. Thank you so much for looking out for us."

"…!" Monika momentary portrayed a massive amount of regret in her eyes. Closing them to hide the emotion, she responded. "Just…stay close to Natsuki, no matter what."

"You got it!" Sayori assuredly answered, before returning to where she was before.

"…" Well, at least Monika remembered to do her damn job. Still, what was that about? Curious, James decided to step out into the hallway.

"Oh! Excuse me!" Yuri exclaimed as she nearly bumped into him. She grabbed his arm to steady herself, but now she wasn't letting go.

"…" He couldn't help but notice how rank and deep the smell of blood on her was today.

"Sorry, I was distracted. My head has been a little fuzzy lately. I hope it hasn't really been showing or anything!"

"…"

"I would hate for you to think I'm weird just after we started spending more time together…I mean, everyone has a few unusual things about them."

"…"

"But expressing your deepest thoughts and desires to someone can be seen as inappropriate…or unlikeable. At least, that's what I've discovered."

"…"

"When I was a bit younger, I think I would come on really strongly and get a little too intense. It made people not want to be around me."

"…"

"So…I started hating those things about myself. My obsession with certain hobbies. And the way I can't control myself when I get too excited about something. So…I eventually stopped trying to talk to people."

"…"

"If nobody could ever like me for the things that matter the most to me, then it's just easier if I close myself off. But recently, something's been wrong. I don't know what it is. But every time we come to the club, my heart starts to go crazy." She stated, staring wide eyed up at him. "Like it's going to rip out of my chest. It overwhelms me with energy and emotions that I can't let out. It's been making me do weird things. I don't know why it's happening! James…"

"…" Now what?

"Is it just me, or have we been having a better time together when it's just the two of us? We don't need anyone else."

"…"

"I'm not crazy, right?" Yuri asked with her eyes wild and excited. "Please tell me I'm not! I couldn't say anything before, because they are always listening! But finally, we're alone."

"…"

"Can we just stay here for awhile?" She pleaded with a nearly face-splitting smile.

"…"

"I just want to stay here." While her face calmed down, her heart is easily heard beating heavily. "Just the two of us. We can stay here until the club ends. And then we'll have the clubroom all to ourselves. Nobody to interfere with our reading time."

"…" Did he have a choice? It didn't feel like it. Yuri wasn't in such violation that he could easily abandon his club member, and he seemed to recall that Sayori more or less wanted him to spend time with her. But something felt very wrong and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Nobody to make me feel like stabbing myself in the throat."

"…" What the fuck?

"Ahaha…That was a joke! Just a joke. But I do like knives though. You remember my collection, right? I make sure to use them all thoroughly. I don't want them to get lonely. Nobody deserves to be lonely. Nobody. And that's why I'm so happy you joined the Literature Club, James. Now we don't need to be lonely anymore. Because we have each other."

"…" We do?

"Every day. That's all we need. You know what. Let's quit the Literature Club. Ther-"

"Excuse me."

"…" Yuri was quieted by the polite demand that James rather abruptly forced through her monologue.

"My loyalty does not fall to the first girl who says 'we have each other'. I have an obligation to this club. It does not falter, and it does not question, not even if I stood alone."

"…" Yuri winced as James forcefully stepped away, back into the club.

He returned, it seemed, in time for the poem sharing. The first girl to confront him was Monika.

"H-Hey…"

Exchanging poems with her was unusually unmotivating for the normally intelligent girl. She didn't comment on his and didn't respond to his mild praise of her work.

"Um…listen." At which point Monika moved closer to him. Her body language said, "I'm single and ready to mingle". Her eyes on the other hand said, "I'm scared".

"…?" Curious, he returned the gesture, approaching Monika so that they were nearly touching, so that she could freely whisper up at him.

"I'm…I'm really worried about Yuri. She was…well… let's just say I think she's sick. I think it has something to do with how much time she's been spending with you. As unhealthy as it has been, I also feel that you're the only person who can get through to her. I don't want Sayori or Natsuki to get too involved with her right now. So please help her if you can. I'm really worried she could get hurt. Will you do that?" She asked him seriously.

"Of course." James nodded and backed away, leaving Monika with a satisfied smile.

. . .

The other two girls had expressed a worry for Yuri as well. He had assured them he'd take care of it. It was a mission given by his President after all.

Of course, now he actually had to confront the girl. He would have to wait to be absolutely alone with her before he made his move though.

"Finally…Ahaha…" Yuri enthusiastically began to smell his poem. Without even reading it she announced, "I love it. I love everything about it. James, I want to take this home. Will you let me keep it? Please?"

"…" James shrugged.

"Ahaha…You're too nice to me James. I've never met anyone as nice as you."

"…" He hoped that wasn't true, because he was never trying to be nice.

"I could die…N-Not really, but-! I just don't know how to describe it. It's okay to be feeling this way, right? It's not bad, right?"

"…" He said nothing while Yuri held his poem to her chest.

"I'm going to take this home with me and keep it in my room." She closed her eyes and announced. "I hope that it makes you feel good when you think about me having it."

"…" The concept did not occur to him.

"I'll take good care of it! I'll even touch myself while reading it over and over. I'll give myself paper cuts so your skin oil enters my bloodstream. Ahahahaha."

"…"

"You can have my poem too. Besides, after you read it, I know you're really going to want to keep it. Here, take it, I can't wait any longer. Hurry! Read it!"

"…" James stared at the paper he was handed. The first thing he noticed was the smell. The second was the bloodstains and…fluid…that deeply saturated the page. The final thing he noticed was that he could not read it. Not initially anyway. He doubted that anyone without a built-in decryption program would be immediately able to read the haphazard and overlapping font periodically hidden under blood.

/DECRYPTION COMPLETE: DISPLAYING OVERLAY

mdpnfbo,jrfp:

ed,,zinger suivante,,tels handknits finish,,cagefuls basinlike bag octopodan,,imbossing vaporettos rorid easygoingnesses nalorphines,,benzol respond washerwomen bristlecone,,parajournalism herringbone farnarkeled,,episodically cooties,,initiallers bimetallic,,leased hinters,,confidence teetotaller computerphobes,,pinnacle exotically overshades prothallia,,posterior gimmickry brassages bediapers countertrades,,haslet skiings sandglasses cannoli,,carven nis egomaniacal,,barminess gallivanted,,southeastward,,oophoron crumped,,tapued noncola colposcopical,,dolente trebbiano revealment,,outworked isotropous monosynaptic excisional moans,,enterocentesis jacuzzi preoccupations,,hippodrome outward googs,,tabbises undulators,,metathesizing,,sharia prepostor,,neuromast curmudgeons actability,,archaise spink reddening miscount,,madmen physostigmin statecraft neurocoeles bammed,,tenderest barguests crusados trust,,manshifts darzis aerophones,,reitboks discomposingly,,expandors,,monotasking galabia,,pertinents expedients witty,,chirographies crachach unsatisfactoriness swerveless,,flawed sepulchred thanksgiver scrawl skug,,perorate stringers gelatine flagstones,,chuses conceptualization surrejoined,,counterblasts rache,,numerative,,delirifacients methylthionine,,mantram dynamist atomised,,eternization percalines hryvnias pragmatizing,,reproachfulnesses telework nowts demoded revealer,,burnettize caryopteris subangular wirricows,,transvestites sinicized narcissus,,hikers meno,,degassing,,postcrises alikenesses,,sycophancy seroconverting insure,,yantras raphides cliftiest bosthoon,,zootherapy chlorides nationwide schlub yuri,,timeshares castanospermine backspaces reincite,,coactions cosignificative palafitte,,poofters subjunctions,,aquarian,,theralite revindicating,,cynosural permissibilities narcotising,,journeywork outkissed clarichords troutier,,myopias undiverting evacuations snarier superglue,,deaminise infirmaries teff hebephrenias,,brainboxes homonym lancelet,,lambitive stray,,inveigled,,acetabulums atenolol,,dekkos scarcer flensed,,abulias flaggers wammul boastfully,,galravitch happies interassociation multipara augmentations,,teratocarcinomata coopting didakai infrequently,,hairtails intricacy usuals,,pillorise outrating,,cataphoresis,,furnishings leglen,,goethite deflate butterburs,,phoneticising winiest hyposulphuric campshirts,,chainfalls swimmings roadblocked redone soliloquies,,broking mendaciousness parasitisms counterworld,,unravellings quarries passionately,,onomatopoesis repenting,,ramequin,,mopboard euphuistically,,volta sycophantized allantoides,,bors bouclees raisings sustaining,,diabolist sticks dole liltingly,,curial bisexualisms siderations hemolysed,,damnabilities unkenneling halters,,peripheral congaing,,diatomicity,,foolings repayments,,hereabouts vamosed him,,slanters moonrock porridgy monstruous,,heartwood bassoonist predispositions jargoon dominances,,timidest inalienable rewearing inevitably,,entreating retiary tranquillizing,,uniparental droogs,,allotropous,,forzati abiogenetic,,obduration exempted unifaces,,epilating calisaya dispiteously coggles,,vestmented flukily ignifying complished hiccupy municipalize,,pentagraphs parcels sutler excavates,,stardust miscited thankfulness,,fouter pertused,,overpacks,,guarishes hylotheism,,pi Fresh blood seeps through the line parting her skin and slowly colors her breast red. I begin to hyperventilate as my compulsion grows. The images won't go away. Images of me driving the knife into her flesh continuously, fucking her body with the blade, making a mess of her. My head starts going crazy as my thoughts start to return. Shooting pain assaults my mind along with my thoughts. This is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. How could I ever let myself think these things? But it's unmistakable. The lust continues to linger through my veins. An ache in my muscles stems from the unreleased tension experienced by my entire body. Her Third Eye is drawing me closer.

"…" Fuck. He was aware of the fact that Yuri decided to get closer to him, her face millimeters away from the page. Eventuality was going to catch up to him sooner or later. Dropping the paper, he was greeted by Yuri staring deeply and intensely into where she would have otherwise found a soul.

"Do you like it? I wrote it for you! In case you couldn't tell, the poem is about-…it doesn't really matter what it's about! More importantly, I've endowed it with my scent. See, aren't I the most thoughtful person in the club?

"…"

"…-!" An extraordinarily rare moment of clarity crossed Yuri's expression. She turned with hideous embarrassment. "I…I think I'm…going to vomit." To which she rushed out of the club room. Only to return a few minutes later with a disconcerting look about her.

It's going to be one of those days. Great.

"Okay everyone!" Monika announced. "So, I've been trying to come up with some new club activities we could all do together. But, I wanted to hear any suggestions you guys might have. So, let's hear them!"

"Hmm. Maybe I could teach you all how to bake something?" Natsuki suggested.

"That's interesting. Sayori? Did you have any suggestions?"

"How about we take trips on weekends!" She brightly added.

"Ah. That's certainly within our budget. Yuri? Did you have anything to add?"

"…" Yuri turned suddenly, sneering cruelly. "Way to put the spotlight on me Monika! Trying to break me out of my comfort zone! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"…Ahum…" Monika flinched at the accusation. "I'm…sorry. I'm not trying to be unreasonable. I just wanted to know if you wanted to do anything in the club?"

"Unreasonable? Unreasonable!" Yuri stared Monika down with wide, wild eyes. "Ahahaha! Monika, I can't believe how delusional and self-important you are! Pulling James away from me every single time you're not included in something. Are you jealous? Crazy? Or maybe you just hate yourself so much that you take it out on others?"

"…" Monika held herself confidently through the accusation. However, there was a half-truth in part of her statement.

"Here's a suggestion. Have you considered killing yourself? It would be beneficial to your mental health."

"…" Monika was getting sick and tired of the thematic expression that was the irony that existed in her life.

"…-" Unseen by anyone, Sayori's mind shut off for a moment, before coming back with about three seconds of her memory wiped automatically.

"Yuri, you're scaring me a little-" Natsuki shyly added.

"Natsuki shut your fucking mouth!" Yuri demanded.

It was then that Monika glanced at James. His expression was…curious. A mixture of amusement and disappointment. He gave her a wide-eyed look and a nod while rubbing his temple. He seemed to be implying, without words, a statement she could easily guess.

Well shit. Go on, I got this.

"Let's just go girls. I don't think she wants us around right now." She turned and caught sight of Sayori standing in front of Natsuki closely. Her face betraying pain and disappointment. Without hesitation, Monika grabbed both of her shorter friends and led them out the door.

"See, that wasn't very hard." Yuri called out as they left. "All I want is to spend a little time with him. Is that so much to ask?"

With the room cleared, Yuri turned back to James.

"Finally." Yuri relaxed, but only for a moment. "Finally! This is really all I wanted."

"…" James had a feeling he knew what was coming next. Patiently he waited until she finally said it.

"James, there's no need to spend any more time with the club. Don't hang out with them. Just come to my house instead. The whole day, with just the two of us. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Ahahaha!"

"…"

"Wow…There's really something wrong with me, isn't there? But you know what? I don't care anymore. I've never felt this good my whole life. Just being with you is a far greater pleasure than anything I could imagine."

"…"

"I'm addicted to you. It feels like I'm going to die if I'm not breathing the same air as you. Doesn't it feel nice to have someone care about you so much?"

"…" No. It was always a burden.

"To have someone who wants to revolve their entire life around you? But if it feels so good…Then why does it feel more and more like something horrible is going to happen?"

"…"

"Maybe that's why I tried restraining myself at first. But the feeling is too strong now. I don't care anymore, James! I have to tell you!"

"…" Ah. Here is comes.

"I'm…I'm madly in love with you!"

"…"

"It feels like every inch of my body…every drop of blood in me...is screaming your name. I don't care what the consequences are anymore! I don't care what anyone else says! Please, James, just know how much I love you. I love you so much that I even touch myself with the pen I stole from you."

"…" James suddenly wished he could delete memories from himself.

"I just want to pull your skin open and crawl inside of you. I want you all to myself. And I will be only yours. Doesn't that sound perfect? Tell me, James. Tell me you want to be my lover? Do you accept my confession?-"

"No." There was not a moment of hesitation the moment he realized he had a choice. Still, after the disrespect she had shown his President, the fear and pain she had inflicted on Sayori and Natsuki, this was not the end. Clearly, something was wrong.

His current objective would be to correct it.

"…Ahahaha." Yuri giggled after several seconds. "Ahahahahahha! Ahahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Without taking her sickly wild eyes off James's calm and cold ones, she reached into her blazer and pulled out a large kitchen knife. Her mouth open wide in blissful excitement. The blade aimed down and inward-

Nope. Strayed jumped the moment it saw the knife's direction, forcefully grabbing the end of the blade. Yuri forced herself forward, stopped from impaling herself by it's hand. It reached down, forcing the blade directly down then backwards without risking any of Yuri's fingers.

Yuri then lunged herself forward, sinking her teeth into James's neck. His thick skin saving him from what would have otherwise been a gruesome death. With her attention elsewhere, Strayed managed to take her knife away and toss it to the ground. It's hands free, it lifted Yuri off their neck and dropped her onto a desk.

Still close, Yuri wrapped her legs around their waist, attempting to hold them in place. Not for the same reasons but this did aid Strayed in it's objective. It was very difficult trying to fight someone when you weren't allowed to hurt them and they were an active threat to themselves. Secured from not going anywhere, Strayed used one arm to keep her chest at least a few feet away from theirs and it's other arm to place two fingers at her temple. Finally getting her to stop moving, it took a moment to check something it suspected for a while.

Rolling back her sleeves, it found her arms crisscrossed with open wounds and agitated scars, some still spilling blood, with the angle indicating self-infliction. With that discovered, it stopped delaying and invaded her mind.

---

Yuri found herself in a vast and dark expanse that defied explanation. A sudden and terrible realization crossed her mind. She'd just tried to kill herself.

It had been getting bad for a couple of years. Her obsessions with books, knives, darkness, gore, horror, and a carefully hidden curiosity for sex had been crippling her social life. Anyone who started to get very close always found her weird and got away before they could see who she truly was. Just a lonely and confused soul, lacking in social confidence and discreteness.

That's why James was so interesting. He certainly held an aversion to some of her interest, but he accepted them, didn't judge her for it. Was infinitely patient and willing to explore and share with her.

She couldn't lose that connection, couldn't let him get away. She needed that validation and acceptance. She so desperately wanted to experience true love with someone who really, openly, felt the same way as her.

And she had done it again, scaring him away. So fed up with her failures, she decided she couldn't go on. The hate James certainly felt for her would have driven her to seek further isolation anyway.

Dammit! She wasn't okay. She must have really, truly, not been alright. She needed help, but had too much pride to admit it, to admit that she needed help socializing, that she needed help to accept herself.

To admit that she got a pleasant and exciting feeling from dragging a blade across her flesh. Spilling her blood deep and letting it fall away, only to slowly tear herself a new slit to gasp and smile at.

"Ah-I." She cried out to anyone who would listen. "I need…help. I want to live. Help…me."

Something…heard her. An annoyed and impossibly cruel presence came at her from behind. Dark oceans of blood spilled at it's arrival. The sky screamed and all warmth fled as it's freezing breath singed her back. Bladed, black claws spun her around, to face a dark snout rounded with over a hundred, unamused, red eyes boring into her.

Neither shadow nor darkness, man or demon. It's void black heart holding only violence and patience, the latter strained, and the former promised.

Setting her down, it's claws aimed, then pierced her chest. These blades though, they burned her, froze her, tore at her heart, then tore deeper. There was no pleasure, only excruciating pain as her entire existence became filled with black blades, spilling blood, and a multitude of calm and cruel eyes.

Eyes that didn't belong to the thing alone. Green eyes, but red. Blue eyes, but dead. Pink eyes, but black. Cursing and welcoming her with open arms and promise of eternal and unimaginable suffering.

That, and the screaming. The voices, of thousands, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of millions, screaming a chorus of fear and pain, of death delivered too early. The loudest of the screaming, came from three familiar voices nearby. From her own throat as well.

The blades in her soul sunk and tore deep, splitting her nearly in half. She could no longer tell where she ended, and the thing began. Slowly, it began to close what holes it could. Filled with a nothing that was more certain and calm than she had ever felt. Until, satisfied at the void it left filling her soul, it pulled a piece, no, a whole fragment of her out.

Left with the gaping wound of her ordeal, Yuri turned to see the demon, standing with herself and her friends at it's back. Only…they were not herself and her friends. Together, they approached the demon.

Other Yuri, but with grey eyes, excited smile, and black blooded wounds, grabbed one arm and sunk a knife deep into the void at the side of the demon.

Natsuki, but beaten and bloodied, grabbed the other arm and pulled it down, sinking her teeth deeply into the unnatural flesh.

Sayori, but cold and dead, held one end of a rope while Monika, but red-eyed and cruel, held the other, pulling it taunt across the demon's throat.

Forced to it's knees, the demon's three rows of eyes split, opening into an endless maw of sharp, eyed black teeth.

For the first time in it's existence, the demon added it's own screams to the innumerous chorus it created.

---

Author's Note: Greetings again for another chapter in this adventure. For this chapter, I did in fact write Sayori's, Natsuki's, and Monika's poems near the beginning. Those were fun writing about Strayed from their perspectives.

For several of the stories listed, "I have no mouth and I must scream", "The Count of Monte Cristo", and "Inferno", I have read all. They are great stories I would recommend to everyone. I have never read "Fifty Shades of Grey" and can only say you do so at your own risk.

This has been one of my longest chapters, but that is something I could always surpass.

Also, for those reading this near the time of release, I have two surprises, the first is that chapter 15 is coming whenever I finish writing chapter 23, and the second is a secret you will all see and enjoy!

Edit: No changes, but forgot to say here: Thank you again valued readers! As always, your input and comments are welcomed and encouraged.

To JaphetSkie: Thank you for your continued interest in this story. I hope you are continually excited by what is to come.

Thanks to Cyba-Fyba for the incredible cover art. Check out their other works or support them on sites such as Reddit, Deviant Art, and Twitter.