Author's note: I own nothing but the plot. Remember to do the things people who like the story. The poems written are mine; I didn't use the in-game ones for obvious reasons.

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It's so bright! So beautiful the blue, green every….

I was waiting outside for a few minutes. It was already 7:45 am when I realized that not only was Sayori not up, yet I was going to have to go get her myself. The last time she was like this was in middle school. What the heck made her oversleep! Knocking on her door, pulling out the spare key from my pocket.

Since both her and my parents work a lot, they're barely home. My parents only really getting days off during the weekends and holidays. By the time I wake up most mornings, I have already been gone for three hours. The only time I really see them is during lunch when they give me a call every day and dinner most days; I'm on my own.

Much of the same way, we spent many of our elementary and junior high years taking care of each other because our parents weren't there to do that much.

"Oh my God _ I'm sorry, I thought I would be able to wake up earlier than this! I'm so sorry. "

"it's okay, so are we still have Twenty minutes before classes start so we can just rush always there right,"

"Yeah," I notice that she had a bit of toothpaste stuck on her shirt.

"Sayori! You got toothpaste on your shirt! We're going to need to clean that up before you get to the school building."

"Don't worry _ I got this. I always keep an emergency backup shirt and ways to clean up myself when I make a mess; I'll fix it when I go to the bathroom; alright, no one's ever going to know what happened!" A soft unladylike, but still cute snort came out of Sayori, and I couldn't stay as mad as I usually could.

"You worry too much!" she said with a laugh, but there was a lack of strength that worried me.

"If I didn't worry, who the heck would worry about you!"

"What kept you up all night, that you didn't sleep as much as you normally do?"

"After I finish the poem, which I'm hoping you did too, I had this weird dream. I was just walking in a pitch-black room screaming at me; I couldn't really remember the words. All I know is it was creepy, and it was scaring me, and I would wake up and then just go back to sleep, and then the dream would happen all over again weird. I'm still kind of sleepy."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought it was just one of your excuses that like you were watching movies all night or something like you did when we were little!"

"Hey, I've changed since we were kids; I tend to do stuff like that on a Saturday where I'm not expected to do anything but homework."

"Still, I hope the poem I wrote for the literature club is okay. I wasn't sure cause I was reading a manga recently, but I didn't really feel like I'm any good as a poet, you know.

"Don't worry about it! I doubt Monika is going to really care. We really use that club to chill out! We don't even write poems. That's something she just came up with on the fly yesterday!"

"Are you serious!? I went so hard that poem, thinking that this is something you guys do, but it did seem kind of weird. Didn't really match with what she was talking about? I don't know something about the way Monika was acting."

The thing is, Monika is not well known for dating like that, so maybe she has a little crush on you, saw you in person, and really liked who you were.

"Don't mess around, Sayori, don't say stupid stuff like that. Come on!"

"You saw the way she was looking at you. it's pretty obvious; she might think your kind of cute or something!"

"Not like you're not a handsome guy, no one's blind the _ miracle you were not snatched up by another girl sooner!

"Stop it, Sayori! You're going to make me blush; I'm not cute!" I said, knowing I looked like a strawberry under her teasing tone.

"No, you're just really handsome!"

"I swear you're trying to get something out of me, aren't you?" I said, squinting at her, confused at why she was complimenting me so much. Trying lessened the flush on my face.

"Honestly, I remember in middle school girls was thinking about asking you out but didn't for some weird reason! Don't count yourself out. You're a handsome guy."

"Stop their hotter guys in me at school."

"Not to me!" Sayori was like sunshine, able to pull me out of my gloomy thoughts.

"I think you're beautiful too, Sayori, now let's go. We're going to be late."

"Stop _ you're just saying that!" As she kept with me as we picked up the pace past the front gates of the building

"No, I mean it. We'll talk about this lunch!" As I ran into homeroom with only a few minutes to spare.

Realizing at that moment, I could relax in my seat that I'd just word vomit, a thought I'd had for years and never said out loud! What the heck is wrong with me! I might as well confess having feelings for her, too, while I'm at it. Ugh, I'm an idiot. Maybe she didn't see it that way? I can still salvage our friendship. If Sayori had a thing for me, she would have confessed by now! Especially after that thing that happened on the last day of middle school. We were getting teased about our friendship and closeness. It caused us to drift apart. We were confronted, and we couldn't talk about it.

Classes seem to breeze by when lunch came up; I went to the table and noticed fewer people. Sayori was already sitting and eating lunch and pointing at the seat next to her.

"Hey, where's Monika?"

She said she wanted to take up the piano. She was obsessed with learning this summer, and she got inspired or something and took her lunch and is practicing right now in the music room. I shrugged, noticing there were fewer tables in the cafeteria.

"Oh well, we'll see her at the literature club later."

"Now _ you were saying about being beautiful?" They already had the 'silliest, happiest look on her face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Now no need to yell it out to the whole student body; of course, you are beautiful anyone here would tell you so here."

"Uh, sure I am!"

Still, I could hear the warning Bell about to sound at knowing how far away our next class is. I knew better than to waste more time.

"Come on, Sayori will be late for the next class!"

"This conversation isn't over."

"I know you; I know it's not over; we will probably talk about it at your house tonight, I'm guessing."

"Yep. _ if there's one thing you should know about me by now once my curiosity is piqued, there's nothing that will make me let it go!"

"Don't I know it? if it weren't for your curiosity, I probably would have still been broken this year."

"Just admit I'm your lifesaver. It's easier," Sayori said with a laugh as we both took our seats as the final bell rung and class begun.

Classes seem to just fly by, and I found myself standing in front of the literature clubroom, a sigh on my lips as I didn't really want to deal with whatever nonsense would happen when I go in there today.

"Sayori, you here! Finally, I thought you wouldn't come in." Natsuki said she looked up from her manga, I recognized that it was popular, but I could remember reading myself. But I had heard chatter online, and when people talked about it, it would get anime in the next two years if the popularity kept rising.

Yuri brushed past us, taking a seat as far from Natsuki as she could still don't get why if they don't even like each other why they're in the same club together surprised one of one or both haven't just quit to get away from one another!

"Why are you late?"

"Nearly overdue library book, I borrowed it for an extra credit assignment, and I forgot to bring it back. Luckily, Mrs. Shimura is pretty understanding for a librarian."

"At least your excuse is valid; I don't know where Monika is right now. Usually, she's here before I am." She plopped in her usual seat and started reading her book, not engaging anyone. But noting the way she seems to be, and I wouldn't try to talk to her about it.

"Come with me _!"

"Sayori, whoa!" As she pulled me to an alcove.

"Finally!" Finding a spot under the window on the floor that they can.

"I've been trying to show this book to you all day, but I never had the time to show you!"

"I've been obsessed with this book." Pulling out the book from her backpack. Sayori had the biggest smile on her face.

"I've been reading this book about a Monster Hunter who must clean up magical accidents away from normal people who somehow run into this clumsy girl. it sounded up your alley, so I wanted to share it with you, but we've been so busy already that I didn't have time to tell you earlier today!"

"I kind of wanted to share it with you; read a little to see if you liked it that okay?"

"Sure, but if I get confused and ask questions, it's all on you, Sayori."

We could sit there for ten minutes just really getting invested in this book, and I honestly can see why they already would recommend it to me. It's my kind of book. The Monster Hunter himself is a bit of a prick, but the girl involved seems some sort of ditzy count.

The main character reminds me of the way Sayori can be. They seem to be able to just find strange things without meaning too. It always seems to appear out of the blue with no rhyme or reason. Constantly wreaking havoc on Sayori's life, getting into her deep trouble, and somehow all the blame ends up being on her! I even mumbled that to her; they must have cloned you to put you in the story, which she gave me a little nudge playfully. Just as we were getting to the next chapter, the doors flew open and pulled us out of the little moment we were having. Looking up to see Monika had strolled in. To my annoyance and everyone else's cheer.

"Hi, everyone, I'm sorry I'm late! I lost track of time with the piano, and..." She clapped her hands.

"Well, let's start with the poems, right. Everyone comes together!"

"I hope everyone brought theirs in!"

Yeah, I basically spent a good portion of last night working on it so. No, I didn't say it out loud, but I guess my annoyance was clear and blatant on my face as I took my seat in the circle. Sayori taking the seat next to me on my left. Yuri on my right. Making Monika pout but took her seat next to Natsuki.

"I know most of you have little to no experience writing, much less writing a poem! So, I'm going to limit it to twice in one week! As a part of our club activities, otherwise?"

"We'll just discuss the books we have on hand that we are reading. That way, we don't end up screwing up our homework schedules right!"

"Just remember Monika's tip of the day! You have to keep an organized list of homework and things you plan to do during the day."

"if you are part of more than one club, you have to keep whatever activities you're supposed to do in mind."

I nearly rolled my eyes, but I didn't want to be rude. As I said, the more time I spent in the club room, the more I tried to get away from Monika. Monika just gave me an eerie vibe; it was how she looked at me, I think. It was unsettling and unnerving. I swear when she looks at me, she doesn't blink. I'm now wondering how she became popular in the first place, or I'm the only one who can see it. Or I can just be paranoid. That's also an option.

"Okay, who wants to go first?"

I swear I heard the crickets and the cicadas chirping even though it is not the time of day for them to be making noise yet. It's almost out of season!

"Fine, if no one's going to start, I should! At this point, I'm probably the only one who came close to writing something based on what they were reading already! I wrote mine a little bit based on how I'm feeling and based on the manga I'm currently reading right now, cake wars! It's a manga about these two bakeries that are arguing, and it gets just more ridiculous as the story goes on. it started out a bit more straightforward, but it's just become a ridiculous mess with Mecha cake robots an adoring audience just loving and here for the bakery and desserts."

"I'm not going to try to read it out loud. I'm a little embarrassed this is my first attempt at writing poetry in over three years, so..."

"just here!" As she passed me the slip with her poem written on it, everyone decided to crowd around me to read it themselves.

Tarty apple!

By Natsuki

Flour explodes.

It's clear, but the faces aren't.

Not a smile was seen.

Not friendly crowd

High stakes like a perfect soufflé

Pressure raised like yeast.

No friends

Just rivals

No peace

Just discord

We're supposed to be…

But we aren't. We don't even bother.

Rolling dough, tires to banter

Hold hope as I mix the batter.

My nearly finish pie sweet and sour.

A dropped bag another mess

Another plume of flour

Wasted

it's time to start again.

"Huh, it's short, Natsuki," Monika said again. She was too close.

"As I said, this is my first time in a long time, and I wasn't sure if what I really wanted to say is clear enough."

"Honestly? It's clear what you're trying to say. Hit us with a brick that how little subtlety is here leave some subject for the reader! You might as well just stamp what you were feeling outright! And what you wanted to say in the poem straight out. Also, the rhyming poem can you be more cliche?" Yuri sounded cold and condescending for her part. Making me insecure about my own poem.

Natsuki, for her part she was about the ball her fist and punch Yuri in the face.

"Excuse you, Yuri! If you're so good, show us, then!"

"Fine, but I'm reading mine aloud." I raised an eyebrow. My first impression of Yuri was that she was shy and introverted. But seeing the cold side of her... Maybe I need not jump to judging but considering how judgy she was being? I'm not really one to read my stuff aloud, to begin with, I'm not the best public speaker, but we have such a small group they know the club isn't one to spread gossip around I know that my poem is safe from the circles of the school's gossip circles right?

Monika and Sayori said right. Though I heard a slight miffed noise out of Natsuki, though. Which I don't blame her about. After how you seem to talk to her a massive, he talks that you're they don't respect each other they don't seem to like each other the end they were first in the group together, clashing personalities constantly at each other throats. How they've lasted a year in this club without killing each other? It is a sign that there is a god left in this world, apparently.

"it's not as long as something I would normally write on my own. I only really had a night to really work on it, and the way to go about making it was very abstract, to say the least. But I'm nothing but a flexible writer!" She sounded unsure and shy, but there was still arrogance was in her voice. Like she had been waiting all day to present this poem to the whole club, which I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"I based my poem on the book I'm reading, which is about mystery murder demonic experiments on humans, not something most of you would really like to read but still."

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath looking at the whole room, giving everyone a little once over before she looked at the page with her poem on it.

Dripping

By me Yuri

Tick

Tick

Eerie and cold

Silence

Sunlight fever dream

Dripping veins scarred arms.

Horrid night

Banshee wails

Echoing emptiness

Mirrored pain

Laughing figures

Meaningless fate

Just toy with no say

Gasping last breath, the end

Finally, an escape

For someone so cocky and sure of herself, she literally made it clear the whole poem is a cry for help. Making each, Monika asks if she was okay.

"You called mine simple! Yours sounds edgy and pretentious! It's even shorter than mine was and made way less sense! "

"You sound like all you want to do is die by the end! How is that better!"

"At least mine wasn't about fake friendship! "

"Sayori and Monika, I promise I'm not suicidal honest, the story was just really dark. I wrote the poem from the viewpoint of a trapped, hopeless prisoner delusional and dying of blood loss in a cell. The only parts of me reflected were the pain. I had a headache when I wrote like a weird yell in my head while doing homework last night. It was strange. Plus, I kept here voices in the wind."

I rolled my eyes, but Yuri took her seat, glaring daggers at Natsuki.

"Alright, who's next?"

"I'd like to go!" Sayori said with a bright smile, her dimples showing that's how big her smile.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, that way, you can go. Next, Monika and _ can go last. "

"Why do I have to go last?"

"Cuz!" she said with a smile and a wink; I swore from my peripheral I could see the rest of the club watching us by with each other their faces were unreadable as I was more focused on Sayori cheeky behavior. I shook my head, reflecting her smile with one of my own.

"That's not a real reason I say how about this I show mine to defusing the tension, okay? Though I doubt mine will be any good. I based mine on this manga I know is getting adapted soon. It's supposed to be funny. So, I hope that helps."

Soft Shelled Walnut

By _

A cold flame lived in my soul, but I was never warmed by it.

Had my fill had what I wanted?

I didn't see it; I was blindsided by it.

Rescued and saved.

The boss asks.

I happily wait.

Smiling as obey

Pampering my angel

Even though goopy eyes

And burnt dinners.

Looking foolish but

I know to you I'm not.

You've seen the worst of me.

Seen through it and still laugh and …

"Well, that's all I got! What do you think? I wasn't sure if I got it right or sounded the way you describe it; I just did my best." I did my nervous tick and started playing with my hair. Making me realize it's grown long again. Much to my chagrin. I'm going to need a cut soon.

The faces of every one were mixed. The emotions Sayori and Natsuki smiled while Yuri and Monika seemed to furrow their brows and thinking.

"It's not bad."

"It's not the best either it's a bit cliché and soppy."

"Not as funny as I thought it would be."

"It was somewhat naïve as far poems super essential with subtext I'm not sure You realize is there?"

"Still, it's a reasonable effort for an unfinished piece."

"What are you trying to say? "

"It just seems like it might be a confession; I don't know how to describe it."

"What!" Raising my hand, feeling my face blush. That's not what the poem was supposed to be about.

"No, it's not a confession! I just based it off the manga I'm reading, which is about a doting husband, and I could just put my hope in my own future! that I have something similar very far into my own future, though." I could barely sound right. My voice was stutter, and my voice seemed to squeak. Backing up from the accusations was ridiculous.

Is it somebody else next? I said, trying to deflect all that attention on me to someone else.

"Yep, it's me," Sayori said with a giant smile on her face. "I've written poems before a lot. Some eventually presented one allowed to other people!"

"I based this on how I've been feeling lately and this book I've been reading, so I hope you guys like it."

In between

By Sayori

Everything starts in the most innocuous of ways.

A friendship starts with an accidental bump.

Sometimes it's just from trouble finding you wherever it comes.

Even though things have changed.

They also stay the same.

As hard as it is to believe.

There's a magic that seems to wrap around us.

A world that exists for you and me

it's a world with not many good accesses, not many could understand.

But it's like a garden.

A world that only you and I could understand.

Even though it seems hectic and strange.

Lonely and quiet

Know that I'm there.

Remember to feel my magic!

Like I feel yours

Between us, that charge won't change.

That was surprisingly good though it felt more like a story than a poem though. Natsuki said with a tilt of her head.

That's a little of what I was going for. The story is about monster hunting, and people who hunt monsters have a magic that is felt between everyone and each other, but ordinary people can't really feel it. It's almost like magic in their world is separate from everything else but those who can feel and understand and even see magic tend to be looked on as troublemakers to regular people. Personally, I feel like I always bring trouble onto myself, so I could really sympathize with the main character.

Still, I wasn't really sure if I had enough time to really flesh out the poem, but I did my best to see how you said with a flop to her seat, and I patted her shoulder. I liked her poetry, at least.

Alright, my turn! I worked so hard on this poem I made copies for everyone. I'm rather shy about reading out loud. I've written poetry for an assignment, but that's the extent of it.

Mine

By Monika

Emptiness

Same words

Same lines over and over

Constant repetition

Fake smile

Faker people

None of it real

None of this would be called living.

No change, no hope

A peek behind the glass, a sight beyond

You are mine

For you bring light

All I can do is grasp it.

Monika looked expectantly at me, but honestly, I don't know what to say. Her eyes shined for the first time since we had formally met. And I didn't like the way she looked at me. The uncomfortable heat she seemed to emanate without realizing it. And everyone else in the room staunchly ignored.

"Monika, this is so cute I love how you entwined the story into your poem."

The hell are they on?! Did they read the same poem as I did?

"Yeah, like, I love the simile on the third line, so cleaver Monika."

I felt like I'm going crazy is no one seeing what I'm seeing right now, and I just couldn't even ask anyone else for their copy to verify that we were all reading the same poem so they would sound so stupid.

Hey Sayori, let's switch copies of Monika's poem; why? I think mine is terrible! Even in my mind, it sounds like a fake reason. Even though it's a valid enough reason, maybe after the club, I can ask to see If we can switch copies and compare.

"Everyone?" Monika clapped her has got all attention at once.

Club members, after this successful meeting, I have an announcement to make! We all know the school festival is following Monday and after seeing your poems, I think it would be a great way to get more members in the club. it felt like a whole discussion, but I was fading, not sleepy but something….

I did a head turn. I was in my room grabbing my head, wondering if I blacked out. My head hurt like I was missing something major, but I didn't know what. A snack in my hand, and my phone buzzed.

Thanks for treating me after school; I really needed that! The text read from Sayori. I was confused, but I chalked it up to the pressure I'm giving myself more than anything. Glad I did what I promised... Even if I can't remember it.

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What do we have here? It's so easy; I'm so doing this.

Final note: woo, that's a longer word count than I anticipated. The poems I really did write myself. I haven't written a new poem in a little over ten years, seriously. I got burned with them, so I stopped writing them. The last poem I published was old, and I felt safe enough to let the world see. I hope you like it. If you don't like it, I'll just add a description of what they wrote instead. But I'm hoping you want it because if you think Yuri's poem seems edgy and abstract now, I… anyway, show the story support!