Kaiya's alarm went off. She was up late doing her homework, so she had a difficult time getting up. "Ugh… no, it's too soon for morning," she said. She turned her phone on and saw a message from Sayori.

[Sayori] Goooooooood morning!

"Oh, she's already awake. I should probably text back."

[Kaiya] Morning

[Kaiya] I'm surprised you're already awake

[Sayori] I actually got to bed really early

[Kaiya] Well that's good!

[Sayori] Yeah! Oh! And I snuck a cookie up to my room last night while Sayori wasn't looking.

[Kaiya] My lips are sealed lol]

[Sayori] lol, well I'm ready to go whenever you are

[Kaiya] I'll be ready in a few minutes. Talk to ya soon!

Kaiya finished getting ready, walked outside, and saw Sayori waiting outside her house.

"Heyo, Sayori!"

"Hiya, Kaiya! Ehehe~ Are you ready to go?"

"Yep, let's get going."

The two walk to school, chatting about all sorts of things to help pass the time. When they arrive, they go their separate ways. Kaiya attends her classes until it's time for lunch. Normally she'd bring her own, but she forgot to pack one this morning. She made her way to the lunch room and got her food. She looked around for a place to sit, when she spotted Yuri eating by herself.

"Hey Yuri!" Kaiya said as she approached. "Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, Kaiya, please have a seat. I don't normally see you during lunch."

"Yeah, I normally pack something from home," Kaiya said. "So we haven't really talked much have we?"

"Hmm, I suppose we haven't. I'm not very good at talking though."

"I get that. I'm more comfortable letting others talk and then just adding a thing when I feel like it."

"Yes! That's exactly how I feel," Yuri said. "Hey, do you like tea?"

"Tea? Well, I suppose it would depend on the kind of tea. I really do enjoy Earl Grey. Oh, and I recently got this sakura tea that I like too."

"Well, there's a tea shop that recently opened in town, would you wanna go there after we finish up at the Literature Club?"

Kaiya thought about it for a moment. 'It is a chance to get to know another member. Plus I don't think Yuri is very proactive in asking people for things. It'll probably be fun.' Kaiya nodded her head. "Yeah, I'd love to go. Oh, but I do usually walk home with Sayori, and it'd probably be better to change into more casual wear."

"How about we meet at the library? Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, I stopped there for a little while after I moved in. I can meet you there around like 4:30 or so, if that works for you."

"Sounds perfect!" The bell rang, indicating classes were about to start again. "Well, I"ll see you at club, Kaiya."

"Yep! See you then!"

A few more classes later and it was time for club time. Monika and Kaiya made their way up to the room, where they found Natsuki rummaging through the closet.

"Hello Natsuki," Monika said as she entered the room.

"'Sup," Natsuki replied. "Oh! Kaiya! You wanna keep reading Parfait Girls ?"

"Yeah! We'll probably finish the whole thing by today at the rate we were going."

"I know!" Natsuki said as they walked to the closet. "It's so good!"

Monika looked around the room and saw Yuri at her usual desk reading a book as she usually did. She smiled and thought about how far the Literature Club has gone in such a short time. 'To think we only started this club a few weeks ago, and now we're a full-fledged club with 5 members, and everyone generally gets along with each other, too. This is exactly what I was hoping for… a place where we can all enjoy reading our favorite things.' She let out a little chuckle and then saw Sayori come in. "Hiya Sayori. You're a little late today, did your teacher keep you behind?"

"Yeah, my grades were a little bad so she was just checking in on me, ehehe, but then she offered some extra credit if I stayed behind and washed the whiteboards," Sayori said.

"Ah, well, at least you're getting the opportunity to make it up a little."

"Yeah. Anyways, what do you got going on?"

"Same as everyone else, I suppose. Lots of homework and not enough time to spend with Yuri," Monika said with a sad look on her face. "Ugghh, I just want to spend a few hours with her, you know?"

"I get that," Sayori said, letting out a sigh. "Natsuki and I haven't been able to hang out outside of school much because her dad doesn't let her stay out for long. I was lucky that we were able to meet up last night with Kaiya."

"Oh, does Kaiya live near you?" Monika asked.

"Yeah, we're neighbors. It's nice having someone you know live next to you. Plus, I'm sure Natsuki is happy knowing someone is there if I need them."

"Does she know?"

"Yeah, I told her about it."

"Well, I suppose that's good then. Anyways, we got club stuff to talk about," Monika said.

"Okay everyone! It's time to get together and discuss what we're going to be doing for the school festival. Now, if you remember, I gave you all some homework last night. So, who wants to go first? What did you come up with?" Monika looked around the room and no one volunteered to raise their hand. "No one, huh? Then let's see… how about our dear Vice President, Sayori? What did you come up with?"

"Eh?" Sayori had a panicked look on her face. "Me?"

"You are the only Sayori in the group," Monika said.

"Well, I uh… I kinda couldn't come up with anything… ehehe."

"..."

"..."

"Okay… Natsuki! What did you come up with?"

"Well, I was hoping to share it last, since I'm sure it's the best idea, but I think we should do a book cafe," Natsuki said, a smug look of superiority on her face.

"Oooh!" Sayori exclaimed.

"A book cafe, huh? Not bad. But let's see what the others came up with. Kaiya!"

Kaiya looked at a piece of paper that she pulled out of her pocket. "Oh, I came up with a haunted library."

"Hmmm, that could be fun, actually," Yuri said.

"You're only saying that 'cause you like horror stories," Natsuki said with a laugh."

"Maybe, but I think you're only gonna dismiss it because you'd be too scared to participate," Yuri said jokingly. "I suppose it's my turn to share my idea for the festival. I came up with writing and dramatically reading a short story. Thinking about it now though, I don't think I'd actually want to do it though."

"Oh, but that's a good idea, Yuri!" Sayori said, encouragingly.

"Indeed! These were all good ideas," Monika said.

"Hey, did you come up with anything?" Kaiya asked.

"I did, actually. I think it'd be fun to come up with poems and share them with people who visit."

"Ahhh, poetry. We haven't shared poems in a while," Yuri said.

"Yep, which is why I thought about doing poems for the festival. Well, now that we have our ideas, I'll hold a vote via secret ballot. Get a piece of paper and something to write with and write the name of the person whose idea you think would be best. When you're done, I have a bag here that you can put it in, and we'll tally up who has the most votes. Sound good?" Monika asked the group. Everyone nodded in agreement and wrote that their preferred choice. After everyone's votes were in, Monika reached in and grabbed the first vote. "Natsuki." She pulled out the second, "Kaiya." "Natsuki." "Yuri." "Natsuki."

"Ah yeah! I won!"

"Well, it looks like we're going with Natsuki's idea of the book cafe."

"Which means I also get to procure some literature for the club," Natsuki said with a smile.

"Yay! This is gonna be so much fun!" Sayori said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see how everything goes," Kaiya said.

"Yeah, plus Natsuki'll look so adorable in a maid outfit!" Sayori said all excited.

"Woah, hold up… who said anything about me wearing a maid outfit?" Natsuki interjected.

"Well someone has to serve people in a maid outfit," Kaiya said. "It's basically a requirement."

"Et tu, Kaiya?" Natsuki said.

"No, they're both right. Someone has to serve people," Monika said.

"I've changed my mind," Natsuki said. "I don't want to do a cafe anymore."

"Too late, we've already chosen," Monika said.

"Well, I suppose this could be kind of fun," Yuri said.

"Oh! We could serve tea and coffee and have desserts!" Kaiya said.

"And if we're since we're offering reading material for people, we have the literature aspect to it," Yuri said.

Monika clapped her hands together. "Okay everyone! Now that we've decided what we're doing, we'll need to assign some roles for everyone."

"Ooh, ooh! I can greet people and make sure they're seated," Sayori said. "And we already have Natsuki as the server."

"Hold on, who said I have to be the server?" Natsuki asked.

"You'll be so cute though!" Sayori said, getting Natsuki's face to turn bright red. "Plus, you can also make the desserts!" Natsuki mumbled something about not being cute to herself before agreeing to be the server.

"I can work as a barista," Kaiya said. "I had a part time job over the summer as one."

"Ooh, you should make me a cup of coffee some time, Kaiya," Monika said.

"Sure, stop by my place and I can whip you up something good. I got a really good coffee maker that we can use too."

"And I can prepare tea for our guests, as well as create a good atmosphere for the cafe," Yuri said.

"I guess that leaves me to work as a server, as well," Monika said "Yuri, if you're working on atmosphere, are you going to come up with decor?"

Yuri thought about it for a moment. "I can definitely do that, but I'd need some help with that."

"I can help with that," Monika said.

"Me too," added Kaiya.

"Thank you both, it'll be really helpful," Yuri said with a smile.

"Natsuki, since you're making desserts, how about having Sayori help with that?" Monika asked.

"I was planning on helping her out with that," Sayori said.

"If you eat any, you won't be getting any hugs from me for a week," Natsuki said.

"Th… that's so cruel," Sayori said, aghast at what she had just heard.

"It's my insurance policy to prevent any from mysteriously disappearing on me again," Natsuki said as she glared at Sayori.

"I don't know what you're talking about," a nervous Sayori replied, pushing her fingers together.

"Well now that everything else is taken care of, I suppose I'll take care of any official paperwork and make sure we get the resources for the event itself," Monika said. "We have just over a week until the festival, so we have plenty of time to prepare. While we don't have the biggest budget, we have enough to afford the supplies we'll need, and our advisor promised me they'd pay for some of it as well if need be."

"That's nice of them," Yuri said.

"Yeah, I'm surprised they'd go so far for a new club like ours," Natsuki said.

"Aaaand with all that said, I think we're all done for the day. I'll see you all tomorrow where we'll discuss things a little more.

Sayori gave Natsuki a hug and caught up to Kaiya and they made their way home. On their way they talked about how excited they were for the festival and their plans for it. Sayori gushed about how cute Natsuki will look. When they make it back, they go their separate ways and Kaiya gets changed into her casual clothes. After changing, she sends a text to Yuri to let her know that she was on her way to the library. Yuri replies saying that she's also on her way there already. Kaiya hurries out the door and makes her way to the library. Since the library wasn't far from her place, it didn't take long for her to get there. A minute later she saw Yuri approaching her. Kaiya waved to her and Yuri waved back.

"Hiya Yuri! Are you ready to go to that tea shop?"

"Yes. You haven't been there, right? It's a really nice shop, I think you'll like it," Yuri said.

"Well, if you're recommending it, I'm sure it must be good," Kaiya said with a smile. The two began walking the short distance to the tea shop with Yuri telling Kaiya about the store they were going to as they were walking. She mentioned how it was locally owned, and that they even had teas with leaves that they grew themselves.

"Ah, we're here. Let's go inside, Kaiya."

"Hi there! Welcome to our tea store! Oh, Yuri, good to see you again," the shop owner said. "You even brought a friend with ya. I'm the owner of the place, Mr. Shepard."

"Kaiya. I recently moved here, so it's nice to meet you, Mr. Shepard."

"Pleasure's all mine! Is there a tea that you're interested in? I'm sure Yuri must have told you, but I can give some recommendations if you need any."

"I actually have an idea of what I'm looking for, but if we need anything, we'll be sure to ask," Yuri said.

"Well, if you need me, I'll be right over here. Just call for me and I'll be right over," Mr Shepard said.

"Thank you, Mr. Shepard," Yuri said. "Kaiya, there's a tea over this way that I saw last time I was here, let's go check it out!"

"There are so many kinds of tea here," Kaiya said.

"This could help with the festival actually. They have a small cafe here that we could get ideas for."

"Yeah, plus the teas would be great for serving to people. Which kinds were you thinking of getting?"

"I know I want to get a Jasmine, and I'd like to get some… oh where is it? Ah, here it is, oolong tea, oh, and some Darjeeling as well. Ahhhhh I just want to get all of it, you know?"

"Hahaha, I get that, but I don't think our wallets could handle that," Kaiya said jokingly.

"It'd be worth it," Yuri said jokingly. "Well, as long as we have a decent selection for the festival, we should be alright."

"Agreed. Plus what we don't use we can save for the club."

"Thinking ahead is smart, fufufu~" Yuri pulled out her wallet, but fumbled it in her hands and it fell to the floor. "Oh, shoot," she said, bending over to pick it up. As she reached, the sleeve of her shirt pulled up, and Kaiya noticed several marks on Yuri's arm. She cautiously decides to bring it up.

"Hey, uh… Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

"Um… I don't really know how to say this, and I know it's kinda personal, but I noticed that when you were picking up your wallet that there were, uh, 'marks' on your arm."

Yuri's face burned bright red in embarrassment. "Oh… y-you saw those…" Yuri pulled the sleeve of her shirt down.

"Y-yeah… briefly. If you don't want to say anything, I get it, but, you know, I just saw it and was worried," Kaiya said.

"Yeah, I understand. Well, these are kinda old now. I used to, well… you know…"

"Yeah."

"B-but it's been some time since I've done it. Really since before we started the club," Yuri said. She went on to explain to Kaiya that for a long time she was being bullied and that doing that to herself was the only thing in her head that made sense. She further explained that Monika really helped her out with it, and that after they started dating, she hasn't cut herself at all. "You really could say that Monnie saved my life. I mean, I'm exaggerating obviously, but she really means a lot to me."

"Well, I'm glad to know you're not doing that anymore, and I'm really happy that you and Monika are so good for each other," Kaiya said. "Hey, I saw you were reading a book earlier. What book was it?"

"Oh, let's go sit in the cafe area and I can tell you about it. But first, I'll pay for this tea that I'm getting. Go find us a spot, I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay," Kaiya said, and she turned towards the cafe area of the shop. She found an empty table and sat down, waited about a minute or two before Yuri came over.

"I can't wait to try this later," she said. "Anyways, I actually have it with me in my bag." Yuri pulled out a red book from her bag. "It's called The Portrait of Markov . The shop owner actually recommended it to me. It's a psychological thriller. Would you like a synopsis?"

"Yes please," Kaiya said eagerly.

"Well, it's about this asylum that's taken over by this cult, and they do these crazy experiments on the former inmates. It can kinda be a little graphic, but it keeps building and building until the end. It's one of those books that really hooks you where you gotta keep reading. When I first got it, I couldn't put it down. If you want, I could lend it to you."

"Sure," Kaiya said. "It sounds like something I'd enjoy."

Yuri handed Kaiya the book. Kaiya looked at the cover and noticed a strange eye marking on it. She opened the book and flipped through the first few pages.

"It's not the longest book, as you can see, so even if you aren't that fast of a reader, you should be able to finish it pretty quickly," Yuri said.

"I see. Well, I'll give it a read and I'll let you know what I think. Thanks Yuri!"

"No problem!" Yuri said, happily smiling.

The two ordered tea from the cafe. While they were drinking their tea, they shared their thoughts on a wide range of topics, ranging from tea, to the other club members, to the book that was now in Kaiya's possession. Kaiya looked out the window, watching cars go by as she drank her tea. She noticed someone taking pictures of several buildings, including the one that they were in. Kaiya thought they were a tourist and paid them no more attention after that.

"Well, I suppose it's time we made our way home. Thanks for coming here with me, Kaiya. Normally I'd just go by myself, but I'm glad I invited you and got to know you a little better," Yuri said, offering a smile to Kaiya.

"I'm glad I could join you," Kaiya said, returning the smile. "I haven't really gotten to know you until now, so I'm glad we could do this. You're a really nice person, Yuri."

Yuri blushed. "I don't know about that…"

"Nonsense, you're such a good person. I'm really happy that we can be friends," Kaiya said genuinely.

The two walked to the library where they had met up. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Kaiya," Yuri said, waving to Kaiya.

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow, Yuri!" Kaiya said.

Yuri turns to leave, and out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw someone hiding behind a tree, but looking again she didn't see anything. 'Must have been imagining things.'

Kaiya returned home and began reading the book that Yuri lent her. As Yuri said, it was a little graphic in its descriptions, but she couldn't put it down. After reading it, she looked at the cover and thought that it was amazing. Cultists, a fight for survival, kidnapping, weird experiments… hard to believe the author managed to hook her in such a short amount of pages. While Kaiya definitely got the creeps while reading parts of the book, it definitely kept her interested and invested throughout. She looked at the time and noticed it was almost time to go to bed. She made herself something to eat and got ready for bed. "I definitely have to talk to Yuri about it," she said before falling asleep.