"Hey, Monika," Sayori called.
Monika lowered the book she was currently reading and looked up at Sayori's curious face.
"Yes?" Monika replied.
Sayori looked down at Monika's book, then back at the reader.
"Are you thinking about playing the piano?" Sayori asked.
"Maybe…" Monika answered, closing her book, "How to play piano for Dummies."
Monika was in fact considering learning how to play the piano, but she was not sure if she could fit it into her current schedule. She already had school work and a school club to manage, not to mention home. She didn't have time to dwell on the subject too long though, as Natsuki soon walked in her collection of literature.
"Hey, Natsuki!" Sayori greeted, happily waving at the Literature Club's newest member.
"Hey…" Natsuki replied. She gently placed her collection on one of the many desks and took a moment to inspect the room. "There any room in the closet?"
"There should be," Monika answered.
It was clear to Monika that Natsuki still harbored some apprehension towards joining the club.
"What?" puzzled Natsuki.
"Nothing. Just know that there is no need to be nervous here," Monika assured her.
"Who's nervous?" Natsuki laughed. "I got no reason to nervous."
"You read manga?" Sayori asked.
Natsuki immediately glanced to her left and felt her heart sink when she spotted Sayori quizzically flipping through one of her favorite manga volumes.
"Y-Yeah… So what?" she stammered.
After finishing reading, Sayori closed the book and grinned.
"You would probably get along with my friend," she said. "He likes reading manga too. He actually once spent 2 hours telling me how manga shouldn't be looked down on because it has a ton of great stories like other forms of literature. I'm still amazed that he was able to that."
Natsuki's eyes widened with curiosity and interest.
"Maybe you should invite him to the club," Monika suggested.
"I would but he said he isn't interested in joining any clubs," Sayori awkwardly chuckled.
"Hmph," Natsuki pouted. "Anyway, how do we find a 4th member?"
"Simple. We just have to find someone who obviously enthuses enthusiasm for literature," Sayori happily answered.
Natsuki, completely dumbfounded by Sayori's response, simply sighed, grabbed her manga collection and walked to the closet.
"It's time for another field trip!" Sayori announced.
"Actually, I don't think we should do that," Monika disagreed.
"Eh? Why not?"
Sayori couldn't understand why Monika wouldn't want to search the school again when it worked so well yesterday. Fortunately, Monika had a very good answer to her question.
"I think it would be better to meet each other during lunchtime tomorrow. That way the chances of finding someone who 'enthuses enthusiasm for literature' would be higher," Monika explained.
"I see…" Sayori nodded her head in agreement, until she realized what that potentially meant. "But that means we may not get to eat lunch!"
The thought of potentially skipping lunch was too much to bear for Sayori. She honestly wasn't sure that she would survive.
"I'm with her there," Natsuki agreed. "I don't want to miss lunch either."
"Neither do I, but that free time is our best chance to find a 4th member," Monika pointed out.
Despite their apprehensions, Sayori and Natsuki knew that their club president was right and conceded.
The next day, the three members of the Literature Club met in front of the library just as they had planned.
"So how exactly are we going to find someone for the club in 35 minutes?" Natsuki asked.
"We just have to find someone who obviously enthuses enthusiasm for literature," Sayori grinned.
"What?" Natsuki responded, equally as dumbfounded as yesterday.
"Let's just look around," Monika suggested.
With a plan in mind, the three of them started to search the school for potential club members.
"This is ridiculous!" fumed Natsuki, irritated that 17 minutes of searching were for naught.
"Well, it's not like we can expect to find a club member so soon," Monika accepted. "It would probably take the same miracle it took to find you, Natsuki."
"There's someone!" Sayori beamed.
Monika and Natsuki quickly turned towards the direction Sayori was pointing to and noticed a young lady with long straight violet hair quietly sitting on a nearby bench. Her light purple eyes were glued to the novel neatly placed between her two hands, as if it was the only thing that existed in her world.
"Maybe I should say that we can't expect a full club so soon," Monika giggled to herself.
"She definitely looks like she enthuses enthusiasm for literature," Sayori chirped.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Natsuki asked, shaking her head. "So are we all going to talk to her or-?"
"Actually… I want to try talking to her on my own," Monika said.
"Really?" Sayori tilted her head as if to emphasize her surprise.
"If I'm unable to convince people to join our club by, then I won't make a very good club president," Monika smiled.
Sayori nodded her head in agreement and excitedly grabbed Natsuki's hand.
"Let's go eat our lunch!" Sayori happily declared.
Usually Natsuki's instincts demanded that she immediately take her hand back, but for the first time in awhile, that didn't happen. Monika watched Sayori lead Natsuki away and took a moment to mentally prepare herself.
Hope I don't mess this up.
Monka approached the girl and sat next to her.
"Hi," Monika said, making herself known.
The girl glanced to her right and her serious expression was immediately replaced by a startled one. She then averted her gaze and looked down at the ground.
"H-Hi…" the girl finally replied.
"I'm Monika," Monika introduced herself. "What's your name?"
The girl stayed quiet for a moment before finally turning her gaze back to Monika.
"It's Yuri," the girl answered.
"Nice to meet you, Yuri," Monika smiled.
Yuri hesitated for a moment and closed her eyes. After two minutes of silence, Yuri opened her eyes and a small smile crept on her face before disappearing.
"So, what is that you are reading?" Monika asked.
"Ah, it's just something I picked up from the store," Yuri answered, diverting her gaze once more. "You wouldn't be interested in hearing about it."
"Actually, I think I would be," Monika assured her. "Tell me about it."
After taking a few moments to think, Yuri turned back to Monika and cleared her throat.
Yuri started to summarize the book to Monika in great detail while trying her best to not spoil any major plot points. Monika was amazed by how good Yuri was at making the book sound appealing to read and how passionate she seems while explaining it. After finishing summarizing the book, Yuri diverted her gaze again and apologized for ranting.
"No need to apologize," Monika said. "You know, if you're that into literature, you should join the literature club."
Yuri's gaze returned to Monika, her eyes widened by curiosity.
"Literature Club?" Yuri repeated.
"It's a club that I started for those who enjoy literature," Monika explained.
"Ah, but a club like that… you wouldn't want someone like me," Yuri responded, with downcast eyes.
"Why not?" Monika questioned.
"I-I'm too weird," Yuri stammered. "I wouldn't fit in."
"Yes you would," Monika insisted.
"What makes you think that?" Yuri asked.
"Because all you would need to fit in is your love for literature and you have that," Monika smiled. "So naturally you would fit in."
Yuri closed her eyes and went silent for a moment. She soon opened her eyes and another small smile crept onto her face.
"Alright, I'll join," Yuri agreed.
"So that's how you got the members you needed," Shujinkou interjected. "I'm honestly surprised."
"Surprised about what?" Monika asked.
"That Natsuki and Yuri had to be convince too join," Shujinkou answered. "I thought they would have jumped at the chance."
"Well, I'm sure they had their reason for their apprehensiveness," Monika said. "But you know, even though we're a small club, I can at least say that I'm happy with the members I share it with."
"Yeah, the others are great fellow club members," Shujinkou agreed.
"I was talking about you too, Shujinkou," Monika smiled.
Shujinkou eyes widened with surprise when he heard that. He wasn't too sure why she would be that happy with him around when he hasn't contributed much.
Still, he was happy that she would feel that way and was satisfied that he was able to learn a little more about his fellow club members.