Darkness was all that appeared before him until Shujinkou opened his eyes to greet the bright orange sky. He gently grasped his forehead only to feel something warm and sticky trickle down his fingers. Confused and slightly in pain, Shujinkou lowered his hand and stared at the red substance that slightly stained his palm. The confusion grew until he glanced at a nearby tree and solemnly stared at the blood stained bark.

"Oh right. That was a really desperate move…" he sighed.

Sad music played in his head as he stood on his feet.

"Stop it!" Shujinkou shouted at the top of his lungs.

He sighed in relief as the sounds of nature quickly stifled the inner song. But even then, Shujinkou was far from composed. Nothing could be done about that as he knew that it was still time to return home. That singular goal was all the young man focused on as he jumped on his feet. He had to, or else he may risk accidently breaking curfew again.

It didn't take long for him to make it to his destination. Once inside, he curiously inspected his surroundings just as his mother walked out of his kitchen.

"Welcome back, Shuji-" a warm welcome was quickly rendered impossible as her eyes were immediately drawn to the wound on her son's forehead. She quickly rushed to Shujinkou and took a closer look at the injury. "What happened?!"

"I tripped and fell over," he answered as he scratched his right cheek.

A small smile formed on his face, but it was only met with disapproving frown. Hiro then led her son to the kitchen and began to clean the wound. As she did so, Shujinkou glanced down at the table and was surprised to find a single brownie sitting on top of a nearby plate.

"You made brownies?" he asked.

"No. Someone else made it and Sayori brought it here for you to try," Hiro answered.

"Sayori?"

"Mm-hmm. Seems like she still takes your sweet tooth into consideration."

Hiro quickly finished patching up her son's injury and gently slid the plate towards him.

"Why don't you give it a try?" she suggested.

Shujinkou silently stared at the plate before suddenly reaching out for it.

"Can I eat it in my room?" he asked.

"Um, sure…" Hiro answered.

No more words were exchanged as Shujinkou left the table and walked to his room. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, Shujinkou tossed his backpack on the floor, plopped himself in bed and brought the brownie close to his face. The moment his teeth sunk in, tears began flowing out of his eyes.

The next afternoon, Shujinkou stared out of the classroom window as he tried to keep his mind active with various thoughts. Eventually, he began to focus on one subject that has been on his mind for a long time.

"Wonder why they changed how classes work?" he wondered. "Last year, the teachers were the ones that switched classrooms and now the students have to switch classrooms. I guess the school decided to experiment. Kinda sucks that it takes away from between class breaks. Though I wonder if I could use this new way of doing things in order to find some new places I could hide out during the Cultural Festival this year."

"Shujinkou."

"Sayori came to visit yesterday. Did she really just want to leave me that brownie or was it something more?"

"Shujinkou."

"I haven't really talked to her in a really long time. I kinda thought she moved on. I wouldn't have blamed her for doing that; in fact it would make more sense if she did especially since I haven't exactly been a fun person to be around since… Wonder what would lead her to wanting to see me now?"

"Shujinkou!"

A loud voice pieced through Shujinkou's thoughts, forcing him back to reality just in time to confront his teacher. He knew just by looking into her stern eyes that he was about to be scolded. But instead of scolding him, she instead said something that he didn't expect: "Are you okay, Shujinkou?"

"Huh? Oh… Yeah, I'm good," he replied.

"Are you sure? Because you seem to have a tendency to doze off in class."

"Sorry. I kind of think and daydream a lot."

"I heard you do that in all of your classes. Not only that but I've recently found out that you barely passed all your classes last year."

"I guess I'm not that good of a student."

"That's what people would believe if they didn't notice the pattern of your work."

"Pattern?"

"When I was looking over your past grades and the grades you received in this class so far, I've noticed that you seem to alternate between doing well and failing. Have you ever noticed that?"

"Not really."

"Are you sure that there isn't anything you want to talk about?"

"No… I don't."

"Alright. But if something is bugging you, my door is always open."

"Thanks, teacher."

Shujinkou grabbed his backpack and walked out of the classroom with a sigh.

The next morning, a tired yawn escaped through Shujinkou's lips as he walked to school. It was strange but for some reason he felt like someone was calling out to him.

"SHUJINKOU! WAIT!"

"Wait, someone is calling me," he thought as the familiar voice finally reached him. "Is that…?"

Shujinkou turned around and was swiftly knocked off his by Sayori. Unfazed by the sudden collision, she quickly sat up and smiled down at her old friend.

"Finally caught up to you, Shujinkou," Sayori said. "Long time no see."

"Sayori?" Shujinkou said in disbelief.

"Mm-hmm. You sound like you forgot what I looked like. It hasn't really been that long, has it?"

Shujinkou remained silent as he scratched his right cheek.

"So… What have you been up to, lately?" Sayori inquired.

"Nothing much… Just going through the motions. Going to school, going home, playing games…" he answered. His face sported a look of sorrow for a split second before it was replaced with one of curiosity. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

"I'm the Vice-President of the Literature Club," Sayori proudly replied.

"What?!" Shujinkou exclaimed. "Vice-President of the-?! Wait, when did the school get a Literature Club?"

"Is it really that surprising that I can be Vice-President?" Sayori pouted. "And the school got the Literature Club this year."

"It's not really surprising you can, it's just… It's kind of hard imagining you performing Vice-Presidential duties. I'm not saying you can't, it's just hard to imagine."

"Oh. Well, I can understand that. It's hard for me to imagine too. Anyway, there's something I really wanted to ask you."

The surprise Shujinkou felt grew as he wondered what could be important enough for Sayori to literally chase him down.

"What did you want to ask me?" he said.

"Are you going to join any clubs this year?" Sayori asked.

"Uhm… Not really."

"So, it's just like I was to- like I figured! Just like I figured! But anyway you should really choose a club to join, Shujinkou."

"I don't know Sayori. They're not really my thing. Besides, it's not like it'll be the end of the world if I don't join a club."

"Yes it will!"

"Wha?!"

"Think about, Shujinkou. A club is a place for social interaction in an environment built entirely around an individual's interests. It is through these clubs that people come together and grow together as they continue to prepare for the real world. Without school clubs, students would lack the social grace that would allow them to succeed in the grown up world and become NEETS. I don't want you to become a NEET, Shujinkou!"

Shujinkou stared at Sayori in disbelief.

"Don't you think that's kind of a massive exaggeration, Sayori?" he asked.

"Not really," she shook her head. "Besides…"

Sayori diverted her gaze for a second, an action that surprised Shujinkou.

"Come on, Shujinkou! At least try to find a club you would like!" Sayori pleaded.

"Well…" Shujinkou alternated between glancing at Sayori and his right hand. "I… I guess I can look through a couple of them. Just to see what they're like."

"That's great! And there are so many clubs that you can check out. There's the Pottery Club, the Literature Club, the Basketball Club, Literature Club, Drama Club, Literature Club, Debate Club, Journalist Club, Archery Club, Supernatural Club, Literature Club…"

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling that you want me to check out the club you're in."

"I'm just doing my job as Vice-President. But you really should check out the Literature Club. It's a really fun place."

"I don't know Sayori. I don't really think I'm the literature type."

"That's not true. After all, you did do a 2-hour explanation on why manga was literature."

"Sayori, I was 8 and that was in response to our teacher saying that Dragon Ball wasn't an acceptable piece of literature to do my book report on. Also, I'm pretty sure I padded out some of that rant with repetition."

"Even so, the criticism you just provided explanation was a pretty literary thing to say. Please, Shujinkou, just come and check it out."

"I don't know."

"Please? If you don't come, there won't be enough people to eat all the cupcakes that Natsuki's bringing."

Shujinkou's eyes widened as the plural form of cupcake was processed into his brain.

"Cupcakes?" he said.

"Yeah," Sayori nodded. "Remember the brownie I left for you? Natsuki made it herself and said that she would bring in cupcakes today."

Shujinkou once again glanced away from Sayori, thinking, "I can't help but feel like Sayori is trying to lure me to her club with the promise of sweets. Now that I think about further, it's been two days since the brownies were made. That would be enough time for Sayori to convince Natsuki to make some cupcakes just so she could have a backup plan if I tried to say no to checking out her club… Maybe I'm just looking too deeply into this situation. It may just be a coincidence. I mean it's such a devious plan that... that I should probably keep it in the back of my head just in case."

"Shujinkou!" Sayori yelled, snapping him out his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, I was thinking about something," he sheepishly replied. "But I… I guess I can check out your club to see what it's like."

"Yay! You won't regret it, Shujinkou!"

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as Sayori started to happily bounce up and down.

"Hey, uh, Sayori?" he said.

"Yeah?" Sayori looked at him with curious eyes.

"I don't mean to be rude, but could you please get off me?"

"Huh?" Sayori shot Shujinkou a confused look until she finally realized that she was on top of him. Her face turned bright red as she immediately jumped up off him. "Sorry. Anyway, we got to get to school before it's too late."

"Right," Shujinkou said as he slowly stood up.

Sayori grinned as she continued down the path to school, unaware of the doubt on Shujinkou's face.

"Is this really okay...?" he glanced down at his right hand and sighed. "Hir-"