"I know it hurts a lot right now, Shujinkou. But you have to believe me when I say that you'll soldier through it.
"I… I'm the reason dad left, aren't I?"
"What!? Why would you say that?"
"Because it just makes sense! I'm the reason he left! I just know it!"
"That's not the reason he left. You're not the reason. I promise you, Shujinkou, you're not the reason."
"But I couldn't…"
"That isn't your fault. You aren't to blame for anything, Shujinkou… Shujinkou… Shujinkou… Shujinkou!"
A bubbly voice pierced through the old memory, forcing Shujinkou back into the present. He blinked twice and looked up to find Sayori standing in front of his desk. The curious look on her face was something he found completely understandable.
"What happened in your head this time?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Shujinkou replied with a shrug.
Telling Sayori what was really going on in his head was the last thing he wanted to do; especially when he didn't want to relieve that memory in the first place.
"Oh. Well are you ready to go?" Sayori asked.
"Yeah," Shujinkou nodded.
With his backpack in hand, Shujinkou followed Sayori out of the classroom and down the hallway.
"You know, you didn't have to come and personally escort me, Sayori. I wouldn't have ran off," Shujinkou said.
"I know. But I figured you didn't know where the club room is," she happily pointed out.
"Touché," he shrugged.
But despite his casual response, he was anything but calm. He was nervous. Even though he only promised to visit the club, he couldn't help but fear what may happen if he-
"We're here!" Sayori's cheerful announcement stopped Shujinkou's train of thought as he laid his eyes on the door she presented.
"Your club is in a classroom?" the young thinker shot a confused look towards his old friend.
"Yeah. We borrow this classroom for our meetings every day since the school didn't give us a club room. Anyway, are you ready to meet everyone?"
"I guess?"
"You don't sound too enthusiastic. You're not just going to coast through this visit, are you?"
"No. It's just that, among a lot of other things, I'm worried that I'll embarrass myself. I bet they'll be able to tell I'm not really the literature type."
"That's crazy, Shujinkou. I guarantee that you'll be able to fit in just fine."
Before he could even have a chance to respond, Sayori grabbed Shujinkou's wrist and led him into the classroom.
"I brought in a potential club member!" Sayori announced.
A tsunami of emotions surged through the visitor as he examined the room. He counted three other students in the room and… they were all girls?!
"Is Sayori trying to get me to join an all girls club?" he wondered. "I can't imagine this scenario ending well…"
Suddenly, Natsuki approached him and looked up into his eyes; the annoyed expression she wore causing his anxiety to shoot up exponentially.
"Are you serious, Sayori? This guy doesn't seem like the literature type," she scoffed.
"I knew it…" Shujinkou mumbled under his breath.
"Of course he is," Sayori defended. "Remember when I told you about his 2 hour explanation on manga?"
"8 and repetition…" Shujinkou further mumbled.
"And he also easily critiqued his own explanation and professionally admitted its flaws," Sayori continued. "That's pretty literature typey."
"Really…" Natsuki's gaze returned to Shujinkou. "Are you sure you even want to be here?"
"Uh…" that was all he could say to the petite club member. The skeptical look in her eyes and oppressive atmosphere was the exact thing he feared would happen.
"I think you're scaring him, Natsuki," Monika approached the group, her eyes trained specifically on Shujinkou. Her gentle smile removed any form of anxiety that he had felt. "Long time no see, Shujinkou."
"Monika?" While his nervousness was gone, it was immediately replaced with several burning questions that Shujinkou had to fight himself from asking right away.
"You two know each other?" Sayori inquired, exchanging glances with Shujinkou and Monika.
"Sort of. We were in the same class last year, but we didn't really talk much," Monika explained.
"How come you never mentioned that?"
"Well, you never mentioned Shujinkou by name until just a few days ago and I wasn't completely sure you were referring to the same guy. It would have been really embarrassing if I made the wrong assumption."
"Wow…" Sayori turned to Shujinkou, her face glowing with amazement. "It's kind of funny that you already know our Founder/President, Shujinkou."
"Founder/President?" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he tried to wrap his head around the revelation. "But I thought you were part of the Debate Club."
"I was, but some stuff happened," Monika replied. "I wouldn't want to bore you with all the details. The end of the story is that I decided to make this club after leaving the Debate Team."
Shujinkou remained silent as he pondered Monika's response. If the school's local idol started a new club, then why are there only a total of four members in the club? Even if a club based around literature doesn't sound like the most exciting after school activity, he figured Monika's presence would still attract a lot of potential members.
"Shujinkou!" Sayori called.
"Huh?" snapping out of his thoughts, Shujinkou's cheeks turned red as he realized that the three girls were staring at him. "Sorry."
"I guess you still daze off a lot," Monika chuckled.
Shujinkou glanced down at the floor, keeping his almost sorrowful face hidden from the others. Being reminded of something he does almost every day was surprisingly hurtful. But that pain was quickly pushed away by a strange feeling. Even though he was in the middle of a conversation, where eye contact was guaranteed, he still felt as if he was being watched.
He looked up and immediately met eyes with Yuri. It didn't last long though as she quickly diverted her gaze and raised the book she was reading up to her face.
"What just happened?" Shujinkou wondered. He wanted ask her that very question, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to be bothered. Shujinkou then looked back at Sayori and asked, "So, when did you join Sayori?"
"I quickly joined right after Monika made the club," Sayori answered.
"Actually, you joined a 5 days after I made the club," Monika corrected.
"Eh? You mean you've been by yourself for an entire school week?"
"Yep. It was just me that entire week. Just me."
"I still find that very hard to believe," Shujinkou thought.
"Huh," Sayori casually replied before continuing her story. "So after I joined 5 days later, me and Monika went out and looked for new members. We found Natsuki in the library und-"
"Sayori!" Natsuki loudly interjected.
"What?"
"He doesn't need to know where you guys found me!"
"Why not?"
"He just doesn't!"
"What was she doing in the library?" Shujinkou started to wonder.
"So we found Natsuki and convinced her to join the club," Sayori continued. "After that we soon found Yuri and…"
Sayori paused mid-sentence, quickly turned around and waved at Yuri.
"Yuri! Come say hi to Shujinkou!" she called.
Shujinkou watched as the purple-haired maiden slowly stood up and approached him, her eyes alternating between looking at him and her own hands.
"Ah… Hello…" she said.
"Hey," Shujinkou replied.
"Now that you've met everyone in the club, we can get to business," Sayori said, her voice bursting with excitement.
Suddenly, Natsuki walked to the closet and quickly returned with the cupcakes Sayori had mentioned. Shujinkou marveled at the delicious sight in front of him. Each individual cupcake was well-made and the frosting was shaped in the form of a happy cat.
"Wow," Shujinkou said.
"Yeah, Natsuki. I'm surprised that you were able to make cupcakes that are as cute as yourself," Sayori exulted.
"I-I'm not cute!" Natsuki snapped.
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as wondered why Natsuki reacted so violently to such a compliment. He knew it wasn't his place to ask though and reached for one of the cupcakes. The moment he grabbed one, Shujinkou noticed Natsuki peering at him from the corner of her eyes. The confused guest soldiered through the awkward atmosphere and took a bite out of the cupcake.
"So good!" Shujinkou thought, barely able to keep his delight hidden. "This has got to be the best way to treat a prospective new member ever."
Just then, a familiar feeling interrupted that bliss. He turned to his left and was surprised to find Yuri staring at him once again. The moment their eyes met again, the young maiden quickly diverted her gaze once more.
"S-Sorry… I didn't mean to stare…" she apologized.
"Um… It's okay. No harm done," Shujinkou said.
Yuri started to play with her hair as she continued to avoid eye contact.
"So, Shujinkou, what made you interested in coming here today?" Monika asked.
"Um… Sayori was doing her job as Vice-President and made a very compelling case about why I should come here to visit," Shujinkou answered.
"You sure you didn't just come here for the cupcakes?" Natsuki asked. "Sayori seemed adamant about making sure there were some here for your visit."
"Really?" Shujinkou's eyes narrowed as they travelled to Sayori. "I was told that you were bringing them in anyway."
"I guess I may have forgotten that I asked for cupcakes…" Sayori nervously chuckled.
"You can be really devious when you want to, huh?" Natsuki said. "Maybe you really are meant to be a VP."
"You really think so?" Sayori beamed.
"I think that was a negative political joke, Sayori," Shujinkou said.
Sayori shot a confused look at him, prompting him to explain the joke to Sayori.
"Oh, I get it…" Sayori said. "Wait, but I'm not devious politician that would do anything to get their way."
"Well, you kind of lured me here with the promise of sweets while making me believe that Natsuki was bringing them in anyway even though she only brought them because you asked her too," Shujinkou pointed out in a matter-of-fact manner.
"But everyone benefitted from it," Sayori nervously chuckled.
"Sayori has a point there," Monika said before taking another bite out of her cupcake.
Shujinkou shrugged and continued to eat his cupcake. But instead of experiencing another round of bliss, all he felt was dread.
"Is this really fair?" he wondered. "I never thought I'd be in this kind of scenario. It doesn't feel right."
"Are you okay, Shujinkou?" Monika asked.
"Hm? Yeah," Shujinkou replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you look so serious," she answered.
"Oh. I was just thinking about…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered his own thoughts. "Actually, I just remembered that there's somewhere I have to be. So, I have to go."
"Eh? But you just got here," Sayori said.
"I know but, I really got to go," Shujinkou quickly finished his cupcake and smiled at the club. "It was nice meeting all of you."
Shujinkou left the classroom and continued down the hallway until he felt something tightly wrap itself around his wrist, cutting his departure short. He immediately turned around and saw something he never wanted to see.
"Don't go," Sayori pleaded.
"Sayori…" Shujinkou looked away from her and remained silent as he felt his hand slowly fall back to his side. "Sorry, Sayori."
Those were the only words he had the courage to say before leaving.