"Hehe!" Sayori's face brightened with intense joy as she happily giggled.

"What's so funny?" Shujinkou asked.

"Nothing, I'm just so excited! After school today, the Literature Club will finally be back in business!"

It was a fact that made waiting out the last few hours of Summer Break hard, but that patience would soon pay off, for once the first day of the Second Term ends then-.

"But clubs don't start back up today, Sayori," Shujinkou reminded her.

He would then watch his best friend's expression change from excitement, to surprise, to confusion, back to surprise, before finally ending with disappointment. "Aw… That kind of takes the fun out of the new term…"

In no time at all, her dark expression brightened up. "Oh well, more time to plan for the new semester! In fact, I got a feeling that this will be the best semester yet."

"What makes you think that?" Shujinkou questioned.

"A lot of things!" Sayori beamed. "School events, holidays with a lot of sweets and most importantly the club's closer than ever this semester."

Hearing the last reason club VP gave made Shujinkou think back to when he first joined the club. There definitely was an awkward atmosphere and the club didn't seem as unified as he thought it would have. Initially chalking it up to reality differing from fiction, he would eventually find out that other members were even less close than strangers joining a club they shared interest in would have been, especially by the time he joined.

It took some time for some to truly open up to others, himself included.

"Hey, Shujinkou…" returning from his thoughts, the young man turned his attention to Sayori. Her cheeks were slightly red and her excited smile greatly softened.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Thanks for keeping your promise." she continued.

"Huh?" Shujinkou simply stared at Sayori, unaware of what she was referring to. "What promise?"

"To try and stay happy." Sayori reminded him.

"But…" the young man solemnly scratched his right cheek as he recalled the moment his friend referred too. Though he previously looked back at it fondly, it did fill him with a little shame. "But, I didn't really keep that promise."

"Yes, you did," Sayori quickly assured him.

"Huh?" unable to hide his surprise or resist his curiosity; he couldn't help but just as quickly ask, "What are you talking about?"

"You promised to try and you did," Sayori giggled as her demeanor returned to what was expected from her. "Even if it did take you awhile, you still kept your promise."

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess I really did keep my promise," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he looked back through all the experiences he has been through. Even if it wasn't a conscious choice, he couldn't deny that he at least tried. "But you know, in hindsight, I guess it wasn't that hard of a thing to do."

"Really?"

"Yeah, because I had a friend like you helping me."

"Eh?!"

"Remember? You promised that you would do your best to help and you did."

"Eh, you're giving me too much credit. I didn't do that much compared to the others."

Suddenly, Shujinkou gently clapped his hands against Sayori's cheeks. "Don't say that. Admit you're a good friend or else… Um… Please, admit you're a good friend."

"Uhm…" The young woman's cheeks grew brighter and brighter as she stared in Shujinkou's eyes. "Okay, I'm a good friend."

Satisfied, he released his grip on Sayori before she suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

"Natsuki's right, this should be a regular thing," she bubbled.

"I'm pretty sure she was trying to say the opposite," Shujinkou weakly chuckled.

The two then continued their journey to school and the moment they walked inside, a look of panic firmly planted itself Sayori's usually chipper face.

"What's wrong, Sayori?" Shujinkou worriedly asked.

"It's nothing major! I just have to go to the…" Sayori nervously chuckled after stopping herself from saying more. "I gotta go! See ya after school!"

Before he could respond, Shujinkou watched his friend take off further into the school. "That was strange."

As he scratched his right cheek, wondering what just happened, his attention would soon be drawn to a strange undertaking. From the corner of his eye, he could spot several excited looks forming on all of his fellow male students in the vicinity. Following their gaze, Shujinkou would soon discover that they were beholding a very familiar face. Walking into the school at that very moment was Monika, and as expected from the school's idol, she was making a scene with just her presence alone.

"I wonder how many times this has happened and I just ignored it… and I seen this happen a few times too," Shujinkou chuckled as he scratched his right cheek once. There was no depreciation in his words, instead just genuine curiosity and a fun jab at his old habits.

Suddenly, throughout the entire crowd, their eyes met.

"Shujinkou," a delighted smile crossed her face as she approached him. "Morning."

"Morning, Monika," he greeted in return.

"Where's Sayori? She's at school today, right?"

"Yeah, but she ran off somewhere."

"Really? What was she like when she ran off?"

"Um… She laughed with a look that screamed, 'I gotta get out of here.'"

"Hm… I don't think it's anything you have to worry about," an assuring smile rested on Monika's face as she led Shujinkou further into the school. "So, have any plans for the new term?"

"Plans? Um... Not really," Shujinkou answered. "Do you make your school year plans by the semester?"

"Of course. Each semester can be like a brand new start if you take advantage of it."

"Where have I heard that before?"

"I did say that during this year's Entrance Ceremony."

"Huh? Oh yeah, you did say some things this year. I guess it would make sense to get the best student to speak to the school even if they're not a third year."

"You know, even though I was happy to have been asked, it was a really nerve-wrecking experience."

"I guess it's a good thing that our school doesn't have multiple opening ceremonies like other ones or else you would have had to go through it again and again and again."

"Such a possibility would have been scary…"

"I can imagine…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek as he expressed his sympathies. "So, what are your plans for the term?"

"I have a couple. Keeping up my grades, thinking of some fun ideas for the club…" Silence suddenly stopped Monika from saying any more. "Plus, there is one more goal that I have in my mind, but it's probably the hardest one to achieve."

"Really? What is it?" Shujinkou asked.

"Can't tell. It's a secret," Monika replied with a knowing wink.

"Uh… Okay…" he accepted before stopping in his tracks. "Well, this is my stop so…"

"Yeah. See ya, later, Shujinkou," With a smile and wave goodbye, Monika continued her own trek to her classroom.

"Huh… Last semester, I probably would have assumed Monika would have had no issues speaking in front of others…" the young man scratched his right cheek as he thought about what Monika had just told him. "'Each semester can be like a brand new start…' Well, I do kind of feel like I'm starting over again. Even so, I didn't really expect much out of this school year. I wonder what kind of plans I could come up with."

"Just remember it doesn't just have to be about events, but also about self-improvement," surprised by the sudden advice, Shujinkou turned around to find Kiyoko stretching her arms.

"Kiyoko? How long were you standing there?" the flustered boy asked.

"Not long. I just wanted to make sure you didn't stress over the idea of making plans. These things don't always come to us on the first day. In fact, you don't even have to have a plan and you'll wind up doing something you wanted to do deep down anyway."

"Is that how you're doing things?"

"Mm-hmm. Of course, you don't have to follow my example. I'd prefer you do what naturally comes to you."

"What comes naturally to me…?"

"Alright students!" the two turned around to find their teacher, Chika, standing in the doorway. Like always, she had a grin not many would have in the morning. "Hope you all enjoyed your Summer Vacation. I know I did."

Despite there being no instruction to do so, her students quickly took their seats and watched as she walked to her desk. "Alright, before we get to business, I have some news. So, you all know that last semester was a little different in terms of classroom change and that affected the schedule and everything. Well, good news, we're going back to the old schedule!"

As she expected from such an announcement, the students jumped out of their seats to start cheering.

"The old schedule…" Shujinkou happily repeated.

"And all the breaks that came with it," Kiyoko dreamily added.

"So now that we're returning to the old ways, I guess that means I'm officially the owner of Class 2-C," Chika proudly declared. "Anyway, let's get homeroom started."

Despite the return of the old schedule, the day continued on as usual. Since it was highly coveted, the students had no problem adjusting to the old schedule. In no time at all, the end of the first day back has arrived.

"I really did miss the in-between breaks," Shujinkou happily sighed.

"Ditto," Kiyoko yawned.

"Still, I wonder the schedule changed like that. Maybe Fuyu knows why," Shujinkou thought.

He didn't have long to consider the possibility as his attention was immediately drawn to Kiyoko walking past him.

"See ya, Shujinkou," Kiyoko grinned and saluted her classmate goodbye before walking out of the classroom.

"See ya," though a little too late, he couldn't help but instinctively reply back. The young man then proceeded to throw his belongings in his bag and made his way to the classroom door. The second he stepped outside, Shujinkou found himself colliding with another student, the force of the impact throwing both to the ground. "Sorry!"

Despite his genuine apology, his received no reply in response. Situations like this one would usually result in an acceptance of his apology or, the more likely option, him getting yelled at. Once he recovered his senses, Shujinkou glanced up to lay eyes on the person he ran into. "Rei?"

The silent girl simply stared at Shujinkou as he stood up and offered his hand to her. Her visible eye slowly trailed down to the hand in front of her. 5 minutes passed by before she extended her sleeve-covered hand to accept the one in front of her and followed its guidance up.

"So…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he wondered what he could possibly say.

But before he could find something, Rei raised her right hand and slowly waved it in front of him. She then lowered it back to her side and walked past him. Though surprised by her sudden departure, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He figured most would be happy to get out of such a situation, but instead he was felt guilt start to creep in as he walked out of the school.

"I really wish I could find something to say to Rei," he thought. "When we first met, I was mostly introducing her to things that the school had, but after that the best I could get were yes and no questions. Even if she doesn't want to talk using words, I shouldn't make it so she feels like she just hs to leave like that. But what could I d-?"

His field of vision was suddenly obscured by darkness. "G-Guess who?"

Shujinkou imagined a giant blue question mark dart out of his head as he tried to comprehend what was happening. "Yuri?"

As if by command, the darkness that blocked his vision soon disappeared. The young man then turned around to find Yuri nervously play with her hair.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Sayori asked me to do that. She said she wanted to throw you for a loop."

"That sounds like her…" Shujinkou nervously chuckled. "Well, she got what she wanted."

"Mm," the young maiden remained silent for a moment. "Um, are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. What made you think that there was something wrong?"

"I was just asking. You had a very serious expression on your face."

"I did? Well, it's just that I feel kind of bad that I can't find a way to talk with Rei."

"Rei?"

"Yeah. I just can't seem to find something to say that doesn't come off as patronizing and my sixth sense is telling me that if I try to do what Fuyu did, that would also come off as patronizing."

"I see… Well, I could understand your concerns there. When I think about, I don't think we even exchanged glances that much. Still… I believe you'll find a solution to that conundrum eventually."

"I guess… Hey, Yuri, do you have any plans for this semester?"

"Me? Well, I do hope that I'll be able to express myself a little more. At this point, I've only expressed most around you. I hope to be able to that with the others to. I was also thinking that maybe I could be a little more open-minded towards certain subjects."

"Yuri's plans sounds like what Kiyoko was telling me about earlier," Shujinkou thought.

"To be able to express myself more… Maybe then I could finally…" the young maiden giggled with red cheeks as she stopped herself from saying anymore. "I may be getting ahead of myself."

"Who's getting ahead of who?" Out of nowhere, Sayori appeared in front of Yuri, starling the maiden.

"Sayori?!" she shrieked.

"Me!" the aforementioned beamed. "Did you do the thing?"

"Well… Yes."

"Did it throw him for a loop?"

"That it did," Shujinkou answered.

"You just live for throwing people for loops, don't you, Master of Masters?" Natsuki denounced as she approached the three.

"I wasn't trying to throw you for a loop, I was just staying in character like everyone else," Sayori argued.

"You could have at least told me that it was you. I thought I was talking to a stranger the entire time," Natsuki crossed her arms in a huff as she finished reprimanding her. "So, what's this important meeting you were talking about?"

"Important meeting?" Shujinkou once again imagined a question mark form over his head as shot a confused look at Sayori.

"Didn't you read the text I sent you?" she asked.

"I didn't really look at my phone on the way out of school…"

"Well, we got to wait for Monika anyway before I can explain."

"Someone call me?" on cue, the school's idol happily walked up to the four. "So, what's this important meeting about?"

"It's about where we're going to have the club today," Sayori happily answered.

"What?! That's what the important meeting is about?!" disbelief and annoyance mixed together in Natsuki as she processed what she just heard.

"Yeah. What else?"

"Something that matches the urgency you implied in your message!"

"But it urgent."

"There is no way talking about club meetings is worthy of all caps on 'important meeting!' I almost had a heart attack when I got that message. I thought something serious happened."

"The sense of urgency was lost for me when she also asked me to do something for her," Yuri interjected.

"I guess that would ruin the urgency…" Sayori admitted. "Anyway…"

"Don't try to anyway yourself out of this!" Natsuki snapped. "Knowing you, you worded your message that way just to make sure we would be here!"

"That's not true…" Sayori suspiciously chuckled.

"You can't even deny it without acting guilty!" Natsuki angrily pointed out.

"To be perfectly honest, Sayori, the message you sent at best would be comparable to the disappointment that would come after hype settles," Yuri pointed out.

"But it really is important!" Sayori insisted. "We haven't had any club meetings since school cancelled them for the exams!"

"The point is you didn't have to scare us over this…" Natsuki sighed.

"That said, where do you propose we have our meeting today?" Monika queried.

"We could have it at my place," Shujinkou suggested.

"Really? Just like that?" surprise planted itself firmly on Natsuki's face.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know; it's just that if you were going to suggest that I kinda expected you to scratch your right cheek and sound a little more hesitant like the other times."

"I guess… I just figured it would be the best place since you're stuff is still there."

"Uh-" Natsuki's cheeks grew rosy red as she diverted her gaze. "Should have known you'd give a response like that."

"Alright, Shujinkou's house it is!" Sayori happily declared, leading the group to their new destination.

"By the way, what do you guys think of the old schedule coming back?" Monika asked.

"All I can say is I don't even know why they changed it in the first place," Natsuki replied. "Losing all the in-between breaks was one of the worst things to happen during the first semester."

"I honestly didn't mind the change myself, but it is nice to have small mental breaks during the day," Yuri added.

"That said… The schedule change probably won't help the whole people messing with how I organize my stuff," Natsuki groaned. "We really need our own clubroom."

"We're still probably on the bottom of the list when it comes to that subject," Monika lamented. "Plus with all the other stuff that happens this semester, our chances are kinda worse than before."

"At least the stuff that's hurting our chances are fun stuff," Sayori interjected.

"One of the first things is Sport's Day, right?" Yuri wondered aloud.

"Maybe why that's they changed the schedule back; so they can organize classes like they did last year," Shujinkou theorized.

"Organize us however they like, we all know that whoever has Monika on their team is going to outperform everyone," Natsuki pointed out.

"You never know what may happen," Monika giggled.

"Actually, from what I've seen them do, Rei and Kiyoko could also probably outperform everyone else too," Shujinkou added.

"Oh yeah, Rei is pretty athletic," Natsuki remembered. "Remind me to stay on her good side."

It wasn't too long after that that comment that the Literature Club made their way into Shujinkou's empty home.

"Wonder where mom is? She's really been hanging out outside of the house a lot more lately," he thought as he led the others to his room. "Then again, so have I."

As they entered the bedroom, Monika's eyes were immediately drawn to a book on the floor. "I didn't know that you were fan of the Shadow Children Sequence, Shujinkou."

"Huh?" the young man turned around and watched Monika pick the book off his floor. It was at that moment he found himself afflicted with embarrassment as she glanced over the cover.

"What's the Shadow Children Sequence?" Natsuki asked.

"It's a series of books set in a dystopian country that suffers from food shortages due to a drought," Monika explained. "Naturally, overpopulation is a key concern, so the government decreed a law where having more than two children was illegal. To enforce this law, the government set up the Population Police whose job is to find and kill or imprison any third child, or shadow child if you prefer."

"That sounds like an interesting set up," Yuri said as she turned her gaze to Shujinkou. "How come you never brought that book to any of our meetings?"

"Honestly, because of the age range," Shujinkou sheepishly admitted. "It's an 8-12 novel."

"Even so, it's actually a really mature story that covers themes of espionage, courage, betrayal, poverty, class systems, how much power a government has and more," Monika argued. "In fact, the age rating is probably just because nothing graphic is depicted in the series."

Shujinkou remained silent as he pondered Monika's words. The way she explained one of his favorite series of books was staggering to him. "I never really thought of it that way."

"Never judge a book by its age range," Monika chuckled gleefully. "Especially when it's also one of my favorite series too."

Natsuki glanced at the cover of the book and read aloud, "'Among the Barons'?" Is that the book you use the pipe for?"

"Sometimes," Shujinkou admitted. "It really seems appropriate for some parts of the book."

"Ah, I see…" a subtle laugh slipped through Yuri's lips. "Is it that ASMR for you?"

"Eh? What's that?" Sayori wondered aloud.

"Well, it's a short way of saying Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response," Yuri explained. "It's a calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. It's said that the tingle originates in a person's head and spread to the spine, sometimes to even the limbs, in response to stimulation. It's a very euphoric feeling. I'm sure that everyone has experienced it at least once."

It was at that point where confusion had captured Shujinkou, Natsuki and Sayori in its grip.

"Well, maybe a better way to explain would be… Shujinkou, do you remember a time when you felt relaxed out of nowhere?" Yuri questioned.

"Well…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered that question. "There was this one time when I was little. Mom took me shopping with her and eventually stopped to get her shoes shine. I remember all through that, I felt extremely relaxed."

"I see. It would appear that shoe shining would be your trigger," Yuri concluded.

"So shining shoes makes people feel good?" Natsuki queried.

"Not exactly the shoe shining itself, but the sounds such a process makes," Yuri corrected. "It doesn't even have to be those sounds at all. The trigger varies from person to person and it can be anything as common as tapping a pencil against a desk, the chirping of birds or the turning of book pages."

"Wow… You really know a lot about ASMR, Yuri," Sayori complimented.

"It's nothing special," Yuri insisted. "The knowledge is really just a side effect of my own hobbies."

"It's still cool," Sayori gushed. "I wonder what my trigger is."

"Probably the sound the sound of opening wrappers." Natsuki snarked.

"Yeah… That does make me happy," Sayori dreamily admitted. "So much Halloween Candy…"

"You know, I think bird chirping may be one of my triggers," Monika said. "Or at least Yoki's bird chirping."

"Isn't she supposed to have a new single coming out soon?" Natsuki asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Can't wait! It might be her best yet!"

"You're a fan of Yoki, Natsuki?" Shujinkou questioned.

"Of course," she proudly admitted. "The whole mystery thing's a gimmick, but I can't deny how good her songs are."

"It does beg the question why she lets her identity be a secret in the first place," Yuri wondered aloud. "I just get the feeling that she wouldn't be the type of person who would want to use such a gimmick."

"Maybe she had no choice," Monika proposed. "But I guess we'll never know."

"Not unless someone leaks her identity," Natsuki added. "Honestly surprised the real one hasn't been revealed yet. Not having a face to pin to the songs is kinda annoying too."

"You know, it never really bothered me that I didn't have faces for the names I knew off," Shujinkou said.

"Not everyone can be like that, dummy. Besides, when are you ever really upset? Seriously, the most upset I've seen you is when you get all awkward and scratch your cheek," Natsuki joked.

Shujinkou silently scratched his right cheek then chuckled.

The rest of the club's meeting continued on like that for hours until the sun was beginning its journey towards the horizon, signaling the end of the gathering. As the girls began to shuffle out of the bedroom, Shujinkou called out to Natsuki.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was just wondering if you had any plans for the semester," he explained.

"Plans? Not really. Why?"

"Just curious. That's all."

Natsuki shot the awkward young man a confused look before leading him downstairs. After saying their goodbyes, the girls left, leaving Shujinkou alone in his house.

"Never really get upset, huh…" the young man solemnly sighed as he returned to his room. Once there he shut the door behind him and locked. He then proceeded to pull a box from under his bed, wiped the excessive dust off of it and pulled the top off.

Shujinkou slowly reached inside and pulled out of a photograph of his family. "What I wouldn't give to have both lives come together…"