Another day of school has passed by…
"I feel really bad about vetoing the poster Shujinkou had to have worked hard on," Monika lamented as she walked down one of the school's many hallways.
"There's no need to worry," Sayori assured her, following the club president to their clubroom. "I'm pretty sure he was actually glad you drew the conversation away from it."
"Still, it does remind me of the issue with expanding the club further."
"Yeah. Advertising a literature club is hard enough on its own, but we also want to make sure that it doesn't become a club where the members are only there because they want to be in a club you created. Or as Natsuki said: 'A Monika Fan Club."
The bubbly club vice-president once again found herself pondering the dilemma they face.
"If only there was some way we could show the club is a super fun place," Sayori thought aloud.
Silence separated the two from of their conversation for a full minute.
"Monika…?" Sayori suddenly said.
"Yes?" Monika answered.
"Have you ever noticed that this conversation ends the same way every time?"
"Mm-hmm… A while back actually…"
Silence has once again separated the two from their conversation for an entire minute.
"Maybe we should ask Shujinkou about this," Sayori suggested. "He could have an idea since he didn't join the club for literary reasons."
Meanwhile…
"Fuyu?" the aforementioned young man curiously stuck his head into the office of the Student Council President. Looking around, he found Rei quietly sitting on one of the two couches. "Rei?"
Shujinkou awkwardly walked into the office. As he approached the silent girl, she turned around and slowly waved at him.
"Hey, Rei. Have you seen Fuyu anywhere?" he asked.
In response to his question, Rei quietly turned her head. Following her gaze, Shujinkou looked upon the desk of the Student President. He silently scratched his right cheek as he watched Fuyu lightly snore before him.
As he continued watching, he couldn't help but notice how innocent she looked compared to her "President Mode".
But he didn't have long to think about that any further as her phone's alarm suddenly sounded off.
"Eat my Four Swords, Ganon!" Fuyu yelled as she woke up.
"Which one?" Shujinkou smiled as he asked this.
"Huh?" Fuyu's cheeks grew bright red as she plopped back into her seat. "Minish Cap Four Swords against Wind Waker Ganon. Anyway, what brings you around here, Shujinkou?"
"I wanted to tell you that Mali said that she would stop pulling pranks. I tried to tell you over the past weekend but Rei showed me that you were pretty busy." He explained.
"Yeah…" as if to emphasize her point, a small yawn slipped through her lips. "But more importantly, do you believe her?"
"Well…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he recalled the moment Mali gave her word. He spent the entire weekend thinking about that one moment of her sporting a genuine smile instead of her usual fake innocent variants. "She did seem to mean it this time and she didn't pull any pranks today without any reason not to."
"I see," Fuyu adjusted her glasses as another yawned escaped through her lips. "Sorry for putting such a task on you. I would have done it myself but…"
"I get it," Shujinkou interjected. "I don't mind helping you while you're swamped with presidential stuff."
"Mm," a smile formed on her face as she awkwardly adjusted her glasses again. "Thanks for the assistance, Shujinkou."
"No problem," he said as he scratched his right cheek. "Anyway, I got to get to the club now. See ya, Fuyu."
"See ya," Fuyu shot Shujinkou a two-finger salute as her turned to leave.
As he walked to the exit, "See ya, Rei."
The quiet girl raised her hand and waved goodbye as Shujinkou walked out of the room. The moment he was outside, he was suddenly approached by…
"Mali!" the surprised student said. From his perspective it was like she appeared out of nowhere.
"Done reporting in, Senpai?" Mali asked with an innocent smile.
"Um…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he wondered how he could possibly answer that question. Yes?"
"Mmm… Senpai is so honest." Mali slowly inched her way closer to Shujinkou, sending a sharp shiver up his spine. Seeing such a flustered reaction prompted her innocent smile to change into a knowing one. "Senpai's nervous all of a sudden. Are you expecting something to happen?"
The nervous student averted his gaze as he recalled Mali pressing her chest against his.
"Is it really okay for Senpai to lust after a first year student?" Mali slightly pushed her chest towards him and wiggled them temptingly.
"Mali, that's not really funny…" Shujinkou said, trying his hardest to keep his gaze away from Mali.
"I was just asking Senpai a question," the first year student giggled. "So what did Senpai tell the President?"
"I just told her that you said you would stop pulling pranks."
"Does that mean that playtime is over now?"
"Huh?"
"Now that Senpai and the President got what they want does that mean no more Senpai watching over me?"
"Um… I… I don't really know how to answer that."
"Okay, I'll make it simpler for Senpai. Senpai's going to his club now right, let me come with you."
"Oh… Okay." Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He couldn't help but worry over what Mali would do once she got there.
Moments later…
"Senpai's here," Mali announced as she led Shujinkou into the clubroom by his arm.
An awkward silence hung over the club as she squeezed his arm tighter.
"So…" Natsuki's eyes focused on where the two were connected. "What brings you around here, Mali?"
"Senpai, of course," Mali innocently answered. "He keeps me from doing bad things."
Natsuki blankly stared at Mali then turned her attention to Yuri.
"You feel like she's blackmailing us too, right?" she whispered.
"Yes…" Yuri whispered back.
Mali released Shujinkou's arm from his grip and looked around the classroom. "I didn't have time to say this last time, but how does the most popular girl in get a classroom for a clubroom?"
"I thought the same thing when I first joined…" Natsuki mumbled under her breath.
"Stuff like that doesn't matter when it comes to clubrooms, Mali. Its priority selection and first come, first serve," Monika explained.
"Really? Hmm…" an interested smile formed on Mali's lips as she turned her gaze to Shujinkou. "Senpai, do you like having a classroom for a clubroom?"
"Um… I don't really have any problems with it," Shujinkou answered.
"Hm… Senpai's so indecisive but okay," Mali flashed her usual innocent smile and walked out the classroom giggling.
"I get a bad feeling when she smiles like that," Natsuki said.
"But she promised not to do any more bad things, right?" Sayori curiously wondered aloud.
"She did," Shujinkou confirmed.
Suddenly, Mali stuck her head back into the room.
"See, Senpai trusts me," she said before disappearing once again.
Natsuki's mouth slightly opened before she slammed it shut and walked to the classroom closet.
"Hey, Shujinkou," Shujinkou turned and watched Monika approach him. "Do you think Sayori and I could talk with you outside?"
"Sure," he nodded his head and followed the two outside.
There he was asked…
"Something that could attract others to the club?" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered the question he was just asked.
"Yeah. Do you have any ideas?" Sayori asked.
"I'm not really sure I'm the one to ask. I kinda joined to make things up with Sayori. Me finally remembering the difference between a metaphor and a simile was kind of great bonus," he explained.
"Awwww," Sayori whined. "But we need to find a way to attract people without people finding out Monika's in it."
"Um…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek as he glanced at Monika. "Hey, Monika what exactly was the result of you joining the debate team?"
"Uh…" a nervous smile formed on Monika's face. "An increase of attendance in the debates and a couple of recruit screenings."
"So that's what that was all about last year…" Shujinkou thought.
"I just thought debating suddenly became popular last year," Sayori said.
"You can kinda see why I've been hiding that fact…" Monika added.
"Yeah…" Shujinkou and Sayori nodded their heads in unison.
"How we start with a new poster?" Sayori suggested. "Can you make us another one, Shujinkou?"
"Already drafting another one," Shujinkou answered.
"You know me so well," she beamed before skipping back into the club room.
"Sorry for vetoing your poster, Shujinkou," Monika apologized.
"It's not a big deal," he assured her. "I didn't really do it with an advertising mindset anyway. I was really just taking what Sayori said too literally."
"What your favorite part of the club was right?"
"Yeah?"
Monika giggled. "You're sweet. You know that?"
"Sometimes I think to a fault," Shujinkou instinctively responded. It was the only thing he could say without him feeling embarrassed. "Back to the club?"
"Sure," Monika smiled as she followed Shujinkou back into the clubroom.