"I still don't get it…"

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Something had been plaguing him since the night before. At it's core, it was questioning the logic of what he constantly experienced, but he knew no one else would see it that way without experiencing it themselves.

Still…

"Why is fighting all the Jinchūriki with Bee's support harder than fighting only 3 of them?" he wondered aloud. "It's really weird how I struggle with three going after me at once with no support, but I do much better when I have a single support against 6 of them. Well, still 3 at a time, but it's still a longer fight."

Contemplating what he just said, Shujinkou soon let out a sigh of defeat.

It's just weird, but maybe it's just me.

Once he accepted that conclusion again, Shujinkou looked up and realized he was standing in front of the clubroom door. He reached for the handle only for another hand to tap against his.

"Yuri?"

Standing right next to him with the same surprised expression was Yuri."

"Sorry, I didn't see you, Shujinkou," she apologized.

"You were lost in thought too?" he asked

"Mm-hmm. I was… Ah…" Cutting herself off before she could say anymore, Yuri closed her eyes. She remained silent for a moment before giving him an answer. "Well, I was just thinking about something for the future."

"Huh. I think I was complaining how I do better on a harder part of a game than the supposed easier path…" Shujinkou awkwardly chuckled.

He was worried that his response may have been a little out there, but Yuri's amused smile calmed his nerves.

Despite everything that's happened recently, the beginning of small talk still made him a bit anxious at times.

With that worry gone for now, Shujinkou opened the door and stepped aside.

"Ah… Thank you."

Shujinkou happily nodded his head and followed Yuri into the clubroom.

"It seems we're the first ones to arrive," Yuri noted, observing the empty room.

"Huh…" Hearing that prompted an incidental thought to suddenly pop up in Shujinkou's head. "You know, it's not even the first or second time, but I'm still shocked when I'm not the last one to show up."

"To be fair, I think by tally everything, Monika has shown up last about the same number of times."

Yuri's gaze suddenly drifted away from his. Her cheeks were faintly glowing red and her face no longer displayed happiness, but instead showed something Shujinkou probably showed himself many times. "To be honest, there was a time I thought it was her attempt to get us to interact without her around for a little. It was a little… uncomfortable then, to say the least."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek.

"I don't know… That sounds more like something Sayori would," he said with his best attempt of at a cheeky smile. "I should know, she tried the same on me."

A small giggle slipped out of Yuri. It wasn't just because of Shujinkou's response, but how uncomfortable his smile was for him. It somehow made his attempt to cheer her up even more touching.

"Perhaps you're right," she said.

Shujinkou let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if it was obvious or not, but that cheeky grin was too uncomfortable for words.

I'll leave that for action heroes. I'm not suited to act like that… Wait…

The words "action" and "hero" caused a light bulb to suddenly light up the inside of his head. Or at least, he imagined that happening.

"Hey, while we're waiting, do you think you could look at something for me?" Shujinkou requested.

"Look at what?" Yuri curiously questioned.

Shujinkou dug through his backpack and pulled out two pieces of paper stapled together. "I've been working on a crossover fanfiction called 'Snake vs. Wolverine', title subject to change, and I was wondering if you could read what I got so far."

"I could, but am I really the best person to ask?" Yuri wondered. "I'm not as well versed on the topics of the crossover as you are."

"It fine. I just wanted to see what you think from a writing perspective."

"Oh…" A small smile flashed on Yuri's face before she took a deep breath. "Okay."

She accepted the passage and started reading.

Waiting for someone's opinion was hard on its own, even harder when it comes with the side effect of making time seemingly slow to a crawl.

It also reminded Shujinkou of one of the first times he publicly posted on of his stories on the internet. There was always the fear that you'll be complimented or have your self-esteem torn to shreds.

Though he was sure that any critiques he would get from his friends would never be that harsh.

"Wow…"

Shujinkou's ears perked up as he turned back to Yuri. "Did I mess up on something."

Yuri shook her head. "It's nothing bad, it's just your dialogue… It's really natural."

"Really?" Shujinkou marveled.

"Yes. One of the hardest aspects for many aspiring writers is the dialogue. It's tough thinking about what to have characters say and wonder if it really makes sense for them to say that. Knowing that, most dialogue comes off stiff, robotic and often expository."

"Oh yeah… That does happen, doesn't it?"

Yuri looked up at Shujinkou, surprised. "Have you never had that problem yourself?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I had to correct a few words here or there, but I think I did pretty okay."

"Hm… So, you like dialoging?"

"Yeah. Don't know why, but I like specifically writing what they said. That's why when I started writing, I wrote in a more script style."

"I see… And have you had to compromise with your dialogue writing in a more novel style?"

Shujinkou shook his head. "Not as much as I thought. It really surprised me."

Yuri nodded her head. "Well, moving on, from the view of someone who isn't as familiar with what you're writing… I think what you've written so far is well-executed."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, despite not knowing much, I can honestly believe how these two characters can come to blows just by reading their dialogue of their first meeting. I can feel the anger one has when the other has nothing but a professional tone regarding their mission to capture him."

"Wow..."

Shujinkou was completely blown away by what he was just told.

"You seem to have had low expectations before handing me your story," Yuri noted.

"Well, I'm don't really have much experience like you and the others, and I haven't really made anything original longer than half a page…" Shujinkou admitted. "There has to be something wrong, right?"

"Well, there's a few grammatical errors that could be picked up with a revision or two, but the impact is fairly the same."

"Oh…"

Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek, his doubtful facial expression remaining unchanged.

"Was there something else bothering you?" Yuri worriedly asked.

"Nothing serious in the grand scheme, it's just… my first time sharing a fanfiction didn't really end too well for me."

"Ah… You ran into a pretty mean review, right? I think you at least hinted to that before."

"Yeah, my self-esteem would've taken a hit if it wasn't already pretty low."

"I'm sorry. I of all people, know how harsh criticism can be. It's easy to devolve into needlessly mean spirited and is something everyone must face…" Yuri sympathized. "But still, you continuing to try and improve your craft in spite of that is truly impressive."

"I'll give myself credit for that," Shujinkou chuckled.

It felt nice to willingly give himself credit for something recently, no matter how small. Though a part of him worried giving himself too much credit may give him an undeserved ego.

"By the way, there was something else I noticed," Yuri said.

"What?"

"Nothing about the story really but more so the setting and the tone. I remember being a bit taken aback by some of your interests."

Though she sensed it after she finished her sentence, the bewildered look that lied on Shujinkou's face confirmed something that caused her to feel a little embarrassed: she didn't articulate her point well.

"I-I didn't mean it like that, I meant I was surprised by some of the stories you're into," Yuri corrected. I never would have guessed you were into things like war and their effect on the people involved."

"It's kinda more limited to Metal Gear and other games, but I can see what you're getting at," Shujinkou conceded. "But what did you think I'd be into?"

"I guess, based on your old daydreaming habit, I would have guessed a stories with more light-hearted fantastical elements."

"Based on my daydreams, huh…? No, my daydreams were really all over the place in tone."

"I'm sorry, I was just musing over a past assumption."

"To be fair, I wouldn't have guessed you would be into fantasy or horror," Shujinkou admitted.

"What did you think I would be into?" Yuri curiously asked.

"No idea. Thinking about it, I would have been surprised by anyone's preference as long as it wasn't my own. I felt like my preferences were going to get me looked down on…"

Yuri giggled."Then, by your own admission, you weren't assuming, you were just worried."

Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "Guess my self-deprecation habit will take a bit to completely go away."

"Same with my lingering pre-conceived notion one. Though if it was still around, I may have been surprised by the manga you suggested to me."

"Death Note? That actually surprised me too. I really only read it because I was curious what the series that scared me as a child was like."

"It really scared you?"

"A death god and a book that can kill people just by writing their name in it?" Shujinkou nervously chuckled as recalled what effect just the name had on him as a child. "I was really scared that something like that could be real."

"Ah. That makes sense."

"But you know what's funny? I eventually found an official story that that kinda parodies the concept of Death Note?"

"There is?"

"Mm-hmm. It's called Love Tyrant and focuses around an object known as a Kiss Note."

"Kiss Note?"

"Unlike a Death Note, a Kiss Note makes anyone who has their name written together immediately fall in love if they kiss each, no matter what."

"That's…Yuri immediately buried her face in her hands. "Now that would really be a scary thing to exist in the real world."

"More than a Death Note?" Shujinkou asked, perplexed.

"I'd like to believe that messing with life and death would be a little more disconcerting for most, but the power to make people fall in love is a bit more convenient for personal gain. It's harder to resist its temptation… A Kiss Note…"

"What's this about a Kiss Note?" a third voice chimed in.

Shujinkou calmly turned around. "Monika."

"Sorry, I'm late gu-" Monika paused as she looked around. "Oh. I guess I'm not the last one after all."

Her gaze soon landed on Shujinkou and she smiled. So, what's a Kiss Note? Does it have anything to do with Death Note?"

"It's from a comedy manga series that parodies the concept. Instead of killing people, it makes people fall in love," Shujinkou explained.

"A book that makes people fall in love…" Monika was quiet for a moment. Her cheeks faintly grew red as she admitted. "That's a little too tempting to exist…"

"I agree…" Yuri replied.

"There's also the fact that the two have to kiss within 24 hours or the targets will remain lonely for the rest of their lives," Shujinkou added.

"That's makes it even more dangerous…" Yuri mumbled under her breath.

"But that concept… Does it have a cupid angel in charge of that book?" Monika asked.

"Yeah," Shujinkou answered, nodding his head.

"That concept really seems to get around. Thinking about it brings to mind Gal Gun."

Hearing that almost knocked the wind out of Shujinkou. "Y-You know about Gal Gun?"

"You do too, Shujinkou?"

Shujinkou timidly scratched his right cheek. "Well, yeah…"

"What's Gal Gun?" Yuri asked.

"It's a rail shooter that involves pacifying high school girls with Pheromone Arrows. The plot usually involves and an angel messing up a shot and turning a male student into someone the female student body can't resist. The unlucky student has to the end of the day to confess to his true love or else will be alone for the rest of his life when the spell wears off.

It's effectively a dating sim with rail shooting segments in between conversations," Monika explained.

"It's also makes it hard to mention the game without others staring at you funny…" Shujinkou sheepishly added.

"I get it," Monika sympathized. "Sometimes an entertaining story is locked behind a… an awkward to refer to cover?"

He appreciated the level of empathy Monika displayed. Perhaps it helped that she played it herself?

"So, how do you know about it, Monika?" Shujinkou asked.

"I ran across when looking for dating sims to play," she explained. "What about you?"

"I just happened to run across it too. At the time… I just really needed some levity and everything about the game screamed levity."

"Wait…" Shujinkou and Monika looked towards Yuri. There was a serious look on her face, as if she was pondering hard on something. "Pheromone Arrows that incapacitate the females… Wouldn't that mean that every single person you incapacitate in the game, you're actually sending into a state of euphoria."

Monika and Shujinkou shared a nervous chuckle.

"It does have a mature rating after all…" Monika explained.

"I wasn't trying to judge but…" Yuri was quiet for a moment. "A Kiss Note and Pheromone Arrows… "

She turned away, the mysterious aura surrounding her making it clear she needed a moment alone to think.

"Monika, you play dating sims?" Shujinkou asked.

"It's a genre of visual novels I usually find myself immersing myself in," Monika answered, happily recounting the many she experienced. "Have you ever experienced a visual novel before Shujinkou?"

"I…" Something about that question seemed… wrong to Shujinkou. "Not many."

"Well, if you ever want to experience some more, just let me know," Monika offered. "I can think of a few you'd enjoy."

Shujinkou didn't say a word. It felt like something inside of him was reacting strongly to Monika's words. Whatever it was, it made him feel both happy and uneasy.

"You seem really enthused about visual novels, Monika," Yuri noted. "Have you ever considered making one of your own?"

"I considered it but… I'm not really a good artist, so I really have no visuals for my visual novel," Monika lamented. "Plus, I would need some time learning how to put one together. I don't think I have the time to do that and without the visuals, it really seems pointless to try right now."

"Oh."

"But I would like to one day. Though I'd probably have to commission an artist or put together a team."

"Hm. Is your secret story something you'd plan to adapt into a visual novel?"

"Are you trying get a hint out of me again?"

"No, just curious."

"Oh… I don't know."

Yuri shot a knowing smile at Monika. "You know… For someone who initially encouraged us to share our work, it's a bit ironic you're lording the fact that you have something we'll never see."

"I'm not bragging about it and that's why I stopped pushing the sharing activity so I wouldn't be a hypocrite," Monika pointed out.

"I'm not so sure about the former. You still seem to take joy in saying it's a secret. Really, you seem to take joy in saying you have secrets."

"It's not so much I take joy in it, it's more like I'm telling you I can't tell you in a positive way."

Yuri shook her head. "No… You clearly show joy."

"Okay, maybe I do like it a little," Monika admitted.

"I knew it!" someone shouted.

Monika slowly, cautiously looked over her shoulder. As she feared, Natsuki was standing behind her.

"I knew you were doing the whole 'It's a secret' because you like it," she fumed.

"It's not like that…!"

"You just admitted to it! For all we know, there is no secret story and you just made that up to mess with us."

"To be fair, me finding joy to saying that mostly relates to the fact that you guys keep asking and trying to sneak peeks at it."

"So now you're blaming us?"

"Well… To be honest…" Monika covered her mouth as she looked away. "…It's a secret."

"Now you're just trying to get a rise out of us…" Natsuki sighed. "I think Mali's rubbing off on you."

"Don't say that…"

"Yes, Monika's more playfully teasing than trying to raise our blood pressure," Yuri defended. "Though the joy from getting one over on us is a little concerning…"

"That's… You're purposely leaving out some context I just provided," Monika weakly argued.

"Well maybe if you didn't always publicly dangle a secret in our face almost every day, we wouldn't go to such lengths to see it," Natsuki affirmed, crossing her arms.

"Now you're just victim blaming…"

"You're not the victim. You're the instigator."

"I became the victim after I stopped insisting on sharing. If I still did that, then that would be another story."

"Yeah, but you don't see us going around, waving our stuff like it's the greatest secret to protect."

"That's an exaggeration. I'm just working on it without bringing attention to it."

"After you already hyped it up."

Thinking about it, Monika considered the idea that this may truly be a both sides are wrong scenario. If that was the case, there may only be one way to stop this, Monika thought.

"So, if I were to destroy the hype I unintentionally created, would that end things?" she asked aloud.

"No," Natsuki bluntly answered, shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"Because we need something to tease you with too. We don't have much on you so we need everything we can get."

Monika knew very well that was no true. There was one thing that everyone had on her. "Isn't the maid thing enough?"

"I said we need everything we can get."

"That's not fair…"

"Would it make you feel better to remember that everyone came to see you that day," Yuri asked with a teasing smile.

"Not you too, Yuri…" Monika lamented.

"By the way…" Natsuki looked up at Shujinkou. "How long has been like that?"

Monika and Yuri turned towards Shujinkou too, realizing he had been silent this entire time. Natsuki waved her hands in front of him but garnered no response from him.

"He's zoning out again, isn't he…?" she wondered aloud.

"He hasn't really slipped into his dream world for a while now…" Yuri noted.

Suddenly, Shujinkou's eyes widened.

"Hm? Natsuki, when did you get here?" he asked.

"Yep, he was daydreaming again," Natsuki concluded."

"What? No. I wasn't really daydreaming," Shujinkou denied. "I was just… I guess I was just that deep in thought."

"That's true," Monika agreed with a knowing smile. "You're usually gone a lot longer, not to mention a lot harder to get your attention if you were daydreaming like you used to."

Shujinkou gingerly rubbed the back of his head, causing Natsuki's cheeks to faintly glow red. But he never did see her reaction. Before he could, his vision was suddenly clouded by darkness followed by a bright voice asking him, "Guess who."

"Orihime Inoue," he instantly answered.

Light immediately returned to his eyes and he turned around to find Sayori standing behind him.

"Bleach?"

Shujinkou nodded his head.

"That makes sense," Sayori beamed.

She then turned her attention towards the others. "By the way, I got a new book recommendation: Devil in a Blue Dress!"

"Wait, wasn't that that the book you found in Gramps' study?" Shujinkou recalled.

"Yeah," Sayori confirmed as she frantically scoured through her school bag. She pulled out a book with such force that she unknowingly almost hit Shujinkou with it. "I just found another copy today."

"What's it about?" Monika asked.

"It's a hard-boiled detective story about a normal man who just lost his job and can't pay his expenses being hired to find someone and it naturally goes downhill from there."

There was one question that kept Sayori from saying anymore.

"Um… I'm not sure if I can say anymore without going into spoilers, but it's really a fun read," she concluded. "It was one of the stories Gramps read to us that really stuck with me."

"Was Shujinkou's grandfather the one that got you into detective stories?" Yuri questioned.

"Kinda… I just like them because it like adventures that could happen in real life!"

"Unlike any of the more 'realistic' fiction I've read," Shujinkou said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Like what?" Monika asked.

"Well, The Giver for one."

"You've read The Giver?"

"Remember that time I told you about Shiko giving me that two-hour lecture on why Dragon Ball was good enough for an essay," Sayori brought up.

"It was a rant with repetition…" Shujinkou mumbled under his breath.

"Granny Hisa suggested for Shiko to read The Giver."

"Probably something I would have never found on my own, but Granny Hisa said I should enjoy it since it was similar to the Shadow Children sequence in tone."

"I'm still kinda surprised you read dystopian books sometimes," Natsuki admitted.

"Yeah…" Shujinkou admitted with a chuckle. "Even though some of the more adult stuff probably flew over my head, I think I still got a good enough grasp on it's themes. I just wish I knew what happened after the end…"

Yuri giggled in response to that familiar longing feeling. "Were you not aware that it was actually part of a quartet?"

"Wait…" Shujinkou's eyes were gleaming with hope. "There's really more of it?"

"Not in the traditional sense. The other novels didn't follow Jonas as the protagonist, more so they continued to expand the word The Giver took place in. Plus, they don't have a naming convention that would signify any relation with each other."

"Wow…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. "I always figured if there were more, it would follow the naming trend of the Shadow Children sequence. I used to call it the 'Among the…' series since I didn't really pay attention to the text on the front that said what part of the Shadow Children sequence it was."

"How couldn't you if it was right on the front cover?" Natsuki wondered.

"I was too focused on why the books referred to Luke as Lee in the books that follow another character's perspective," he admitted with red cheeks. "I thought everything was supposed to be… omnipresent?"

"Third-person omniscient?" Monika corrected.

"Yeah. But it wasn't that; it was the other third person."

"Third person limited. So, whenever the perspective shifts from Luke and the person doesn't know his real name, the book refers to him as Lee."

"I'm still surprised I realized that before you, Shiko," Sayori said with a delighted smile.

"I guess it was just one of the things that flew over my head," Shujinkou accepted. "That or I was just used to omniscient."

"It's funny how a lot of things fly over our heads when it comes to literature. The amount of double takes I personally made is pretty staggering." Monika admitted with a giggle.

"I'm constantly double taking, but only because the authors keep throwing things out there," Sayori added.

"Kind of sounds like you're describing Bobobo-bo," Shujinkou said.

"No… I got used to that reading it with you. I mean stuff where you're not expecting it. Like moments that have little buildup, but it still makes sense in the context in the world it's in and really works," Sayori explained.

"Those are hard to pull off right?"

"Sorta. It's easy if you know what you're doing, but if you're not paying attention, then it really comes out of nowhere."

Out of nowhere, a giant cookie dangled in front of Sayori's face.

"Speaking of out of nowhere…"

Sayori looked up to find Natsuki sporting a knowing, slightly boastful smile.

"Is that for me…?" she wondered aloud.

"Just don't want you complaining about being hungry out of nowhere today," Natsuki explained.

Sayori raised her hands, but instead of grabbing the treat, she instead wrapped them around Natsuki.

"You're the best, Natsuki!" cheered Sayori, squeezing her tighter. "Thanks!"

"Geez… It's just a cookie…" That's what Natsuki wanted to say, but she couldn't. Instead, she awkwardly stood there and accepted what she considered an overreaction.

At least it's not as bad as it used to be…

Watching the sight put a smile on Shujinkou's face. Peaceful moments like this is what helped him through some of his past trauma.

I hope things will always be like this.

A single thought that wasn't his alone.