Chapter 13: Into a Dark Puddle
Much to everyone's relief, the absence of cameras managed to excuse Yuri's early exit from detention. Every member of the detention that day was surprised that they had fallen asleep so quickly. Since the Hall Monitor, Reshi Sakimoto, had offered to take over that class from the existing invigilator, he was given the blame for leaving the class behind. Sakimoto couldn't claim that he was attacked by anyone, seeing how he was completely healed and had no bruises on his body.
Other than that, school got boring after going through the same concepts and questions over and over again. The trio ended up zoning out for the rest of the day, until it was time for the Literature Club.
"Well, we're back in the club," MC declared as he walked into the clubroom, alongside Sayori. She had come to pick him up from his last class to make sure that nothing happened to him.
Upon observation, the two noticed that there was only one other person there. And that was the third Stand User in their team, Yuri.
"Hey, Yuri!" Sayori yelled out, making Yuri break her attention from her book. "Why were you here so early?"
Yuri smiled as she dragged her table to the side, revealing a long gash on the wall.
"I had to make a portal to the clubroom, just in case anything happened," she said. "I've made a couple more across the room. They're all well hidden, so there is no need to worry about authorities discovering the property damage."
"That's a really good idea, Yuri," MC said, as he walked up to inspect the scratch portal.
"Yeah, totally!" Sayori cheered as well, as she walked up to her too.
"Well, thank you for the assurance," Yuri meekly said, face reddening as she dragged her bench back to normal and hid her face behind a book.
Just as she set the desk back in place, they heard the main door open.
"Hey, what's going o- You!" Natsuki spoke up, having just entered the club, but seemed to writhe in anger upon seeing MC. Storming up to him, she said, "You better have a good excuse for abandoning the club yesterday, dammit!"
"S-Sorry, Natsuki," MC said with a face of worry. However, on the inside, he sighed in relief, noticing that Natsuki was acting like normal. "I h-had some personal issues to take care of yesterday, and I needed Sayori's help for it, so that's why we couldn't attend."
"He's right," Sayori confirmed. "I was with him yesterday."
"What the hell were you two doing?" Natsuki remarked with a frown. "Sucking face or something?"
"Uhm, no, we weren't," MC said, nervously looking back at Sayori. Sayori met his gaze as well, returning a nervous chuckle alongside him.
Natsuki paused as she regarded the two in front of her. "Well, I don't care what you do," she finally said with a slight pout. "Just don't leave the club behind again, got it?!"
"Roger that!" MC hollered, standing a little straighter. Harrumphing, Natsuki walked past the couple, to the girl reading her book.
"Yuri," she started to ask her, "What happened to you yesterday?"
Yuri hesitantly set down her book, keeping a finger where she had left off. "I was pulled into something I hadn't wanted to be a part of," she revealed, to Natsuki's now widening eyes. "I was just getting some air in the courtyard when the incident happened, and I have absolutely no idea how it happened, but I was pulled into the bustle. I'm just glad I wasn't hurt."
Natsuki let out a breath of relief. "That's good to hear. I was worried you'd be like a boy in secret, you know?"
"H-Huh?" Yuri was startled by her comparison. Shooting a questioning glance at MC and Sayori, she got shrugs back.
"Yeah, you hear that Monika!" Natsuki suddenly yelled. "She wasn't irresponsible or whatever!"
The trio paused upon hearing Monika's name. Natsuki sensed the new air in the club, then suddenly faltered. Looking around the club, she misinterpreted what the silence held.
"Hey, where's Monika, by the way?" she asked.
Yuri looked at the class clock. "She might be practicing the piano-" Yuri suddenly yelped, as she realized what she had let out from her mouth. MC and Sayori glared at her for her mistake as well.
"The piano?" Natsuki asked in turn, making Yuri go pale. "Why would she-"
"I'm so sorry I'm late, everyone!" Monika suddenly barged into the room, slamming the door open behind her. "I hope you weren't worried or anything!"
"Monika, since when did you start playing the piano?" Natsuki suddenly asked.
"Ah-" Monika jerked back a little at the sudden question. "H-How did you know that?"
"Yuri told me," Natsuki declared, pointing to a now pale Yuri.
"A-A-Ah, a-about t-that, I-I-I-"
"She was walking by the music room, and saw Monika playing there," Sayori suddenly cut in with a smile. "She was actually telling MC and I about how well you play before Natsuki showed up, right Yuri?"
"Y-Yeah, that's i-it!" Yuri yelped in, nodding vigorously.
'Good call, Sayori,' MC thought and sent a smile her way. She noticed it and beamed back at him in return.
"Oh, well that makes sense!" Monika laughed. "Well, yes, I was practicing the piano. I had started about a month ago, and I've gotten quite good at the basics in that time. I mustn't have heard the bell, and lost track of time, haha!"
"Okay, well how good are you?" Natsuki questioned. "I'm really curious about this now. Can we all hear you play sometime, then?"
"Well," Monika hesitated. "My boyfriend does seem to appreciate it quite well. Maybe I'll look into showing you a piece that I've been writing when it's done."
"I knew it!" Natsuki yelled as she pointed at the brunette. "Monika has a secret boyfriend!"
Yuri froze at the déjà vu of the current conversation that they were having. 'Hasn't this… happened before?' she pondered, watching Monika talk about her boyfriend.
'It did!' she realized as she automatically voiced in the part she was supposed to out loud, saying that Monika was dating the school president. 'How had Sayori and MC handled all of this familiarity?'
MC was still stricken at the mention of Monika's boyfriend, and the school president, looking almost like him. However, leaving it as coincidence, he decided to zone out of the rest of the conversation like always.
In some time, everything had settled down, with Monika having gone to the teacher's desk to fill out some forms for some reason, and Natsuki rummaging in the closet.
Sayori, Yuri and MC were left behind. The three Stand Users looked at each other, letting their gazes tell each other that they know what their tasks are. Sayori went up to sit close to Monika, to keep an eye on her. Yuri kept her gaze on her book but hadn't bothered reading a book she'd already read before. Instead, she was using it as cover to watch Monika as well. MC, finally, walked to the back of the classroom, where the closet, and consequentially, Natsuki, was.
"Ugh!" I hear her cry out from within the closet seemingly annoyed by something. Before MC could open the closet door to ask her what was going on, the door had burst open, revealing an angry Natsuki emerging from the dimly lit room.
"Mon- Huh? The hell do you want, perv?" Natsuki abruptly asked. MC took a step back due to Natsuki's abrasive tongue.
"N-Nothing!" MC hesitantly said. "I was just wondering if everything was okay in there?"
"Ugh, freaking Monika," Natsuki groaned as she walked back into the closet. Warily, MC followed her inside. "She never puts my stuff back in the right spot!"
Sliding a stack of books while saying something else, MC noticed what it was that she was handling. "Manga…?" he muttered, earning him Natsuki's attention.
"Yeah, you read manga, right?" Natsuki asked. "I remember you mentioning it day before yesterday."
"Well, yeah I do," MC admitted. He wasn't worried about sharing this, because he was already aware of Natsuki's love for manga from the previous runs and the times he's interacted with her.
Briefly remembering where he had found the manga from last time, he managed to pull out the volume.
'Wait, I can use this!' MC realized as he beheld the manga.
"There it is!" Natsuki snatched the volume out of his hands before he could say anything and put it back into its respective slot. "Much better! Seeing a box set with one missing is probably the most irritating sight in the world!"
"I can relate to that," MC related as he pulled out the first volume from the stack. "Wait, Parfait Girls? I've actually read the first volume of this!"
"Wait, what?" Natsuki abruptly asked, widening her eyes and mouth agape as she watched MC. 'Good. My plan is in place,' MC sniggered in his mind.
"I mean, it was not too long ago." He wasn't lying, it's been three weeks and only a day has passed. "Someone gave it to me, saying that it got better eventually, but I didn't get the time to read the rest of the volumes."
"Seems like this someone has good taste," Natsuki said with a smile. MC had to force down his snigger, knowing that she just complimented herself unknowingly. "How'd you find it?"
"Well, the first volume seemed a little cut and dry," MC admitted. "But I don't mind continuing to see if the rest of the story is like that."
"Okay then! Since you've already read the first volume," Natsuki grabbed the volume from MC's hands and swapped it out for the one right next to it. "We can move on to the second directly!"
Shoving the volume into MC's hands, he noticed the familiar four anime girls striking different poses this time.
"Wait, what the hell?" he heard Natsuki speak up.
Looking at her direction, she could see her thumbing a scratch on the wall.
'Huh, Yuri wasn't kidding about those scratch portals, huh?' MC pondered.
"When the hell did this happen?" Natsuki asked. "It looks like someone hacked this wall with a knife or something."
"Well, I don't know," MC lied, leaning forward to see the scratch as well. Natsuki tried to put a hand out to inspect the gash, but MC quickly put his hand over hers.
"I don't think we should mess with it." MC said. "We don't know what caused it after all."
'Not to mention, we don't know if tampering with the scratches can impact Yuri's ability.'
Natsuki blushed a little from his sudden contact, but sighed as she retracted her hand.
"Alright, fine. Now, don't just stand there!"
"Uwa-" MC shrieked out as he was pulled outside the closet by Natsuki and shoved onto the floor beneath the windowsill. She sat down next to him as well, pulling the manga from his hands and opening it.
"Wouldn't chairs work?" MC found himself ask once again.
"No, they won't," Natsuki said. "We can't read at the same time like that."
"Are you sure you want to start again from the second volume?" MC continued his questioning.
"Well, it shouldn't be too bad," Natsuki replied. "I mean, I still remember what happened in the first volume, so it should be fine."
They opened up the very first page of the manga, revealing the girl baking a fresh batch of cupcakes for the guy that they were supposed to compete for. Hijinks ensue when they try to sabotage each other's work while making sure theirs are perfect, only to realize it's been ruined by someone else.
"I almost forgot how much baking there was in this manga," MC said, looking at Natsuki. "In fact, that does remind me of someone…"
"H-Hey, what the hell are you implying?" Natsuki recoiled as she looked at him as well. "I just happened to get into baking right around when I first read this manga! Like I would ever get into anything because it's in a manga, haha!"
'In case you haven't noticed, you've fallen right into my trap!'
"Well, I didn't say anything about your baking," MC revealed with a devious smirk. "I could have been talking about someone else, like my mom, or even myself, you know?"
"You… you… you…" Natsuki stammered out as her face got redder, then suddenly turned away in shame. MC laughed from her reaction and his victory.
"Don't worry about it, Natsuki," MC said as his laughter died down. "I mean, baking is a pretty good thing you can get into because of a manga. There's nothing to be ashamed about, you know?"
"Grr…" Natsuki grumbled as she turned back to MC. "You're close to being smacked, you know that, right?"
MC suddenly winced and pulled away from Natsuki a little, fearful of her words. "Okay, sorry, sorry, let's continue reading then."
They kept on reading for quite a while. Natsuki ended up reclaiming the space that MC had set in between them, hoping that MC wouldn't notice.
He did, but he was holding back on the teasing temporarily.
"Are you sure you're not getting bored?" MC asked her soon as he flipped the page.
"Mm, why would I?" Natsuki looked at him, eyes dazed. 'She's never fallen asleep from this before,' MC pondered.
"I mean, you're just watching me read," he said.
"Well, I'm fine with that," Natsuki said with a suppressed yawn as she looked back at the book.
Hoping that he could get some information, he decided to segue into another topic. "Yeah, I guess I get you. I mean, I would be excited about sharing my manga with others, so why wouldn't you?"
"U-Uhh…" Natsuki stammered out, as she winced and turned her head to the side while blushing again.
"Wait, you don't do that?" MC asked. He already knew the answer, but he had to go through this route again to make it seem natural.
"Well, I wouldn't really know… about… sharing my manga…" Natsuki whined out in almost a whisper.
"Don't you share them with your other friends?" MC asked. 'I'm a hypocrite,' he realized, considering how he hadn't shown his manga collection to anyone in his 'Stand Club' except Sayori.
"C-Could you not rub it in?!" Natsuki asked, irritated. "Jeez…"
"Ah, sorry." MC said, wincing a little.
"Hmph, like I could get my friends to read this," Natsuki muttered under her breath, but loud enough for MC to hear. "They all think manga is for kids. Every time I bring it up, they just ask me why I haven't grown out of that yet."
"Yikes, I'm sorry to hear that…" MC admitted. He truly was sorry about that, but he didn't think that this was bad enough of a situation for Monika to manipulate, so he let it be.
"Seriously makes me want to punch them in the face," Natsuki said.
"Day One and I could probably join you," MC muttered without thinking.
"Who?" Natsuki asked.
"A-Ah, no one!" MC yelped out. "I mean, well, I'm glad I don't have to be like that. I mean, I'm a loser, so it gravitated me to other losers, you know? That's probably harder for you, though."
'Probably the same for all the Stand Users I've met too,' MC pondered. 'Maybe something to ask JoJo?'
"Hmm… Yeah, that sounds about right," Natsuki hummed her answer. "I mean, sometimes I feel like I can't even keep it in my own room. My dad wouldn't really like me keeping this stuff at home. At least it's safe here in the clubroom. Monika's a bit of a jerk about it, though."
She suddenly grabbed her hair in frustration, thrusting her head back. "Seriously, I just can't win, can't I?" Natsuki remarked.
Wanting to make her feel better, MC said, "Well, it worked out in the end, right? Here I am, continuing this because of being your friend."
"That doesn't solve any of my other- wait, friend?"
"Hmm?" MC hummed questioningly. "Yeah, we're friends, right?"
"A-Ah, well…" Natsuki stammered awkwardly, making MC suddenly realize what he just did.
'Shit, this is supposed to be our first meeting!' he realized. "A-Ah, yeah, well, I don't mind being your friend." MC hastily added, trying to rectify his issue.
Natsuki chuckled. "What're we, a bunch of five year olds asking each other to be friends? W-Well, I-I guess we can, t-though."
"Great!" MC cheered.
"J-Jeez, that's enough, you damn perv," Natsuki grumbled, her blush slowly fading into a smile. "Are you gonna keep reading or what?"
"Yeah, yeah," MC laughed it off as they got back together to read the manga.
However, from nearby, there were a set of eyes watching the two bonding over manga with a mild jealousy. Sayori knew that MC was her boyfriend, and that Natsuki needed the support, but she couldn't help but feel hurt seeing them together, laughing so much.
It's been quite a while since MC started to read the manga with Natsuki. Enough time for him to finish the whole volume. Closing the book, he looked at Natsuki, who to his surprise, was leaning her head back on the wall, fast asleep.
'This is new,' MC pondered. 'She was drowsy earlier, too. Does that have something to do with what Monika did to her?'
"Hey, Natsuki…" MC gently encroached upon her sleep.
She sluggishly opened her eyes and gazed at MC. "Yeah…" she softly said, clearly still tired.
Suddenly, her eyelids waned as she collapsed straight into MC.
"Hey, hey!" MC yelled out as he held Natsuki's body. However, as he turned her face to him, he heard a familiar voice.
'Tokkkeeaa…' Mess is Mine groaned out as it hugged Natsuki's face, digging its arm in her eyeball.
MC unconsciously grit his teeth. He really wanted to react to the sight some other way, like maybe, punching Monika in the face. However, in the very last minute, he remembered JoJo's training, and held still, pretending like nothing was going on.
"Oh jeez," he heard a voice from his side. Monika. "Natsuki, are you okay?" the monster asked.
Natsuki stayed quiet. However, Mess is Mine seemed to fade from her head.
"Here," Monika pulled out what looked like a protein bar from her bag and threw it to Natsuki.
Suddenly, Natsuki's eyes gleamed as she dove at the small bit of food and ripped off the wrapping.
"I told you not to give mmph…" Whatever she was trying to say was interrupted by her voraciously stuffing the protein bar in her mouth, not bothering to chew enough as she hungrily swallowed as much as she could.
"Don't worry about that, MC, it happens every now and then," Monika said. "That's why I always keep a snack in handy. Just in case anything like this happens."
'This has definitely never happened before,' MC thought as he looked down at Natsuki, who was currently gathering crumbs of the protein bar from the floor and greedily swallowing them up.
Turning back to Monika, MC barely managed to swallow back his rage. Hearing his silence, Monika continued.
"Anyway, it's time to share poems!"
MC and Sayori quickly exchanged poems but hadn't really bothered reading them.
"What did you find out?" Sayori asked, keeping her eyes on the poem.
MC quickly looked around, making sure that no one was hearing him. "I haven't really understood much, other than the fact that Monika is somehow starving her."
Sayori's eyes widened. "Wait, Monika did that? I thought Monika's Stand changed people's minds. How did she make Natsuki hungry?"
"I don't know," MC confessed. "There's still a lot we don't know about Monika's Stand. Maybe it has to do with something already ailing her, like Yuri's cutting? She might have been hungry for some reason even before this run."
Sayori paled. "I just remembered how I stole a bite from her cookie in our first run. If she was starving…"
MC set the poem down and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't know about it, Sayori. Hell, we don't even know if it was that bad back then. We'll just have to wait and see how things go, okay?"
"Y-Yeah, okay," Sayori nodded with a gulp, then looked back at MC with concern. "But… do you have to get so close to her?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… never mind. I shouldn't have asked."
The same process went on with Yuri, where MC professed his lack of knowledge about Natsuki's case.
"Haven't you found anything else yet?" Yuri asked.
"No, I'm sorry," MC said. "This is all I've got."
"It seems like far too much of an easy fix, however," Yuri said. "If we all managed to get Natsuki food tomorrow…"
"Yeah, I planned to do that too." MC stated. "It certainly helps that I've made cupcakes with Natsuki before, although I doubt she'd want cupcakes when she could bake some herself."
"Wait, about that…" Yuri began to ask, "If Natsuki can bake those cupcakes, why would she go hungry?"
MC paused, as he suddenly realized the accuracy of Yuri's doubt.
"You're right," MC admitted after thinking about it. "It's odd that she would go hungry, when she's so good at making food. That just proves that there's more to this than simple hunger."
Yuri hummed in agreement.
"Okay, is that all?" MC asked, ready to leave.
"Well, about this poem…" Yuri started.
"The poem doesn't matter, Yuri," MC said, as he looked down at the poem in his hands. What he saw, however, stupefied him.
"You… wrote a new poem…?" MC asked, eyes widening at the unfamiliar words.
"W-Well, yes, w-wasn't I supposed t-t-to?" Yuri nervously asked.
"N-No, not at all," MC admitted. "You just didn't have to, you know? We don't really care too much about the poems anymore, so we're just writing stuff we've written before."
"I-I don't want to do that!" Yuri almost shouted, then winced as MC suddenly shushed her. "T-These poems… they give you a good chance to write your emotions. I… I had a lot to write about."
MC paused, then smiled at her. Diligently, he looked down to read her poem.
Ghost under the light pt. 1
The tendrils of my hair illuminate beneath the blue-green glow.
Bathing.
In the distance, an amber light flickers.
A figure crosses its path, with a trail of green behind.
Embracing it. Becoming it.
Breathing the air of the present, but knowing the future.
My heart pounds. The silhouette grows. Closer. Closer.
The street's glow clashes with it, turning it gold.
Relishing in the new wonder, I try to pull it in.
But I am too late.
The dark green strand grasps my outstretched hand.
And as I pull in, it pulls out.
The light flickers. My heart pounds. I step out of the light.
Time changes.
The blue-green's gone; it wasn't me to begin with.
And as it breaks, so does my love for gold.
I too embrace in the amber, and the dark green protecting me.
And so, the streetlight becomes amber, making the sky blue.
I bathe in its true light.
The amber and sky flicker. I flicker back.
And I become violet.
MC gulps as he finished the poem. "Well, there's a lot of colors," he managed to grasp at straws, trying to figure out what the poem is about.
Yuri chuckles. "Well, yes. After all, there were a lot of contributing factors to what happened last run. I had based this on my old poem, the one I wrote last Wednesday."
"I can see that," MC said, appraising the poem once again. "I'll have to say this, though; weeks of reading your poems, and I can't understand a single one."
"I understand, it can be quite difficult to decipher. I had intentionally made it that way," Yuri said with a dismissing wave. "Basically, the poem is a recount of everything that had happened last week, and the moment that you reset."
"Oh," MC looked back at the poem. "I can't see it," he confessed, with an awkward smile, handing her poem back.
Yuri laughs as she takes the poem back. "That's okay. You'll probably need some more experience with poems to understand it."
Suddenly, she froze as she apprehended what she had just said. "A-Ah, a-about that! I-I d-didn't mean to i-i-insult y-you or anything, I-I meant-"
"Yuri," MC interrupted her, making her hold her pose. "Relax, I get what you're trying to say."
"T-That's a relief," Yuri sighed as she fiddled with the ends of her hair.
"…" Natsuki went oddly quiet when she saw MC's poem.
"Okay, well, let's start with the things I don't like!" Natsuki suddenly announced, after which she immediately furrowed her eyebrows and ran through the poem once again.
"N-Never mind, I don't feel like giving you my opinion," she declared as she handed MC his poem back.
MC hid a smirk recognizing this behavior from the previous runs as he took his poem back. "Well, I guess that's fair."
"W-Wait, what?" Natsuki remarked, surprised. "Y-You seriously don't have anything to say to that?"
"Well, why would I?" MC smiled as he said. "I mean, I already know you like it."
"What the- How?!" Natsuki yelled out, glaring at him.
"You just told me," MC smirked as he concluded his new trap.
"Grr, again?!" Natsuki grasped her hair once again in frustration, then bent forward to point at MC. "I'm gonna get back at you, dammit!"
"Hehe, good luck!" MC sauntered. 'I was never like this last run, did Day One change me somehow? Or is it just me knowing the future?' he pondered quietly.
"Damn, seriously, you ruined it all!" Natsuki spoke up, breaking MC out of his thoughts. "You were supposed to give me a crappy poem, and then I would tell you that it's shit, and that this is what real Literature looks like!" As she said this, she presented her poem to MC, which he gratefully accepted.
Looking through it, he noticed it was Eagles can Fly. 'Wait, wasn't this her Wednesday poem?' he pondered.
"I was supposed to give you this poem yesterday, but you didn't show up like a dumbass," she grumbled, making MC sigh in relief at the change.
MC widened his eyes as he read the poem, now recognizing all of the devices that Natsuki mentioned in the last run. 'Time to go at it again!' MC cheered in his head.
"Hmm…" he exaggerated his pause as he read the poem.
"What, got a problem with it or something?!" Natsuki immediately asked.
"No, the opposite, actually," MC said. "I think it's good."
"Yeah, well, I'll let you- wait, what?" Natsuki rebuked with the same question for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah, really," MC said, as he figuratively pushed his glasses up his nose, getting ready to drop facts he may or may not have stolen from a previous run.
"I can see that the style's pretty simple, but that only emphasizes the main message of the poem, which is the feeling of giving up. Even though the style is direct, it's got some good moments in it, for example, the way you made the rhyme scheme fall flat in the end of the poem, to further emphasize the feeling of defeat by the poet."
As MC finished his rant, Natsuki just looked at him, mouth agape with shock. "W-What the hell?" Natsuki remarked. "T-That's exactly what I thought as I wrote it!"
"I'm glad to see I've got everything correctly," MC smirked, sniggering to himself on the inside.
"Y-Yeah, you really did," Natsuki gasped as she took her poem back. "I… Thanks."
"Hm?" MC hummed as he looked at Natsuki again.
"I… hadn't expected anyone to like that style, even though it's what fit me best," Natsuki confessed, looking back up at MC. "I-I'm not going to say it again, so don't expect me to, alright?!"
MC just closed his eyes and let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Natsuki. Let me tell you this, I'm expecting you to find other people to agree with your poem as well."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"You'll see."
"Hi, MC! Having a good time so far?" Monika said as MC walked up her.
"Ah… yeah," MC nervously said, managing to hold himself back.
"Good, glad to hear it!" Monika cheered as she held her hand out. "I'll be taking that now."
Handing his poem to her, she hummed as she read it while MC looked around the club.
Natsuki was talking to Sayori, having switched poems. Yuri was standing nearby, watching Natsuki, reciting something to herself.
'Wait, Natsuki and Yuri are going to share poems!' he realized as he watched Yuri's actions. 'Does Yuri remember their argument? I hope she does, and prevents it.'
"Mhm!" Monika suddenly broke MC out of his stupor by attracting attention to herself. "I like it, Watson! It's a lot cuter than I expected!"
"Oh, thanks," MC dully said.
"Ahaha, have more emotion, please!" Monika continued. "You know, your poem reminds me of Natsuki in a way."
"Ah, I guess so," MC reluctantly confessed. Wanting their meeting to get over quickly, he hastily continued, "Can I read your poem now?"
"A-Ah, I was actually going to give you some advice for her, but if you insist!"
'Wait, advice?!' MC pondered as he noticed his mistake. "W-Wait! C-Can you tell me?"
"Ahaha, nope!" she cheered a little too brightly. "I'll just say this, it's always good to have a snack on hand for her. In fact. I know she'll cling to you if you feed her. Then, since you're so hasty, time for you to read my poem!"
'Dammit!' MC chided himself, but reluctantly took his poem back and accepted Monika's.
The poem was the same as last time, so he simple repeated his talk about how abstract it was. Everything else that Monika said was repeated from the last run, including the Tip of the Day, so MC painstakingly held himself back from punching her as she spoke.
It was the moment of truth.
Natsuki approached Yuri, poem in hand. Without talking much, they exchanged poems.
"What's with this language…?" Natsuki muttered under her breath, despite the other knowing about it.
Yuri peered over her page to glance at Natsuki, but chose not to say anything as she looked back into her poem, and furrowed her eyes as she read it.
'Good, that's different,' MC thought.
After a while, Natsuki handed Yuri her poem back. "I guess you could say it's fancy," she said, repeating unfinished history.
Yuri accepted her poem and handed Natsuki her poem back too. "Well, yours isn't to my particular taste, but I can say it's good."
"Wha- the hell do you mean by that?!" Natsuki yelled out.
Chuckling despite herself, Yuri said, "I mean, our styles are far too different for us to give each other suitable advice. Despite that, I could see how you were talking about the feeling of giving up."
Yuri's smile widened as she continued, "Well, I would ask you to use more metaphors, but I know you won't listen to that. I don't expect you to either."
Natsuki widened her eyes as she pondered Yuri's words, then smiled back. "You know, I couldn't understand your poem at all."
"But…?"
"But you're not gonna listen, I get it."
MC smiled as he looked back at Sayori, who flashed a smile at him as well.
'She did it,' MC thought. 'She stopped their fight.'
Looking around, MC noticed Monika. Her expression seemed… proud?
'Wait, what?' MC thought. 'Isn't she trying to kill us all? Why would she smile at that?'
"You two," Monika said as she walked up to them, "I am so glad that you've found peace with your poems! I was afraid a fight was going to break out, you know?"
"Ehehe," Natsuki unknowingly chuckled to herself sheepishly. Yuri, however, only crossed her eyes a little, staring in suspicion at Monika.
"Hey, Yuri" Natsuki called her, turning back to her. "Say, what if we write about the same thing in our different styles?"
Yuri smiled back at her. "That… sounds plausible. I'll take part."
"Heh, jeez," Natsuki chuckled. "I was actually expecting a fight. Even prepared a few insults and everything." She let her expression fall as she seemed more pensive, as she looked down. "You know, I-I'm not going to say this twice, but thanks. Really."
Yuri waved her off with a snort. "Don't worry about it, Natsuki. I'm just glad I had the insight to act this time."
Natsuki crossed her eyes, seeming to question what she just said. However, her new smile showed that she decided to ignore it.
"Okay everyone, I believe that calls it for our poem sharing activity!" Monika announced behind the teacher's desk. "Can everyone please come here? I have something I need to discuss."
"Is this about the festival?" Natsuki guardedly asked as she folded her arms.
"Yes, it is, in fact!" Monika said, pointing a finger in the air.
"Seriously, do we have to do anything for the festival?" Natsuki continued her train of questions. "It's not like we can put together anything good together in just a few days. We'll just end up embarrassing ourselves instead of getting any new members."
"That is a concern of mine as well," Yuri contributed. "I don't really do well with last minute preparations."
"I don't really think it's too much of an issue," MC suddenly declared, making all the girls turn their heads toward him. He also sent a discreet knowing glance to Yuri. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that if we split up tasks and keep things simple, we can finish the preparations on time."
Yuri looked at MC, then suddenly widened her eyes. Turning back to Monika, she said, "He's right!" Yelping to herself, she closed her eyes for a moment to calm herself down. "I-I mean, I-I-I t-think MC is c-correct I his r-reasoning. I-It can be done."
Monika widened her eyes, as she looked back at the rest of the club. "Wow, that's some fair thought you put in. Thank you so much! And yes, we will be keeping things simple."
"I know that things have been more… lively… since MC joined the club," Monika continued, MC raising an eyebrow at the way she said 'likely'. "But this is not the time for us to become complacent. We still only have five members. And the festival is our only real chance of getting any more, you know?"
"Yeah, the festival!" Sayori greatly contributed to the talk.
"And besides," Monika carried on, nodding to Sayori. "We'll only need a few decorations. We haven't made any of the posters yet, mainly because we weren't able to meet yesterday, but that won't be a difficult task at all!"
Natsuki grumbled out. "I mean, I'm still not okay with this, but I want to know what we're going to be doing for the festival?"
"Ah, sorry, I haven't told any of you yet, haven't I?" Monika remarked, loosely chuckling. "We're going to be performing!"
"Performing?" Natsuki widened her eyes. Yuri stayed quiet, but strangely looked off to the side.
"Yep! We're going to have a poetry performance!" Monika said. "Each member can choose a poem to recite during the event. But the cool part is, we're letting others come up and share their poems too!"
'I know for certain that no one's gonna take that offer,' MC thought, 'even if we do end up holding the festival somehow.'
"Ehehe, well, about that, Monika…" Sayori shakily said, making Monika look at her. "You probably should have asked me about it. I know that some people here aren't comfortable with sharing their poems, even though I would love to do it."
"Yeah, that's right!" Natsuki yelled out. "There is no way I'm going to be performing in front of all those people!"
She was, unfortunately, met with silence.
"Seriously, no one?!" Natsuki asked, exasperated. "MC, what about you?"
"Well…" MC took a step back from being put in the spot so abruptly. "I don't really mind it. I mean, I can see why you'd find it hard to do, but I don't mind sharing my poem. I've already shared them with you four, after all."
"Argh, you're supposed to be on my side here!" Natsuki yelled, as she suddenly turned to the only girl left. "Yuri, what about you? Come on, you really can't be considering this, can't you?"
"I…" Yuri gulped, as a wave of determination washed over her. "I-I think I should do this!"
"Uwah!" Sayori shrieked. "Yuri's all fired up!"
"Wait, you too?!" Natsuki cried out. "I really thought you'd be against this too!"
"I-I would've said the same," Yuri confessed, looking down in her awkwardness. "B-But… s-s-some t-thing had happened t-the past few days, a-and I d-decided that I n-need to stop being so shy!"
This statement made every other member of the Literature Club pause, letting what she said sink in. Suddenly, Yuri found herself wrapped in a tight hug from Sayori.
"That's awesome, Yuri!" Sayori cheered out as she shoved her head deeper into Yuri's chest.
"Er, y-yes, thank y-y-you," Yuri replied as she gingerly wrapped Sayori back in her hug.
"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, Yuri," Monika said. "Turns out that everything you're going through is actually making you a better person! How does that feel?"
Yuri was about to respond, but then faltered as she noticed who it was that asked the question.
Monika, however, responded with a knowing smile.
"I-I had this c-coming f-f-for a long t-time," Yuri finally said, letting Sayori peel herself off from her, and shot a look of hate and determination at Monika. "A-And I am g-going to help f-fix it!"
Monika, however, only smiled back at her. "I'm so glad to hear that, Yuri!"
Natsuki sighed. "Damn it, Yuri, couldn't you have grown some balls some other time?!"
"E-Eh?!" Yuri yelped. "N-Natsuki, that's-!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're ladylike and all that," she grumbled as she turned to Monika. "Well, I'm not going to hide that I hate every part of this, but I guess I can get it over with."
"Thank you, Natsuki!" Monika cheered. "Anyway, if that is all of us in consensus, then we can proceed with the creation of the pamphlets! Sayori, can you please do the honors?"
"Sure can!" Sayori cheered. "I'll get a batch done by tomorrow!" Suddenly, she dove to MC and grabbed his arm. "I'll get this guy to help too!"
"S-Sayori, come on! Not here!" MC stuttered out, much to the amusement of both Monika and Yuri. Monika, however, held a small contemplative look before her giggles that MC didn't miss.
Nuzzling her head on his arm, Sayori continued. "Nope! I'm staying here! It's comfy."
MC groaned as he looked back at the club. That was until he looked at Natsuki.
She was frowning, while having her arms folded. Upon seeing MC look at her, she quickly reddened as she shot her head away, mock whistling as she did so.
'Shit, that can't be good!' MC thought.
"I'm so glad that everyone's on board for this!" Monika called their attention. "I want each of you to read a poem of yours. Any one you wish. We're going to practice for the event."
"N-N-No way!" Natsuki immediately yelled out.
"Ah- Monika! T-That's…" Yuri went silent as she spoke, until she took a breath. "I-I guess I can try…"
"That's the spirit, Yuri!" Monika said.
"Come on, Monika, can't we just call the club here?!" Natsuki yelled out.
"Natsuki, please consider this. How would you be able to perform in front of strangers if you can't present to the club?"
"That's different!" Natsuki replied. "I can put whatever face I want for strangers! It's harder for the club…" Natsuki shot a glance at MC and then back at Monika. "Besides, we've got strangers here too!"
MC winced, knowing that she was talking about him.
"Aw, come on!" Sayori pleaded. "Can't you just try?"
"I-I must agree," Yuri said. "As much as I find it harder to speak in front of strangers instead, this would be rather good practice. Natsuki, it would also be valuable to note that if you can recite your poem here, then reciting it in the festival would be remarkably easy."
"Urk-!" Natsuki yelped. "W-Well, fine! I'll join, but only for now, got it!"
"Well, now and the festival would be better…" Monika said quietly.
"Urgh, fine, I get it, let's get this on with!" Natsuki yelled out.
"Thank you, Natsuki!" Monika said. "Alright, to start us off, I will read a poem of mine."
After rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a piece of paper from a manila folder. She then walked up to her standard spot behind the teacher's desk, as she faced the club.
"Okay, everyone!" Monika said, a little louder than normal. "The title of this poem is The Way They Fly."
MC half listened to the poem, already having heard it before. All he did was note wherever the words were familiar to stave his boredom.
Lucky for them, as MC looked around, he could see that Sayori was either actually paying attention or feigning it. Yuri seemed raptured by her poem, bearing her standard intense expression. It was her first time hearing it, after all.
MC unwillingly shivered. 'That expression brings back memories,' he thought.
Natsuki, however, seemed indifferent to the poem, occasionally turning to look at MC.
Soon enough, Monika finished her poem, earning her applause from her crowd of victims.
"That was so good, Monika!" Sayori hollered for her.
"Thank you, Sayori, even though you've already heard it before!" Monika responded. Sayori, however, broke her façade and expressed sudden concern at what Monika had just said.
Before MC could think about it, Monika continued. "I was just hoping to set a good example. Are you ready to go next, Sayori?"
"A-Ah, um…" Sayori looked down for a moment, then suddenly looked up a smile adorned on her face. "I'll do it!"
Sayori marched up to the stage, keeping her crumpled poem in her hand. "Alright, the name of this poem is My Meadow."
As she was about to speak, she looked back at the members and her breath hitched.
"Ehehe, sorry," she mumbled.
"Don't worry about it, Sayori," Monika emphasized, gesturing towards her poem.
"Ah, right!" Sayori responded and looked back down at her poem. She started to read from it.
Once again, MC let the words flow past his head. Yes, this was his girlfriend presenting, but he had already heard the poem before. That give him an excuse.
As Sayori finished, she received applause back from the members.
As Monika spoke about how the atmosphere of her tone wouldn't several other poems, MC looked to the side. He saw Yuri opening a poem and standing up.
"I-I'd like to go next!" Yuri said, interrupting Monika.
Turning back to her, Monika smiled. "You seem excited. Well, I won't get in your way then."
Breathing deeply, Yuri walked up to the makeshift stage, letting Monika and Sayori take their seats.
"This poem is called-" She glanced at each of them nervously, giving MC a weird sense of déjà vu.
"You can do it, Yuri," Sayori softly showed her support.
Clearing her throat, Yuri continued. "This poem is called…" she gulped. "Ghost under the light pt. 1."
'Today's poem?' MC thought. 'I forgot her original poem, but she decided on this one?'
Before she started reading, she took another breath, calming herself. Focusing on only the paper in front of her, she started reading.
Off the bat, she had moved into her intensive personality. She gave each word in the poem the respective emotion that they needed, as she continued to zero her focus on the poem in front of her.
'Did she… learn how to control her obsessiveness?' MC pondered as he watched Yuri, rapt.
As she finished her poem and set it down, her old personality suddenly popped up, jarring with her recent one.
"W-W-What do you t-think?" Yuri muttered out.
Sayori was the first to break the silence with a slow clap. Soon enough, MC followed her, then the rest of the club.
Yuri raised a brow at the immense applause she was receiving, debatably even more than Monika had gotten. The reception made her face go red with awkwardness, as she looked away and fiddled her hair like always. However, in that time, she had sent a discreet smile the way of Sayori and MC.
"I… T-Thank you," Yuri managed to stammer out.
"That was absolutely incredible, Yuri!" Monika cheered, pulling her back to her seat. "Thank you for sharing."
"I-It wasn't a problem," Yuri managed to say with a muffled voice, still hiding her face on her desk.
"And that leaves you two!" Monika announced, pointing at Natsuki and MC. "Who wants to go first?"
"Well, I guess it's best if the standards are lowered a little." Natsuki said. "Go ahead, MC."
"Natsuki," Monika began to speak more condescendingly. "Please, that is-"
"No, it's okay," MC interrupted. "I was actually planning to go in the first place."
And so, MC goes up onto the stage and hold the poem that he wrote that day in his hands.
"I'll have to go with what I wrote for today, if that's okay with you?" MC asked.
"Don't worry about it," Monika replied. "Yuri used today's poem as well, and we didn't worry about it."
Nodding, MC looked back toward his poem.
Deciding that he wanted to impress the girls this time, he decided to add more emotion into the poem than last time. Since this was a poem dedicated to Natsuki, he decided to shift to a cutesier undertone with his words.
What ensued was giggles from almost every member of the club, as MC forced himself to speak in a girlier squeak.
Soon enough, the torture ended, and MC was given a fair amount of applause.
"That was awesome!" Natsuki yelled while roaring in laughter, clapping the loudest among them.
"Ehehe, well, I guess I managed to entertain everyone…?" MC questioningly replied.
"No, MC, it was a good attempt," Monika added, signaling everyone to calm down. "It's just that the tone for that poem demanded that of you was cutesy, and it's not a tone expected from a boy. However, you do get the points for the effort!"
"Hey, who the hell are you calling cute?!" Natsuki suddenly asked, getting up from her seat.
"Um, Natsuki," MC began. "I'm pretty sure she was calling my poem cute."
"Uh, ah-! Well, that's…"
The rest of the club sniggered as Natsuki stood there, fuming.
"Argh! Alright, let's just get this over with!" she yelled out as she roughly grasped her poem and ran up to the podium. MC quickly went back to his seat to avoid Natsuki potentially shoving him out of the way, letting her stand in his place.
"Alright, this is called Jump."
Sure enough, Monika was right about her judgement. Even though MC already heard this poem before, he couldn't help but compare it to how he recited his poem earlier.
'I really can't do that, can I?' he thought as Natsuki continued her poem in the cutesy style that he had attempted. Even though she was clearly still masking her anger, the people of the club could say that she had recited it well.
As soon as she finished, she ignored her applause and huffed back to her seat.
"That was good, Natsuki!" Monika said. "You really carried the message of the poem well with that recital."
"Yeah, well you better not make me do that again!"
"Well… the festival…"
"Urgh! Yeah, I know."
"Alright, everyone!" Monika finally took her old place at the teacher's desk. "For the festival, Sayori will be making the posters for tomorrow, and I'll be making pamphlets, so I'll need the poems you've decided on by Sunday!"
"I guess that goes to me the most," MC said, mostly to himself.
"Don't worry, MC, I know you can write a masterpiece!" Monika commended.
"Ah, well, thanks," MC begrudgingly replied.
"Okay, everyone! I think that's about it for today!" Monika announced, letting the club members get up from their seats. "I know we have the festival to worry about, but let's try to write a poem for tomorrow, alright? And please do your part for the festival as well, Sayori! Mondays the day~!"
"I can't wait!" Sayori cheered.
"I can do this… I can do this…" Yuri muttered to herself.
As MC went to get his bag, he was intercepted by Natsuki.
"Alright, I need to know," Natsuki told him. "What's the deal between you and Sayori?"
"Ah, that-! Well…" MC gulped as he looked at Sayori, who was actually walking to them at the moment.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" she asked.
"Uhh, nothing," Natsuki said. "I was just wondering if there was something going on between you and MC?"
"Oh, you mean like us dating?" Sayori asked, then smiled as she grabbed MC's hand again. "Yep! We are!"
MC loosely chuckled as well. 'Welp, the cat's out of the bag now,' he thought.
Natsuki frowned at the reply. "Well, I didn't know. Just… um, goodbye." She awkwardly left the two behind, going out the door. MC could barely make out a tear glint from her face as she ran out.
Yuri walked up to them as well. "Was anything happening?" she asked.
"Nope!" Sayori said. "Everything's just fine!"
MC sighed as he agreed with her and took his bag. However, in his heart, he was unsure about what that revelation would do to their connection with Natsuki.
'I guess that's an issue we can sort out tomorrow,' he thought as he walked out of the club alongside Sayori and Yuri.
'And if anything happens,' MC felt the presence of Day One within him. 'I'll fix it, no matter what.'
A/N: Merry Christmas Everyone! Your present from me: 8,000 words of absolute garbage!
Okay, I'm only half joking. This chapter was more scrambled together than anything. I'm feeling like I'm going to change this chapter as well, but I hope I don't need to. Maybe I should start writing chapters beforehand just to be safe...? Nah, I'm not going to do that. The good moments, however, lie in the introduction of Natsuki's issues and Yuri's growth.
I hope you guys likes the poem I wrote for Yuri. I'm not a poet, and I suck at rhyme schemes, but Yuri's poem seemed to be easy enough for me to create. Natsuki poems, however, will be tough, because of the aforementioned fallback. FYI, I called it Ghost under the Light pt. 1 because they're restarting the same poem. So it's a sign that it's the same as the original poem, but different. I know it's confusing, it's poem logic.
Seriously, I hope you guys are celebrating Christmas well. If not, then I'm sorry. My mom's got COVID and my sister's stuck abroad, so my family isn't. Not like we celebrate Christmas in any real way in the first place, being Hindu, so not much lost there.
Review!
IzuOchaShipper99: Yes and No. You'll have to wait to find out what's going on. Those secrets are only gonna come out in the next arc. And thanks for the support!
Speaking of arcs, this one isn't long. I'm estimating about 2-3 more chapters. I'm still unsure if I want a discussion interlude after this one, but I'll come to a conclusion soon.
And that's all for now! Once again, I wish you a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate, even if you can't right now! I'll see you next chapter.