The Chain
(It's Fleetwood Mac's turn at the helm, for this one. I wanted something calm and cool for this chapter. It's mostly going to be back and forth between Leyon and… Well, wait and see.)
We go on talking for the rest of the night, sorting out skills, Magic spells and equipment, before having a sample fight to show the girls how skill checks work both in and out of combat. Natsuki takes to it quite quickly. Which is what I expected. She is a gamer. Yuri and Monika pick it up quite quickly as well. Sayori has grasped the role-playing aspect of the game, but she's a bit slower to pick up the dice rolling part.
And like that, it starts to get dark. And one by one, the girls go home. Natsuki and Sayori are the first to leave. Then Monika, who was a little reluctant to leave, but I assured her everything was going to be fine.
That leaves me alone with Yuri, drinking Tea and working on a backstory, with some secrets about her character that she wants to keep from the rest of the club. That's just good storytelling. Everyone has secrets. Even me. "My… It's gotten pretty late." Yuri speaks up, looking outside. Sure enough, the only light outside is the light of a street lamp outside my house.
"I can walk you home, if you wan-." And before I can finish that sentence, the rain comes down, suddenly and heavily. There's a flash of lightning and then an extremely loud rumble of thunder, overhead. "Yeah…" I add, putting down another mug of hot tea on the table. "Screw that, you're staying here overnight."
Yuri looks away, shyly, blushing uncontrollably. "I-I-I c-can't." She stammers in protest. She starts fidgeting and playing with her hair. I understand why she'd feel uncomfortable about this, but at the same time I can't let her go home in that. Another bolt of lightning, alongside a rumble of thunder. This one knocks out the power. Yuri yelps, which I didn't expect. I switch on the torch on my phone and see she looks calm, which totally contradicts the noise she just made. "S-sorry… That one took me by surprise."
"I understand." I respond, quietly and start to head upstairs. "I'll make the bed in the spare room. The power should be back on, shortly. And then we can sort out some night wear for you. Sure enough, an hour later, the power's back on. Yuri let's her folks and club members know she's staying over. "Could you pass my number on to the girls, please Yuri?"
Yuri nods and sends a message to Natsuki, Sayori and Monika. I get responses from Sayori and Monika. Natsuki might be in trouble. I'll get the word from her tomorrow. I split from Yuri as we get to the top of stairs, wishing her a good night as she does with me. "Hoo, boy." I say to myself as I lay down and sleep.
The next morning, I'm woken by the sound of my phone's message notification noises. Apparently, I forgot that the storm reset my alarm clock… Anyway, I check my phone to find the girls invited me into a group chat they hat set up. Reading the messages, it seems the school roof caved in, under the weight of all the rain that fell. Which is scary, because that really says something about the shortcuts taken to erect that building, as Yuri pointed out. Although, as Natsuki pointed out, it means we are free for a few days. I send a good morning text and then the group chat is suddenly a group voice call.
"Morning Leyon! Did we wake you up?" Monika and Sayori ask one after the other."
"Yeah, but it's fine. I forgot to reset my alarm clock after the storm, so it's fine." I inform them. I rub my eyes and head downstairs after putting my dressing gown on over my pyjamas and make myself a cup of coffee. "So, what's the plan now, girls?"
"Actually, now that I think about it, did you get home safely, Yuri?" Sayori asks. I then hear Yuri stammering. I forgot she was in the spare room. I better defuse the situation, as quickly as possible. Poor Yuri might become a puddle of nerves if I don't.
"Actually, Yuri is still here." I Explain that the storm kicked off, before I could take her home, so she's in one of the spare bedrooms to the rest of the girls. I can almost feel the sigh of relief from Yuri, never mind hear her from downstairs on my couch.
"So, a spare bedroom, huh?" Monika asks. "Do you have any more of those, at your home, Leyon?" I can't help but notice Monika is hinting at something… I also can't help but notice that she's the only one outside, right now. I'm also pretty positive I have my room and the one Yuri's in, but then I notice another door next to the downstairs toilet and another door upstairs, next to a cupboard, and then another one upstairs at the opposite end of the hall. All of which I didn't notice, until today.
"I live in a five-bedroom house and didn't notice until you asked." I respond. To which I can hear all four girls laughing, with Yuri's laughter coming through in stereo. I deserve that, to be honest. How is it I haven't looked around my house, until now? "Okay, I'm having another coffee after that, I can't lie."
Natsuki finally joins the conversation. "So… Could we play that RPG today?" She asks, with a little tone of hope in her voice. I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind. Especially after the bedroom debacle.
"Sure, we can make a day of it. Yuri will need to go pick up a few things, obviously." He said, as Yuri eventually makes her way downstairs. "And I'll move my stuff to the only downstairs bedroom. I'm usually awake at the crack of dawn, anyway."
"We should also do some homework." Monika chimes in. "The school will be closed for a few days, so, we should stay up to date with our studies." There's a palpable level of disappointment, as Monika kills the buzz. "Sorry! Ahaha, I was just trying to be practical."
"But!" Sayori adds. "If School is closed for a while, we can spend a few nights with Leyon and alternate our days of studying and playing games!" There's a pause, before Monika speaks up again.
"Okay everyone! Our clubs Vice President has come up with the perfect plan." She says, excitedly. "I'll head home and grab some things for a few days. Natsuki, I can meet you at your house, if you need me too, while Sayori goes with Yuri to sort out what she needs."
"Great stuff. That gives me time to sort out the house." I chime in. "Sayori, you can drop off your stuff here, before you head out with Yuri." Yuri nods at me, while Sayori okays the idea. By the sound of things, she started packing about ten minutes ago. Speaking of sounds, I have to know, now. "By the way, Monika, where are you?"
"Haha… Well, I'm heading home now. I went to have a coffee at my favourite café." She says, happily. I kind of wish I went with her, now, but I have things to do. We all say our goodbyes and do what we need to do. Sayori drops off her stuff and heads out with Yuri, while I move my things to my new bedroom. I must be honest; I prefer this one downstairs room. It's much more spacious, so I can easily store all my stuff, and now I'm closer to the kitchen. And there's an en suite bathroom, so I move a few towels to my room. I even have time to pop round the corner to a small grocery store and buy some soda's and milk.
As I get back to the house, I start to unpack. Or I try to, but my doorbell goes off. Monika and Natsuki arrive. "Hey girls, come on in!" I say and point upstairs, closing the door behind them. I can't help but notice that the clouds are starting to darken. I hope Sayori and Yuri get here before the weather worsens. I start sending a message to find out where I am, only to find Monika unpacking my shopping and Natsuki upstairs.
"Hey, which room was Yuri in? I want to claim one of these rooms now, so I'm going to put my bag in front of the door." That's a pretty smart call, actually. That way, no one gets mixed up. It's only just now I notice that her backpack is huge. Almost as big as Natsuki, herself.
"Yuri's is the one around the corner on the left, facing the front of the house." I inform her with a smile, while I move over to help Monika unpack. "There's a room across from that, which faces the corner onto another street, or there's two more on the right side of the house, opposite each other. One facing the garden, the other facing Sayori's house. Take your pick."
Natsuki nods and moves over to the right side of the house, dumping her bag in front of the bedroom that faces the garden, before coming downstairs to lay across the couch and falling asleep, almost instantly. "She was tired." Monika points out. "Poor girl was being yelled at by her Dad, even when she was leaving."
Right, I forgot about that part of the game. There's no way her old man knows where she is. Even if he finds out, I don't mind dealing with that issue. "Let's just let her rest then." I respond and pass Monika's bag up to her. "Go pick a room. I'll make us a drink."