Hunger

Chapter 5

"Attention everyone!" Monika called out over the mild chatter of her club mates, waiting to continue until all eyes were on her. "We have one point of business before we do our poem swap today. In regards to the festival we have decided to go with Sayori's open mic idea!"

The group gave Sayori a small round of applause while Naota patted her on the back, all the recognition causing the girl to break out in a large smile.

"So after this meeting I want us to start focusing on the poems we're going to share on festival day. Let's really refine our work and show the rest of the school what the Literature Club is made out of!" Monika declared, her inner leader shining though.

Again Monika's rally was met with nods and quiet cheers of affirmation.

"Also, I want us to start sharing our poems aloud with each other so that we're all use to it come the festival."

This announcement was met with a less than stellar reaction. Yuri immediately shrank in her seat and played with her hair with her slightly shaking hands. Natsuki huffed in anger, glaring at their leader

disbelief. Naota had to admit, public speaking was rarely fun. He noticed Monika's and Sayori's mood fall slightly at everyone's reaction and part of his mind nagged him to do something. What in the world could "Naota the slacker" really do?

"We can do it Monika!" Naota exclaimed when the silence became too much for him. He stood and dramatically slammed a closed fist into his open palm. "Public speaking won't stop the Literature Club. We're in this together right Yuri? Natsuki?"

Yuri attempted to tame her nervousness. "I su-suppose I can..."

Natsuki shook her head, muttering something under her breath while cracking a grin. "Yeah, yeah. It'll be no problem."

Naota sighed in relief, happy that just a little encouragement salvaged the situation. Monika and Sayori seemed appreciative as well.

"Next," Monika began with renewed confidence, "we need to assign some tasks that will hopefully help us make an impression on the rest of the school. I believe Sayori already agreed to making some posters to hang up around the school. In the meantime I'll be working on pamphlets with our poems and a welcoming message to try and attract new members. Now we need jobs for you guys to work on."

The group fell into a silent brainstorming session.

"Well obviously I could make some treats for our guest's but I don't think I'm gonna be able to afford it..." Natsuki admitted.

"The school is giving us a bit of an allowance to use for supply's so that won't be a problem." Monika assured.

"Well then, leave the cooking to me!" The shorter girl declared.

Monika nodded, jotting down roles into her note book. "And Yuri?"

"Well... I could...perhaps..." Yuri slowly broke down into a fidgety mess as she began to feel useless.

"What about... ambiance?" Sayori slowly said as if she was still working the idea out in her head.

"Ambiance, like the atmosphere?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah! You can dress up the room and get people in the mood for some poetry!" Sayori explained, sporting a determined fist of her own to punctuate her point.

Yuri's thoughts slowly became occupied by visions of flickering candle lights in a dark room and warm, inviting scents of jasmine and lavender. " I love atmosphere!" She softly declared.

Seeing the shy girl this fired up caused the group to share a smile with one another. Monika quickly added Yuri's job to her notes and gave Sayori an grateful nod. She knew making Sayori the vice president was a good idea. "Now for Naota..." Monika said, tapping her pen to her chin as she thought. Hopefully her vice president had another good idea up her sleeve.

Sadly it didn't seem to be so as the room fell to silence once again. 'Naota the useless slacker...' Naota couldn't help but to let negative thoughts invade his mind space.

"Could we use a barker for the hallway? Someone to advertise to people passing by and get some butts in the seats?" Sayori suggested.

"Oh no... if he's too noisy he's going to ruin my atmosphere." Yuri countered.

Before the silence could settle back in Natsuki stood up. "I think I could use him as my assistant. With all the shopping and baking I'll have to do I'm gonna be up to my eyebrows in work as it is."

Monika and nodded and looked to Naota. "Does that work for you Naota?"

"Sure... I've never baked before but I'm pretty good at following orders." Naota admitted, everyone could easily see he was eager to be included.

"Good that settles that then. So the festival is in two weeks and next meeting we will start practicing our public speaking. So I expect you all to write something new to share by our next meeting. That's All I have for you I think, so the rest of the hour is yours." Monika gathered her notes and set her fellow members free.

As the girls left to do their own things Naota felt a tap on his shoulder. Natsuki looked to him expectantly. "Come, follow me." She commanded as she headed toward her manga closet.

"What's up?" Naota asked as his curiosity peaked.

"Well if your gonna be my baking partner then your first lesson starts today!" Natsuki declared. She disappeared into the closet for just a moment, coming back out with the first issue of Parfait Girls.

"That's gonna teach me how to bake?" Naota asked befuddled.

"It'll be a lesson in style and taste for you." Natsuki handed him the book as she took a seat on the floor by the window. Naota grinned as she patted the spot next to her, this was obviously a ploy to get him to check out her favorite manga and had nothing to do with baking. Naota fought the urge to roll his eyes as he sat next to Natsuki.

The manga was about as much as Naota expected it to be. One part slice of life, one part magical girl shenanigans. Natsuki eagerly leaned over to read along, giggling at the main heroine's exploits. Sometimes she would point out a detail that would be easily missed by a first time reader. The story had fully enthralled Naota after a while, so much so he hadn't realized his reading partner had fallen silent. He had no clue something was a miss until he felt the young girl's weight shift against his side.

Nervousness started to overtake the young man as he dared to stop his reading to steal a sidelong glance at the club member who now slept against him. The contrast between the sleeping Natsuki and her daily counterpart were night and day. Her sleepy state hid her normally bright eyes and demeanor, although her bright, pink hair would always be a reminder of the fire inside.

As she quietly snored she seemed much more vulnerable, innocent like a little angel. It was endlessly interesting to Naota. When he was truthful with himself he really admired the pride and prose she seemed to handle difficult situations with. It was so much different then how he lived his life. 'Although this more peaceful side of her isn't that bad either.' Naota thought as his face heated up.

Back at the front of the classroom Monika was announcing the end of the meeting which was finally enough to start stirring the sleeping Natsuki.

"Wha... what happened?" Natsuki asked as her eyes readjusted to the afternoon sunlight. She refused to move from the comfy and warm pillow under her head.

"Hey, you kinda fell asleep while we were reading..." Naota replied in a soft tone, not wanting to startle the girl on his arm.

"Hmm...sorry... that happens sometimes when I don't eat." Natsuki sleepily mumbled. As her senses gradually returned to her she looked up into the eyes of her club mate and it finally dawned on her just where she had been napping. She jumped to her feet before shooting Naota an accusing glare. "What's the big idea dummy?"

Naota's hands shot up in surrender. "Don't look at me I was just reading! You're the one who fell asleep on me."

Natsuki looked away in an attempt to hide her blushing features. "Well... I'll trust you behaved yourself. For now. What did you think of the book?"

"Better then I gave it credit for honestly." Naota admitted as his own face started to finally cool down. "I didn't have time to finish it though."

"Well you can borrow it for a day I guess..." Natsuki suddenly pointed a finger square at Naota's chest. "But be warned, for every crease I find in my book I'm gonna put a crease in you, got it?"

Naota very carefully put the manga in his book bag. "Got it. I'll meet you at lunch tomorrow to return it."

"Sounds good, meet me outside by the fountain again." Natsuki said as she gathered up her own bag. "Don't forget, I'm trusting you!" She warned one last time before heading toward the door. Naota quickly packed his own bag as Sayori was already patiently waiting for him by the door.

Luckily for all the students the fall season still had some warm days left in store for them. The walk home started off as quiet and peaceful as could be, which should've been a warning sign when walking home with the ever talkative Sayori. Naota glanced to the girl at his side, he was met with her cerulean, mischievous gaze.

"So how much do you charge?" Sayori asked, her eyebrows comically wiggling.

"Charge? For what?" Naota asked, dumbfounded.

"For being someone's personal teddy bear, cause I was thinking of taking a nap myself when I get home." Sayori lightly elbowed her friend in the ribs.

"Oh? So you saw us?" Naota asked sheepishly, his face flushing.

"Yeah I did, when did you and Natsuki get so close?" Sayori's excitement for her friend's was obvious.

"I don't think we are really." Naota admitted.

"Hmm?"

"I just offered to read with her and she just kind of passed out on me."

"Yeah, she's been known to do that sometimes." Sayori could count at least a handful of times she had to wake Natsuki up before they left for the day. "I wonder if she has insomnia?"

"I don't know, so don't read too much into her sleeping on me." Naota chided.

"Still you gotta be careful in those situations. A girl's heart is a delicate thing you know~" Sayori practically sang the last part.

Naota chuckled aloud. "I don't think Natsuki's that type. She was just tired and I was there at the right time."

"I don't know. She DOES read her share of romance comics..."

"Still..." Naota took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Natsuki's the type just be upfront and go after what she wants."

"How do you know for sure? You guys just started talking right?" Sayori countered.

"Still, and who says I'm into Natsuki like that?"

"No one, come to think of it I don't think we ever had that talk. What is your type of girl Naota?" Sayori asked, her tone somewhat shy and more serious all of a sudden.

"Hey now, let's not make this about me." Naota deflected. He'd rather walk home in silence than be in the hot seat like this.

Sayori stuck out her tongue. "You're no fun."

As the two approached Naota's house They saw Naota's dad raking some of the early fall leaves that littered their lawn. Sayori was quick to wave to the older man. "Hello Mr. Hirose!"

Mr. Hirose paused his work to offer the young lady warm smile and wave. "Sayori, it's been a while! How's school been?"

"Fine as always sir."

"Good, good. You're not letting Naota drag you into trouble are you?" Mr. Hirose asked, only half joking.

Sayori giggled as Naota blushed. "Of course not! I'm the vice president of the Literature Club and he's been pretty easy to keep in line."

"Good, you keep him in line at school and we'll keep him in line here." Mr. Hirose let loose a hearty laugh. "Tell your folks I said 'Hi' will ya?"

"Sure thing! See ya tomorrow Naota!" Sayori cheerfully wave as she continued down the block alone.

The two men waved and before long it was just the two of them. Naota fell silent as his father's gaze turned to him, the same calm yet judging gaze always reserved for him. The air itself seemed heavier, and Naota silently wished he had some great news to share to make his old man proud of him.

"How was your day son?" The older man asked as he began raking again.

"Normal, it was a normal day." Naota nearly fumbled over his answer. "Why is this putting so much pressure on me?"

"Hmm..." Was his father's only response. "And how are you enjoying the Literature Club?"

"It's been fine. We're gonna do some baking for the school festival this year." Naota admitted shyly, carefully watching his dad for a reaction.

His father cocked an eyebrow. "And how's that supposed to help your grades?"

"It's just for the festival dad, all the clubs are doing something fun for it."

His father just grunted again and fully turned his attention to his yard work, effectively ending the conversation. Naota swallowed the bitter feelings weighing down his mind. There was a time where he was his father's pride and joy wasn't there? A time where he was his boy?

Finally making a connection with Natsuki was an near impossible task for him. He wondered if he would ever really connect with his father again.

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was sick for 2 weeks and didn't feel much like writing. I'm due for a surgery soon so updates might be a little choppy for a while. Here's a short chapter just to let you all know I'm still here. Next time Natsuki and Naota do some baking!