Natsuki's POV.


Freaking Monika...This isn't what you're supposed to do if you want to be on good terms with someone! Kazuki doesn't look like the kind of guy who would get mad over a game, but damn, that was brutal. When did she even have time to get so good at this game? My experience with it is limited to the times when we played it in the literature club out of boredom, but that was so rarely done I didn't have much time to get good at it.

"Ahahahaha! And so I stand undefeated!" - Monika exclaims with pride and joy.

"As if this is something to get all high and mighty about..." - I mumble, obviously not upset about being the worst player out of us.

"Honestly, Monika, I didn't expect you to be into this kind of stuff." - Kazuki says after putting his controller of the floor.

"I'm not! It's just a silly little thing I've learned on a whim." - she says.

"Yeah, sure. Next thing you're going to say is that you were born with those skills." - I say with my arms crossed.

"...What is all this...commotion all about?" - Yuri asks as she enters the room, almost dragging her tail and wings along the floor. Just looking at her confirms that being a vampire sucks unless you're in one of those novels where they spark under sunlight or they're actually aliens from the moon.

"Ah, you're finally awake. We were worried about you." - Kazuki says.

"Why?" - Yuri asks.

"Yesterday, you collapsed on the floor as soon as you came back from school. By the way, you sure do pack a punch. When I tried moving you, you backhanded me so hard I actually spat out one of my spiders!" - I reply. My left cheek still hurts, but the look on Yuri's face makes it seem like she was hurt more.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" - she shouts as she tries to hide herself with her wings. It's kind of pointless with her height and wingspan in mind. Uh, why couldn't I grow a few inches instead? As if that wasn't enough, now I have literally nothing "up here" while she still has hers! That's so unfair!

"...Anyway, now that everyone is here, I have something to ask of you. You know how there's going to be a festival on Monday? Well, I need you to help me. The literature club needs new members and this is the perfect opportunity to get so-"

"Wait, are you serious?! We have less than two days to prepare for the event! Do you expect us to get everything done so quickly?! What are we going to do there anyway?" - I interrupt Monika. This is ridiculous!

"I agree...with Natsuki...I don't do well with...last-minute preparations." - Yuri says. Thank you, Yuri. I'm still mad at her for not telling Kazuki about what happened that night, but right now, it doesn't matter.

"Ah, don't worry! I've got most of the work done. The posters have already been put up and I'm already done with the pamphlets. As for your question, Natsuki, we are going to have a poetry performance! Each of us are going to choose a poem to recite during the event. But the cool part is, we're also going to let anyone else come up and recite poems too!" - Monika replies. I can't say I'm surprised by this.

"So, now we have to do it? Yeah, there's no way I'm going to be performing in front of a group of people like that!" - I yell at Monika.

"I can't...do that...either...You should have...warned us earlier..." - Yuri says and I agree with her.

"Yeah, that's not good, but I can see why Monika didn't tell you about it earlier. Would you really listen to her right after getting turned into...well, this?" - Kazuki asks. He is right, I would be too occupied with this stuff to care about some festival.

"No, it's alright. I can see where they are coming from. Remember that Natsuki and Yuri have never shared their poems with anyone until just a couple days ago...It's a lot to ask for them to recite their poems out loud to a whole room full of people. I guess I kind of overlooked that. So, I'm sorry." - Monika says. Uh...That expression...

"Hey, I didn't say no, did I? I can try. We're still a part of the literature club and so we can't let your efforts go to waste, right?" - I say, trying my best to look confident.

"Well...I...I could try too...I guess...but..." - Yuri mutters. Considering what happened the last time she tried to keep herself awake during the day, I bet she's going to sleep for several days after the festival.

"Eh, I've got nothing to lose. I'll do everything you need me to do if you want to take part in the festival that badly." - Kazuki says. Monika smiles and I can't tell if it's a good thing or not.

"Alright, then! I've already told you what I'm doing, so, I'll assign everyone else their tasks. Natsuki, you're going to bake your trademark cupcakes, but you'll have to make a lot of them and in different flavors. Yuri, you should make some banners and decorations to help set the atmosphere. Kazuki...hm...let's see...I think I should let you decide...or maybe I should...ah..." - Monika says, her voice trailing off as she struggles to come up with a task for Kazuki.

"I guess I could help you all with your tasks? That's all I can think of. I'm useless otherwise." - he suggests as he glances around the room.

"Are you sure? That sounds like it would be a bit too much for you." - Monika asks.

"Don't worry. I can handle it. " - he replies, but she doesn't look convinced.

"I don't want you to overexert yourself. I think you should focus on on-"

"For fuck's sake, just let him do whatever he thinks is for the best!" - I interrupt her again. Her smile is still present in spite of that. MAYBE. WE. SHOULD. TEAR. IT. OF-

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to make sure everything goes well..." - Monika says with a dejected expression.

"L-Let's just...get to work..." - Yuri suggests. She's surprisingly likeable today.

"Good idea, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the night comes before you can really do anything. You can rest until then. I'll help others while you're resting." - Kazuki says. Yuri hesitates for a few seconds before leaving...hm...I have an idea...

"I think I'm not going to need your help, Kazuki. You remember how it ended last time and we were doing that for ourselves. It's not like I'll be left all alone. Oh! Right! I haven't shown you what I was talking about back in school, right, Monika?" - I ask.

"No, you didn't. Honestly, I don't even know what to expect." - she replies.

"Then let me show my crew!" - I exclaim as I push her towards the kitchen. She feels so light now. I bet I could bench press her without breaking a sweat. Maybe I should do that later...

Within a few seconds, we reach the kitchen. I really hope we still have something left after that failure or else it's going to be really disappointing. I can already feel something crawling on my back, but it's much more tolerable now. It doesn't take Monika long to notice them, but she is surprisingly calm. I kinda wanted to see her freak out again...Ah, what a shame. It's not like I enjoy scaring people, but there's just something amusing about seeing her panic. Maybe it's because she keeps her composure so well?

"So...is that it?" - she asks, but she doesn't sound very disappointed.

"What? No! Just...have some patience, okay?" - I reply.

Well, well, well, where did we leave all those ingredients? Eh, what the hell. I might as well send them everywhere. I don't know how many of them I have, but there should be enough. Still, I feel...empty without them. It's as if nothing is inside me aside from those guys. It's a weird feeling, but it's so natural now. I can't even remember what it felt like before. Never really thought about it.

Ah, looks like they found something.

"Now I'm going to show you what teamwork...looks...like..." - my voice trails off when I notice that my spiders are too small and weak to actually carry anything. Now this is just embarrassing...I didn't think they were so usele-

"Um, Natsuki? Are they supposed to do that?" - she asks me as she points at one of the spiders...eating others? It looks like it grows with each bite.

As I look around the room, I see the same thing happen with other spiders. That's...weird. They meet no resistance either. What is the meaning of this? Now that I think about it, how do they even feed themselves? Do they simply eat whatever I eat? But then I would always feel hungry and that's not the case.

"I think I understand what's going on. Look!" - she points at them again, but now they are carrying everything I need. That's neat. Unnecessarily violent, but neat. I wonder what else they can do?

"A-Anyway, let's get back to work. We don't have enough to get everything ready, but this should be a good start. Oh, by the way, could you ask Kazuki to buy more of this stuff?" - I ask and she nods before leaving the room.

Now that she's gone, I'm left to my own thoughts. Why didn't Yuri tell him about what happened that night? Why didn't I say anything either? Could it be that...we're afraid of getting abandoned? That would suck, sure, but it's not worth getting others in trouble...and yet I still don't have the guts to tell him anything...AH! Why does it always have to be so fucking difficult?!

It's not like we know him well. He doesn't know much about us either. He's just some guy Monika brought out of nowhere...but he also helped us when we needed it and he's still trying to help us. I'm sure he's not just taking advantage of us or else he would help only one of us. Even then, it seems like it would take too much effort. He doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who would just hand us over to some shady organization in exchange for money either. AH! IS. HE. NOT. JUST. LOVELY? SUCH. A. KIND. YOUNG. MAN. WITH. GOOD. TASTE. IN. LITERATURE. AND. HE. LOOKS. HEALTHY. TOO! IS. HE...IS. HE. THE. ONE? IS. HE. THE. ONE. WHO. SHALL. BEAR. OUR. CHILDREN? WE. CAN. ALREADY. IMAGINE. THAT...and I want to puke my fucking guts out at the mere thought of it...No, I must focus on baking...Yeah, these thoughts will go away if I just...think of something else...Yeah...that should work...