Not This Time

by Monado1022

Alex is someone who's suffered through life, losing those who he loves until there's no one left. He pours his sorrows into the modding community of a certain horror visual novel game for years, eventually finding himself waking up in an unfamiliar house one morning. Will he be able to rebuild what he's lost with memories and a cult working against him, or will he fail once again?

3. Chapter 2: Planning

(Author's Note: Chapter 1 and 2 were originally both the same chapter. A bit into this chapter, I noticed that it was getting too long, so I cut it up. Because of this, the lead into this chapter may seem a bit rushed. I apologize for this, and promise to make sure all the upcoming chapters start off better.)

Chapter 2: Planning

We walked through the double doors into the cafeteria and sat down at our booth, with Monika now sitting on my left.

"Well, you two were gone for a while." Natsuki smugly said. "Anything you two want to tell us?" I felt my face getting warm, but luckily, Monika cut in.

"No. Alex just mentioned that he moved here from Canada, and I got curious as to why he would leave there. This turned it into a rather long conversation." Monika opened her bento box.

"So..." I started talking, the conversation turning awkward. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

Sayori piped up. "Mc has officially decided to join!" She threw her arms around him from across the table.

"Gah, Sayori... ribs..." Mc squeaked out desperately. Sayori let go, blushing. Everyone at the table started laughing, even Yuri. After a few seconds, the laughing died down.

"Well, then." Started Monika. "Since you've officially decided to join, I now make you an official member! Welcome to the literature club!" Monika extended her hand across me, and shook Mc's hand.

"Congratulations, Mc. Now you get to spend time after school with a bunch of cute girls every day." Natsuki said mockingly. Monika quickly responded:

"You speak pretty tough for someone who keeps their manga collection in the clubroom." Natsuki's face turned red as she struggled to think up a comeback.

"M-manga is literature!" She shouted.

'Damn,' I thought. 'Do the people around us really not hear this?'

"Natsuki... how many times do I have to tell you?" Yuri asked gently.

I cut in. "Technically speaking, though, manga could be considered literature." Everyone stared at me in confusion, all except Natsuki, who's face was mostly neutral with a hint of a smile. I continued on.

"The definition of literature is "a book or writing published on a particular subject". Manga technically falls into this category." I explained. Their confusion changed to shock, and Natsuki laughed out loud.

"Hah! Told you!" She exclaimed to Yuri and Monika. I could see the look of defeat and sadness in Yuri's eyes, so I continued:

"Although, I can see why you didn't know that, Yuri. Manga does have more pictures than words, after all." Yuri's smile returned. I could hear her barely muttering "thanks" under her breath, and she continued to eat. Mc looked at me.

"So, are you joining the club, too?" he asked. I already knew the answer. If I was going to help Monika, I had to try my best to save the members. If I was going to do that, I needed to join.

"Definitely." I responded simply. Sayori let out another cry of happiness and tried to hug me from across the table. However, she was just too far away and slinked back into her seat.

"Well, then." Monika started. "Welcome to the literature club, Alex!" We shook hands, then Monika announced to the whole table:

"Okay, everyone! With the addition of not one, but two members, we have cleared the minimum member requirement! We are now an official club!" Following this announcement, Sayori and Natsuki cheered, Yuri happily smiled, Mc and I clapped, and Monika pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Alright, if you two could just fill this out, I'll be able to relay this information to the principal." Monika handed me the sheet of paper:

Literature Club Registration Form:

Name: Monika Kontororu

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Name: Sayori Yuutsu

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Name: Natsuki Kurushimi

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Name: Yuri Kizu

Sex: Female

Age: 18

Monika held out a pen, so I took it and wrote:

Name: Alex ****

Sex: Male

Age: 18

I then handed the form and pen to Mc, who wrote:

Name: Mc Sabishi

Sex: Male

Age: 18

He handed them back to me, and I handed them back to Monika. She put both back in her purse. It wasn't until now that I noticed that she, just like Yuri, carried around a purse instead of a binder.

"Well, that settles it." Monika said. "In fact, since you two have become members before today's club time, we'll be able to have normal club activities today instead of an introduction meeting." I could tell that she was thinking the same thing as me: This meant that we'd get an extra day to help the club members.

This extra day would help so much in the long run, allowing us to figure out which girl Mc would fall in love with earlier. We spent the rest of lunch in silence. I knew what I had to do, and I knew how to do it. I would identify who Mc likes, then text Monika tonight to assign club members to each other.

Before I knew it, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang out. The six of us packed up all of our stuff and stood up. We said our goodbyes and split up in search of our next classes. Looking down at my schedule, I saw that my next class was history. However, when I tried to find my map of the school, I noticed that I didn't have it.

I frantically searched through my pockets, binder, and even bento box, but I just couldn't find it. Then, I heard a gentle voice from behind me.

"Hello, Alex. Are you lost?" I turned around to see Yuri standing there.

"Yeah, actually. Do you know where this classroom is?" I showed her my timetable. She studied it for a few seconds before talking.

"Oh! It appears we have the same class." She stated. "Follow me." She walked past me down one of the hallways. I followed.

After a few minutes of walking, she stopped in front of a classroom. She moved aside, making a gesture for me to go in first. I held up my hand.

"No, ladies first." I said. A small blush creeped up her neck, so she quickly thanked me and walked inside.

Walking in, I noticed that there were only two vacant seats at the back, and they were right next to each other. Yuri sat down at the one to the left, and I sat down to her right. I could tell that she was slightly uncomfortable from sitting right next to me, so I tried to start a conversation to distract her.

"So, Yuri, what type of book do you like to read most?" I inquired. She was surprised by my question, but managed to compose herself.

"I'm a big fan of novels that build up deep and complex fantasy-like worlds." She flowingly said. "The way that an author can take advantage of the reader's total lack of imagination and completely throw you for a loop is just so interesting to me."

"So, stuff like Rick Riordan or J.R.R. Tolkien, right?" I asked.

"Those are examples of what I read, yes." Yuri was now making direct eye contact. "However, I've recently been reading a lot more horror than anything else. Psychological horror in particular is very successful at changing your view of the world around you, even if just for a moment."

"Yeah, I would have to agree. While I haven't really read any horror books before, I have played some horror games before." I said. "While I don't do very well with body horror, I do really like the ambiance and settings that psychological horror games contain."

Yuri put on an oddly playful expression. "I assume that you're a gamer? You seem like that type."

"Heh. Is it that obvious?" I smiled. It turned out that saying this was a bad idea, as Yuri blushed and looked away.

"O-oh, s-sorry. I d-didn't know that you w-would..." Yuri trailed off.

'God damn it, Alex! Why did you say that?!' I scolded myself mentally.

"Yuri, you did nothing wrong. There's no reason for you to feel guilty." I consoled her. She looked back at me through the corner of her eye, fidgeting with her hair.

"What? B-but I thought..." Yuri again trailed off, but this time more confused than embarrassed.

"Yuri, why do you always blame yourself?" I asked. Yuri didn't answer and looked away, even more embarrassed. Even her social anxiety and nervousness could sometimes outweigh her politeness, it seemed.

'Welp,' I thought, 'time to get personal.'

"Yuri, I'm sorry." As I finished that sentence, Yuri made a small gasp of surprise. She slowly turned her head back to me.

"W-why would you be s-sorry, Alex?" She nervously asked.

I sighed. "I understand how you feel right now, Yuri. You're always feeling like you're doing something wrong, and always worrying that people will judge you for it. I shouldn't have tried to pry you for a reason." A small hint of familiarity appeared in Yuri's expression.

"W-what? But you seem so... confident in your words." Yuri looked confused, but curious. I chose to satiate that curiosity.

"I wasn't always like this." I looked ahead. "Back in grade two, there was a... "situation" going on during recess. There was this gang of bullies trying to take this other kid's phone. They had him cornered up against a wall, and I walked in to help." I paused to let it sink in.

"They took his phone, but I grabbed back. Since I was a stupid seven-year-old, I didn't take note of what the victim's face looked like. So, I just gave it to the kid who was in his spot last." I smiled to myself, recalling this stupid plan of mine. "Little did I know, they moved from that spot and the person that I gave the phone to was a member of the bullies."

Yuri gave out a small giggle. I ignored it, as I didn't want her to feel guilty, and continued the story.

"Anyway, the kid said something like "let's just get out of here" and left with his gang. Noticing what I'd done, I looked at where the actual victim was standing, and felt like an idiot. The kid looked at me for a few seconds, and then left. Ever since that day, I'd had really bad social anxiety, and I never had a friend until grade six." I ended the story and looked over at Yuri. She had a look of surprise.

"But... how did you get over it?" Was all she asked.

I smiled at her. "I didn't."

Yuri looked confused. "What? But you talked to the members of the club so calmly..."

I chuckled. "That's because Sayori told me about all of you. When she was describing you, I could tell that you'd gone through a lot. Maybe not physically, but mentally. She said you had a lot of trouble making friends, so I wanted to help you." I put my hand on her shoulder. "If you ever need help or consoling, just come to me, okay? I don't want to watch someone go through what I have. That's what friends do, right?"

I could see a tear rolling down Yuri's cheek, and she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve. "Friends..." It was as if the word was foreign to her. "I like that, Alex. Thank you." She smiled.

"No problem, Yuri." I smiled back. As soon as our conversation ended, the bell rang out through the school, signaling the beginning of class.

*TWO classes later*

Nothing else interesting happened for the rest of the day. I said my goodbyes to Yuri at the end of History and wandered through the school in search of my Geography class. I was just barely able to enter the room before the bell rang. After Geography, I went back to my locker, packed up my things, and tried to find my way to the clubroom.

After about five minutes of wandering through the halls, I still couldn't find room 224. The situation was made even worse when I turned a corner and almost bumped straight into Okane and Chad. They had smug expressions on their faces, almost as if they were just waiting there for someone to come along.

"Just where do you think you're going, Eskimo?" Said Okane. He smiled, as if he were proud of the racist nickname. Deciding they weren't worth it, I tried to walk by them, only for them to move in front of me with surprising accuracy and speed. I was quickly fed up with their shit.

"I'm going to the literature club." I said through grated teeth. "Now, unless you have more racist things to say to me, I'll be on my way." I shoved my way past them and walked away. It wasn't even five seconds until I heard Chad's voice echoing down the halls behind me.

"You know, you're really pathetic. Defending those lower creatures and all."

'Great.' I thought 'They're racist, AND sexist.'

"In addition, you're a member of the literature club?" Okane judgingly called. "Hah! That explains it! You want to get in the members' pants! A bit of advice, only go for the club president! All the others aren't worth anything!"

Then, from around the corner in front of me, Mc and Sayori appeared, looking concerned. They looked at what was going on, seeing Okane and Chad behind me.

"Oh, look, Okane! It's the Eskimo's backup!" Chad's annoying voice called. "Isn't that the vice president? Hey, whore! Remember us?! You should've minded your own business back then!"

I didn't understand what they were talking about, but Sayori sure did. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she fell to her knees and put her hands to her face. Mc bent down to comfort her, and rage built up inside me. I turned back towards the bullies and yelled at the top of my lungs:

"LISTEN UP, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE LIVING, YOU'LL FUCK OFF!"

Turns out this threat didn't work the way I wanted it to, and they just laughed. I could hear the sound of running footsteps behind me, but I ignored them and stood my ground. Okane opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"CLOSE YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH, ASSHOLE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK TO ANYONE LIKE THAT!" Apparently, getting cut off really annoyed these guys, because their expressions began to convey frothing rage building up inside them. Okane opened his mouth to talk again, but I cut him off even quicker.

"I SAID CLOSE YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH! YOU'RE TELLING ME TO MIND MY OWN BUSINESS?! WHEN YOU HURT ANY OF MY FRIENDS, IT'LL ALWAYS BE MY BUSINESS! THE SHIT THEY TAKE IS THE SHIT I TAKE! AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE SHIT FROM A COUPLE OF RACIST, SEXIST, INBRED, MORONIC, SONS OF BITCHES WHO DON'T EVEN DESERVE THE AIR IN THEIR LUNGS!" Everything turned silent. It was so quiet; I could practically hear their blood boiling.

After about ten seconds of this silent standoff, Okane and Chad ran. No, not away, but towards me. They let out screams of rage as the barreled towards be. Despite never being in any sort of fight, I stood my ground and waited. Feeling oddly calm, I stood there until they were about a meter in front of me. They both swung...

I didn't know how I did it, or how I knew to do it, but I put my hands up and grabbed their fists. Okane's in my left, and Chad's in my right. Standing completely still and holding their balled fists, I said through gritted teeth: "You have just made the biggest mistake of your lives..."

Looks of fear and shock appeared on their faces, but only for a few seconds before I acted. I began squeezing Okane's fist surprisingly hard. He groaned and fell to a knee in pain. I moved my right hand to Chad's wrist and pulled back. I then thrust his balled fist into Okane's face, and he fell over.

As I let go of both of them, Chad took a swing at me. I ducked under it and grabbed the left side of his head. I whacked his head up against the wall to my right twice and let go as he fell to the ground. Okane got up and tried to hit me with a roundhouse kick, but I grabbed his leg a centimeter from my torso. I surged forward and flipped him over, causing him to land on his back. I stepped back from the two, who were starting to get up.

"Well, boys. Do you give up, yet?" I asked smugly. As it turned out, I didn't even need to ask that, as Okane and Chad just ran away down the halls as soon as they got up.

I turned around to see how Sayori was doing, but instead found every member of the literature club standing there, staring in wonder. No one spoke, so I walked over to Sayori and crouched down in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked. She didn't respond for a few seconds, still staring at me. Then, with no warning, she enthusiastically threw her arms around me.

"Alex! That was so cool! Where did you learn how to fight like that?" I was stunned by her reaction. More so that, I was confused by her question. How did I learn how to fight like that? I racked my brain for an answer, but nothing came.

"I... don't know..." I confusedly answered.

Sayori let go, a stare of confusion now on her face. Looking up at the others, they all had the same expression except for Monika. Instead of being confused, Monika seemed to be suspicious. I stood up.

"But that's not important right now." I said. "Let's just forget about this, okay? Sayori, what were they talking about?"

Sayori stood up and opened her mouth to talk, but Monika silenced her by putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, everyone." She started. "None of this is important right now. I understand if any of you are curious about what has just transpired, but what's more important is that it happened. Usually I prefer using words rather than actions, but the fact that Alex has done this in our defense is much more important than how he did it." Everyone quietly muttered in agreement, and the topic was dropped.

"Now, let's all go to the clubroom, okay?" Monika offered. We all agreed and started walking to the clubroom. On the way, Natsuki fell back and whispered to me.

"Hey, what the hell was that?" She asked. I looked at her.

"I wish I could tell you, but I just don't know. That was the first time I'd ever been in a fight, so I guess I'm just a natural." I shrugged my shoulders and kept on walking.

"Best answer you can give? Heh, dummy." But there was no annoyance in her voice. If I'm going to be honest, it was kind of endearing.

We all stopped in front of the clubroom door. I took note of where it was so I'd be able to find it next time. With Monika leading the group, we walked inside the clubroom, which looked exactly like I thought it would.

There were two entrances to the room on the same wall, of which we came in through the one at the back. If you've ever seen the backgrounds of the clubroom, it looked exactly like it, no questions asked. Before I could do anything, however, Monika spoke.

"Okay, everyone. Go about with your normal club activities. Alex, I would like to speak with you outside, please. And no, Natsuki. I merely want to ask him about something." Looking over at Natsuki, I could see a look of disappointment on her face.

Before I could do anything, Monika grabbed my shoulder and began dragging me out of the room. "Come on, Alex. This is important." She said. I walked with her out of the room and she closed the door behind her. She turned to me, but said nothing.

"Monika, what is it? Did I do something wrong? Our plan can't go into action if we're not in the clubroom-" Monika cut me off.

"That's not the problem, Alex." Her tone sounded much more serious than I expected it to.

"Um... okay? What's the problem, then?" I asked. Monika grabbed my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes.

"How did you do it?" She asked. I was so confused. Had I done something wrong without knowing about it?

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Monika. How did I do what?" As I said this, Monika sighed.

"Never mind. I'll explain later. Let's just go back inside. The others will be waiting, and I don't want Natsuki insinuating something again." Monika turned to the door and went back inside. I went in behind her.

Back in the clubroom, I saw Monika sitting down at a table with Sayori, no doubt making plans for the festival. At the front were Yuri and Mc, already sitting at the same desk reading "The Portrait of Markov".

'Welp,' I thought. 'I guess I know who Mc's falling in love with...' As I finished that thought, the idea that I already knew that these people would fall in love with each other just boggled my mind. I scanned the room, looking for Natsuki, but couldn't find her. Then, I heard a loud crash from inside the closet. Everyone in the room looked towards it.

"Damn it!" I heard Natsuki's voice call out from inside the closet.

"I'll go see what's wrong." I said, and walked towards the closet. Peering inside, I saw Natsuki on all fours, picking up staplers and depositing them into a bin next to her. Her expression suggested that she was frustrated by it. Without saying anything, I walked in, knelt down, and began to put staplers into the bin.

"What are you doing?" Natsuki asked, confused. I looked up at her.

"I'm helping you pick up these staplers. Isn't that what friends are for?" I smiled. Natsuki went back to cleaning up the staplers.

"Hey, Alex?" Natsuki got my attention.

"Yeah?" I led her on.

"About what happened with Okane and Chad earlier..." She paused.

"Listen, I already told you that I don't know how I was able to fight like that." I responded. Natsuki sighed in exasperation.

"No, dummy! That's not what I meant!" She sighed. "Why did you fight them?"

"Well, they were bullying Sayori. I'm not just going to stand by and watch while one of my friends get bullied." I explained. Natsuki let out a "hmm", but said nothing more. We soon finished cleaning up the staplers. As we did, Natsuki placed the container on the shelf and turned to me.

"Hey, are you a fan of manga?" She asked. I already knew where this was going. Instead of just copying what Mc would've said, however, I answered truthfully.

"I'm not the biggest fan of manga, but I do enjoy it from time to time." I answered. "I'm more of a fantasy novel fan, but I'm more than open to new genres." Natsuki looked as if she could barely contain her excitement, but refused to allow it to show. She pulled a volume of manga off the shelf, then showed it to me.

I knew what series it was, but I decided to play along. I leaned in closer to the volume and read it aloud.

"Parfait Girls?" I read. "Interesting name." Natsuki made a sound of annoyance.

"If you're going to judge, do it through that glass." She pointed to a window outside the closet. I noticed the subtle difference in her speech from the original game, but I chose to ignore it.

"Hey, I didn't say it was bad!" I defended myself. "There's a lot more to a series than just its name. "Don't judge a book by its cover", right?" Natsuki put on a small smile.

"Heh. I guess I underestimated you." Natsuki grabbed my hand. "Come on!" She exclaimed, then she yanked me out of the closet by the arm.

She dragged me to the nearest window and sat down. She enthusiastically patted the ground next to her in invitation. 'Wow, she really is excited to share this manga with me.' I thought. I sat down and she handed me the manga.

"So, what should I expect from this series?" I inquired. Natsuki thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Romance, comedy, and drama." She answered.

"Ah, yes. The trifecta of school-based manga and anime." I said sarcastically. Surprisingly, Natsuki laughed. I smiled. Natsuki could be just so carefree and cute sometimes, especially in person as opposed to just being a sprite on a computer screen.

"Hey, what're you looking at?" Natsuki's words jolted me out of my thoughts, and I realized that I'd been staring at her for a while now. Her expression was one of curiosity, identical to the one she had in the game as she showed Mc her manga for the first time.

"Nothing. Just thinking." I made a small laugh. Natsuki put on a façade of annoyance.

"Well, less thinking, more reading!" She pointed to the manga in my hands.

"Alright, alright." I opened up the manga and started reading. It was about five minutes before I felt a sudden weight on my right shoulder, followed by the sound of snoring. I looking over at Natsuki to find her laying on my shoulder, sleeping soundly.

There was a giggle from across the room, and I looked up to see Sayori and Monika smiling in my direction. Sayori looked like she was desperately trying to resist laughing, while Monika just gave me a thumbs-up. I smiled back, then turned my attention back to Natsuki.

'Should I wake her up? She might get angry at me, but at the same time I can't just let her sleep for the rest of the day...' I debated over waking her up for about a minute longer, and decided to wake her up. I moved my left hand over (since my right arm was wedged in between me and Natsuki) and gently poked her cheek. I may or may not have accidentally said "boop" while doing it, but luckily no one noticed.

Natsuki stirred, but didn't wake up. I poked her cheek again, but she still didn't wake. I tried something different by saying her name, which actually gained a reaction. Unfortunately, instead of waking up, Natsuki's right arm wrapped around my torso. This restricted the movement of my entire body.

I heard another giggle from Sayori and Monika's table. I snapped my gaze to them, and saw both Sayori and Monika violently stifling giggles. I shot them an annoyed look, then turned my attention back to Natsuki. I said her name a few more times, but to no avail. This was when I attempted to push her away, but her grip just got tighter.

Then, without warning, she buried her face in my shoulder and I felt my shirt getting slightly wet. 'Is she crying?' I thought. 'Probably nightmares about her father. I need to wake her up, fast.' I tried to pull away, this time a bit harder. Then, she said something in her sleep.

"Please... don't leave me... with him..." I stopped struggling immediately. She began to cry a bit harder, and her grip tightened. If she was having nightmares about her father, then she must have been using me as an anchor to reality. I opened my mouth and spoke softly.

"I'm not leaving you, Natsuki. I'll always be here." I assumed that she was only talking subconsciously, and that she wouldn't remember anything about my conversation to her dream self. I put my hand on the back of her head to comfort her, and her grip loosened a little. I looked back up at Monika and Sayori, who had gone back to their conversation. I looked to the front of the room, where I saw Mc and Yuri reading "The Portrait of Markov". Apparently, they hadn't realized my current situation with Natsuki, which reassured me that I wouldn't get reminded about this event constantly back at Mc's house.

"T-thank you..." I heard Natsuki's sleeping voice say as I also felt her arm let go of me. I looked back at her to find a smile on her face, any sign of previous distress absent. She looked so peaceful and happy while she slept, so I decided to just leave her be and continue reading the manga.

It wasn't long until Natsuki began to stir. I looked at her to find her slowly opening her eyes. I closed the manga and gave Natsuki a smile as she rubbed her eyes and let out a cute yawn.

"Good morning." I jokingly said. Natsuki gave me an annoyed stare.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Her expression changed to mild distress. "Wait, how long was I out?"

"Don't worry." I reassured her. "You were only asleep for five to ten minutes."

Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. It wouldn't be the first time I slept through the entire club meeting."

'Because your father won't fucking feed you!' I frustratingly thought. 'If I ever meet that shitstain, he'll wish he'd never been born!'

"Hey, Alex! Earth to Alex!" Natsuki's voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry. What was that?" I asked. Natsuki sighed.

"You sure do think a lot." Natsuki said. "I was asking when you were going to continue reading." Natsuki pointed at the manga.

"Well, that would be now." I picked up the manga and continued reading from where I left off. It took a few moments for Natsuki to figure out where we were, but she quickly caught up. Then, she looked disappointed.

"Wait, did I miss the part where Minori trips and drops the cake on her crush?" She asked sadly.

"Yeah, sorry. Is that your favourite part?" Natsuki perked up.

"Anything involving Minori is my favourite part. She's my favourite character. She's always so unlucky, so you always feel bad for her." Natsuki explained.

"Huh. You know, I'm honestly pretty impressed by this manga. I'm usually not into this kind of thing, but I really like reading this." Natsuki smiled smugly.

"I know, right? Do I have good judgment or what?" Natsuki said cockily.

"Heh, you sure do, Natsuki." I began to turn to the next page, but I was interrupted by Monika's voice calling out from across the room.

"Okay, everyone!" Everyone in the room turned their attention to Monika, who was standing in front of a circle of six desks. "It's almost time for us to finish up, so I'd like to talk to you about plans for the literature club while we still have time."

I closed the manga and turned to Natsuki. "Welp, I guess that's it for now." I hold the manga out for her to take.

"Wait, don't you want to know what happens?" Natsuki asked.

"Well, yeah. But this is yours, isn't it?" I responded.

"It'd take too long if we only read it in the clubroom. Just bring it home and read it then." Natsuki stated. I pulled the manga back.

"Okay, then. I'll read for a while tonight, then we'll continue from where I left off tomorrow. Sound like a plan?" I suggested.

"Of course, dummy! Why else would I give it to you?" Natsuki said. I chuckled.

"You have a point there. Anyway, let's go hear what Monika has to say." Natsuki and I stood up and walked towards the rectangle of desks.

"Oh, Natsuki?" Monika started. "Could you maybe grab those cupcakes you made, please?" Monika asked. Natsuki had an excited look in her eyes. She turned to the back of the room and walked towards a plate covered with tinfoil. Yuri turned to Monika.

"Shall I get some tea, as well?" She asked. Monika nodded, and Yuri walked towards the closet. I sat down at the table, with Mc to my direct left and Monika sitting across from me. Sayori sat to Monika's left.

After a few seconds, Natsuki came back with the plate, and Yuri came back with a full tea set.

"They let you keep an entire tea set in here?" Mc asked.

"The teacher of this classroom lets us, as long as it's for a club activity." Yuri answered with a smile. After the cupcakes and tea were set out, Natsuki sat to my right, and Yuri sat to Mc's left. Monika began to speak.

"Okay, everyone! I said we wouldn't have an introduction meeting today, but I wanted to talk to all of you about something, and we may as well tie them together." Monika announced. "That, and I didn't want those cupcakes that Natsuki lovingly made for the club." Natsuki put her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. Sayori looked surprised.

"Wait, you made cupcakes?!" Sayori's expression slowly transitioned to excitement. "Yay! Thanks, Nat!" Sayori lunged towards Natsuki and tightly hugged her. Natsuki made a groan of minor annoyance as she struggled to get out of Sayori's vice-grip. Natsuki seemed to not be in any pain, which surprised me, since Sayori almost choked out Mc and I earlier. Everyone in the room except for Sayori and Natsuki burst out laughing.

After a few seconds of Natsuki's struggling, Sayori finally let go of her own volition, completely oblivious to the scene she just created. After the laughing died down, Natsuki reached for and grabbed the tinfoil on the plate. She whipped it up off the plate, revealing a dozen small cupcakes, decorated to look like kittens. Sayori put on a face of wonder.

"So cuuuuuuute!" Sayori exclaimed. I had to agree with her. For someone who didn't like being called cute, Natsuki sure did make a lot of about her cute. I wondered if she secretly wanted to be called cute, just so she could chew someone out for it.

It wasn't long until everyone grabbed a cupcake and bit down on the sweet, delicious flavour of Natsuki's baking. I bit off half of the cupcake, and tasted the most delicious baking I'd ever tasted. Everyone else at the table seemed to have the same opinion, Sayori most of all. By the time I finished my first cupcake, Sayori was already on her third.

"Sayori, these are for the whole club, remember?" Yuri pointed out. "On another note, who would like some tea?" Everyone at the table raised their hands, except for Mc.

"No thanks, I'm more of a coffee person." He explained. I couldn't relate. I never liked coffee in the slightest. There was always just something that tasted wrong about it, so I just never drank it. I never tried tea before, but I heard somewhere that you'd probably like it if you didn't like coffee. Hearing this, however, Yuri looked disappointed. I tried to save the situation.

"Mc, have you ever even had tea?" I asked. Mc thought for a few seconds before responding.

"Yes, actually. I one time had white tea, and it tasted horrible. I just never saw the appeal of it." Mc answered casually. I was never an expert on tea, but I at least knew enough to know that white tea was the least processed tea of them all. White tea was made more lazily than other types of tea, and was more organic. Mc probably had a taste for more processed flavours.

"Oh, that's why." Yuri's voice rang out. "You must have a taste for more processed flavours. White tea is the most organic of all teas, and is made very lazily. You'll like oolong tea, trust me." Yuri began pouring Mc some oolong tea without waiting for a response, then handed him the teacup.

After studying it for a few seconds, Mc took a sip. "Wow. This is better than I expected. Thank you, Yuri. You have good taste." Mc's compliment made Yuri blush a bit, but more out of happiness than embarrassment. She poured everyone else some oolong tea, and Monika began talking as we drank our tea.

"It would be redundant to introduce new club members that we're already all friends with, so I'll just cut to the chase." Monika cleared her throat and talked as if she rehearsed her announcement many times before. "Since our club has now been registered as official, I believe it's about time we have a daily class assignment and activity." Everyone was paying close attention to Monika's words, even Sayori, who had a ring of icing all around her mouth.

"What did you have in mind?" Sayori asked with a mouth full of cupcake. Monika kept her expression neutral, but I could barely see a look of faint familiarity in her eyes, as if she'd had this conversation many times before. Which she had.

"Poetry." Monika responded. "Every evening after school, each club member will write a poem, and we'll all share them with each other the next day." Natsuki looked a bit uncomfortable at this assignment, while Yuri looked absolutely terrified.

"U-um... I-I d-don't t-think I c-can do t-that." Yuri shakily admitted, followed by her looking away and fidgeting with her hair. Natsuki frowned and looked down, signalling that she agreed with Yuri. Sensing that they were both against the idea, Sayori looked down sadly.

"Aw... I really wanted to read everyone's poems..." She dejectedly said. Neither Mc nor Monika said anything, so I tried to calm Yuri down.

"Yuri, there's no reason for you to feel nervous about this. No one's going to judge you based on your writing." I reassured her. Yuri looked at me through the corner of her eye, but didn't turn her head. I continued on. "Besides, from what I heard, you're considered the smartest in the club. If anything, we should be nervous about not being as good as you." Yuri blushed at this comment, and I could see a faint smile on her face.

"O-okay, then. I'll do it." Yuri quietly stated. Natsuki brought her head back up with an expression of newfound determination.

"I'm doing it too! If everyone else is going to write poems, I might as well take the time to show you what real poetry is!" Natsuki boastfully said. As she finished saying this, the school bell rang, indicating the end of our club meeting. Everyone got up from their seats as Monika made one last announcement.

"Okay then, it's settled. All of you write a poem at home tonight, and in the morning, we'll share them with each other! I now declare this meeting adjourned." Everyone began walking to the door, except for Monika, who was staying behind to clean up. I asked her if she needed any help.

"Oh, no. I can manage by myself. Besides..." Monika got up closer to me and talked in a lowered voice. "You'll need to focus on writing a poem tonight if you want to impress Natsuki." I could feel my face getting hot, and Monika burst out laughing.

I left the room without saying anything else, and bumped into Natsuki. She looked up at me. "Make sure you don't damage my manga." She said, then walked off down the hall with Yuri. From this angle, they almost looked like mother and daughter as opposed to friends. Height-wise, the top of Natsuki's head went up to about my eyes, while she only reached the top of Yuri's chin. I always expected Natsuki to be a lot shorter, but that just didn't seem to be the case. A voice from behind me made me lose my train of thought.

"Hey, Alex! You coming?" I turned around to see Mc and Sayori waiting for me in the middle of the hall. I rushed over to them and made the trek back to my locker. I pondered over whether or not I should put Parfait Girls in my backpack, but I ultimately chose not to, as it would probably damage it. I took my backpack out of my locker and the three of us made our way back to Mc's house. Along the way, I tried to start a conversation.

"So, Mc. What do you think of the literature club so far?" I asked. Mc took no time to answer.

"It's pretty nice. A lot more fun than I thought it would be." He answered. "How about you?"

"I'd say that it's a great club. Everyone's so passionate about what they like, which is something that I can relate to." I responded. Sayori giggled.

"Some more than others." She slyly said. "You think Natsuki had a nice nap, Alex?" My face got warm again, which made Sayori laugh harder. Mc just looked at Sayori and I in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Sayori?" He inquired. Not wanting Sayori to insinuate something, I blurted out:

"Natsuki just fell asleep as we were reading manga." Sayori smiled even more broadly than she already was, somehow.

"She didn't "just fall asleep", Alex. She cuddled you like a teddy bear!" Sayori laughed out loud, this time joined by Mc. 'Shit.' I thought. 'She saw that part?' Sayori stopped laughing, followed shortly by Mc. He turned to me.

"Getting a bit of a crush, aren't we, Alex?" Mc mockingly said. Instead of explaining further, I smugly smiled and rebounded.

"Oh, I'M getting a crush? Mc, I saw how close you and Yuri were. Don't even deny the fact that you like her!" Mc's expression quickly transitioned to embarrassment, and he was the one blushing now. He began to stutter.

"S-shut up!" He exclaimed. Sayori and I laughed all the way back, with Mc joining in halfway there.

We stopped in front of Mc's house. We waved Sayori goodbye as she continued to the next house and walked in the door. Looking at my watch, I was surprised to see that it was already 5 pm. Mc walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Hey, Alex! What do you want for dinner?" He called from behind the fridge door. I wanted to try out some Japanese dishes, so I just said "you choose" and sat down in the living room to start reading Parfait Girls. After about half an hour, I finished the first volume. Natsuki was right. This manga was a lot better than some others that I'd read before. Granted, I didn't read that much, as I was more of an anime person, but it was still good.

"Alex! It's time to eat!" I heard Mc call from the kitchen. I put the manga down on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen. When I got there, I saw Mc sitting at the dining table in front of two plates. On the plates were two Japanese foods. One, I recognized as sushi, but I didn't recognize the other one. It looked like a ball of rice wrapped in seaweed, and was very basic.

Mc saw my confusion as I sat down and pointed at my plate. "It's called Onigiri. It's seasoned rice wrapped in seaweed with various fillings. Think of it as the Japanese version of a sandwich." He explained. I sat down at the table and picked up chopsticks which were located next to my plate. I'd used chopsticks before that, so I knew what I was doing.

*20 minutes later*

The sushi and onigiri were actually pretty good. For my first time eating Japanese dishes, it tasted pretty damn good. We got up from the table and put our dishes in the dishwasher. Mc turned it on and then turned to me.

"Hey, you're a gamer, right?" He asked. That seemed like a bit of an obvious question at first, but then I remembered that he remembers meeting me when I was eight, which was when I started becoming a gamer.

"Yeah, I am. A pretty big one, too. Why?" I already had an idea to why, but I asked anyway, just to make sure.

"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to play a few games tonight." He stated. I considered his offer for a few seconds, but ultimately declined. I needed to text Monika about our plan, and I needed to write a poem on top of that.

"Sorry, but not tonight. I've got some schoolwork to catch up on." I could tell that he was disappointed, but overall fine with my decision. There are just those times where you want to do something by yourself, but have to ask someone if they want to join in out of courtesy.

"Okay, Alex. See you tomorrow." He walked off to his room. I went to the living room to pick up the manga and made my way to my room.

Opening the door, I was greeted with the room just as I left it this morning. The blankets on the bed were halfway off the edge from my lazy excursion off the side, and the closet door was fully closed, hiding my clothes and a reminder of my dead family. Just thinking about that brought a tear to my eye again, just as it did this morning.

I sat down at my desk and opened up one of the drawers. To my surprise, there was a large stack of paper inside, with a collection of perfectly-sharpened pencils right next to it. I pulled out one of each and began to write a poem. Back when I was fifteen, I discovered that I had a talent when it came to writing poems. I never really did anything with it until now, but I was now doing it to literally save someone's life.

*20 minutes later*

I put down my pencil and looked over my poem. I was surprised to notice that it wasn't in my normal style. Reading it over, it looked more like something that Natsuki would write, which both puzzled and relieved me. I wanted to get on Natsuki's good side. I needed to get her to open up to me about her dad so I can help her.

I left my poem on my desk and walked over to my bed. Sitting down, I noticed that my bedside table had a drawer on the front. I felt stupid for not noticing this earlier, considering that pretty much all bedside tables have a drawer. I wondered what was in there, as I pretty much just had a bunch of random junk in my bedside table back at home. Curiosity getting the better of me, I opened the drawer to discover two picture frames. Both were of a group of people, and both included me.

I picked one up, looking at it. It showed me with three other people standing in a driveway before a house in the countryside. To my left was a girl with long, black hair and brown eyes. She was slim and just barely shorter than me. She was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and black tights. Under her, there was tape on the frame with the name "Caitlyn" written on it. She was my sister, about two years ago, just before my sixteenth birthday. She was thirteen in the picture.

Next to Caitlyn was a woman with short, brown hair. She was the shortest in the picture and was in her late forties. She was wearing a shirt with a flower-design and blue jeans. Under her, it was labeled "Nancy". She was my mother. To my right, there was a tall, balding man about the same age as my mom. He was wearing a green sweater and blue jeans. Under him, it was labeled "Keith". He was my father.

All of us were standing stiffly, with almost-mechanical smiles and posture. This was the last picture I had of my family before they died. A tear formulated in my eye, and it trailed down my face. Reaching my chin, it dripped off and onto the picture. I wiped the tear off the picture and placed it back in the drawer. I picked up the second picture, this one at an arcade. In it, I was standing with two guys and a girl.

To my left was a tall, blonde boy giving me the finger bunny ears. He was wearing a white shirt with a blue and white plaid vest over it and black sweatpants. Under him, it was labeled "James". To his left, he had his arm around a slightly short and thin girl with large glasses and light brown hair. She was wearing a light-blue sweater and blue jeans. Under her, it was labeled "Aurora". Finally, to my right was a tall boy with dirty blonde hair who had his arm around me. He was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans. Under him, it was labeled "Kyle".

This picture was taken the day of my sixteenth birthday. Unlike the family picture, our smiles looked genuinely happy. No one seemed to be faking anything. This was the day before the terrorist attack where they all died. Again, a tear rolled down my cheek and landed on the picture. It had been two years since they died, but the guilt still weighed me down.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a notification on my phone. I put the picture back in the drawer and slammed it shut. I took out my phone and was stunned by the time it showed: 9:00. Had I really been sitting there for that long, just looking at two pictures? I pushed the thought aside and opened the notification. It was a text from Monika, and we began discussing our plan:

Monika: So, which club member will you take? We both already know Mc's in love with Yuri, so we can cross her off.

You: I'll take Natsuki, you take Sayori. We've already been spending time with them, so it'll be convenient.

Monika: That, and you like Natsuki, don't you? ; )

You: So, what if I do?

Monika: I didn't mean it as an insult, Alex. You two do fit each other pretty well.

You: Alright, so we have our plan. You help Sayori with her depression, and I'll help Natsuki with her pathetic excuse for a father.

Monika: Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about.

You: What is it?

Monika: Do you remember when I pulled you out of the clubroom?

You: Yeah. You asked me "how I did it". What did you mean by that?

Monika: This'll be weird to explain, but I'll do my best. You see, before I pulled you into this world, I was able to "edit" my own physical and mental characteristics. To put it simpler, I could make myself stronger, smarter, or have better reflexes. I feel I shouldn't need to explain why, correct?

You: No, you don't. Continue.

Monika: Anyway, when I pulled you in, I lost that ability. I don't know how or why, but you somehow inherited this ability from me. This is why you were able to fight off Okane and Chad so easily. I pulled you out of the clubroom because I thought you somehow intentionally took it from me. I feel like I should apologize for that.

You: Don't worry about it. On a different note, don't you have any names for these abilities? Like, can't we give my ability to have visions a name?

Monika: Actually, I already have a name for the visions. It's called "cross-sight". As for the physical and mental enhancements... any suggestions?

You: Crossfit?

Monika: Very funny, Alex. On second thought, it's better off without a name.

You: Aww...

Monika: So, let's go over the plan. I try to get Sayori to open up to me about her depression while you try to get Natsuki to open up about her father.

You: Agreed. The plan starts tomorrow. Good night, Monika.

Monika: Good night. And thank you for this. I really appreciate it.

I turned my phone off and put it on my bedside table. I put my glasses and watch next to it, and suddenly remembered the photos in the drawer. I was the only person in those photos that survived until now. I failed to save them, but this time, it would be different.

I laid down in my bed and closed my eyes. 'I've lost so many people to death...' I thought 'I'm not losing those close to me again. Not this time...'

End of Chapter 2