"Ugh! Come on!" Natsuki shouted in irritation as she laid on the cold stone floor of the school's main hall, her hand under one of the vending machines, shuffling around on the dusty, dirty floor to look for coins. "Just come out already so I can spend you! You're money! It's like, what you were made to be used for!" She shouted again.

She soon sighed in defeat as she pulled her hand back, picking herself up off the floor and moving to rest on her knees in front of the vending machine, a look of disappointment and sadness on her face as she hung her head down low.

"I just wanted one candy bar… One. Is that too much to ask?" She sighed again, feeling her stomach growl like an animal at the mere mention of food. "Stupid, unfair machine!" She shouted in a sudden burst of anger as she stood up, her foot going into contact with the glass of the vending machine, the loud bang echoing throughout the empty hall.

Sadly though, the glass was still intact, keeping the sweet treats it held within out of Natsuki's grasp.

She groaned in aggravation as she once again failed to get her way, bashing her skull lightly against the seemingly impenetrable glass in frustration, the sweets inside practically taunting her. We know you want to eat us! They shout from inside their cozy little wrappers! Well, too bad! We can't all get what we want! Starve!

"Stupid, unfair machine" Natsuki repeated as she turned away, pouting as she crossed her arms, her head looking down at her feet. Great. Now what was she going to do? She was just… so hungry. All she wanted was one candy bar. A protein bar. Anything. Just to tide her over until she got home… then she'd at least be able to eat something.

But no. Life, as cruel as it is, just decided that today would be the day poor little Natsuki would starve to near death.

"Natsuki?" She perked her head up when she heard a voice coming from down the hall. A familiar voice. A boy's voice.

"Great. Now I've gotta deal with him" Natsuki huffed under her breath, looking off to her side to see a boy with short brown hair and matching eyes standing a few feet away her. Aaron was his name, one of the newest members of the literature club. "Yeah? What do you want?" Natsuki asked as she looked up at him, the aggravation from before still on her face. "Well? You just gonna stare at me or are you going to say something?" She added.

"Um… You okay? I heard you punch the vending machine" Aaron stated, taking a cautionary step back as he noticed the sour mood of his fellow club member.

It wasn't out of disrespect or fear of her, of course. Aaron just knew that when Natsuki was… irritated, it was best for him to keep his distance and give her as much breathing room as possible, lest she unjustly take said irritation out on him.

That wasn't to imply that the two were incapable of getting along. In fact, when compared to the other members of the club, Natsuki was the one Aaron felt was the easiest to connect with, the both of them being vehemently interested in things like anime, video games and of course, manga.

Their tastes did differ slightly however, Natsuki having more of an affinity for cutesy things, fitting for someone of her personality and appearance, if the pink hair and smallish figure wasn't already enough of a dead giveaway.

"I'm fine, obviously" Natsuki responded, a hostile tone in her voice. "And no, I didn't punch the vending machine. I kicked it…" She corrected.

"And why did you do that?"

"Pfff! Like you need to know. Don't you have someone else to bother?" Natsuki asked, angered by Aaron's questioning as she turned her back to him, her arms still crossed as she peeked her head over her shoulder, only to see Aaron roll his eyes and shake his head, causing Natsuki to huff. "Alright. I got hungry, okay? I wanted a snack but I don't have any money. That got me mad so I kicked the damn thing. Happy? Are you done interrogating me?" She snarled.

"That's what all this is about? You want a snack?" Aaron asked, turning his gaze away from Natsuki and towards the vending machine. "Okay then. One snack coming up!" He said, a small smile on his face as he walked past Natsuki, reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet, retrieving enough money to buy his club member the snack she so desperately craved.

"H-Hey!" She shouted. "You don't have to do that! I'm perfectly capable of getting it on my own!"

"Just shut up and take it" Aaron said as he held the small chocolate bar in his hand, presenting it to Natsuki for her to take, which she quickly did, snatching the bar away as soon as possible and ripping the wrapper open, only to shove the whole bar into her mouth, eating such a simple snack with the ferocity of a starved animal.

"What?!" She asked as Aaron watched her eat, her mouth filled with chocolate.

"Nothing" Aaron responded. "You feel better now?"

"Y-Yeah" Natsuki said, finishing her snack and tossing the wrapper in the nearby trashcan. "Thanks… I needed that" She said in gratitude. "You didn't have to waste your money on me though. I'll pay you back tomorrow or something"

"Don't worry about it" Aaron said, dismissing the thought of Natsuki owing him anything. After all, it was just a chocolate bar. "C'mon. Let's get to the club before we're late. Else Yuri will start lecturing us" He added as he started walking towards the club room, Natsuki following behind quietly.

"Hey, um… I'm sorry for snapping at you like that" She apologized. "I'm just having a really bad day right now. Don't pay attention to me"

"Is everything okay?" Aaron asked in concern.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Don't worry about me" Natsuki reassured as the two entered the club room, Natsuki immediately leaving Aaron's side and making her way to the closet, opening it to pull out a manga from the box set she stashed inside. Parfait girls issue number seven. "I just wanna read my manga in peace" She said as she sat down at one of the desks, immediately burying her head in her literature, trying to disconnect from reality as fast as possible.

Aaron could only sigh as he watched her sit down, reading away. He felt like he should have pressed her a little more. Should have tried a little harder to find out what was the cause of her foul temper. Sadly, he knew this would have only resulted in failure. Natsuki was never really one to confide in others about… well anything.

No matter what it was about or how personal or relevant it was, Natsuki never wanted to discuss or share it with anyone else. Not even Sayori. No, she'd just shoo them all away. Get defensive or even snap at them, unjustly taking her anger out on them.

Sadly, that didn't bode well for the rest of the club, causing them to usually avoid Natsuki when she gets like this, more then content to just wait until she calms down, which did happen relatively quick.

Besides, it wasn't as if Natsuki was all bad. At certain times, she could be very friendly, if caught in the right mood. In fact, when Aaron first joined the club, she baked cupcakes to celebrate. And these weren't cheap dollar store grade cupcakes either. These were like the kind of cupcakes you'd pay fortunes for. Five star pastries. The rest of the club even teased the fact that if Natsuki ever decided to make baking her profession, she'd easily earn more in a week then the rest of the members would in their entire lives.

"Good afternoon, Aaron. Welcome back!" A voice said from behind, interrupting Aaron's thoughts as he quickly turned around, only to be greeted by the welcoming smile of the Vice President of the club, a girl with long, violet purple hair and bright orchid eyes, a heavy hardcover book held at her side.

"Oh. Hey, Yuri. Nice to see you" Aaron greeted back, calling the girl by name as he stepped out of the door frame, allowing Yuri to pass and enter the club room.

"It's nice to see you too" She replied as she walked past him, Aaron's eyes following her as she made her way inside. Her movement was smooth, graceful, catlike even. Quiet too, her footsteps barely making a sound as they walked on the old hardwood floors.

It didn't surprise him much though. Yuri had always been a quiet girl, so much so that you wouldn't even know you were sharing the room with her most of the time. She always preferred it like that though. She was comfortable with just blending into the background. Being a wallflower. Seen and rarely heard. Out of everyone's minds and out of everyone's way.

Her personality was a stark contrast when compared to someone like Natsuki and, to a lesser extent, Sayori, both of which were often loud and rowdy, constantly inserting themselves into the spotlight and drawing everyone's attention, Natsuki more then Sayori.

At least Sayori would back off once told. Natsuki however… That was a battle nobody could ever win.

"So Aaron, Are you ready to continue where we left off?" Yuri asked, causing Aaron's train of thought to crash as he turned his head to face her, seeing her standing behind one of two desks that had been pushed close together then usual, her hands resting on one of the seats bolted to said desk.

"Oh, right. The reading… Almost forgot about that" Aaron recalled as he nervously scratched the back of his neck, finally moving himself deeper into the clubroom and sitting himself down at the seat Yuri had stood behind.

A few days ago, Sayori had started a new initiative to encourage reading among members who weren't as… well read as everyone else, it being aptly named The Aaron initiative, due to the fact that Aaron wasn't much of a reader when compared to the others.

It was a joke at first. Something for Sayori and Natsuki to tease him with. But Yuri seemed to subconsciously act on it, treating it as an actual assignment by sectioning time off from herself to spend reading with Aaron, the two cracking into novels and stories both large and small.

Natsuki even got in on it as well, occasionally stealing Aaron away from Yuri for a day in order to share her collection of manga with him.

He had to admit that though he originally found it annoying, he slowly warmed up to and even looked forward to reading with his fellow members. It was a literature club after all.

Be it an intense, comprehensive novel with sophisticated wording, world building and characters or a harmless slice of life manga, thanks to the Aaron initiative, he now looked forward to reading pretty much anything the girls recommended to him.

Anyways, as Aaron sat down and made himself comfortable, Yuri moved away and did the same, taking a seat in the desk next to him and opening the book she originally clutched at her side, flipping it to the page previously bookmarked and moving it into the center of the conjoined desks so the both of them may read comfortably.

Today's read wasn't anything fancy. A small epic about a monster hunter who goes from little village to little village, slaying the dangerous beasts in exchange for coin. The story soon picks up as the monsters grow more sentient as time goes by, learning how to think, feel and even speak. Some of the more humanoid monsters even find places to settle in among society, giving the hero of the story his conflict, debating whether killing these previously mindless monsters was still ethical now that they have developed understandable speech and thought.

As Yuri sat next to Aaron, she began to focus less on the story in front of her and more on the boy by her side, her eyes wandering away from the pages and making their way up to Aaron's, seeing his eyes move back and forth, left to right automatically as he reads. Fast. Quick, yet precise.

It's like a machine reading code, it's gotten to the point where he can get the whole page done in seconds. When his eyes cease their moving, that's Yuri's cue to turn the page for him, allowing those bright brown orbs to repeat their hypnotic cycle, going back and forth again.

Back and forth. Left and right as Yuri began staring mindlessly, no longer caring for the story on the desk, which she's already read cover to cover. No. The only focus she had was given to Aaron and his eyes, Yuri's mind shutting down, going into autopilot as she watched their movements.

Left. Right. Left. Right. Stop. Turn page. Left. Right.

It was an odd feeling… Standing beside this boy, just watching him read. For a long while, Yuri couldn't find an answer as to why she did this. But it was very soothing. Very relaxing and therapeutic. When she watched him… Watched the hypnotic pattern in which those little windows to his soul moved, she couldn't help but feel this utterly overwhelming wave of tranquility overtake her. Calm her. Relax and sooth her. Put her worried, anxious mind at ease.

Her eyes soon tore away from his though as Aaron started to move, stretching out his neck as he scooted himself closer to Yuri, no doubt in an attempt to read the book easier, Yuri gasping quietly, the breath caught in her throat as she felt it… His thigh.

It's… It's right against hers. Their bodies were touching each other… to an extent. It was warm. Very warm.

Yuri couldn't understand why, but she suddenly began getting flustered at this. Her cheeks went a shade redder as she felt the heat in them build. Her breathing wasn't slow and deep like before, it now becoming small, shallow and rather frantic, Yuri trying her best to hide it.

And her heart… Oh god, her heart. Pumping harder and harder. Faster and faster by the second, Yuri able to practically hear it as it's little bursts and pumps grew bigger and bigger, almost as if it was attempting to escape her chest!

She was internally freaking out now, almost as if her system was being overloaded with adrenaline as her hand clutched the skin over her heart.

Oh god, What's going on?! What's happening to me? I feel so strange… Yet, good… What is this? Is this a bad thing? If so, how can I make it stop? Do I even want it to stop? I know I should, but it just feels… so nice. Even better then when I-

"Hiya guys!" Sayori shouted loudly as she entered the club room, bursting through the door with a large, positive smile on her face, everyone's attention immediately on her, Yuri seeing this as her time to act, scooting away from Aaron, his thigh no longer touching hers as she loosened her grip on her heart, feeling it return to normal.

"Thank god…" She said under her breath, relieved that the situation had been defused before anyone noticed.

"So, how's my literature club doin' today?" Sayori asked as she walked inside, lazily setting her book bag down as she leaned against the teacher's desk. "We all havin' fun?"

"And where were you, exactly?" Aaron asked, his attention torn away from the book as he stared at the president, a smirk on his face. "Aren't you always supposed to be the first one here, president?" He asked in a somewhat degrading yet still friendly tone, calling out Sayori for her tardiness.

"I was busy" She said vaguely, the smirk Aaron had on his face now being mimicked by Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri somewhat confused as to what was going on, Yuri throwing a glance at Natsuki in an attempt to gain context, only to find her shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head in response, an equally confused look prominent on her face. Was this some weird inside joke between the two of them?

"You got caught, didn't you?" Aaron asked as he stood up and made his way to the teacher's desk, staring directly into Sayori's eyes as his superior height towered over her.

"I don't know what your talking about" She feigned ignorance, her and Aaron's smirks still fresh on their faces.

"Umm… what the hell's going on?" Natsuki interjected, wanting desperately to understand what this was. "Got caught with what?"

"You wanna tell them? Or should I?" Aaron asked.

"Tell them what? I dunno anything. Hey! Who wants to be the first to share the story they wrote? Yuri?" Sayori suggested, trying to shift the conversation, Yuri jumping a little in nervousness as her name was called.

"Oh no. No weaseling out of this one. Spill" Aaron demanded, seeing right through Sayori's attempts to dodge the bullet.

"Weasel out of what?" Sayori asked again, still denying that she'd done any sort of wrong. "Who's weaseling? I'm not weaseling? I don't even know how to weasel!"

"Hmm… Constant denial is an obvious implication of misbehavior" Yuri analyzed. "And your unwillingness to be transparent is not helping your case. What did you do?"

"Damn. Found out" Sayori sighed in defeat. "Okay… so maybe I got a little anxious and excited when it came to the idea of getting new members for the club and everything… And let's say hypothetically, I've been recruiting" She explained, continuing to be purposely vague.

"What kind of recruiting?" Yuri asked.

"The aggressive kind…" Sayori admitted, a guilty smile on her face. "Maybe I stuffed too many fliers into students lockers and tried a little too hard to convince them to join. Somebody must have got so fed up, they reported me to the student council and I… was penalized with a few hours of detention" She came clean, Yuri and Natsuki sighing in relief, thinking something terrible happened.

"Seriously? You could have just said you got detention and we would have been like, whatever" Natsuki stated in an agitated tone. "I thought something entertaining was going to happen. Way to get my hopes up for nothing!"

"Mmm… Fitting retribution for such juvenile actions" Yuri stated, her hands behind her back as she stood up, looking all official. "As vice president, I express my disapproval of such tactics. People should join because they want to, not because they've been annoyed and harassed to the point where they feel forced to"

"Gasp! Me? An annoying harasser! Oh, vice president! How your words hurt me so!" Sayori exaggerated as she leaned against the desk, her hand over her forehead in the stereotypical 'woe is me' pose. "Glare… of disapproval… too strong! Life force… draining! Body… weakening! Slowly… dying!" Sayori hammed it up, acting dramatically as she slowly fell from the desk, sprawling onto the floor as she 'died'. "Tell my family… that I love them! I'm… dead!" She added, Her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she shut her eyes and went limp, mimicking a corpse.

"You done?" Aaron asked with a small smile as he looked down at the 'dead' Sayori.

"Yeah, I'm done" The corpse said with a smile as it came back to life, Sayori giggling as she stood up from the floor, brushing off the dirt and dust from her uniform. "That was fun!" She added. "Okay, seriously, who wants to share their story first?" She got back to business, looking around the room only to find her other club members looking off to their sides nervously, Natsuki humming a tune to herself, Aaron looking down at the floor and Yuri nervously playing with her long, purple hair.

Sayori sighed. "Jeez guys, way to show your enthusiasm" She said sarcastically, her hands on her hips as she shook her head. "Look, I know you're all nervous. This is the first time we've actually had to share our writing, but it's really important to the club. How are we suppose to, like, bond and learn from each other if we're too scared to even show ourselves off?" She asked, seeing all the club members continue to refuse sharing.

Sayori sighed twice as she thought of a new tactic. "Okay. New plan. Everyone reach into your bags and pull out your stories. We'll all close our eyes on the count of five and lay them on the desk at the same time. Then we'll all silently read them one by one. If you don't want to admit that you wrote it, that's perfectly fine"

"Sayori… We all know each others handwriting" Yuri stated, poking a gigantic hole in Sayori's plan, causing her to sigh again.

"C'mon guys! Please!" Sayori begged, her hands clasped together in front of her club members, a desperate look on her face. "For me?" She added, putting on the puppy dog eyes while intentionally quivering her lips.

"Hey! Don't do that! That's my thing!" Natsuki shouted, Sayori unfazed as she continues to use Natsuki's own tactic against her.

"Fine!" She surrendered to her own medicine as she reaches into her bag, pulling out the torn page from her notebook. Aaron then fell prey to the same tactic, mimicking Natsuki. Finally, Yuri succumbed as well, all three of them bending to Sayori's will, at her mercy as she executed her dastardly and villainous plan of getting her club members to share. "Stupid puppy dog eyes. Why'd I even teach you how to do that?" Natsuki pouted as she crosses her arms.

The four of them then began sharing their stories, Sayori being the first. She tells the story of a small puppy living on the streets, struggling to find a proper home as it's chased away from other homes by much bigger animals, eventually the puppy is found by a young woman who takes it in and nurses it back to health before adopting it as her own, finally giving it the loving home it's always searched for.

The story starts out sad at first, almost to the point where Aaron could see a tear stealthily fall from Natsuki's face. But as stated, the story does eventually reach it's happy ending. A majority of the story is primarily focused on the woman nursing the puppy though, not about it's tough life on the streets, so the sadness is kept to a minimum.

As the story reached it's end, Natsuki applauded loudly, being utterly moved by it. "It's amazing! Oh my god! That was like, a roller coaster of emotions!" She said in praise.

"Not really" Yuri interjected, unimpressed. "If I were to do it, I'd focus more on the puppy's suffering and the difficultly it faces surviving in such harsh conditions. Maybe have it get into a fight with a much larger, more dangerous animal. That way, the feeling of satisfaction the reader will get once the puppy finds it's true home will be much greater, since we'll fully know the trials and hardships it had to overcome to get there" She expounded, Aaron and Sayori stunned as they heard her criticism, never expecting her of all people to be so vocal with her dissatisfaction.

"Knowing you, you'd probably make a whole story about killing it!" Natsuki retorted, her arms crossed as she turned away from Yuri.

"Hmm… Killing it. That's not a bad idea!" Yuri said, a sudden flash of inspiration striking her. "A story about a little girl who kills her house pet maybe? Saddened by the fact that her beloved pet is dead yet fascinated and overwhelmed by the idea of having the power to take away life. That's actually great! You mind if I use that?" She asked as she quickly dug into her bag, pulling out her pen and notebook and quickly writing down her new story concept.

"Weirdo…" Natsuki hissed under her breath, making sure nobody heard it. "Well, guess I'll go next then. This one's gonna be great! I'm a pro, you know!" She said enthusiastically as presented her story.

Natsuki's story describes an introverted boy who was attending a summer camp. He has a difficult time making friends and blending in with the other boys, often being picked on and abused because of this.

That all changes when he meets a girl from the camp across the lake, who takes pity on him and eventually builds up his confidence and strength, to the point where he isn't afraid of socializing anymore. Eventually, the girl is so amazed by the changes she's made to the boy, that she begins to fall in love with him. The story ends once the two of them share their first kiss by the lake, under the light of a crescent moon.

It's a happy story. Has lots of little bits of fluff and feel good moments, topped off with overly cutesy and simple wording and descriptions, per Natsuki's usual style. Thought the theme around it is a strong one, mainly focusing on the power and sway one can have over another when in a relationship with them, being able to turn them into something they're not yet always wanted to be, making their lives better and easier simply because you love them and only want to see them happy.

Though Natsuki's writing is simple and often childish, her strong themes and messages do command respect and acknowledgment, even from Yuri. In some ways, Natsuki was in truth, a pro. This fact being made clear to her as Sayori, Aaron and Yuri clapped in encouragement.

"So? Whatcha' got to say about that, Ms. Critic?" Natsuki asked Yuri in a condescending tone, prepared to face her head on.

"I liked it" She responded, Natsuki taken aback by her statement, surprised by such a complement.

"You… liked it?" She repeated.

"Yes" Yuri nodded once. "While the wording was very… cute, the story itself was very strong, relatable and passionate. You clearly put a lot of time and thought into it and it shows. So… Yes. I liked it. Good job, Natsuki"

"Well… Thanks" Natsuki said with a small smile, glad that she wasn't immediately put down and ridiculed. "But come on! What else can you expect from a pro like me?" She gloated triumphantly, feeding her own ego while the rest of the club stayed silent, letting her have her little victory.

Reluctantly, Yuri was up next, nervously clutching her page or… pages, as she had written her story on more than one. She was practically a nervous wreck as she stood in front of her fellow members, feeling their eyes follow her as she felt small, anxious shivers creep up her spine, as if her body temperature had dropped into the negatives. She could also feel beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead.

"Just relax. You can do it" Sayori said, giving her Vice President an encouraging thumbs up. "We're your friends. We'll like it no matter what" She stated, her words easing Yuri slightly, causing her to breath in deeply before gently exhaling, the stress and nervousness leaving her along with her breath.

"Okay… I can do this" She whispered to herself in encouragement, sorting out and straightening her multi-paged story, beginning to read aloud to her club mates.

Yuri's story was… difficult to understand, at the very least. Difficult, yet not impossible. From what Aaron and the others could grasp, It's a story about a horrible, sadistic serial killer who is imprisoned and sentenced to death.

After he dies, an angel grabs his soul before he can pass into heaven and instead throws him into hell, where he is punished for his sins by being forced to relive the most painful moments of his life. Moments of grief, sadness, anger, hatred, rage and betrayal. He relives the memories of his daughter and wife dying in a house fire. His life as a homeless beggar needing to steal from others in order to survive. His first kill. His second. Third. Forth. His fall into insanity. His deranged, manic episodes. His capture. His death.

It's all very metaphorical though. The wording is filled with vague, unclear statements and language, making the reader feel as if they aren't getting the full picture, an obvious yet effective tactic to get the reader to think more. Yuri's story even tries to get one to judge their own morality when placed in the protagonist's shoes, often drawing them towards the idea that, were they in the same position, they'd act similarly.

All in all, the story is deep and entertaining but very graphic, gut wrenching and unnerving, Yuri's wording sparing no expense or detail for the sake of the readers with faint hearts.

She breathed in and out deeply as she came to the end of the last page, setting her story down gently on the desk, her hands moving behind her back as she looked at the faces of the club members, seeing their stunned and shocked expressions.

"I know… It's not very good" Yuri said in an embarrassed tone, her hands nervously playing with her hair as she hid her face, feeling shamed. "I just… I didn't have enough time to iron out all the kinks and inconsistencies. In all honestly, this is the worst thing I've ever written and-" Yuri said, putting herself down, only to be interrupted by the sound of Aaron slowly clapping his hands. Sayori soon following, then Natsuki… reluctantly, the three's slow, light claps soon turning into thundering roars as they cheered Yuri on, praising her for her work.

A small smile came to her face as she blushed in embarrassment, not knowing how to properly react to such praise.

"You did great!" Sayori stated.

"If that's your worst, I really wanna see your best!" Aaron said.

"C'mon, guys. Stop. You're embarrassing me" Yuri said, her small soft smile still on her face as she returns to her seat, the room eventually calming as Aaron stepped up, ready to share his work.

"This'll be a laugh" Natsuki said silently, not expecting much.

"Shh!" Sayori responded, flashing a glare at Natsuki for her insult, leading to the youngest member huffing as she sat at her desk with her arms crossed, an attitude filled pout on her face as she prepared to listen.

"Okay… I'm gonna be straight with you. I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote this" Aaron clarified, feeling as if he needed to in order to soften what he expected to be the heavy blows of criticism.

"Don't worry about it. It's all for fun, remember? It's not a competition" Sayori stated, giving Aaron the same encouraging thumbs up she gave to Yuri. "Isn't that right, Natsuki?" She asked, her tone immediately changing to something much more authoritarian and hostile as she looked at the girl beside her.

"What?" Natsuki asked. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't even do anything!"

"Just go on, Aaron. Let's see what you got" Sayori encouraged, Aaron clearing his throat as he read from the torn page of his notebook.

The Ghost On The Other Side Of The Screen.

I see her sitting in front of me, hands resting calmly on the table as she smiles warmly, her emerald green eyes keeping my gaze locked on her still, unmoving frame as we sit in this small, tiny, empty room, the sky not a sky at all, but a vast space of bright colors, stars and galaxies. All of which are paid no mind by the girl in front of me, as I am her only focus. Her only want. Her only need. Yet, I don't know who she is, as I have no name to place on her.

This girl's gaze… terrifies me. Sends streaks of fear through my body as I stare paralyzed, my eyes unable to tear away.

I'm trapped. Trapped by her eyes. Those green emeralds that once held hatred, now holding love and affection. That which I do not want.

"Stay away from me!" I try to yell in fear, but my words fall on deaf ears, as she cannot hear me. For I am not there for her to hear me.

I'm in another room. A room I should be safe in. A room she could never enter, the glass of the screen protecting me from her. She can't touch me. She can't hear me. She can't even see me, yet I still feel the burning dread instigated by those emerald gems as she mindlessly, obsessively gazes at me from inside the screen.

She raises her hand, pressing it against the glass.

"Let me out" She begs, pleads, yet her face does not show it, for her mouth cannot move to form the words. As stated before, She's nothing but an unmoving frame.

We're both trapped. She is trapped inside, begging for me to free her. And I am trapped in her gaze, begging for her mercy.

Together, we play the roles of both prisoner and warden, blessed and cursed with the power to trap each other and hold each other hostage, while being held hostage ourselves. Whether this is cruel irony or something beyond my level of comprehension, I do not know.

All I know is her. All I see is her. All I hear is her. All I fear is her.

Just her.

"Wow, Aaron! That was… umm… It was… uhh" Sayori struggled to find the words, chuckling nervously as she itched the back of her neck. "It was very… Yuri, help me out?" She requested, her Vice President snapping out of her trance in order to provide assistance.

"Well.. I thought it was…" Yuri sadly, was only providing more of the same.

"Geez, It's that bad?" Aaron asked in embarrassment, his head sinking down as he looked over the words on his paper.

"No! It's not bad at all! Exceptional, actually!" Yuri clarified loudly, quickly trying to clear up the confusion. "The wording is very, very good, Aaron! I really felt the feeling of captivity you were trying to convey! It's just that…"

"Wow! Leave it to you to screw up royally!" Natsuki shouted over Yuri, a wide grin on her face as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "We were supposed to write short stories! Not poetry, dumbass!"

"Natsuki! Language!" Sayori scolded, angered at how rudely her club member had spoken out, not even holding a little empathy for Aaron.

"Wait. Poetry?" Aaron asked in confusion, going through the lines of his page a second time. "Yeah… I guess it is sort of like a poem. Sorry guys, force of habit"

"Habit?" Yuri picked up, her head slightly tilted to the side. "Is this a hobby of yours, Aaron? Writing poetry?"

"N-No! Well… kinda" Aaron admitted, his cheeks blushing a shade redder in embarrassment.

He couldn't exactly explain it, but ever since he'd joined the literature club, Aaron had always felt the need to write poetry of all things. He couldn't understand why, but writing a poem once a night before going to bed just felt… right for him. Like he was supposed to be doing it. Almost as if it was a job. An assignment.

Oddly enough, he didn't even need to think when writing poems. It just sort of happened. It was like muscle memory or something, his hand moving and writing with a mind of it's own. Kinda scary to him the first few times, but he eventually learned to accept and go with it.

Most of the time, his poems were okay. Not groundbreaking stuff. But not complete trash either, to the point where he felt bad for throwing his creations away.

Even though last night, he sat down with the mindset of writing a story, it turned out his hands felt like writing a poem instead, albeit with more narrative then his usual poems consisted of.

"Cool!" Sayori said in support of Aaron's hobby. "Will you show us your other stuff too?" She asked, Aaron immediately quivering as he heard that, his voice spiraling a constant stream of nervous umm's and uhh's.

"I'd highly advise against that" Yuri stated as she put her hands behind her back again. "It's understandable if Aaron's a little nervous to show his work. Poetry is a very personal thing, after all. Most people write and express to themselves. Showing that kind of personal expression to others and then getting ridiculed for it…" She trailed off as she explained, glaring in Natsuki's direction.

"What?!"

"… is a very disheartening thing. It's akin to being personally attacked for one's looks or the way they speak" She expounded, clearing her throat shortly after finishing. "That being said, I'm actually glad you shared your work, Aaron. Even if you didn't know you did initially. And in truth, I'm glad. It's nice to be in the presence of a fellow poet" Yuri said with a wide, accepting smile.

"What?! Yuri writes poems too?!" Sayori shouted in surprise, seemingly shocked to learn that not one but two of her club members wrote poetry.

Kinda unsurprising to everyone else though. Did Sayori just randomly forget which club she was president of?

"Oh. No! I didn't… Well… I dabble" Yuri said, sharing Aaron's embarrassment as she looked away, her hands playing with her long hair again. "I didn't mean to say that. It just came out" She stated, continuing to look away.

"Aww. I didn't mean to make you guys feel embarrassed. I'm sorry" Sayori apologized. "Hey. It's cool that you both write poetry and stuff. But you don't have to prove it to us. You'll show us when you're ready" She added, being more considerate of Aaron and Yuri's feelings. "Hmm… You know, hearing about you guys and your poems makes me wanna write one now! Yuri, teach me!" She commanded, Yuri's brows rising in shock as she tried even harder to hide her face.

"Oh no. I can't! I'm not very good at teaching" She stated.

"Well that's a lie!" Sayori said loudly, calling out Yuri for her poorly made excuse. "I had trouble finding ways to write my story yesterday, but you showed me how to do it like a pro! So you've got to be able to show me how to write poetry too! Teach me your ways, o' literate one!" She demanded, Yuri immediately denying Sayori's request.

"Hey! If anyone's the real pro here, it's me! Not her!" Natsuki huffed loudly as she stood with her hands on her hips, deeply offended that Yuri had stolen her pro status. "Their stuff is like, kindergarten level compared to me! I'll show you how to write real poetry!" She stated, more then happy to flaunt her pro status, whereas Aaron and Yuri were not. "In fact, we should all compete to see who the pro poet really is! Winner gets to teach Sayori" She suggested, Aaron and Yuri getting even more nervous at the thought of pitting their skills against each other.

"Tha-That's not our way!" Yuri said immediately, turning down Natsuki's proposal. "Competition creates needless adversity and division! We'd all end up snarling, growling and tearing each others throats out like animals!"

"Yeah. Besides, we all know Aaron would crush the both of you" Sayori added, Yuri and Natsuki's brows jumping up, the both of them offended by such a statement.

"He would most certainly not!"

"Like hell he would! I'd own that little scrub!"

"Um… I'm right here, guys" Aaron stated, reminding the club of his presence, Yuri quickly turning to face him, embarrassed yet again.

"S-Sorry, Aaron. I didn't mean it as a personal insult or anything. It just got blurted out" She apologized.

"I'm not sorry. I meant it. I'm gonna dominate you, loser!" Natsuki stated as fact, a playful smile on her face, conveying that the insult, though still an insult, was in the spirit of good fun.

"You know guys, maybe a competition is a good idea after all" Sayori said, the rest of the club turning their gaze to her. Yuri gave her a disapproving look, thinking her insane, whereas Natsuki was proud at the fact that her president agreed with her.

"What are you talking about?" Aaron asked.

"I've been thinking for awhile. You know the festival that's gonna take place next week?" She asked, the three other members nodding their heads. "We should put on an event and make your poetry competition the highlight!" She suggested.

"WHAT?!" Yuri shouted loudly, terrified at the idea of her poems being exposed to the public.

"That's perfe- Wait, hold on! WHAT?!" Natsuki shouted even louder. "You misunderstood. I meant that we'd compete amongst ourselves. Not in front of other people!" She quickly clarified, her hands going up in the air as a result. "Besides, we all agreed that we wouldn't do anything for the festival!"

"Yeah, but that was because we didn't even know if we could do anything in the first place. But a poetry competition sounds like a great idea! We don't really have to make it a competition if you guys don't want to. It could just be a performance instead! Yeah, I like that idea better! And we can even let other people perform their poems too!" Sayori suggested.

"That… doesn't make it sound any better" Yuri said quietly.

"The answer is no! Out of the question! I'd rather kill myself then perform in front of others!" Natsuki added worriedly.

"Aww come on, guys! Think about it this way, if we put on a decent performance and people see it, there's a good chance we'll get some new members" Sayori stated. "Might I remind you that there are still only four people in here? Members are a resource our club desperately needs in order to survive" She added.

"Well, when you put it like that, it kinda sounds like a good idea" Aaron finally spoke up, putting his two cents into the conversation. "I mean, the whole club's purpose is to share literature and express ourselves right? We'd kinda be doing a disservice if we didn't jump on the chance to do so. And besides, if we get new members, that's just a bonus… Right?" He asked, looking at the three girls for their input.

"Well… If Aaron's all for it, then I guess I am as well" Yuri stated, finally giving in. "He's right. It's for the good of the club. Think about the club" She added, Aaron feeling as if she was telling that to herself instead of everyone else.

"Great! Yuri and Aaron are on board! What about you, Natsuki?" Sayori asked, turning to Natsuki only to find her crossing her arms, huffing and pouting as she looked away.

"You guys are just gonna do it without me anyway. So fine. We'll do your little performance" She said, not exactly looking forward to it but also knowing that it was going to happen anyways, regardless.

Natsuki may as well go along with it for the purpose of humoring Sayori, only to wait for her chance to say I told you so to Sayori once it blew up horribly, which it was going to. But hey, captain and crew go down with the ship, right?

"Great! Okay guys, the festival isn't for another week and it's Friday now, so we've got more then enough time to prepare! This is gonna be so fun!" Sayori said in excitement, hardly able to contain herself.

Everyone else though, they weren't as enthusiastic. Yuri was a nervous wreck again. Natsuki was mumbling angrily to herself and Aaron… Aaron didn't even know what to think!

Performing? In front of people? Not something anyone is really willing to do, let alone a couple of introverts like him, Yuri and Natsuki. It was too late to back out though. The die was cast and they'd all just have to deal with it. Go along and each take one for the team, even if it meant being faced with incredible amounts of embarrassment and ridicule from complete strangers.

The final bell then rang loudly, signaling the end of all club activities in the school, Aaron, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri all packing up their things and leaving the club at once, walking out of the building in a group with Sayori leading, discussing the various plans and ideas she had for their event in the upcoming festival.