AN: Again, I apologize for the re-upload, I know that a lot of you get notifications via email, so your inbox exploded by the influx of updates. Sorry about that. To make up for it, I made a extra fluffy chapter between Natsuki and Val. Enjoy.
"See! Most of the volumes are in the wrong order! Not only that, they are different manga titles!"
"Jeez Natsuki, just cause I don't read manga, doesn't mean I'm an idiot. I know how issues and titles work!"
"Whatever. I'm just covering my bases. I don't want you touching my stuff wrongly."
Touching them wrongly?
"Okay, so what... we only sort the volumes out?"
"Yeah, are you going to help or be a useless model mannequin?!"
A what? A Model mannequin? What does that even mean?!
"Of course... so we place them here?" I point to one side of bookshelf.
"Obviously!"
"Jeez, alright..." I place the books in one by one, making sure they are all from the same title.
There was one book covered in what it seems to be wrapped in construction paper and a loose piece of tape was placed to hold it all in place.
"Huh? What's this?" I walked up to Natsuki.
"What's what?" She looked towards me in confusion.
"Ah!" Her face flared up to an unimaginable degree.
"G-g-ive th-that to me now! Give it!" Natsuki then tries to reach for the book, hurriedly, as if she really didn't want me to see that. I made sure to keep it from her grasp by holding it a few inches in the air, to a point where she has to jump for it.
"Stop it! Give it back! ARGH! If I wasn't so short..."
"Hold on, I have an open mind about your so called 'manga'. Just lemme take a litte peak at least..."
"No! Come on! Give it back!... Please!"
"Alright, jeez. I was just messing with ya." I hand the covered book up to her.
She treats that with guilt, whatever that book is... it can't be good. Wait no... I don't think that's the case... Judging from her behavior... is that her...her stash?!
I shook my head.
Ugh... that's gross. Now she thinks I'm a nosy asshole... Nothing I can do about this now.
I return to my pile of books and started sorting them out again. It seemed as if all were in series.
The title of the books were called "Parfait Girls".
I cringed slightly at the overly vibrant use of colors and poses at the cover. Letting go of that, I slowly place each volume in chronological order.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15?
Where's volume number 13?
"Uh, Natsuki?"
"What?!" She was busy organizing her side of the shelf.
"There's a missing volume from uh... "Parfait Girls"? I can't seem to find it."
"What?!" Natsuki immediately stops organizing and rushes towards me. "Where?!" She sounded frantic as if the volume was of utmost significance to her.
"Here. I have all the volumes 1-15, but I'm missing 13."
"Double check it then!"
I checked carefully to see if I misplaced it somewhere on the shelf. However, I couldn't find it anywhere near me.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ... 14 and 15.
"Nope. This set is complete from the looks of it, except for the fact that it's 'Parfait Girls.' volume 13..."
"No! It can't be! Let me check!" Natsuki then takes out each volume of different titles, desperately trying to find the volume.
"Check the other shelves!"
"Right. Got it." I walk over to the other bookshelves trying to finding missing volume 13.
I sharpen my eyes to see if the book was misplaced anywhere. It was fruitless, I couldn't find anything with the volume number 13.
"Nat! I can't find it anywhere here!"
"No!" She screeches.
I shook my head at her restlessness, I walked up to her and placed my hand on shoulder. She was looking down in frustration. "Look Natsuki, take a breather. You need to calm down."
She looks up to me with tears on the corners of her hot pink eyes, she's clearly hurt.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She yells in anger.
I sighed. This was going go anywhere. I place my other hand on her other shoulder and led her to a seat. "Natsuki. Please calm down."
She takes multiple deep breathes to calm herself down. Her anger subsided, she looked defeated, helpless and empty. She staring at floor with lifeless eyes. This was a contrast to the vibrant Natsuki I know...
I'm going to do anything to help her. Whatever it takes to bring a smile, a glare, or a laugh from her.
"Okay. I'm assuming that volume 13 is your favorite issue of "Parfait Girls." Right?"
She gives a weak nod.
"So all we got to do, is check each shelf carefully- Oh, is that it?"
"Huh?"
I point to an oddly placed book in a stack of books for the class in this classroom.
She takes my finger and aims it to what I'm pointing at, checking carefully to where her favorite volume is. My finger, now encaged by Natsuki's grasp, is then placed against her cheek. It's as if she was aiming it herself. Natsuki then let's go of my finger and rushes towards my aim, checking the stack.
She bends down and picks up any irrelevant books and lobs them behind her back, towards me.
"Hey! Watch it!"
She obviously didn't care. After a few seconds, she gasped in a surprised manner. I take at her look posture, now reinvigorated with life, something good or bad was about to happen...
"IT IS!" She picks the book and holds it in the air, as if she has found treasure. Natsuki then hugs the book close to chest, smiling all the while.
Aww... That's adorable... I should get a nickel to every time I comment on something cute...
Natsuki then scuttles towards me with her arms out. She grabs me in to a hug and squeezes me.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She thanked while hugging and jumping in joy. I was confused to what was going on...
She lets go of me and hoisted herself up.
"Mmmoah!"
What the? What did she do? My cheek feels warm...
I'm dumbfounded as to what happened. I was rubbing my affected cheek. I could've sworn my jaw dropped and locked up at the same time.
Natsuki giggled at my reaction. "You're so cute, Val."
Uh. I don't know what to say to that.
"Um... Thanks, it's what friends are for right?"
I scratch her hair for a bit, to which she closed her eyes and enjoyed. All of a sudden she opened her eyes and gave a small glare.
"Hmph!"
"Wha-? What's wrong?!"
"Argh! Men are such idiots!"
"What did I do wrong?"
"Don't worry about it! Now come with me, moron!"
Why is she so angry all of a sudden?! And... well there goes my catchphrase.
Natsuki grabs my hand and pulls me to the far end of the closet, to utility door was seen. She pushes the door open and throws me, or at least to attempts to throw me to one side of the utility room. She closes the door.
"Sit!"
"I-I-I can't!"
"What?! Did you hit head or something?! Sit!"
"I did leg day, a few days back. So I'm still pretty sore..."
"Aww... Val did leg day and he says his legs hurts..." She teases with a mocking tone, to which I roll my eyes. "Yeah? So what?""
There was nothing really I could have done to counter, Natsuki pushed me down to the floor, to which I had to oblige... with a immense amount of pain. I let out a sharp hiss to acknowledgement of it. She then followed suit afterwards.
Thankfully, the pain subsided fairly quickly, so I was able to be accustomed to the sitting arrangement.
She's really close to me. Her unflinching confidence doesn't help either...
"Read!"
She hands me the missing volume she found.
I rolled my eyes. "Natsuki, I'll read if you stop treating me like a dog..."
"Sometimes, you people need to know your place! Now read!"
Jesus Christ! She is feisty!
"Fine... Now... 'Parfait Girls?'
"Do you want to get smacked?"
"What?! Why?!"
"You're judging by the book by it's cover!"
"I'm not, I swear! I was just confused for a bit... The over use of color just hurts my eyes..."
"See! You are judging! I thought the first lesson in literature is not to judge a book by its cover!"
"Alright... my bad. I won't 'judge'." She gives a breath of relief.
"Hey, wait a minute... why aren't we using chairs?"
"Cuz, chairs wouldn't work. We can't read at the same time like that. I saw how awkward it was for you and Yuri to read at the same time." She doused Yuri's name in snake venom.
I shuddered at the scene where I was "forced" to read alongside with Yuri. It was something that I probably wouldn't want to do again.
Wait a minute... She saw us?!
For a split second my eyes widened in shock then went back to it's normal size, after I was able to calm myself
"Ah. You're right... It's easier to read when we are close together."
"Wha-? You idiot!" Natsuki smacks my cheek.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"D-Don't say that! You're making me feel weird about all this... idiot." She slides off a by good few inches.
"Okay... sorry." I rubbed my cheek in pain.
"Well?! What are you waiting for?! Open the book already!"
"Yes ma'am." I open the book and I was greeted by an explosion of colors.
It's so hard to read all this...
Using my peripheral vision, I can see her getting closer to me, keeping an unwavering stare at me, in an effort to cover up her advances during the process. She slowly reclaims lost ground in manner of seconds. I can feel her shoulder touching mine...
Oh god. I don't hope that this won't be a re-run of last time...
"Woah... this all looks new... it's as if I never read this issue."
"What do you mean it all looks new? You don't re-read any older volumes? Hold on, didn't you say this was your favorite issue?"
"Stop with the questions, Val. I don't always re-read any of the older volumes, I do it when I feel like it. I can't remember why I love this issue so much... but there has to be a certain event that I liked... hey!"
"What?"
"Are you even paying attention?"
"Are you paying attention?" I counter.
"Yeah, I am! Now read the book already!"
"Alright, alright..."
From the looks of it, it's about a group of friends in high school, all of which they've met during the first day of freshman year.
Sounds familiar...
Nothing interesting has happened yet, so this seems to be a sitcom sort of novel... this is going to be boring. Comics such as DC and Marvel have awe-inspiring events and plots, such as DC Metal or the Infinity Wars Trilogy...
Man. I want to read those again.
"Hey! You're zoning out!"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I was thinking sorry. Just want to know if there is any plot to this. I don't think I can stand sitcom series..."
"Well, no shit! You think I would enjoy something that didn't have a plot?"
"Yeah... you look like the type of girl to like that, actually."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" She yelled at me with a white-hot glare.
I self-consciously chuckle from her outburst. "Nothing..."
"Good. Anyway, I get what you are trying to say, Val. The beginning has a slow start, that's true, you have to start with the characters and settings and stuff... But I can guarantee that it gets a lot better, like a lot better. One of my favorite chapters is about when they were obsessed, like borderline 'yandere' to a new transfer in their school!"
Obsessed? Like that doesn't sound familiar at all...
"Hey, what's a 'yandere'? I've never heard of that term."
"Hmm? 'Yandere'? I guess you can say... someone obsessive to the point, where they will hurt anyone who gets close to their interest in anyway. It's like eliminating competition by any means necessary..."
"Ah. 'By any means necessary?' That sounds really unhealthy."
"It is, Val. It really is. Like there's this certain girl that needs to get out check for that..."
I didn't pay any attention to that, I could tell that Natsuki has "beef" with Yuri... It's best that I don't stoke the fire between them.
"I gotta say... is it common?"
"Not really... I guess you can call it, somewhat uncommon to have that condition. Anyway, get back to reading, slave!"
"Slave? That's a little over the top Natsuki, even from you."
"Shut up and read."
I continue reading and I'm up to a part where they seem to baking something. A disagreement comes out from all of them and this disagreement turns into a full blown argument.
Jesus. Do girls argue all the time? Thank God, we males aren't that advanced...
"This chapter is all about baking... There's something I can pick up here..."
"Wait, Val. You cook?"
"I cook to survive, if that's what you are asking. And no, it's not about preparing instant ramen and oven-ready meals. I know how to prepare some complicated meals."
"Interesting... I mean! That's pathetic..."
"Yeah, yeah. Lemme read." I smirked.
She can't get angry if she wants me to read in the first place.
The argument diminishes after a few pages. They come up to a consensus with some bad blood between the group. The scene then changes to the high school, to which they talking about the new transfer as usual.
Not bad so far... It feels cozy to read this.
...
I can feel Natsuki getting closer and closer to my arm. Using my peripheral vision, she's looking at me with caution, ready to back away in a moment's notice. She gets closer until she...
Yep. Just as I thought. Great.
Natsuki has her chin on my shoulder, taking the front of looking over the volume, rather being close to me.
Argh, I hate this.
I couldn't help but take occasional glances towards her hair. Something about it, attracts me for some inexplicable reason.
Wow, ok... her hair is actually quite beautiful... and full of life... The pink color seems inviting... I feel as if It's drawing me closer to it... It looks so soft and fluffy...
I place my cheek on her head.
Jesus, I don't even know when enough is enough. What's wrong with me?
I nuzzle her hair with my cheek, embracing it's delicate and soft touch. In response, Natsuki giggled.
"Hehe! Stop that!"
I took a whiff of her hair.
Well shit. I'm beyond redemption. Not even God can help me.
Her hair smells like a perfect combination of strawberries and cotton candy. It's irresistible! My willpower couldn't break me from Natsuki's fresh aroma.
Gah... I'm so weak.
"Val, hehe! Hehe, that tickles! Stop it, haha!"
I ceased my assault and got back up to read the volume. I continued reading and hoped that she would read with me, but that wasn't the case. After all, I'm the idiot that caused all this... It's as if I don't have control my actions anymore...
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her looking at me, dead on just staring at me. I looked towards her and didn't cease the stare. Her breathing was somewhat heavy and erratic, a sign of worse things to come.
Natsuki then took my arm and went under it, cuddling me.
I'm thinking that personal space doesn't exist anymore, does it?
She moved lower and buried herself into my chest. All I can see is not the book, but rather her face nuzzling my chest. She took a deep breath into my chest.
Aw crap...
"It smells like you... Aaah."
Yep. Definitely what I wanted.
I tried to pull my arm out, only for her to look up at me and glare.
"No! Your arm will stay where it is!"
"Okay..."
Despite all that has happened, we continued to read on. We reached a part to something that triggers Natsuki to laugh.
"Hahaha! Hehe!"
"Huh? What are you laughing at?"
"I laughing at this!" She points to a panel. "Minori is my favorite character. You always feel a little bad for her, since she's so unlucky. But it gets especially bad when-"
I tighten my jaw and put on my serious face. I take a neutral tone, I was a tiny bit pissed. "Are you laughing at someone else's pain, Natsuki?"
"Wha? No! No! Not like that! Most the things that are bad are harmless. And what happens to Minori isn't bad, but it's more on a comedic scale..."
I can tell she got a little scared, when I drastically changed my expression. "Oh. I see."
Natsuki looks away in another direction, apparently uninterested to what goes on next. She was excited to show me what was going to happen next but now... now it's stark contrast now. She has a small frown and her eyes look hurt. It's as if I yelled at her and berated her...
That was uncalled for Val, you should have asked what she meant by it... Not attack her...
I put my arm around her back and gave her a one-armed hug.
"Hey look Natsuki, I'm sorry that I got a little, uh 'serious' there..."
She didn't respond.
"Okay, let me make it up to you. I'll go with you to shop for whatever you want. I assure you, it won't be a problem, Yuri can suck it up. I'm going to movies with her, that should be more than enough."
She moved her head to face me in such a quick manner, that I thought she snapped her neck... She was surprised to say the least.
"R-really?"
"Yep."
"Yay!" She tackles me to the ground with a bone-crushing hug. She wraps her arms behind my back, her head on my chest. Her legs were on each side of my body.
How does she have the strength to push me down and hug me with enormous amount of force? She's smaller than me! How's this even possible? Ugh. Whatever...
I couldn't tell how long it has been, since Natsuki hugged me.
Was it a 20 seconds? 30? 40? A minute? Two minutes?!
"Uh... Natsuki?"
"Hmm?" She said in a muffled tone.
"Can I get up now?"
She lets go my back from her entangling arms. She moves her arms to each side of my head. Her pink eyes were twinkling from the light, they were piercing down mine. She had a devilish smirk on her face.
"Why don't you make me? Aren't you strong, Val?"
"Hmph. I am... I think... But I'm giving you a warning. Or else."
She sits on my stomach and crosses her arms, to show her superiority. "Or else, what? Huh?!"
She asked for it, I did warn her though.
I got my arms up and showed her my hands, as if they were ready to pounce.
"Haha! Are you trying scare me with that? Seriously I thought- Aah!"
I assault her sides with my hands and tickled her. She was squirming uncontrollably to my tickling.
"Aah! No! Hahaha! Ah!"
"Say mercy!"
"Ahaha! Hehe! N-neverah! Haha!"
It's a wonder that no body paid any mind to what we were doing. I shifted my weight towards, it was abrupt to see us switch sides. I carefully made sure, she didn't get hurt during the shift.
"Alright, if you don't give up. Then I'll unleash my ultimate weapon!"
"T-try me, hahaha! Hehehe!"
She gave me no choice.
I buried my face into stomach and nuzzled it. Her squirming had gone to an apex level and she couldn't stop resisting to my tickles.
"HAHA! AHAHA! OKAY! I SURRENDER!"
"What's the magic wooord?"
"MERCY!"
I stopped my assault and got off her, sitting right next to her. We were giggling to what just happened. Our faces were red from the tickle fight.
"Wow, Val. That was pretty fun..."
"Yeah..."
We hear someone stomping outside the closet room. We both shuffle back to our feet and tried to act normal.
With a frightening amount of force, the door kicks open. There we see an Monika, hiding her vexation with a forced smile.
"There you two are! I've looking for both of you! What were you two doing?"
"Uh..." I started.
"We were reading volume 13 of Parfait Girls, Monika." Natsuki calmly interjects. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
This catches Monika off-guard. She definitely didn't expect a collected Natsuki. "N-no... I was just a little... worried."
"Well, don't worry about it then. Come Val, let's go exchange our poems with everyone." She takes my hand and gently pulls me.
I look back at Monika, she wasn't pissed. It was something much more...
Aw shit...
I make my way to my seat and take out my poem.
Okay, first thing's first. Share it to Tommy. Hopefully it won't be a garbled mess like before.
"Yo, Tommy!"
"Oh hey, Val! Wanna switch up?"
"Obviously. C'mon."
We switch poems, Tommy again wrote his poem on computer paper...
Seriously? It's still the same thing!
TGVhdmUgbWUgYWxvbmUu
SSdtIGEgbG9zdCBjYXVzZS4=
WW91IHNob3VsZCBsZWF2ZSBhcyBzb29uIGFzIHBvc3NpYmxlIEZyYW5rLiA=
SSBkaWQgdGhpcywgYWxsIHRoaXMgd2FzIG91dCBvZiBteSBvd24gYWNjb3JkLg==
VGhlIHJlYWwgd29ybGQgaXMgcGFpbmZ1bC4=
QnV0IGhlcmUgaXQgaXNuJ3QuLi4gZm9yIG5vdy4=
QmUgd2FyeSBvZiBNb25pa2EsIEZyYW5rLg==
A message came right below this text.
ERROR! RUNTIME BASE64 HAS EXPERIENCED AN UNSUSPECTING FAULT! REINTIALIZING!
The garbled text remained, a title appeared right above the "poem".
Pain.
Pain? What? I don't get it...
I looked up to Tommy, he was done reading my poem.
"Val, dude. This poem is awesome. I love it."
I couldn't even read his... I have no idea what Pain has to do to with his poem. Is it supposed to be a brief summary what the poem is, since the machine can't really decipher or fix all this?
"Thanks, Tom. Your poem was great, see? You have talent for this stuff!"
"Really? Thanks! I gotta show this to Monika..."
"Yeah, you do that."
With a nod, Tommy left to go find Monika.
Next up, Sayori...
This world is getting stranger by the second. Sure it was weird at first, but it was relatively stable, except that for that voice... It sounds just like me but at the same time... It doesn't...
I rubbed my face with my hand. Trying to keep myself awake from all the stresses this world was exerting.
My will is strong still... But I need guidance to help Tommy out of this shithole... I don't have any idea how to even help him properly... And I know I'm making a huge hole in the near future... All these girls they keep ganging up on me. I just can't get a breather! I'm fighting with exhaustion! Friday has to be the day where I gather my thoughts and relax...
I sigh.
God, why do people suffer in such terrible ways...