Author's Note!
Two things I want to say so let's keep this short and simple. First, I'll try to upload a chapter of DDLC: Our Reality every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, the rest are for the other fanfic. Second, this chapter concludes the Sayori Arc and is the start of the Natsuki Arc. Thank you so much and here is the next chapter! _
Today is the day! The day of the school festival! Monika watched me prepare the stuff we made during Saturday. I was happy that I managed to prevent Sayori from becoming a house decoration and finally see her on the road to recovery. Sayori went home this morning to take a bath and change into her uniform. She wanted to go home last night but I didn't let her, the risk of Sayori committing suicide was too much for me, so I made her sleep here. Monika hummed an invigorating melody as I finally placed the last of the cupcakes in a tray. I really wanted to eat some of the cupcakes but Monika would shot me a glare if I start to think about it. She started to flip trough the logs as I finished gently wrapping the trays of cupcakes with tinfoil. Monika sighed and slid me the notebook. Natsuki's situation is worsening. We forgot to look at the logs during Sunday, so we missed at least one major log about Natsuki.
Time: Sunday, 8:37 pm Location: Natsuki's Living Room
Natsuki listened to the drunken ramblings of her father again. He noticed that she was losing attention due to her starting to sleep. Natsuki immediately noticed this but was too late. She got slapped repeatedly while her father held her arm tightly to the point it bruised her. He proceeded to shout at her for being so disrespectful. He locked her in her room without dinner immediately after.
Damn, never in my life have I wanted to punch someone so badly before. I swear, if I meet this guy I'm gonna throw a punch that hurts as much as the pain Natsuki endured from him. I clenched my teeth at this, to think we had the same kind of abusive parent, the only difference is that at least mom showed too much love for me. I gritted my teeth in anger and disgust at this scum, but Monika hugged me from behind. Her warmth and soothing embrace managed to calm my nerves.
" Hey, don't get too mad Yoku. I'm confident that you would be able to save her from this. You managed to save Sayori, so I'm pretty sure you can do it with Natsuki. Now, show me that smile I really love so much!" Monika pinched my cheeks and started pulling. I laughed at this yet at the same time was in pain. Suddenly, Sayori excitedly burst trough the door and saw this scene. We looked at her, my cheeks still being pulled by Monika into a large smile. Sayori laughed and ran up to Monika.
" Ehehe~ I always wanted to this to the president. Now that your hands are occupied, I can do this!"
" Kyah! S-Sayori! Ahaha~ That tickles! Ahaha, stop!" Sayori began to tickle Monika's sides, causing her to let go of me. Sayori stopped and smiled at Monika.
" Ehehe... I got you!" Sayori exclaimed and started to laugh while Monika also started to laugh.
" I think that's enough horsing around. Okay everyone let's go!" I clasped my hands as I said these words. Everyone in the room nodded and began to carry something.
The walk to school is cheerful. Monika and I saw once again that cheerful and happy Sayori that I saw on the early part of Act 1. I smiled at this, with Sayori, my job would be easier since she actually knows how to deal with people. Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. We turned around to see Akami-sama, except he is now wearing wearing a surgical mask, his skin was pale and his eyes were sunken.
" Hey! You want any help with that?" He pointed to the things we carried.
" What the hell man?! No! Look at yourself! You look like you're about to collapse!" I scolded him while the others looked on. He laughed and patted me on my head. He ruffled my hair and smiled.
" Nah! I just didn't get enough sleep. Now, give me that tray." He took the second tray and proceeded to carry it with us. He still had energy, but we were still worried about him. As we neared school, Sayori turned around at us and started to slowly walk backwards. Sayori smiled at him and began to talk.
" You're a really good friend of Yoku, huh? I hope you get better soon Sir Akami, I think Yuko is really worried about you." Sayori smiled at Akami-sama before turning around to see where she is going.
" Nah! He isn't worried about me! Besides, look at me! I'm still strong enough to carry stuff." We laughed at the god, who was proud of the feat of carrying 25 cupcakes.
We reached the school gates and Akami-sama gave me back the tray. He waved goodbye before going proceeding to help another student carry some materials. We heard someone calling out to us as we made our way inside the campus. We turned around to see Natsuki waving and running towards us. Yuri followed from a distance, clearly uncomfortable with the looks Natsuki was getting.
" H-Hey... Natsuki, pipe down a little, people are looking at us." Yuri stammered out quietly towards Natsuki.
" So what? At least we're getting the attention of possible new club members. Who knows, people may join just because of your looks." Natsuki smirked at the embarrassed Yuri.
" E-eh?! I-I'm not s-something to b-be ogled at!" Yuri started to fluster and face started to turn as red as a tomato.
" Yeah, with a rack like that I'm sure you'll get many followers. Now, start carrying stuff! We have tons to do!" Natsuki gave Yuri a ton of of the props that would give the clubroom a calm and soothing atmosphere.
" Now, now Natsuki, let's not be mean towards Yuri. We can't let her get all embarrassed and frightened by the possible new club members." I lightly warned Natsuki, who just gave me a cold and annoyed shrug.
" Come on everyone! Let's get to the clubroom so that we could be able to set up." Monika politely interjected and stopped the situation from escalating further.
" Yeah! The sooner we could get started, the sooner we get to eat!" Sayori cheerfully exclaimed before walking again towards the school building.
We entered the silent and calm clubroom, it's large and clear windows gave the room a moderate level of light. But as we set foot in it, it seemed to come alive. Sayori's cheerfulness and energy gave the room that youthful and warm atmosphere. Natsuki's smugness and tsundere attitude gave the room that cute and quirky vibe. Yuri's calm, peaceful and timid nature gave the room a serious yet tranquil aura. So this is the charm of the Literature Club, the charm that pulled me into playing this game. Monika knew this and was responsible for making sure that their personalities complimented each other in order for the clubroom to have that quirky appeal.
" This is the reason that made it so hard for me to delete this place. It was like a home to me, and everyone was a family." Her green eyes gazed into the scene infront of us. Yuri hanging the banners and design, Sayori arranging the tables and tidying up the room and Natsuki arranging the cupcakes.
" I understand, after all, I want to be a part of this." Looking at everyone, I wanted this kind of peaceful and fun times to last forever. Monika nudged the side of my arm with her elbow.
" Hey, go help Natsuki. I'm gonna help Sayori and Yuri. Try to get her out of her shell and expose that soft side of hers." She gave me a thumbs up before pushing me towards Natsuki's direction.
Natsuki stood at the far back of the classroom. She stood near the shelf that kept Yuri's tea set. I looked around the room and saw Monika and Sayori happily chatting with each other as they placed the pamphlets they made during the weekend on the different tables. I glanced at Yuri's direction to see how she is doing. Her tall and developed figure that is lit by the bright light of the sun has a sort of enticing allure. She reached the curtain rods on top of the windows, I gazed at her to see if she needs help. Suddenly, A rolled up manga hit the back of my head lightly, I turned around to see Natsuki. She had a disgusted look on ger face.
" Perv. You're supposed to help me not peek under her skirt." She sighed and shook her head at me.
" W-wait! You got it wrong! I'm n-" We heard the chair Yuri was standing on start to wobble and fall. I dashed to her direction with my arms outstretched. Thankfully, I caught her just before she hit the floor. Everyone dropped what they're doing and rushed beside Yuri.
" Yuri! Oh my god, are you ok? Does anything hurt? Geez, let me just sit you down." I placed the shocked and shivering Yuri on a chair. Natsuki suddenly shoved me a side and looked at Yuri's body.
" God, you're such a klutz! Here, does it hurt? You want some tea? Tell me if you want to go to the nurse office." Natsuki was looking carefully at Yuri's body. Yuri managed to recover from her shock and get back to her feet.
" N-No, I... I'm fine, Natsuki. Thank you for asking though, I appreciate the thought. Thank you Yoku, I am indebted to you. If it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened to me." Yuri clasped my hands and looked at me with a grateful expression.
" Okay everyone, let's get back to the task at hand. Yuri, are you sure you don't want to go to the clinic?" Monika, concerned and worried about Yuri, asked with calm tone.
" Y-Yes, I'm fine... but may I go to the comfort room?" Yuri played with her long purple hair with fidgety hands. Monika simply nodded and Yuri dashed like the wind to get outside the room.
We went back to what we were doing. The room was starting to cheer up again, but slowly. Everyons was still rattled by the incident that just happened. Sayori tried to brighten up the atmosphere a bit by telling jokes. I focused on making sure the cupcakes are not ruined or damaged by improper handling. I heard a faint yet audible whisper from Natsuki.
" I'm... sorry." Her head was faced away from me. I smile and ruffle her brightly pink hair. She suddenly turned around her hair and looked at me with a shocked and irritated expression.
" What the hell?! Do you know how long it takes just to comb my hair?! What is wrong with your head?" She started to fix her hair so that no strands of her pink hair is out of place.
" You don't have to say sorry, you were protecting your friend. Besides, my gaze was starting to shift focus." We both softly laughed at this, but I felt a rush of sleepiness so my eyes started to close. I opened my eyes to see Natsuki fixing her hair once again, but as she lifted her arm, the sleeve of her blazer was pulled back. It revealed a nasty and purple bruise near her wrist. She must've noticed the concerned gaze that I gave so she instinctively covered it again. I took two chairs beside us and I sternly told her to sit, an order she followed quickly.
" Natsuki, I understand why you don't want to talk about it and I won't force you. It must be rough for you at your house, so if you want, you can always give me a call. I would be willing to talk about you with your problems, and if needed, open the doors of my house for you." I intently awaited her response. She sat quietly and firm, her face lowered to not let me see her expression. Finally, she looked up to me and her pink eyes called out to me for help.
" Thank you, Yoku. I won't forget what you said, so you better ready your house if I decide to go and sleep over." Her tsun tun attitude is slowly warming up to me. I nod and smiled at her.
" Of course Natsuki! I'll make it so clean you can eat on the floor." We chuckled as we began to finish unloading the cupcakes from the container and into the serving trays.