Sayori and I rushed inside my house while I carried Natsuki. We gently lay her down on the sofa and begin to panic as to what must be happening.
" Yoku! What should we do?! Should we call her fathe-"
" NO!!! Erm, I mean... Hold on a second." Sayori was taken aback by my sudden exclamation.
" I'm sorry Sayori, I'll tell you all about it later. For now, let's focus on helping Natsuki, okay?" Sayori glanced over at the unconscious Natsuki, then turned towards me and gave me a firm nod.
" Okay, I'm gonna call Monika. I think she would have some knowledge about what to do. You stay here and watch Natsuki." Sayori nods and proceeds to stand near Natsuki. I grab my phone and called up Monika. As expected, she answered near instantly.
" Hi dear~ Why'd you call? Do you need anything?" I paused for a moment to think how I'm gonna phrase this.
" Erm, I need you to run over here. Natsuki is passed out in my living room. Sayori is keeping watch on he-...hold on." I put my phone down for a moment and looked trough the curtains in my living room.
A black car with tinted windows drove slowly trough the streets. Its low hum echoed trough the quiet and dimly lit neighborhood. Whoever the driver of the car was seems to be looking for someone. Afrter a few moments, it passed by ny house and disappeared beyond the curb. I let out a relieved sigh and picked up my phone again.
" Erm, Monika, I need you over here as quickly as you can." I waited for Monika's reply as I kept watch trough the curtains.
" Um, sure... 5 minutes. I'll be right over." Her tone is now serious and concerned. She hung up and I placed my phone in my pocket. I looked at myself at the mirror and stretched my arms, damn I need a shower right now. I told Sayori to call me if something happens, before I went upstairs to take a bath.
Just as I finished my shower, I heard the front door swing open and the worried voices of Monika and Akami-sama. I hurriedly put on some clothes and went down stairs. They were all huddled together on the sofa, watching over Natsuki. Natsuki is sweating heavily and she seems to have some difficulty in breathing.
" Poor girl, must've ran here as fast as she could while battling hunger and fatigue. The lack of food and energy coupled with such a stressful dash to here made her body go into shock." Akami-sama places a hand on her forehead.
" I'll get her some water. Yoku, cook some food for her so that she has something to eat when she wakes up." Monika leaves and head toward the kitchen and I followed after her.
Monika took a pitcher of cold water from the refrigerator. As she poured the water into an empty glass, I told her all about the car earlier. She shook and slump her head in response.
" It must be her father looking for her. I wonder what happened, I guess we should just ask her about it later, for now, lets just see if Natsuki is okay." Monika took the glass of water and brought it to the living room.
I sighed and began to prepare some food for the five of us. I took out some dehydrated tofu and ramen noodles, I'm going to make some vegetarian ramen for all of us. I was about to begin preparing my ingredients when I heard Sayori yell that Natsuki is waking up. I dropped everything I was doing and rushed to her side. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Monika handed her a glass of water and she smiled weakly to us. We sat her up carefully and she began to gulp down the refreshing liquid down her throat. After she finished her drink, her eyes began to water as she clenched her fists.
" T-Thank... you... Thank you, for helping me." As she stammered out those words, she embraced me tightly and began to sob. Everyone, except Akami-sama hugged her tightly. After a moment, we pulled away from the warm and comforting embrace.
" Sayori... Monika... even Akami-sensei, what are you guys doing here?" She asked softly. Sayori placed her hands on Natsuki's shoulder and smiled.
" We're here to help you, dummy! You made Yoku and I worried when you collapsed in front of his house." Sayori began to tear up as well.
" Oh, I see... Well, I'm fine now! See? W-woah!" Natsuki stammered to her feet as she got off the sofa. She wanted Sayori not worry too much about her.
" Careful! Your body is still weak, so don't force yourself." Monika assisted Natsuki by shouldering her arm. Natsuki smiled at her.
" Gee, even outside the school you act like our club president." Natsuki chuckled as Monika held her up.
" Ahaha~ We're still a club afterall, even if if we are not at school. Besides, I think taking good care care of you guys is something I should do." Monika and Natsuki laughed. I stood up and clasped my hands to get everyone's attention.
" Welp, I guess it's now time to eat, huh? Natsuki, want to watch me cook?" Natsuki finally manage to stand on her own, although she is unsteady. She smirked at me, with that smug look on face.
" Tch, you better make something good, I'm starving!" She huffed at me while I chuckle to myself.
" Sure! I'll make something that would blow your mind away!" I proudly exclaimed to Natsuki, before heading ti the kitchen.
I started to prepare all the ingredients before me. Soy milk, my special vegetarian stock, miso, garlic, ginger, ebi taro, carrots, and lotus and burdock root, all this I laid out before me. I brought out the dehydrated tofu and I let it soak up a mixture of sake, grated ginger and potato starch. After a few minutes, I fried the tofu with a soy sauce and mirin sauce. I finished frying up the tofu and started making the broth for the ramen. It was just a simple process, mince the garlic and ginger, boil the carrot and taro and slice the lotus and burdock roots into thin slices before deep frying the said roots. I made the broth by putting the ginger, garlic and miso in a pan and boiling it all in soy milk and the vegetarian stock I made. As I finished boiling the broth, I could feel their gazes penetrating me. I could hear Sayori and Natsuki drool over the aroma of the broth. I finished making the ramen and garnished it with the fried burdock and lotus roots along with slices of boiled carrots. I made enough for seconds, due to the two being here, Sayori and that damn god who eats so much. I serve them the hot bowl of ramen along with chopsticks. I listened as they started slurping the noodles of the ramen.
" Holy hell! You made this without any meat?! Wait a minute... is this the ramen Joichiro made in Shoukugeki no Soma?!" Natsuki had this 'fan girl' look on her face as she asked me.
" Woah! You know about that anime?" I asked her with a curious tone.
" Yup! It's actually one of my favorite animes. I never knew you could actually recreate food from that show." Natsuki was impressed, but tried her best nkt to show it.
" Ahaha, this is why I like to eat here. (slurping noises) The food here is really good!" Akami-sama spoke while his face is stuffed with noodles.
" By the way, are you always here Akami-sensei?" Natsuki asked Akami-sensei with an inquisitive tone.
" Yup, that damn bum keeps arriving in my house at around the same time each day like clockwork." I grumble before slurping a mouthful of noodles.
" Hey! That's not nice, Yoku! Apologize to Akami-sensei." Sayori had a sort of mad expression.
" Nah! He is right, I should be ashamed... But am I ashamed? Nope! I'll keep eating here for as long as I want." Akami-sama laughed before gulping down the remaining broth in his bowl.
" Now, now... I won't allow this to get out of hand. Yoku, apologize to Akam- Hey, Natsuki, are you... okay?" Monika asked Natsuki with an expression of concern.
" Y-Yeah... I'm fine. It's just that, it has been a really long time since I enjoyed a meal during dinner time." Natsuki hid her face from us as she wiped her tears of joy from her face.
" Being forced to finish all of the food, or not even eating dinner has been a regular thing for me. But now, surrounded by friends and delicious food, I feel like, I'm in my true home." We smiled as Natsuki started gulping down the ramen I made.
" For the first time since forever, I actually want get a second round of food during dinner time." Natsuki held out her empty bowl to me and smiled.
" Seconds, coming right up!" I exclaimed as I took her bowl to fill it with ramen.
I just finished washing the last of the bowls when Monika called me to the living room. Everyone is sitting aroubd Natsuki as she readied to tell us what happened. Akami-sama left earlier due to 'work-related tasks' and such, so he had to leave us early. We sat around Natsuki as she told us the events that happened to her earlier.
" When I got home, my dad was drinking inside the house, which is odd. He shouldn't be home until 8:00 pm, but I found out why. He got fired from his job due to bad behavior and insubordination." Natsuki paused for a while to stop her shivering, then continued.
" When he saw me, he... frowned. He stood up and dashed towards me. That monster was about to throw a punch when I managed to close the door on his face." Natsuki once again took a moment to breathe and calm herself.
" I ran away, towards here. I felt that I could be safe here, for now. I kept running and running, even if my body is tired and painful due to hunger, I pressed on. Finally, I reached this place before passing out, and here we are!" Natsuki groaned and laid herself on the carpet.
" Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell us about your problem, Natsuki." Sayori crawled towards Natsuki to try and hug her, but Natsuki recoiled from her.
" Well, I did not want you guys to worry or get involved with my family. Second, I thought that you would feel sorry for me and... leave me behind." Natsuki trailed off near the end, but we stil understood her.
" We won't leave you! Besides, we want to help a friend in need." Sayori slowly inched closer to Natsuki, who is now being defensive.
" How? What could you do to help me? Call the cops? Child Protection Services? Good luck with that..." Natsuki glared at Sayori for a moment, before letting out a sigh.
" What do you mean? Natsuki... I know it hurts, but please, tell us. Tell us so that we may be able to try and help you " Monika held Natsuki's hand and gave her a look of concern.
"...(sigh) Dad has always been like this. When my mom still lived with us, the abuse towards me is not that great. His damn outbursts are always directed at mom. Sometimes, the neighbors would call the cops to check on us, but he would always manage to slip away or bribe them to go away. And when that happens, he goes nuts and his abuse towards the both of us becomes worse." Natsuki is starting to tear up, yet she continued.
" At some point, mom couldn't take it anymore and left the both of us. This really angered my dad and the idiot started unleashing his pent up anger on me. The bastard would beat me up and verbally abuse me everyday. After a while, I got used to it and just learned to live with it... Ughhh, why the hell am I telling you guys this?!" Natsuki groaned and got up on her feet.
" Natsuki... we understand. Look, take the time you need. Open up to us when you are ready. Until then, take your time." I smiled to try and comfort her.
" I wonder, why are you so nice to us, Yoku." Natsuki smiled at me before letting out a yawn.
" Oh right! Your uniform, I need to know your size so that I can see if I have some extra pair that can fit you. That way, we can go to school tomorrow." Monika got up on her feet and pushed her towards the stairs.
" Huh? W-Wait, why are you taking me upstairs?! Monika!!! Answer me!" Monika dragged Natsuki towards my room with a smile on her face.
I smiled and turned towards Sayori, who has a sad look on her face. She faced towards me and sighed heavily.
" I hope you could help Natsuki, the way you helped me when I needed it. I hope I could support you as best I could." Sayori places her hand on mine and smiled.
" I will Sayori, I will. I'll try my best." I pat Sayori before I yawned. Sayori smiled at me before standing up.
I walked her home in silence. As she closed the door behind her, I began to make my way home. But before I could enter the door, I heard Akami-sama's voice behind me. I looked behind me and saw that he was carrying a complete uniform for Natsuki. He asked if he could enter, to which I agreed. I lead him upstairs to my room where I could hear Monika and Natsuki's conversation.
" Geez, I can't believe that your chest is seriously this flat." Monika giggled at Natsuki.
" W-Wha?! What the hell Monika! Just because you have the second largest pair in the club, doesn't mean you have the right to criticize others." Natsuki huffed at Monika, who simply laughed.
" Ahaha~ True, my chest is nothing compared to Yuri's, but I don't think that matters. What matters is-"
"ACHOO!!!" Monika was cut short when Akami-sama sneezed beside me. Suddenly, Natsuki opened the door and we tumbled in.
" Pervert! Oh, Akami-sensei, ugh... I never judged you to be someone who likes to spy on women." Natsuki shot the both of us a look of disgust and anger. But that expression melted away when Akami-sama pointed at the uniforms beside him. Natsuki picked it up and proceeds to examine them.
" Wow, I'm impressed. This is a perfect fit for me. Hold on a second... where did you get this, Akami-sensei?" Natsuki looked at Akami-sama with a curious look.
" I... Uhhhhh... went... back to school! Yes, I was worried you won't have anything to wear so I bought you a uniform." The god proudly boasts and chuckle to himself while we all sighed at him.
" Just... the uniform? Nothing else?" Monika asks the god, who simply nods enthusiasticly.
" Idiot." I mutter to him.
" Why? Did I forgot anything?" He asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. We all face palmed ourselves.
" What the hell is she supposed to wear under that?!" I exclaimed to the god. He pondered for a bit before his head lit up.
" I'm just... gonna take something from my car." He stood up and ran outside for a moment, before coming back in holding something.
" Here! I think it would fit you." Akami-sama handed Natsuki... a few brand new pair of underwears and undergarments. Natsuki shivered at this.
" Why... do you have women's underwear in your car, Akami-sensei?" She asked with a cold look in her eyes. Monika and I stayed quiet, amused at the scene before our eyes.
" I... bought it for my girlfriend! Yes! It is supposed to be a gift for my girlfriend." He had a smug look on his face, thinking he probably dodged a bulet there.
" Sooo... You're telling me that, your girlfriend... is an A-cup and looking at this, has a small, thin frame that is similar to a highschooler?" Natsuki folded her arms at this. The god was sweating heavily, being backed into a corner.
" Okay, I think I have to go now~ Okay everyone, goodbye!" Akami-sensei dashed trough the door while Natsuki bursts into laughter.
" Sheesh, Akami-sensei could be too nice sometimes. But that is what I like about that teacher. The first teacher I met to actually give a damn about students that are being bullied." Natsuki smiled as she clenched the clothes that was given to her.
" Natsuki... I have some spare clothes I could lend you if you want to take a shower. So... do you want to take a shower?" I ask her nicely. Monika took a sit on my bed and began to pull out a box from under it.
" Hmmm... okay, but you better not peek! You got that?!" Natsuki grabbed a fresh towel from me and headed to the bathroom.
I smile as I jumped on the bed with Monika. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and looked at the manga she was reading. Oh! It is the light novel that I published a long time ago. I wonder if Natsuki would like to read this.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Ahahahaha... I've made a pretty clumsy mistake. I'm pretty sorry to dawicca for messing up his review section. I messed up so badly by posting the part where Yoku cooks the ramen on his review section. I hope you can forgive me, teehee. Oh, and I'm waiting for the development of your story, it seems really promising!