2: Every Day

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Every day is a new day

A new chance to smile

A new chance to show love

A new chance to receive it

Augghhhh… another day of school… I rolled around my bed, moaning. Wait-

"It's another day of school!" I leapt from my bed, rushing to use the bathroom. I took a shower and meticulously put on my uniform, buttoning my blazer all the way up. I looked in the mirror, combing my hair. Hold on… why am I so happy all of a sudden?

All the events of yesterday came rushing back to me. The Literature Club, Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika.

What is this strange feeling? I felt my heart beat fast, as I thought about the fun I had yesterday. Running to school with Sayori, Yuri feeding me food, hahaha! Maybe- maybe, I can... I hate to say this, but- maybe I can live a fun-filled student life!

Suddenly, I saw my computer on my desk. Oh, no! I forgot to log on to my game yesterday! Aughhh, all my online friends are going to be so angry! They probably kicked me from the clan! I quickly power on my computer and log on. Phew. I'm still in the clan, but… I recieved like ten messages, all saying "WHERE ARE U". Sigh. I replied to them, saying "SORRY I WAS TOO BUSY WITH HW YESTERDAY IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN" . That was close! But… if every day was as fun as yesterday, then… that would mean… ahhh don't think about it! I quickly ran downstairs.

"Morning, mom, dad!" I greeted happily, wolfing down my breakfast.

"Wow, why are you so happy today? Did something happen yesterday?" Mom asked, confused.

"Haha! You havin' fun at school?" Dad inquired.

"Yeah! It's great! Well, see ya!" I waved goodbye and left the house, leaving my parents looking at each other in confusion. Okay, where's Sayori?

"Ah, Nozomu-kun! There you are! Morning!" Sayori came rushing over, smiling. Ahhhhh I felt so happy….

"Hi Sayori! You ready for another day of school?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

"Hold on, you got a little something there," I said, noticing a grain of rice on the side of Sayori's mouth.

"Huh? Where is it?" Sayori stuck her tongue out, trying to find it. Hmmm… maybe I should brush it off for her! That would be cute! No, stop! It's too early for that! I can't creep her out!

"Ah, a little more…" Sayori stretched until she acquired the grain of rice.

"Got it!"

"Hahah!" I laughed. Sayori grinned, and we began our commute to school.

"So, what was the guy living there before me like?" I asked, as we walked upon the sidewalk.

"Well, he was pretty awkward, just like you!"

Welp. She just said I was awkward… I'm hopeless…

"But he was cute! Like you!"

"E-eh? Heh, thanks! You're… kinda cute too…" OH NO WHY DID I SAY THAT?

"Um." Sayori blushed, looking away. Nooooooo! Okay, I thought I could pull that off, because she's the cheerful, outgoing archetype, so she should be fine with being called cute! But…

"Ahh, sorry! I didn't mean that- wait no, I do mean that, but, like, not like, in a weird way, I-"

"Hehehe! It's okay, Nozomu!" Sayori piped, regaining her cheer. In what seemed like a moment, we had reached the school. Man, I wish we lived further away from school…

"See ya at lunch!" Sayori waved, skipping away. I entered my classroom, which was empty. Wow, I sure was early! I sat down at my desk, staring outside at the morning sky. I felt so… refreshed… like, normally, every morning I would just groan and try to get a few more minutes of sleep. But today, I felt different.

Students began to file in to the class, and I spotted someone who I had not noticed yesterday.

"Natsuki-san!" I called, leaping up from my seat. "Morning!"

Natsuki, setting her books down on her desk at the front of the classroom, looked up at me, disinterested.

"Oh, it's you," she said.

"Huh? Yeah, it's me! Wow, I didn't notice you were in my class! Also, thanks for the cupcakes yesterday!"

"No prob. What was your name again?" Natsuki asked, creasing her eyebrows.

Waahhhhh she doesn't remember my name?

"Nozomu! Yanagi Nozomu!"

"Oh, oh, okay. Hey. Oh look, it's the maiden of mystery, right there." Natsuki lazily pointed at the doorway, where Yuri was entering.

"Oh, it's Yuri!" I piped. "Hey!"

Yuri made eye contact, but quickly put her head down and rushed to her seat. What? Was she avoiding me? I sat back down.

"Hey, Yuri! What's up? You ready for more literature today?" I asked energetically.

"Mm." Yuri grunted, not turning to face me.

Nooooooo! What had I done wrong? See, this was exactly why I didn't want to get involved with 3D girls! They're always so bipolar, and stuff like this always happens! WAAHHHHH why do I have to creep out every single girl? Before I could say anything more, Sato-sensei walked in and class began.

Later was PE class. I didn't go yesterday, because I didn't get a PE uniform yet. But now, I received the blue tracksuit, and went over to the locker rooms to get changed. Ewww I was surrounded by a bunch of nasty guys… Suddenly, as I was putting on my shirt, I felt a shove from behind.

"Hey!" I turned to see a tall, buff dude, grinning.

"Hey there, kid," he chuckled. "Transfer student, eh? Haha, you better keep up with the rest of us!" He ran his hand through his bleached hair, looking me up and down. The other guys in the room were all snickering. Sigh. They think I'm a wimp, I guess. I mean, I am! But whatever, I've dealt with bullies before. It won't be long until I leave this place anyway! I ignored him and continued to change.

Our first task was to run around the track. Oh yeah, did I mention that I HATE PE? After two laps, I was done for. I collapsed on the grass, next to some random nerd who was also beat.

"You finished too?" I asked, panting heavily.

"Err, yes," he replied, pushing up his glasses. "Wow, another loser like me! Wanna be my friend? I'm Hokuto!" He held out his hand.

I took it. NOOOOO! I'm already one with the nerds!

"Hey. I'm Nozomu."

"Yes, I know! You were the one late to class yesterday! Who do you like?" He blurted.

"What? Excuse me?"

"Who do you like? I like Yuri," he said. "The girl that sits in front of you? Yup. Look, she's over there!" Hokuto pointed over to where Yuri was running around the track, her long legs moving with grace. Seriously, the girls get shorty-shorts while we get sweatpants?

"Wow, really?" I remarked. I felt a tinge of anger, for some reason. "Yeah, she's pretty cute." Then I remembered her awkwardness today, not saying anything to me and avoiding me. Would she act like that to Hokuto? Or just me….

"Hey, you done already?" I heard a voice above me. I looked up to see Natsuki, holding out a water bottle. Her face was tinged pink from the exercise, and beads of sweat trailed down her neck. It was pretty hot. "Here." She pulled me to my feet, giving me the water.

"Th-thanks," I said, surprised at her kindness.

"Heh! I'm not doing this for you," she shot, looking away. "Anyway, what are you doing here with Hokuto-kun?"

I turned to look at Hokuto, who grinned and waved at Natsuki, who frowned.

"Uh… nothing?"

"Why did I just know that you two were gonna end up together?" Natsuki muttered. Rip. So she placed me in the same category as that guy? I must be some trash-level stuff.

"Anyway, you seemed kinda sad today," Natuski continued. "I mean, is there anything wrong?"

"Wait, you saw me from all the way in the front of the class? That means you looked at me!" I remarked. Natsuki's eyes widened as she realized what she had implied.

"Hey! I was just stretching my neck, and I happened to see you all sad and angsty in the back, okay? Now tell me what's wrong!"

Wow, should I say it aloud? This kid Hokuto here just admitted his feelings for Yuri.

"Hey, Hokuto, can you hold on a sec? I need to discuss something private," I said.

"Eh? Sure thing man!" Hokuto erratically scooted away.

"It's Yuri. She's acting all awkward around me… Not like normally, but like I can feel her 'creeped out' vibes when she's around me… I don't know what I did to scare her…" I whispered, my lips brushing Natsuki's smooth strands of hair. Natsuki was sweating, but instead of pulling away from her, I felt like moving closer…

"Hey. Don't worry about it! You got this man! I believe in you!" Natsuki laughed, shoving me on the shoulder.

"W-what? You act like I'm trying to pick her up or something! I just don't want her to be all creeped out by me!" I objected.

"You what? You like Yuri too?" Hokuto shouted, appearing in between us.

"Hokuto!" Natsuki and I shrieked at the same time. "How much did you hear!?"

"Everything! What's all this about?"

"Dude, be quiet or she'll hear!" I whispered sharply, and we all glanced to see Yuri jogging toward us.

"Oh no, she's coming," Natsuki said.

"Look, dude, I don't like her, it's just awkwardness okay? Now shhhh!" I said to Hokuto, turning to greet Yuri, who suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw me. Before she could turn to leave, Natsuki ran over and grabbed her arm.

"Yuuuri, come here," she said, pulling Yuri over to me.

"Ah- wh- what are you doing?" Yuri asked, terrified, trying to resist.

"Ahem. Nozomu-kun here wants to know why you're acting all creeped out by him. He's really sad today because he thinks he did something to scare you."

"Woah…" Hokuto remarked. No, no! Why was Natsuki just saying all this aloud!? I didn't ask for all this drama this early on in the story!

"W-what?" Yuri said, covering her face with her hands. "He thought… that I was scared of him?"

"Uh, yeah. He's right here, you can talk to him," Natsuki said, pointing at me.

"Uh- um." Yuri nervously looked up, meeting my eyes. "You know, I'm so sorry, Nozomu-san! I- I'm sorry for what I did yesterday… I hope you can forgive me!" Yuri suddenly bowed in front of me.

Uhhh… what was she apologizing about?

"Umm… what are you apologizing about?" I asked.

"Ah, you forgot? You know, when I couldn't control myself and I just… fed… you…" Yuri blushed profusely, burying her face deeper into her hands.

"W-what? You're apologizing for that? Th-that was awesome!" I shouted. "I- wait I mean that was nice! You shouldn't apologize for that! I should thank you, Yuri."

"R-really? But I thought that I creeped you out and that you actually hated me and you were just talking to me this morning to be nice and I didn't want to trouble you further and-"

I don't know what I was thinking, but I hugged Yuri. It was a very cringey one at that, but it was a hug alright.

I wrapped my arms around her, putting my head to her shoulder.

"It's okay," I whispered. "You're really kind, Yuri."

"W-WOAAAHHHHHH!" Hokuto screamed, mouth wide-open in shock. "What!?"

Natsuki was taken aback herself, staring wide-eyed.

I pulled away. "A-ah… Nozomu…" Yuri whispered shakily. Oh no… I hope I didn't make the wrong choice… What the heck was I thinking?

Yuri smiled. "Mm! No problem!" She said cheerfully. "Now you can feed me today!"

WHAAAAAT?

"Oh, yes!" I shouted, pumping my fist in the air. Nooooo. Natsuki facepalmed herself. Hokuto looked like his soul had just escaped.

"WHAAAT?" Sayori exclaimed, when I told her the news at lunch. "Wow, you're so brave!"

"Heh, thanks," I replied. "You know, I'm not really used to this type of stuff. Like, drama."

"Mm, you look like that type of guy, no offense. I mean, it turned out alright, right? But I'm not sure if you handled the situation in the best way, hugging her like that…"

"Yeah, yeah. Like you have any experience in that field, either."

"What? Of course I do! Wait… never mind…." Sayori muttered.

"Huh? What happened? Did you have a boyfriend or something? Was it the guy that used to live at my house?"

"What!? No! I said never mind."

"Hey, but-"

"Hello, everyone!" Monika said, sitting next to me with her lunch. "You two having fun together?" She asked, smiling.

"What are you talking about?" Sayori blurted. "Hey, you know what happened today? Nozomu hugged Yuri-chan!"

"Ehhh? You hugged Yu-"

"Shhhh!" I quickly placed a hand over Monika's mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, sorry," I said, pulling it away. "Not so loud, okay? Aughhh, why am I making so many blunders today?"

"Heheh, you're so nervous, Nozomu," Monika said. "Maybe it's because it's the first time you're around so many pretty girls! I'm sure it's hard to control your hormonal tendencies!"

"W-what? How do you know? What if I told you I already had like five girlfriends?"

"We all know that's not true," she replied, patting me on the shoulder.

"Yeah," Natsuki agreed, appearing and sitting across from us. "That was some weird stuff back there." Suddenly, Yuri appeared at the table, and we all fell silent.

"Uh, hi guys," she said quietly, sitting next to Natsuki.

"Hi Yuri!" Sayori replied. Monika lifted her eyebrows at me. Sayori nudged my side with her elbow. "Hey! Do it!" she whispered.

"What? No!" I whispered back, a little too loud.

"Hm? Do what?" Yuri asked, concerned.

"AHH ummm… um…"

"Oh! Uh, I was just telling him to do his homework! Heheh," Sayori chuckled, scratching her neck.

"No, no! Of course I do my homework!" I shouted. "No, it's just that she wanted me to…" I snatched a ball of rice with my chopsticks and reached over the table, positioning it at Yuri's mouth. "... feed you…."

"H-huh?" Yuri began to panic. "N-Nozomu-san, you're… actually following my suggestion? Ah…" She opened her mouth timidly, cheeks blushed red. I gently inserted the rice into her mouth, and drew my chopsticks away, hands shaking.

"Uh, AWKWARRRRD!" Natsuki blurted. WAAHHHH that was so weird!

"Unnnnngghhh!" I instinctively buried my face in Monika's shoulder, hiding my embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh, this is too cute," Monika said, patting my head.

"I know right…" Sayori remarked as she tried to calm the shell-shocked Yuri.

After class, Yuri turned to me.
"Hey! Shall we go to club?" She asked kindly.

"Ah! Yes!" I stood up, grabbing my bag. "Let's go!" I headed for the door, Yuri following closely.

"Hey, wait for me!" Natsuki exclaimed. We went to our clubroom, where Sayori and Monika were already fooling around. I mean, that's what we do in the club, right?

"Hey guys!" Sayori called as we entered. We sat down at the desks.

"Sooo, what are we going to do today?" I asked. "I mean, none of us wrote any poems, right?"

"Actually, I did," Sayori said, taking out a piece of paper. "I actually wrote it for you, Nozomu-kun. I mean, I don't know, but, meeting you yesterday kinda inspired me to write something. It's not much, but it's kinda about… every day, but making every day not every day, if you know what I mean. Yeah I don't know how to explain it, but it's just that… just like how yesterday was your first day here, all excited and fun and all… you know, after a while, we just fall into the daily routine of things. Nothing is fun or exciting anymore. You get really tired with life sometimes. But if we looked at each day as the start of an adventure, like Nozomu's first day, then think how much fun we would have!"

Yeah, that's true. I've been dealing with that problem for my whole life.

"Anyway, here it is!"

Every day is a new day

A new chance to smile

A new chance to show love

A new chance to receive it