Hunger

Chapter 10

The harsh words of Natsuki reverberated in Naota's head. He was ready for this all to blow over in a day or two, but with Natsuki escalating things he wasn't sure where they stood. All he wanted now was to cool off and lose himself in the relaxing sounds of the rain outside.

He couldn't help but to crack a grin as he approached the front doors where Sayori awaited him. She must of over prepared for the weather. She had so many layers on underneath her yellow raincoat her arms stuck out awkwardly and nearly immobile at her sides.

"Can you even hold your umbrella over your head with all that on?" Naota teased as he tested the range of motion of her nearest arm.

"Whatever, I'm gonna make it home warm and dry Mr. "All I wear is a hoodie because I'm soooo cool."" Sayori taunted back, sticking her tongue out.

Naota shook his head and took her umbrella from her, resigning himself to double umbrella duty for the two of them. After flipping up his hood he took a step outside and after fumbling around for a few moments managed to get both umbrellas opened.

"After you." Naota offered as he glanced back.

"Thank you sir!" Sayori giggled as she scuttled underneath the protection of her umbrella.

When the pace was set and the two seemed comfortable Sayori decided to start picking her friends brain about his recent mood. "So Naota, what's got you stuck in the rain clouds today?"

Naota sighed, part of him really didn't want to have this conversation. "Well it all started at the festival."

"Did you mess something up and embarrass yourself at one of the games or something?"

"No, actually most of the night was really nice. Natsuki and I had a delicious little dinner and dessert..."

"Mmhmm..." Sayori encouraged him to continue.

"After that the festival was wrapping up so we found a place near the fountain where we could be alone for a bit."

"Sounds good so far..." The anticipation started to eat at the young woman.

"And when I felt the mood was right I took her hand in mine."Naota admitted, blushing a bit.

Hearing about the romantic gesture a light dust of blush grew on Sayori's face in turn.

"But that's where I messed up I guess."

Both Sayori's and Naota's demeanor fell at this twist in the story.

"Did she freak out and yell at you?"

"No, she held my hand for a little while." Naota was too proud to admit that he thought about that moment more then once over the weekend. Remembering the feeling of her smaller, delicate digits in his own. "But then she kinda shot down the idea of us being together."

"Did she say why?"

"Something about her not wanting to fall for the first guy who liked her and that her dad would freak out if he found out."

"Hmmm..." Personally Sayori didn't really follow Natsuki's logic in this situation. Still she knew Natsuki well enough to know that she had two modes, brutally straight forward and bashfully deceptive. In the end Natsuki was her own woman and her reasons were her own. Sayori still had a best friend with a hurting heart to deal with. "Hey!" she exclaimed after a moment of thinking.

"Yeah?" Naota's voice had turn stoic at this point.

"Why don't we hang out this Saturday?"

"What did you have in mind? It's still supposed to be raining you know?"

"Well my parents are on a trip this weekend, you know before the snow starts rolling in, so I was thinking of maybe a movie night on Saturday!. We can order a pizza and everything. I'll even break out my rainy day stash." Sayori winked with this last promise.

"Seriously? The legendary stash of rainy day chocolate?" Naota joked in mock astonishment.

"It's the perfect cure for chasing away rain clouds." Sayori added in a fake professional tone.

Naota laughed. He was planning to spend all weekend under some warm covers with some T.V. And video games, but how could he deny such an offer from his best friend?

"Alright Dr. Sayori if you think that will make me feel better I guess I can join you for an evening."

Sayori wasn't sure what Naota would say when she first thought up this plan, but she was overjoyed to see he wasn't locking himself away from everyone. "Awesome!" She cheered. "I promise you won't regret it."

There was a few moments of silence as the both approached Sayori's door step.

"You don't have to worry about going all out on me Sayori." Naota explained as he shook off and collapsed her umbrella before handing back to her. "I'm just glad to have a night in with a friend."

"You're my guest and I'll spoil you as much as I want." Sayori threatened as she open her front door. "See you tomorrow morning?"

"You know it!" Naota called as he headed next door to his home.

-Later that week, Friday-

"So that's why it's so important the author chose to use this word in his description. There are plenty of words that technically mean the same thing but each word carries it's own tone and flavor." Monika explained to Naota and Yuri. When it became apparent that a few of the club members would be late Monika couldn't help but to gush over a new book she was reading.

"Like I told you earlier Naota. It's like a painter choosing the right shade or tone." Yuri explained, reminiscing on a conversation they had when he first joined.

"You guys are book dorks..." Naota grinned.

"Well you were supposed to turn into a book dork too you know." Monika pointed out. "Have you been trying to read something other than manga lately?"

"I've been trying to get into Yuri's book lately." Naota admitted

"Oh! You have? How far along are you?" Small signs of excitement were apparent on Yuri's face.

"I'm not too far in, the main character still hasn't reached the hospital." Naota admitted shamefully.

"You have to keep at it. The story really picks up after they all reach the hospital." Yuri promised, ever understanding.

"I will, it's a good distraction from everything else going on recently." Naota still hadn't shared his relationship problems with anyone but Sayori so all Yuri and Monika knew is that he'd been feeling down lately.

Speaking of the devil Sayori chose that moment to burst through the club room door.

"Hey everyone! Sorry I'm late." Sayori announced between deep breaths, having ran most of the way here.

"Thanks for finally joining us Sayori." Monika said with just a hint of teacher like sternness in her voice. "If my vice president was going to be late I wish she would of brought our last missing member with her."

"Oh I don't think Natsuki is gonna be here today." Sayori said matter-of-factly.

The others let Sayori sit down and settle in a bit before they joined her like a captive audience.

"So,what do you know about Natsuki's absence?" Monika finally asked.

"Well Natsuki and I share second period together, which is gym class." Sayori started as the others leaned closer to her. "Natsukis never been that great at gym class and she usually tries to sneak off and rest on the side lines."

Even though he was doing his best to keep his crush off of his mind Naota was well alert and slightly worried at this point.

"Well anyway after class today a few of us went to wake her up so she could go change. And it sorta took a lot of us calling her name and a lot of shaking to get her to wake up."

A lot of shaking? Naota thought back on all the afternoons he had spent reading manga with Natsuki. She fell asleep during their readings more than a handful of times. It was never that hard to wake her up. Hell it was harder to convince himself to break the effigy of a peaceful, pink haired angel sleeping against his shoulder.

"And when she did wake up she was out of it. She had no clue where she was or what time it was. We caught her up to speed and tried to make sure she was alright. You know Natsuki, she wouldn't dare admit anything was wrong." Sayori was shaking her head at this point. "I made her promise me to go to the nurse if she wasn't feeling well."

Part of Naota was kicking himself as Sayori finished her story. If he weren't being so stubborn with her he would of check on Natsuki at lunch.

"That's unfortunate, I hope she's feeling better now." Yuri fretted quietly.

Concern slowly spread through Naota's thoughts like a sticky oil he couldn't shake off. "Has Natsuki always been like that?"

"Like what?" Sayori asked.

"Has she always been so tired all the time?"

Monika tapped her pen on her chin as she cast her mind back to the early days of the club. "She never had a problem staying awake when we had an activity planned. I only caught her sleeping when we split up to do our own reading. Even then I'd say seventy percent of the time she'd end up dozing off."

Naota nodded. Natsuki never seemed that drowsy either. It was like her body would just turn off and fall asleep. For now he would have to store these observations in the back of his mind with his growing concern.

"Well we'll have to continue on without Natsuki for today. I trust everyone brought a poem to share?" Monika asked causing everyone to start digging through their bags. Without another words Naota turned to Sayori to exchange poems. The coral haired girl took a moment to assess her childhood friend. He could try and hide his worry but it was all too clear to Sayori.

"Hey." She called, easily regaining his focus. "Everything will be okay! We both know that a sick day won't keep our Natsuki down!"

It was a bit too late for that however, and Naota's brain was already linking ideas and getting ahead of himself. He shook his head and returned his wandering min to the here and now. "Yeah you're right, she's too much of a stubborn, wild, fire to have a bad day get to her."

-The next day. 8 P.M.-

Naota took a deep, calming breath as he stood at Sayori's doorstep. He carried his laptop under one arm, in case they ran out of things to watch, and a large bag of gummy bears in his other hand, they were one of Sayori's favorite treats. The school week had left his mind a rolling vortex of hurt and worry. When he woke up this morning he promised himself that today would be a day to unwind and enjoy life a bit.

The door in front of him finally creaked open and Sayori stood there in the door way. "Ah! Master Naota, so good to see you." Sayori said in her best mock butler voice. She gave a deep bow in order to complete the mimicry.

Sporting a large smile Naota moved his way past her. Immediately he caught the warm smell of mozzarella and pepperoni filling the air inside. "I see dinner is already here." Naota noted, playing along in his own posh voice.

"Why yes sir. We have received a pepperoni pizza pie and I am told that the cheese was made from milk of only the top bred, blue ribbon cows and that the sauce is a special vintage from 1908."

Sayori said, keeping up her butler facade.

Naota laughed out loud at Sayori's continued act and finally broke character. "Dear god! I hope the sauce isn't that old."

"If it is we can always leave a bad review!" Sayori grinned as she closed the door and joined Naota inside. " How are you feeling today?"

"Good I guess, I've been looking forward to tonight." Naota admitted, setting his stuff on a side table in the living room.

"Well lets not keep you waiting then." Sayori moved to the kitchen to retrieve plates and napkins. Within a couple of trips she had everything placed on the living room table.

"What do I owe you for the pizza?" Naota asked as he settled in.

"Nothing, it's my treat tonight!" Sayori proclaimed as she joined her awaiting friend.

Thinking quick Naota took the bag of gummy bears and tossed them to Sayori with a "Well this is your treat for tonight then!"

Catching the sweet parcel Sayori turned it around and looked it over. "Eeee! Gummy bears! How'd you know I just ran out?"

"I didn't, I just wanted to bring you something I knew you liked."

"Thank you! I'll save you tasty babies for later..." Sayori promised as she put the bag away for now. "I got a few rom- coms and a couple of normal com-coms lined up for us, does that sound good?"

"Sure."

"Well then let movie night begin!" Sayori exclaimed, kicking off their night together.

Pizza and candy were eaten, laughs were share and Naota managed to keep his spirits up and not ruin the night.

It was nearly midnight when Naota finally made it home. However he couldn't go to sleep, not just yet. He had a wonderful time at Sayori's, and for most of the night he was able forget the past week and the problems that came with it. In the end he had an idea involving Natsuki, one he couldn't act on until now. Safely alone, in his room and his bed he could finally look into it.

"She can be pretty irritable. She has a problem passing out and falling asleep. She almost ALWAYS hungry and she's hinted that life at home might be a little rough..."

Naota had his laptop opened, and when his homepage finally loaded he went to the search bar and entered a singular word: Malnutrition.