Hunger
Chapter 14
Monday had rolled around again and for once Naota was looking forward to it. After the events of Friday night his weekend was pretty normal. He caught up on homework and tried to relax the rest of his time alone. It was hard to do when you had no way of knowing if your girlfriend was in trouble with her dad or not. His parents came home late Sunday night. Thanks to some quick lying they had no idea he had a girl over Friday night. For now things were back to normal for the most part and he was waiting for Sayori to leave her house so they could go to school.
"Morning Naota!" The coral haired girl in question sang as she locked her front door.
"Morning Sayori." Naota called back. Like himself she was dressed for the colder weather. As she walked up to him he went to adjust her scarf. "You always tie your scarf too tight, if it gets caught on something you're gonna end up choking yourself out."
"Oh you worry too much Naota. But thanks anyways." After her wardrobe was fixed the two began their walk to school. "So how was your weekend?" Sayori asked.
His weekend was awesome, spectacular and stupendous all rolled into one. Of course he couldn't let her know that, he made a promise that nothing that happened Friday night left the house. "It was alright I guess." Naota fibbed. "My parents were out of town so I just hung out inside and stayed warm."
"What?" The disappointment rang clear in Sayori's voice. "You should've sent me a text! We could of stayed warm together."
"Sorry, I thought it'd be too boring to bother you with." Naota said, covering his tracks.
"Naota!" Sayori chided. "We're best friends! There's no such thing as boredom when we get together!"
His friend's enthusiasm made Naota chuckle. "You're right, I'll keep that in mind the next time my folks are gone."
"You better!" Sayori threatened with a jovial wink.
With nothing to distract them aside from their own chatter the pair managed to make it to school at a respectable time. Despite being a little early the halls were already filled with students. The pair was ready to go to their lockers when Naota reconized a head of pink hair further on down the hall.
"Hey Sayori," Naota called as an idea popped into his head. "I need to turn in a paper to one of my classes quick. I'll see you in the club room later alright?"
"Alright Naota! See ya later, have a good day!" The ever cheery Sayori called back.
Naota gave his friend a final wave before turning and making his way down the adjacent hallway. The hallway was filled with bodies and Naota did his best to pick up the pace while keeping his twin tailed target in sight. He finally got his chance when she stopped at her locker. Any nervousness in his chest dissipated when he saw she was still wearing the green hoodie he gave her.
"Hey Natsuki." Naota greeted, offering his best smile as the pink haired girl turned to face him.
As Natsuki turned to see who was calling out to her a small smile formed on her face. "Hey you! Decided to get to school on time today?" Natsuki snarked back.
"Sure did, must have been full moon last night or something." Naota joked. "So how was the rest of your weekend? Did your fever come back at all?"
"Nah the rest of my weekend went smooth. Dad wasn't even suspicious of anything." Natsuki bragged.
"That's good. I was wondering how you were doing all weekend." Naota admitted.
"I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me so much." Natsuki waved off his concern.
"I know, but it's hard when you can't text or call your girl-" Naota began when a tall figure approached from his side.
"Good morning you two." Yuri interrupted, surprising the couple. Natsuki took a conscious step away from Naota . "I wasn't interrupting anything was I?" The taller girl asked suddenly embarrassed.
"No, I was just checking on Natsuki. She was sic-"
"AHEM." Natsuki interrupted this time, shooting a quick glare at Naota. "The dummy here was just apologizing to me and begging me to come back to the club."
"Oh?" Yuri looked intrigued.
"Yeah, he was going on and on about how much you guys miss me." Natsuki boasted.
"Well things certainly have been quieter lately." Yuri shrunk back a bit when Natsuki shot her a cold glare. "N-Not that its a good thing! You offer a straight forwardness that no one else in the club can. I'd be delighted if you came back personally."
"Hmm, well I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet." Natsuki mused.
"Well just know that we'll always have a spot open for you. I'm sure Monika would agree." Yuri offered with a small yet sincere smile.
It was rare that she and Yuri got along but moments like these Natsuki couldn't deny that her heart was swelling with warmth. "Thanks Yuri." Natsuki gave her a genuine smile in return.
"With that I must be going, I hope to see you both after school." Yuri nodded to both of her club mates before turning and leaving.
When Yuri was a safe distance away Natsuki addressed Naota in a hushed tone. "Hey dummy you almost messed up again! Remember? Nothing from the weekend is supposed to leave your house!"
"Sorry! Sorry! I guess lying isn't my strong suit all the time." For once Naota felt like he earned the "dummy" moniker. "I promise my lips are sealed from here on out."
"Good." Natsuki scanned the hallway to see if anyone was looking their way. When she was sure it was clear she grabbed Naota's hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "I gotta get going but I'll be in the library for lunch if you want to meet up there." She dropped his hand as swiftly as she had grabbed it.
"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you there." Naota was so distracted by the gesture that he forgot to ask why she wasn't eating today.
Natsuki slammed her locker shut just to break her secret boyfriend out of his daze. "You better get going too if you don't want to be late for first hour dummy." She lectured and grinned.
Naota stood and watched for a moment as the bright head of pink hair slowly vanished into the crowd . With a sigh he turned and walked the opposite way, ready for another oh-so exciting day at school.
The library was a peaceful sanctuary for student's during lunchtime. With so many students who rather actually eat during their break it was never busy. The few that did occupy it were mostly too busy doing last minute homework and projects to make much noise. Naota never really skipped lunch for the library before. Getting some food in him was an essential to staying awake during boring classes. For today at least, it would be a worthwhile trade.
After roaming the shelves a bit he spotted Natsuki right away at one of the secluded tables tucked away in the corner. Her head was buried in a manga. Naota grinned as he approached. "Look at this dork, reading comics in the library." He joked.
"Dork? That's pretty brave of you to say with your hair looking like that." Natsuki retorted, her mischievous eyes peeking over the top of her book.
Naota immediately ran a self conscious hand through his messy hair. "Is it really that bad?"
"No dummy, you look fine. But if you come in swinging you better bet I'll swing back." Natsuki explained, warning him for next time.
"So what are you reading today?" Naota asked as he scanned the cover.
"Oh?" Natsuki blushed a bit as she put the book down. "This is the first volume of Major Boyfriend."
"Yeah?" Naota briefly remembered seeing the title when he first entered the manga closet. "What's it about?"
Natsuki seemed to shrink in her seat a bit. "Well there's this guy right? And he gets transferred from his military school to a normal high school. He meets a girl in his home room class and they start hanging out and she's teaching him about how to be a normal teenager again. Eventually they start falling in love and junk..." Natsuki finished the explanation in a much softer tone.
Naota blinked in disbelief. For some reason he couldn't picture Natsuki reading full out romance. Sure Parfait Girls had moments of romance here and there but it was still mostly slice of life with some action thrown in. "I didn't think you were into romance comics that much."
"I'm- I'm not! It's just written really well!" Natsuki stammered, trying to defend her image.
"Well is it alright if I read with you?" Naota asked, she was his whole reason for skipping lunch after all.
Natsuki, still in her standoffish defensive mode, pulled the chair to her side out for him. "I guess if you HAVE to." She huffed.
Naota took the offered seat and almost immediately Natsuki's abdomen let out a loud rumble. "Are you sure you don't want lunch today?" Naota asked with concern.
"Yeah, I forgot my lunch money at home anyways." Natsuki lied. "I'll be fine don't worry about it."
Although her decision bothered him Naota only nodded. Starting an argument about it would probably just push her away right now. He did have a little money in his pocket, maybe he could get her a little something when they met up at the club later.
Surprisingly reading a romance manga was a lot different then when they read Parfait Girls together. Usually Natsuki was excited and ecstatic, pointing out her favorite panels and reciting the best dialogue. But with this book she was quiet and reserved, still blushing in slight embarrassment as they read. After about twenty pages of reading in silence Natsuki took a glance around the library. She chose a secluded corner of the library for a reason and she had to make sure no one was watching them. When she was sure the coast was clear she leaned over and laid her head on the familiar perch that was Naota's shoulder. The couple read a few more pages in warm tranquility before someone rounded the corner to their table.
"Hey there!" the sudden voice of Monika nearly jolted the two manga readers from their seats. Natsuki sat straight up with lightning reflexes. "What are you two doing here in the library?"
"Hey Monika!" Naota greeted as Natsuki was still reeling from the sudden interruption. "We were just catching up on some manga since its been so long since we've read together."
"Is that so? Does that mean things are alright between you two again? Will you be coming back to the club Natsuki?" Monika asked, slight excitement in her voice.
Natsuki shrugged. "Well it sounds like you guys are going to pieces without me so I guess it's time for me to come back."
Monika looked slightly annoyed but still smiled. There's no way she would ever let her club fall into disarray like that. "I wouldn't say we were going to pieces but it will still be nice to have you back."
"What about you Monika? Aren't you skipping lunch right now?" Naota asked.
"I'm in the middle of a extra credit assignment and needed to gather a bit more research material for it." Monika explained, gesturing to the small pile of books in her arms.
"Wow, I can't picture someone like you falling behind in a class." Natsuki mused aloud.
"I'm not really falling behind but I could always use the extra points." Monika humble-bragged.
"That's got to be the most Monika-est things I've ever heard." Natsuki said.
"You know what they say, There's no rest for the "A" students." Monika said with a grin. "I better get these checked out though. We only have a few minutes before lunch ends. See you guys after class." Waving goodbye Monika turned on her heel with a flourish and departed to the front desk. A few moments of silence passed before Naota spoke up. "That Monika is something else, isn't she?"
Natsuki huffed with a little jealously. "Yeah, if you're into that sort of thing. I guess."
Naota caught on to her tone right away. He gave her a little grin. "I like "B" students myself."
"Yeah?" Natsuki asked, curious to see where he was going with this.
"Yeah. "B" as in Baker students." Naota explained with a silly, faux smoothness in his voice.
Natsuki instantly broke out in a blush and punched Naota in the arm."Shut up! You're such a damn weirdo sometimes. Also, you suck at flirting."
Naota snickered and rubbed the now numb spot on his arm. "I guess I'll have to keep practicing then."
Natsuki shook her head at the fool beside her before sighing. "Man I was hoping we would at least get through volume one of this." She placed the manga back down on the table.
"We always have after school you know." Naota pointed out.
"But now we have to choose between Parfait Girls and this."
"I'd be happy with either." Naota stood from his seat. "I got to run, my next class is all the way on the other side of the basement. I'll see you later, okay?"
Natsuki waved as she watched the brown haired goof depart. She wondered briefly, is he happy just to be reading something new? Or did she have something to do with his happiness?
Unfortunately her thoughts would be put on hold for now. She had class to get to as well.
After the final bell Naota walked through the halls, looking in lament at the sparse loot he acquired from the vending machine. Two fudge granola bars was all he could afford with his spare change. For the first time in his life he wished the vending machines here had something a bit more nutritious.
Getting chocolate for your girlfriend was usually a good move but a girl can't live on sugar alone.
Naota had plenty to occupy his mind over the last few days but part of him knew their was an underlying problem with his girlfriend's diet. How he was going to even approach her about it he hadn't a clue. Until they had that conversation and he could work out a game plan to really help small gestures like this would have to suffice.
When he got to the club room he was surprised to only see Natsuki in the room. "Is everyone else running late?"
Natsuki leaned against a desk and folded her arms across her chest. "I guess, so much for getting a warm welcome on my first day back." She huffed.
As Naota approached her he heard the familiar rumble of her stomach, signaling that it was time to break out the treats. "I got something to help quiet that beast in your belly." Naota said while waving the granola bar in the air.
Natsuki paused as she looked over the offering. She was hungry but before she could move a condescending, prideful voice rang in her head. The two sides of her mind debated as she tried to decide whether to just accept the gift or to stubbornly point out that she didn't need his pity. Just a glance at his face, full of warmth and affection, was enough to settle it for her. Embolden by his gesture, and the fact the were alone, she stepped closer. She gently took the snack from him and took both of his hands in hers. "You've got another one." She pointed out. "Are we going to have snack time together?"
Naota shook his head. "Actually this one was for Sayori. You know, so she doesn't try and get a bite of yours or anything."
Natsuki gave a tiny fangy smile. "For a dummy you sure have a knack for thinking ahead sometimes."
"Sometimes." Naota agreed.
The two stood there for a while, enjoying a moment of solace in each other's grip after a long day. Natsuki eventually got over her nervousness enough to look her boyfriend in the eyes. Distracted, they didn't even flinch when the door flew open and Sayori busted in.
At first Sayori squealed in joy to see her friend Natsuki back in the Literature club. Then her eyes drifted downwards at couple's joined hands and she squealed even louder.
Naota and Natsuki just stood there like a kid getting caught in the cookie jar.
"Dammit..." Natsuki muttered.
A/N: For some reason I always thought Parfait Girls to be something akin to Sailor Moon. Anyways I just wanted to warn you guys that some upcoming chapters might be a little shorter than normal as we explore Natsuki's and Naota's relationship more. Either way I hope you will continue reading. As always you have my thanks!
