"Oh, I forgot about that for a moment!" Noelle exhaled. "Ended up distracting Susie so much from it that I distracted myself."
"Fair enough." Kris approached the door and let out an exasperated groan. "Let's just hope that we can get to wherever the fountain is soon." They reached for the handle and opened the door. The scene that would unfortunately end up being usual greeted them.
"Ah," Monika jumped into view with a cheeky yet still warm smile. "Glad to see you two didn't run away on us!"
"I don't see why we would." Noelle knew she was lying, there were apparently many reasons why she should leave. "We'll be fine, isn't that right?" With a little nervous jab from Noelle, she quickly got a rushed and equally untruthful nod from her friend.
"Alright, then~" Monika walked off and Yuri took her spot, smiling with her hands behind her back.
"Noelle, Kris, thank you for keeping your promises. I know that diving into literature when you may not be the best accustomed to it is quite challenging." Yuri also smiled but one of much more fabricated confidence, she appeared to blush a slight bit. "I hope that this isn't too overwhelming of a commitment for you both."
Randomly, Natsuki cut in with her own opinion. "Like they both deserve slack, we didn't get any."
"Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who keeps their manga in the clubroom."
"Mmmm…M-M…" Natsuki didn't move her mouth and she seemed to be switching from one word to another, unsure of what to say. "Manga is literature!" And she plopped into her seat. There was some brief non-verbal agreement from both newcomers.
Sayori jumped up as if to say something, but decided against it for some unknown reason. However, she did break the silence after a few moments.
"Oh wait! Yuri brought some things for the two of you, you know~"
"S-Sayori! Wait.." Yuri's face went a bright red that could almost be compared to Sayori's bow.
"You did?" Noelle raised an eyebrow before leaning in to whisper something in Kris's ear. "She does this?"
"Yes, she does." Kris leaned in as well and whispered back in their familiar monotone voice before prompting both themself and Noelle to get back into position and deciding to speak for once. "What is it?"
"N-Nevermind!" Yuri turned her head so that she wasn't facing anyone and that her hair would fly into covering her face. "It's nothing, they are nothing. It's not as big of a deal as Sayori made it out to be."
Sayori looked up at Yuri in a dejected manner. "Sorry…I wasn't thinking."
"It's fine." Somehow, Noelle and Kris just so happened to say it at the same time, although in vastly different tones. The two gave each other a look for a few seconds that mostly said 'Don't burst into laughter'.
Sayori did not share that sentiment.
"Ehehe~ That was so funny!" Sayori giggled. "It's like you two are constantly in sync."
"Uhuhu…" Yuri put her hands on her chest in excitement as she seemingly forgot about her embarrassment. "I must admit that I am quite jealous of the chemistry you three possess."
"You don't need to be jealous!" Sayori beamed and moved slightly closer to Yuri. "We can all have these kinds of friendships!"
"Yea, you don't have to be." Kris confirmed. You don't have to be jealous of a dynamic that barely exists. Alright, maybe that was a bit too far.
"A-Anyway, I should probably get those…things, shouldn't I?" Yuri walked over to her bag and pulled out two books from inside, she swiftly walked back the trio of mostly childhood friends in almost record time.
Monika called Sayori over which had removed her from the conversation.
Seeming to be a bit calmer, Yuri handed the two remaining people their respective books, both large, paperback and seemingly new. The book that was handed to Noelle had a dark murky blue cover with a pure white hand reaching out to what seemed to be nothing and a title that read "Listen". Meanwhile, the book Kris had was a light yellow cover and a black silhouette being tied by chains with its title saying "By Its Design"
The two signalled for Yuri to explain what these books were, so she did. "Both books have a similar theme of control but are quite different. Listen is more about someone who is being manipulated by another to do their dirty work that starts from seemingly innocent things to eventually murd-" Yuri stopped herself just in time at the revelation of what she was saying.
"Oh, that… will be a spoiler. I think you can see where I am getting with this, am I correct?"
Noelle nodded and looked down at the book and examined its blurb. She felt her hands go cold as the words proceeded to explain a very familiar situation of mindless manipulation and naivety. Despite it being something that never technically happened to her, Noelle felt guilt collide with the rest of her frozen feelings.
"I'm sorry." She internally whispered, knowing that nobody could hear her. "I'm sorry." And she whispered it a second time, just in case he could.
"Thanks, Yuri!" Noelle walked off to a random desk and opened the book, determined to see it through if only for a while.
Back to where Yuri and Kris were, it was time for Kris to get an explanation on their book.
"Well, it's essentially about a person who feels as if life is just pulling them around, they go on a hunt to find answers but their body just… starts to move on its own and they can't control it. The book does a spectacular job at describing the dread and derealisation that the person faces and…" All of a sudden, Yuri's face switched to one of terror and her blush increased to a much more noticeable tone. "O-Oh god, I've been rambling…h-haven't I? Sorry…"
"You're fine." Kris had reassured, knowing that they were the exact same when with friends.
"Well, I guess it's alright then, but..I have this problem…" Yuri looked down at the floor and tried to conceal her face in her long hair. "Where I let things like books and writing fill my thoughts and I kind of…forget to pay attention to people."
Kris simply gave a thumbs up in return, not exactly sure what to say here. Rather, they held the book and walked away to see what was happening. Fortunately, before they could, their phone lit up with a… message? How? It's not like you can reach anyone from the Light World here. To be fair, this Dark World was certainly different but that could just be because of it actually being Insanity Club.
Kris checked the notification and saw that it was a private message from..Susie? Odd, but honestly one of the safest options.
S: KRIS
S: CALM UR BOYFRIEND DOWN RIGHT NOW
S: IT'S JUST SMASH
K: You're the one that decided to play video games.
K: You took the risk.
K: Start running.
S: Fucking
S: WAITTTTTRHGFIFDGHEU
S: YOU DIDN'T DENY THAT HE WAS YOUR BF
S: GOT EM
K: He isn't.
K: Unfortunately.
S: KRIS I AM SHOWING THAT RIGHT NOW
K: Susie, please.
A screenshot has been taken.
Seeing that there was no more typing from her, Kris turned their phone off and mentally prepared themself for later. Looking around, it seemed that Sayori ran off with Natsuki and Noelle somewhere, Yuri was reading her own book and Monika was… right next to them.
"Hi, Kris!" Monika took a step back, thankfully. They waved in response.
"So, we didn't exactly get to finish our discussion yesterday, did we?"
"Not exactly." And to be honest, they just wanted to get the day over with and not have to deal with her.
"Well, since we have some time then-"
"Uhm, Monika?" Yuri interrupted from across the room, projecting her voice as much as she could. "Do you think it'll be possible for us to start sharing poems now? …Since there are quite a few of us?'
"Ahaha! That's right, Yuri." Monika put one of her hands in the air. "I'll get the other three and you two can get started~" And Monika left the room.