Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 31: The Winter Season Begins!

Light itself was beginning to cast a more bluish hue as those first cool winds of the incoming winter season blew through the city. Komi adjusted her scarf, pulling the front part of it over her mouth to shield her cheeks from the cold air.

"There goes our beautiful goddess, Komi. She looks so amazing. I love her scarf! I bet it smells just like her." Students chattered among themselves as Komi walked onto the grounds of Itan High.

As she made her way in through the doors, she noticed that Yuri was coming in right alongside her. Her eyes widened upon noticing her. Yuri wore black gloves and her own black scarf over her uniform. She wanted to say 'good morning' to her, but her voice got caught in her throat, and nothing came out at all.

"Hm? Oh, good morning, Komi," Yuri greeted her politely. "It got cold quite fast, didn't it?" She noted.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded in agreement as the two walked towards their lockers.

"I think it's nice. I prefer the colder weather to the warmer personally, since it's easier to cover up." Yuri shared her thoughts.

"Mm," Komi quickly pulled her notebook out of her school bag and began to write, "Some of my favorite clothes in my closet are winter clothes."

"Oh, is that so? Me too," Yuri said. "Although, if the weather is agreeable, you don't necessarily have to only wear them for the winter either." She commented.

"That's true."

"We should find something cozy to do together before the snow starts to fall – we can enjoy the weather before it gets too snowy to walk around." She suggested.

Komi nodded enthusiastically in agreement, her cat ears popping out of the top of her head as she did so.

"Huhu, we can flesh out the details over text later then. I'll see you at the club meeting." Yuri said, giving her a quick wave before walking over to her locker.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded again and waved back to her.

As Yuri walked away, Tadano came over, walking around Komi and making his way to his locker. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Good morning, Komi." He greeted her. Komi squeaked in response, quickly turning through the pages of her notebook.

"Good morning."

"The weather's gotten pretty brisk outside, huh? Pretty soon it'll be snowing." He said.

"I look forward to that."

"Yeah, me too, haha," Tadano chuckled and smiled. "By the way, I was thinking about stopping by your Literature Club again sometime."

"Mm?!" Komi's head perked up, and her eyes widened with excitement.

"I'll let you know. I'm not really the literary type but it's a nice group!" He said, "Anyways, I'll see you in class!" He waved to her and walked to class.

Komi took in a breath, raising her hand to wave to him but he had already walked off. She was happy to hear that Tadano was taking more of an interest in something she was growing to like. She covered her mouth with her scarf again to hide her expression.

"Good morning, Komi!" Sayori laughed, coming up behind her and hugging her quickly, "It's pretty cold out, but here's a warm hug for you!" She said with a beaming smile.

"Mm!" Komi flinched in surprise at Sayori's ambush hug. She quickly turned around when Sayori let her go. She saw that Sayori was wearing fuzzy white earmuffs and looking up at her with a beaming smile.

"I can't wait for it to start snowing! The fireplace, making snowmen, coming inside for some hot chocolate with marshmallows!" Sayori described excitedly.

"And winter break! No school!" Naijimi chimed in happily with a few hand claps.

"Hahaha, yeah, that too!" Sayori giggled, "It's just around the corner now."

"And it can't come soon enough." Naijimi said with a sigh, "I still have tests to take."

"Haha, it'll be alright! You'll make it through," Sayori said with a giggle, patting Naijimi's head. "Hey, I've been meaning to tell you, Naijimi, you should come visit the Literature Club sometime!" She offered.

"Heh? The Literature Club? Hahaha, I don't think you want me in your literature club." Naijimi said with a bashful chuckle.

"I think it would be fun to have you." Komi finally found an opportunity to chime into the conversation now.

"Heheh, uh, I don't really...read..." Naijimi said slowly.

"Oh that's okay! You don't really have to be crazy into it, it's just about trying new things! Plus, we usually write poetry anyways." Sayori said.

"Heheh, uh, I don't really...write..." Naijimi said slowly.

"Eh? Now you're just making excuses." Sayori pouted, tapping her pointer fingers together.

"Heh? No, it's true! You can ask Tadano! It's really just not my thing!" Naijimi tried to be defensive.

Sayori continued to pout and stare. She wasn't letting up so easy.

"Alright, I'll find a day where I don't have too many plans." Naijimi finally agreed with a guilty sigh. Immediately, Sayori's face lit up with a smile.

"Great! Looking forward to seeing you there!" Sayori said, giving Naijimi a quick side hug.

"She's manipulating me with her cuteness charm factor." Naijimi thought.

"I'll see you guys later! Byeee!" Sayori smiled and waved to them.

"Later, Sayori!" Naijimi waved back.

Naijimi turned back towards Komi and noticed that she was staring with a blank expression. Naijimi flinched in surprise, once again becoming defensive.

"Don't look at me like that! L-Let's just go to class."

So Komi and Naijimi started walking towards their class. However, they didn't get too far down the hall before being flagged down by Natsuki, who ran up alongside her to catch up.

"Hey, Komi! Got a sec?" She asked.

"Mm? M-Mhmm." Komi nodded. Natsuki gestured for her to walk a little ways away from the doorway.

"Huh? She's stealing Komi away! I was so ready for her big entrance into the classroom! My plan to give her a super long extended body to body hug is being ruined!" Yamai angrily muttered to herself as she watched Komi and Natsuki step away from the door.

"Hey," Natsuki waited until it was just them two before speaking again. "So it's basically winter season officially now. So I was thinking...would it be cool if I came over to your house again sometime soon and we made some special winter-themed cupcakes?" She offered.

Komi's eyes widened, and her cat ears appeared yet again. She quickly grabbed her notebook and wrote her response, "I would love to!" She made sure to put an exclamation mark at the end to highlight her enthusiasm.

"Awesome. I'm, erm, still debating on keeping it a surprise or not...actually I probably should so Sayori doesn't pester me about it," Natsuki thought out loud. "But if we do it, I might invite one other person. Alex might actually be willing to help, since he knows how I make the frosting."

"Hm?" Komi tilted her head, surprised that she was thinking about inviting Alex too. Nevertheless, she wrote her response, "That won't be a problem. Just let me know when you would like to do it!" She said, adding another exclamation mark to highlight her openness to the idea.

"Awesome. I'll text you about it, 'kay?"

"Mhmm!" Komi nodded.

"Great. I'll see you at the club meeting! Later!" Natsuki smiled and waved to Komi before hurrying off to class.

"Mhmm!" Komi hummed again and waved back.

The school bell rang. Komi jumped in surprise. She looked around and realized the hallways were basically empty. She entered into the classroom, now freezing up because all eyes seemed to be drifting in her direction.

Unsure of what to do, she just peeked into the doorway for awhile before stepping inside. She bowed apologetically to the teacher and sat down quickly in her seat, shaking uncomfortably afterwards. Tadano looked over at her.

"Everything okay, Komi?" Tadano asked, referring to the conversation that she was just having with Natsuki right outside the classroom. Since it seemed to be urgent, he wanted to make sure that there were no concerns on her mind.

"Hm?" Komi stopped shaking and looked over at Tadano. She nodded then grabbed her notebook, flipping to another page and writing a quick response. "I'm fine. Natsuki and I were making plans."

"Oh?" Tadano smiled, pleased to hear this. "Well that should be fun then! I'm glad." He said.

Komi directed her attention ahead now. Her face became to beam a little more. She was pleased with herself now that she was beginning to develop a regular circulating group of friends. It felt good that she was making tangible steps towards her ultimate goal of 100 friends.

Perhaps she would write about this feeling...