"You're, um, really big," James shakily commented.

BC smiled again, showing his unfortunately frightening teeth. "Really? I hadn't noticed." As he said this, he noticed James adamantly not meeting his eyes. Frustratedly, he remarked, "Should I just carry around a sign that says 'Be Not Afraid' so people will talk to me? I'd consider it, but people would just stay away anyway."

Sayori's brow furrowed as she understood BC's loneliness. "We're sorry, you just startled us."

It was now BC's turn to apologize. "No, I should have been more understanding, and more accommodating. It's my fault that you guys aren't exactly thrilled with me looming over you." He stopped for a moment and thought, looking at James. "Red-bow's the vice president, but what do you do?"

James looked confused. "I, uh, haven't joined yet."

BC looked him up and down. "You had me fooled," he remarked. Contemplating, he frowned and rubbed his chin. "Maybe I should try again tomorrow, two new members in one day is askin' a lot."

The apology circle continued, with it circling to James' turn. "I'm a Star Wars fan, so you don't have to leave!"

BC chuckled. "That's the least of my worries," he remarked darkly.

James mentally slapped himself and physically cringed. "What I meant to say is I'm sure they'll get used to us quickly. Even though change is hard, we'll both be fine. "

BC's ever-present grin reappeared as he laughed at James' sincerity.

"Well. Since you've both already shown me that you're carin' people, it's probably safe to assume that the rest of the club is too."

Sayori blushed slightly at the compliment, which only increased BC's nervousness. James tried his hardest to look BC in the eyes, which took a much larger amount of effort than normal, but he did do so successfully. It wasn't long before they reached a door labeled 414 that they were implored to explore. Sayori motioned for BC and James to stay outside while she gently opened the door and went inside.

"Hey, guys!" She called out loudly. "We've got a new member!" She grabbed ahold of James' arm and pulled him inside before he could object. He was instantly greeted with a warm welcome.

"Welcome to the club!" Monika, a girl with coral-brown hair and green eyes, was the first to say hello. James was instantly overwhelmed by her powerful but kind smile. She smiled Sayori smiled her approval and introduced James to all three girls who had come to the front to say Hi.

"James, the girl on the left is Monika, in the middle is Yuri, and on the right is Natsuki!"

Natsuki, short and pink-haired with pink eyes, was quick to object to Sayori. "Did you have to bring a boy? Way to ruin the atmosphere."

"Now Natsuki," Monika reminded, "All club members should feel welcome here! James won't ruin anything, as long as he goes by that too."

"Thanks, Monika." James bowed his head to hide his anxiety, which didn't work. Natsuki picked up on it and tried to shift the shame.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you weren't just dragged here against your will!" She crossed her arms. "You do want to join this club, right?"

James raised his head to what he thought would be Natsuki's knees but instead accidentally looked at her chest. He hurriedly remedied the situation by switching his gaze to her hot pink eyes instead.

"I came here to find out. I want to join a club, and Sayori talks about this a lot, so I'm here to try it."

Natsuki, satisfied with his answer, backed away from where she had approached. James watched her go and breathed a sigh of relief. Sayori came up to him as he wiped the sweat from his brow and whispered words of encouragement.

"See? Not so bad once you get to know them! You'll do fine!"

James looked in the hallway, then back at Sayori. "Monika said equality for all, but she might change her mind when she sees him." He gave her a skeptical side-eye. Even the best student in the building has limits."

"Don't worry," Sayori said, "I'll talk with Monika and once you get settled we'll get him in."

James, satisfied with this, went to sit at a desk. Yuri, A tall girl with dark purple hair and eyes, timidly approached him with some questions about his book preferences, and they got into a conversation about what kinds of books he liked. Sayori went to Monika, explained the situation briefly, and then went outside to the hallway and motioned for Monika to come with her.

"Okay, Sayori," Monika said. "You said there were two new me-"

She was cut off as she saw BC, who sat against a wall and wrote in a notebook. He saw her as well and put the notebook away while standing up.

"Good afternoon," He said with a mock bow. "My name's BC and I'd like to join the Literature Club."

Monika quickly regained her composure while facing down the 6'1" smiling giant and returned a smile.

"Lucky for you, I happen to be the club president! I gladly accept your application and welcome you to the Literature Club!"

BC's grin turned into a whole-hearted smile as he shook Monika's hand; gently but with an abundance of excitement. Then he cautiously looked inside for the girl who had dashed his hopes of a barge-in, mentally preparing himself for the oncoming onslaught.

"I heard one very unwelcoming voice. Is the angry one ready for the ol' two-for-one special?"

Monika tilted her head slightly while Sayori suppressed a laugh. "I suppose they're as ready as they'll ever be."

Monika composed herself and entered the classroom. Even James was automatically drawn to her natural leadership confidence.

"Okay, everyone! I've got another special announcement for you all! Sorry for the short notice and strain on your politeness, but we have another new member today!"

Here we have two completely different reactions to surprises. Natsuki, for one, was utterly flabbergasted at the prospect of twice the pressure on everyone. She also braced herself and prepared for the inevitable request of patience that she did not have.

Meanwhile, Yuri tried her best to hide behind her hair. She was already tempted to leave the meeting early but with another member, she knew she would be expected to help out. She again wished that she had the perseverance of the main character of Portrait of Markov, or the power to slip into shadows and disappear. Again, nothing magically solved her problems. Maybe 1217 times the charm.

Monika continues forward with her announcement.

"I'm going to ask you all to play nice today and be kind to our new members so they feel welcome here, just like we all feel now. Please remember our goal: to share this club with everyone we can. Thank you."

Sayori went into the classroom, with BC close behind. Natsuki's fiery remark died in her throat as BC slowly entered the room. Monika went down to Yuri as she saw her trembling to give her words of encouragement. James shook his head again, weirdly in tangent with Natsuki. BC smiled politely and gave a light wave. Then, inspiration struck! His face and smile changed from reserved anxiety to devious grinning.

"Hey, you guys like jokes?"

Monika and Sayori nodded encouragingly, Yuri looked away but listened quietly, Natsuki waited expectantly and James prepared himself for the worst. BC cleared his throat and extended his hand dramatically, still smiling.

"Ahem. What did the poet say to Luke Skywalker? Metaphors be with you."

. . .

I wonder what would have happened if they laughed?

. . .

For a brief moment, the entire club was quiet but for very different reasons. Natsuki and Yuri remained silent even after James groaned at the terrible pun. Monika and Sayori didn't laugh but just smiled out of politeness. BC shook his head sadly but continued.

"I would've brought tomatoes for you to throw at me if I knew how bad I would've messed that up. I'll bring 'em tomorrow and you can get your revenge for me wastin' your time." He hung his head and sighed. "Well, while I've got your attention, hey! My name's BC. I'm a giant both physically and in my ability to blunder things up. No, don't feel bad, that was a joke too. I'm also pretty good at writing stories and music, but I can safely say that my skill in friend-making could, well, use some improvement. I hope that we'll all get along eventually, moving onward past the mistake made today on this fateful night."

He was met with an awkward silence, reflecting his somber mood.

Don't lose hope! BC… you can do this!

Fun fact: BC's best stat is his constitution. A close second would be his intelligence, which includes improvisation…

He might need an electrician for all the lightbulbs going off. Gathering his courage, he gave it his all. Drawing in a deep breath, he smiled again. The club's opinions of him were in decline, so BC took the most reasonable course of action.

"This is the Sorry Song, a frequent of mine." He focused his will and made a pretty convincing harmonica sound, to the tune of Piano Man. Sort of. Then, he opened his mouth and began to sing.

"My sincere apologies, I must proclaim

I know you've got your doubts

It's nothin' short of a miracle

That you haven't thrown me out."

Singing clearly, BC stomped the floor to make a rudimentary beat in time with his song. Though crude, his song was full of emotion and had a good rhythm. While his singing skill was not the greatest, it was still quite notable. He had the entire club engaged with his tune, and he wasn't done yet.

"No matter how many, and no matter how much

I'll sing of my sorries until our hearts touch

And when it's all over and this song is through

I think that we'll be friends, a-me and a-you."

He finished his tune and made a mock bow, but continued talking before any applause could start since he believed he wouldn't receive any. "That's the end. Thanks for listenin', everybody. I just wanted to sing and make things right, 'cause of my fright I was lost in the night." He smiled at the unintentional rhyme. "How's that for poetry?" He roared with laughter and made another bow. But as he left the front of the classroom he was met with a shock: applause!

Sayori, Monika, James, and Yuri all clapped for him, and even Natsuki joined in. His smile soon became hearty laughter as he experienced real happiness in the club. He wiped his eyes as the clapping died, and got out his notebook. He took out a pencil and asked everyone, "Now then. What were your names again?"

Chapter two end

Worldbuilding with Interesting Keepsakes of Information: number two!

Yuri and James' short conversation went something along the lines of Yuri asking him what books he likes and him responding that he doesn't have a real preference. Yuri didn't muster enough courage to ask him another question.

This chapter has undergone nine rewrites and counting since it was also the first scene I ever wrote for DDNA.

The "sorry song" is a real thing that I came up with and sung many times, both to get it right in the story and to apologize in real life.