Day 2

You open your eyes.

Sunlight pours into your room through the window.

Your mind wanders to the 4 girls of the literature club. Your heart beats faster as you think of them.

Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri and of course Monika.

You get off your bed and walk towards your desk. On it lies a sheet of paper with words written on it.

It's the poem you worked so hard on last night.

You think about the girls of the club again. Would they like it? You really worked hard on it. You want all of them to be happy, to be a great friend for them.

As you put away the piece of paper you silently promise yourself to do your utmost best today.

The piece of paper cuts slightly into the flesh between your fingers.

Today was going to be a special day.

You enter the classroom. You're a bit late so the girls have already all started.

As you leave the doorway the club leader Monika gives you a strange look, she looks confused to see you.

She shakes her head and disregards her thoughts in exchange for a smile. "Hi again!" Monika says with a sweet smile. "Glad to see you didn't run away from us. Haha!"

You smile back. You would never leave the club.

Yuri looks at you, her purple eyes meet yours. Her long hair reaches all the way down to her waist. Contemplatively, Yuri says, "I'm really glad you're still here after what happened yesterday." She pauses. "Not a lot of people just throw themselves at literature like that." A frown is etched onto her forehead.

"You better take this seriously," Natsuki joins the conversation. She stabs a finger in your direction. "I heard you didn't join any clubs last year, nor had plans for this year. So if you are just here to slack off I promise you'll regret it."

"Hush Natsuki," Monika says. Your eyes cross hers. They are deep green, she averts her gaze from you and turns it to Natsuki. "You keep your manga in the classroom. I don't think you should be pointing fingers."

"Don't worry guys~" Sayori pulls her arm around your back and leans on you. She tells the others how nice you are.

"How admirable," Yuri sighs wistfully. "I wish I had someone who took care of me like that." She looks out of the window.

"Well, I am sure he would love to take care of you like that." Sayori gives you a clap on the shoulder.

"Didn't you bring something for him actually?"

You curiously look at Yuri. If possible, the purple haired girl became even more embarrassed. "I-it's not like it's a big deal or something." Yuri stammers.

To show her it's okay you step closer and place your hand on her shoulder, giving her a confident smile.

Somehow, this seems to help her. She recovers. "Well, I know you weren't expecting anything, so uh." She lets out a sigh and recollects herself. She stands a bit straighter. "Okay…alright." She moved to retrieve something out of her bag. "You said you didn't have any interesting books of your own, so I picked one for you. A book I think you might enjoy." Yuri frowns. "Wait, you haven't read this one yet, right?"

You shake your head.

"Oh good, this book is short and interesting enough to keep your attention, even though you usually don't read," she hands you the book.

"I thought we would like…" She curls a purple hairlock around her finger. "Maybe discuss it together."

How can someone be this cute, you wonder.

"Phew," Yuri rubbed her forehead with an exaggerated motion. "You should just read it at your own pace, don't feel pressured or anything."

Yuri buried herself in a book already. She is sitting hunched over, her long hair draped over the desk. As her eyes scan the page she seems confused. She keeps rereading the same part over.

Natsuki was going through her stuff in the closet, sheltered and away from the rest of the club.

Noticing how everyone is already busy. You sit down at a desk and open the book Yuri gave to you. But you do feel a bit tired.

You start to notice the conversation between Monika and Sayori.

They appear to be discussing the upcoming festival.

Without realizing it your eyes close themselves and your head touches the desk.

When you open them you see Sayori's face almost pressed against yours.

Startled, you kick the metal leg off the desk.

"Oopsie," Sayori giggles. Then her eyes widened. "No, wait. You're the one who's napping! Last I checked this isn't the nap club."

You subtly look around, trying to see if the other girls had taken notice you drifted off.

"You should sleep a bit more," Sayori says. "You look really tired."

"Okay everyone!" Monika says all of a sudden. "I think it's a great time to share poems…because we haven't done that, right?"

The club members shake their heads tentatively.

You can't help but to stare at your own poem with doubt.

"Well, let's share poems!" Monika calls out.

Phew, you let out a breath you didn't notice you were holding.

Yuri and Natsuki are still reading each other's poems. Their expressions are etched into their faces.

They start arguing.

The argument devolves into name calling.

You don't like how they argue but it seems that the girls are fighting over you again.

"Well, what do you think?" Both Yuri and Natsuki suddenly turn to face you.

"Guys, stop!" Sayori calls out. "I don't like this fighting at all."

"Well, this poem isn't about you!" Natsuki argues.

"Unless you consider the need to make everything-" Yuri begins a counter argument but is cut off by Sayori.

"No, quiet you two! Both of your poems are amazing and unique. I don't want you fighting over a silly difference like that." She looks at Yuri. "Your poems are beautiful because your words impose feelings upon the reader," she turns to Natsuki. "And yours are amazing because they manage to invoke so many emotions with so few words. You both are wondrous in your own ways, you two are my friends. I wouldn't want either of you to feel bad."

"..."

"..."

Both Yuri and Natsuki look down at the floor, unable to look each other in the eyes.

They both apologize.

Yuri leaves to make tea and Natsuki sits down, bewildered.

You turn around to see Monika looking at the scene, confused.

When she notices you catching her staring she shakes her head and blushes.

Monika smiles sweetly at you, as if she understands your feelings perfectly.

"So, everyone's read each other's poems, right?" Monika asks at the end of the day.

"It was good," Natsuki says.

"I enjoyed it a lot," Yuri agreed.

"Yup." Sayori chirps.

"Good," Monika smiled. "Well, try making another poem tonight, try incorporating the things you learned today. Then we'll do the same thing tomorrow!"