Fine On The Outside
October 13, Monday
Already, a couple of weeks have passed since the start of October. Students started wearing the school blazer as part of the fall uniform, which was good since there was a slight chill that blew over our heads. It was getting colder and colder. Sooner or later, it would start snowing, and honestly, I can't wait for snow.
I've never been out of Hawaii except for a couple of times where my family went to Texas to visit some family when I was really young. It was my uncle on my mom's side, though he and his kids don't live in Huston anymore. They moved to sunny Honolulu to be closer to my mom.
So, as you can tell, I've never seen snow. Not even once. The white powder falling from the sky is something that I would only see on television. Snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, snow anything, I would've only seen it on a screen.
But for now, I guess I gotta enjoy the leaves on trees that turn yellow, orange, and red, turning the landscape of Japan into a sea of autumn goodness. Leaves already started falling and blowing in the wind, setting a scene so beautiful, it was almost mesmerizing to watch. The weather was also really nice. Not too hot like in summer, but not too cold either. It's more of like the right balance between hot and cold.
So, as I waited for school to start, I sat on a bench with Sayori right next to me, who was still munching on a sandwich from Micky D's. We were just talking about what we should do on the weekend, probably with the rest of the Literature Club. I was thinking of going to the park, but Sayori was thinking about doing something in the city.
I looked down the brick path that led to the gate that served as a perimeter around the school. I saw a lone figure riding on a skateboard, leaves shooting up and falling in her wake as she passed. When she got near us, she ground the skateboard to a halt and kicked the board up, catching it and putting it under her arm. She took off her helmet, which she wore her signature bow under, and shook her head, her hair gracefully being tossed everywhere.
"Nice entrance, Monika," I said, giving her two thumbs up, "The leaves added a cool touch."
"It looked awesome, Monika!" Sayori cried out enthusiastically, her mouth still full of food, "It looked like it was ripped straight out of a movie!"
"Thanks, guys!" she said, an embarrassed grin on her face, "I would've figured the leaves would've made me look cooler."
"That's awesome!" Sayori exclaimed, "I wish I knew how to skateboard."
"Oh, it's really easy," said Monika, beaming with pride, "Isn't that right, Sawyer?"
"Aw yeah," I said, shrugging, "It's easy. It took me about thirty minutes to get the gist of it."
"Sawyer, you can ride a skateboard?" asked Sayori, "Since when?"
"Well," I said, standing up and gesturing for Monika to give me her board, "My sister has a skateboard and she wanted me to learn a few years ago. Thirty minutes later, I was already on the board rolling down the street."
To show that I knew how to ride a skateboard, I placed the board down. I placed my left foot near the middle of the board, my toes facing to the front. I know, I know, I already did it wrong. The traditional way is to use your dominant foot (in my case my right foot) and have the foot facing perpendicular to the front of the board, if not, at an angle, using your left to push off from the ground. And to that I say, I am unique.
I push off with my right leg. Because it was my right leg, I had a little extra oomph to that. I then landed my foot right behind my other foot, making sure it was perpendicular to the rear of the board. I then glided down the brick path. I leaned to the right to turn around and then pushed off once more with my right.
I stopped by hopping off the board and simultaneously kicked the back of the board to the ground so that the board shot up in the air, where I caught it.
"Wow!" Sayori said, fascinated with me riding a board well, "When I learn, we'll ride skateboards together!"
"Maybe I can teach you," said Monika, "Or maybe even Sawyer. Besides, you live right next to him, right? Maybe he could teach you."
"Good idea," I said, smirking. A second after, as if I had planned it, the school bell starts calling us back to class. I picked up my satchel from the bench and entered the school with the two other girls.
Later, Chemistry class
"Now that you've been given back your tests, I expect you to assess what you got wrong and hopefully do better with the next one," said Tomita-sensei, our chemistry teacher, before leaving the class. When he left, I dropped the piece of paper that was my test and, with an audible thud, smacked my face onto my desk in despair.
"Sawyer, are you okay?" cried out Monika, who was initially shocked when I smacked my face onto my desk.
"I failed," I mumbled.
"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused, "Failed what?"
"I failed," I explained, a little louder this time since the desk was muffling my voice, "I failed the fucking test."
"Well, it can't be that bad," explained Monika, who added a little nervous laugh at the end to put me at ease. It did not. But, oh well. I fucked up. "Everyone did bad on it."
I lifted my head off the table and looked at her. She had a sort of sad smile on her face as well. "What did you get?" she asked.
"A 59," I simply stated, "An F. Failure."
"O-oh," said Monika, who looked down in shame, "I… don't know what to say now."
"Why? What did you get?" I asked.
"A 72," she said, smiling embarrassingly, "But don't you fret. This is the worst I have done so far. I'm sure other students did poorly too."
"Yeah, sure," I said sarcastically, "I probably did really bad compared to the rest of the class."
"Oh yeah?" she asked, crossing her arms, "How about you ask another person how they did?"
"Okay, sure," I said, somehow confident that I did shit on the test. I looked around the room to see any familiar faces that I could ask. Then again, I haven't really had a conversation with the other kids in the class other than Monika. They don't really talk to me, I don't really talk to them. Goddamn, I'm fucking antisocial.
My eyes landed on CJ, who was chatting with a few girls who I think have a crush on him. Those chicks seem to practically gravitate towards CJ. I guess that's one of the perks of being on the basketball team.
"Yo CJ!" I cried out. He turned away from the girls and looked around to find me.
"What?" he asked, making his voice loud enough to be heard.
"What'chu get?" I asked, "I just wanna see how badly I did."
"Uh," said CJ, who picked up his paper that was on his desk and read the grade that was marked on the top of the page in red pen. "A 95. Why?" What the actual fuck? I did fucking horrible. I got an F, and CJ aced that test with flying colors.
I groaned though I expected that I did the worst. Monika, on the other hand, giggled in a very ladylike way, with her hand covering her mouth.
"Aw, don't beat yourself up," chided Monika, who smiled sweetly, "Everyone has their off days. Heck, I'm supposed to be this class's valedictorian and I got a C."
"Yeah, yeah," I teased, waving my hand as if I was shooing her away, "We get it, -and-Proper. We know you're the best."
Monika just rolled her eyes. "Just be happy these tests don't really count against you." Well, she's right about that. The test doesn't define my grade.
I merely just shrugged. There's no point in going up against her argument. Instead, I just excused myself to go to the bathroom, since it was gonna be a little bit before our next period starts.
The bathroom didn't have a door that led into the actual bathroom, but rather a wall that blocked the view leading into the bathroom. The walls were tiled with a light blue tint and the floor was tiled dark blue. The only light that was in there were these fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling.
I went right to the sink and turned on the tap, letting the water run. Splashing some water on my face, I looked up and saw my reflection. Those stark blue eyes of mine stared right into my soul. My blonde hair was messily parted to the side. I didn't exactly have the best-looking face in the world, but it's not an eyesore either.
I playfully winked at my reflection and went to the towel dispenser to dry my wet face.
On the way out, I wasn't watching where I was going. My shoulder ended up bumping right into another guy passing through.
"Hey, watch it, man," the guy grumbled as he looked back at me, his eyes angrily glaring at me. Oh shit, he looks pissed, I thought myself.
"Hey, my bad, bro," I said, putting my hands up in surrender, "Sorry." The dude just turned around and put his hand in his pockets, trudging off. Well, that could've gone better, I said to myself before returning back to class.
Lunch
Lunch came around and I was a little hungry. I pulled out a bento box in my bag and a water bottle that I got from the vending machine earlier and left since neither Monika nor CJ decided to eat in the classroom as usual. Walking down the hall, I saw a few students milling around and chatting. Some of them were eating, others were drinking, most were just hanging around with their friends.
I turned the corner at the end of the hall and bumped into someone for the second time today. I ended up dropping the bento box in my hands (thank God it didn't open) and the person dropped a book.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" the person cried out, her voice a tad familiar, "It was my fault, I wasn't looking, and I apologize!" I looked up from the ground where my lunch box landed and saw Yuri, who was blushing, her voice sounding flustered.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Yuri, you're fine," I chided in a calm manner, "No need to get so worked up."
"O-oh," stammered Yuri, "I-it's you, Lee-san." She blushed even more and looked away, tugging at her sleeve, somehow making her look even cuter even if it's by accident.
"In the flesh," I said, smirking. I bent over and picked up my box and her book. I read the title quickly. "Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu" was written in Japanese on the cover, the title meaning "Alice in Wonderland" in Japanese. There was a stenciled drawing of a rabbit wearing a suit and holding a pocket watch. I don't remember reading the book, only both of the Disney movies. You know, the one with Johnny Depp. I just don't remember the plot.
"Looks like you dropped something," I said as I handed the book back to her.
"Th-thanks," stuttered Yuri, who was still regaining her composure. "S-sorry again about that."
"No worries," I said, giving her a friendly smile. She giggled and smiled back. She looked nice, not gonna lie. Her long, dark violet hair rested on her shoulders, which rose and fell when she laughed. Her dark eyes squinted almost shut as she giggled. A faint aroma of lavender filled my nose. Sawyer, snap out of it, I chastised myself, Don't start falling in love.
"So," I said, trying to keep the conversation going, "You going anywhere?"
"W-well," she stammered, "I was going to look for a place to eat lunch. Thing is, I don't know where I should. I don't wish to eat lunch in my classroom, that's for sure."
"Oh, then, how about having lunch with me?" I asked. God, I sound like asking her out for a date. "I was going down to the courtyard to see if there was anyone I could eat with. You wanna come with?"
"S-sure!" she exclaimed, her face blushing yet willing to go with me.
I led her to the courtyard, where the sun was shining overhead. There was a gentle breeze blowing, rustling the leaves of the trees there. There was a marble fountain in the middle of the courtyard. No one was sitting there. Though there were some benches and tables scattered throughout the courtyard. There were students sitting at said tables. At the far end of the courtyard, I saw CJ talking with some of his buddies from the basketball team. I also noticed Natsuki sitting at one of the tables with a couple of other girls, all seeming to work together on an assignment.
"Do you want to sit by the fountain?" I asked Yuri.
"That sounds lovely," she said, smiling. We made our way to the fountain and sat down at the edge of the marble basin, with Yuri to my right. I had my bento box open in between us and Yuri had her book to her side.
We spent a few minutes talking about different books that we have read. I talked about how I had to read a whole lot of books in my literature class, and she just wished they had classes like that here in Japan.
You know, it's odd for students today to get into literature. To normal kids, they find books boring, which I can somewhat agree with. So the fact that two students are together, talking about books and other forms of literature like the nerds they are made me feel alone, but not lonely. I can't describe it, really. I guess it feels like me and Yuri being the only people in our own little world, talking about something that normal kids wouldn't even dare touch.
Now, I'm not the type of person to get into literature. Hell, when I took that literature class, I hated every minute of it. But ever since I joined the Literature Club, I started loving books and poems. That literature class now seemed interesting, now that I thought about it.
I guess that makes me a weirdo.
"So anyway," I told her a story about my literature teacher one time, "That's how my teacher ended up failing everyone on an exam and how he went on a rant about Shakespeare!"
"Huhuhu," Yuri giggled in a ladylike way, "He sounds like a rather kind individual."
"He sure is," I said, smirking as I put my lips to my water bottle, taking a swig of water before recapping it.
I looked around the courtyard. Students milled around like any other school day. Honestly, I kind of wish it was like any other school day. Still, I was wrong.
I saw three guys approaching us. Three of them looked familiar. Two of them were those guys who, well, had that conversation with me a while ago when I went to get a drink from the vending machine. But the third guy, he looked familiar. In fact, he was the same guy who I bumped into earlier today by the bathrooms.
I looked back at Yuri, who noticed them too. She shifted uncomfortably, her face in an uneasy expression. I noticed how she tensed up and, well, the best thing I thought I could do was stay calm.
"Well, well, well," said the short dude named Mizuno, his arms outstretched as if he was welcoming us, even though we didn't feel welcomed. "If it isn't the two love birds of the Literature Club. I thought you said you were single."
"You ain't wrong," I said, "I am single. And ready to mingle, I might add." I crossed my arms and hid behind a smirk. "So what brings you here?"
"Well, Lee-san. Can I call you Lee-san?" he said. I nodded uneasily. How the hell did he know my name?. "Anyways, my friend here wanted to talk to you. Clearly, he's interested in how our exchange students are doing." He gestured to the guy who I bumped into.
"How you doing?" I said, introducing myself, "The name's Lee-san."
"Lee-san, eh?" the guy I didn't know said, putting his arms on his hips. "Nice to meet'cha. I'm Tashiro-san. I assume you have met Sakuma-san and Imai-san." He pointed to the two other guys. The short dude, I assume his full name is Sakuma Mizuno, while the taller dude's name was Imai Nao.
"So," I said, "What brings you here?" I closed my bento box that had my sandwich inside and placed it on the ground next to my feet, shuffling ever so slightly closer to Yuri.
The guy smirked, his black hair moving to the right when he tilted his head slightly to the side. "Well," he said, "I came here to ask you a question."
"Oh?" I asked, "And that is?"
Tashiro-san leaned forward a little as if he was about to tell a secret. I noticed a scar at the end of his chin, probably from a fall or something. Really, other than that, he looks like an average Japanese person. No one would suspect him of being an asshole. "Are you dating anyone?" he asked. "It would be nice to meet a nice girl here in Japan, no?"
"It would be nice, yeah," I said, shrugging, "But I really don't have any intention of dating anyone. Why, may I ask, is a gentleman such as yourself asking me? What, are you interested in me or something?"
Yuri scooted a little closer to me. I didn't have to look over to her, for I felt her grabbing my arm and hiding behind me as if she was scared or nervous or something.
"No," he said, shaking his head, "Just wondering is all."
He shifted his stance. "Anyway," he continued, "I would assume you and Yuri here are good friends, right? I mean, you two look like you're going out on a date or something. Am I right, Yuri?"
That only made Yuri squeeze my arm tighter. I wanted to help her, to tell her that everything's fine, but I can't since I'm trying to keep up this act that I'm confident. Obviously, Yuri dislikes these guys, though I don't know why. Then again, she's always nervous around guys. Not this nervous, but still.
"What, you're not gonna say something?" he said, a really smug, dickish smirk on his face that made him more punchable, making Yuri even more uneasy. "I understand. I know you can't act like a normal person anyway."
Hey, fuck this guy, I thought to myself. I kept my cool though. When you're dealing with bullies, it's not like those cheesy posters they put up at school. You can't just tell someone to stop and they'll stop. Learned that the hard way. I found out that it only makes things worse. So I'd figured I'd try and get Yuri out of this situation another way. By acting like we're friendly.
"Hey, c'mon man," I said casually, keeping my emotions in check, "We're all friends here, right? Cool off, will ya?" I can't afford to start another fight. Not here, not now, not ever again. I already got in trouble back home anyways.
"Or what?" he seethed in a condescending manner, throwing away his act of friendliness, "You're gonna tell her dad?"
Silence descended onto us really quickly, like a thunderstorm rolling in on a sunny day. You could hear a pin drop a mile away when he said that. It was as if God put us on our own little desolate island.
Students started to take notice of our conversation with these assholes. I felt their eyes gazing at me and Yuri sitting on a basin of a fountain, three guys looming over us. Hell, I could see Natsuki from where I was sitting and her head was turned to watch our exchange with these guys with a worried expression on her face. My hands were clenched in a tight fist, my knuckles turning white, but I kept them by my side. Can't afford to throw the first punch, I told myself.
And then I heard it. The muffled sobs from the girl sitting next to me, her face buried into my arm, her tears soaking my shoulder. I could hear her sniffle and feel her shoulders rise and fall with every sob. Who would blame her? She lost her father and now these assholes had to bring his death up. She has every right to cry. It was heartbreaking to watch her cry. I couldn't keep watching this. I just wanna help her.
"Yuri~," I said, but stopped as Yuri stood up, her face red from crying, her arms up to her head to shield her face, and ran off behind me without another word. I looked at Natsuki, who was watching the whole commotion. I nodded at her and she nodded at me, our message somehow telepathically getting through. She stood up and ran after Yuri.
Meanwhile, I looked back at the three guys standing over me. I really wanted to punch that guy's face. It took all my willpower not to. But I had to. I have been in too many fights already. Any more, and I would end up hurting myself more than anything. Just stay cool, I reminded myself.
I stood up, my fists clenched into balls. I gritted my teeth and then relaxed my jaw immediately, putting on a friendly smile as if nothing happened. "Now look what you've done," I said, taking a deep breath, "You've done scared the pretty little lady away."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, stepping closer to get in my face, "What are you gonna do about it?" By now, the entire courtyard noticed us. I saw in the corner of my eye a friendly face approaching to help me out.
"G-guys, leave me out of this, will ya?" Imai Nao-san said uneasily, stepping back a couple of steps.
"Nao," said Sakuma Mizuno-san, "Grow some balls and get your ass over here." Imai-san looked down in shame and stepped closer again.
I looked at the three guys standing around me. To be honest, I was a few inches taller than the tallest guy who was Tashiro-san. But that was only a few inches. And it was three guys against me.
"Three guys versus one?" I said, "That ain't fair. Ain't that right, CJ?"
"You's right," CJ said as he towered over Tashiro-san, looking down on him. Tashiro-san turned around slowly and looked up at CJ's stern face and right back at me. I laughed on the inside for a second when I watched his face turn paler than a corpse.
He exhaled sharply through his teeth and looked at his two companions, looking a little scared for a change. He shrugged and walked away without a word, the two guys following him. The dude just had his hands in his pockets, still keeping his head up to look like he's confident. But, well, he's probably shaken up now.
I looked back at CJ, who had a worried face on him. "You good?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," I said through gritted teeth. I held out my fist to him for a fist bump. "Thanks for the save, man," I thanked the man.
"Ay, no worries, man," he said, giving me a friendly fist bump, "If you need help, just holla' at me, aight, dude?"
"Yeah," I said, "Thanks."
CJ turned around to return to his friends, but before he could walk off, I called out to him. "Hey, dude," I asked, "D'you know where Yuri ran off to?"
"The girl who was with you?" he said, "Oh damn, um." CJ pointed at a doorway at the far end of the courtyard. "Through those doors over there. Other than that, dunno."
"Aight, thanks," I said before picking up my bento box and Yuri's book and running off to find Yuri.
When I entered the building, I found myself in an empty hallway. Well, mostly empty hallway. Near the middle of the hallway by the restrooms stood Natsuki. She heard the door and turned to look. She had a grim look on her face, but when she saw me, she eased up.
I jogged to Natsuki, whose arms were crossed and a huge pout on her face.
"Senpai!" she exclaimed quickly and frantically, "What happened? Why did Yuri start crying? What did Tashiro-san say? Please tell me! Please!"
"Woah, calm down, Natsuki," I said.
"Don't tell me to calm down, asshole," she retorted, "My best friend is in the restroom crying and I need to know what happened. And I-"
I shot her a stern look and Natsuki closed her mouth, understanding what I was saying without saying. "Anyway," I said, "The guy brought up Yuri's father. I don't think she took it well."
Natsuki's face turned red with anger. It felt like steam was coming out of her nose and ears like a tea kettle on a stovetop. "That son of a bitch!" she exclaimed, "I'm gonna kick his teeth in right now, I swear to God!" Natsuki started to storm off past me to go and beat up the dude. I stopped her by grabbing her.
"Natsuki," I said, "You're not gonna solve anything. Don't go and confront him."
"But he made Yuri cry," she grumbled and fought back.
"Do you want to get in trouble?" I asked, "I know schools tend to punish the victim for fighting back instead of the bully in the first place. I don't want you to risk it."
She paused for a second and stopped struggling in my arms. "Oh, fine," she said, "Just get your hands off of me, you creep."
I rolled my eyes. I then turned to the entrance that led into the girls' restroom and started to walk into the said restroom.
"Wait," said Natsuki. I stopped and turned to look at her. She pointed to the entrance next to the girls' restroom. "Wrong way. She's in the boys' restroom."
That momentarily made me lighten up for a second. The fact that Yuri found herself in the boys' restroom is quite amusing. But I knew that she probably doesn't care. And frankly, I don't too.
I nodded and entered into the other restroom.
The moment I entered the restroom, I immediately heard Yuri's soft sniffles as she cried alone in this cold room. It was just me and her in this room. No one else. No one to hurt her, to throw harmful insults at her. It's like a private sanctuary with toilets and urinals.
"Hey, is anyone in there?" I joked as I knocked on the door where Yuri was, trying to lighten the mood a little. Probably not the best idea, but, well, I always found that humor was the best medicine. It was an excellent coping mechanism when I lost my brother. I felt like it was a good idea to use it in this situation.
"Leave me alone," Yuri said in hushed tones, her voice barely above a whisper. If it wasn't for us being alone in this restroom, I wouldn't be able to hear her at all. In fact, it feels like she isn't even heard at all except when she's with me and the club. It's like she just blends into the background, not to be seen nor heard.
Well, humor isn't gonna work, I told myself. Leaning my hip against the sink that was in front of the bathroom stalls, I crossed my arms and stayed silent for a little bit. I put my bento box and Yuri's book on the shelf that was under the mirrors. Honestly, I don't even know what to say at this point. I've comforted my sister before when she cried alone in my room, but I don't know how to help Yuri.
"Look, Yuri," I started speaking, "I wanted to tell you that I-"
"Stop," she said, forcing me to close my mouth, "I know what you're going to say."
"What am I gonna say?" I asked.
"I know that you are going to say that you feel sorry for me, that you apologize for just being with me," she said, "After all, I am just a person who stays in the background, right?"
"Yuri, I-"
"Besides," she said, cutting me off, "I-I don't need your pity. I don't need you to worry. I'll be okay. I promise. Those people out there would always look down on a person like me anyways. Why should you care? I will be fine. Just like that song I sang when we went to that karaoke bar. Fine on the outside. That is what people want, right?"
"Wait-!" I tried to say, but I couldn't. How long has this been going on? How long has she felt like this? Neglected from her schoolmates?
"Tashiro-san is just another person who likes to be mean to someone like me," she continued, "He's just like everyone else."
"Yuri!" I exclaimed, this time trying to get her to listen because she's just beating herself up at this point, "Remember when I said I would help you? Sure, any guy could just let everything go. But I took the time to go to your apartment. I took the time to tell you that I want to help you. Please, just let me help you."
Yuri stayed silent. Not a peep. The sniffling from her cries subsided. And I stayed silent too. I said everything I could say. But even though I'm out of words, I still want to help Yuri. She's my friend and I have to protect them. Whatever it takes.
I heard the lock to the stall unlock and the door slowly swung open. There stood Yuri, holding one of her cherished knives, her sleeve hastily unraveled to cover her arms. Her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks flushed as blood rushed in her veins. She looked like she went through Hell. Then again, I know that everyone goes through their own kind of Hell.
"Do you mean it?" she said, her voice just louder than a whisper.
"Of course," I said, "I don't lie, do I?"
Yuri tried to smile, but it looked like she wasn't able too. Her lip just quivered, then frowned. She dropped the knife in her hands and leaned forwards, right into my arms. She buried her face in my shoulder and I felt her sobbing again. I put my arms around her, trying to comfort her as she let out the cries of her heart.
"I'm sorry," she said through sobs and tears, "I'm very sorry. I didn't wish for this to happen."
"Shh," I whispered in his ear as quietly as I can. "It's okay. Just let it out."
A good half-a-minute later and the bell rang. By then, Yuri stopped crying. She dried her eyes with her sleeve and let go of me. She then took a look around and noticed the urinals by the entrance of the restroom. "I-I am in the boys' restroom, aren't I?" she said nervously.
I smirked, amused that she's finally figuring out that she is in the men's room. "You are," I said. My mind immediately was cleared of any bad thoughts as I saw her becoming flustered like the beautifully shy girl that she was.
"Oh dear," she said, "I-it seems like I have made a mistake."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Happens to the best of us," I said.
I bent over and picked up Yuri's knife that she had dropped on the floor. Knowing her, I would assume she had been cutting just now. Goddamn, that is fucking dangerous.
"You dropped this," I said as I held out the knife to her. The blade had a little blood on it, blood that looked a little fresh. But I handed it back to her since, well, I know that she has a lot of knives. And I can't exactly just take them away because it reminds her of her father. And the fact that it would be useless since she got a whole collection anyway.
"Th-thank you," she said, taking the knife and sheathing it. "I will ask Natsuki to help me get home. I don't wish to go to the Literature Club today."
"Alright," I said, picking up my bento box and Yuri's book, "I'll tell Monika and Sayori that you two won't be there today."
With that said, the day went by normally, though I had a nagging question in the back of my mind. How in the world am I gonna help Yuri?
When school ended, I told Monika that Yuri and Natsuki went home. She didn't know what happened, which I think is good for now. She ended up canceling the club since the two weren't showing up and we just went home. Sayori asked me what happened, but I just said that I didn't know what. It might be better if she didn't know for now.
She really has a lot of things going on, I thought to myself, She really is just fine on the outside.
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
Translation notes:
1. Tests don't really count against a student's grades unless it is some final exam
2. Bento boxes are lunch boxes
3. Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu is the latest Japanese translation of the original Alice in Wonderland fairy tale by Lewis Carroll.
A/N: I wrote this chapter in two days. Like no cap, I actually just finished writing this chapter two days after the last chapter was posted. I dunno, I just had the motivation to do it. Hell, I'm posting this a day early, which is good. I guess I really just wanted to get some work done since I'm stuck at home most of the time.
In other words, I hope this chapter wasn't bad. Looking back on it, it feels a little dark. Then again, this is a DDLC fic, so I guess it suits. If these events seem familiar, it's because I kinda sorta based it off of some mod for DDLC that I played a while ago. I dunno, I just wanted to write my own version of the scene. But I think it fits. There will be some scenes here and there that are based on scenes in other pieces of media because I wanted my own version myself. Also because I am an uncreative son of a bitch. But for the most part, I will keep it original. With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Peace!
