Hello one and all! PaladinPen here, with an exciting treat for you! I personally am rather fond of the DDLC characters, and have been toying around with a story to help me get back into the swing of writing. I can't imagine that this story will be very long, but I've been itching to improve and test out my storytelling through dialogues, and focusing on the "Showing not Telling" aspect of narrative writing and characterization. This is what came of it. I'm quite excited for this story, and am excited to share it with you!
Of course, I don't own DDLC. I hope you're all safe and sound!
-Paladin
Natsuki strolled into the building with Sayori. "So, you and Makoto are dating now?" she asked, beginning to turn the knob on her locker as she came to a halt.
"Yep! Isn't that great!" Sayori exclaimed. "I had no idea that he felt the same way about me."
"Yeah, that sounds about on par for you two." Natsuki muttered crassly, opening the cabinet in front of her.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sayori huffed.
"It means exactly what I said. You two being into each other and not realizing that you were both into each other matches with what I'd expect from both of you. It's not a bad thing." Though it does mean that you both are kind of dense. Natsuki finished mentally.
"I guess that makes sense." Sayori replied shyly.
"How long did you two make out for after you confessed?" Natsuki asked.
"W-What?!" Sayori shouted. "What are you talking about?"
"You heard me."
Sayori blushed slightly. "W-we didn't…I mean not really…" she stammered.
Natsuki closed her locker, glancing skeptically at Sayori. "Not really?" she asked.
"I mean, when he walked me home, h-he…" she trailed off. "Oh Natsuki, he's so romantic." she hummed.
Natsuki smirked. "Yeah, I can tell. You two aren't going to be TOO lovey-dovey in the Literature club, are you?"
"No promises!" Sayori beamed, closing her own locker. Natsuki stood idly watching the students by the lockers, noting that some of the faces were unfamiliar.
"Hey, Sayori, do we have new students?"
"Yeah, the first year students are all new, obviously. Though I actually heard that Ichigaya got expelled."
"Really?" Natsuki replied. "As in the Ichigaya from our grade?"
"Yeah, apparently, he got into some real trouble over the Summer. He actually got put in jail!"
"Is that so?" Natsuki smirked. "I guess there is some poetic justice there, Ichigaya was a real creep. I don't suppose that the Shiima brothers went with him, did they?"
"I don't think so, and I think he may try to come back in a few months though at the beginning of the semester." Sayori lamented. "But who knows, now that he's gone, maybe the Shiima brothers will calm down? "
"Maybe…" Natsuki pondered. "The way that those three obsessed over Yuri really bugged me though."
"Me too!" Sayori huffed.
"Oh well, that's at least one less creep in this school to worry about."
"That's true." Sayori replied. "So, where are you off to?"
"Science elective." Natsuki responded cortly. "You?"
"Writing, but you know, with Makoto~" she hummed.
"Okay, I'm gonna barf." Natsuki covered her mouth, turning away. "Later Sayori!"
"BYYYYYEEEEEE!" Sayori shrieked.
Natsuki clutched to her backpack as she began stepping through the crowded halls. The air reeked with new uniforms and there were a number of people hugging in the halls. Another new year. Natsuki thought to herself. Year Three, on top of that. She smirked. I can't believe I've made it this far.
Thoughts of the previous year began going through her head. The image of Makoto entering the Literature club for the first time, and the consequent internal struggle that ensued seemed only like a distant memory. It wasn't that long ago. She reasoned silently. I guess a lot of it was blurry. Things with Papa weren't that great either. She paused when her line of logic went to home, and proceeded to shake it off. "I don't want to deal with that today." she mumbled.
As she proceeded up a short flight of stairs, a pair of familiar boys walked toward her. The first one seemed to have an extremely long tie, with incredibly short hair, while the other one seemed to have the opposite style: short tie, long and unkempt hair, with a raggedy old blazer tied around his waist. Both the boys had untucked shirts, and had matching Brown eyes, height, and hair color.
"Hiiiiiiii Natsuki…" the two boys jeered loudly. Natsuki passed silently by them, scowling quietly as she looked down at the stairs. The two boys laughed loudly as the distance between them and her increased. Natsuki huffed softly at the encounter.
"Jerks."
As she passed the final stair, she made a right into the classroom that was immediately by her. The layout of tables and sinks made the otherwise cozy classroom seem a bit larger. Dark sinks and closets arrayed the back of the room, with tables_each with about two chairs_being interspersed with equal distance. Some of the tables had one person sitting, but Natsuki quietly made her way to the back of the classroom, opting for a lone table up against a wall.
Natsuki began to pull items out of her backpack. A small notebook, an old mechanical pencil, placing these unremarkable items on the table in front of her. She looked up briefly to see a group of maybe 6 students walk in, and begin filling seats around the classroom. Some of them took the empty spots by the already present students. Natsuki gazed subtily, yet somewhat eagerly at the remaining students, wondering if either of them were going to make their way to her and sit down by her.
She looked back into her bag when they sat down at the table diagonal to her.
A few moments later, a soft bell echoed through the classroom. The teacher stood up, ushering the last few students into the room. "Everyone, find your seats, we are about to begin," he announced. When the students left the doorway, he began to look around, counting the heads. "It seems we have some new faces, and some missing students." he continued, making his way to his desk. He clicked at his computer a couple of times. "As your name is read, state 'here' so that I can mark your attendance. "Harada, Izanami"
"Here!"
"Hisoka, Kurosawa."
"Here!"
"Kimura, Natsuki."
"Here!" Natsuki called. As the teacher called out more names, Natsuki noticed a buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her phone, holding it under her desk. The notification was for a group chat titled "Doki Doki Lit club! :3", and as she opened the chat, she read a message from Sayori.
"Good luck today everyone! Love you tons!"
Natsuki smiled softly as she closed the message, gazing back up at the teacher who had suddenly gone quiet.
"Ryuta, Kaito?" the teacher looked back at the screen. "Ryuta, Kaito?" he called again. When no voice came, he made an additional click. "Sasaki, Chiho."
"Here."
"Excellent, thank you all for being here on time." the teacher announced. "I am Professor Tokumei, I will be your teacher for your chemistry class. I hold in my hand your syllabus for the semester." The professor held up a stack of papers, handing a small stack to each of the students in the front of the class. "Please take some and pass it back. I will draw your attention to the grading rubric found at the bottom of the front page…"
Natsuki tuned out the professor as she was passed the syllabus. She checked the back, finding the one section she feared most. Parent Signature. Natsuki sighed. How in the world am I supposed to get Papa to sign this?
"Ah, Mr. Ryuta. Glad you could join us." the teacher said. Natsuki looked up to see another boy walk into the class. He had dark brown hair, donning the usual gray school uniform.
The boy stared down at the floor as he spoke. "Sorry I'm late, professor."
"Why don't you have a seat in the back there with Ms. Kimura."
As the boy walked back towards her, she nudged the seat with her foot, pushing it out slightly. The boy sat down. "Hi." he whispered.
"Hey." Natsuki replied.
"As I was saying, besides the daily homework assignments that will comprise about 30% of your grade, it's worth noting that an additional 30% of your grade will be based on the group project you'll hand in at the end of the semester. You can read more of the details on the syllabus, but does anyone have any questions?"
A girl raised her hand. "Yeah, who's in our group for the project?"
"Traditionally, the classmates at your table, but other groups may be permitted at my discretion."
The same girl raised her hand again. "Do you have to be in a group?"
"Yes, all students MUST participate in a group of 2-5 students to complete this project. There are no exceptions. You will be allotted time at the end of class to talk with your partner or group, as you will be working with them over the semester both in class, and in your project. Any other questions?" The teacher was met with silence. "I will also be willing to answer questions after class for a few minutes if you think of any other questions. Besides the project, specific exams are also…"
Natsuki began glossing over the section for the project. Blah-Blah-Blah…This project is carefully designed to improve teamwork skills…You will participated in performing a controlled experiment… Natsuki paused when she read the last line. A specific amount of hours are supposed to be registered within the group for each group member, with the minimum amount of time spent working on the project being 5 hours per each individual to receive a maximum participation grade.
You've got to be kidding me! Natsuki thought. I have to spend 5 hours on this project!? That's ridiculous!
"Alright students, any other questions? No? Alright, I will allow for some time now to briefly talk with your partners about your projects, and get to know them for a moment. Begin." The teacher announced.
As the volume of the class increased, Natsuki turned to look at her new chemistry partner. She tried to make eye contact, but he delayed slightly in looking up. "So…" Natsuki began. "What's your name?"
"Oh-" he stammered. "M-my name is Kaito."
"Okay." She muttered. "So what should we do for our project?"
"Um," he paused. "That's a good question…I might need to think about it."
"Well we'd better get thinking, the sooner we can crank through these work hours the better." Natsuki explained.
"R-Right," Kaito replied, looking up. Natsuki met his eyes, observing a pale shade of green, with brown highlights scattered throughout the iris. She stared at the green tint in his eyes for a moment before turning away. "There are a couple of things that we can do," he continued. "But if it's okay, we can meet up after school and talk about it. That should give us both enough time to think about a project, and then we can count that time we spend talking after school as some of the hours. Would, um, that be alright?"
Natsuki thought for a moment. "Yeah, that'll be good."
"Where should we meet?" Kaito asked. "Your house?"
"No." she replied sternly. "Your house would be better."
"Uh, o-okay." he responded. "W-when would be best?"
"We can do it tomorrow. I have club meet after school today, and with the festival coming up, I probably won't have time today."
"S-sure thing." Kaito muttered. "In the meantime, I can think up some ideas and we can talk about it tomorrow."
Natsuki nodded, "Sure thing, thanks for that."
"Of course." Kaito replied. "Um, do you need me to pick you up?"
"Pick me up?"
"Yeah, I use my family's car, I can take you to my house tomorrow…If that works for you, of course." Kaito mentioned.
"That'll be great." she responded.
"O-okay." he replied. "We can do-"
"Alright, now everyone, quiet down." the teacher called. Natsuki saw the student next to her drop the word in his throat, going completely silent. Her gaze lingered on the boy's bowed head, how his eyes were looking down into his lap, yet staring at almost nothing.
What's this guy's deal? she wondered.
Short little encounter there. How'd you like it? There are a couple of new elements and characters in the story, but I hope it wasn't too confusing. I, of course, am happy to receive feedback, and I'm really trying to improve my writing, so any reviews on how to improve my performance would be deeply appreciated. Thanks again for reading, and I hope to update soon! Take care!
-Paladin