"When we look at the data provided by the media outlets, we discover that the information provided by eyewitnesses tends to fluctuate between accounts. Some describe the assailant as firing twelve rounds, while other describe him as firing six. You may ask yourself, "How can this be? Why is there such a glaring variation amongst people's accounts of the incident?" One possible explanation for such…"

Dr. Kido, my sixth period instructor, continued to drone on to a relatively-silent class, busy scribbling notes down in their journals. My journal, a simple spiral notebook, laid open on my desk, but it had been a while since I had jotted down any notes this period. While Theory of Knowledge has always been an interesting class to me, my mind was almost entirely occupied elsewhere today.

I stared down at my desk, fingers flicking the edges of Natsuki's poem as I read it for perhaps the 20th time that day. My eyes grazed over the stanzas over and over again, soaking up every word. I felt my finger brush the outline of her signature, a simple scribble in the corner of the paper.

I kept turning the lines over like a burger patty on the grill. Not taking anything away from it, she wrote a very good poem, using simple words to give vivid descriptions. Ultimately easier to digest than Yuri's abuse of complicated vocabulary, or Monika's...abstract view of reality. As I kept rereading it, I was locked on the idea that this was a confession of affection, reading inbetween the lines. It had to be, or at the very least a hint of such emotions. Nevertheless, the very idea made my heart pound faster than I've ever felt it beat.

Just one thing troubled me, however; the intro. I still couldn't piece together what exactly the smoke and the ugly thoughts was referring to. My mind recalls our conversation last time, when she started crying to me about the Parfait Girls volume. What did she say?

'Things are really hard for me right now…'

What did she mean? What could possibly be troubling her so much to the point of a breakdown? My mind failed to think of a reason.

Chances are it's school-related. A lot of students are getting in over their heads about the end of this semester, trying to get their late work turned in before the gradebooks closed, solidifying their academic standing to potential universities. Even the best and brightest of students (like Monika) would be lying if they weren't fretting just a little bit.

I glanced out the window.

Call it stereotyping, but I couldn't help but connect Natsuki's exhibited persona to an anime cliche called a 'tsundere', or a character that acts cold to the main character/Protagonist (in this case, myself), but later begins to be friendly to them (and depending on the series, falls in love). The initial hostility at my joining the club, refusing help at getting the Parfait Girls volumes down, then slowly warming up to me by taking the umbrella and accepting my lunch. One key trait was missing from this equation, however.

Still, my mind still lingered at the idea it was a giant coincidence, or just unintentional. Natsuki didn't like me. She thinks I'm a creep, or just trying to play nice to get with her. Are these thoughts the result of of my fear and anxiety once again taking root? Manipulating my ability to think clearly? There was still a good chance she had no interest in me in that way, and just thinks of us as friends. Once again, I tried to

"-give us an example, Mr. Odaka?" I heard Dr. Kido say.

I froze, looking up at mention of my name. My mouth turned to sand.

"Could you repeat the question, sir?" I said with a mismanaged air of confidence.

A few laughs. Dr. Kido squinted through his wireframe glasses. "What is one concept that could be applied to the data?"

I quickly glanced down at my notes. I felt an itching heat rush up and down my body (the kind I always get when I'm put on the spot like this, even if I was supposed to be paying attention). My brain began to lock up. I could feel about a dozen eyes focused on me, watching my every moment, waiting for a response.

My mind spurred. I flipped back a page into my notes. "Uh...has sensory perception been mentioned yet? It could be applied by saying how disabilities affect our ability to perceive our reality." I looked up with a hint of uncertainty. That was a good enough answer, right?

The class nodded in general agreement. Dr. Kido smiled. "Yes, I was hoping you'd bring that up.", He turned back to face the board, now tracing back into our previous lesson about animals perceiving the world differently from others and yaddayaddayadda.

I wiped a trace of sweat from my forehead. That could have ended very badly. Gotta remember to keep an ear out. I dipped back into my thoughts.

The question is, how do I act from here? Do I start actually flirting with her? Do I wait and see if she flirts with me first, at all? How the hell do you even flirt? I've never dated anyone before, and I have next to no experience when it comes to this sort of romantic stuff. That's assuming she has an interest at all, anyway. Maybe I should just slowly start to drop hints and see if anything happens…

The bell rang. I swooped up my papers and shoved them in my bag. Just two more periods, then the Literature Club. Blow through sharing poems, then spend the rest of the hour reading with Natsuki.

I took in a lungful of air and slowly sighed.

'Just relax. Everything will be fine.' I told myself with a shaky uneasiness. I ran my fingers through my hair.

I exited the class.

…

The final period bell rang, and I hastily grabbed my things and stepped into the hallway, moving past the crowds of students. I stepped out into the foyer and took in the view. Low clouds hung over the skies, but sunlight still shined down. The air was unusually humid, and I didn't enjoy it at all. I adjusted my shirt collar and made my way to the fourth-years building.

I entered the building and walked up the stairs. Like usual after school hours, the halls were relatively free of students. I nodded to a passing teacher making her way down the stairs. Down the hallway, I could hear Sayori and Monika chatting indistinctly, though I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

I slowly crept up to the door, and leaned out to where they couldn't see me (on first glance). I could see papers strewn across the teachers desk, with Monika standing behind it, the chair pushed back to the wall. She was thumbing through a manilla folder, her bag hanging half-open on the chair. Natsuki was sitting at the closest desk to the teachers, nose-deep in Parfait Girls (looked like the next volume I was supposed to read).

Sayori was sitting on top of the desk, facing away from the club president, kicking her feet ever-so slightly like a child in a grocery store cart. On her face, I saw the same distant, expressionless stare I saw a day ago.

I felt a chill.

"It's sort of complicated, having to differentiate between one variable and the next, because the OS can get confused and isn't sure which program you want to initiate, but then you'd have to write out a separate line of code telling it what to do…" Monika was saying, her voice droning. Natsuki seemed indifferent to her rambling, while Sayori nodded absent-mindedly.

Was she trying to explain one of her classes to her? Judging from the lingo she was using, it sounded like a computer class or something. That would explain Sayori's relative indifference to her. What Monika was saying sounded really...complicated. And Sayori's constantly bouncing around from topic to topic.

I remember back in our primary school years our language instructor had assigned us to write a short essay (like two paragraphs) about our favorite thing to do at home. Sayori had just finished writing it (on eating snacks, usually mine)...only to toss it because she remembered she liked sleeping more. It's a tad difficult to keep her attention focused on one thing for longer than a class period.

If that's the case, then maybe...maybe that's all that face means. Just boredom. Disconnected, daydreaming. And I'm ultimately worrying for nothing. Once again, I let my mind take things too far and exaggerate reality. I need to learn to not let these things happen so easily.

I stepped into the classroom.

The three girls glanced up. Sayori shot me a big smile and hopped off the desk. She rushed towards me, arms open. She embraced me in a big hug. "Hehe, there you are! I was just about to call you to ask where you were."

I heard Natsuki chuckle a little, and I felt my face go red. I glanced at Monika, a mixture of accepting embarrassment and confusion. "Sayori, class barely ended. I couldn't have gotten here any quicker."

Monika cleared her throat, taking charge. "Ahah, it's good to see you again, Kazuma. I'm glad that you showed up, because there's a bit of an issue we have to discuss." My mind started to worry at first before I remembered what 'the issue' was about, thinking back to Sayori and Monika's previous conversation.

Sayori released me from her deathgrip hug and happily hopped back to her spot. I fixed my now-crooked blazer and dusted myself off. I slowly walked to the desk adjacent to Natsuki's and sat atop it, putting my bag down in the chair. I tried to put on a cool demeanor. "Sure, what's up?"

Monika smiled.

…

"I'm sure you know about the festival coming up, right? I don't need to go over it." Monika began, propping herself up against the teachers desk, pushing aside a few of her papers to make room.

I nodded. I mean, who in this school hasn't heard of the festival? Every year towards the end of the fall grading session, the administrators and school board throw a big celebration festival on the first two days of the last week before the December break, regardless of whether you passed or not. Food, drinks and lively traditional/modern music galore as students take the load off from their arduous studies during school hours.

A common feature at these festivals were lots of showcases for all of the various activities and clubs the school had to offer (and for university representatives as well, eager to get their name out there to the student body 'cream of the crop').

For clubs and groups (like the debate club, for example), it's a good way to advertise to more students for the next year rather than just bulletin board flyers and the morning announcements, so obviously Club President Monika would be trying her hardest to make the Literature Clubs exhibition the best it can be.

She continued, "I know that you've only just joined, but with what Sayori and I have planned for this event, we really need all hands on deck, including yours. Natsuki and Yuri already have their plans together, as well as myself and Sayori, but you're the only one left out."

"Speaking of Yuri…", I half-glanced around the room. "Where is she? Is she alright?"

Monika gave an affirmative wave. "Oh, she said she wasn't going to be here, doctor's appointment, but she'll be here in time to start work tomorrow. She told me on the group chat…" She paused. "Which you haven't been added to yet, shit." She pointed at me. "Remind me to add you to that after class." I nodded.

Group chat, huh? That'll be interesting.

She gestured to herself. "Myself and Yuri are going to be working together on creating decorations to spruce up our little area, getting the right theme in place and all that." She gestured to Natsuki, half-peeking at her Parfait Girls volume. "Natsuki is going to be baking snacks and treats to offer passerbys/potential members, as a way to lure them in and pique their interest."

"And Sayori is going to be in charge of the general schedule and order of our booth, running checklists and that sort of stuff. Making sure we do stuff on time and", she twirled her wrist, "well, you get the idea."

"Initially, I was going to have Sayori and Natsuki working together so things would be even, but since you joined that kinda threw things off balance, you being the odd man out." She paused. "Not that that's a bad thing. I'm happy you joined, but it just means I have to shake up the order a bit."

The realization slowly came to me as she talked.

"What I'm getting at is that you have to choose between Sayori or Natsuki with who you would like to work with. Tomorrow was just going to be a sort of 'research' day, like getting recipes in order and choosing a theme to work on, but I was hoping everyone would start actual work on Sunday, if that's alright with you."

I don't understand why, but I just felt my mind lock up. I wasn't prepared for this. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words fell out. That same itching heat I had in Dr. Kid's crept up my body again.

"Uh…" I started. An awkward pause. "Could you excuse me?" I sat up and rushed out the door, nearly tripping on my feet.

"Kazuma?" I heard Sayori call out, but I didn't turn around.

I hastily exited the class.

…

The bathroom was sleek and wide, the lights toned down slightly. Polished wood stalls, checkerboard tiled floors and a long mirror ran along the wall, free of scratches. A small bonsai tree sat in the corner, and a smell reminisce of peaches filled my nose.

I shoved the door open with my shoulder, the door clanging on the doorstopper. Since it was after school hours, the place was naturally deserted. I could head the soft gurgling of water rushing through the pipes in the walls. I paced around the sinks, loudly tapping my foot in agitation.

'This is a disaster.' I kept repeating in my head.

How the hell am I supposed to pick?

If I choose Sayori, I'm losing an entire day I could use to get to know Natsuki better and get closer to her. If I pick with Natsuki, I make Sayori feel unwanted. There's no way to actually 'win', here.

I turned on the tap from the sink, and a thin stream of cool water gushed out. I dove my hands under the stream and rubbed my face, the cool water dripping down my chin. I cupped my hands and took a sip; filtered and pure. I glanced up in the mirror and noticed how disheveled my hair had became. I quickly combed it back into shape with my damp fingers.

I ripped a few paper towels from a dispenser and padded my face dry.

C'mon. Your freaking out over literally nothing. All you have to do is pick between them. Just go with Natsuki, and try to figure out what's going on with Sayori later. Maybe try and go talk to her on Saturday? That sounds like a good idea, at least.

I tossed the paper towels in the wastebin and took another look in the mirror. I straightened up my pose and tried to look confident, relaxed. I freaked out over nothing and ended up embarrassing myself. Christ, I really need to-

I heard a knock at the door. "Kazuma? Are you in there?" I heard a muffled voice call.

Monika.

I gently open the door.

Monika stood outside. "Kazuma, is everything alright? You seemed upset." Monika said, a shadow of worry cast on her face.

I shook my head. "Oh, everything's fine. Just...constipated." I said with an awkward laugh. Jesus, did I really just say that?

Monika shifted on her feet. "Oh, I see." A pause. "Do you need more time or…" she seemed to back off a bit.

I hastily shook my head no. "Oh, I'm fine now, thank you. No worries." I smiled, trying to push the awkwardness of the situation away.

"Great! Shall we go back?" She said, smile returning. I nodded enthusiastically. She turned on her heel and started walking back to the class, myself warily following.

When we returned, Sayori and Natsuki were busy talking to each other, though I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sayori glanced up and gave me a worried expression. "Are you okay, 'zuma?" she said. She hopped off her spot, but I put up a defensive hand. "I'm fine, just had to use the restroom." I said. Reclusively, she sat back down. I immediately felt bad. I wasn't trying to be rude...

"Yes, well, where were we now?" Monika said, sitting down in the teachers chair. "Kazuma, do you know who you'd want to work with this weekend?"

I glanced at Natsuki. She blushed, and looked back down at her Parfait Girls volume, the book shut with the cover facing up. I glanced at Sayori, looking down at her white shoes gently tapping against the desk. She looked up and gives me a genuine smile.

I feel myself start to lock up again.

'Fucking hell, say something.' My mind barks.

"Well…" I adjusted my collar, gears turning. "I always wanted to give baking a try. "That is, if your okay with that, Natsuki."

Natsuki perks up, a smile breaking across her face. She just nods. "Yeah, it's whatever...you can help get me the supplies I need." Sayori looked indifferent, a smile persisting on her face. What was she thinking?

"Alright! That settles that, then." Monika swiftly pulls out her phones stylus and starts to scribble down notes.

I coughed. "Uh, sorry Sayori." I sheepishly say. "I just-"

She cuts me off, almost abruptly. "It's fine, Kazuma! Don't worry, my jobs really boring anyway. I wouldn't want to make you unhappy, ahehe." She smiled.

I returned the smile, but my mind sticks to that last part. 'I wouldn't want to make you unhappy.' Even if Sayori's task was as exciting as watching paint dry, I'd have fun anyway because I'd be with her. She's my best friend. She...she knows that, right? Should I say something? Try to affirm that?

I pause.

No, she certainly knows that. That she doesn't bore me. She's always made me happy, and I've done the same. That should be enough.

Monika claps her hands together. "Alright! Even though we're one member short today, I'd still like everyone to share their poems. Then tomorrow Yuri will return and we can get working on our tasks."

She reached into her bag. "I'm especially proud of this one…"

...

Flowers

by Sayori Asoka

The petals drip down into a dark puddle

Splashes of color, swirling in my eyes

I collect them and hold them all close

Their sweet smell entrancing me

The smell fades

The petals dry out and crumble

I walk back to the floor

Only there is no more color

The flowers have died

Only the lingering smell of death remains

Pause.

"Kazuma?"

"Hm?" I say glancing up from her paper.

"What did you think?"

I pause. "It's very...well, it's not what I expected you to write. It's a tad dark, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" she drew circles on the desk with her finger. "I wanted to, well, try something different. Yuri's poem was sort of similar like this and I wanted to try and make my own version of that."

"Ah, well, it certainly got across a lot of emotions. It's very...weighty?"

"Hehe, thank you. You could say the same about your poem, Kazuma. It had a lot of emotions driving it, too."

"Haha, thanks."

I stood up. "Thanks for sharing."

Sayori just smiled.

…

Monika was sitting down at the teachers desk, tapping away at her small laptop. She had taken her blazer off (now resting on the chair), revealing her white dress shirt and orange sweater vest. Behind her on the whiteboard, I could see a couple of equations and assorted numbers scrawled with a green marker. I wonder what she was working on?

She glanced up and immediately shut her laptop. "Oh, hey! Sorry, I was just working on something for my coding class. That's what all", she gestured to the scrawlings "that is, haha."

I shared the laugh. "Hey, it's cool. Looks pretty complicated."

She sighed, and pushed her laptop aside. "It really is. Our instructor is making us write out our own little program as a final grade before break and it's driving me nuts! If I flop with this, it could ruin my grade."

"I see." I said, nodding. "Well, hopefully you can get that all figured out. Then again, what's someone like you have to worry about? I'm sure you'll create something better than anyone in your class could."

Monika looked up at me, those pretty emerald eyes shining. "Thank you, Kazuma. That means a lot. You sure do have a way to make a girl feel a certain way, huh?" She said with a laugh. I blushed.

"Anyways, poems." She said, handing her paper to me.

I took her poem. Monikas statement earlier was right; she should be proud of this one. It was, from what I gathered, a portrayal of a victim of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing in 1945. Staggering around a ruined city, blinded and dying. Knowing but also not knowing what happened to them and to their home. 70 years later and it's still a touchy subject, but Monika captured it's essence perfectly.

"Wow, that was...moving. I wasn't expecting something like this. You captured the emotions of that day very well."

"Thank you." Monika said silently. "I didn't really enjoy writing it, but I felt inspired by it after doing some research on the bombings for my history class. Just something I felt should be written, so I took that chance with this being our last poems to share."

An awkward silence.

She pointed to my paper. "Hopefully yours isn't as...depressing, ahah." she said with a brief laugh. I handed her my paper.

She quickly started reading it, her eyes going across each line.

After a while, she spoke up. "Do you mind if I say something about it?". I shrugged. "Sure. I'm open to criticism." She paused. "It's not a criticism, but...is this" she leaned in slightly, voice quieter "a love poem?"

I blushed again, and I could feel myself start to sweat. "Wh-what?" I laughed awkwardly. "What makes you s-say that?"

Monika smiled. "Don't worry, Kazuma. I won't spill your secret, but you did make it kinda obvious with your word usage. It's very cute, though. It's a clever way to admit how you feel to me."

I freeze. Huh?

Monika bursted out laughing, the ribbon in her hair bouncing slightly. "Ahahaha, I'm just kidding Kazuma!" she said, still laughing. I couldn't help but join in the laugh. I mean, what was I supposed to do?

"Well...thank you for that." I say, taking my paper back. Monika gave me a laughing smile, but it didn't help with putting me at ease. One thought troubled me.

If she doesn't think I wrote it for her, who does she think I wrote it for?

I turned around.

…

Practically hopping, I walked over to Natsuki's usual spot, tucked away in the back corner desk. She was once again nose deep in the Parfait Girls, her eyes intently reading the pages. Atop her desk was the manga boxset from the closet.

"Hey." I said, standing beside her desk.

She glanced up from her Parfait Girls volume. "H-hey." she replied. I pointed down at the desk in front of hers. "Mind if I sit here?"

She scoffed. "Well, of course not, dummy. What, were you just gonna stand there all day?" I chuckled, setting my bag down on the floor.

"Is that the next volume I'm supposed to read?" I said, pointing at the book in her hands. She looked up again. "Y-yeah, so? I was just rereading it."

I smiled. "Cool. I do that sometimes, especially when it's with good series. Better than just letting it sit and collect dust on my shelf."

Natsuki looked back up, gently putting the volume down. "Y-you have a collection?" She said, surprised.

"Yeah, complete editions. I have it tucked away above my desk. It's only a couple of my favorite series that I've read over the years, though it's probably not as big as your collection."

She glanced away. "Actually, Parfait Girls is the only physical collection I have."

"What? Why?" I asked. It's kind of surprising she doesn't actually own her series. Not that I'm making fun of her, but it's usually what people (well, my friends at least) do. Physical over digital.

She folds her arms. "Who cares? Mind your own business!" She said, annoyance lacing her voice.

"Alright, alright." I said, trying to put her back at ease.

A pause.

"Hey, also…" she paused, adjusting the Parfait Girls volume. "I need to give you my number so we can start planning for Sunday."

I nodded. "Sure, no problem." I quickly pulled out my phone and opened up my contacts. "What is it?" She slowly rattled off her number to me, waiting for me to finish inputting the digits. I added her and put my phone away.

"Don't make me regret it." She growled at me. I laughed. "Don't worry." I ran my finger along the edge of the desk. My mind wandered back to this morning and how I got to finish the Parfait Girls volume just barely before the first bell. I dug into my bag and carefully pulled out the volume, holding it up to her. "So anyway, since we've already shared poems, do you want to get back to Parfait Girls?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah!" She said excitedly, but keeping her voice low. She swooped up the manga boxset and stood up from her desk. She made a motion with her head to follow her, walking towards an empty spot against the wall, next to the closed closet door.

She brushed off a spot on the ground and placed the boxset there. She sat down and patted a spot next to her, beckoning me to join her. I bent down on a knee and took a spot next to her. Running her fingers along the bindings of the volumes, she slipped the previous book back into it's holder and handed me hers. She grabbed the next volume and opened it up, immediately starting to read.

I looked up. Sayori was sitting in a chair under the window by the teachers desk, where Monika was facing the whiteboard, scribbling new equations onto the board.

I opened up my volume and began to read.

…

My heart pounded in my chest.

She was right there.

Natsuki's head was resting on my shoulder, body pushed up against mine. She sat with her legs stretched out, her blue skirt carefully tucked under her thighs. Sunlight gleamed through the windows, reflecting in her hair, giving her an almost angelic glow.

I thumbed to the next page, taking in the intricately-drawn art. Credit to whoever wrote this, the style is very cute. Almost reminds me of a cross between typical 1990's Sailor Moon styles and more chibi Pop Team Epic. Interesting blend that works really well.

I can smell her on me.

It was such a vibrant and dizzying scent. Like strawberries and what I imagine rainbows would smell like. Call me a creep, but it's about how I expected her to smell like. So pleasant.

I continued to read. At this part of the story, one of the girls has a crush on a boy who works at a sweets shop at a mall, and the other three girls are following her around on her date with the boy, and...

Without moving my head, I glanced over to Natsuki.

She had her own volume opened up on her lap, but she wasn't reading it. She was intently looking over at my own volume, unmoving.

I cleared my throat. "You okay, Natsuki?"

She seemed startled. She clutched the edge of her own volume. "Ye-yeah, what's up?" She said. She pushed back a strand of her pink hair behind her ear.

I nodded. "Nothing. Just seemed like you were more interested in my volume than your own."

She stammered. "Well, it's j-just...I-I mean...that's a good part, and I wanted to see your reaction. That's all. What's wrong with that?!"

I toned back my voice. "Hey, nothings wrong. I do the same thing when I'm introducing my friends to a new series. I'm curious as to how they react to some of my favorite parts." I nudged her on the shoulder. "Your fine."

She blushed, and turned away. "Th-thanks, Kazuma." I adjusted myself in my spot. "Don't mention it."

I looked up, and almost froze.

Through the rows and rows of desks, Sayori was silently watching me. Not like buggy-eyes or anything, but just silently watching me from her desk. An almost dead stare, unsmiling.

Out of instinct, I waved. She took a second before she waved back almost excitedly, smile spread across her face, before she looked down at her phone, now distracted.

Slowly, I returned to the manga.

'Alright, that was kinda weird. How long was she looking at me, I wonder? Probably not long, a couple seconds. I wonder what she thinks of me and Natsuki being so close together…is she threatened? There's no real reason to be.:

I shook these thoughts away.

Back to Parfait Girls. You can think about all that later.

...

15, 20, 30 minutes passed. I finished the volume fairly quickly and ended up discussing my thoughts with Natsuki afterward. It was nice, mostly because she was very passionate about the series and it's always fun to talk to people who have a deep love for their art. Very refreshing, sharp contrast from the usual faceless nobody wannabe fans I find on Internet comment sections.

I watched as the hands of the clock slowly reached 5'oclock. On cue, Monika's phone started buzzing an alarm, which she quickly grabbed to shut off. She stood up, her laptop bag and regular bag slung on her shoulders. "Well, that's the bell! Thanks for showing up today, everyone. Now, I want everyone to start thinking about what you want to work on tomorrow, because that's all were gonna be doing next meeting." Everyone nodded in acknowledgement and started to grab their things.

I stood up and dusted myself off. I stuck my hand out to Natsuki, who gingerly grabbed it and boosted herself up. Her cheeks went hot, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, Kazuma!" I heard Monika call from the back of the room. "I still need to add you to the group chat, remember?". I reached down to grab my bag and walked over to where Monika was at. Sayori was busy getting her purse together (apparently she made herself busy by cleaning it).

I pulled up my messaging app and handed Monika my unlocked phone, who quickly started tapping away. In a few beats she handed it back, and I felt my phone start to buzz from the new notifications.

Natsuki drifted away from me and met with Sayori, who was already waiting to leave by the door. They both turned and smiled at me. I walked up to them, bag slung over my shoulder. "Text me whenever you get home so we can start planning right away, okay?"

"Alright." I said, unbuttoning my blazer. The weather outside looked cooler than it did earlier, and I was hoping to enjoy a nice breeze or two. I folded my blazer over my arm.

"And start reading the next volume so we can get back into it faster. Then we could start reading more on Sunday." She blushed, stammered out. "T-that is, i-if you wanted to."

"Mhmm." I said, undoing my tie.

Sayori waited patiently for Natsuki to finish talking before speaking. "Kazuma, are you still gonna walk home with me?" She said. I couldn't help but detect a hint of... desperation in her voice. Did she think I was gonna ditch her for Natsuki? I wouldn't do that (well, if that opportunity came up I would let her know beforehand, but still).

"Well, yeah." I said. "You thought I was gonna ditch you?" Sayori blushed. "No-no! I was just double-checking, hehehe!" Natsuki gave a curious look to Sayori but said nothing.

Monika swiped her bag off the chair and dangled a pair of keys in her hand. "Ready to leave?" she said to us three. We all stepped outside and went our separate ways, Natsuki tagging with Monika and Sayori walking with me the opposite way down the hall.

"Bye guys!" Monika said to Sayori and I, turning to wave. We both turned and waved. Natsuki had her headphones already in and almost didn't notice, but she turned and waved goodbye at the last second. We locked eyes for a moment.

'Text me'. she mouthed at me.

…

The walk home was rather uneventful. The whole stroll back I tried to figure out how Sayori was feeling, but she still seemed her bright usual self, talking about her plans for the festival and how excited she was for the free food they were gonna serve. Eventually I gave up trying. I walked Sayori to her door, hugged her goodbye and made my way home.

By the time I got home, sunset was beginning to streak across the sky. I unlocked the door and, as expected, the lights were dimmed and something was brewing on the stovetop. I glanced down into the pot; looked like shabu-shabu, a nice water-based meat and vegetable dish. Hungrily I grabbed an empty bowl and ladeled some of the dish into the bowl. I snatched another Ramune soda (God, I love those things) and hurriedly took everything upstairs.

I pushed open the door with my foot and set my bag down at the foot of my bed. I sat down in my desk chair, gently placing my meal onto the desk. I propped up my legs and took a swig of my soda.

Digging into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and tapped to my music playlist.

As I watched the steam waft from my dinner dish, my mind wandered back to the Literature Club group chat. I was anxious to see if my name came up anywhere (and if so, in what context).

I opened up my messaging app and tapped to the chat, accurately named 'Literature club' with a flower and book emoji. I took a quick glance at the member list. Monika was listed as the admin, with Sayori as the moderator. Yuri and Natsuki were regular members.

Sayori's photo was a pan of glazed cinnamon buns (did Natsuki make them?), username happy-thoughts with a sun emoji. Yuri's photo was a stack of books, their binders showing off various titles (I noticed that The Portrait of Markov was among them), username yurikatagiri7.

Natsuki's picture was a chibi cat against a polka-dot background (in a similar style to the stickers on the club poster), username mangaislit. Monikas photo was a selfie of her doing a peace sign dressed in summer clothing posing outside what looked like Tokyo Tower, username lilmonix3.

I scrolled through the previous chat logs. The last messages were from this morning, with Yuri declaring she would be absent for the day, and acknowledgements from the rest of the club. Swiping up, the earliest messages seemed to date back as far as a few months. 'How long has everyone known each other?' I kept thinking to myself as I read through a few of them.

The chats were nothing of particular interest to anyone but the club (and my snooping self). It was mostly just general conversation about the club and weekend activities (Monika seems to he a very social person, going out socially with friends. Does she ever invite the club?), and a few memes here and there.

I kept swiping through the chat, searching for my name.

Eventually, I found it.

lilmonix3: So whos the guy you want to bring to the club?

happy-thoughts: just someone i know, :)

lilmonix3: Is it a boooy? ;)

mangaislit: Sayori, don't be a mood killer! boys are trouble

yurikatagiri7: It wouldn't be terrible if there was a new member, even if they were male. Literature should be open to everyone and anyone, Natsuki.

mangaislit: hmmph

happy-thoughts: Hehe
lilmonix3: So who is it?

happy-thoughts: Well...his names Kazuma and hes been my best friend since we were kids. He really means a lot to me and Ive been trying to convince him to go

lilmonix3: Aww, he sounds nice! I think I had a Kazuma in one of my classes...

happy-thoughts: Im gonna try to get him to go on Monday. can you make cupcakes Natsuki?

mangaislit: Only if you pay me! =_=

happy-thoughts: do you take hugs as payment?

I looked up. The smell of the shabu-shabu wafted in my nose, distracting me from my reading. I set my phone down and eagerly began to dig into my meal.

As I ate, I remembered I still had to text a certain someone.

Using my free hand, I picked my phone back up and began to type in Natsuki's number.