Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kaiya felt the deceleration of the car as it slowed to a halt.  Looking out the window, she saw a small apartment building; her new home.  Her parents, or, more accurately, her adoptive parents, were sending her to a new school in another town this year, but that didn’t really bother her too much.  Not one to have many friends or any semblance of a social life, Kaiya mostly kept to herself.  She would spend most days reading or playing video games, and she was content with things.  When her parents told her she would be moving to a new city and school, she replied with “it’s not like I have any friends here, and the chance to live by myself sounds fun.”  Hearing this, however, she had to reassure them that she would take studying seriously, and that she would be responsible by herself.  It was annoying to Kaiya, being talked to like a child, but she understood where they were coming from.  Living alone carries a lot of responsibilities with it, and she did fully intend to keep up with those responsibilities.  On top of all that, her parents were paying the rent for her, and giving her an increase in her allowance, a metaphorical cherry on top of the already good deal she was getting.

The entire day she arrived at her new home was spent unpacking and organizing/decorating the apartment in a way that her mother felt was appropriate for a teenage girl like her.  Before she knew it, it was evening, and her parents were getting in their car to go home, to leave Kaiya by herself.  Giving her parents one last hug, and reassuring them that if she needed anything she would call them, and that she would have at least one call a week so they could check in on her, they departed, the car disappearing behind a house as it turned a corner.

“They’re finally gone,” Kaiya said, giving a sigh of relief.  Making her way into her apartment, she made one last look towards the direction her parents left in before closing the door.  She made herself a small dinner and went up to her bedroom after she was finished.  She looked at the calendar app on her phone and saw she had 3 days before school started for her.  She was somewhat dreading starting school again, but mostly because she’d have to deal with a bunch of strangers asking questions about her.  As a private person, she didn’t like to talk about herself, especially about her past.  In her last school, people eventually gave up trying to talk to her, unless it was for something important that they needed.  Now she’d have to get to that point again, if she could.  It wasn’t as if she hated people, it’s just she didn’t particularly like interacting with others.  She wasn’t afraid of them, but just indifferent.  She’d rather be left alone where she could just read her books in silence.  Setting an alarm for the morning, she went to bed for the night.

The next morning, when she awoke, she made herself breakfast before going to the store to pick up some school supplies that she was required to get.  A new school uniform, notebooks, pens and pencils, everything that a student would need at their school.  Her parents had ordered the uniform ahead of time, which was lucky for her because it was tailor made for her.  After paying for her things, she made her way back home, which was just a few blocks away from the store, a convenient spot to get pretty much anything she’d need.  

On her way back she saw several of her fellow students, knowing this because they were in the same uniform that she had just picked up.  Several, in particular, caught her eye.  The first was a particularly energetic looking girl with a red bow in her hair, who was basically jumping all over some plain looking boy who looked pretty annoyed with her clingy behavior.  She assumed they were a couple on their way to school.  Right behind them was a small girl with pigtails in her hair.  She looked young that Kaiya almost mistook her for a middle schooler, were it not for the school’s uniform she was wearing, indicating she was going to their high school.  To Kaiya, she seemed almost too small, but she chalked it up to genetics and moved on, passing another girl who Kaiya could only describe as beautiful, with long, flowing, violet hair, whose face was buried in a book.  If Kaiya could manage to make any friend at school, she’d want it to be her.  A passion for literature, being entranced by the words on the pages, that girl was someone who understood the value of reading.

Kaiya eventually returned home.  She tried her uniform on to see how it looked on her, and was surprised at how good it looked.  It was significantly better than her previous uniform.  The taupe coat, red bow, orange vest and blue skirt looked great together, and it was pretty comfortable too.  She normally wasn’t a fan of wearing skirts, but this was alright.  After she was finished, she changed into her normal clothes and decided to relax with some light reading, which turned into an all day event because before she knew it, it was already time to go to bed.

“I guess time flies when you are doing something you enjoy,” she said, putting a bookmark where she stopped.  Setting the book on the nightstand, she fell asleep, her first full day in a new city, by herself, was behind her.

Chapter Text

Kaiya slowly opened her eyes.  She stretched her arms over her head.  Seeing the early morning sunlight trickling in through the window, an uneasy feeling came over Kaiya.  She reached for her phone on her bedside table.

“Please don’t be…” She said, dreading the worst.  She turned the screen on and her fears were realized.  “I overslept. FUCK.”  Kaiya jumped out of bed, “If I hurry I might just make it,” she said, quickly grabbing her new school uniform and throwing it on as best as she could.  “Late on my first day, this has to be a record or something.  And I have to stop by the school office first, there’s no way I’m making it to class on time.”  Kaiya grabbed an apple and ran out the door, and made her way to school.

Out of breath, Kaiya made it to the school just in time.  She walked around, trying to remember where the school’s office was until she stumbled upon it where she met with the principal.

“Ah, you must be the new student, Kaiya,” he said.  “I’m the principal of the school, Mr. Krantz.  We’re happy to have you join us at our school.  Are you familiar with the school’s layout?”

“Kinda?  I had a very brief tour a few days ago.”

“I’ll have a student be your guide for the day, if you have any questions, they’ll be able to answer them for you.”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Krantz.  I’m sure that’ll be helpful.”

“For now, you should head to your homeroom.”  He hands Kaiya a folder, “This should be everything you’ll need from me, it has your class schedule, a copy of the school rule book, be sure to read that and sign the last page and turn it in by the end of the week here in the office, okay?”

“Yes sir.”

Mr. Krantz walked up to a microphone and turned on the PA system.  “Will Monika from class 3-A please come to the office.  Monika from class 3-A to the office. Thank you,” he said, turning off the PA system, he turned to Kaiya.  “Monika is one of our brightest students here, she’ll be able to answer any question you have, and she’s in the same homeroom as you are.”  

A few minutes later, a girl walked into the school’s office.  She had long brunette hair in a ponytail, a white bow adorned her head.  “Ah, Monika, thank you for coming here.  This is a new student.  Her name is Kaiya, and she’ll be in the same class as you.”

“Hi! I’m Monika, it’s nice to meet you, Kaiya.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Monika.”

“Our classroom is this way! Come on, I’ll show you around!”

The two made their way through the school, stopping occasionally for Monika to explain a few things along the way; where the clubrooms were, where certain classrooms were, etc., when she stopped in front of a room.  Kaiya looked up above the door and saw 3-A written on a sign.

“And this is our classroom.  We have most of the classes we do in here, with the exception of stuff like science of course.  Come on, let’s go inside~.”  She opened the door and apologized to the teacher, explaining that Kaiya was a new student.

“Ah, so you’re the new student that we’re getting. Kaiya, was it?”  Kaiya nodded affirmatively.  “Well, I’m Mrs. Rowan, you can also call me by Mrs. R., if you want to.  Please write your name on the board behind me and introduce yourself to your new classmates.  We’re moving seats today, so your timing is perfect.”

Kaiya wrote her name on the board as instructed and turned to the students.  “Good morning.  My name is Kaiya, and I’m a new student here.  I moved here a few days ago, and I’m still getting used to the area.”

“Do you have any hobbies or something you enjoy doing?” Mrs. R asked Kaiya.

“Ah, I do enjoy reading.  I spent a lot of time in my old town at the library after school.  Oh, and I also like to cook, and watch cooking shows.”

“Alright, thank you Kaiya.  Now everyone, please stand up as we’re about to be moving desks.  Make sure to take everything with you from your current seat.  Do you want to have a seating chart made or do you want to choose where to sit?”  The classroom erupted with an overwhelming vote for choosing where to sit.  “Okay, okay, you can choose where you want to sit, but if you talk too much I’ll move you around.”  

Friends got together and made their choice on where to sit, and Kaiya stood there awkwardly.  Since she didn’t really have friends, she didn’t know where to go or who to talk to.  She was getting kind of worried when she felt a tap on her shoulder.  Kaiya turned around and saw it was Monika, from earlier.  “Hey, I know you’re new and everything, but would you want to sit next to me?”

“You are a lifesaver, Monika,” Kaiya said, a smile on her face.  The two chose their seats next to each other.  “Seriously, if you didn’t say anything I would have stood there until there were no seats left haha.”

“Oh, don’t say that. I’m sure someone would have invited you to sit next to them.”

“Well, I’m glad you asked me first.”

From this point on, the day went by like a normal school day would.  Classes went by slowly, and eventually they were all done.  After class, several students went up to Kaiya to introduce themselves.  Kaiya thought they all seemed pretty nice.  After they all walked away, Monika spoke up.

“Hey Kaiya?  During your introduction, you said you enjoyed reading, right?”

“Oh, yeah, I love to read.”

“Well…. how would you feel about joining the Literature Club here?  I’m the President of the club, and I think you’d fit in great, plus there’s only 4 of us currently so it’s not too overwhelming.”

Kaiya thought about it for a moment.  “I’ve never really been one for clubs, but if I were to join a club, it probably would make the most sense to be a literature club, so why not.  I’ll go at least once.”

“Splendid!  I’ll show you the way!  We meet after school in one of the clubrooms.”  The two made their way towards the clubrooms that Monika had shown Kaiya earlier in the day.  “This is it!” she said, opening the door.  Inside were 3 girls.  “Okay everyone! We have a guest joining us.”

“A guest?” a girl with a red bow in her hair asked.

“You can’t just surprise us like this Monika, jeez,” a short, pink-haired girl said.

“Sh-should I make some tea?” A taller, violet-haired girl asked, quietly.

“You definitely should!” Monika replied.  “I’ll introduce you to everyone.  This ray of sunshine is Sayori, our Vice-President.  This one right here is Natsuki.  The one getting tea ready is Yuri.  And of course, you already know me, I’m the President of the Literature Club.  Everyone, this is Kaiya, she’s a new student here at school, and she said she was interested in the club.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet all of you.  Like Monika said, my name is Kaiya and I’m new here.”

“Welcome to our club!” Sayori cheerfully exclaimed.

“Well, at least you’re not a guy.  I’m Natsuki.  Here, you can have this since you’re new here.”  She opened a container and revealed some cupcakes.  They looked homemade to Kaiya.

“Woah!  Did you bake these yourself?” Kaiya asked.

“Yeah,” Natsuki replied, a smug look on her face.  “I’ll have you know I’m the best at baking in this school.”

Kaiya looked over at Sayori, who was kinda drooling looking at the cupcakes.  “Uh, you ok there Sayori?”

“Huh?  Yeah, sorry I got distracted.”

“I made enough for everyone and then some, so yes, you can have one.  HEY! I SAID ONE!”  Natsuki began chasing after Sayori who ran off with two cupcakes, trying to shove them both in her mouth.”

“The tea is ready,” Yuri said, carrying the kettle and tea set.  “I’ve got some jasmine tea, or oolong tea here, whichever you’d prefer, Kaiya.”

“Hmm, I think jasmine would be good.”

“Jasmine it is!” Yuri said, humming to herself as she poured the tea into each cup.  

“So what do you usually do in a literature club?” Kaiya asked.

“Oh, all sorts of things.  It’s pretty individual, for the most part, but we do some group things,” Monika replied.  “Things like poetry and short story writing are group activities we’ve done.”

“I enjoy reading novels,” Yuri said quietly.

“Manga for me.  It’s totally literature, despite what some people think,” Natsuki said, glaring at Monika.

“Hehe, no it’s not.” Monika said under her breath, just loud enough for Natsuki to hear, a smile forming on Monika’s lips as she said it.

“Guys, no fighting in front of our guest!” Sayori chipped in before Natsuki could say anything.

“Grr… fine, but only because she’s new here.”

“I write poetry and draw pictures sometimes,” Sayori said, a big grin on her face.

The group talked and drank tea for a while, and before they knew it, it was already time to go home for the day.  Monika dismissed the club, and they all went their separate ways.  As they were going, Kaiya noticed that Sayori was walking the same way she was and caught up with her.

“Hey, Sayori! Do you live this way?”

“Yeah! Do you?”

“Yeah!”

“Neat!  We can walk home together!”  The two made their way home.  Kaiya noticed that they were still walking the same direction and when they arrived at their homes, Sayori suddenly shouted,  “OH MY GOD, ARE YOU MY NEIGHBOR?” 

“Kaiya looked at her house, and towards Sayori’s.  “I think we are neighbors.”

“What a coincidence!!”

“I know, what are the chances, hahaha”

“*gasp* We can have sleepovers!  AHH I’m so excited!!!”

“I can tell, haha.”

“Hey, what’s your phone number?  I’ll add you and we can text and stuff!”

The two exchanged numbers, and said their good nights for the day, walking into their homes.  Kaiya collapsed in her bed.  “What a day.  But… I kinda had fun.  More fun than I ever had at the old place.”  She set an alarm, and then set another, for the morning, and got ready for bed.  “First day down. Many more to go!”

Chapter Text

Kaiya’s alarm went off, and naturally, she hit the snooze button to try and get a few more minutes of sleep, sadly for Kaiya, those minutes went by very quickly, and her alarm went off again.  She yawned and stretched and did whatever she could to wake herself up for the day.  Slowly, she got out of bed and got ready for school.  She took her phone and texted Sayori.

[Kaiya]  Hey wanna walk to school together?

A few minutes went by as Kaiya ate her breakfast.  ‘Hmm… no response.  Well, I guess I can check at her place.’  Kaiya finished her breakfast, and put her school uniform on.  Taking one last look in the mirror, she left her home and walked to her neighbor’s place.  She knocked on the front door of the house, but didn’t get a response.

“SAYORI!!!  ARE YOU THERE??” Kaiya shouted.  A few moments later, a very sleepy Sayori poked her head out of her window.

“I OVERSLEPT!”

“Well, get ready, we gotta go or we’ll be late!” Kaiya said.  Kaiya waited outside Sayori’s place, until she opened the front door and ran out, a piece of toast hanging from her mouth.  “Are you an anime girl or something? Hahaha, you’re gonna get your uniform covered in crumbs.”

“I’m so sorry, I overslept.  I was just super sleepy,” Sayori apologized, though her voice was muffled by the toast she was trying to chew.

“That’s ok, but we gotta go!”  Kaiya looked at Sayori.  ‘She really looks tired.  Probably didn’t go to bed until very late.  Uwah… she’s got bags under her eyes.  Girl, get to bed at a good time tonight.’  Throughout their walk to school, Kaiya noticed that Sayori just seemed off, but she chalked it up to oversleeping.

“Hey, we should walk to school together every morning,” Sayori said suddenly.

Kaiya thought about it, and it made sense.  ‘We are neighbors and we’re both in the Literature Club.’  “You know, I was thinking about that last night a little.  We could even walk home from the club meetings too.  I could even make sure you get up on time, haha.”

“Ah, I can wake up on time… sometimes. Hahaha”

After sharing a laugh, Kaiya spoke again.  “So, did you just forget to set an alarm or something?”

Sayori gave a shy smile.  “Yeah, something like that, ehehe.”  With that said, the two of them began their trek to school. 

At some point during their walk to school, Kaiya asked Sayori, “Hey, so what made you and Monika start the literature club?”

“Actually, Natsuki and Yuri were there at the beginning too,” Sayori said.

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah!  I actually didn’t really know Monika or Yuri beforehand, but Natsuki and I…” Sayori began to blush, “...we knew each other beforehand.”

“Oh??”

“Y-yeah...”

“Go on,” Kaiya said, leaning in.  Her curiosity set in.

“Welllllllll…… We’re kinda, sorta, uh… besties?  If you know what I mean.”

“You’re more than just besties, aren’t you?”

Sayori blushed even more.  She slowly nodded, a shy smile on her face.

“AHHH! That’s so cute, Sayori!!!”

“Eh? Y-you mean you’re cool with us kinda being together?” She asked, slightly surprised.

“Well, yeah… I mean, if you both like each other, why would I not be cool with that?  I’m like, super happy that you’re with each other.  Besides… I’m kinda similar to you,” Kaiya quietly said.

“Eh? Really?  You are?” Sayori asked.

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, Sayori lunged towards Kaiya and tackled her into a hug.  This time, it was Kaiya’s turn to blush, suddenly getting hugged by a girl sent Kaiya into a severe panic.

“I almost fell over.  I don’t think I’ve been glomped like this since I was a kid.  Hahaha, come on, let’s get inside.”

Kaiya was bored.  It was only 3rd period, and all she wanted was for classes to be over so she could go to the club she just joined, but instead she was stuck in math class, which was easily the class that Kaiya did the worst in.  After what felt like ages, the bell finally chimed, indicating that the 3rd period was over.  The teacher dismissed the class, and everyone got out of their seats for the break between classes.  Kaiya got up, stretched a little, and left the classroom.  She was staying in the same room, but she decided to get a drink of water before class began.  At the drinking fountain, she waited behind a few other students, until it was her turn to drink.  After quenching her thirst like a boss, she made her way back to the classroom, and saw Monika walk in.

“Monika!” Kaiya said to get her club president’s attention.  This worked, and Monika turned around upon hearing her name called.

“Oh! Kaiya! How’d you do on the quiz we just had?” she asked.

Kaiya froze.  “Oh… you know… I feel like I could have done a little better, but we’ll have to see.”  ‘That’s a lie, Kai… you know you failed.  But how could the teacher expect me to know the materials if I’m new to the class?  It’s not fair…’  “How’d you do Monika?”

“Me?  I think I did pretty good.  While I’m not the greatest at mathematics, I still take my time with the homework so that I understand the concepts,” Monika said with a smile.  “So, are you excited to be a part of the Literature Club?”

“Yeah!  I’m actually very excited to join.  Like I said, I never really did club activities before, and to have a club that’s dedicated to literature is pretty cool!”

“Awesome!  Well, I know I speak for everyone in the club when I say that we’re glad you’re joining us.  We’re excited to have you because now that we have a fifth member, we’re an official club in the eyes of the school!  This will allow us to get some funding for club activities and all sorts of things.  So thank you so much for joining!  I know everyone can’t wait to get to know you more.”

“Yeah! I can’t wait to get to know everyone better, too,” Kaiya happily said.  The two sat down at their desks and pulled out their history textbooks.

“So what sort of things do you like to read, Kaiya?” Monika asked.

“Oh, I like to read a lot of different things.  I enjoy science fiction, mangas, horror, and I know it’s kinda cheesy, but romance novels are kinda fun to read sometimes,” Kaiya said.

“Oh, you’re gonna fit in perfectly.  If you talk to Natsuki about manga, she’ll talk your ear off.  Same with horror and Yuri.”

‘Interesting… I’ll have to see if they have any good recommendations,’ Kaiya thought to herself.

The teacher eventually walked in and class began.  Like the class beforehand, time seemed to drag on and on, and the same could be said for the rest of their classes.

Finally, classes were over.  The teacher dismissed the class, and everyone started leaving for club activities.

“Kaiya, it’s time for the Literature Club,” Monika said.

“Kay~ I’m ready to go.”

The two left their classroom and made their way to the third floor of the school.  The same path they took yesterday on their way to the Literature Club’s room.  On the way over, the two of them discussed their homework for the day, and Kaiya mentioned her disdain for mathematics, drawing a chuckle from Monika.  They were in front of the club room, and Monika opened the door.  The two walked in, Kaiya following Monika inside.  After entering, they were greeted by a loud “KAIYA!!!” followed by another Sayori glomp attack like earlier.

“Oof… oh, hello Sayori,” Kaiya said, a smile on her face.  Sayori released Kaiya from her hug.

“Hey! Hey! You wanna read this book with me?” Sayori asked.  

Kaiya looked at her as though she were an excited puppy.  To be honest, the description suited Sayori.  ‘I can’t say no to her, not when she looks at me like that.’ Kaiya looked down at the book in Sayori’s hand.  It almost looked like a kids book.  “Uh, sure.  What’s the book about?”

“It’s a book I found in the library!  It’s about a group of 3 friends, they go out searching for buried treasure!” Sayori said, the excitement visible on her face.

“Yeah! We can definitely read this together.”

“Sweet!  Let’s go sit over there!” Sayori said, pointing to the corner of the room.  “I generally read over there.”

And with that, the two of them spent the first part of the club meeting reading together.

Chapter Text

Kaiya and Sayori were reading a book about treasure hunting.  Admittedly, it was more aimed for kids, but it was still enjoyable to read.  The two talked about how much fun it would be to find treasure like the characters in the book did, the thrill of adventure that they could have, and the places they could go.  They discussed what they’d do with it if they found treasures, where they’d like to go treasure hunting, and other things of that nature.  After a few minutes of this discussion, Natsuki came over.

“Oi, Sayori, can we have a quick talk?  I gotta ask you something,” she said.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” Sayori said.  “I’ll be right back,” she told Kaiya.  Sayori stood up and waved to Kaiya as she walked over towards the closet area, which Sayori dubbed ‘Natsuki’s Nest.’  Sayori smiled when she saw Natsuki standing there.  “So, what’s up, cupcake?” she asked, using her nickname for Natsuki, which always made the smaller girl blush.

After being called ‘Cupcake’ Natsuki began to stammer until she got her composure back.  She cleared her throat and quietly asked Sayori, “So, what’s the new person like?”

“Oh, Kaiya’s super cool!  You’ll like her!”

“Quiet!” Natsuki hissed.  “I don’t want her to know we’re talking about her or anything.”  She sighed and spoke a little louder.  “You’re sure about that though?”

“Yeah, she even likes manga and stuff.”

“Wait, really?”

“Mhm!  We talked about it on the way to school today,” Sayori said.

“Wait, why were you walking together?”

“Oh, it turns out that we’re neighbors.”

“Wait, she’s the one who moved into the place next to yours?” Natuski asked, surprised by the revelation that someone finally moved into that place.  That house had been empty since Sayori’s childhood friend moved away 2 years ago.

“Yep! She’s my new neighbor.”

“Is it weird knowing she’s living in your friends old house?”

“Hmm, not really.  If she had moved in right afterwards, maybe I would have felt strange about it, but it’s been a while since anyone lived in that house.”

“I see,” Natsuki said.  She gave Sayori a concerned look.  “Hey, are you doing okay?  I noticed earlier that you were kinda sluggish and you seemed really tired.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  I just had a rough night and woke up a little late.  Don’t worry, it’s not a rainy day or anything like that.  But thank you for checking with me,” Sayori said.

“Okay… well, you know I’m here for you if you need anything…” Natsuki said, before mumbling quietly, “cupcake.”

Sayori smiled smugly.  “Oh? What’s that?”

“Oh, geez…  I called you ‘Cupcake,’” an exacerbated Natsuki said.  Pouting and blushing, she turned away from Sayori, who was apologizing for teasing her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… you’re just so cute when you get embarrassed like that.’

“I’m not cute…” Natsuki said, pouting even more.

“Hehe~ you’re the cutest,” Sayori said.  She walked up to the pouting Natsuki, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and started walking back to Kaiya. “Cupcake,” she said with a wink.

Yuri was sitting in a desk, reading a book, when Monika came over.

“Hey honey, how’s the book?” she asked.  “Looks like a new one.”

“Oh, it’s pretty interesting, actually,” Yuri replied.  “You know how I enjoy psychological thrillers?  Well, I went to the bookstore last night and I found this, at the recommendation of the bookstore’s owner.  It’s exciting, and I just don’t want to put it down, you know?  Ever since I first picked it up, I’ve been reading it when I get the chance.”

Yuri could go on and on when she gets excited about something, it was a trait that Monika found really adorable.  Seeing her speak passionately about something, when she’s normally timid and reserved, makes Monika smile every time that it happens.  It just so happens that one of those topics is books, specifically, thrillers like the one she is currently reading.

“I get that.  Whenever I find a book that I enjoy, I feel like I can’t stop reading until I finish it, haha~, it kinda gets me in trouble because I forget to do other things.”

“Exactly!” Yuri exclaimed.

“Oh, hey, after we’re done today, you wanna go get ice cream with me?” Monika asked.  “It’s been a while since we went on a date, you know.”

“Ah, I suppose it has been a while.  Yeah, we should definitely do that.  Did you have somewhere in mind?”

“Yep! You know that candy shop that’s like 4 blocks from my house?  I was thinking we could go there.  A classmate told me they got new flavors this past week, including a coffee-flavored ice cream!”

“Sounds great,” Yuri said. “Then I’ll wait for you outside while you and Sayori finish up in here for the day.”   

“Yay!”

Kaiya was waiting for Sayori to return, when she saw Monika approach Yuri.  Pretending to not be paying attention, she eavesdropped on their interaction until Sayori returned.  When she sat down next to her, Kaiya quietly spoke up.  “Psst, Sayori?”

“Hmm?”

“Are those two, uh, you know, like you and Natsuki?” Kaiya asked.

Sayori turned her head and saw where Kaiya was indicating.  “Oh, Yuri and Monika?  Y-yeah, they’re like us; only they’re bigger disasters than we are.”

Kaiya and Sayori shared a laugh at the comment, getting Monika to look at them.  After being found out, their laughter died out, and Kaiya let out a sigh.  “You know, I feel pretty comfortable in this club.  Everyone is super nice and friendly so far, and it’s more relaxed than I thought it would be,” Kaiya said.

“Good!  As the VP, it’s kinda my job to make sure you feel welcomed and comfortable here as a new member.  Anyways… where were we?

“I think we were on the second paragraph on this page.”

“Okay everyone!  It’s time to wrap things up and go home for the day,” Monika suddenly said.

“Already?  But I was just getting into the good part of my manga,” a disappointed Natsuki said.

“I don’t make the rules, the school does, and the rules say I can’t keep you here any later.  So, time to go home.”

“Ugh…”

“If you want, we can share poems tomorrow~”

“Please no… anything but that again,” Natsuki said.

“I don’t think I could bear having anyone read mine again,” Yuri said, her face turning red in embarrassment.  “The last time we shared my poem wasn’t any good.”

“Ehehe     ~ then you better head on home before I assign it as homework~” Monika said, a devious smile on her face.

“You ready to go, Kaiya?” Sayori asked.

“Yep, just gotta stop by my locker to grab something,” Kaiya replied.  “I’ll meet you outside like I did yesterday.”

“Okay~ I’ll meet you out front after Monika and I are done in here.”

“You know, I thought this whole moving thing was going to suck, but I’m actually really glad I did,” Kaiya said as they walked home.

“Really?”

“Yeah.  At my old place I never really found anywhere to fit in, and I didn’t really have friends.”

“Why is that?” Sayori asked.  “I think you’re awesome!”

“You do?”

“Yep!  And I’m happy that you’re here, Kaiya!”

“Aww, thanks!”  The two continued walking until they got to their homes.  “Oh, we’re home.”

“See ya tomorrow, Kaiya!”

“Yeah! See you tomorrow morning, Sayori!”

Chapter Text

Kaiya’s alarm went off, and, begrudgingly, she got out of bed and got ready for school.  She ate her breakfast and grabbed everything she needed for the day and walked out the door.

“Welp… I suppose it’s time for school again…  Gotta make sure Sayori’s up,” she said to herself.  Kaiya walked to Sayori’s house, and knocked on the door.  “Sayori!  Time to go to school!”

Sayori slowly looked out the window and waved.  She turned around, and moments later the front door opened.  Kaiya looked at Sayori’s face and noticed she had bags under her eyes again.

“You okay?” Kaiya asked.  “You look super tired.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m okay.  Just trouble sleeping again,” Sayori said, brushing it off.

“You ever take melatonin?  It’s supposed to help you fall asleep.”  Kaiya remembered a time when her adoptive parents gave her melatonin.  She had been having trouble sleeping for several days, and after taking melatonin, she went to bed really quickly.  She then made a mental note for herself to get some the next time she has to go shopping.

“Yeah, I’ve taken some before, but it doesn’t seem to work for me.”

“Oh, I see,” Kaiya said.  A few moments passed before she spoke up again.  “So, since you were up, what did you end up doing last night?”

“Oh, you know, stuff… and things…”

“Stuff and things, huh?”

“Mhm! Stuff and things!”

“I see.  Literature Club stuff and things?”

“Maaaaaybe.  You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“You know, I heard there was a school festival coming up soon.  Does this ‘stuff and things’ have anything to do with that?” Kaiya asked, inquisitively.

“Maybe, you’ll find out soon.”

The two arrived at the school and parted ways.  Kaiya’s school day went by like a normal day and eventually classes were over.  Monika left for the club room, while Kaiya had to stay behind to ask their teacher a question about their homework assignment.  Afterwards, she made her way up to the third floor and into the club room.

“Ah, Kaiya, you’re here!” Monika said.  Now, all that leaves is Sayori.”  A few minutes pass and Sayori hasn’t shown up.  “Maybe she got lost?  Natsuki, she was in class, right?”

“Yeah, I saw her before I came up here,” Natsuki said.  She let out a sigh.  “I’ll go look for her.”

“Need any help?” Kaiya offered.

“Nah, she’ll be in like, three places max.  I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Okay, well, when you find her, tell her to hurry, because I’ve got a few updates to give the club,” Monika said as Natsuki left the room.

“Yeah, yeah…” Natsuki replied.

Natsuki looked around the school, in Sayori’s favorite places to hang out.  The first place she checked was behind the school near a tree.

“Hmm, not here,” she said.  Natsuki pulled out her phone and texted Sayori, asking where she was, but didn’t get a response.  “Come on, reply back already.”  She headed back inside the school and looked inside the girl’s bathroom, where she heard soft sobbing.  ‘Found her,’ she thought to herself.  “Sayori?  Is that you?” she asked.

After a moment, she heard a sniffle, followed by Sayori saying, “Y-yeah.”

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Sayori responded.

“Sayori, we both know that’s not true.  If nothing were wrong, you wouldn’t be in here crying.”

“Ehe~ that’s true, I suppose.”

“Did someone hurt you?”

“No…”

“You got some rainclouds?”

Another sniffle.  “Yeah, a little bit,” Sayori answered.

“I thought so.  Hey, you want me to come in?”

“Mhm.”  The stall that Sayori was in unlocked.  Natsuki slowly opened it and walked in, closing it behind her.

“Hey… come here.  You need a hug from your cupcake.”

“Ehehe, you called yourself cupcake.”

Natsuki turned bright red at the realization of what she had said.  “Sh-shut up… I only said it  because it’s you.  You can’t tell anyone else that I called myself that.  If you do, I won’t bake you any cupcakes for a whole month.”

Sayori hugged Natsuki tightly.  “I had a rough night,” she said, though her voice was muffled by Natsuki’s uniform.

“Tell me about it,” Natsuki said, stroking Sayori’s hair.

“I just… My head was being really mean to me, and it kept me up.”

“Mhm.  Any thoughts in particular?”

“Mostly that I’m worthless, that I’m not wanted or liked by anyone…”

“Hey… well, we both know that’s not true.  I like you,” Natsuki said.  She gave Sayori a kiss on the forehead.  “I like you a lot.  And I know the others like you too.  You are their friend, and we all love you, *cough* especially me.”

“I know… deep down, I really know that, but my brain is really mean sometimes.  It makes me doubt what I know.”

“I know, hun.”  Sayori let go of Natsuki, who then proceeded to softly chop the top of Sayori’s head six times.  “Stop. Being. Mean. To. My. Girl.”  This managed to get Sayori to chuckle a little.  “Have you been taking your medication?”

“The depression ones?  Yeah, but I feel like it isn’t really working.”

“Well, the doc did say it could take a while for it to really get working.  And besides, you aren’t having nearly as many nights like this anymore, right?  And, they aren’t as bad as they used to be, right?”

“I suppose.  I guess I had just hoped that these clouds would be completely gone, you know?  Instead, it’s just not as cloudy most of the time.”

“I know.  But you gotta stick with it.  It’s not you, it’s your brain.  It’s just a little sick is all, and these are supposed to help.”  Natsuki hugged Sayori again.  “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.  Thanks for letting me talk it through.  I know I shouldn’t keep it in, but I still get scared to mention it when I have days like this.”

“I know, hun.  And it’s really no problem, I’m always here for my girl.  Now let’s get going.  Monika is kinda waiting for us to get back.  She mentioned something about announcing something to the club or whatever.”

Sayori gasped suddenly.  “That’s right!  Oh I hope she isn’t upset with me because I forgot.”

“Trust me, she isn’t.   She was more worried than anything.  If you want, we can just say you forgot to come to the club room or something.”

“That has happened before, ehehe~”

“I know, I had to stop you from walking home, now let’s go.”  The two made their way to back to the club room.  “I found her!” Natsuki said as they walked inside.

“Ah, welcome back!” Monika said.

“I was a little worried for a moment there,” Yuri said.

“Me too,” said Kaiya.

Sayori apologized to the group for making them wait.  “I’m sorry.  I kinda maybe forgot to come, ehehe.”

“Anyways, we’re all here now,” Natsuki said, patting Sayori on the back.

“Well, now that everyone is here, I’ve got some news for you all.  As you may know, the school festival is coming up soon.  Sayori and I were talking about what we could do as a club.  As President, I have a couple ideas, but we’d like to hear from all of you about some things you’d like to do.  So you’re homework for the evening is to come up with an idea that you’d like us to do as a club!  Then, tomorrow, we can all vote on what we’d like to do the most.  Any idea is fine as long as it’s in line with the school rules and it pertains to literature in some way.  This is our chance to really bring in some new people, and show them that literature can be exciting!  Sayori, did you have something you wanted to add?”

“Oh! Yes!  Using any funds that we get from admission, we can purchase something literature related for the person with the best idea.  So this way it’s like a contest to come up with the best idea possible for the club!  We figured it would be a fun group activity and we’d be able to come up with a great way to bring people in!  Now the prize would technically belong to the Literature Club as a whole, but it would be chosen by the winner, so it’s your chance to really leave something behind for future club members to show what you were interested in when you were here!  What do you all think?”

Natsuki was the first to speak up.  “I kinda like this idea.  The club could use more manga, after all.”

“I like this idea as well.  We could basically start a library here for the Literature Club,” Yuri said.

“I don’t really have much for ideas, but I could try to think of something for us to do,” Kaiya said.

“Well, it sounds like we’re all in agreement!” Monika said.  “Okay everyone!  Bring your best ideas tomorrow, and we’ll decide on it.  The only rule is you can’t vote for your own suggestion, otherwise we’d all just vote for our own, haha.  With that, we can all do whatever we want for the rest of the time.”

“I’m totally gonna win. I have like the best idea ever,” Natsuki said, a smug look on her face.

“Oh, and what’s your idea?” Sayori asked.

“Yeah, if it’s so good, you can tell us, right?” Kaiya prodded.  “Come on, share with us.”

“Y-you’re gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find out.  Don’t want to ruin the surprise after all.”

Chapter Text

“So, Natsuki, what manga would you get the club if you won the contest?” Kaiya asked.

“Only the greatest slice of life manga of all time, Parfait Girls ,” She said.

“Wait, you like Parfait Girls ?”

“Eh? Uh, y-yeah, what’s it to you?” Natsuki asked.

“I love that series!”

“You do?!”

“Yeah!  It’s one of my favorites!” Kaiya replied.  Both girls were getting excited over this revelation.

“Then, who’s your favorite character?” Natsuki asked.

“Oh, it’s gotta be Minori.  Even though she’s super unlucky, you just gotta love her.”

“Oh my god, you get it!” Natsuki exclaimed.  “Finally, someone else has good tastes!”

“What are they going on about?” Yuri asked, pointing to the commotion caused by Natsuki and Kaiya.

Monika turned to look.  “Honestly, I have no idea.  They’re probably talking about a manga or something.”

“Oh, that’s definitely manga stuff they’re talking about.  Natsuki only gets excited like that when she’s talking about things she really likes,” Sayori said.

“Kaiya! I have the whole set here.  You wanna read it with me?”

“You have the whole set!?!?  Hell yeah!”  The two walked to the closet

“Well that was interesting,” Monika quipped.

“Indeed,” Yuri said.  “Sayori?  Were you okay?”

“Y-yeah… I just had a little breakdown, but Natsuki helped me out,” Sayori replied.

“Well, you know if you need anything, we’re both here for you,” Yuri said in an attempt to reassure her.  “You’re our friend, and we want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah, we’ll always be here for you if you need us,” Monika said.

“Thanks guys.  I mean it.”

Two hours pass, and Monika tries to get the attention of the club.

“Okay everyone, it’s time to go home for the night,” she said, clapping her hands together.

“Eh??? But we’re just getting to the best part!” Natsuki complained.

“Yeah, can’t we stay a little longer?” Kaiya asked.

“Sorry, you two, but no can do.  You know the rules,” Monika said, matter-of-factly.

“Ugh, fine… we’ll have to pick up here tomorrow,” Natsuki said, sliding a bookmark into the volume of manga they were reading.  She closed the book and put it back in the closet.  She returned to her seat and Monika began speaking.

“Don’t forget your homework tonight.  Come back tomorrow with a good idea for the club to do at the school festival.  That’s it!  I’ll see you all tomorrow!”  Dismissed, everyone packed up their things and left the room.  Natsuki and Sayori walked out of the room together.

“Kaiya is so cool!  I didn’t think that a new person would be fun, but who would have thought that they also like Parfait Girls too!”

“Ehehe~ it sounds like you made a new friend,” Sayori said, a big smile on her face.  The two made it out of the building when Sayori suddenly stopped in her tracks.  “Oh!  I almost forgot that I walk home with her!”

“Should we just wait for her here?  She’ll be coming this way at some point,” Natsuki suggested.  “Besides, you know today is Wednesday, right?  That’s the day that I get to hang out with you after school.  Any amount of time away from home is a blessing, but it’s even better when I get to spend it with you.”

“Aww, that was so cute!” Kaiya said, suddenly appearing behind Natsuki.

“Kyah!” Natsuki screamed.  “D-don’t sneak up on me!  AND I’M NOT CUTE!  Hmph!”

“Hahaha, yeah you are!” Sayori said.  Natsuki pouted even more after hearing that.

“How long were you there anyways?” Natsuki asked Kaiya.

“Me?  Since you said something about Wednesday,” Kaiya answered, which made Natsuki’s already red face turn to an even brighter shade of red.  “But hey, if you two are a couple, it’s fine to say things like that to each other.

“A couple of what?” Sayori said, confusion on her face.  Kaiya and Natsuki turn to Sayori with looks of disbelief on their faces.

“Anyways, you hang out with Sayori on Wednesdays?”  Natsuki nodded.  “Cool!  You can walk with Sayori and me on our way there.”

“Oh, right, you two are neighbors.”

“Yeah, I know right? What were the chances of that happening?” Kaiya said with a laugh.

“You should hang out with Natsuki and me sometime outside of school,” Sayori said. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in between your time together.  You two should spend it together.

“Ah, don’t worry about it.  We usually just hang out and stuff and have dinner together.  So it wouldn’t be that bad to have someone else join us for a little bit,” Natsuki said.

“Hmm, let me think about it,” Kaiya said.  While she did feel a little conflicted about interrupting their time together as a couple, what Natsuki said did make sense to Kaiya.  In the end, she agreed to stop by.  “Yeah, text me when you two are getting dinner ready and I’ll stop on by. I’ll even bring something over.”

“Okay!” Sayori said cheerfully.  The trio arrived at their destination, and they stopped in front of Sayori’s house.

“See ya in a little bit then!” Kaiya said.

Kaiya went into her house and changed into some casual attire.  Realizing she had time, she hopped on her laptop and played games for a while until she heard her phone notification.  She looked and saw that she got a new text message from Sayori telling her that dinner was almost ready.  Seeing the message, Kaiya went into the kitchen and prepared a side dish.  Since Sayori’s text said they were having chicken strips and that Natsuki was baking cookies, Kaiya felt a side would be a good choice, but she had to think of one that would go well with the chicken strips.  “Hmm… oh, I know!  Tots!  Bitches love tots,” Kaiya said to herself.  Kaiya began cooking the tater tots and as soon as they were ready, she put them in a container and made her way over to Sayori’s place.  When she made it to the front door, she knocked and immediately got a response.

“Come in!” Kaiya heard Sayori say through the door.  She opened it and walked in. She saw both Natsuki and Sayori standing in the kitchen, with Natsuki trying to keep Sayori away from the cookies she had just made.

“Hey Kaiya!  Oh, what did you bring?” Natsuki asked.

“Tots.  Figured it’d go well with the chicken strips,” Kaiya said.

“Oh hell yeah!” Natsuki said.  “I love tots!”  The three enjoyed a nice dinner and watched some anime afterwards until Natsuki had to leave.

“Want me to walk you back?” Sayori asked Natsuki who was getting ready to leave.

“Nah, I’ll be fine.  I’ll see you tomorrow at the club!” Natsuki answered.

“See ya, Natsuki!  I had fun hanging out with you today!”  Kaiya said.

“I had fun too! See ya!” 

After Natsuki leaves, Sayori sits down near Kaiya.  “Hey, so I was talking with Natsuki while we were getting dinner ready, and she and I both agreed that it would be ok to tell you this.”

“Oh? Tell me what?”

“So, you remember this morning when you asked if I was ok?”

“Yeah, I remember, what about it?”

“Well, the truth is that I wasn’t really okay,” Sayori said.

“What happened?”

“Oh, nothing really happened, but, the thing is, I’ve had depression for a while.  It’s why I wasn’t at the club room right away.  I was kinda in the bathroom crying until Natsuki came and helped me.”

“I see… well, I’m glad you are comfortable telling me this stuff, Sayori.  To be honest, I had a feeling that something was off this morning, and now that I know, it really makes sense.  Are you getting help for it?”

Sayori gave Kaiya a melancholic look.  “Yeah, I see a therapist every other week and I’m on medication for it, but I still have days like this sometimes.  It actually used to be a lot worse, but since Natsuki and I started dating, things have gotten a lot better for me.  She really encouraged me to see a therapist and get the help I needed.  Granted, it’s not completely better, as you saw, but it really is better than it used to be.”

“I’m glad to hear that.  Hey, you two are really cute together, you know?  And it sounds like you two help each other out a lot.”

“Ehehe     ~ yeah, you could say that.  Natsuki has saved me in so many ways.  I’m so happy that she and I are together.”

“Well, if you’re being honest about yourself, then I feel I should do the same to you.  The thing is, I also have depression.  It’s also one of the reasons that I moved here.  It’s been a while since I’ve had a really bad day though, and it probably wasn’t as bad as a lot of people’s, but I thought I’d share that with you too.”

“You have it too?  What did you do when you had bad days like I had?”

“Well, my meds helped a lot, but I had a lot of things around me to remind me that what my head was telling me wasn’t the truth, that I wasn’t alone… You see, mine really kicks in when I feel really alone, so being around you and Natsuki and the others in the club, it really helps.”  Kaiya looked at Sayori.  “Honestly, if I hadn’t joined the club and gotten to know you all, it probably would be getting to me by now, especially since I live alone.

“I get that.  Being with the club really helps me, too.  I feel a lot better when I get to spend time with everyone.”

“I think the best thing for me was distracting my brain so that I don’t keep thinking those thoughts, you know?”

“Yeah.  The only problem is that doing that can be really hard sometimes.  Especially on the bad days.”

“Yeah.  Anyways, just know that I’m here for you.  Like, literally right there, and you can come to me if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Kaiya.  Same to you.”  The two share a hug, and then let go of each other.  They agree that the dishes need to get done, and Kaiya offers to do them as thanks for the invite for dinner.  After the dishes were done, Kaiya decided it was time to head back home.

“Anyways, I better head home.  I got some math homework and I gotta think of an idea for the club.  See you tomorrow, Sayori!”

“Yep!  Maybe tomorrow I’ll be the one to wake you up! Ehehe~”

Kaiya walked to her house and waved to Sayori as she closed the door.  She went inside her own home and went up to her room.  She sat down at her desk and began doing her homework assignments.

Chapter Text

Kaiya’s alarm went off.  She was up late doing her homework, so she had a difficult time getting up.  “Ugh… no, it’s too soon for morning,” she said.  She turned her phone on and saw a message from Sayori.

[Sayori] Goooooooood morning!!!

“Oh, she’s already awake.  I should probably text back.”

[Kaiya] Morning

[Kaiya] I’m surprised you’re already awake

[Sayori] I actually got to bed really early

[Kaiya] Well that’s good!

[Sayori] Yeah!  Oh! And I snuck a cookie up to my room last night while Sayori wasn’t looking.

[Kaiya] My lips are sealed lol]

[Sayori] lol, well I’m ready to go whenever you are

[Kaiya] I’ll be ready in a few minutes. Talk to ya soon!

Kaiya finished getting ready, walked outside, and saw Sayori waiting outside her house.

“Heyo, Sayori!”

“Hiya, Kaiya! Ehehe~ Are you ready to go?”

“Yep, let’s get going.”

The two walk to school, chatting about all sorts of things to help pass the time.  When they arrive, they go their separate ways.  Kaiya attends her classes until it’s time for lunch.  Normally she’d bring her own, but she forgot to pack one this morning.  She made her way to the lunch room and got her food.  She looked around for a place to sit, when she spotted Yuri eating by herself.

“Hey Yuri!” Kaiya said as she approached.  “Mind if I join you?”

“Oh, Kaiya, please have a seat.  I don’t normally see you during lunch.”

“Yeah, I normally pack something from home,” Kaiya said.  “So we haven’t really talked much have we?”

“Hmm, I suppose we haven’t.  I’m not very good at talking though.”

“I get that.  I’m more comfortable letting others talk and then just adding a thing when I feel like it.”

“Yes!  That’s exactly how I feel,” Yuri said.  “Hey, do you like tea?”

“Tea?  Well, I suppose it would depend on the kind of tea.  I really do enjoy Earl Grey.  Oh, and I recently got this sakura tea that I like too.”

“Well, there’s a tea shop that recently opened in town, would you wanna go there after we finish up at the Literature Club?”

Kaiya thought about it for a moment.  ‘It is a chance to get to know another member.  Plus I don’t think Yuri is very proactive in asking people for things.  It’ll probably be fun.’  Kaiya nodded her head.  “Yeah, I’d love to go.  Oh, but I do usually walk home with Sayori, and it’d probably be better to change into more casual wear.”

“How about we meet at the library?  Do you know where it is?”

“Yeah, I stopped there for a little while after I moved in.  I can meet you there around like 4:30 or so, if that works for you.”

“Sounds perfect!”  The bell rang, indicating classes were about to start again.  “Well, I”ll see you at club, Kaiya.”

“Yep! See you then!”

A few more classes later and it was time for club time.  Monika and Kaiya made their way up to the room, where they found Natsuki rummaging through the closet.

“Hello Natsuki,” Monika said as she entered the room.

“‘Sup,” Natsuki replied.  “Oh! Kaiya! You wanna keep reading Parfait Girls ?”

“Yeah! We’ll probably finish the whole thing by today at the rate we were going.”

“I know!” Natsuki said as they walked to the closet.  “It’s so good!”

Monika looked around the room and saw Yuri at her usual desk reading a book as she usually did.  She smiled and thought about how far the Literature Club has gone in such a short time.  ‘To think we only started this club a few weeks ago, and now we’re a full-fledged club with 5 members, and everyone generally gets along with each other, too.  This is exactly what I was hoping for… a place where we can all enjoy reading our favorite things.’  She let out a little chuckle and then saw Sayori come in.  “Hiya Sayori.  You’re a little late today, did your teacher keep you behind?”

“Yeah, my grades were a little bad so she was just checking in on me, ehehe, but then she offered some extra credit if I stayed behind and washed the whiteboards,” Sayori said.

“Ah, well, at least you’re getting the opportunity to make it up a little.”

“Yeah.  Anyways, what do you got going on?”

“Same as everyone else, I suppose.  Lots of homework and not enough time to spend with Yuri,” Monika said with a sad look on her face.  “Ugghh, I just want to spend a few hours with her, you know?”

“I get that,” Sayori said, letting out a sigh.  “Natsuki and I haven’t been able to hang out outside of school much because her dad doesn’t let her stay out for long.  I was lucky that we were able to meet up last night with Kaiya.”

“Oh, does Kaiya live near you?” Monika asked.

“Yeah, we’re neighbors.  It’s nice having someone you know live next to you.  Plus, I’m sure Natsuki is happy knowing someone is there if I need them.”

“Does she know?”

“Yeah, I told her about it.”

“Well, I suppose that’s good then.  Anyways, we got club stuff to talk about,” Monika said.

“Okay everyone!  It’s time to get together and discuss what we’re going to be doing for the school festival.  Now, if you remember, I gave you all some homework last night.  So, who wants to go first?  What did you come up with?”  Monika looked around the room and no one volunteered to raise their hand.  “No one, huh?  Then let’s see… how about our dear Vice President, Sayori?  What did you come up with?”

“Eh?” Sayori had a panicked look on her face.  “Me?”

“You are the only Sayori in the group,” Monika said.

“Well, I uh… I kinda couldn’t come up with anything… ehehe.”

“...”

“...”

“Okay… Natsuki!  What did you come up with?”

“Well, I was hoping to share it last, since I’m sure it’s the best idea, but I think we should do a book cafe,” Natsuki said, a smug look of superiority on her face.

“Oooh!” Sayori exclaimed.

“A book cafe, huh?  Not bad.  But let’s see what the others came up with.  Kaiya!”

Kaiya looked at a piece of paper that she pulled out of her pocket.  “Oh, I came up with a haunted library.”

“Hmmm, that could be fun, actually,” Yuri said.

“You’re only saying that ‘cause you like horror stories,” Natsuki said with a laugh.”

“Maybe, but I think you’re only gonna dismiss it because you’d be too scared to participate,” Yuri said jokingly.  “I suppose it’s my turn to share my idea for the festival.  I came up with writing and dramatically reading a short story.  Thinking about it now though, I don’t think I’d actually want to do it though."

“Oh, but that’s a good idea, Yuri!” Sayori said, encouragingly.

“Indeed!  These were all good ideas,” Monika said.

“Hey, did you come up with anything?” Kaiya asked.

“I did, actually.  I think it’d be fun to come up with poems and share them with people who visit.”

“Ahhh, poetry.  We haven’t shared poems in a while,” Yuri said.

“Yep, which is why I thought about doing poems for the festival.  Well, now that we have our ideas, I’ll hold a vote via secret ballot.  Get a piece of paper and something to write with and write the name of the person whose idea you think would be best.  When you’re done, I have a bag here that you can put it in, and we’ll tally up who has the most votes.  Sound good?” Monika asked the group.  Everyone nodded in agreement and wrote that their preferred choice.  After everyone’s votes were in, Monika reached in and grabbed the first vote.  “Natsuki.”  She pulled out the second, “Kaiya.” “Natsuki.” “Yuri.” “Natsuki."

“Ah yeah! I won!”

“Well, it looks like we’re going with Natsuki’s idea of the book cafe.”

“Which means I also get to procure some literature for the club,” Natsuki said with a smile.

“Yay!  This is gonna be so much fun!” Sayori said.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see how everything goes,” Kaiya said.

“Yeah, plus Natsuki’ll look so adorable in a maid outfit!” Sayori said all excited.

“Woah, hold up… who said anything about me wearing a maid outfit?” Natsuki interjected.

“Well someone has to serve people in a maid outfit,” Kaiya said.  “It’s basically a requirement.”

“Et tu, Kaiya?” Natsuki said.

“No, they’re both right.  Someone has to serve people,” Monika said.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Natsuki said.  “I don’t want to do a cafe anymore.”

“Too late, we’ve already chosen,” Monika said. 

“Well, I suppose this could be kind of fun,” Yuri said.

“Oh! We could serve tea and coffee and have desserts!” Kaiya said.

“And if we’re since we’re offering reading material for people, we have the literature aspect to it,” Yuri said.

Monika clapped her hands together.  “Okay everyone!  Now that we’ve decided what we’re doing, we’ll need to assign some roles for everyone.”

“Ooh, ooh! I can greet people and make sure they’re seated,” Sayori said. “And we already have Natsuki as the server.”

“Hold on, who said I have to be the server??” Natsuki asked.

“You’ll be so cute though!” Sayori said, getting Natsuki’s face to turn bright red.  “Plus, you can also make the desserts!”  Natsuki mumbled something about not being cute to herself before agreeing to be the server.

“I can work as a barista,” Kaiya said.  “I had a part time job over the summer as one.”

“Ooh, you should make me a cup of coffee some time, Kaiya,” Monika said.

“Sure, stop by my place and I can whip you up something good.  I got a really good coffee maker that we can use too.”

“And I can prepare tea for our guests, as well as create a good atmosphere for the cafe,” Yuri said.

“I guess that leaves me to work as a server, as well,” Monika said  “Yuri, if you’re working on atmosphere, are you going to come up with decor?”

Yuri thought about it for a moment.  “I can definitely do that, but I’d need some help with that.”

“I can help with that,” Monika said.

“Me too,” added Kaiya.

“Thank you both, it’ll be really helpful,” Yuri said with a smile.

“Natsuki, since you’re making desserts, how about having Sayori help with that?” Monika asked.

“I was planning on helping her out with that,” Sayori said.

“If you eat any, you won’t be getting any hugs from me for a week,” Natsuki said.

“Th… that’s so cruel,” Sayori said, aghast at what she had just heard.

“It’s my insurance policy to prevent any from mysteriously disappearing on me again,” Natsuki said as she glared at Sayori.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” a nervous Sayori replied, pushing her fingers together.

“Well now that everything else is taken care of, I suppose I’ll take care of any official paperwork and make sure we get the resources for the event itself,” Monika said.  “We have just over a week until the festival, so we have plenty of time to prepare.  While we don’t have the biggest budget, we have enough to afford the supplies we’ll need, and our advisor promised me they’d pay for some of it as well if need be.”

“That’s nice of them,” Yuri said.

“Yeah, I’m surprised they’d go so far for a new club like ours,” Natsuki said.   

“Aaaand with all that said, I think we’re all done for the day.  I’ll see you all tomorrow where we’ll discuss things a little more.

Sayori gave Natsuki a hug and caught up to Kaiya and they made their way home.  On their way they talked about how excited they were for the festival and their plans for it.  Sayori gushed about how cute Natsuki will look.  When they make it back, they go their separate ways and Kaiya gets changed into her casual clothes.  After changing, she sends a text to Yuri to let her know that she was on her way to the library.  Yuri replies saying that she’s also on her way there already.  Kaiya hurries out the door and makes her way to the library.  Since the library wasn’t far from her place, it didn’t take long for her to get there.  A minute later she saw Yuri approaching her.  Kaiya waved to her and Yuri waved back.

“Hiya Yuri!  Are you ready to go to that tea shop?”

“Yes.  You haven’t been there, right?  It’s a really nice shop, I think you’ll like it,” Yuri said.

“Well, if you’re recommending it, I’m sure it must be good,” Kaiya said with a smile.  The two began walking the short distance to the tea shop with Yuri telling Kaiya about the store they were going to as they were walking.  She mentioned how it was locally owned, and that they even had teas with leaves that they grew themselves.

“Ah, we’re here.  Let’s go inside, Kaiya.”

“Hi there! Welcome to our tea store!  Oh, Yuri, good to see you again,” the shop owner said.  “You even brought a friend with ya.  I’m the owner of the place, Mr. Shepard.”

“Kaiya.  I recently moved here, so it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shepard.”

“Pleasure’s all mine!  Is there a tea that you’re interested in?  I’m sure Yuri must have told you, but I can give some recommendations if you need any.”

“I actually have an idea of what I’m looking for, but if we need anything, we’ll be sure to ask,” Yuri said.

“Well, if you need me, I’ll be right over here.  Just call for me and I’ll be right over,” Mr Shepard said.

“Thank you, Mr. Shepard,” Yuri said.  “Kaiya, there’s a tea over this way that I saw last time I was here, let’s go check it out!”

“There are so many kinds of tea here,” Kaiya said.

“This could help with the festival actually.  They have a small cafe here that we could get ideas for.”

“Yeah, plus the teas would be great for serving to people.  Which kinds were you thinking of getting?”

“I know I want to get a Jasmine, and I’d like to get some… oh where is it?  Ah, here it is, oolong tea, oh, and some Darjeeling as well.  Ahhhhh I just want to get all of it, you know?”

“Hahaha, I get that, but I don’t think our wallets could handle that,” Kaiya said jokingly.

“It’d be worth it,” Yuri said jokingly.  “Well, as long as we have a decent selection for the festival, we should be alright.”

“Agreed.  Plus what we don’t use we can save for the club.”

“Thinking ahead is smart, fufufu~”  Yuri pulled out her wallet, but fumbled it in her hands and it fell to the floor.  “Oh, shoot,” she said, bending over to pick it up.  As she reached, the sleeve of her shirt pulled up, and Kaiya noticed several marks on Yuri’s arm.  She cautiously decides to bring it up.

“Hey, uh… Yuri?”

“Yeah?”

“Um… I don’t really know how to say this, and I know it’s kinda personal, but I noticed that when you were picking up your wallet that there were, uh, ‘marks’ on your arm.”

Yuri’s face burned bright red in embarrassment.  “Oh… y-you saw those…”  Yuri pulled the sleeve of her shirt down.

“Y-yeah… briefly.  If you don’t want to say anything, I get it, but, you know, I just saw it and was worried,” Kaiya said.

“Yeah, I understand.  Well, these are kinda old now.  I used to, well… you know…”

“Yeah."

“B-but it’s been some time since I’ve done it.  Really since before we started the club,” Yuri said.  She went on to explain to Kaiya that for a long time she was being bullied and that doing that to herself was the only thing in her head that made sense.  She further explained that Monika really helped her out with it, and that after they started dating, she hasn’t cut herself at all.  “You really could say that Monnie saved my life.  I mean, I’m exaggerating obviously, but she really means a lot to me.” 

“Well, I’m glad to know you’re not doing that anymore, and I’m really happy that you and Monika are so good for each other,” Kaiya said.  “Hey, I saw you were reading a book earlier.  What book was it?”

“Oh, let’s go sit in the cafe area and I can tell you about it.  But first, I’ll pay for this tea that I’m getting.  Go find us a spot, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” Kaiya said, and she turned towards the cafe area of the shop.  She found an empty table and sat down, waited about a minute or two before Yuri came over.

“I can’t wait to try this later,” she said.  “Anyways, I actually have it with me in my bag.”  Yuri pulled out a red book from her bag.  “It’s called The Portrait of Markov .  The shop owner actually recommended it to me.  It’s a psychological thriller.  Would you like a synopsis?”

“Yes please,” Kaiya said eagerly.

“Well, it’s about this asylum that’s taken over by this cult, and they do these crazy experiments on the former inmates.  It can kinda be a little graphic, but it keeps building and building until the end.  It’s one of those books that really hooks you where you gotta keep reading.  When I first got it, I couldn’t put it down.  If you want, I could lend it to you.”

“Sure,” Kaiya said.  “It sounds like something I’d enjoy.”

Yuri handed Kaiya the book.  Kaiya looked at the cover and noticed a strange eye marking on it.  She opened the book and flipped through the first few pages.

“It’s not the longest book, as you can see, so even if you aren’t that fast of a reader, you should be able to finish it pretty quickly,” Yuri said.

“I see.  Well, I’ll give it a read and I’ll let you know what I think.  Thanks Yuri!”

“No problem!” Yuri said, happily smiling.

The two ordered tea from the cafe.  While they were drinking their tea, they shared their thoughts on a wide range of topics, ranging from tea, to the other club members, to the book that was now in Kaiya’s possession.  Kaiya looked out the window, watching cars go by as she drank her tea.  She noticed someone taking pictures of several buildings, including the one that they were in.  Kaiya thought they were a tourist and paid them no more attention after that.

“Well, I suppose it’s time we made our way home.  Thanks for coming here with me, Kaiya.  Normally I’d just go by myself, but I’m glad I invited you and got to know you a little better,” Yuri said, offering a smile to Kaiya.

“I’m glad I could join you,” Kaiya said, returning the smile.  “I haven’t really gotten to know you until now, so I’m glad we could do this.  You’re a really nice person, Yuri.”

Yuri blushed.  “I don’t know about that…”

“Nonsense, you’re such a good person.  I’m really happy that we can be friends,” Kaiya said genuinely.

The two walked to the library where they had met up.  “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Kaiya,” Yuri said, waving to Kaiya.

“Yeah, see ya tomorrow, Yuri!” Kaiya said.

Yuri turns to leave, and out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw someone hiding behind a tree, but looking again she didn’t see anything.  ‘Must have been imagining things.’

Kaiya returned home and began reading the book that Yuri lent her.  As Yuri said, it was a little graphic in its descriptions, but she couldn’t put it down.  After reading it, she looked at the cover and thought that it was amazing.  Cultists, a fight for survival, kidnapping, weird experiments… hard to believe the author managed to hook her in such a short amount of pages.  While Kaiya definitely got the creeps while reading parts of the book, it definitely kept her interested and invested throughout.  She looked at the time and noticed it was almost time to go to bed.  She made herself something to eat and got ready for bed.  “I definitely have to talk to Yuri about it,” she said before falling asleep.

Chapter Text

Sayori woke up a little earlier than she normally would have.  She stretched and got dressed for the day.  After waking up a bit more, she checked her phone and saw a message from Kaiya.

[Kaiya] Hey, if you’re up, I got breakfast made.  Come over!

[Sayori]  I’ll be right there!!!!

She ran out the door and into Kaiya’s.

“Goooooood morning, Kaiya!” Sayori said as she burst through the door, catching Kaiya off guard.

“Wow, that was fast!  Mornin’ Sayori!”

“Now I believe someone mentioned breakfast?” Sayori asked, looking eagerly around the room.

“Yeah, it’s in here,” Kaiya said.  The two had breakfast together before they left for school.  When they arrived, they went their separate ways to their respective classes.  Kaiya walked into her classroom and saw Monika already there.  She waved Kaiya over.

“Hey Kaiya, how was the trip to the tea store with Yuri?” Sayori asked.

“Oh, it was actually pretty good.  It was my first time really getting to know her.  I’m glad I went,” Kaiya said.  She really meant that too.  Yuri, though a little awkward and shy, was a very nice person, and when she felt comfortable, she would open up to you and show how amazing she really is.

“I’m glad!  She told me that she had a lot of fun talking with you as well,” Monika said.  “Got a question for you.  You wanna help me after school?  I gotta go get some supplies for the festival, and having company is better than not having it.”

“Sure!  I don’t mind helping out at all,” Kaiya happily said.

“Great!  Then since you walk Sayori home, would you like it if we met up outside the school here around 4:15 or so?"

“Sounds good to me,” Kaiya said.

“Excellent!”

The bell rang for lunch, and Kaiya made her way down to the lunchroom.  She saw Yuri sitting there, and then it dawned on her.  “I forgot the book!” she gasped.  She had forgotten it in her bedroom after reading it the night before.  “Yuri!  I’m so sorry! I forgot the book at my place,” Kaiya said, apologizing to her friend.

Yuri tried to reassure Kaiya.  “It’s okay!  I can just come pick it up during the weekend.  It’s not a big deal at all.”

“Are you sure?” Kaiya asked.  “I feel bad because it’s your book.”

“Trust me, it’s okay.  Like I said, if it’s okay with you, I can just stop by your place and pick it up.”

“I mean, I’m cool with that,” Kaiya said.

“Then I’ll do just that,” Yuri said.  After that, the two ate their lunch and after the bell indicated lunch time was over, they went back to class.

A few hours later and it was time for club activities.  Monika and Kaiya made their way up to the club room where Natsuki and Sayori greeted them.  Natsuki dragged Kaiya to the closet where they continued reading Parfait Girls together.  Moments later, Yuri walked in the room, waved at Monika, and sat at her usual desk.  She pulled out a new book and began reading.  Monika and Sayori were discussing the supplies they’d need for the festival and talked about the budget they had for it, agreeing it would be best to get things over a period of time instead of rushing for it at the last minute.

After a while, Monika called the club together to discuss the school festival and their book cafe they were planning.  “Okay everyone!  We need to discuss the things we’ll need,” Monika said.  “Now, obviously, we’re going to need books for people to read.  I’ll be bringing some of mine in, and I hope I can count on you all to bring some as well.”

“I’ve got a few I can bring in,” Yuri said.

“Same here,” Kaiya said.

“I have some, too,” Sayori added.

“I can look around, but I don’t really have many books,” Natsuki said, shrugging.

“Well, any amount can help.  We want to offer a variety so that any guests we get will have something they enjoy,” Monika said.  Everyone nodded in agreement.  “Well, the next thing is the coffee, tea, and desserts.  I asked the advisor and we are allowed to use our funds to purchase this for the festival, so we don’t have to use our personal money getting this.  Yuri, do you think you can get a decent selection of tea?”

“Of course.  Kaiya and I actually were discussing that yesterday at the tea shop,” Yuri said.  “I have a good idea of what I want to get already.”

“Awesome!  Sayori and Natsuki, since you’re in charge of the desserts, will you go get the ingredients you need?”

“Sure thing!” Sayori said.

“Leave that to us!” Natsuki added, a huge smile on her face.

“Kaiya, since you were a barista, would you want to get the coffee with me?” Monika asked Kaiya.

“Sure!” Kaiya replied, almost instantly.  "I don't really have things to do outside of school, so I'm always down to do stuff."

“And you mentioned that you have a pretty good coffee maker, right?” Monika asked.

“I do, I can bring it in the day of the festival,” Kaiya said.

“Excellent!  We’ll also make sure to get the cups and utensils, as well as anything else we might need in that regard.  Now then, according to this list I made, the next thing is decor.  Yuri, since you’re designing it, I’ll leave it to you to determine what you’ll need.  Just let me know and we can get it.”

“Sounds good, Monnie.  I’ll let you know when I have a theme in mind,” Yuri said.

“Okay, next… our outfits,” Monika said, sneaking a glance at Natsuki, who lost her smile upon hearing those words.

“I still think we should go with maid and butler outfits,” Sayori said.

“Well, I’m gonna dress like a barista,” Kaiya said.  I’ve still got my uniform from last summer.  If I remove the stitching on the logo, it should be fine, right?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Monika said.

“Well, if we’re doing the maid/butler outfits for the servers, I guess I can do something similar as Kaiya, since I’ll be preparing and serving tea,” Yuri said.

“Sounds good to me,” Monika replied.  “That’s all I had on my list so far, if any of you can think of anything else, let me know and I’ll be sure that we get it.  If we don’t have anything else right now, that’s all I’ve got for you all.  Have a good weekend everyone!  Oh, Kaiya, don’t forget that we’re meeting here at 4:15 to get some things.”

“Yep!  I’ll be here!”

Everyone packed their things up and left the room.  Kaiya and Sayori made their way home, where Kaiya changed out of her school uniform and then made her way back to the school.  As she got closer she saw Monika standing there, waiting for her.  When she noticed Kaiya approaching, Monika waved and walked towards her.

“Hey, Kaiya.  You ready to get going?” Monika asked.

“Yep!  So what’re we going to be getting today?” Kaiya asked.

“Well, I figured we could get the plates and stuff like that today.  We’ll get the food stuff closer to the festival so it’s fresher.”

“Sounds good to me.  Let’s get going then,” Kaiya said.  They walked to a grocery store, talking about Kaiya’s first week at the school and what she thought so far.  Kaiya told Monika that this was the first school that she felt like she belonged at, and that the club and it’s members were fun and welcoming.  “Really, if you hadn’t talked to me my first day here, I probably wouldn’t have participated in anything, and I probably would have started isolating myself.  I’m glad you’re the first friend I made here, Monika.”

Monika started blushing because of Kaiya’s words.  “Oh, I’m sure you would’ve made a few friends even without me, but I’m happy I was able to make you feel welcomed here,” she said.  “Truthfully, even though I have Yuri and the others, I kind of feel alone sometimes.”

“But aren’t you, like, super popular?" Kaiya asked.  As far as Kaiya knew, Monika was a very popular student at school.  "I would have thought you’d have a lot of friends.  You certainly seem like the type of person that would.  I mean, you’re so friendly and kind, smart, hard-working…”

“Well, I guess what I feel is that the people around me, with the exception of the club members, aren’t really that much of friends.  It’s hard to put into words, but they’re kind of… fake… if you can understand what I mean.  Like, they may call us friends, but it doesn’t really feel real, and that can feel very isolating.”

“I guess I can understand that.  Like… they’re only there because you’re thought of as popular?” Kaiya asked.

“Yes! Exactly!” Monika said.  “It wasn’t until I met Yuri that I really felt a connection with someone.”

“Aww, that’s kinda… sad and cute at the same time,” Kaiya said.

“Haha, I suppose that’s true,” Monika said.  “Have I ever told you about how we met?”

“No, but now I gotta know,” Kaiya said, her interest piqued.

“Well, it’s an interesting story… the first time that I saw her was actually in the school’s library.”

“That makes sense,” Kaiya said jokingly.

“It does.  So I happened to be there because I had to do some research for the next debate topic.  I used to be in the Debate Club at the time, by the way.  Yuri was there reading, as she does, and so I was looking for research when I saw her reading.  I immediately hid behind a bookshelf because I thought, ‘oh no, she’s so pretty’ and she happened to be near where the librarian said the materials I was looking for were.  So I had to gather my courage and had to try to act normal around this really pretty girl who was completely engrossed in this book that she was reading.  She’s… so pretty… and she looked so happy and content reading this book.”  Monika had a big smile on her face as she recollected the story.  “So, I got the things I needed, and quickly made my way towards the librarian… after sneaking a few more looks at her of course.  When I was checking the material out, I asked if the librarian knew who that girl was, and she told me her name was Yuri.”

“Ooh, you have a name!”

“Yeah!  I was so excited just to learn her name,” Monika said.  “The librarian also told me that Yuri came to the library almost every day to read.  Normally at that time my mind would have been filled with the upcoming debate, but that night all I could think about was Yuri and trying to talk to her, but I’ve never felt this way about another girl before and I was nervous and scared about how she’d react if I even attempted to flirt with her.  I mean, what if she didn’t like girls, you know?  Oh, that would have been devastating.”

“I bet.  I couldn’t even imagine what that would have been like,” Kaiya said.

“Yeah.  So, I spent the next few days after school in the library just so I could see Yuri.  I wanted to say something to her, but for someone in the debate club, I was speechless and my mind would go blank whenever I saw her face.  Then, one day, I decided that that day would be the day I finally said something to her.  I worked up all the courage I could muster and walked over to her as she was reading.  All I could think of was ‘act normal’ the entire time, but I was so nervous I almost tripped, haha.”  Monika sighed after laughing at the memory.  “Well, I approached her and she didn’t even notice me standing in front of her.  So I cleared my throat which got her attention, and she immediately started blushing and stuttering.  She was so shy, and I thought that was the cutest thing.  I introduced myself to her and we started talking about the book she was reading, something about a pair of sisters that get caught up in a cult-like situation.”

“That sounds... familiar for some reason,” Kaiya said quietly to herself.

Monika nodded her head and continued.  “Well, everyday for the next few days we would just talk to each other and got more comfortable around each other.  She was so passionate about literature and as she was talking I would get lost in her eyes.   All I could think was that ‘I hope she’s as gay as I am’ and ‘I want to tell her how I feel’ but I was also worried about possibly messing things up if I did that.  So I steeled my resolve one day and I said, ‘Yuri… can I tell you something?’ and she said yes.  My heart was racing and my head was spinning.  I had to force myself to spit it out.  I said, ‘Yuri, I… I like you a lot.’  I could feel my face burning and I slowly opened my eyes and saw her face was bright red.  I thought that I blew it.  She eventually said that she was flattered, which I originally thought she was rejecting me when she said that, but then she quietly said, ‘I, uh… same,’ and I cannot express how happy I was at that moment.  I was so happy that I could have screamed.  The girl I liked returned those feelings!”

“That’s so cute, oh my god,” Kaiya said.

“Anyways, after that we became a couple, and eventually we found Natsuki and Sayori, who apparently became a thing around the same time.  Some stuff happened, and we formed the Literature Club.  A little while later you moved here, and that brings us to today.”  Monika finished her history lesson and gave Kaiya a smile.  "I'm pretty sure that covers everything, or at least, almost everything.

“Wow!  What a nice little love story you had.  I’m glad everything worked out for you there, haha,” Kaiya said.

“Me too.  I’m so happy to have Yuri in my life… to have all of you, really,” Monika said.  “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

The two bought the supplies they needed to get for the day and went back towards the school.  Monika told Kaiya that she’d take the supplies back to her place until it was time for the festival, so Kaiya handed over the bag she was carrying and gave it to Monika.  The two said farewell and split up, heading to their respective homes.  Kaiya looked forward to the weekend that was ahead.  She then remembered that Yuri was supposed to be stopping by and made a mental note to be sure the place was clean, especially since she forgot to clean after making breakfast.  “What a wild first week,” she said aloud to herself as the front door of her home closed behind her.

Chapter Text

Yuri’s eyes slowly opened, though the sunlight that was hitting them made her squint.  She looked at the clock in her room.  7:32 a.m. the clock read.  ‘A little early to get up on a Saturday, but that’s okay,’ Yuri thought to herself.  She slowly sat up in her bed and stretched.  “Oh, right!  I’m supposed to go to Kaiya’s later.  I should see when would be good for her.”

Yuri reached for her phone on the nightstand and unplugged it from the charger.  She noticed she had a message from Monika, which she decided she’d check after talking to Kaiya.

[Yuri]  Good morning, Kaiya.

[Yuri]  For today, when would be a good time for me to stop by?]

She set her phone down and got dressed for the day.  A few moments later she heard the notification for her phone indicating she had received a text.  She looked and saw that Kaiya had responded.

[Kaiya]  Anytime works for me

[Yuri]  Then, how does around noon sound for you?

[Kaiya]  Sounds good!

[Yuri]  Alright, I’ll see you around then.

Yuri made her way to the kitchen where she made herself something to eat for breakfast.  After eating she remembered the message she had received from Monika and decided to check it.  She pulled out her phone again and read the text.

[Monika]  Hey cutie!  You’re going to Kaiya’s place today, right?

[Yuri]  Yes, around noon or so.  I’ve got to pick up my book from her.

[Monika]  I see.  Well, I’ll be at Sayori’s place.  We’ve got to go over some festival stuff.  You should stop by when you two are done.

[Yuri]  Sure!  I’ll let Kaiya know when I get to her place.

[Monika]  Maybe I can even walk you home when we’re all finished?

[Yuri]  I don’t see why not.  What brought that up?

[Monika]  Oh, I just want to spend some time with you… and Kaiya and I were talking yesterday about how we first met and stuff, so now I’m feeling really sappy

[Yuri]  lol, you’re so cute.  I’d love it if you could walk me home.

[Monika]  And I love you ;)

Yuri screamed when she saw that.

[Yuri]  ksdghsjh

[Monika]  lol i’ll see you in a little bit <3

A flustered Yuri set her phone down and went back to reading for a while until it was almost time to go.  She grabbed her bag and locked the door on her way out as she always did, and made her way to Kaiya’s place.  She knew Kaiya was Sayori’s neighbor, and since she had visited Sayori’s place several times, she knew exactly where to go.  She turned away from her house, completely unaware of the markings placed nearby her house.

Kaiya was hurriedly cleaning everything.  The disaster that she is, she forgot about Yuri coming to get her book because she spent the night gaming.  After rushing to get everything clean, she placed The Portrait of Markov in the living room area on a table.  A few moments later Kaiya heard the doorbell ring.  She looked out the window and saw Yuri standing in front of the door.  Kaiya took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hi Yuri,” Kaiya said.

“I’m a little early, is that okay?” Yuri asked, concern was written on her face.

“Of course!  Please, come in!  Would you like something to drink?” Kaiya offered.  Kaiya didn’t exactly have much to offer, since she had just moved in, but she could at least make something for a guest.

“Uh, do you have any tea?” Yuri asked quietly.

“I do!  How does some Earl Grey sound?”

“That would be great,” Yuri said.

“Alright!  I’ll make us some tea and I’ll be right back.  Please, have a seat in the living room.”  Kaiya left the room and walked into the kitchen.

Yuri looked around the place and noted to herself that there wasn’t much in the realm of decor.  ‘Hmm, she just moved in a week ago, but even so, she has almost nothing here.  Still, I bet I could give her some things that could liven things up in here and really make this place feel like a home.’

A few minutes later, Kaiya returned with the tea.  “Alright, here’s your tea, Yuri,” she said, handing Yuri a cup.

“Oh, thank you,” Yuri said, taking the cup from Kaiya.  “I was just noticing how the place is pretty much empty.”

“Yeah, I don’t really have much in the way of decorations or anything like that, so the place looks pretty barren.  But, you know, I like to think of it as ‘minimalistic’ or something, haha.”

“You know, I do like decorating places.  If you’d like, I could help you decorate this place; give it a real home-like atmosphere for you,” Yuri offered.

Kaiya thought about it for a moment.  ‘I’ll have to take you up on your offer some day, but that’ll probably have to be after the festival is taken care of.  Don’t want to think about multiple projects at once, you know?”

“That’s true.  Anyways, what did you think of the book?”

“Oh my gosh, I loved it.  I thought it was pretty dark at times, but at the same time it kept me hooked.  I just had to keep turning the pages until it was over,” Kaiya said.

“Yes! Exactly!  That’s what I love about books like this.  It’s material may be dark, but it just has a way of keeping the reader interested in what happens on the next page, and invested in the characters,” Yuri said.  “The author did a great job with it.”

Kaiya nodded her head in agreement.  “I agree.  It was very well written.”

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Monika wanted me to let you know that she’ll be at Sayori’s place today.  Something about the festival.  She wanted to let us know that we should stop by after we’re done here,” Yuri said.

“Hmm, I wonder why,” Kaiya said.

Yuri shrugged, “I’m not sure why, but I figure that Sayori wanted to hang out with us outside of school or something.”

Kaiya laughed.  “That certainly does seem like Sayori.  Well, I suppose after we finish our tea we can head over there.”

The two continued their discussion of the book until they finished their tea.  After which they walked next door.

Natsuki locked herself in her room.  Unlike most students, she hated the weekend.  She preferred going to school for several reasons, but the biggest one was the person standing behind the door, pounding on it with his fists.  Natsuki’s father was a better drinker than he was a father, and unfortunately he didn’t work weekends.  When he drinks, he likes to take out his frustration with work out on Natsuki, at least until he eventually passes out… only then does Natsuki get some peace in her own home.  

Natsuki’s father spent almost all his income on booze, which infuriated Natsuki, who went to bed hungry most nights.  “If only mom were still here…” Natuski would often say to herself.  Natsuki’s mother passed away several years ago, and really, that was what took her father’s drinking to the state that it is now.  Sure, he wasn’t dad of the year or anything, but he wasn’t like this.  Now he was just a belligerent drunk.

“NATSUKI! GET OUT HERE!” He shouted while banging on the door.  

“Pass out already, damnit…” she muttered to herself.  Natsuki wasn’t necessarily afraid of her dad, but he could be scary at times like this.  She locked herself in her room to get away from him.  She did this almost every weekend, and occasionally throughout the week.  Today, she was a little later than usual getting in her room, and he had gotten a few marks on her; grabbing her forcefully by the back of the neck and pushing her to the ground… grabbing her wrist and dragging her into the living room, where he shouted something about cleaning a mess that she had made, even though he was the one that made the messes in the house.  She knew she was going to bruise in a few places, it happens all the time to her, so she had gotten pretty good at concealing them.  

Natsuki desperately wanted out of this household.  She longed to be with her girlfriend.  She wanted Sayori to hold her and make her feel safe.  Unfortunately, he was so controlling that she never got the chance to see her on the weekends.  Safely in her room, she checked her phone and saw she had a couple messages, all of which were from Sayori.

[Sayori]  Heyyyy!!!!!!!!

[Sayori]  Cupcake!!!!!

[Sayori]  I love you!!

[Sayori]  Just wanted to say tell you again :p

Seeing the messages made Natsuki smile.  “Dummy… hehe,” she said, holding the phone up to her chest and chuckling to herself.  “Even with all this shit, you can make me smile.”  She decided to send a message back.

[Natsuki]  I love you too

Sayori responded almost immediately.

[Sayori]  yeah?

[Sayori]  Like, enough to sneak over to my place tonight?

Natsuki looked at the message that Sayori had just sent again.  “Sayori, are you forgetting something?”  Natsuki shook her head and replied.

[Natsuki]  Uh, u kno I can’t do that

[Sayori]  Because your dad said no?

[Natsuki]  I don’t care what he says, more like what he’d do

[Sayori]  oh…

She thought about it for a few seconds, and rebellious nature kicked in.

[Natsuki]  But, if we were to, idk, cuddle or something, I might be convinced

[Sayori]  We could do that!!  We can play games too!

Natsuki let out a laugh.  Sayori always knew how to make Natsuki smile and laugh, and her innocent and playful nature always could cheer Natsuki up.

[Natsuki]  XD well then we’ll meet at our spot then?

[Sayori]  I’m already on my way over there hehe

Natsuki moved quickly, packing a backpack with some clothes and other essential items.  Once she was satisfied that she had everything, she opened her bedroom window and climbed outside after making sure the coast was clear.  She made her way back towards the school where her favorite person was waiting for her.

“Hey sweetie!!” Sayori said with a big smile on her face.  Natsuki literally jumped into Sayori’s arms, catching her off guard.  “Woah!  Ehehe~, someone is excited to see me,” she said, stroking Natsuki’s hair.

Natsuki blushed, ‘thankfully no one else was around to see that,’ she thought to herself. “W-well, I, uh… Yeah, of course I’m excited to see you, silly.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

Sayori’s smile grew even bigger after hearing Natsuki say that.  “Come on, let’s go back to my place.  I kinda left Monika alone to come get you.”

Natsuki was confused.  “Wait, why is Monika at your place?” she asked.

“Club stuff, plus she said she wanted to hang out outside of the club,” Sayori explained.

“Oh, that makes sense, I guess,” Natsuki said, understanding the situation more.

“Mhm, I kinda get the feeling that she doesn’t really get to hang out with people too much,” Sayori said solemnly.  She turned and saw Natsuki had a confused look on her face.

Natsuki was surprised to hear that about Monika.  “Wait, isn’t she, like, super popular though?  I thought she’d have a bunch of friends.”  Monika was really popular, especially within their grade.  Almost everyone knew that.  

“I mean, she is popular, but that doesn’t mean she has many real friends, you know?”

“I guess,” Natsuki said.  “I mean, she does have Yuri and us, and now that I’m thinking about it, we’ve never really hung out outside of the literature club meetings.”

“Yeah, so I thought, why not stay for a bit and I’ll invite Natsuki and the others.  Of course, I’d invite you over no matter what.”

“I was gonna say, haha, you better invite your own girlfriend over otherwise I’d have to fight you.”  The two shared a laugh together and then Natsuki grabbed Sayori’s hand and they began walking towards Sayori’s place.

Chapter Text

The front door opened, and Sayori and Natsuki walked inside.  They saw Monika standing in the kitchen, who turned when she heard the door open.

“Hey Monnie, we’re back!” Sayori said.

“Oh, welcome back, Sayori. Hey Natsuki, how're you?" Monika asked.

“Sup!  Better now that I'm here instead of home," Natsuki said.  "Wow, it smells really good in here; are you making something?"

“I’ve got dinner cooking.  I hope you all don’t mind it being vegetarian," Monika said apologetically.

“Hey, I don’t have any problems with it.  Food is food, as long as it's tasty,” Natsuki said.  She wasn't one to be picky when it came to food, especially considering her situation at home.

“Me neither, it smells so yummy!” Sayori said. Anything that smells this good must be really yummy."

“Thanks!  It’ll be ready in a few minutes," Monika said.  She turned to face the stove so she could continue cooking.  "Oh, and I told Yuri I was here, and she and Kaiya will be here pretty soon.”  Monika looked out the window and saw two figures approaching Sayori's house. “Actually, I think I see them walking over right now,” she said with a bright smile.

Sure enough, a few moments later there was a knocking on the door.  Sayori rushed over and opened it.  Upon seeing Kaiya and Yuri standing there, she lunged into a hug, embracing the two who stood there in shock and awkwardness at the sudden hug, and then welcomed the two into her home.

“You know, for having to make sure you get up everyday, I thought it would be a little messier in here," Kaiya said before laughing.

“Hey, just because I like sleepies doesn’t mean I can’t clean,” Sayori said with a pout.

“She probably did it in a hurry before Monika showed up,” Natsuki said from the couch.

“Why would you betray me like this???" Sayori said, feigning betrayal. She sighed.  "Yes… I did it in a hurry…”

“Fufufu, well, you did a good job doing it in a hurry, Sayori," Yuri said before walking into the kitchen and giving Monika a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  "Hey sweetie.

“Hi honey.  So how was Kaiya’s place?” Monika asked Yuri, curious of what it was like.

“Pretty much empty since she’s just moved in, though I get the feeling she wouldn’t have much decorations even if she had lived there for a while," Yuri said.  "We had a good discussion about The Portrait of Markov over a cup of tea."

“I see,” Monika said.  "Did she like it?"

"Yes, she said she was hooked, actually."

They looked over to the living room to see Sayori plop down on top of Natsuki, most likely a small bit of payback for the betrayal from just now, and heard Kaiya laughing at the two of them.

About half an hour later, Monika shouted out to everyone that dinner was ready.  Upon hearing that, Natsuki and Sayori dashed into the kitchen, eager to fill their stomachs.  Kaiya entered shortly after they did.

“Omg, I’m starving,” Natsuki said, grabbing a plate out of the cupboard.

“It smells so good!” Sayori said, trying not to drool.

Monika let out a little chuckle.  “Well, dig in!  There’s plenty for everyone!”

With that, dinner began.  Sayori and Natsuki scarfed their food down as soon as they sat down with their plates.  Kaiya stared in awe at their eating prowess, and almost forgot to eat her own food; until Sayori reached across the table in an attempt to take some of Kaiya’s food.  Yuri took her time, eating slowly while sneaking glances at Monika, who was doing the same in return.  They had an enjoyable meal together as a club, something they haven’t done before.  

Kaiya thought to herself, ‘You know… this isn’t too bad.  Dinner and just spending time with the club outside of the meetings.  If things are like this, I think I made the right choice joining this club.’

Sayori let out a deep breath, “I’m stuffed,” she said while leaning back in her chair.  “Monnie, that was super yummy! Thanks for cooking!”

“Yeah, it was great!” Natsuki said, nodding in agreement.

“What they said!  I’ve never really had a vegetarian meal like that before.  I also had no idea you were vegetarian until now,” Kaiya added.

“Aww, thanks guys!  And yeah, I’m a vegetarian.  I just recently became one though, so I’ve been looking up a lot of recipes that I think are tasty.”  Monika looked towards Yuri, a sly smile forming on her face.  ‘Maybe I should cook a romantic dinner for a certain someone ehehe~’ 

Yuri walked between the table and the sink, getting ready to do the dishes.  She turned and saw monika’s grin, and knew she was up to something.  ‘Hmm… concern…’ she thought to herself, before returning her attention to doing the dishes.

“Hey, hey!  Let’s play something!” Sayori said suddenly.

“Like a board game?” Kaiya asked.

“Board game?  Does it look like the power is out?  Let’s play a video game instead.  Sayori has a Switch, so let’s play something on that,” Natsuki said.

The three of them began playing video games for the next hour.  After finishing with the dishes, Yuri joined Monika on the couch to watch them play, resting her head on Monika’s shoulder, getting her to blush slightly.

After another round of the game was finished, Monika cleared her throat and spoke up.  “Hey, I know we’re not in a club meeting or anything right now, but Sayori and I were talking with each other earlier, and we’d like to get some input from you all.”

“Yeah, we’ve been thinking about some club activities, outside of the school festival, that we could do as a club.  I mean, just look at today for an example.  We got together outside of our club meeting, which is something that we’ve never really done before,” Sayori said, smiling.

“Granted, our club is still pretty new.  We only formed it this past year, in case you were wondering, Kaiya,” Monika explained, to which Kaiya nodded.

“Mhm! So we were wondering if there were any activities that you three might like to see us do.  I know we occasionally have tea and cupcakes, but maybe we could try other things.” Sayori turned to Natsuki.  “That said, we’re still definitely keeping the cupcakes and tea.”

“Well, is there something you two had in mind already?” Yuri asked.

“To be honest… the only thing I could think of was maybe doing a poetry composition thing, where we’d all write a poem and share it with the club,” Monika said.  “If anyone else has an idea, Sayori and I would love to hear it.  Oh, and it can be anything as long as it has something to do with literature.”  Monika looked to Yuri, Kaiya, and Natsuki to see if they had any ideas.  Kaiya looked towards Sayori, and saw the wheels turning in her head as she tried to think of something.  Slowly, Natsuki raised her hand.  “Natsuki! What do you got?”

" Well, I was thinking maybe we could do a collaboration with an art club and make a manga or something?  And before you even say anything, MANGA IS LITERATURE!” Natsuki shouted, predicting what either Yuri or Monika would say in response to her suggestion, drawing a laugh from Kaiya and Sayori in response and a smile from Yuri and Monika.

“Honestly, it’s not that bad of a suggestion,” Monika said.  “That said, I personally would prefer to keep an activity within our club, because we never know if the art club would even agree to collabing with us.  But, thanks for the suggestion, and I’ll keep it in mind.  Anyone else have an idea?”

“How about we all write a short story?” Yuri suggested.

“Hmm, not bad… we could maybe do that,” Monika said, thinking about the possibility.

Kaiya, under her breath, muttered “fanfiction” so quietly that no one heard.

“PICTURE BOOK!” Sayori suddenly shouted, startling everyone.  

Natsuki looked at her in bewilderment.  “If we’re doing a picture book, it may as well be a manga… I’m just saying.”

Thus the club began debating the merits of everyone’s suggestions, with the exception of Kaiya’s, which was never even heard by anyone.  The debate went on for several minutes, with Natsuki arguing hard for a manga, and Monika arguing equally as hard for poems.  As they were discussing the merits of each idea that was presented, Yuri’s phone suddenly began to ring.  Startled by her phone suddenly going off, she grew flustered and dropped her phone.  Her face slightly red in embarrassment, she looked at her phone’s screen.  Yuri had a quizzical look on her face, because she didn’t recognize the number on the screen.

“I… don’t know who this is,” she said.  Yuri answered the phone.  “H-hello?”

Silence.  

For the next ten seconds, there was only silence on the other end of the phone.  Yuri looked confused, and then, whoever it was that was on the other side of the phone call, hung up.

Chapter Text

“That was… strange,” Yuri said, unsure of what to make of the phone call she had just received.  

“Who was it?” Monika asked.

“I don’t know, they didn’t say anything.  It was just silence for a few seconds and then they hung up.”

“Uwah, that’s creepy,” Natsuki said.

“Maybe it was the wrong number or something.” Kaiya suggested, to which Monika nodded.

“That’s certainly a possibility, I guess,” Yuri said.

“Or maybe…” Sayori began, “it was a ghost!”  Yuri turned to look at Sayori who had a smile on her face.

“Sayori, if that’s an attempt to scare me, you do know that I read horror, right?” Yuri asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Sayori said, laughing.

“Well, I guess we should get some sleep at some point,” Monika said.

“Aww, but I don’t wanna go to sleep yet,” Sayori said.  “Can’t we stay up?  It’s a Saturday!”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna go to bed either,” Natsuki said.

“I could stay up all night if I’m being honest,” Kaiya added.

“You do know that staying up late isn’t good for you, right?” Yuri asked the three.  They must not have known, since all three had confused looks on their faces.  Yuri looked towards Monika, her eyes asking for assistance.

“She’s right, you know.  It’s been shown to have a negative impact on your health,” Monika said.

“Eh? Really?” Sayori asked, a concerned look on her face.  Kaiya knew why she was concerned, given that Sayori was prone to staying up really late and not getting much sleep.

“Yep, it’s really bad for you,” Monika said.

“Well… we don’t want that, I suppose,” Kaiya said, looking towards Natsuki, who let out a long sigh.

“Fine, we can go to bed,” Natsuki said.  She took Sayori’s hand and walked towards her bedroom.  “But I’m taking this one with me.”

Sayori giggled and went with Natsuki to her room, leaving Kaiya alone with Monika and Yuri.  “Good night everyone!” she said as the door closed behind her.  Periodically, the three could hear the two laughing with each other.

“Well, I suppose we should be sleeping too,” Monika said.  “Sayori already put some blankets out for us.”

“I’ll probably just go home and sleep in my bed,” Kaiya said.  “Not the biggest fan of sleeping on the floor, plus, I’m sure I’ll feel like the awkward third wheel.  That, and I’m sure you two would like some alone time together, am I right?”

Yuri began blushing, and Monika was nervously chuckling to herself.  “I mean… I wouldn’t mind that,” Monika said.

“Then, I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow morning,” Kaiya said before heading towards the front door.  “Have a good night, you two lovebirds.”

“You too, Kaiya,” Monika and Yuri said, exchanging glances towards each other.

Kaiya closed the door behind her and walked to her home.  

Yuri and Monika laid a blanket down on the ground and layed on top of it.  They stared each other in the eyes.  “Hey, I think this is the first time we’ve slept together,” Monika said, trying to suppress a smile.

“Why’d you say it like that,” Yuri said, her face burning bright red.  

Monika laughed. “Because I know you’ll react like that,” she said.  She reached down and grabbed Yuri’s hand.  “I love you, Yuri.  Like, more than anything ever.”

“I love you, too, Monika,” Yuri said.  Leaning her face towards Monika’s, she closed her eyes and felt Monika’s lips connect with her own.

“Shoot,” Yuri heard someone say, after the sound of a pan hitting the floor.  Yuri slowly sat up and looked into the kitchen to see Monika bending over to pick up a frying pan.  Monika looked over towards Yuri and saw she was awake.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said.

“It’s okay, I probably would have woken up soon anyways,” Yuri said.  “Are you making breakfast?”

“Yep!  Figured the others would like to wake up to something to eat,” Monika said.

“Good idea.  Want some help?"

“Sure!  Can you get the eggs out from the refrigerator?" Monika asked.

“Sure thing,” Yuri said.

A few minutes later, Kaiya opened the door and walked in.  She smelled breakfast getting prepared and saw Yuri and Monika in the kitchen together.  “Good morning,” she said.  Kaiya looked around and noticed two people were missing.  “Are Sayori and Natsuki still asleep?”  

“Probably,” Monika said.  “We could hear them giggling every once and a while.”  Monika had a smile on her face.  “Honestly, those two… Kaiya, would you please wake them up and let them know that breakfast will be ready soon?”

“Sure thing,” Kaiya said.  She turned towards the stairs and climbed them.  She stopped in front of Sayori’s room and knocked on it twice.  “Natsuki, Sayori, are you two awake in there?”  She stood there for a few seconds but didn’t hear a response.  She knocked on the door again and after a few seconds Natsuki slowly opened it.  “You look exhausted, Natsuki.”

“I am… very sleepy,” Natsuki replied.  “What’s going on?”

“Monika and Yuri are making breakfast and they wanted me to get you two.  Is Sayori awake?”

“Kinda,” Natsuki said.

“Kinda?  What do you mean?”

Natsuki turned around and opened the door so Kaiya could see inside the room.  Sayori was sitting against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest.  Kaiya saw tears streaming down her face.  “Oh no, is she okay?”

“Just a bad moment for her right now,” Natsuki said.  “You know how she has depression, right?  She was fine most of the night, but she woke me up a few hours ago in tears.  She said she was scared about something but she couldn’t really say what it was.”

“I see,” Kaiya said.  The two walked up to Sayori and Natsuki sat down next to her.  “Heyo Sayo.  You doin’ alright?”  Sayori shook her head and sniffled.  “That’s okay.  You don’t have to do good all the time, right?  Can you tell me what’s putting this cloud over your head?  Maybe Natsuki and I can help you get rid of it.”

Sayori sniffled again and nodded.  Natsuki rubbed her back and Sayori quietly spoke up.  “I just... had a really bad dream that Natsuki got hurt, and that it was all my fault.”

“It’s okay, sweetie… it was just a bad dream,” Natsuki said.  “I’m fine, and I know for a fact that you’d never do something that’d get me hurt.”

“I know… it’s just… seeing you get hurt like that… *sniff* I couldn’t take it,” Sayori said.  “Anyways… I’m better than I was earlier.”  She breathed in and out deeply.  “Thank you both for being here for me.”

“Of course, Sayori,” Kaiya said.  “I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.  If you ever need me, I’m always here for you.  Hugs?”

“Yeah,” Sayori said, a small smile on her face.  The three hugged it out before going downstairs for breakfast.  Monika and Yuri had been busy preparing breakfast for a while, and the moment Sayori and Natsuki left the bedroom, they immediately smelled it and ran down the stairs.

They ate their breakfast, sharing some laughs as they ate.  After they were finished, Monika and Yuri said that they’d be heading home together.  They say their goodbyes before taking off. 

"I'm gonna stay here with Sayori for the day," Natsuki told Kaiya.

"I'll probably go home in a little bit.  Got some homework to do and what not," Kaiya said.  She gave Sayori a hug and headed home.

Monika and Yuri were holding hands as they were walking home, chatting about nothing in particular and just enjoying the time they were spending together.  Eventually, they got to the point where their paths split.

“Monika, I’m glad we were able to meet up this weekend.  I just wish it could have lasted a little longer, you know?”

“I know, but I’ll see you tomorrow at school.  And next weekend we get to spend time together at the festival, after we’re finished with the club’s stuff.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Yuri said.  The two stood there in silence for a moment before Yuri pulled Monika in for an embrace.  They shared a kiss that, to them, did not last nearly as long as it should have.  When it ended, they looked each other in the eyes and said goodbye.  Yuri watched as Monika disappeared in the distance and resumed her trek home.

As she was walking, she swore for a second that she heard someone following her, but when she looked around there was no one there.  “I must be more tired than I thought,” she said to herself.  Just to be safe, however, she picked up her pace until she was home.  She made it home and unlocked the door.  She quickly went inside and locked it behind her.  The marks on the door going unnoticed to the slightly panicked girl.

Natsuki later decided to walk home with Sayori.  While they were walking, Natsuki was telling Sayori about her father and how he treats her.  She still hasn’t told him about Sayori, out of fear of how he’d react, and what he’d do to both her and Sayori.  That’s the type of person Natsuki’s father was.  She could never tell him that they were together.  Given how he normally behaved, Natsuki knew it wouldn’t be good.  Sayori and Natsuki agree that as soon as possible, Natsuki should move in with Sayori.

They arrived at Natsuki’s place.  Luckily the parental shithole wasn’t there at the moment.  Sayori and Natsuki embraced and gave each other a goodbye kiss before Sayori helped Natsuki climb through her window.  After she made it in, Sayori wished her a good night and began to walk home.  As she passed the mailbox in front of Natsuki’s place, she noticed a symbol that looked like a hand with an eye on it.  She doesn’t pay it much attention though and continues her walk home.

Chapter Text

Natsuki woke up and got dressed for school.  She heard her father in the living room so she knew she had to get out without being noticed, otherwise he’d probably yell at her for something.  She grabbed her bag and quietly opened her bedroom door.  Natsuki looked around and saw her father sitting in a chair watching the news.  She tried to sneak out, but the floor creaked and Natsuki winced at the sound because she knew that he had also heard it.

“And where do you think you’re going, Natsuki?” he said angrily.

“Uh… it’s Monday, so I’m going to school,” she replied quietly.

Natsuki’s father stood up and walked toward her.  He bent over and got in her face, his breath reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.  “And where the fuck were you Saturday night, huh?  How am I supposed to ‘take care of you’ when you aren’t even here, huh?  What, were you frolicking with some boys like some sort of slut?  Like your fucking mother?”

Natsuki fought the urge to snap at him for what he just said.  “I was at a friend’s house, we were going over school stuff together,” she said calmly and quietly.

“You best not be lying to me…” he said.  “You’re lucky you have school right now or you’d get your ass beat for being such a disrespectful child.  If you ever do that again, I’ll put bars in your window, and you’ll never fucking go anywhere ever again.  Now go the fuck to school.”

Natsuki ran out of the house trying not to cry as she ran.  She ran past a park along the way and stopped to catch her breath.  She rubbed the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.  She saw Yuri walking towards school, who noticed her and started walking over.  Natsuki took a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

“Good morning, Natsuki,” Yuri said.

“Sup,” Natsuki replied, the tone of her voice giving away the state she was in.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Natsuki answered.  “My dad really let me have it because I went to Sayori’s on Saturday…”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Eh, it’s not your fault,” Natsuki said.

“I know, but, still, you shouldn’t have to deal with such a controlling father,” Yuri said.

“He’s such an asshole, and all he does is drink… I fucking hate him…… I miss mom…. I… I…” Natsuki started tearing up and hyperventilating.  Yuri was caught off guard by this, since she had never seen Natsuki like this before. 

Yuri pulled Natsuki into her arms to console her.  “It’s okay, Natsuki.  Let it out.  You’ve been so strong for so long.”  Yuri was stroking Natsuki’s hair as Natsuki wept.  “I know we argue a lot over dumb things, but you’re still one of my closest friends, and I care about you a lot.  You know that, right?”  Natsuki nodded.  “If you ever need anything, I’m here for you, and I’m sure everyone else would say the same thing if they were here.  Your father is an asshole, but you won’t have to be there much longer.  We’re almost finished with school, and you’ll be able to leave that jerk.”

Natsuki began to calm down and eventually spoke up.  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before,” she said, letting out a little laugh.  She took a deep breath.  “Yuri?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Any time, Natsuki,” Yuri said.

After some time, Natsuki spoke up again.  “We probably should get going to school.”

Yuri thought about it for a moment.  “Probably, but if you need more time, I don’t mind being a little late.”

Natsuki shook her head.  “No, I think I’m good now.”

“Okay, then let’s get going.”

They arrived at school just in time for class.  Natsuki gave Yuri a quick hug and ran off, leaving Yuri with a smile.  Natsuki walked into her classroom where she saw Sayori.  Natsuki sat at her desk and a few moments later Sayori came over and gave her a hug from behind.

“Hiya Cupcake,” Sayori said.  

Natsuki’s face burned bright red.  “Sayori!  There are people around…” Natsuki said in a hushed voice.

“Ehehe~ I hug you everyday, and everyone knows that!” Sayori said proudly.

“Still…” Natsuki was always awkward when it came to public displays of affection.  Sayori, on the other hand, was extremely affectionate, which could drive Natsuki up the wall, because she would suddenly give Natsuki hugs and kisses on the cheek.

Sayori let go of Natsuki and sat at the desk in front of hers.  She noticed Natsuki’s eyes were a little puffy, and recognized that she had been crying recently.  “Hey are you okay?”

“Yeah, I can explain it later.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Sayori said.  Their teacher walked in as the bell rang and Sayori took her seat.

The bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day.  Sayori and Natsuki got up from their desks and walked to the clubroom.  Sayori opened the door and they walked inside.  They saw that Yuri was already there, and, upon seeing her, Natsuki walked up to her and gave her a hug.

“Thank you, Yuri.”

Sayori had a very confused look on her face, which Yuri noticed.  “Ah, I can explain, if that’s alright with you Natsuki?” Yuri said.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Natsuki said.

Yuri told Sayori about what had transpired earlier in the day, how she had seen Natsuki on her way to school, at the park, and how Natsuki had been berated by her father.  “She kind of had a little breakdown so I did what I could to help out.”

Sayori embraced Natsuki, who normally would have tried to get out of it because she was easily embarrassed.  “Yeah,” Natsuki said.  “My dad was pissed that I had snuck out on Saturday.  He was gonna hit me until he realized that today is Monday and I have school.  Didn’t help that he was already drunk.”

“Yeah, that certainly doesn’t help,” Sayori said.

“He just gets so much more belligerent when he drinks,” Natsuki said.  “I was scared that he was going to hurt me, but I’m glad he realized how dumb that would be.  The part that hurt the most was that he was insulting mom.  I wanted to say something, but I knew he would have beat me if I ‘talked back’ to him.  I just had to get out of there.”

“Yeah,” Yuri said.

“One day, we’ll have you move in with me,” Sayori said.

“Yeah, I can’t wait for that day to come.  It’s just a shame that it won’t come soon enough,” Natsuki said.

Chapter Text

Sayori had a concerned look on her face, as did Yuri.  They obviously cared about Natsuki’s safety at home; Natsuki could see that for herself, so she tried to reassure them.

“Hey, don’t worry too much about me.  I’ll be fine as long as I don’t say too much,” Natuski said.  “If I can stay off his radar, I’ll be okay.”  The fact that her friends were worried for her made her feel a little better.

“Surely if he were to hurt you, you’d at least be able to go to the cops or something, right?” Yuri asked.  “They’d have to do something to help.”

“It’s not that simple, actually…” Sayori dejectedly said.

“What do you mean?” Yuri asked.

“My dad… he is a cop,” Natsuki said.

“They’re his friends, you know?” Sayori added.

“And I’ve actually tried it before, but they sided with my dad.  Something stupid about a brotherhood or whatever.”

“Ah, I see,” Yuri said.  “No wonder you’re so frustrated.”

“And even if they did help, it wouldn’t last very long,” Natsuki said.  “If he knew I tried getting help, he’d treat me even worse than before.  Ugh… I just feel so trapped, like there’s no way out without just running away, but then like, where would I go?  He’d find me if I continued going to school, and since he drives around a lot for work I wouldn’t be able to go around town much.  I’d have to spend my life in hiding…”

“We’ll figure something out, I’m sure of it,” Sayori said, trying to cheer Natsuki up.

“If I can make it to the end of the school year, I’ll be able to move in with you,” Natsuki said.  “He’d have no control over me at that point.”

“Why not right now?” Yuri asked.

“Well, he’d probably go out looking for her, wouldn’t he?” Sayori speculated.

“I doubt it, at least not right away.  He’d only do it when there’d be something he’d gain, like sympathy points or something,” Natsuki explained.  “So he’d wait a few days to even start looking.”

“He does seem like the kind of person who’d only really care if it made him look bad,” Yuri added.

Natsuki and Sayori gave a simultaneous, “Yeah” in response.

The clubroom’s door opened and Monika and Kaiya walked inside.  They noticed the three girls talking to each other, so they walked over to join them.

“Sorry we’re a little late, we were held behind by Mrs. Rowan.  What’s going on?” Monika asked.

“Natsuki’s dealing with some parental issues, so we’re just trying to cheer her up and stuff,” Sayori said.  “Her dad can be a bit of a jerk.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Natsuki said.  “Honestly though, I’m better now than I was this morning.  Thanks for being here for me, Yuri; and you too, Sayori.”

“Well, if you’re feeling alright, we can get started with club activities,” Monika said.  She walked to her usual desk and everyone sat in front of her.

“Yeah, it beats talking about my dad,” Natsuki said as she sat down.

Monika clapped her hands together.  “Okay everyone!  Let’s quickly discuss the school festival.  Kaiya and I bought some of the supplies we’ll need.  We still need a lot of things though, like the food supplies, outfits, and decorations.  Since we’re getting them a little at a time, I was thinking that we could have Yuri get the decorations either tonight or possibly tomorrow, and have Natsuki and Sayori get the groceries they’ll need Tomorrow.  As for the outfits, the advisor said that she’ll be taking care of all of our outfit needs.  She’s gonna need sizes from everyone, so if you could let me know, I’ll make sure she can get them ready for us.  Oh, except Kaiya who already has a barista uniform of course.  Does this all work for you?”

Yuri was the first one to speak up.  “Kaiya, would you come with me tonight to get some tea and the decorations tonight?” Yuri asked.

“Sure, I can meet you at the library like last time,” Kaiya said.

“Sounds good to me,” Yuri said with a smile.

“Sayori?  That work for you?” Natsuki asked.

“Oh, yeah, that works for me, Natsuki~” Sayori said.

“Alright then, sounds like we have our plans for getting supplies taken care of.  I don’t have anything else for you all, so you get the rest of club time to yourselves,” Monika said.

Kaiya and Yuri talked about some of the supplies they’d need to get later, while Sayori and Natsuki prepared a shopping list of the ingredients that Natsuki needed to make the desserts.  Monika felt a sense of pride when she saw how the club was working together.  Some time passed and it was time to go for the day.  Yuri, Sayori, and Natuski give Monika their clothing sizes before leaving.  Natsuki gave Sayori and Yuri a hug before leaving, vowing to herself to just hide in her room so she doesn’t get noticed.  

Yuri headed home to change, and Kaiya and Sayori left to do the same.  When they got home, Kaiya waved to Sayori and went inside to change.  After changing, Kaiya met up with Yuri at the library and they proceeded to go to the store to get the decorations they needed.  After this, they went back to the tea shop they visited before.

“Oh, hello again, Yuri.  Oh, and you’ve brought your friend with you again.  Hmm... Kaiya, right?” The shop’s owner, Mr. Shepard, greeted the two as they entered the store.

“Hello Mr. Shepard,” Yuri said.  “Yes, we’re here to pick up some teas for our club actually.  The school festival is this weekend, so we wanted to serve some teas at a cafe for it.”

“Oh, what a splendid idea!” Mr. Shepard exclaimed.  “Since that’s the case, you should offer a variety of popular teas.  Would you like some recommendations?”

“I’d appreciate that,” Yuri said.  “We’d like, hmm, let’s go with 5 types.” Yuri knew from past experience that Mr. Shepard knew a fair bit about tea, so having him suggest a few types was an easy choice.

“Of course,” Mr. Shepard said.  He walked around the store for a few minutes and came back with a few selections for Yuri.  Satisfied with the choices, Yuri and Kaiya decided they would take those and proceeded to purchase them.  As Yuri was checking out, Kaiya was drawn to a tea on the shelf that she’d never heard of before.  The packaging was unique, it looked like it had a design of a hand with an eye in it, but before she could really look at it, Yuri called her over.  

“We’re ready to go, Kaiya.  I think we’ve got everything we’ll need this weekend,” Yuri said.

Kaiya walked over to Yuri.  “Sounds good,” she said.  “If you want, I can keep everything at my place.”

“That works for me.  Thank you, Mr. Shepard!” Yuri said.

“Yes! Thank you for all your help!” Kaiya said.

“My pleasure!” Mr. Shepard said as Yuri and Kaiya took their leave.  After they left, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.  “Yes.  They’ve just left…”

Chapter Text

The alarm on her phone went off and Monika quickly turned it off.  6 A.M., the normal time that Monika usually got up in the morning.  She stretched and yawned as she attempted to keep herself awake.  She picked up her phone and started to send a message.

[Monika] Good Morning <3

Monika texted Yuri as she did every morning.  It was Tuesday, and she had a busy day of classes in front of her, so Monika got ready, as she always did, to take on the world.  She made herself a cup of coffee and something to eat.  

She had been busy recently, talking with the advisor and trying to get the uniforms ready for the school festival.  She admittedly hadn’t been paying as much attention in class.  Luckily, it was only a short period of time, so it wasn’t like her grades would suffer or anything like that.  Still, being a club president has a lot of responsibilities, but Monika knew that when she agreed to become the president.

Monika checked the time and saw that it was nearly time for her to leave.  She grabbed her bag and she made her way to school, stopping briefly to pet a cat that she passed on her way.

Kaiya and Sayori were walking together, as they usually did, to school.  As the observant person she is, Kaiya noticed that Sayori had some bags under her eyes again.  Concerned that Sayori had a rough night, she asked about it.  

“Hey, Sayori?  You’re looking a bit tired today.  Are you doing alright?” 

Sayori nodded her head.  “Yeah, I’m alright,” she said.  Sayori reassured her that it was only because she was up late talking with Natsuki, not because of any bad thoughts or anything like that.  

“Okay, just thought I’d check,” Kaiya said, trusting that Sayori was telling the truth in this situation. 

“Thanks for checking on me though, I appreciate that,” Sayori said with a smile.  The two continued walking.  “Hey how did the shopping go with Yuri last night?”

“It went great!  I have the supplies at my place, which reminds me that I have to let Monika know about that when we get to school,” Kaiya said, making a mental note for herself.  “We got a couple different types of teas and I picked out a good selection of coffee as well.  Hmm… there was this one tea that I was looking at, it seemed kinda interesting to me.”

“Oh? In what way?” Sayori asked.

“Oh, I just feel like I had seen the logo on the packaging before, but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve seen it.”

“Interesting, maybe this is a job for detective Sayori!”

“W-What?”

“Haven’t you ever wanted to be a detective like Sherlock Holmes?  Figuring out mysteries and stuff?”

“I guess.  Anyways, we left the store before I could think about it,” Kaiya said.  “Oh, looks like we’re here.  See ya at club, Sayori!”

“Yeah, see you later!”

“Hey Monika!” Kaiya said, greeting the club president as she walked in the classroom.  “You’re a little later than usual.”

“Yeah, I was pulled aside when I got here by the club’s advisor,” Monika said.  “Apparently the Student Council is having all the club presidents meet with them today to go over the rules for the school festival.”  She let out a sigh.  “With that said, our club meeting is gonna be a little shorter than it usually is.”

“I see.  Being president must be very busy.”

Monika slouched in her desk.  “Tell me about it,” she said.

“Hehe, you sound so exasperated by everything,” Kaiya said jokingly.

“Do you want the job?” Monika jokingly asked.

“Nope, do I look like the super responsible type? Hahaha, I don’t think so,” Kaiya said.

“Ehehe~ I’m sure you’d do great at it.  Still, even with all the responsibilities and the difficulty of starting a new club… I’d do it again in an instant.”

“Yeah?  You have to be pretty passionate about literature to want to do that.”

“You could say that,” Monika said with a smile.  “It’s something that we all had in common when we formed the club.  Truthfully we all just wanted a place where we could spend time together, but we do all share a passion for one form of literature or another.”

“Ah, I see.  You just wanted to hang out with Yuri.”

“Eh, no, I… uh, you see…”

Kaiya burst into a laughing fit.  Monika’s face was bright red.  Kaiya had never seen Monika so flustered before, so this was a rare treat in Kaiya’s eyes.  “I’m just teasing because I know how much you like her; it’s really cute actually.”  

Monika hid her face in her arms.  “Dummy,” she said, her voice muffled by her arms.

Monika dismissed the club early because she had a meeting to go to for club presidents.  Before leaving, she reminded Natuski and Sayori that they have to get the groceries for the festival tonight.  

Natsuki walked with Sayori and Kaiya home.  Along the way, Kaiya asked how they met and became a couple.  Natsuki did not want to answer that, but Sayori gleefully answered Kaiya’s questions.  She told Kaiya about how she had been dealing with her depression at the time, which was worse back then, and she stumbled upon Natsuki getting picked on by some bullies.  Sayori had known Natsuki for a while, since they were classmates a few years earlier.

“Truthfully, I had a crush on her for a while,” Sayori said.  “I mean, just look at her; she’s so cute!”

“I am not cute!” Natsuki said.

“Nope!  You’re absolutely the cutest!” Sayori said, hugging Natsuki from behind.  “But yeah, she was getting bullied and I got them to leave her alone.  We started hanging out and eventually she said that she liked me, and obviously I share those feelings with my little cupcake.”

“Aww, you two are so adorable together,” Kaiya said.  

Sayori smiled and gave Natsuki a kiss on the cheek.  They get to their homes and say goodnight to Kaiya.  Sayori and Natsuki went into Sayori’s home and changed into some casual attire, which Natsuki had left some spare clothes there just in case. 

After changing, they left for the grocery store.  When they got there, Natsuki pulled out the shopping list that they had prepared and they proceeded to get all the supplies they needed.  Flour, sugar, eggs, all sorts of things needed to make a bunch of sweets.  They paid for their things and walked back to Sayori’s place, carrying everything they bought.  Luckily the store was really close because they had bought quite a bit.  They dropped everything off at Sayori’s place and then they walked to Natsuki’s home.  Standing outside her house, Natsuki hugs Sayori and gave her a kiss. 

“See you tomorrow… cupcake.” Natsuki said before going inside.

Sayori waved as Natsuki closed the door.

After closing the door, Natsuki turned around and was surprised by the sight of her father standing there.

“Oh no,” Natsuki said to herself.  ‘Why is he here right now?  He should be working right now!’  If he was here right now, she knew he was going to yell at her.

“Why are you so late?” he asked calmly, which unnerved Natsuki even more than his yelling would have.

“I-I was j-j-just getting supplies for the festival.  That’s all, I promise,” Natsuki said passively, trying not to get him angry, but as she’d find out, that was not to be the case.

“And who the fuck was that?”

Natsuki’s heart sank.  ‘That?  Oh no… don’t tell me he…’ “That was one of my classmates,” Natsuki said.

He slowly walked over to Natsuki, whose heart was pounding in her ears.  There was a flash of pain as Natsuki’s father slapped her across the face, and Natsuki suddenly found herself on the floor.  Her face throbbed in pain and she instinctively covered her cheek with her hand.

“Don’t lie to me, bitch,” he shouted in her face, spraying her with spit as he shouted.  “That interaction just now was a lot more than something between classmates.”  He grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her to her feet.  “Why don’t I go ask her myself and find out.”

“NO!” Natsuki screamed.  “Leave her out of this!”

Natsuki’s father grabbed her by the throat.  “DON’T YOU FUCKING TALK BACK TO ME!” he shouted.  “Tell me the truth, or I swear to God, you’re gonna regret it!  WHAT IS SHE TO YOU!”

Natsuki was terrified to answer truthfully.  No matter how she answered, he wouldn’t like the answer.  “She’s just a friend in my school club.”

“Are you lying to me, you fucking brat?”

“No!”

“Well, then, why don’t you fucking explain what I just witnessed?”  He pointed to the window.  “Hmm?!?  No child of mine is going to be a damn queer.”

“Wha-?  I-I’m n-not…”

“STOP FUCKING LYING TO ME!” he screamed as he punched a hole in the wall.  “WHAT IS SHE TO YOU!”  Natsuki apparently didn’t answer fast enough, because he slapped her across the face again, knocking her to the ground again.  He grabbed a fist full of her hair.  “ANSWER ME!”

“I love her!” Natsuki shouted.  When she realized what she had just said, the color drained from her face.

“Yeah, I fucking knew it.  So I’ll tell you what…” he said, grabbing Natsuki by the wrist, “you’re not gonna be seeing her for a while, you hear me?  You’re not seeing anyone.  No kid of mine is gonna be one of those goddamn fruitcakes,  I’ll make sure of that.”  He kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, and dragged her into a room and slammed the door shut.

Chapter Text

Sayori and Kaiya walked to school together, as they usually did.  Sayori was telling Kaiya about the trip to the store that she and Natsuki had made last night, and how she couldn’t wait to get started on baking with Natsuki. 

“You don’t understand!” Sayori said.  “Natsuki is super good at baking!”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Kaiya said, laughing at how serious Sayori was about the whole thing.  “You must really really like what she makes.”

“Mhm!  Her cupcakes are super yummy!”

“They do say that things taste sweeter when they’re made by the one you love,” Kaiya said, a sly grin on her face.

Sayori blushed.  “Well, I don’t know who ‘they’ are, but they’re right!  I can’t think of a single thing that she bakes that I don’t like.”  She started humming to herself as they walked, when she suddenly turned to Kaiya.  “Hey, Kaiya, is there someone you like?”

“Wh-what?  N-no, I don’t really think so,” a suddenly flustered Kaiya said.

Sayori’s suspicion grew.  “Hmm?  You sure about that?  The way you reacted makes me think otherwise.”

“Oh, no… it’s not like that at all.  You see, I don’t really know how to explain it, but when I looked it up online a while back, I found the term demiromantic suited me the best.  I don’t really think of people like that unless I have a strong connection to them.  Plus, like, guys are okay and what not, but I do find girls to be much more… you know… pretty… and stuff.”

“I get that,” Sayori said, nodding her head.

“But yeah, I don’t really have any attraction to anyone in particular right now,” Kaiya said.

“I see,” Sayori said.  “Well, if you do find someone you like, let me know.  I’m like, the best wingman you could ask for.”

‘Hmm… doubt…’ Kaiya thought.  She chuckled to herself.  ‘Something tells me she’d be waaaay to forward about it if she knew I liked someone.’  They arrived at their school and waved goodbye to each other as they went their separate ways.  

Sayori walked through the school to her classroom.  When she walked in, she noticed Natsuki wasn’t there yet.  “Huh… I wonder if she’s running late,” she said, pulling out her phone.

[Sayori]  Hey, are you gonna be here soon?

[Sayori]  Class is about to begin soon.

Sayori stared at her phone, waiting for a response that never came.  The bell rang and Natsuki still wasn’t there.  Her anxiety spiked and she had a bad feeling in her gut that something was wrong.  ‘Natsuki has never been one to miss class… and she never ignores my texts…’ she thought to herself.  ‘Where is she?’

At lunchtime, Sayori was running around looking for one of her friends.  She couldn’t find Monika anywhere, so she decided to try the lunchroom.  In the lunchroom she ran into Kaiya who was with Yuri.

“Oh, hey Sayori, don’t usually see you here at this time,” Kaiya said.

“Yes, and you seemed to be in a hurry,” Yuri said.  “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know,” Sayori answered.

“Well, what’s wrong?” Kaiya asked.

“Natsuki didn’t show up for class today, and she’s not responding to my texts either, and I’m just so worried about her…” Sayori said.  “It’s just not like her to miss school.”

“I see… Well, we’ll have to talk about this together at club today,” Yuri said.  “I wonder…” she said before trailing off.

“Is she sick?” Kaiya asked.

“No, she’d at least message me and let me know if she wasn’t feeling good,” Sayori said.  “The last time she was sick she messaged me a lot.”

“You don’t think…” Yuri started to say.

“That’s my worry…” Sayori said.

“Wait, think what?” Kaiya asked.

Sayori was nervous to answer, because she knew that Natsuki didn’t like her personal life being known, however, Sayori knew that this was important enough for Kaiya to know about.  “It’s Natsuki’s father.  He’s… well… he’s abusive towards her,” Sayori said.  “He barely provides for her, and he gets drunk a lot… and occasionally he’ll hit her.”

“It’s not good, but he’s never done something like this before, has he?” Yuri asked.

Sayori shook her head.  “No… not like this…” Sayori said.  “He knows better than to do something that would cause her to miss school.  It’d raise suspicion on him.”

Kaiya thought about it.  “Well, we should tell Monika at least.  Get everyone together to see what we should do,” Kaiya said.  “If her dad did something to her, we’ll have to do something to help.”

“I agree.  We definitely should have Monika help,” Yuri said.

“But I wanna go look for her right now…” Sayori said dejectedly.

Kaiya gave Sayori a hug.  “I know, but we can’t just leave the school, so we have to wait.  We can go as soon as we’re done.”

“Okay…” Sayori said.

“I’ll let monika know when I see her in class.  We’ll meet up in the clubroom to talk about the situation,” Kaiya added.  

“Okay,” Yuri said.

Sayori nodded.

Natsuki faded in and out of consciousness throughout the day.  She remembered what happened last night after she got home and tears formed in her eyes; not from sadness, but from anger towards her father, as well as the pain that she was in.  She tried to move, but quickly remembered her father chaining her arms above her head.  ‘Yeah… this sucks…’ she thought.  ‘If only I were a little stronger.’  

Her jaw hurt from where he had struck her, and she had trouble breathing.  She had no idea what time it was, only that it was daytime.  ‘I should be in school right now,’ she thought.  ‘Sayori is probably worried sick that I’m not there.  If only I could move my arms and get to my phone… or… well, if I still had it.’  During the night, Natsuki’s father demanded she unlock her phone to show him who she’d been talking to.  Naturally, Natsuki refused to comply, so he had broken her phone in anger and threw it against the wall.  Natsuki turned her head and saw the shattered remains of her phone.  ‘I wanna talk to her… I wanna see Sayori,” she thought.

Her father walked into the room and noticed she was awake.  ‘He’s wearing his work uniform, so he must be getting ready to leave,’ Natsuki thought hopefully.

“You’re pathetic,” he said.  “Just look at you.  Oh, are you crying again?  You want your little bitch of a girlfriend?  Too fucking bad.  You’re lucky I have to go to work right now, or you’d still be getting taught a lesson from me.  Heh, maybe I’ll bring one of my friends over to fix you.”  A chill ran down Natsuki’s spine upon hearing that.  She began to sob and Natsuki’s father laughed at her.  “I’ll be back later.”  He closed the door behind him, and Natsuki heard him lock it.

“S-Sayori… please help me.”

Chapter Text

Monika had to spend the entire lunchtime talking with their club’s advisor.  As a result, she was now in the classroom quickly eating her lunch and was also going through her notes for her upcoming classes.  All of a sudden Kaiya burst into the room, which startled Monika.  Kaiya walked up and stood before her.

“Oh, hello Kaiya.  How was lunch?” Monika asked.

“It was alright,” Kaiya said.  “Listen, there might be a situation.”

“A situation? What do you mean?” Monika asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“It’s Natsuki,” Kaiya said, a serious look on her face.  “Something might be wrong.”

“Natsuki?  What about her?” Monika asked, a concerned look spreading on her face.

“Well… she didn’t show up to school today, and she’s not responding to any messages,” Kaiya explained.  “Sayori’s kind of a mess right now and she’s worried that something happened to her.”  

“I see,” Monika said.  She knew that Natsuki’s home-life was not the greatest situation.  While Natsuki never told Monika what was happening, she knew that Natsuki was underfed at home, so Monika always kept snacks around for her, but that was the extent of Monika’s knowledge of Natsuki’s home-life.  She had no idea if Natsuki’s father actually did anything besides not feeding her enough.  ‘If things have gotten worse… something would have to have happened.’

“Yeah, Sayori’s really worried that something happened to her,” Kaiya said.  “She really wants to go to Natsuki’s place to check on her, but Yuri and I told her that it would be best for everyone if we went as a group, plus we can’t just leave the school.  Still, she’s really concerned.”

Monika thought about it for a moment.  “Let me guess… her father might be responsible for this?”  Kaiya had a somewhat shocked look, as if she were surprised that Monika knew.

“How did you know?” Kaiya asked.

“Well, while I don’t exactly have the most information about Natsuki’s home-life, I know enough about a few things and I can deduce a few likely scenarios.  I do know that Natsuki’s father isn’t exactly father of the year.  In fact, he’s a bit of a scum bag as far as parents go.  So knowing this, he is a likely suspect for this situation.”

“Yeah.  So Yuri and I wanted to talk about it as a group at club, if that’s ok with you of course,” Kaiya said.  “We want to help her if she’s in trouble.”

“Of course it’s okay with me,” Monika said.  “Natsuki’s safety is the biggest concern here, as is the safety of all club members.  After classes are over, we’ll meet to discuss the situation together.”  Monika took a deep breath.  “Hopefully, this is nothing, but if things really are that bad, we’ll have to do something to help Natsuki out.

“Okay.  I’ll let Sayori know,” Kaiya said, pulling out her phone.

[Kaiya]  Hey!

[Kaiya]  Monika said we’ll discuss the situation at club

A few moments later, Sayori responded.

[Sayori]  ok

[Sayori]  thank you

[Kaiya]  I’ll see you then, and we’ll make sure Natsuki is ok

“Okay, I told Sayori the plan,” Kaiya said.

“Good.  Oh, it looks like class is about to resume.”

The bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day.  Kaiya and Monika packed their bags and rushed as quickly as they could to the clubroom.  They found Sayori and Yuri there waiting for them to get there.

Monika took a deep breath before speaking.  “I presume we all know the situation then?”

“Yes,” Yuri answered, sneaking a glance at Sayori, who nodded with Kaiya.

“Well, let’s go over what we know.   We know that Natsuki never showed up for classes today, and you saw her last night, right Sayori?”

“Yes,” Sayori said.  “I saw her walk into her house after we finished shopping for the festival.  Natsuki hates missing school, because she can’t stand being at home.  I know she isn’t sick because she always tells me stuff like that, and she was perfectly fine when I saw her last.  So the only thing I can think of is her father doing something to her.”

“As you all know by now, Natsuki’s father is an abusive person,” Monika continued.  “He constantly yells at Natsuki and he practically starves her.  Occasionally, he may even hurt her.  So the real question is, what do you all think we should do?”

“I want to go over there right away,” Sayori said.

“We gotta be careful though if we go,” Kaiya said.

“Kaiya’s right,” Yuri said.  “If he’s there, things could get dangerous for everyone, and if he finds out we’re trying to help her, things could actually get worse for Natsuki.” 

“That’s true.  We’ll have to make sure he’s not there,” Monika agreed.  “Not only could Natsuki be in trouble, but we’d be putting ourselves at risk here as well.  If he’s as bad as we think, it’s possible we could get hurt.  Safety for everyone is the priority here.”

There was a pause as they contemplated.  

“So… are we going?” Sayori asked.

“Of course we are,” Kaiya said.

“We just gotta make sure we do it right,” Yuri added.

“Okay everyone, let’s get going,” Monika said.  “Sayori, you know the way better than anyone else, so you lead the way.  We’ll come up with a good plan along the way.”

“Alright!  Let’s go!” Sayori said.

The four grabbed their things and left the school.

Chapter Text

Natsuki had no idea how long she was there, but to her it certainly felt like days.  She couldn’t see much.  Everything hurt… her head, her body… even breathing hurt.   She thought to herself about how she got in this situation, and only blamed herself.  

‘I fucked up… I shouldn’t have said anything… I knew he’d respond by doing this.’  

Natsuki was hurting… and yet the only thing she could think of was her partner.  All she could think of was if he went looking for Sayori.  Natsuki couldn’t forgive herself if he did something to her… but what could she do about it, she thought to herself… she was stuck here.  Her only respite was that he wasn’t here, having left for work a little while ago.  He wouldn’t be back for some time, so she at least had some time to herself.

Kaiya, Monika, Sayori, and Yuri quickly made their way to Natsuki’s house, with Sayori leading the way.  They knew they had to be careful to not be spotted by her father, so they tried to be as sneaky as possible on their way there.  They would hide behind things if they saw a vehicle, avoid areas where people were, and took paths they thought would be less traversed by Natsuki’s father, until they got to her neighborhood.  When they got there, Sayori pointed out the house.

“That’s the one!  That’s Natsuki’s house!” Sayori said.  The others looked towards where Sayori was pointing and saw a small house relative to the surrounding buildings.  Its gray exterior seemed devoid of life, and the lawn was unkempt. 

Monika looked around the property.  “Okay, it doesn’t look like there’s a vehicle outside,” she said.

“I’ll go check the garage,” Kaiya said.  “It’s possible he could be parked inside.  If it’s clear I’ll wave you over.”

Sayori and Yuri nodded in approval.

“Good idea,” Monika said.  “Since you’re new to the area, it’s unlikely that he knows who you are.  If he’s there, it’d be the safest for you to go.”

“Exactly,” Kaiya said.  She took a deep breath and exhaled.  “Well, I’ll be off then.”

Kaiya looked around to make sure the coast was clear and then ran towards the garage attached to Natsuki’s house. She looked around and saw a window and quietly looked through it.  While it was dark inside the garage, Kaiya was able to tell that there was no vehicle inside.  She waved the others over.  Monika tried to open the front door, only to find that it was locked.  Yuri tried another door around the back, only to have the same luck.  Sayori ran towards Natsuki’s window and looked inside, but didn’t see Natsuki there.  The others joined her at the window.

“Gimme a boost,” Sayori said after opening the window, which Natsuki kept unlocked.

“Me too,” Kaiya said.

Monika and Yuri helped the two get inside Natsuki’s room.  Once inside they turned towards their friends standing outside.

“Be careful,” Yuri whispered to them as soon as they were inside.

“Yes, and be quiet just in case.  We’ll be right here keeping an eye out,” Monika said.  “And go find Natsuki.”

“Got it,” Kaiya and Sayyori said in unison.

Sayori looked around Natsuki’s room.  It was practically barren… the bed had no frame and was just a mattress on the floor.  There were a few stuffed animals and anime figurines on a small desk, but that was it, aside of some clothes that Natsuki had laying around.  Not seeing her in her room, Kaiya and Sayori prepared to open the door to look in another room.  They slowly opened it and peeked outside.  After verifying that no one was there, they walked into what they assumed was the living room and kitchen area but they didn't see her anywhere.  

Sayori looked around some more in the kitchen when Kaiya tried to open a door to what she assumed was Natsuki’s father’s bedroom.  It was locked. 

“Hmm…”  Kaiya observed the door and noticed the gap between the door and the door frame.  Peering inside, she could see the door latch was visible.  Noting this, Kaiya ran into the kitchen and looked through the cupboards until she found a kitchen knife.  She went back to the door and used the knife to push open the door to Natsuki’s father’s room.  When she did, she noticed how dark it was in the room.  She let her eyes adjust a little and then noticed something in the corner of the room.  Kaiya turned the light on and her heart sank when she saw Natsuki chained to the radiator, beaten and practically unconscious.  

“Sayori!” Kaiya shouted.  “In here!”

Sayori rushed in and saw Natsuki in the shape that she was in.  Tears formed in her eyes, which Kaiya noticed.

“Hey, hey, this isn’t the time for tears…” she said, trying to calm Sayori down.  “We have to be calm for Natsuki’s sake, okay?”  Kaiya’s mind was racing trying to think of how to best help Natsuki.  She looked at the chains keeping her there and saw that they were relatively thin chains.  “Uh... go ask Monika and Yuri if they can find some bolt cutters or something.  These chains look pretty weak.  If we can break them we can get Natsuki out of here!”

“Okay,” Sayori said, wiping the tears in her eyes away.  Sayori ran out of the room they were in and into Natsuki’s room, where she saw Monika and Yuri standing outside the window.  

“We found her, but she’s chained to the radiator!” Sayori said.  “Can you two go look for something to cut through the chains?  Kaiya said something about bolt cutters or something like them.”

“I have some at home!” Monika said.  “Let’s go Yuri!”

They left for Monika’s place to find them and Sayori went back to Natsuki.

“-oing here?  If he shows up… I couldn’t handle... the thought of you... getting hurt… on my… behalf…” Natsuki said with a pained voice. 

“We’re here for you!  I’m not leaving my girlfriend in a place like this ini the state you’re in!” Sayori shouted.

“If he… shows up…”

“I don’t care!” Sayori screamed. 

“Just… leave me…” Natsuki said through tears.  “Get out... and save yourselves…”

“Fuck that, we’re getting you out of here,” Kaiya said.  “Monika and Yuri are going to be back soon, and I’m going to get you out of those chains, and we’ll all get out of here, together.”

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere without you,” Sayori said.  She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped some blood off of Natsuki’s face.  “My little cupcake is coming home with me, and that’s final.”

Chapter Text

Monika and Yuri turned at an intersection.  “This way!” Monika shouted, running ahead of the considerably slower Yuri.  

The two were sprinting to Monika’s place, where they hoped to find something to cut the chains binding Natsuki.  Monika said that in her father’s shed that there were bolt cutters the last time she looked, and so they took off in a sprint to Monika’s place.  That was, of course, assuming that her father hadn't moved them since the last time she saw them.

“If we can get there and back in time, we should be good, but we have to hurry,” Monika said as she ran.  “Just please be where I saw it last.”  The two turned at another street and then ran through someone’s yard when Monika pointed to a house just up ahead.  “That’s the place!”

They arrived at Monika’s place and ran up to the shed, only to find that the shed was locked.  Monika pulled on the door a couple times before slamming her fist 

“Damnit!” Monika said in frustration.

“What do we do?” Yuri asked.

Monika thought hard about where the key might be.  “Hmmm…. I think the key might be inside the house.  Let’s go look.”

“Okay.”

They ran inside Monika’s house, and Monika began searching for the key to the shed.  She checked everywhere she thought the key might be, but couldn’t find it anywhere, and was getting more and more frustrated.

Yuri was looking in the garage, but like Monika, was having no luck finding it.

“Did you find it?” Monika asked.

“It wasn’t in there,” Yuri dejectedly said.  “Any luck in here yet?

“Nothing,” Monika said.  “Where did my dad put that key?  This is absolutely the worst timing.  “I’m gonna check in the kitchen cabinets, maybe he left them in there."

“Good idea.  If it doesn’t work, I can try and find something to break the lock,” Yuri said.

“Alright, but just give me a minute to try and find it in the kitchen.”

Monika entered the kitchen and looked through the cabinets.  She pushed through tools and wires and all sorts of things when a key caught her eye.

“Oh, please be the one,” she said to herself.  She grabbed the key and ran out of the house to the shed.  “I found a key!”  Yuri’s face lit up.  “I just hope it’s the right one.”

“Only one way to find out,” Yuri said.

Monika nodded in agreement.  She grabbed the padlock that was locking the door and took a deep breath.  She pushed the key in and turned it.  The lock opened.  “Yes!” Monika shouted in joy as she opened the door.  “It should be in the corner here… yes! Found it!”  She pulled a tool from the corner of the shed and held it up. 

“Let’s get back to Natsuki’s place,” Yuri said.

“Right.”

They took off, heading on the same route that they took to get to Monika’s, hoping that they’d make it in time.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I should have done more to keep you safe…” Sayori said. 

“It’s not your fault, Sayori,” Kaiya said.  “We all know whose fault this whole thing is, and that’s her father’s.”

“If anything… I’m sorry you… have to see me… like this…” Natsuki said between breaths.  “I know… seeing me… in this con...dition… hurts… Sayori… so… I’m sorry…”

“Hey, hey… I’m gonna say the same thing to you as I did to Sayori, okay?  It’s not your fault, Natsuki.  The only one to blame for this is your dad,” Kaiya said.  “It’s not like you did anything wrong here, you know?”

“Yeah… It’s all your dad’s fault,” Sayori said through tears.

“Monika and Yuri are gonna be back soon, okay?  We’re gonna get you out of here,” Kaiya said.  “That’s a promise from all of us.”

Then they heard a car door slam shut and a look of fear formed on Natsuki’s face.

[Monika]  Hide!

Monika and Yuri were running as fast as they could to get back to Natsuki’s place.  They cut through people’s yards and through alleyways until they stood in Natsuki’s neighborhood.  When they saw Natsuki’s house, Monika pulled Yuri behind a bush.  She pulled out her phone and sent a message as quickly as she could to Kaiya and Sayori.

“Oh god no…”

“What? What’s wrong?” Yuri asked.

“He’s… he’s back,” Monika said quietly.

“What?”

“Natsuki’s father… I saw him getting out of a car parked at her house,” Monika said.

“We’re too late…” Yuri said, falling to her knees.

Natsuki’s father opened the front door of their house and walked inside.  He wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of soda from the refrigerator, which he proceeded to drink before throwing the bottle to the ground.

“Ah.. that’s right… my bitch of a daughter…” he muttered to himself.  He walked towards his bedroom and pulled out his key to unlock it.  After unlocking the door, he opened it and turned the light on.  He saw Natsuki, right where he left her, and he smiled.  He walked over to her and kicked her in the stomach, causing Natsuki to gasp for air.  “Oi, wake the fuck up.”  Natsuki let out a groan, which elicited a small laugh from her father.  “I thought I’d stop by to check up on you, like the good father I am.”

Natsuki glared at him.  ‘Good father? What a joke…’ she thought to herself.   She averted her eyes and glanced under his bed for a moment but then looked somewhere else.  This was because she didn’t want him to be suspicious of where she was looking, because under that bed was Sayori and Kaiya, covering their mouths so as not to make a sound.

“You’re lucky I still have work to do, or I’d smack you around some more for looking at me like that,” her father said.  “Heh, you look like you’ve been crying, hahaha.  I bet you want your little friend to save you, huh?  Think again,” he said, slapping her across the face.  “Well, even if you somehow got out, I got friends in high places.  You wouldn’t get far.”  He stood up.  “And you’ll do well to remember this.  I’m big and you’re small.  I’m strong and you’re weak.  I have the power here.  If it wouldn’t give me more trouble than it’s worth, I’d kill you right now.  So you should consider yourself lucky that I’m being generous enough to keep you alive, and that I’m only here to grab something.  But when I’m done working, I’ll have more time to play with you.”

He closed the door and locked it behind him and left the house, returning to his vehicle and departing.

After seeing Natsuki’s father leave the area, Monika and Yuri ran to the house and towards Natuski’s window.  Monika pulled out her phone and began to send a message to Kaiya and Sayori.

[Monika]  Hey!!!  We’re outside with the cutters!

A few moments later, Kaiya replied.

[Kaiya]  I’ll be right there.

Sayori and Kaiya waited a few moments after hearing the front door close.  They heard the car engine start and then crawled out from under the bed where they were hiding.  Sayori rushed to Natsuki and began to comfort her, when Kaiya’s phone went off.  Seeing the message from Monika, she relayed it to Sayori and Natsuki before replying.  She unlocked the door and went to Natsuki’s room where she saw Monika and Yuri standing outside.

“That was too close,” Kaiya said.

“I know… how’s Natsuki?” Monika asked.

“Better now that you two are back,” Kaiya replied with a smile.

“Here’s the cutters that we got from Monika’s,” Yuri said, handing the cutters to Kaiya.  “Will these work?”

Kaiya inspected the cutters in her hands.  “Hmm… I think so, but only testing them will be able to tell us.  I’ll let you know.”

“Okay, we’ll be right here,” Monika said.

“Let us know,” Yuri said.

Kaiya nodded, and rushed back into the room where Natsuki was.  “They brought these.  Hopefully they work,” Kaiya said, showing Natsuki and Sayori the cutters.  “Since the chain is relatively thin, it should work.  Here, let me get in there.”

Sayori stood up and stepped aside so that Kaiya had enough room.  Kaiya grabbed a bunch of the chain and pulled it so that she had enough room to work with before she put a link between the cutter’s blades.

“Here goes nothing,” Kaiya said, before squeezing the cutters together with all her might.  There was a loud clang as the link in the chain broke.

“Yes!” Sayori said.  “It worked!”

“One more cut and she’s free,” Kaiya said excitedly.  She positioned the cutters on the other side of the link and squeezed the cutter again.  Another loud clang and the chain fell to the floor.  Kaiya quickly began to untangle the chain that was keeping Natsuki in place and eventually, they had her freed.  Kaiya helped Natsuki stand up and Sayori embraced Natsuki, who was fighting to hold back tears.  “Come on, we gotta go!”

“Come on, cupcake, let’s go home,” Sayori said.

Kaiya, Sayori, and Natsuki went into Natsuki’s room.  They grabbed a bag and packed as many things as Natsuki decided she needed and then climbed out the window.  After getting out, Natsuki walked up to Yuri and Monika and hugged them both, thanking them for helping her. 

“Okay everyone, let’s get Natsuki to Sayori’s place,” Monika said.

“Monika, here’s your cutters,” Kaiya said, handing them to Monika.

“Thanks, I’ll take them back home after we get Natsuki to safety,” Monika said.  “Let’s get going.”

The five girls made their way to Sayori’s place, keeping an eye out for Natuski’s father.  Luckily they made it there without incident, and they walked inside.  When inside, Natsuki fell to her knees and wept.  As she was crying, she kept thanking the others for saving her.  

Yuri set Natsuki’s things down in the living room area and pulled a chair out for Natsuki to sit in.  “Natsuki, take a seat here.  Let me look at your injuries and get you cleaned up.”

“Yeah, okay,” Natsuki said.  She stood up and sat down in the chair that Yuri was standing next to.

“Would you mind taking off your shirt so I can see?” Yuri asked.  “Sayori, in my bag is a small first aid kit, can you grab that for me?”

“Oh, sure thing, Yuri,” Sayori said.  She went to grab the kit as Natsuki removed her shirt, revealing several large bruises along her arms, neck, and abdomen.  Yuri then looked at Natsuki’s face and remarked that there were several cuts and bruises on there.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like anything is broken, and the bruises should go away eventually.  Make sure to put some ice packs on them, okay?”

Natsuki nodded.

Yuri opened the first aid kit and took out some antiseptic ointment and some bandages for the cuts.  “It might sting a little,” she told Natsuki.

“It couldn’t be worse than what caused them,” Natsuki said.

“True, but I figure it’d be good to tell you,” Yuri said.  She applied the antiseptic, which caused Natsuki to wince a little, and then put some bandages over the cuts.  “That should do it.”

“So, how is she?” Monika asked.

“She should be fine.  It was mostly bruising and a couple cuts.  I do think she should go to a doctor at some point though, just to be safe,” Yuri said.  Sayori and Kaiya breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ll take her there as soon as I can,” Sayori said.

“I’ll go with,” Kaiya said.

“Well, now that we have that taken care of, we probably should have a discussion of what happens next,” Monika said.  “What should we do with Natsuki?”

“I don’t care what anyone else says, I’m staying here,” Natsuki said.

“Are you going to be okay going to school?” Yuri asked.

“It’ll be fine,” Natsuki said.  “Though…”

“Though?” Monika asked.

“Well… since I have bruises and stuff… it’d probably be good to cover them up.  But…”

“But?” Kaiya asked.

“Err… well… I’m not very good at it,” Natsuki said.  “Putting on makeup and stuff…”

“Don’t you worry, sweetie!  I can totally help you out with that!” Sayori said.  “Kaiya can help too!”\

“Yeah, you might end up looking like a clown, but I can definitely help,” Kiaya said, laughing.

“I’m kinda reconsidering this now, ehehe,” Natsuki said jokingly.  “But thank you.  I’m so happy to have friends like you all.”

“We’re the ones who are lucky to have you as a friend,” Monika said.

“She’s right,” Yuri added.

“Ehehe, you’re stuck with me through thick and thin; no matter what happens.  We’ll always be together!” Sayori said.

“And even though we only recently became friends, I’ve never had so much fun as I’ve had hanging out with you.  Plus we gotta keep reading Parfait Girls together,” Kaiya said.

“I love you dummies…” Natsuki said, before the group hugged it out.

Chapter Text

After it was decided that Natsuki would be staying with Sayori, Monika and Yuri eventually left for their own homes.  Kaiya decided to stay with Sayori and Natsuki for a while, and after Natsuki felt she was ready, the three went to a clinic that was nearby to get Natsuki checked out.  The doctor told them that she had no serious injuries and would be fine with some rest and relaxation.  The news of this made them happy, but then the doctor asked how she had gotten hurt so badly.  Natsuki thought of a lie; that she had gotten into a fight with people from school who bullied her for being small.  The reason she did that was because if they knew her father had done something, he’d know she had escaped and that she had told someone, and if he knew that she’d be in greater danger.  The doctor accepted their story, and let her go without any more questions.  The three walked back to Sayori’s place, keeping an eye out for her father’s vehicle.  Luckily, they did not see him and made it back to Sayori’s without incident.  They walked inside her home and Sayori and Natsuki plopped down on the couch.

“Ughh… we’re finally back,” Natsuki said.  “I’m so tired and done with the day.”

“I get that,” Sayori said.

“You guys want me to make you something for dinner?” Kaiya asked the two.  This question caused the two to immediately perk up.

“Oh my god, yes, please!” Natsuki replied.

“I’m starving,” Sayori said.

“Okay, okay… I’ll whip something up for you,” Kaiya said with a chuckle.  The two girls stared at her in anticipation.  “Hmm…” Kaiya was contemplating what to make for them when inspiration struck her.  “Hey, how would you two feel about having pancakes?”

Sayori’s eyes lit up, as did Natsuki’s.  They simultaneously shouted, “yes!” giving Kaiya her answer, so she began cooking pancakes for the three of them.  When they were finished, Kaiya brought a huge stack of pancakes to the table where Sayori and Natsuki were eagerly waiting.  The moment she sat the stack of pancakes down, Sayori and Natsuki began devouring the breakfast food.  They ate and ate until they were all full.  After dinner, Kaiya left for her home, leaving Sayori and Natsuki by themselves.

The next morning, Kaiya walked back over to Sayori’s place to find that they were still sleeping.  She called for Sayori a couple times until she eventually saw a very tired Sayori look out the window.  After noticing Kaiya, Sayori turned around and walked to the front door and opened it.

“Sorry, Kaiya, we kinda stayed up late, ehehe,” Sayori said.  “Come in, we still have leftover pancakes from last night.  I’ll go get Natsuki.”

Sayori walked back to her room and woke Natsuki up.  Shortly afterwards, the two walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Natsuki,” Kaiya said.

“Mm… morning,” Natsuki said, still very tired.

“Come eat some breakfast.  We gotta do your makeup before we go to school, remember,” Kaiya said.

“Yeah, yeah… I remember,” Natsuki said.  

They ate their breakfast and Kaiya opened her bag and pulled out her makeup kit.  “This won’t take too long, I’m pretty quick when it comes to putting makeup on.  Now take a seat little miss, I gotta get to work.”  Kaiya spent the next few minutes covering up the bruises that were found on Natsuki that she couldn’t cover with her uniform.

“Woah, it’s like nothing happened at all!” Sayori said, marveling at Kaiya’s handiwork.

Natsuki looked in the mirror and agreed with Sayori’s sentiments.  “You’re right!”

“I’m not quite done yet.  We’re making you extra cute today, hehe,” Kaiya said.

“C-cute?  You don’t have to do that, this is fine,” Natsuki nervously said.

“Hmm? You sure?”

“Yep, I’m positive.  This is more than enough,” Natsuki said.

“Well, then let’s get going!” Sayori said.

The three girls walked to school together.  They were on the lookout for Natsuki’s father, but they managed to get to school without incident.  Once there, Kaiya went to her class and Natsuki and Sayori made their way to their class.

“Hey,” Sayori suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?” Sayori asked.

“Yes… no… maybe?  I don’t really know.  I know I’m happier to not be there anymore, but I’m still worried he might do something… something to you,” Natsuki admitted.

“To me?” Sayori asked, confused as to why Natsuki was concerned.

“Well… the reason that he did this… he did it because… because I said something I shouldn’t have said to him… that I love you.”

Sayori froze.  She knew what Natsuki was trying to say.  Natsuki had told Sayori numerous times that she could never tell her father about Sayori because of the kind of person he was.  If he managed to find out about them, then they would be in danger.  Then she remembered the kiss they shared in front of Natsuki’s home, and Sayori’s stomach sank.  ‘It’s my fault…’ she thought to herself.  ‘If I hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.’

“Ah, I don’t want you to think this is your fault or anything,” Natsuki suddenly said.  “It’s just, since he knows that, he reacted exactly how I figured he would, and I’m just worried that he might try to do something to you.”  Natsuki took a deep breath.  “This isn’t your fault, and it’s not mine… this is all him, okay?”

Sayori nodded silently.  What Natsuki was saying was true, and Sayori knew that, but she still couldn’t help but feel guilty over the whole thing.

“Heh… don’t have to hide the fact that we’re dating now, I suppose.  The only reason I was hesitant to be open about it was because of him, but, well, that doesn’t matter anymore,” Natsuki said, trying to brighten Sayori’s mood, which worked surprisingly well.  Sayori started to cheer up after hearing that.

“So… you’re saying I can be more affectionate with you?” Sayori said with puppy eyes, something that Natuski could never say “no” to.

“Er, well, I suppose that would be okay… but only if there isn’t that many people around,” Natuski said.

After hearing this, Natsuki suddenly found herself on the ground courtesy of a hug from Sayori, who was gleefully laughing.  Natsuki couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, Cupcake… we gotta get to class,” Natsuki said, taking Sayori’s hand.