Yuri/Natsuki

	It’s a mild-weathered Friday afternoon, and the final bell of the day has rung. Hordes of students funnel out of their classrooms and make their way to their clubs and other planned after school activities. As is the case with every weekday, the Literature Club is in session.
	Monika and Natsuki are the first to arrive in the clubroom. After exchanging glances and short greetings, Natsuki immediately makes a beeline to the closet for her manga, sliding the door open as swiftly as she can muster, with Monika taking a seat at the teacher’s desk. She perches her elbow atop the desktop, holding up her head with a hand placed firmly on her cheek. She checks her phone, and texts a couple friends.
	Shortly after, Sayori arrives in the clubroom, with an exasperated sigh. Yuri follows a few seconds later.
	“Hi everyone!” Sayori lifts a hand to greet her club members. “I’m so glad I’m out of English! What did you think of the exam, Yuri?”
	She looks up at Sayori, brushing her long hair away from her eyes. “Well…” she pauses momentarily. “It was relieving to end the day on such a good note with an easy exam.”
	Sayori looks at Yuri with a slightly confused expression. “You always were a smart cookie, Yuri. Ehehe~” she says with only a tinge of disappointment, ruffling at the back of her hair.
	Yuri is taken by a slight bit of embarrassment, before giving some reluctant and slightly unsure thanks.
	Before the atmosphere can get any more awkward, Natsuki breaks the silence, peeking her head from the inside of the closet, with a look of discontent written on her face. She locks eyes with Monika, who is all too wary of the exchange that is about to take place.
	“Monika! I thought I told you not to keep moving all my stuff!” Natsuki calls out to her, hands placed on her hips.
	“Ahahaha! Sorry, Natsuki, I just had to do a little bit of cleaning, and…” Monika begins.
	Natsuki lifts a hand in impatience. “I don’t care about that! My stuff was fine right where it was! I keep it organized for a reason!”
	“Sorry Natsuki! It won’t happen again, I promise~” Monika gives Natsuki a facetious grin.
	The girls all settle in to their normal routines, with Natsuki fervently reading over her manga, Sayori writing while her expression swaps between happiness, longing, and sadness, and Yuri reading a novel whilst sipping on a cup of tea, fidgeting nervously ever so slightly as she reads. Before long, Monika stands up and addresses the club.
	“Alright everybody! It’s time to share poems.” she announces.
Natsuki lets out a sigh, and returns to her desk to retrieve her bag. The other girls follow suit. Monika casually walks to Sayori, and they exchange poems, talking quietly between themselves.
	Natsuki hesitantly approaches Yuri, clearly not too eager to have to share a poem with her “writing rival”.
	“I guess we are the only two left. We should probably exchange poems.” Natsuki rolls her eyes.
	Yuri avoids eye contact. “Y-Yes, I suppose so. Don’t read too far into this one. It is much more straightforward than my normal writing.”
	“What are you trying to say?” Natsuki retorts, feeling offended. “I’m not dumb, I can figure it out for-“
	“No! T-That’s not it…” Yuri interrupts.
	“Nevermind, just give me your poem.”
	Natsuki plops her poem down in front of Yuri before taking hers. She straightens out the page, and begins to read, ready to give her some “choice” words.

I have a confession, Natsuki. I know you probably don’t agree with my poems. But that’s okay. Everybody has different tastes. Despite how simple I think your poems are, they have a certain… charm to them. Just like you.
I didn’t know how to say this in any way other than writing. I’m sure you’re aware of how difficult it can be for me to say things sometimes. But I feel like this is important to tell you, even if it’s written, not spoken.
Natsuki, we haven’t always been on the best of terms. It is understandable, due to the way we think being so drastically different. But that isn’t completely bad. There’s something about you that I just can’t shake from my thoughts. The way you talk to me, and the way you write; there’s something about it that I just can’t resist.
If you couldn’t tell by this point, Natsuki, I am in love with you. Not only do I find you interesting and charming in your writing and manner of speaking, you give me butterflies in my stomach whenever I so much as look at you. I know you don’t like being called cute. I think you are cute, but in a different way. You’re more than that, too. I can’t stop thinking about you.
You probably don’t feel the same way. That’s okay. I know this will probably ruin what friendship we had if that’s the case, but I had to take this chance. This chance to get to know you better, to become closer with you, and to be with you. I trust what my heart wants.
If you don’t want to accept, you can put down this poem, and pretend like it never happened. Give me a little bit of your “constructive” criticism so the others don’t catch on. I trust your judgment.

	An awkward silence befalls the two. Yuri has her vision cemented onto the desk she is sitting in, and Natsuki peers around the room, not making eye contact.
	Natsuki takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly, her breath almost quivering from the shock. She reaches her hand out, and places it gently on top of Yuri’s. She is taken aback, so absorbed in thought that she doesn’t realize what just happened.
	Yuri slowly lifts her head to look at Natsuki. Her cheeks are completely flushed of color, and she looks almost distraught. Natsuki takes this opportunity to sneak her a small smile, to try and cheer her up. The color comes back to Yuri’s face, and is immediately replaced with a rosy red. She looks away from Natsuki, barely holding back a grin, but the sparkle in her eyes could be seen from outer space.
	They sat there, Natsuki slowly gripping Yuri’s hand tighter, and to them, it had seemed like an eternity. Their trance was swiftly broken by the sound of Sayori’s voice booming across the classroom.
	“Heeeeeeey! You two! Are you all done sharing yet?” The interruption nearly makes Yuri jump from her seat.
	Natsuki pulls her hand back with a quick jerk, and Yuri is brought to attention, finally coming out of her dazed state. Natsuki has a look of distress on her face, hoping that the others didn’t see what had just transpired.
	Sayori pauses a moment, then makes her way to Yuri’s desk.
	“Hey! Is everything okay over here?” Sayori beams quizzically.
	“Yes, we were just… finishing up our sharing.” Yuri says, trying to cover up what had just taken place.
	“Y-yeah!”, Natsuki chimes in. “Almost done sharing. M-my poem is way better, as usual!” The uncharacteristic unease in her voice is almost palpable.
	“Let me see!” Sayori reaches for the paper that sits on her desk, only to have it be followed by Natsuki’s hand trying to reclaim it. In her haste, the force rips the paper in two.
	“Aw, dang. I really wanted to read Yuri’s poem…” Sayori twiddles her fingers.
	“I wasn’t done reading it yet! Sorry, Yuri…” Natsuki stares at Yuri dejectedly.
	“A-Ah, don’t worry. I have a… second copy in my bag. Let me get it.”
	Yuri pulls a slightly crumpled piece of paper from her book bag, clearly a different poem than what was given to Natsuki, her hands trembling as she hands it to Sayori. She reads it over, and expresses her awe of its beauty, as she does with most of Yuri’s poems.
	“Let Monika see it when you’re done with it, if you could.”
	Sayori gives a smile to Yuri and walks back to Monika’s desk.
	A silence encapsulates the two girls. After nearly a minute lost in their own minds, Yuri takes the initiative to speak, catching Natsuki by surprise.
	“U-Um, I was going to go to the cafe, after the club today… to do s-some reading, and…” Before Yuri can continue, Natsuki nervously interrupts, not making eye contact.
	“I’ll come along. N-Not for you or anything – they have really good cake and other stuff like that.” Natsuki attempts to cover her tracks, but her intentions are not lost on Yuri.
	After more poem discussion between the club members who aren’t shaking in their boots, the club session comes to an end for the day, and for the first time, Natsuki and Yuri leave in each other’s company.

TO BE CONTINUED