Chapter 3: Chapter Two- Adjusting In This New World
"Haah." I sighed as I lay down on the bed. Today was stressful; so many things were happening that it was unbelievable. The literature club and the whole other world thing. More importantly though…
"A love confession, huh?" The previous event was still fresh in my mind. It happened so fast.
"Urg!" I started squirming about in my bed. What am I? A teenage girl thinking about her crush?
"All this isn't good for my heart!" I exclaimed. Why did this have to happen?
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"W-What!?" I shouted. I couldn't contain my shock. The change in topic was so sudden.
"You heard me, Fumiya-kun. I want to—no, I'm going to be your girlfriend."
"Y-Y-Y-Y" I can't stop stuttering! "Y-You're j-joking, r-right?" I finally manage to say.
A crestfallen look appeared on Monika's face. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
"Are you saying my feelings are a joke?"
"What!? N-No. I believe you, it's–"
"Then there's no problem!" She said, her voice picking up suddenly..
What do you mean there are no problems!?
"T-There is a problem! We hardly know one another!
A confused expression appeared on her face. "That's not true. You've played the game before, haven't you? You should already be aware of my love for you. Monika brazenly stated.
"B-But you don't even know me that well! A-And you should know that I'm very socially awkward." I finished speaking, but something bothered me as I said it. Now that I think about it…
"Are you sure? You were talking to everyone just fine before."
"..."
She's right! Aside from my stuttering, I've been speaking to everyone just fine. Was I just underestimating myself?
"Y-You may be right, but I want to go out with someone I genuinely love. I don't want to enter a relationship half-heartedly." Those were my true thoughts on the matter. It would be nice to have a girlfriend, but what good is that if you don't truly love the person? Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic, but I won't change my mind on this.
"I see…" She said while looking down. "I'll just have to make you fall in love with me then!" She said with newfound determination.
"Huh?" Monika wasn't going to give up. She was very persistent about getting what she wanted. That tenacity is something I admire, I must admit..
"You heard me! You better prepare yourself, Fumiya-kun!~" She said in a sultry tone.
"Y-You're not going to give up, are you?"
"Nope!~"
When she said that, I couldn't help but smile. I felt alive. I felt like a normal teenager. At that moment, I was truly happy.
"Alright then, Monika," I said, a grin forming on my face. "Show me what you've got."
"Right!"
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I didn't realize I had said some pretty embarrassing things to her until I got home.
"Squirming around won't help me at all! For now, we're just friends." Even though I felt embarrassed about the whole thing, it was nice to have something besides my parents to worry about. Speaking of which…
"I wonder what they're doing right now." Even though I don't like my parents, that doesn't mean I hate them. Even though they were actually raising me incorrectly, they were doing what they believed to be right. However, I couldn't help but wonder if they really did care. Now that I think about it, when did they last tell me, "I love you"? But it's pointless to dwell on the past right now; as a wise man once said, "Let bygones be bygones." I closed my eyes after that and went to sleep.
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Bzzt bzzt bzzt! "Ugh. It's morning already?" The alarm clock rang, signaling a new day. I normally wake up an hour later, but in this reality, my parents aren't here, so I have to make my own breakfast and plan what I'll eat for dinner when I get home from school.
"Where's my uniform?" I found my uniform and put it on. I only realized this yesterday, but my uniform had transformed into the school uniform the game takes place in, which, by the way, is called Koki High School. I don't think this school exists back in my reality, but I found out that I'm in the Aichi Prefecture, more specifically, Nagoya.
"I still have 30 minutes left, huh?" Surprisingly, I finished in less than an hour.
"Hmm…" I contemplated what I should do next. I was considering going back to sleep, but that seemed counterproductive, so instead, I decided to make a bento for Sayori and myself.
Speaking of Sayori, I discovered I already had her contact information. Whatever event or entity brought me here made sure to make it seem like I was always a part of this world.
I finished the bentos and then went outside to the neighbor's house.
Knock! Knock! "Sayori! Are you up yet?" I yelled as I knocked on the door. From what I remember, Sayori has a habit of not being able to get up in the morning due to her depression. I want to support her in any way I can, even though I can't tell her outright that I'm aware of her depression.
"Sayori! Wake up!" I yelled, receiving no response. I sighed; I'll have to wake her up myself. To my surprise (not really) the door was unlocked. Reluctantly, I entered her home and made my way upstairs. There weren't many differences between her interior and mine. It was easy to find her room, especially when her name was written on the door.
"Sayori! Wake up! We'll be late for school!" Still, I received no response. At this point, I started to worry. What if she had done something drastic? With that, I hurriedly opened her bedroom door and found her... still sleeping.
"Ahh..." I let out a relieved sigh. She was just sleeping.
"Don't scare me like that, please." I approached her bed and gave her a shake.
"Wake up, Sayori."
"Five more minutes…"
"No, wake up now, Sayori"
"Don't be mean, Fumiya... Fumiya?" She suddenly sat up. It looked like she just realized I was in her room.
"Uh, good morning?" I awkwardly said.
"W-W-What are you doing in here, F-Fumiya?" She said while flushing.
"Uh, well, I, uh, was here to wake you up. I tried to knock on your door, but you didn't respond. Sayori had adorable bedhead hair, which made me fumble my words.
"Ah, thank you. That's sweet of you." She responded with a smile.
"I-I'll just wait outside, alright?
"Okay!~"
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"You didn't have to wait for me, you know?" Sayori said. She spoke out of the blue as we were heading to school.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Well, I don't want you to be late because of me." She responded in a somber tone. "I don't want to be a burden on you."
"Sayori…" I stopped walking and faced her.
"Don't ever think of yourself as a burden. You're not."
"But–"
"No buts." I pulled something out of my bag.
"Here," I said, handing her the bento I had made for her. "I was going to surprise you, but I made you a bento."
"Huh?" She looked surprised that I had done this for her.
"You're my precious childhood friend. don't forget that, okay?" Technically, I wasn't, but I didn't have to tell her that; she was a friend regardless.
I smiled and said, "Come on. Let's get going!" I started walking ahead. I hoped that had cheered her up even a bit.
"I'll fall for you even more if you keep acting like this."
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"Alright! Today we'll finally formally introduce ourselves." Monika announced. The school day had ended, and it was currently club time. Since we wasted club time yesterday talking about the "incident," we're treating today as if it were the first time we've ever met.
"Since I'm the club president, I'll go first. My name is Ayatsu Monika, but you can just call me by my given name." Oddly, Sayori started clapping after Monika finished, and we reluctantly joined in.
"Yay!~ It's my turn!" Sayori got to her feet and walked over to the podium.
"My name is Tomoda Sayori. Sayori is just fine. It's a pleasure meeting all of you!" She finished speaking. There was a forced smile on everyone's face. Although we instructed her to behave as though we were meeting for the first time, we didn't anticipate her taking it so seriously.
"It seems like it's my turn now." Yuri stood up and started speaking. "My name is Murasaki Yuri, but I'd rather you call me Yuri," the speaker said. She bowed and sat down.
"Ugh, do I really have to do this?" Natsuki reluctantly got up and started talking. "The name is Genkin Natsuki, but you better only call me Natsuki!" Truthfully, I was a little frightened by the way she spoke.
It was my turn now. Both Sayori and Monika gave me expectant looks. Please don't look at me like that. It only makes me more nervous.
"Ahem, m-my name is Saito Fumiya. It's nice to be here, and I hope we can get along." I awkwardly walked back and sat down. Just kill me now! I have no idea how sometimes I can talk without any issues and then all of a sudden become the most awkward person ever.
"Don't worry, you did great!" Sayori whispered to me. Thank you, Sayori! You're like an angel!
"Um, I think you did fine, Fumiya-san." This time, Yuri was the one whispering to me.
"T-Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it."
"Alright! Now that that's done, let's move on to the main topic." Monika stood up, announcing today's agenda.
"Now that Fumiya-kun has joined, I was thinking of ways to get everyone acquainted with each other and strengthen the bond of the club. That's when an idea popped up: poems!"
It seems that no matter what happens, we are bound to write poems. Is this something literature clubs typically do?
"We'll write poems and share them with each other tomorrow. How does that sound?" Monika concluded.
I looked around the room to see everyone's reaction: Yuri had a nervous look on her face, Sayori seemed happy, and Natsuki had a frown.
"Do we have to share it?" Natsuki enquired. "Can't we just show you and get it over with?"
"It wouldn't be a bonding activity if we didn't, right?" Monika countered.
"Well…"
Suddenly, Monika's face brightened as though she remembered something.
"That's right, you usually like to write about cute things, don't you, Natsuki?"
"W-What?!" Natsuki yelled in surprise. If I hadn't known any better, I would have been shocked at the revelation as well. Can you imagine Natsuki, who is so blunt, enjoying cute things? Wait. Isn't she the literal definition of a tsundere?
"What gives you that idea?"
"You left a piece of scrap paper behind last club meeting." Monika replied. "It looked like you were working on a poem called–"
"Don't say it out loud!" In an effort to get her to stop talking, Natsuki flailed her arms about.
"I don't think that's bad." I added, trying to join in the conversation.
"Shut it! I didn't ask for your opinion!" Welp, I tried.
"And you give that back!" Ordered Natsuki.
"Fine, fine~" Monika handed Natsuki her poem back, which Natsuki hurriedly took and put away.
"Ehehe, your cupcakes, your poems... Sayori started speaking to Natsuki.
"Everything you do is just as cute as you are~" Sayori put her hand on Natsuki's shoulders.
"I'm not cute!" She let out a cutesy scream. Ah, I'm glad to be here.
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"Hey, Fumiya? Want to walk home together?"
"Sure."
Monika declared the meeting over after confirming what we were doing, and we were free to go.
"Yaay!~"
As we made our way home, Sayori and I walked silently. It was serene and not at all uncomfortable.
The silence was broken by Sayori, "So...".
"So…?
"Are you having fun so far?" Sayori asked timidly.
"Fun? Of course I have." I started. "Just being included is enough to distract me from my problems."
"Problems?" Sayori gave me a perplexed expression.
"Well, yeah. Besides the whole amnesia thing, I've got my own personal problems." You know, like the whole teleportation thing.
"I see…" Sayori was deep in thought as she cast a downward glance. She was probably concerned that I had other issues to deal with as well. However, nobody is perfect; everyone has their own issues.
I was thinking of ways to cheer Sayori up when I had an idea.
"Hey, Sayori?"
"Y-Yeah?" She was flustered, having been broken out of her thoughts.
"How about we hang out this weekend?"
"Really!?" Sayori's face shone with happiness.
"Of course, besides, we haven't hung out in a while, right?"
"Mhmm!"
"My house or yours?"
"Yours! I haven't been to your house in a while. I want to see your room!"
"Is this Sunday fine?"
"Yep!" She exclaimed. "I can't wait!~"
"Heh, me too." I look forward to my new life here.
Author's Note
Hello again!
The second chapter is finally here!
I originally planned to release it next Tuesday, but since it's St. Patrick's Day I decided to release it today.
Plus, the next chapter will be larger than normal, so look forward to it! As always, thanks for reading!
-103
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