𝙳𝚘𝚔𝚒 𝙳𝚘𝚔𝚒 𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚕𝚞𝚋 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter Three: Reading Buddies

Here I was, back at the club already. I'm glad the school day went by pretty quickly, since I was pretty ecstatic about the end of the day, just because of this club. Though, I wasn't looking forward to sharing my poem...this poem isn't the best poem I've made, and it's probably going to be embarrassing to read aloud.

Monika walked over to me with a sweet smile. "Glad to see you didn't run away on us. Hahaha!"

I laughed a bit as I shook my head. "I always keep my promises."

"Thanks for keeping your promise, Y/N," Yuri chuckled. "I hope this isn't too overwhelming of a commitment for you."

"Oh, come on! Like he deserves any slack," Natsuki huffed. "I don't know if you plan to just come here and hang out, or what...but if you don't take us seriously, then you won't see the end of it. Got it?"

"Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who keeps her manga collection in the club room," Monika sighed. Natsuki's eyes widened as she clenched her fists.

"M-M-M...!!" She seemed to be stuck between the words 'Manga' and 'Monika.' "Manga is literature!!" Natsuki, completely defeated, plopped back into her seat.

"Don't worry guys!" Sayori exclaimed. "Y/N is completely reliable! I'm in most of his classes and he does his work perfectly fine! He's pretty smart."

"H-Hey...don't just say those types of things so freely..." I muttered to myself.

"How nice..." Yuri whispered under her breath with a faint smile.

"Oh, oh! Yuri even brought you something today, you know!" Sayori mentioned with a bright smile etched on her face.

"W-Wait! Sayori..." Yuri gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened.

"Me...?" I gasped, completely in shock and flabbergasted. Yuri timidly nodded, glancing at me shyly.

"Um... Not really..."

"Don't be shy!" Sayori pouted. Yuri looked at Sayori and sighed.

"It's really nothing..."

"What is it?" I wondered with a small smile.

"N-Never mind! Sayori made it sound like a big deal when it's really not...uuuuh, what do I do..." Yuri muttered a bunch of things under her breath, completely terrified.

"Eh? I'm sorry, Yuri, I wasn't thinking..." Sayori apologized with a frown. The air was heavy around us, so I ended up trying to rescue this situation.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," I told her. "First of all, I never really expected anything, so anything you get me will be great and a pleasant surprise. I'll be happy with it no matter what."

"I-Is that so..." Yuri muttered, glancing up at me timidly.

"Yeah, of course. Anything you got for me will be great, I assure you."

"Alright...well, here." Yuri reaches into her bag and pulls out a book. "I didn't want you to feel left out...so I picked out a book that I thought you might enjoy. It's a short read, so it should keep your attention. And we could, you know..." Yuri looked over to the side, averting eye contact. "Discuss it...if you wanted..."

My eyes widened in happiness. Another book I can read? Hell yeah! I enthusiastically took the book as I smiled. "Thank you, Yuri! I'll definitely read this!"

"Phew...well, you can read it at your own pace. I look forward to hearing what you think," Yuri smiled. Now that everybody's settled in, it seems like everyone was doing their own thing. No club activities seemed to be set in motion. Sayori and Monika are having a cheery conversation in the corner. Yuri's face is already buried in a book. I can't help but notice her intense expression, like she was waiting for this chance. Meanwhile, Natsuki is rummaging around in the closet.