"Hi again, Jasper!" Monika says happily. "Glad to see you didn't run away on us. Hahaha!"
Jasper glances at Yuri, then looks back. "Nah, don't worry. This might be a little strange for me, but I at least keep my word."
Yuri looks up from behind her book. "Thanks for keeping your promise, Jasper. I hope this isn't too overwhelming of a commitment for you...Making you dive headfirst into literature when you're not accustomed to it..."
"Oh, come on!" Natsuki says saucily. "Like he deserves any slack. You already had to be dragged here by Monika. 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." She pouts at Jasper.
Monika laughs. "Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who keeps her manga collection in the clubroom."
Natsuki stammers. "M-M-M...!"
"What's wrong with manga?" I say defensively. "Natsuki is allowed to keep her book of choice here...and just because it's a little different doesn't mean you can discriminate against it."
"So there! Manga is literature!" Natsuki laughs.

"I'm sorry, Jasper..." Yuri says. "We'll make sure to put your comfort first, okay?" She gives Natsuki a depressed attempt at a glare. "Um, anyway...Now that you're in the club and all...Perhaps you might have interest in picking up a book to read?"
Aw, crap. I forgot to bring my book again...
"Well...I can't really say no either way. Like you said, I'm in this club now. So it only feels right for me to do something like that, if you ask." Jasper shrugs.
"W-Wait...I didn't mean it like that! Uu..." Yuri protests. "If you really don't want to, then forget I said anything, I guess..."
"Ah--No, it's not that, Yuri. I want to try to be a part of this club. So even if I don't read often, I'd be happy to pick up a book if you wanted me to."
"A-Are you sure...? I just felt like...Well, since you're new and all...That I should help you get started on something you might like." Yuri pulls the book with the eye on the front out of her bag. "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, even if you don't usually read. And we could, you know...Discuss it...if you wanted..." Her face become more and more flustered with each sentence.
"Yuri, thank you! I'll definitely read this!" Jasper says, taking the book happily.
"Phew...Well, you can read it at your own pace. I look forward to hearing what you think."

Everyone settles down with their book, so I sneak out of the clubroom and make my way to my locker.
I take a few box sets of manga and a light novel out from under the pile of papers. Natsuki should be happy...even though some of these are technically horror. But jeez--! These are heavy...
Carrying them back to the club takes more effort than I'd expected, and balancing all of it on one arm while trying to open the door is extremely difficult.
"Oof--" The door closes behind me. "Natsuki, do you mind if I add this to your collection?"
"What?" she replies. "Wait, you have manga?"
"Yeah, it would seem so."
She gets up to take a closer look at the sides of the boxes. "Spirits of the Vexed...Celestial Redemption...These aren't horror, are they? You know I hate horror!"
"No...not really. Bone Memory sort of is, but it's a standalone light novel, so I thought you'd excuse it. Everything else is fantasy or action, and Twinstar reminds me of Parfait Girls some of the time...I mean, I'll take them back if you really don't want them here..."
"It's fine! Just put them in the closet already before you drop them or something!"
"Thanks, Natsuki." I say.
The pile of books begins to topple and falls to the ground with an almighty crash. I groan, and start picking them up again.
Natsuki leans over to help me pick them up. "What did I tell you?"
"I know, I know..."

She carries some of the volumes to the closet and starts sorting them out. She slips the Twinstar set right next to Parfait Girls, and puts the rest off to the side. She instructs me on where to place my pile.
"There." Natsuki says, putting her hands on her hips. "It looks good, yeah?"
"Uh huh." I agree.
Wait, crap-- I forgot to write a poem to share today! I've been so caught up in travelling through freaking time that it completely slipped from my mind!

I hurriedly search the closet for a blank piece of paper and a pencil, and write the same poem I wrote last time - nobody's going to know, will they...? It takes a while to remember the entire thing, but I'm certain I've replicated it perfectly.
Wait a minute...I can't just do that. It's cheating. I have to change it up at least a little.
I erase the last stanza of the poem and rewrite it.

Someone leans on my arm, causing my pencil to slip. "What'cha doing?"
"Monika--!" I shout. "Can you stop sneaking up on me all the time? It's really creepy!"
"Writing your poem?" She smiles impishly. "What's it about?"
"You'll find out..." I sigh. "You'll find out when it's time to share poems."
"Oh, would you look at the time. That would be now." Monika turns around to address the room. "Okay, everyone! It's time for us to share our poems~" she sings.
"Monika..." I groan.
"And while I'm here, why don't we exchange poems?"
"Because." I say, erasing the rogue pencil mark. "Because I said it's not time to share poems. Look at Natsuki's poor face. She's probably not even written hers yet."
"What?"
"You guys!" I shout to the club. "We're gonna have fifteen minutes for last-minute preparations before we share poems, okay?"
All three members immediately look more relaxed. Monika, on the other hand, is trying her best to maintain a smile, but it's clear she's angry."
"Why did you do that?" she hisses.
I shrug. "Why not? A President can make decisions like that, can't they? You sure as hell can, so why not me?"
"Are you serious?" Monika raises her voice. "You're not a real President. You don't do anything, you just sit there with the title and pretend like you're all that."
"Come on, Monika. We all know the real reason I don't do anything is because I can't. You're always taking my initiative and calling it your own, and when I finally can do something, you don't like it! That alone is proof of your domineering attitude."
"S-Stop it..." Yuri offers.
I grin. "Yeah, Monika. Stop it. Stop trying to lord over me like I'm some pushover. Stop hiding me away with your stupid fun-fact poses and your tacky okay, everyone and your great ugly mouth! Stop pretending you're the queen and give a little!"
Monika glances at Jasper. I know what you're planning. You're going to try bring Jasper into this. "You know, I know what the problem is here. You're jealous of me! You're jealous that I'm confident and you're not. You're jealous that I'm a good leader and you're not. You're jealous that I have Jasper's attention and you don't! You're jealous!" she shouts. "And you're pretending you're perfect by blaming your stupid faults on me! I'm not the reason you can't make a friend to save your life. It's not my fault you're so rude all the time. You need to take a good long look in the mirror so you can finally see what a fucking failure you are!" She turns to Jasper. "Tell her. Tell dear old Chio that she's a lazy bitch, and that she can't take power only when it suits her."
I laugh. "No. You will not bring Jasper into this. This is between us. We're all adults here, so why don't you fight like one? Come on!"
Monika's expression turns from irritated to purely furious. "You bitch," she says, and I see her fist too late as it hits me in the jaw and knocks me to the ground.

"You two, for God's sake, stop it!!" Natsuki screams. "Monika, get off her! Sort it out, right now!"
"Really, to see our two presidents fighting like little girls...It makes me ashamed to be a part of this club!" Yuri adds determinedly.
"Yes...I agree. I almost regret becoming a member yesterday. If I'd known you were like this, I would never have visited in the first place!" Jasper continues.
I curl into a ball and start crying, one hand on my jaw, the other covering my eyes.
"Pathetic." Monika sneers.
Yuri frowns. "Shut up, Monika. Don't you think you've done enough damage for one day?" She turns to Jasper. "I'm sorry, we're not usually like this...We've just been really tense lately, what with the festival coming up and all...I guess you're just unlucky, that's all."
Monika sighs. "You're right, Yuri. It's unacceptable for a President to act like this...Jasper, believe me when I say we're never like this...I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable."
"Ａｐｏｌｏｇｙ ａｃｃｅｐｔｅｄ." Jasper says this in a strange tone.
"Wait! You and Chieko need to apologize to each other, too!" Natsuki protests.
"Fine." Monika says grudgingly. "Chieko, I'm sorry for the way I treated you. That was wrong, and I hope I'll never do that again."
I stand slowly and look Monika right in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said to you." I say, matching her reluctance.

The three accept our apologies, and we trade our poems solemnly. Nobody issues a word to Monika or I, apart from "good" in reference to our poems. The act of trading paper tires me out, and it's a relief when it's over. I glance at Monika, who is writing something in her notebook, then at Jasper. I follow his gaze and rest on Yuri and Natsuki, who have just exchanged their poems.
Their expressions change as they read the other's poem. Natsuki looks more and more frustrated, and Yuri looks sympathetic.
"What's with this language?" Natsuki mutters.
"Eh? Um...did you say something?" Yuri says.
"Oh, it's nothing." She puts Yuri's poem on the nearest desk with a bored expression. "I guess you could say it's fancy."
Yuri looks somewhere between confused and offended. "Ah--Thanks... Yours is...cute..."
"Cute?" Natsuki snaps. "Did you completely miss the symbolism or something? It's clearly about the feeling of giving up. How can that be cute?"
"I-I know that! I just meant...The language, I guess...I was trying to say something nice..." Yuri holds her hands over her heart defensively.
Jeez, not again...I guess we're still tense...
"Eh? You mean you have to try that hard to come up with something nice to say?" Natsuki puts her hands on her hips. "Thanks, but it really didn't come out nice at all!"

"Um...Well, I do have a couple suggestions..."
"Hmph. If I was looking for suggestions, I would have asked someone who actually liked it. Which people did, by the way. Monika liked it. And Jasper did, too! So based on that, I'll gladly give you some suggestions of my own. First of all--"
"Excuse me...I appreciate the offer, but I've spent a long time establishing my writing style. I don't expect it to change anytime soon, unless of course I come across something particularly inspiring." Yuri frowns. "Which I haven't yet."
Natsuki grunts angrily. "Nn...!"
"And Jasper liked my poem too, you know. He even told me he was impressed by it."
"Oh?" Natsuki stands triumphantly. "I didn't realize you were so invested in trying to impress our new member, Yuri."
"E-Eh? That's not what I...! Uu...You...You're just..." Yuri stands too, her expression becoming intense. "Maybe you're just jealous that Jasper appreciates my advice more than he appreciated yours!"
"Huh! And how do you know he didn't appreciate my advice more? Are you that full of yourself?"
"I...! No...If I was full of myself...I would deliberately go out of my way to make everything I do overly cutesy!"
"Uuuuuu...!" Natsuki growls. "Well, you know what?! I wasn't the one whose boobs magically grew a size bigger as soon as Jasper started showing up!!"
"N-Natsuki!!"
Monika tries to drive the argument apart. "Um, Natsuki, that's a little--"
"This doesn't involve you!" both of them shout.
Yuri sighs. "Taking out your own insecurities on others like that...You really act as young as you look, Natsuki."
"Me? Look who's talking, you wannabe edgy bitch!"
"Edgy...? Sorry that my lifestyle is too much for someone of your mental age to comprehend!"
"See?? Just saying that proves my point! Most people learn to get over themselves after they graduate middle school, you know."
"If you want to prove anything, then stop harassing others with your sickening attitude! You think you can counterbalance your toxic personality just by dressing and acting cute? The only thing cute about you is how hard you try."
Natsuki smirks. "Whoa, be careful or you might cut yourself on that edge, Yuri. Oh, my bad...You already do, don't you?"
"D-Did you just accuse me of cutting myself?? What the fuck is wrong with your head?!"
"Yeah, go in! Let Jasper hear everything you really think! I'm sure he'll be head over heels for you after this!"
"A-Ah--!" Yuri turns towards the poor boy. "Jasper...! She-- She's just trying to make me look bad...!"
"That's not true! She started it!"
"Will you two please shut the fuck up!!" I scream. "You tell Monika that your arguments don't involve anyone but you two, but now you're trying to drag Jasper into this! Both of you need to stop, right now!"
"Like you can talk!" Natsuki shouts. "You got into a fight not fifteen minutes back, but you want us to stop? That's hypocrisy, if you ask me!!"
"Y-Yeah...! Back off!" Yuri adds.
"What are you even trying to achieve? Jasper's attention? If you keep it up like this, he'll leave the club! He already said that he would never have come, had he known the Presidents fought...let alone every single member of this club! Do you think he'll stay and love you just the same?"
Both of them look away, embarrassed.
"I swear to God, every single girl in this club is obsessed with that boy..." I notice that he and Monika have left the room. "And I wouldn't mind, except you also seem dead-set towards scaring him off! I know the mood is all weird today...but...ah..." I stop talking, as I notice tears trickling down Yuri's face.
"You guys...you guys are my friends." I continue, more gently. Be like Sayori. It's her absence that has thrown the mood off. "I don't want you to fight, I want to be able to get along with everyone...and everyone to get along with each other. I want us all to be happy. You're both wonderful people, and I don't care about your differences. Natsuki's poems are beautiful, because they can express so much in so few words. And Yuri's poems are beautiful too, because they paint incredible pictures in your head."
Both girls look more and more ashamed.
"You're both so talented...so why can't you just accept each other's differences and move on? Why are we all fighting? What is it good for?"
"Well..." Yuri says.
"Be-Because..." Natsuki stutters.
"It's good for nothing, that's what. Besides...Natsuki's just cute, she's not faking it. Yuri is beautiful by nature. There's nothing wrong with either of those...Why does it have to be such a big thing?" I sigh. The tension in the air seems to have settled.
Natsuki suddenly goes pale and runs out of the classroom, and Yuri sits down and starts rocking back and forth, covering her eyes.
"I didn't mean it, I didn't...I didn't mean it...I didn't mean it..."
I sit down next to her and rest a hand on her shoulder. "I know you didn't. It's okay." I whisper. "It's okay. I forgive you."

Monika and Jasper come back inside.
"Yuri...?" Jasper says.
"I didn't mean it!!" she shrieks, then starts crying again.
"I-I believe you..." he stammers.
"Jasper. Please don't hate me. Please! I'm not like this!" Yuri sobs. "There's something wrong with me today..."
"It's fine, Yuri." Monika says. "We know you didn't mean it. Besides, I'm sure Natsuki will forget all about it by tomorrow. Completely."
Yuri stops making sounds and her tears slow.
"It's okay, Yuri." I whisper.
Monika smiles. "Anyway, the meeting is over, so you can go home now if you want."
Yuri looks at Jasper uncertainly, but she keeps glancing at Monika and I. "Y-You can go first, Monika...I'd like to stay a little bit longer."
"I'm the President, so I should be the last one out." Monika protests. "I'll wait for you to be done."
"Monika...I'll take care of the club tonight. You should get some rest...you look tired." I say.
"Well...you did yesterday, so--"
"It's fine. I just don't want to go home just yet...Mum's probably taking calls or something..." I say, even though my mum's job has nothing to do with taking calls. "It's fine. Go home."
"Well...O-Okay..."
Monika leaves, and I wait a few seconds until I'm sure she's gone.
"Chieko...I didn't get a chance to discuss my book with Jasper today...I just..." Yuri blushes.
I smile. "I'll go. Discuss all the books in the world, if you must."

I leave, and close the door gently. I'm tempted to stay behind and listen to Yuri, but whatever she has to say is not for me to hear...I'll go.