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Keiko's POV:

"Okay Keiko, what happened during the meeting?"

"Umm..." I replied, not wanting to talk about it right now

"Cmon, I know something's wrong. You never leave in the middle of a meeting. What happened? You can talk to me about it." Sayori reassured me.

"I just.... I need a bit of alone time... Maybe later... I might as well start on my poem now.. You should to!"

"I can do it later. You sure you don't want to talk about it? Because I'm here."

"Yea.... I'm sure..."

"Okay then... I'll talk to you later, Keiko." Sayori finally exited the room, leaving me to my thoughts...

Y/N and Natsuki.... my heart grew heavy at that thought.... Why? Why didn't I tell her? I should've told her... If she knew, maybe... maybe this wouldn't have happened......

And why did Y/N have to come? Why did he have to ruin everything?? The club was a safe space for me to spend time with my friends, not see my 3 year crush fall in love with someone else for whatever reason....

Tears started filling my eyes and I turned to my pillow....

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door...

"I'll talk to you later, Sayori..." I cried.

"I'm not Sayori! It's Nao!" The knocker replied.

"...come in."

My younger brother rushed in, closed the door on the way, and gave me a giant hug. I wiped away my tears and asked him about his day at school. Nao is 9 so this is his 3rd year of elementary school.

(I LITERALLY LOOKED UP THE JAPANESE GRADE LEVELS TO MAKE SURE I WAS ACCURATE. THEY HAVE 6 YEARS OF ELEMENTARY, 3 YEARS OF JUNIOR HIGH, 3 YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL, AND 2-3 YEARS OF UNIVERSITY! OOPSIE DOODLES YOU LEARNED SOMETHING)

"My day was great! I lost a tooth during class!" He said with a bit of a lisp, holding a little bag with his tooth inside it.

"Oh wow, that's really cool! Was there a lot of blood?"

"There was a little bit, but not a lot. It was cool though!"

"I can imagine. How did your friends react?"

"They couldn't stop talking about it! Even kids from other classes heard about it!"

"Huh. You were just Mr. Popular today, weren't you?" I laughed as I asked him.

"Yea! It was awesome! How was your day?"

Uuuhhhhhh..... Okay, okay, I can't tell him what REALLY happened. Gotta be happy and positive and-

"Today was great! Natsuki made cupcakes for the Literature Club."

WHY? WHY WAS THAT THE THING I TOLD HIM? WHY DID I BRING UP NATSUKI? It's like my brain was on autopilot or something.

"Awesome! A-And who was that boy you and Sayori were walking home with?"

...WHAT?

"W-What are you talking about?"

"I saw you two walking home with a boy on my way back. I waited until he left to ask you. Who was he?"

My cheeks went red. I really didn't want to talk about him but I can't just say 'OH HIM? HE'S JUST THE JERK THAT'S STEALING MY CRUSH AWAY FROM ME.' But what am I supposed to say?

.

..

...

....I got it

"Oh him? He's just a friend of Sayori's. He came to the club today."

"Cool! Is he joining?"

"...Yes." I replied through gritted teeth.

Nao must've noticed that something was up.

"Is something wrong?"

"W-What? Psh, no..."

"Sissy, what's wrong?" He gave me the puppy dog pout.

Oh no. Not the puppy dog pout! I'm defenseless against those big blue eyes and freckles and pouty lip!

"Okay okay, fine. Put away the pout, I'll tell you."

I had to think of a way to tell him, thanks to the pout.

"... You know how I like Natsuki, right?"

Nao nodded.

"...I think she likes that boy Sayori and I were walking with.."

I tried staying calm while explaining this, but little tears started escaping my eyes..

Nao gave me a loving bear hug, and he told me something pretty helpful.

"There is someone for you. It may be Natsuki or it may be someone else. But there is someone out there who loves you and wants to be with you. Like me! I love you Keiko! Not like that, but someone out there does love you and wants you forever!"

Wow... smart kid. I squeeze him and whisper 'Thank you' into his ear whilst sobbing.

There must be something with little siblings hugging you and saying they love you that just melts you inside and makes you feel good.

He gives me a kiss on the cheek before going downstairs for a snack.

I defintely feel better, but I can't forget the Tsundere way Natsuki was treating Y/N. Maybe writing that poem will help... I get a piece of paper and a pen, then I start working.

*TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY NAO, THE SMALL ADORABLE CHILD*

Well, it took me three hours, but I finished. I head downstairs for dinner.

Sayori's parents made Ramen for dinner. My favorite! They asked how our days were but I purposely made sure I had a lot of food in my mouth so I couldn't answer until I thought of a way to make it seem like a good day. Sayori and Nao had already answered and all eyes were on me. Okay, time to think.

I finally swallow and say, "Today was good. Sayori already mentioned we have a new member. Nothing else happened today."

The rest of dinner was uneventful.

Afterwards, Sayori followed me to our room again.

"Have you had enough alone time yet?" Sayori asked as politely as possible.

I patted the space on my bed next to me, signalling her to sit down.

"Okay, so what's wrong?"

I took a deep breath... and explained everything. We talked it all out and it ended with Sayori promising to be there for me and to show me the good side of Y/N. Apparently they've been friends for a while.

It's nice to know that someone in the club cares about me like this... Maybe Y/N isn't actually that bad? I mean, Sayori is friends with him.

We hugged and went to bed, preparing for the day to come.

I plug my headphones into my phone and listen to music as I drift off to sleep, as usual...

(1058 Words)