The rose-haired girl kept her eye on the clock, watching as its ticking hands progressed painfully slow. She sighed, and tapped her pen against her desk impatiently. The girl's eyes flitted back towards the front of the classroom, where the teacher rambled on about something boring. Her gaze wandered back to the clock, and she narrowed her eyes.

Two more minutes, she thought.

Turning her attention back to the teacher, she rested her chin in her hand and tried her best to focus.

"Pssst! Natsuki!"

The girl stiffened at the mention of her name, and spun her head around to where she thought she heard the voice. The owner of the voice was none other than the bright and bubbly Sayori.

"What is it?" Natsuki hissed.

"Guess what?" replied Sayori, her sky blue eyes sparkling.

Natsuki gives Sayori a glance and raises an eyebrow, just as the sound of a familiar chime rings through the air.

Yes, finally!

Sayori fell silent as the teacher dismissed the class. Natsuki quickly rose from her seat and started packing her things, neatly scooping up her notebooks and pencils and placing them into her leather book bag.

"Na-tsu-ki!"

The same voice from before sounded loudly in Natsuki's ear.

"Oh, right. What were you trying to say earlier?" Natsuki turns to see Sayori beaming at her.

"I joined a club!"

"That's it?"

"Well... yeah! But what's even more exciting is that I'm the Vice President!"

"Okay... and?"

Sayori suddenly grabs Natsuki's shoulders.

"And my first task as Vice President of the Literature Club is to find new members!" The coral pink-haired girl exclaims. "And I thought you'd be interested!"

"Oh..." Natsuki thought to herself.

But why literature of all things? I didn't even know Sayori was into that.

But then Natsuki thought of what benefits joining this club would give her. Club meetings were held after school, which meant that she wouldn't be going home straight after school like usual. It would be nice to have an excuse to not go home. It's not that Natsuki hates her house, but staying at school with some friends sounded a lot more entertaining than anything at home was. And for a few other reasons, as well... Natsuki's eyes wander to the several various volumes of manga hidden in her bag. Well, manga counts as literature, right?

"A literature club, huh?" Natsuki's bright, beady eyes met Sayori's. "Sounds fun. I'm in!"

***

Gasping and out of breath, the tiny rose-haired female pauses, and watches as the bright ball of sunshine known as Sayori zips down the hallway.

"Sayori, wait!" Natsuki calls out to her friend, who never seems to run out of energy.

After Natsuki had agreed to joining the Literature Club, Sayori had made a mad dash down the hallway to the club room, leaving poor Natsuki to catch up with her short legs.

"Curse me and my shortness!" muttered Natsuki.

Despite all this, Natsuki knows that her height wasn't really to blame. The lunch she had eaten in the afternoon had been pitifully small, and she didn't really have time for breakfast in the morning, either. Natsuki barely had any energy left after PE. And her manga-laden book bag wasn't really helping much, either.

How does Sayori have so much energy?

After having caught her breath, Natsuki forced herself onwards, continuing the short trip to Sayori's club room. She made her way up a flight of stairs just as Sayori had done a few moments ago, and looked around for the familiar coral pink head, topped with Sayori's trademark red bow. However, neither the coral pink hair nor the red bow are anywhere in sight.

"Sayori?"

Natsuki ambled around, peering into every window she found to look for her friend. Suddenly, the creak of a door to the left opening catches Natsuki's attention, and out pops Sayori, and someone Natsuki doesn't recognize.

"Hey! Over here!" Natsuki waved an arm at Sayori, and she dashed over towards her, the unknown girl following close by at a slower pace.

"Natsuki, this is Monika, the President of the Literature Club!" Sayori gestures to the girl that had been right behind her.

The girl, whose name Natsuki learned was Monika, greeted her with a warm smile.

"Welcome to the Literature Club! You already know my name, what's yours?" Monika extends her right hand towards Natsuki.

Reluctantly, Natsuki extends her hand as well. "I'm Natsuki."

Monika nodded, giving Natsuki's hand a quick shake and turned to the two girls. "We're still waiting on one more, so in the mean time, why don't we all get to know each other a little better?"

Sayori nodded vigorously, her eyes lightning up. She went over to the club room door, swinging it open. "Let the magic begin!" She shouted enthusiastically.

Monika, who seemed quite amused at Sayori's behavior, followed, Natsuki trotting over as well. What awaited the girls inside the club room was a simple classroom, filled with several rows of desks and chairs, all facing the front of the club room. The back of the room was equipped with shelves and storage closets, while at the front sat a larger desk and a blackboard. The large desk at the front belonged to Monika; papers and pens were scattered across it. Colorful posters were displayed on the back wall. The rest of the room was basically empty.

"Feel free to sit wherever you'd like!" Monika encouraged Natsuki.

Natsuki huffed and dragged her heavy book bag to a chair near the front. She plopped down onto the seat. Sayori had started to move her own desk towards Natsuki, so they could sit and talk together. Monika did the same, pushing a desk and chair against Natsuki's. Once they had settled in, Monika began to speak.

"Okay!" She began. "So just out of curiosity, Natsuki, what made you consider joining the Literature Club?"

"Well..." Natsuki paused to think. "I guess I just thought it sounded interesting, and I wanted to check it out."

"I see. Do you happen to like any specific types of literature?" asked Monika.

"Nothing really comes to mind when I think about literature I like..." Natsuki answered. "Though, I've recently taken an interest in poetry."

Natsuki was hesitant to mention manga, since she knew how her other friends felt about it.

Sayori had her hands resting underneath her chin, quietly listening, and seeming genuinely interested in Monika and Natsuki's conversation. But just then, a slight knock was heard on the door.

"Ah, that must be Yuri!" Monika stood up from her chair, rushing over to open the door.

"Eh?" Natsuki tilted her head questioningly at Sayori, who seemed  just as excited about this "Yuri" person's arrival as Monika.

Monika swiftly turns the handle of the door to reveal a tall (at least she looked tall to Natsuki) girl clutching a book close to her chest, long, violet locks of hair cascading down her back. She looked so mature, so sophisticated.

"I-I'm so sorry... am I late?" Yuri stuttered.

"No, no! You're fine!" Monika insisted, her neat coral brown ponytail bobbing as she said so.

Sayori hurried from her seat over to Yuri. "Hi, hello! My name's Sayori; I'm the Vice President of the Literature Club!"

Yuri looks a bit startled, but a shy smile soon spreads across her face. "It's nice to meet you, Sayori."

Sayori beams up at Yuri. "We're all going to have the best time together!"

Yuri nods, and chats a little with Sayori, before catching sight of Natsuki. Natsuki shot Yuri a hostile look in response, but the violet-haired girl simply smiled nervously at the other. Slightly flustered, Natsuki tore her gaze away.

Who is this girl?

Note: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Let me know what you think; should I continue? Thank you for reading!