Festival Preparations
My alarm woke me up the next morning. I completely forgot that Natsuki was in bed with me, and apparently, so did she.
"Ah! What the..!?" she suddenly screamed, scaring the living crap out of me.
The painful part was, she punched me right in the nose. We both remembered what happened, and she apologized a hundred times, and Jacob frantically ran into our room.
"What happened? I heard screaming!"
He saw what had gone down and started laughing. We both look at him in surprise, and eventually, we do as well. Thankfully, my nose wasn't broken, although, it really hurt.
Natsuki made breakfast in return for what had happened, and as expected, it was delicious. We didn't talk about what happened in the past couple of days, since none of us wanted to, but instead, talked about the upcoming events of today. Jacob and I were careful not to talk about saving any of the other girls, so we talked more about the festival preparations. Today was the day that I'd have to choose who to spend the weekend with, but we already had that planned out. All that we have left is to hope that it will work.
On the way to school, we didn't find Sayori catching up to us as she has the past few days. About halfway to the school, Jacob and I were exchanging worried glances.
Jacob suddenly couldn't stand it anymore. "Hey guys, I forgot something at home." As we make our way back home, I take Natsuki into the house, while Jacob went next door.
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Jacob didn't want to screw this up. It was far too late for that.
He tried to act normal, and he saw Noah give him a nod for good luck. He knocked on her door, and as half expected, no answer. Jacob tried the back door again, and it was open. He ran up to her room and knocked on her door, with no answer.
"Sayori? Wake up."
No answer. Jacob tried the door.
He sighed deeply in relief. She was only oversleeping. However, relief turned to anger.
"Sayori!"
She woke with a start. "What? What are you doing here!?"
Jacob sighed. "I only came here to get you up. Come on now, we're gonna be late."
She looks confused but quickly understood the situation. "Oh, okay. I'll hurry. Now get out!"
Jacob does as she says and he exits the house with his heart still pounding in his chest. He believed that they barely escaped this one.
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I saw Jacob and Sayori come out of the house, to which I was very relieved. Meanwhile, Natsuki was still very confused as to what was going on. We finally leave for school, four instead of three, and we barely make it on time for our first period.
The day goes by a lot slower than normal. I noticed that there was an unusual quietness throughout the school to where it was unusual.
I found Jacob in between my third and fourth periods. "Is it me, or is everyone quieter today?"
"I don't know," he responded. "I've been noticing the same thing."
After, we later leave for our fourth period.
After the strange quietness, it was finally time for the club. As I crutch into the room, everyone warmly greets me, especially Natsuki. I say hi to everyone, and I crutch my way to Monika.
"Hey, Monika?"
She stands up from her desk and walks over to me. "Hi, Noah! What's up?"
"Hey, um, what was wrong with everybody at school?"
She looks at the ground and shuffles her feet. "It isn't unusual. It happens every game starting yesterday and the quiet only increases throughout it. I don't know why, but it just happens."
"Oh, I see now. I guess it's because these are usually the days that it gets worse," I assumed.
Monika nods her head. "Yeah. That's right."
We end our conversation there, and we begin as we begin doing our own thing. Natsuki and I read more manga, and she wasn't hungry this time. Jacob and Yuri sit against the wall right next to us. Sayori and Monika talk about festival preparations for the weekend.
Although Sayori and Yuri originally didn't like the idea, we decide to postpone poems until after the festival because of what happened at Natsuki's. Instead, we would practice reciting them in front of the club members here. We all chose a poem that we did before, although some wrote their own.
"Okay, everybody! Is everyone ready to practice reciting poems?" Monika chimed out.
"I-I don't know about this," Yuri mumbled nervously.
Jacob turned to her. "It's okay. It's not that bad."
He took her hand in his. To my surprise, Yuri didn't take it back. I saw Natsuki look at me through the corner of my eye after she saw Jacob and Yuri holding hands. Then I scooted next to her and did the same. I saw her blush a little, but she didn't move.
"It isn't that bad! All you gotta do is just get up there and read it!" Sayori said.
"Sayori's right! I'll go first if it makes you guys feel better," Monika suggested. The girls agree and Monika gets up to go first. When she began reciting her poem, all of us moved to the front of the room and sat on the floor. When Monika finished, Sayori stood up, but Yuri stopped her.
"No, I would like to go instead!" Yuri exclaimed.
Sayori looked surprised. "Woah! Yuri's suddenly feisty!"
Yuri started reading her poem. Her voice started a little shaky, but she relaxed into it later on. Overall, she did really well.
Sayori went after Yuri finished. Thinking it was going to be easy, she froze up for a second. She looked at me, and I took a deep breath to give her the hint to do the same. She did, and she recited her poem. Her poem did a great job of fitting her personality.
Jacob elected to go next. He chose a poem that was obviously related to Yuri, and he actually did a very good job reciting his poem. He didn't even stammer. After Jacob finished, I held my hand out for him to shake, and he returned it. He sat down between me and Yuri.
Natsuki refused to go next since she wanted me to go instead. I reluctantly went up there to go, and I recited a random poem, even though all of my previous poems were all meant for Natsuki. I did my best and received applause anyway.
Last but not least, Natsuki. She said her poem name was Because You. Here it was:
Tomorrow will be a brighter day with you around
But when today is dim, I only look down
My looking is a little more forward
Because you look at me
When I want to say something, I say it with a shout!
But my truest feelings can never come out
My words are a little less empty
Because you listen to me
When something is above me, I reach for the stars
But when I feel small, I don't get very far
My standing is a little bit taller
Because you sit with me
I believe in myself with all of my heart
But what do I do when it's all torn apart?
My faith is a little bit stronger
Because you trusted me
My pen always puts my feelings to the test
I'm not a good writer, but my best is my best
My poems are a little bit dearer
Because you think of me
Because you, because you, because you.
After Natsuki read it, I immediately knew that it was meant for me. Everybody turned to look at me.
"Natsuki..."
I was speechless.
"Thank you so much. I really loved that poem," I said. She smiled and took her seat next to me. She handed me her poem and told me it was for me. I gladly took it and put it in my pocket. I lean in and kiss her on the cheek. Thankfully, no one else saw. I held her hand as well.
Finally, it was time for festival preparations, and Jacob and I already had it planned out. Right before we got into it, Jacob reminded me of our conversation yesterday with the group at the hospital.
Monika did her usual saying, and we jumped into it. She started by suggesting Natsuki can bake at our house, since she doesn't have anywhere else to go, and Yuri can do decorations. Monika then said that she and Sayori will do pamphlets. She asked us what we were gonna do.
"How about this? Monika and Sayori can come to our house on Saturday, and Yuri can come on Sunday. That way, no one will feel left out or anything," Jacob suggested.
Surprisingly, the other three girls agreed to that idea.
After that, it was time to leave. Today was a good day, despite my crippled leg. Natsuki and Jacob really helped me out with it, and the doctor said I should probably be able to get rid of the crutches by the middle of next week. Hopefully, I'll survive until then.
"Hey, watcha thinking about?" Jacob asked with some concern.
"Ah, nothing, just glad we made it this far," I said.
He glanced down and nodded. "It's been quite a blessing so far, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, but we're not done yet."
With that, Jacob, Natsuki, Sayori, and I walked home together. We have a happy conversation about the upcoming festival. However, I could tell that Jacob was as nervous as I was about the upcoming days.
We finally get home and say goodbye to Sayori, but I stepped in for a minute. "Hey, Sayori! Wanna have dinner with us?"
The other two looked at me in surprise, but Jacob knew what I was doing. He nodded his head.
"Would I? I would love to!" She seemed excited about it, which was a good sign.
Natsuki and I cooked dinner, while Jacob and Sayori fixed the dining table. I was doing as much as I could with crutches, but I kept getting in the way. I hated to admit it, but I got a little frustrated after a while. Natsuki told me it would be best on my leg if I sit on the couch, so I didn't complain and sat down. I scrolled on my phone as I waited to pass time.
Finally, the food was ready. We all ate it up quickly. Natsuki did a really good job cooking, as usual.
When we were finished, Sayori left, and it was just us three once again. We took showers and got into more comfortable clothes, and watched a movie. During the movie, Natsuki fell asleep, and I picked her up and put her in bed.
Jacob told me something that stuck with me that night. He wished Yuri was like me and Natsuki; the always close, holding hands, even kisses on the cheek every now and then. I then promised him something, and if you know me well enough, I never make promises because I'm always scared that I'll break them. I promised him that once we get out of here, out of this hell-hole of a game, that he and Yuri will be together, forever. I was determined to keep that promise.
After the talk, I quickly got ready for bed. As I entered the room, I found Natsuki reading manga in my bed.
"I'm sorry," she said in a desperate tone. "I still have nightmares about my dad."
"It's okay, sunshine. I don't mind."
She looks at me like I said something weird again. "Haha, sunshine? I thought it was Nat."
I catch myself on what I said, and I started to blush really heavily.
Natsuki starts laughing. "It's okay sweetheart. I really like it."
I look at her in surprise. "W-What...?"
She leans in and kisses me on the lips for the first time since I was in the hospital.
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Hey everybody! So I'm officially back into this now, after taking a small break due to writer's block. Oh, and I know this was a little long, but I thought it could've been necessary, because of part five being a little shorter. So comment for ideas and all that and expect part seven hopefully soon! Later guys!
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