"What're you writing, Y/N?" MC asked cheerfully, suddenly popping into existance next to you and almost giving you a heart attack. "You've been kinda quiet all day, so I figured I should check in."

You scrambled to cover what you'd been writing before casually responding, "Nothing. I'm fine!! How're you?"

He chucked in amusement. "Just say you're finally writing that poem for Yuri."

"SHUT UP–!!"

He wasn't wrong, though. You'd joined a literature club to create literature, but suddenly writing a poem had become one of the hardest things on the planet. You were starting to wish you'd thought of an easier way to confess to Yuri. Like, maybe telling her to her face or something.

But no. You wanted to (try and) impress her. So here you were, pulling fancy words from the dictionary like they were weeds in a yard and trying your best to weave them together into an abstract poem layered with metaphors. It was kinda difficult to stretch "I like you, I have for a while, and I'd love to go on a date with you" into a multi-stanza poem, but you were trying!!

It just happened to be in the middle of class, because you'd re-read the five poems you'd made last night and discarded every single one of them after lighting them on fire and putting them through the shredder. 

MC laughed and patted your shoulder. "Sorry, Y/N, I didn't mean to embarrass you. If you want any help or anything, I'm always here, alright?"

As much as you liked him as a person, you'd seen his poems, and respectfully did not understand most of them. "Thanks, MC– uh, I'll let you know if I'm still stuck by the time the club starts."

"Okay!!" he beamed. "Good luck, Y/N, I'm rooting for you!!"

"Thanks," you replied, embarrassed but determined.

You sacrificed your work time in class to try and finish the poem. The number one goal was to get it to Yuri today, and you knew that if you didn't do it now, you'd realize that promises you make to yourself have no meaning and you'd probably never confess to her if you didn't do it right then. Therefore, your only priority was making sure that you could write a poem that she'd like.

What's a good allegory for "I'm sorry for being an idiot and not asking you sooner"..?

Was it stressful? Yes, but it was also surprisingly interactive and you had a lot of fun. Or at least you would have had a lot of fun if the future of your relationship with Yuri didn't depend solely on this poem.

MC would occasionally check in and make sure you were doing okay before promising to keep the other girls away from Yuri when it was time to share so you could just get it over with. 

"I'll just show them my poem and boom, they'll talk to me," he'd joked. "I threw it together last night, I honestly don't even remember what it says."

You read his poem and promptly agreed that it would definitely keep the other club members occupied.

When the end of school finally rolled around, you hurriedly made your way to the clubroom, nervousness slowly making its way through your bloodstream. You didn't really think this far ahead. All you could really do was hope that MC kept his word and that Yuri understood what you were trying to convey.

You sat in the corner of the room stressing before everyone was finally there and Monika called that it was time to share poems. Now or never. You needed to do this.

MC's idea of getting the other girls away from you was yelling, "Hey, everyone, I wrote this really great poem last night, but it came out kinda complex and I don't really understand it and I was hoping I could get some tips on how to improve???"

Somehow, it actually worked, and you guessed that he thought it would work because Yuri was the only one who didn't typically give tips when it came to simplifying his writing?? That seemed way too direct, but you know what? Maybe you misjudged the guy. You definitely owed him one.

"Hey, Yuri," you called, casually approaching her and squeezing your poem so hard you were creasing the paper. "I guess we should share, huh?"

"Oh, hello, Y/N." Yuri smiled gently at you, and you almost passed out on the spot (but managed to keep yourself conscious). "That would be great. I was awfully invested in my novel last night, so please forgive me if any of those undertones ended up getting written into my poem."

"It's fine– I've always loved what you wrote, regardless of what it was," you said, managing to keep the nervousness out of your voice. Ridgidly extending your poem to her, you added. "Uh, so, I actually tried to– um– kinda match your writing style? So, uh, if you don't mind, I'd love it if you kinda, I don't know, really went over it and tell me what you think."

"Y– you based it off my style??" A blush spread across Yuri's face as she carefully removed the paper from your hand. "That's– that's quite kind of you, Y/N. I'll be sure to give you whatever advice I can."

She hastily handed you her poem in turn, and you immediately distracted yourself by reading it. It was articulate and gorgeous, as per usual, but you kept glancing over the edge of the paper at Yuri as she slowly read your poem.

And then she re-read it. And then she re-read it again. You could see understanding slowly beginning to show on her face.

"Er– Y/N..." she mumbled, scanning over the poem again. You couldn't quite read the feelings behind her eyes. "This... this is incredible. I don't– well, I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but... I think you managed to capture what emotions you were trying to convey."

She hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "Is this about anyone in particular?"

The heat radiating off your face was probably contributing to climate change at this point, and you just shrunk in your seat and kept your eyes locked on Yuri's poem. "Uh, it– it's about you, actually."

"Oh."

And then she fell silent again. You had no idea if that was good or really, really bad.

It took a few moments for Yuri to speak again. "S–so... if I, um, understood this correctly... is this a confession?"

"...Yyyyyyes."

She looked rather shocked at how directly you'd responded. "Really??"

"Yes!!! A hundred percent!! I just– I didn't know how to say it to your face," you stammered. "So I tried to write it instead. Uh... so... y–yeah, that's a confession. To you. From me."

Now, you were well aware that you were blushing at this point, but you were also pretty sure that Yuri might actually be beating you in that category. Her face was so red that you were surprised no one else had noticed yet. "I– Y/N, that's–"

"You don't have to say yes," you quickly added. "I just wanted to tell you as soon as I worked up the nerve. It's perfectly fine if you don't feel the sam–"

"No, that's not it!!" Yuri laced her fingers together and took a deep breath before looking you dead in the eyes and saying, "I like you too, Y/N, and I have for a while. I just– I suppose I was too scared to tell you directly."

You laughed out loud, the weight of your anxiety finally lifting. "It's okay, Yuri, I needed a lot of encouragement to even consider telling you."

"MC?"

"MC."

Yuri laughed quietly as well. "I figured as much. But regardless of how much help you had, Y/N– um– I just– I really, really want to thank you for, er, telling me. There's no way that it was easy to write something this intricate, then show it to me... um, I– I just wish there was some way I could reciprocate. You put in all this effort for me..."

"Well," you offered. "You could– like, go out with me or something, I don't know."

This time, she laughed much louder, a fit of giggles that made your heart melt. "I think I got that idea from your poem, Y/N!! And for what it's worth, I– I'd love to go out with you."

You grinned from ear to ear, the nervousness replaced with nothing but happiness. "Great!!"

"Alright, everyone!!" Monika shouted from the middle of the room, causing both you and Yuri to jump in shock. "Find a new partner!! Switch it up!!"

Yuri glanced at your poem before looking back up at you. "Um... after everyone is done sharing, would it be too much if I asked to keep this?"

"I wrote it for you, you know!!" you exclaimed, handing her the poem she'd written. "Of course you can keep it."

The lovely smile that crossed her face did nothing to help with how flustered you were. Unfortunately, Monika came over to share with Yuri, teasingly shooing you away. Yuri waved shyly as you laughed and moved to find another person.

The first thing that came out of Sayori's mouth when you went to her to share poems was, "Wow, Y/N, you look like a freakin' tomato."