Chapter Text
“Today’s the time to make our greatest memories.”
Standing outside of the clubroom, I was a bit nervous. I was entering a club full of people I’d never met in my life, yet I joined anyway.
“I really should’ve just done Photography Club instead...” I mumbled to myself, finally working up the courage to enter the classroom.
“Oh, welcome! Please, come sit down!” a tall, brown-haired girl greeted me, a kind but nervous smile plastered on her face. She was beautiful, with a recognizable face that I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen her before. Maybe she’d modeled for my photography class? Regardless, I followed her instructions quietly and took a seat at a nearby desk. There were only two people there other than her, and I began to fidget with the keychains on my bag.
“Um, what’s your name?” the brown-haired girl followed me to my seat, and I noticed the clipboard in her hand.
Is she taking attendance? This is really formal... I wondered, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
“H-hi! I’m Keitaro Nagame, nice to meet you!” I introduced myself, my face hot. Without a word, she took a pen and marked something on her clipboard.
“Oh, Keitaro! Hi, nice to meet you too! My name’s Monika!” she held out her hand to formally greet me. I took her hand and shook it eagerly. After hearing her name, I immediately realized who I was talking to. Monika was one of the most popular girls in school. Everyone said that she was amazing, but I’d never had the chance to see her in person.
I decided to take a closer look at the others in the room, who both happened to be reading. There was a small, skinny boy with fluffy blonde hair. On the other side of the room was a girl—no, a young woman—with majestic purple hair.
“Oh, my mistake, I didn’t introduce you to the others!” Monika released a flustered laugh. “That’s Hunter and Yuri, the only people I suspect have any actual interest in literature...”
“H-huh?! I like literature!” I protested, my face growing hot. Monika’s face turned red in response as well, shaking her head profusely.
“No, no, no! Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that! I just...” Monika paused and looked at the ground, her face still red. “I’m sorry... I’m just really... all over the place right now.”
“O-oh, I understand!! Sorry, Monika!” I apologized nearly immediately, as I understood the stresses of leading a group of people. Despite not being a club leader, I’ve had my fair share of people who look up to me.
“What the hell! You brought new members?! And they’re... b-b-boys?!” a short girl with pastel pink hair and a red-hot attitude stormed into the room.
“A-ah... Natsuki..!” Monika exclaimed. “We’ll introduce ourselves in a bit... when everyone gets here...”
“Ugh... Isn't it late for everyone to be here?” Natsuki rolled her eyes.
“No, they still have a few—” Monika’s reassurance was cut off by a tall, skinny boy running into the room as if he’d just missed the most important event of his life.
“Monika! I’m so sorry! I meant to be here earlier, but—” the boy began until Monika cut him off, clearly a bit concerned.
“Natsumi, calm down! You’re not even late! In fact...” Monika checked her watch. “You’re a minute early!” Her consolation obviously did nothing for Natsumi, as he just sighed and sat his belongings next to Monika’s. As he placed his bag on a desk, a little chime came from Monika’s. She quickly silenced it from her watch and fidgeted with her bow.
“Alright... Now it’s officially time to start...” Monika’s voice quivered slightly, but she recovered swiftly and looked out the classroom door, her face glowing once more.
“Waaaiiitttt!!” an annoying girl squealed, with a voice I recognized all too well. She ran into the room with a boy about the same stature as me.
“Sayori! Hiro! There you guys are!” I exclaimed. The two had been my best friends for as long as I could remember, one of which being a bubbly girl with strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes, the other a boy with fiery orange hair and an ever-present raccoon tail keychain hanging from his bag.
“Sorry for making us late!! We both stopped at the vending machine!” Hiro frantically apologized to Monika, who only laughed.
“Just like old times, Sayori... You truly never change, do you?” Monika lightly teased. “But anyways... We really need to get started, which I can’t do without our last member...” And just like clockwork, a muscular boy with fluffy purple hair strutted into our meeting, completing the group. His nonchalant attitude was a bit confusing to me, as nothing about him suggested an interest in this kind of club.
“Ah, Yoichi... now we can finally begin. Okay, everyone!” Monika’s voice echoed through the silent room, and the two quiet readers in the back simultaneously marked their places in their books and sat them down.
“We’ve gained a lot of members this year, so I think the most productive activity to start with would be simple introductions..! Just state your name and why you joined!” Monika instructed, and the group formed into an oval.
“Oh, may I begin?” Natsumi raised his hand, and Monika nodded. “Hello, everyone! My name is Natsumi Hamasaki, and I joined the Literature Club due to the importance of linguistics in today’s society.” Yuri seemed to perk up at Natsumi’s elaborate vocabulary.
“Right... If we continue clockwise... It’s my turn! Okay, hi! As most of you know, I’m Monika, the president of the Literature Club! I started this last year so I could meet others who saw what I see in literature.”
“Ooh! Me next! Hi, guys! I’m Sayori, and I’m here cuz I made a ton of friends last year!”
“Hi!! I’m Hiro, and Sayori dragged me here...”
“Um... Hi..! My name is H-Hunter..! I joined... cuz I like to r-read a lot...” Hunter trailed off and looked over to Yuri, who was up next. Yuri, however, stayed silent and began quivering, her face bright red.
“Y-Yuri..?” Monika whispered. “It’s your turn...”
“I-I-I... U-um... H-hello... M-my name i-is Yuri... I-I like to read... t-too...” Yuri immediately placed her head into her hands, covering the blush that had crept over her face.
“Great job, Yuri! Next up is—” Monika’s congratulations were cut off by a loud snore, the source of which being Yoichi, his head down on the desk.
“YOICHI!” Monika scolded. “Are you seriously SLEEPING?!”
“Uh, yeah? This is boring as hell.”
“Yoichi...” Monika glared at him, her eyes boring into his soul.
“Fineeeee... I’m Yoichi. Done.”
“What was your purpose for joining?” Natsumi asked, prompting a groan from Yoichi.
“Cuz this seemed like the easiest club to slack off in,” Yoichi deadpanned.
“W-what?!” Monika nearly jumped out of her chair, unprepared for the sudden attack, although Natsuki giggled in response.
“Well, I’m Natsuki, and I’m here ‘cause I made pretty good friends last year.” And as Natsuki finished up her introduction, I realized I was next.
“Okay, uh, hey! My name’s Keitaro..! I’m here to.. um... make my greatest memories..!” I exclaimed, to which Natsuki responded with a snort. Yoichi’s eyebrow raised next to her.
“Ah... Natsuki... You really feel like arguing today, huh?” Monika sighed.
“Um, Monika?” Natsumi raised his hand. “Was there another activity for us to participate in for this meeting?”
“W-well... No...” Monika trailed off, a bit embarrassed.
“Psh! Lame!” Yoichi rolled his eyes.
“However!” Monika attempted to recover the situation. “I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better, so I’d like us to separate into smaller groups.”
As soon as Monika finished her sentence, Natsumi and Hiro rushed to her side, the latter dragging Sayori along with him. When I realized that Yuri and Hunter had scooted their desks together, I looked around to see that my group consisted of Natsuki and Yoichi.
“Ugh... This is so lame...” Yoichi groaned once again. “What are we even doing? I didn’t pay attention.” Before I could explain the activity, Natsuki jumped to his side.
“Ha! Monika definitely could have come up with worse activities for us to do!” she snickered. Without a reply to Natsuki’s comment, Yoichi turned to me.
“So? You were paying attention, right?” Yoichi grumbled.
“A-ah! Right! Um, Monika just said that we should get to know each other,” I explained, fidgeting with one of the bright green Band-Aids on my face.
“Oh, so just yapping?” Yoichi smirked. “Well then, I’ve totally got the hang of it!”
Suddenly, Monika cleared her throat, causing Yoichi’s face to fall. Despite my surprise at his interest in the conversation activity, I begrudgingly looked to Monika to hear what she had to say.
“Okay, everyone!” she called. “It’s nearly time to head home for the day, but I wanted to share one request with you all before you return tomorrow...”
“I swear... You better not be giving us homework!” Yoichi groaned.
“Why, yes, Yoichi! That’s exactly what I was planning!” Monika exclaimed, not-so-secretly taking joy in Yoichi’s discomfort.
“Ooh! What is it, Monika?” Natsumi, contrasting Yoichi, excitedly clapped his hands together.
“Well... I was just hoping that you all could write a poem, which we’ll read as our activity for tomorrow!” Monika looked to us each, hoping we’d match her enthusiasm. However, her instruction was immediately met with a loud sigh from Yoichi as he slammed his face down onto his desk.
“No!” he shouted, sitting back up. "There’s no way in hell I’m doing that shit!”
“Y-Yoichi!” I stuttered, flustered by his sudden resistance.
“I mean, I can’t force you to participate, but—” Monika started, but was interrupted by a red-faced Natsumi.
“Yoichi! That is extremely disrespectful! How dare you!” he scolded in a voice louder than I would have expected from someone as imperturbable as Natsumi.
“Oh, shut up, Mr. Perfect! You’re not the boss of me!” Yoichi crossed his arms grumpily.
“How rude! I’m not going to—” Natsumi cut himself off, blinking.
“What? Finish your damn sentence,” Yoichi stared at Natsumi expectantly.
“W-what did you call me..?” Natsumi stumbled over his words, caught off guard by the nickname, regardless of how accurate it was.
“Tch... You heard me,” Yoichi’s eyes rolled. "I called you Mr. Perfect.” Unable to help myself, I started giggling, and was soon followed by the majority of the club members. Natsumi’s face, however, gradually grew closer to the color of a fire truck.
Once she composed herself, Monika cleared her throat and checked her watch. “Okay, everyone! I hate to end our first meeting already, but it’s somehow past our allotted club time!”
“Thanks for an awesome start, Monika!” Hiro shouted, causing nearly everyone in the room to wince. "C’mon, Keitaro and Sayori! Let’s head home!”
“Goodbye, friends! See you tomorrow!” Monika ushered us out the door, turning around to lock it behind us. I smiled back at her. I couldn’t quite place it, but this really felt like the start of something incredible.