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Twirling the room key around her finger, Monika hummed as she approached the clubroom door after a long day of classes. Her last hour (Chemistry II) had felt as if it lasted an eternity, and she was even more excited than usual to get started with club activities and far, far away from whatever a “sigfig” was.
To her surprise, she was not the first one there!
Splayed on her back across the floor, Sayori waved to Monika as she entered.
“Ooh! Hey, Moni, check this out!”
Monika stopped in her tracks, turning to the other side of the room, where Natsuki stood with a bag of chocolate chips in her hands and a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“Okay, okay! Three…two…one…”
Before Monika could scold her, Natsuki lightly tossed a chocolate chip towards Sayori’s supine form. Sayori opened her mouth to catch it, just in time for it to bounce off her nose.
“Oof!”
“Gah!” Natsuki growled. “I was so close that time!”
Sayori seemed less discouraged, already trembling with giggles as she picked the tossed candy off of the tile.
“Honestly, you two…” Monika stifled her own laughter, resolving that as president, she had to be the “responsible” one (at least as long as Yuri was still in study hall). “This is supposed to be the Literature Club. You know, for discussing and creating Literature. Not…whatever that was.”
“Booo!” Natsuki droned. She hopped out of the chair she was sitting in, stashing her chocolate bag on the top of a desk. “We were totally about to start discussing…uh…”
A bizarre grin spread across Natsuki’s face.
“Goncharov.”
Monika quirked an eyebrow. “Goncharov? Do you mean…like…The Brothers Karamzov?”
With a scoff, Natsuki crossed her arms, putting on a sneer of superiority.
“Can you believe it, Sayori? Club President here hasn’t even heard of Goncharov.”
Monika wracked her brain, but nothing seemed to come of it. She thought for sure she’d at least heard of most of the classics, and surely (though she kicked herself for thinking it) knew more about them than Natsuki, of all people, who didn’t like to open a book without the promise of pictures.
“Gonchawhat? Nat, I haven’t heard of it either!”
Sayori seemed just as perplexed as Monika felt, but before she could agree aloud, a seed of worry flowered in her mind.
What kind of Literature Club President didn’t know about Goncharov?
Quickly, Monika made what could perhaps be considered a…hasty decision.
“Oh! Sorry, I misheard you!” she lied. “You meant Goncharov, right? I loved Goncharov!”
For reasons unbeknownst to her, Natsuki started grinning like a wolf in a henhouse.
“Ohhhh. Sorry, Monika. Shouldn’t have doubted ya, scholar that you are, or whatever. Course you’ve seen Goncharov.” She turned to Sayori. “See, Goncharov was this old gangster movie some famous director made back in 1973. Whole thing was like, lost media or whatever until it got discovered again recently and put up on the internet.”
“Oh, wow!” Sayori replied. “What’s it about?”
To Monika’s horror, Natsuki lifted a palm in her direction.
“I probably can’t explain it any good. Monika, you wanna tell her?”
She fought back a gulp.
“Why…sure I will!” Monika began to tap her feet, hoping for a burst of inspiration. “Goncharov is…it’s best understood as…a story about…death and rebirth? Like, of the mind…and of ideas, like it has all these interesting scenes and compelling characters and…there are so many ways to interpret it, how it was written back in uh…1973.”
She allowed herself to glance over at Natsuki again, but where she expected confusion, the other girl was simply nodding, as if she completely followed that train of absolute essay-filler bullshit.
“Yeah, see, like I said, Monika put it well there. I don’t even know half of those words she used.”
Sayori furrowed her brow.
“Sorry…I still don’t think I follow!” She shook her head, lightly knocking her knuckles against her ribbon. “Hollow head up there sometimes, remember?”
“Please don’t worry, Sayori!” intervened Monika, not ever wanting to see her VP down on herself. “I may have been a little too…vague.”
Natsuki gave a theatrical sigh.
“That does sound like you. I’ll go ahead and give her the rundown.”
Natsuki proceeded to outline the film’s story, centering around a powerful mobster named Goncharov who had recently married a woman named Katya. His wife wants him to leave the mafia at all costs, but Goncharov cannot abandon his best friend, the hitman Andrey, who is also his secret lover. The movie comes to a head when one of Andrey’s murders goes wrong, and Goncharov must decide how far he’ll go to keep him safe from the law.
“-so there’s this shootout and it’s like..oh man, I don’t wanna spoil it for you, you’ve gotta check it out sometime.”
“I agree!” Monika added, worried being silent too long might blow her cover. “Sayori, you should watch it with us!”
Her earlier malaise faded, Sayori beamed and clapped. “Maybe we could make it a club activity!”
“I don’t see why not!” Monika replied. She reached for her phone to search up any streaming sites that might have the film, only to be stopped by a hissing sound coming from Natsuki, who was pulling at her collar.
“You don’t? Monika…you think they’d let us watch…you know, that one scene? At school?”
Oh, shit.
“Wait, what?” Sayori’s eyes went wide. “What kind of stuff does this movie have in it?”
“Well…it…it shouldn’t matter!” Monika thumped the heel of her hand against the desk, as if she was making an important point. “The club only has members who are 18 years old! What are they going to complain about?”
Natsuki hissed once again, shaking her head.
“Even the scene with Ice Pick Tony and the…”
“Of course! That’s a crucial part of the film!” Admittedly, her worries about being discovered were beginning to drift away, buoyed on her own growing confidence. “I’ll ask the Vice Principal about it tomorrow!”
“Yeah!” said an unusually supportive Natsuki, “Ask her about Goncharov! And the principal too! However many people you can find, really!”
It was then that the door to the club opened once more, and Yuri walked in with a heavy book in her arms.
“Good evening, everyone.” She had a calm smile, the type Monika was always glad to see on her nervous friend’s face. “I could hear voices from the hallway…may I ask what has you all so stimulated?”
“Goncharov!” Sayori replied with a grin. “It’s this old movie Natsuki was telling us about, and it turns out Monika’s seen it too!”
Had Monika been paying attention to Natsuki’s face, she may have noticed the expression of surrender on it, knowing that surely the game was up.
However, she wasn’t paying attention to Natsuki’s face.
She was only looking at Yuri’s, as the woman paused, lowered her head, and after a few moments of silence whispered:
“Winter has come to Naples.”
Excitedly, Natsuki flashed a pair of finger guns at Yuri.
“Aww yeah! It’s another real Gonch-head!”
As she cheered, Yuri reddened slightly, brushing a bit of hair away from her face.
“But of course…I am quite a fan of Scorcese’s works, especially his Cold War era films. Though I am curious…”
Yuri turned to face Monika.
“Who was your favorite character, Monika?”
Just like Naples, Monika froze.
This was going to be a long meeting.
[6:25] Moni<3: IT’S FAKE?!?!?
[6:25] Nats: LMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAOLMAO
[6:26] Nats: OMG SHE ACTUALLY LOOKED IT UP I’M LOSING MY SHITTTTTTT
[6:26] Nats: WE GOT HER SO GOOD XD
[6:26] LavenderLinguist: Hehehe…
[6:26] LavenderLinguist: My apologies, Monika. The opportunity was too good to pass up.
[6:27] Moni<3: Oh the two of you are in so much trouble >:(
[6:28] Nats: GET ABSOLUTELY DUNKED ON
[6:28] Moni<3: You tricked Sayori too!
[6:29] Nats: yeah guess that’s true
[6:29] Nats: sorry, sayo
[6:40] Sunnydaze: huh?????
[6:40] Sunnydaze: oh i knew all along
[6:41] Moni<3: WHAT?
[6:42] Sunnydaze: it’s just fun to watch moni squirm!
[6:43] Nats: LMAO
[6:44] LavenderLinguist: Indeed.
[6:44] Moni<3: club is cancelled.
[6:45] Moni<3: forever