Chapter Text
"... and that's why we should have a dessert period, as well as a lunch period!"
Monika chuckled warmly. "Sayori, I think you're just a teensy bit hungry."
Sayori's grumbling stomach could be heard through the headset, sending Monika into another bout of laughter. Sayori blushed and looked away from the screen, as if Monika could see through the currently disabled webcam. "Okay, maybe a little..."
"We should both probably take a break... soon?" Monika trailed off as she inspected her now vibrating phone curiously. It was a call from Natsuki.
"We may have found our stopping point. Go get something to eat while I take this, okay?"
Sayori did a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am!" As she heard Sayori dutifully run off, Monika picked up her phone.
"Hi, Natsuki!" Monika greeted her joyfully. "Baking going well?"
"H-hey, Monika," Natsuki stammered. "That's kinda what I needed to call you about."
An autumn breeze punctuated the statement, pushing against the phone's microphone and making itself known to both ends of the call. "Are you outside? I thought it was supposed to rain out..." Monika trailed off as she glanced to the outside that she could see, and indeed a windy downpour had begun. It was supposedly going to swirl into a storm very shortly.
"Well, yeah, but..." Natsuki trailed off herself now, realizing that Monika had most likely caught on that she was, in fact, currently outside for some reason. "I'm sorry for saving this for the last day, but, can I ask... what's everyone up to today?"
Monika thought the question innocent enough as she put a finger to her chin in thought. "Oh, me and Sayori are on a call together doing the flyers, and Yuri should be at her house doing the decorations," She punctuated the respective acquaintances and activities with slight flicks of the wrist of flexes of her fingers, talking with her hands out of habit rather than utility. "Why do you ask?"
Natsuki hummed, slightly irritable, although not directed at the other end of the call more than the situation. "I guess that doesn't narrow it down much... I figured I'd call you to ask who might be busy, but it seems everyone's available." She had three options, but it felt like infinite choices, and the creeping grouchiness from the bottled up feelings in her throat building made it much harder to think too clearly.
"May I ask why you wanted to know?" Monika inquired. "I'd love to help if I can!"
"..." Natsuki paused. "Well... I feel bad asking, but, I was hoping to borrow somebody else's kitchen today for the cupcakes." She sounded quite shy about asking, as if it was something embarrassing, the brunette on the other end noted mentally. "I didn't wanna bother everyone individually, y'know?"
Monika quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sure any of us would love to have you! Maybe it'll help to know who you're close to."
"Oh, uh..." Natsuki peered around her. "I'm at a corner with this cute little house on it. It's got a brick first floor, a tan-lookin' second floor..."
Before Natsuki could find more details to rattle out, Monika jumped up. "That sounds a lot like my place! Let me look out the window..."
She saw Natsuki standing out in the rain.
"Oh God, Natsuki, I can see you! You're right outside, come in."
"Are you sure I'm not-" was the sentence Natsuki started before the thunder erupted loudly, heard in tandem through both the phone and the walls by Monika, followed milliseconds later by a yelp from Natsuki.
"Natsuki?" Monika asked, slowly starting to take off the headset she still adorned, preparing mentally to get herself rained upon. She could see the scrawny silhouette outside jump in surprise, which had now in the moments since curled up into itself on the cold, hard ground, making the club president's heart pang just a touch more.
"I-I'm f-f-fine." Natsuki sobbed, words wavering like wind and waves and rocky river streams. The weight of much more than the rain pelted her, it seemed.
"I'm coming!"
Monika rushed out as fast as she could whilst scrambling out of her seat to unlock the front door, running towards the stairs, lanky limbs far less coordinated than she would usually think they ought to be. She couldn't quite help it, though. Something in her was bubbling; a protectiveness.
She ran out the door, sans any gear and certainly unprepared for the weather herself, towards her distressed friend. Feeling pressed for time, having left the door wide open, she unthinkingly scooped her up and darted back towards the house.
Natsuki instinctively buried herself into the grip, seeking comfort and shelter and warmth and the many suddenly pleasant sensations flooding her overwhelmed senses, overpowering the negative forces that had broken her down mere moments ago. She felt safe.
The rain didn't last longer, Natsuki a mere couple of feet from the door to Monika's. The fate was quite amusing, if cruel, Monika thought to herself. A thought quickly discarded, though, attending to the more pressing matters bundled up in her arms.
Making an executive decision, Monika went straight upstairs, her companion's face still buried in the crook of her neck, Monika thankful she started more intentionally working out for a situation such as this. They reached the bathroom, and the brunette set down her cargo.
"Ah, there we go." Monika sighed, only a small lilt in her voice as she sat down across from Natsuki to get a small reprieve before attending further to the both of them. "I'm gonna go tell Sayori we're gonna be a minute, so we can clean up, okay? I left her on a call."
"..."
Natsuki, for her part, had her head laid down in her arms, legs once again drawn to her chest. Her eyes met nothing but her own forearm. Monika looked at the display with pure care glowing in her emerald eyes.
Content that Natsuki would have heard her, she hoisted herself up and turned on the tub, before turning around and walking towards the door, until a gentle grip on the leg of her pajama pants caught her attention.
She turned, looking down with a mouth only slightly opened in surprise, to see Natsuki having shifted slightly, her other arm supporting her upper body now that she's pushed away from the wall, still on the tiled floor.
The silence in the moments before Natsuki spoke was filled with water; dripping off their skin and clothes, filling the tub, pelting the ground outside as it had them minutes earlier. But Natsuki, finally, didn't feel like she was drowning.
"Thanks."
Monika smiled, softly and genuinely. Natsuki loosened her grip on the wet garment, and Monika plodded soggily to her desk where her headset lay abandoned.
As Monika disappeared around the corner, Natsuki's senses returning to her, her face flushed further. "And don't tell Sayori about the carrying!" The smaller girl yelled as she angled herself towards the hall, a familiar manufactured anger tinged with genuine embarrassment plaguing it. "I won't hear the end of it!"