Chapter Text
"Geez Sayori, you already had two! Leave some for everyone else!"
It was the last school day before winter break. The literature club was in session, and Natsuki had brought celebratory cupcakes for everyone to share during their last club meeting before everyone went on holiday. She stood before Sayori, who was scarfing down her third cupcake of the day. Natsuki had her arms crossed and she glared at her companion with clear disapproval.
"But they're shooooo good," Sayori whined, her mouth full of cupcake.
"Ugh, look at you, you're getting it everywhere! Hold still." Natsuki's hand shot out to wipe a dollop of icing off of Sayori's chin with her thumb. Sayori giggled at the gesture.
When the giggly girl shamelessly reached for a fourth cupcake, Natsuki smacked her hand away.
"Nuh-uh," she admonished, "you already owe me for that third one. I brought two for everybody, and now somebody's got one less because you took more than your fair share."
"But he always lets me have his," Sayori objected, pointing to her childhood friend who was reading with Yuri in the corner of the room.
"'Cause he's a wimp," Natsuki muttered.
The pink-haired girl looked down at her cupcake tray. She'd decorated all of the cupcakes with Christmas-colored icing. It was the only real festive thing that she could do. After all, it's not like her father would let her celebrate the supposedly magical holiday like everyone else did. According to him, they had "neither the time nor the money for such ridiculous things".
Sayori, realizing that Natsuki had spaced out, moved fast - quickly grabbing a fourth cupcake from the tray and stuffing it into her mouth.
"Wha-!? HEY!!" Natsuki cried, her pink-eyed gaze immediately snapping back up to face the sweet-treat fiend that stood before her.
With a big smile, Sayori took off, weaving her way between desks to escape to the back of the room.
"You get back here!" Natsuki shouted, running after her.
"Monika! Monika!!" Sayori called out, quickly turning to hide behind her club president, who was sitting at a desk near the back window. The green-eyed woman set her pen down and looked up from whatever she was writing.
"What's going on here?" She asked, with barely contained amusement.
"Natsuki's chasing me!" Sayori complained, wiping the cupcake crumbs from her mouth with the back of her hand before pointing at Natsuki accusingly.
"She's stealing all of my cupcakes!!" The baker countered, staring daggers at Sayori.
"It's your fault for making them so delicious," Sayori snapped back. Her expression of faux annoyance only lasted four seconds before it broke into a huge smile that she couldn't suppress.
Monika watched the two girls' interaction with an awkward smile plastered on her face.
"Um, Sayori, just make sure you leave enough for our other club members, okay?" She finally spoke up. "Or... maybe just listen to Natsuki. They're her cupcakes, after all."
"Yeah!" Natsuki grinned triumphantly. Sayori's amused expression quickly shifted to an overdramatic pout.
"Awww, fine..." she sighed. "I admit defeat... you win!"
"Of course! I always win." Natsuki put her hands on her hips.
Half an hour later, after all of the cupcakes had been eaten and all of the club members shared their poems, the final literature club meeting before winter break came to a close. Sayori cheerfully walked up to Natsuki to bid her farewell.
"I'll see you after break, Natsuki!" She sang.
"You better have something for me by the time we get back," Natsuki huffed, staring up at the blue-eyed girl. "You owe me double for those stolen cupcakes."
"Oh, yeah! Ummm... what do you want?" Sayori asked.
Natsuki froze for a moment, her body stiffening. She looked away.
"Uh, I dunno," she admitted. "Something with effort put into it. Since I put a buncha effort into those cupcakes."
"Effort," Sayori whispered to herself, her eyes full of determination. "Like... like a baked good."
"Er- yeah," Natsuki mumbled, looking back up again. It took her a moment to recollect herself.
"But it's gotta be a good one. I don't want some gross crap you made by throwing random ingredients together. Got it?"
"Got it!" Sayori nodded. She smiled wide, bouncing on the tips of her toes with the energy of an overconfident scientist about to conduct a new experiment.
"Good. I'm holdin' ya to that." The pink-haired girl informed sternly.
"Wait." Sayori went still for a second, before letting out a huge gasp.
"What if you baked with me!?"
It was such an innocent suggestion, yet Natsuki's face immediately began heating up anyway.
"W-What!? Why would I do that!?" She stammered in shock.
"So I don't make gross crap!" Sayori giggled, quoting Natsuki's earlier description.
"I...! T-That's not the point! You're not supposed to have help! You're supposed to put all of the effort in yourself!!" The shorter girl objected.
"But it would be more fun to do it together!" The taller argued.
"N-No it wouldn't!"
"Yes it would!"
"It wouldn't!!"
"It would~!"
Natsuki sighed. "Look Sayori, I..." she bit her lip.
She had no reason to say no. Her father didn't care where she went, as long as she came back home by curfew, and she wasn't out partying or something else that was deemed "inappropriate". The only thing that prevented her from going was the fact that she didn't know Sayori's address.
"I can't have you over at my place, so..." she trailed off.
Sayori stood there blankly for a moment before catching on to what Natsuki was indirectly pushing her to suggest.
"You can come to mine!" She invited cheerfully, pulling her cell phone out from her blazer pocket. "I'll text you my address."
Natsuki sighed, the tension slowly seeping out of her small form.
"Alright, fine... I guess I could come over. Only because I know you're gonna screw it up if I'm not there to help you," Natsuki scoffed.
"Yeah! I won't screw it up if I have a pro by my side~!" Sayori looked down at her friend and gave her a cheeky wink.
Natsuki's temper flared at the teasing gesture, but it cooled back down again once she processed Sayori's words. She forced a proud smile onto her face.
"H-Hah! I'm glad you acknowledge my expertise."
"Maybe you can come over onnnnn... Sunday?" The ginger-haired girl suggested.
Natsuki's proud expression melted into a more awkward one. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
Despite her harsh words, Natsuki found herself looking forward to this strange meetup. Not that she'd ever let Sayori know that. She'd never let anyone know that.
"Yaay~! I'll see you then!" Sayori beamed, placing her phone back into her pocket.
"I guess so," was Natsuki's curt reply.
Sayori turned and merrily skipped toward the exit, going to rejoin her childhood friend who was waiting for her in the hallway. Natsuki watched them walk off together.
With a sigh, she trudged over to where her empty cupcake tray lay abandoned on the club's makeshift table in the front of the room, the one that was composed of several desks pushed together. She grabbed the tray and cleaned up any crumbs that had escaped onto the table.
She turned when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Have a good break, Natsuki," Monika smiled. Natsuki opened her mouth to respond, but Monika was already walking out the door.
"I will," she muttered to herself.
For some reason, she truly believed it.