Archive of Our Own

Monika sighs to herself, as she sits down at the teacher's desk.

The festival ended in total disaster. She can still recall the faint reminder of what once was her positive outlook on the event. The desire to gain more members, to grow the club into something bigger than herself, and to introduce more people to the wonderful world of literature. While everyone else, aside from Sayori, wasn't entirely on board, they all tried their hardest, putting in clear efforts to make the literature club's festival feel special and unique. Monika couldn't be any more proud of them.

But then, why did things go south? Why did things happen the way they did?

Admittedly, it started with MC and Sayori being a few minutes later than the time that the group had originally agreed with, despite MC arriving earlier than everyone else at first. They both looked utterly exhausted upon their arrival. Monika didn't exactly know why this was the case, and although she wanted to try her best to solve the clear problem that plagued the two, she knew neither of them would talk to her about it at that moment. At the very least, MC ended up bringing the cupcakes that he and Natsuki baked together on Sunday.

This resulted in little time for the group to reorganize the room to accommodate for the cupcakes. Everyone had rushed around, shifting and turning the desks, and organizing the cupcakes and pamphlets. Even if the process was slightly rushed, the room ended up looking peaceful and beautiful, in Monika's eyes. The desks were organized in near perfect order, with a cupcake and pamphlet placed near the center of every desk. The banner was hung up near the back of the room, which wore the name of the club with pride and confidence. The scents that occupied the room made everything seem more relaxed, as if the room was a peaceful invitation to a place where friendship, learning, and experience could occur. This is no doubt thanks to Yuri’s strong and vast knowledge of atmosphere and decoration. It was something that Monika ended up thanking Yuri for afterwards.

The preparation of the festival was all of the good that came out of the experience, though. As everything started going awry the exact moment the students walked in. Most of them were freshmen, being incredibly loud, and slightly inconsiderate and unaware of their surroundings. Of course, Monika couldn't blame them. Just a few years ago, she acted exactly like them. That didn't mean she couldn't silently judge them with disapproval and disappointment.

After the students took their seats in the desks laid out for them, Monika would begin to introduce herself, as well as the rest of the club. Prior to the recitals starting, the club agreed that Sayori would present first, followed by MC, Natsuki, Yuri, and then Monika herself. This had seemed like a good strategy at first, as some people would only be there for Monika's performance. Sayori, despite the unusual unease and worry, did a wonderful job reciting, even if it was clear most of the students were only here for both the cupcakes and Monika herself. MC would go next, and would receive lukewarm reception after finishing his poem, despite him doing a fairly good performance, in Monika's opinion. However, it was around the closing of MC's poem when the students began growing impatient, chatting and throwing cupcake wrappers in order to pass time. Which caused Monika and Yuri to grimace, MC to be dejected and Sayori to look personally offended.

Things would further escalate with Natsuki, who, after witnessing everyone treating the event, and MC, with disrespect, gave everyone a piece of her mind. Exasperated when some of them began retorting back at her with insults and snarky remarks. It would blow into a big argument, one that would end up affecting Natsuki greatly. This resulted in Monika having to demand Natsuki to step outside, in order to “settle down”. This resulted in Natsuki's poem being skipped before she could even start. 

By this point, some of the students had begun to leave, getting their fill out of the free food and the argument. All of the stress and tension of the event began getting to Yuri, worsened by Natsuki’s leave. When it was her turn to perform, she tried to get into the same flow she was in during their rehearsals. Consistently, however, the students who were conversing would interrupt her. This made Yuri more and more quiet and meek as she continued, before abruptly ending the poem midway through, finding no more courage within herself to continue. Afterwards, she also exits the room, perhaps to go searching for Natsuki.

Monika was last, and at that point, wanted to finish the festival so that she could check up on the others. It was a good performance, even if it was slightly rushed because of Monika’s shift in priorities. After Monika had finished her poem, and the announcement regarding the whereabouts of the sign up sheet, almost nobody stayed behind to inquire about the club, or recite their own poems. The people who were willing to either only desperately wanted to talk to Monika, or were interested, but were afraid of doing so after what the festival brought. Despite some students in the festival showing interest, no new members actually joined that day, and she'd be surprised if anyone else did after the day of the festival

The events of the festival truly bothered her, and shattered some of her confidence. As she thought over the events of the day, someone would walk up to her. A small, slim figure in comparison to everyone else in the club, with pink hair and pigtails. She'd begin to speak to Monika, with her arms crossed.

“Hey, Monika?” Natsuki began to question.

“Hm? Oh, sorry, I was distracted. Ahaha-” Monika awkwardly laughed to herself, receiving a worried glance from Natsuki, who swiftly hid it away.

“It's fine. I just… wanted to check up on you. It might be just me, but it's sorta rare to see you thinking silently, like some sort of ancient philosopher or something.”

Monika looks down, now noticing that she had tried writing a poem when she sat at the desk. It didn't go anywhere, as her mind had once again forced her into a mental block. Her pen remained in the same spot on the piece of paper. Gathering a puddle of ink on the page. Natsuki would take notice.

“I'm guessing you're still hung up over the festival?” Natsuki furrowed her eyebrows.

“...Yeah. We all tried so hard, and yet, it's like… Nobody took us seriously. Like at all, and everyone who did were too afraid to join. It's… kind of disheartening, you know?”

Monika glances away from Natsuki, turning her attention to the others in the room. At that moment, Yuri, MC and Sayori were reading the same book, sitting under the windows, while leaning against the wall. It was a cloudy day outside, resulting in the clubroom being darker than usual, due to the lack of sunlight being present. Sayori held the novel in her hands, with MC and Yuri leaning towards her to read it. Occasionally, Sayori would attempt to begin a conversation, but it was otherwise silent and tense. It's clear that, much like her, everyone else in the room felt the tension and regret of the festival, and how it transpired.

Natsuki follows Monika's gaze, her expression softening when seeing everyone else. She hated that the club felt like this, and wanted things to go back to the way they were. She looks back at Monika, exhaling just before doing so. Natsuki walks closer, before arriving at the teacher's desk that Monika sat in. Yuri had spoken and comforted her over how the other students acted. While Yuri wasn't talking about the festival as a whole, Natsuki felt the same, simple logic could be applied for this situation, too. She puts her fists on her hips as she begins to speak.

“Listen. I get that the event stunk, and that everyone was being a total jerk about it! I’d know! But we have to move on from it at some point. Thinking about it probably just makes everything worse.”

“I know, but…” Monika started to speak. However, she is interrupted by Natsuki, who huffs loudly in order to cut Monika’s sentence off. 

“None of that! Honestly, we've been through a lot more personal stuff than that… So this should be nothing. Especially with how good you are at solving problems, and everything. So, get your head out of the clouds, and just… move on, okay? This festival crap isn't worth the trouble it’s bringing to everyone…” She more softly as she continued, a stark contrast to her loud and blunt attitude. 

Monika listens, growing a smile as she does so. Admittedly, with how Natsuki acts on most occasions, she almost forgot that Natsuki is wise in her own, unique way. Natsuki was right. Dwelling on the festival was only going to make moving forward much more complicated. As difficult as it was to move on, she needed to provide a good example for the rest of the club. So, if it meant pushing her thoughts about it away, then so be it.

Monika’s smile turns into a cheeky grin, which causes Natsuki to raise an eyebrow. She's about to speak, when Monika clears her throat, and gets the first words in.

“...No, you’re right, Natsuki. I'm worrying about something that has already happened. And it's not just me, considering, like… literally everyone else is worrying about it, too.” Monika puts the cap on her pen, before setting it down on the desk, beside the paper. “It’s funny, you've grown a lot since you first came here. With everything that's gone on lately, you have no idea how proud I am of you.”

Monika stands up, and begins walking to the center of the room, leaving Natsuki a bit stunned momentarily. She ends up shaking her head, and trailing behind Monika. Upon reaching the center, Monika rests a hand on her hip, and stops moving. Natsuki, meanwhile, walks past her, sitting at a desk when she reaches one. She looks at the trio near the wall, before looking back at Monika after a small delay.

“Okay, everyone!”

Monika’s iconic catchphrase catches the attention of everyone in the room. The trio sitting by the wall glanced up at her. In just a few short seconds, Sayori had jumped up to her feet, before handing the book back to Yuri. With Yuri herself following shortly after, the two girls make their way back to their desks. MC was a bit delayed in his reaction, staring off for a moment, before he stood up and began following the other girls. Monika continues to speak as the trio find their desks.

“To address the elephant in the room, I think we're all aware of how the festival went, right? I'd say it definitely didn't go as well as it could've.”

Monika looks at the others, Natsuki is listening, slightly disinterested, having moved on from the event herself. Yuri, upon hearing the topic, opens her book and tries distracting herself with her reading, fear and embarrassment is written on her face. MC’s usual blank expression had morphed into something more tired and saddened, as he crossed his arms to listen. Sayori’s smile wavered, giving into a slight sense of anxiety and worry. 

“You can say that again, ehehe…” Sayori presses her index fingers together, her tone leaking with the droplets from the rainclouds that poured inside her head.

“Right. But just because it went poorly, doesn't mean we have to let it affect us. Think of it like this; If we worry too much about the things that have already happened, we won't have enough time to think ahead, and see the positive times in our future! So, it's good to acknowledge that it happened, yes, but anything more than that isn't really good for you either, you know?”

The group glimpses at each other. While nobody notices her, Natsuki gives a swift thumbs up to Monika. MC and Sayori both glance at each other with worried expressions. Yuri shakes her head with slight frustration, before closing and resting her book down on the desk.

“I'm sorry, Monika, but the prospect of simply ignoring the embarrassment is unrealistic.”

“She isn't telling you to ignore it! She's just telling you to put your focus on something else.” Natsuki jumps in, while putting her hands on her desk.

“That's hardly-”

“I couldn't have said it better.” Monika smiles at Natsuki, before putting her gaze back on Yuri. “Listen, It'll take a while, but not focusing on the festival allows us to leave it behind us. It's just food for thought, okay?”

Yuri pauses momentarily, and contemplates opening her mouth to respond. However, the words get stuck in her throat, finding it difficult to articulate a response when she has no good arguments. Defeated, she resorts to a nod. Although she still looks slightly fearful, her embarrassment has clearly quelled after giving Monika's advice more thought.

“...I'll think about it.”

“Thanks, Yuri.”

With a warm smile, she turns her focus to Sayori and MC. Which startled the two childhood friends. There was a short period of silence, and just when Sayori was about to open her mouth to speak, MC quickly voices over her.

“We'll think about it, too. No promises, though.”

Sayori glances at MC, wearing a thankful expression. Monika isn't really sure why MC needed to speak over Sayori, since it's not in his nature to do so, or why Sayori looked thankful for him doing so. Monika, despite her sharp observations, was trying not to barge into problems that she had no involvement in. So, she lets go of her train of thought on the matter, trying to respect MC and Sayori's privacy.

“Good, I'm glad we're able to address that! Now that I have your attention for today, I didn't really expect anyone to make poems today, so we'll just continue with our free time until the end of the meeting, ahaha.”

“Did you forget yours, Monika?” MC says this in a monotone voice. Natsuki cackles upon hearing this.

“Oh my god! Monika? Forgetting to write her poem? The world must be ending, or something.” Natsuki exaggerated, putting a hand on her forehead as she dramatically leaned backwards.

“Ahaha, sorry, everyone, it looks like we only have a few hours left to live.” Monika giggles a bit to herself as she responds.

After a moment of Monika's giggling, Sayori joins the conversation.

“In her defense, I kinda forgot to write one too!”

“Heh, well, yeah, but it's totally different with her!” Natsuki responded almost immediately, still wearing a big smirk on her face.

“How so, if I can ask?” Yuri questioned, deciding that now was a good time to participate in this topic.

“Simple; she's Monika! You know? Same girl who's always on time, never misses anything, perfectionist at heart?”

“I suppose that makes more sense. Fufufu.”

“Oh no! Yuri and Natsuki are teaming up on you now!” Sayori playfully panicked.

“Don't worry, I'm not worried about-”

“Guys.” MC had cut off Monika, pointing to the door that led into the clubroom. “Do we usually have the door open?”

“That's- a good question. Did anyone forget to close it?” Monika peeks at everyone else in the clubroom. All of them shake their heads, which causes Monika to be surprised. She began wondering if she accidentally left it open while she was running late, when the door to the clubroom is pushed open a decent amount more. The club goes silent when they notice the door had been pushed, before Sayori yells out:

“Hello? You can come in!”

But nothing enters the room. Natsuk gets an idea from this, she checks behind herself, and grins to everyone else, before she stands up, huffing to herself as she begins making her way towards the door. Yuri desperately tries to persuade and gesture Natsuki to sit back down in her seat, but Natsuki ignores her. While the other three stare at her with slight curiosity and amusement.

“Alright, creep! If you don't come in here in the next few seconds, I swear-”

Natsuki's dramatic acting stops upon her reaching the door, interrupted by a large gasp exiting her mouth. There's a small pause, before she exits the room in a rush.

“Huh? What is it?!”

Sayori had popped out of her seat to follow Natsuki out of the room. Meanwhile, the remaining three club members looked between one another. MC was trying to observe the situation, but clearly, he was very conflicted. Yuri didn't fare much better, as her confusion was even more prominent. Monika, much like the two who left to give chase, was curious about who, or what, had opened the door further.

“What do you think they're going to find?” MC asked the two remaining girls.

“Hopefully, it wasn't a new member that was scared off because of Natsuki…” Yuri fiddles with her hair. The tension, at least to her, could be cut with a knife.

“I doubt it, we would've heard a knock, or footsteps, something.”

“I-I'm not sure that would be desirable, either. Because that would mean someone was lingering around the door for unknown reasons…”

MC sighs, rubbing his temples.

Whilst they chatted, Monika stood up, and slowly approached the door. Observing the area around it, in order to see if anything was left behind, or if there were any obvious signs of someone being around the area. Just as she was about to step outside, both Sayori and Natsuki came barging back into the classroom. Natsuki was holding something, and both of them were smiling widely. 

“Monika! Monika! Look at them! Aren't they so cute!?” Sayori spoke loudly. Barely being able to contain her burning rays of joy.

“What is?” Monika squints to see what's in Natsuki's hands. Sayori squeals excitedly as she begins skipping over to both MC and Yuri. Noticing Monika after she got close enough, Natsuki shifts her positioning to show Monika what she's holding in her arms. What Monika would see next would be something she never expected.

A small animal was held in Natsuki's arms, quickly revealed to be a cat upon closer inspection of the face and body. The cat is small, being around 6 inches tall, presumably. It appeared no older than 2 months, and seemed to be an American Shorthair, a common cat breed found within their country. It also had dilated, amber eyes, with more grey fur than black. 

Quite frankly, Monika was shocked at what she was seeing. She didn't know how a quick trip to find what or who pushed open the door could turn into the both of them finding a kitten, in the school, no less. Which prompted even more questions inside her head, ones she wanted to pick off, like an investigator at a crime scene. Burning questions, like how the cat got inside the building in the first place?

As she thought more, Natsuki smirked, noticing Monika's intense, thoughtful expression. She opens her mouth to say a snarky comment in relation to it, however, Sayori, Yuri and MC make it back over before Natsuki can talk. Yuri and MC peek over at the kitten, seeing it for the first time.

“I'd… say it's pretty cute.” MC states, having hesitated slightly, and Yuri nods in agreement.

“I know, right!? At first, I thought it was a pervert at the door, or something! But then I saw this little guy sitting in the hallway. It started to run when Sayori arrived, of course, but I swear, girl, you can run like a track star…” Natsuki tilts her head to look at Sayori.

“Ehehe, I get really excited when cute kitties are involved…” She pokes her index fingers together as she speaks. “But it was really scared of us, so me and Natsuki took a minute to get it to calm down, before carrying it back here!” MC snorts at the comment, and Sayori shoots him an offended glance. “Hey, that's mean!”

“Sorry.” MC apologized. “It's just that… It getting scared is really...” MC trails off, however, Sayori seemed to understand what he was trying to say. She just nods in response.

“Preferably, I'd… I would like to know how it got inside the building, and how it was able to push our clubroom door open…” Yuri mentions. Monika looks at Yuri, and nods vigorously, as those were the same questions that were at the forefront of her mind. The school is usually very dead at this time, with only club members and teachers remaining to either enter or leave the building.

The cat continues to stare at the group, clearly, it is a bit scared. However, it seems comfortable enough in Natsuki's arms. As the group discusses, Monika walks over to the door, and closes it, returning to the group as Natsuki spoke.

“Well, I think that it probably snuck inside while someone was leaving. It must have been here for a while, since it wasn't hiding in a corner when we found it.” Natsuki continues as she walks closer to Yuri. “As for the door, it was probably already open a bit before it pushed it.”

“I suppose that makes sense… That makes me surprised that nobody has noticed it, then.” Yuri inhales as Natsuki stands directly in front of her. She pauses, before her expression shifts into skepticism. “...What are you doing?”

“Giving this kitten to you to hold, pretty simple.”

“A-ah, I couldn't- I-I'd-”

“Oh my god, relax, Yuri!” Natsuki barks out a laugh. “It's just a kitten, it's not like you'll crush it by holding it.”

“We don't know that for certain-” Yuri begins to speak, however, is interrupted when Natsuki begins handing the kitten to her. She fumbles with her hands, as she instinctively grabs the kitten from Natsuki, and holds it close to herself. Yuri looks at it, and it looks back at her. Natsuki stands there, proudly

“See, it doesn't… scratch, Yuri.” MC adds, with an unsure tone, as he walks over, and stands beside Natsuki.

Monika giggles as she views the sight of Yuri and the kitten. Sayori happily skips over to her, before spinning in a circle. Clearly, the kitten has effectively lifted her spirits. After she stops spinning, she looks over to Monika.

“I still can't believe we have a kitty in the club now!” Sayori excitedly bounces in place.

“Same here. Though, we should probably find out where its home is after the club meeting...” Monika begins, however, stops upon Sayori’s pouting. “...We can't keep the kitten, Sayori, as much as I want to, ahaha~”

“Hm…” Sayori rubs her chin, most likely thinking of a cunning plan for the literature club to somehow acquire this cat. However, before Sayori can get that far with her thoughts, Monika interrupts her.

“Here, how about this: We can take a trip down to the vet to see if the kitten is fixed or chipped after the club meeting. If they are, then we'll return them to their home. If not, then we can decide what to do with them after.”

“Oh! That sounds good to me! But we should name it!”

“...Really?” Monika sweats a bit.

“Mhm!” Sayori nods excitedly.

“I already called dibs on naming it, though!” Natsuki proudly mentions as she returns to the group, MC walks beside her, with his hands in his pockets.

“Wait! No you didn't!” Sayori panics a bit.

“I totally did.”

“But I thought I called dibs…”

“I think that we should all get a say in its name.” MC voices his opinion, before glancing at Natsuki. “Besides, I'm not sure if leaving something to be named by Natsuki is the greatest idea.”

“W-what’s THAT supposed to mean!?” Natsuki sputters.

“Nothing.” MC pivots, knowing full well he'll feel her wrath if he doesn't. “What do you think, Monika?”

“Well, I think all of us getting a say in its name is a great idea! Even if we return it to its owner, we'll still have something to call it by. Plus, it makes for a great club activity for today!” Monika nods to herself.

“Yeah! It's going to be so awesome! Oh! How about we take 5 minutes to write one down, and then vote on which one sounds best!?” Sayori says, brimming with excitement.

“That sounds like a great idea!”

“Doesn't sound half bad, honestly.” Natsuki grins. “But I'm still totally going to win.”

“Ehehe, if you say so~” Sayori says playfully. 

“I know so!”

“...Wait, do we even know if the cat's a boy or a girl?” MC asks this. Apparently, it was something that both Sayori and Natsuki had failed to consider. Because both of them look at MC, then at each other, and then at Monika. As if Monika was dangling the answer to their question in front of their faces. Monika laughs a bit as Yuri, who had been standing there for a while, answers in her place.

“The kitten is female.” Yuri states, and doesn't elaborate further.

“...I guess that answers that.” MC shrugs with his shoulders. Inching slightly away from Yuri. Or was it the cat?

“Sweet! I guess we'll be coming up with names for her, then.” Natsuki crosses her arms, with a grin.

“Even after the cat joined, I'm still the only guy here.” MC sighs.

“You say that like you don't like that fact, dork.”

“I just found it funny, that's all.” MC weakly defends himself, with a small smile on his face.

“Okay, everyone!” Monika clasps her hands, getting the attention of the room once again. “If that's the case, let's go to our desks, grab out a slip of paper, and try to come up with the best names we can. After the 5 minutes are up…” Monika holds up her phone, which seems to show a timer that has yet to be started. “...Everyone will circle their best name, and then put their piece of paper in a pile on the teacher's desk. I'll write the circled options out on the chalkboard, and from there, we'll do a raise of hands on how many people like the name! Whichever gets the most votes, wins. Or something like that.”

“We're not going to be allowed to vote for our own, is that correct?” Yuri asks. The cat responds with a meow, which gets Sayori to giggle, and Natsuki to smile and snort.

“Ahaha, that would probably make the vote a tie. So, yes, we'll be voting for the ones that aren't our own.”

“I see.” Yuri quiets down, returning deep into thought. 

“Sounds like a good plan, as usual.” Natsuki comments.

“C'mon Yuri! We can do the thinking at our desks!” Sayori cheers as she rushes back to her desk. Everyone else follows shortly after, going to their respective desks. Yuri, upon reaching hers, decided to set the kitten down in order for her to properly explore the room.

The cat, moments after she is placed down on the floor, begins to explore the classroom with curiosity, making her way over to the other club members as they begin to write down, or think up some names for her. Almost immediately, she decides to visit MC, who was somewhat mindlessly jotting down random, female cat names on a piece of paper he had torn from his notebook.

At first, MC didn't notice her, which didn't last long, as she quickly brushed up against his leg to get him to notice her. He would stiffen from the sudden contact of the feline, and would look down at her, almost looking a bit fearful. He tilts his head back up for a moment, before he stares back at his paper, continuing to write. Hoping the cat would simply just leave him alone after ignoring her.

But the cat never left, rather, she continued brushing herself against his leg. The more time passed, the more distracted he became, to the point where he couldn't find it in himself to write.

“Aw, MC, it looks like she really likes you!” Sayori notices, having gotten preoccupied by observing the situation that MC found himself in. MC turns his attention to Sayori after hearing her speak, and shoots her an almost pleading glance. Upon seeing his expression, she sighs, and gives him a saddened smile. “There's no reason to be afraid of her…” She mentions quietly.

“Sayori, please, just help me.” MC whispers with a twinge of desperation.

“Ok, on it.” With a quick exhale, Sayori tries to get the cat's attention. Which succeeds, as the cat becomes distracted by her calling, walking over to her. When the cat moves, MC exhales out of relief, and mouths ‘thank you’ to Sayori with a great amount of appreciation in his expression. This causes Sayori to gain a slight blush, however, she nods, and looks back down at the cat. Who is now near her. 

Sayori begins to excitedly pet the cat after she gets close enough. Resulting in her getting completely distracted from the task at hand. As she pets her, she begins to giggle uncontrollably, more so when the kitten begins moving itself into Sayori’s hand, in order to reinforce that it wanted to be pet by her. Joy radiated off of Sayori, and the cat was clearly loving this.

“Aw, are you a good kitty? Who's a good kitty? You are!” Sayori giggles as she proceeds using her second hand to suffocate the kitten with attention. Not that the cat seemed to mind, as she was purring incredibly loudly, which caused Sayori to adore her even more than she did already.

Natsuki, at this point, had also gotten her attention diverted by Sayori and the kitten. With a huff, she glimpses at Sayori.

“Look, Sayori, you can pet her and giggle about it after everyone is done. But to be honest, it's starting to get kind of hard to focus…”

“Oh! Sorry… Ehehe…” Sayori gains a bit of guilt as she stops petting the cat, returning to the mission of writing down names for her. She gives the kitten a little wave, before focusing once again.

After Sayori's obvious display of affection, the cat continued walking around the classroom, with her now being a lot more comfortable. She finds herself walking towards Natsuki, who is both the closest in relation to Sayori, aside from MC, and the one who had last spoken last. She approached Natsuki, before sitting down beside her. Looking at her.

Natsuki, noticing the kitten from the corner of her eyes, looks towards her, curious as to what the kitten would decide to do next. The kitten didn't move an inch, and rather continued to stare at Natsuki. Natsuki herself stared back at her for a few seconds, before talking to her. 

“Yeah?” Natsuki questioned, acting as if the cat was trying to ask her for something. However, the cat didn't respond, and simply continued to stare. After a while, Natsuki sighed, stood up from her seat, and carefully approached the kitten. The kitten continued to stand as still as a statue, staring at her. Upon getting close enough, Natsuki went to pet her with anticipation. When suddenly, the kitten playfully bit her hand, as if it were a really convincing cat toy.

Natsuki yelped, before her demeanor changed. She saw this as a challenge; there was no world where this tiny kitten would or could get away with that. So, Natsuki began playing with her, crouching on the floor, while using her hand to attempt to lightly tickle the kitten. Which would try and combat her hand using its paws.

This small game would go on for a few seconds, before a light giggle could be heard from behind the both of them. Nastuki perked her head up upon hearing it, and glanced towards the direction of the noise, which was revealed to be Yuri. Natsuki, realizing she might be sounding like a fool in front of everyone, especially Yuri, decides to quickly distance herself from the kitten. Going back to her desk, and by extension, back to writing down names. With her face now flushed from the fact that Yuri, and the others, might have witnessed her playing with the kitten without a care in the world. 

The cat stares at Natsuki, anticipating more play, but gets disinterested after Natsuki doesn't return. The cat continued to wander around the classroom with curiosity, as everyone continued to write. 

Eventually, the kitten had managed to reach Monika, who was sitting down at the teacher's desk. Monika hadn't noticed her, as she was too busy trying to pick out a name from the list she had managed to gather. The kitten would stare at Monika, meowing in order to grab her attention, which prompted a small ‘aw’ from Sayori. However, Monika was still far too focused.

The kitten, not finding this satisfactory, would slightly crouch, waiting a few seconds before jumping up onto Monika’s lap, and then onto the teacher's desk. Monika was startled by this, her train of thought broke like someone cracking the shell of an egg. She glanced over to the kitten, her pen still in hand.

“Ahaha, sorry, but you're going to have to move off, you know.” She spoke softly, and quietly to the kitten. Despite her words, she seemed fairly amused by the presence of the kitten. 

The kitten wandered around, as if she owned the very desk Monika was using to write on. At first, she would crouch, and then sniff around, as she tried to find the sources of the various scents that surrounded the desk. After satisfying her sense of smell, the kitten would then try and brush its cheek against anything it could find.

Monika couldn't help but laugh, as she sat down her pen, and grabbed onto a stack of books to prevent them from falling after being brushed by the kitten’s cheek. She decided to give the kitten her attention, by petting her head. Resulting in a small, quiet purr coming from the kitten. After a few seconds, Monika would carefully grab the kitten, and slowly set her paws back on the ground. The kitten had gotten the message, as it wandered away from the teacher’s desk.

The final member of the club that it hasn't visited was Yuri, who seemed to be nose deep into a book after having finished her list of names for the kitten. Much like Monika, Yuri was far too preoccupied to give the cat her attention. However, the kitten was also getting incredibly tired. No doubt from the exciting day it had.

So, it crouched once more, before hopping onto Yuri’s lap, which caused Yuri to yelp quietly. Yuri diverts her attention to the kitten, watching her with intrigue. Instead of jumping onto Yuri’s desk from her lap like she did with Monika, she simply shifted, and began kneading on her lap. Yuri continued to stare blankly as the kitten did this. After she was done kneading, the kitten curled up into a ball, whilst still on Yuri’s lap, and closed her eyes.

Yuri was completely taken off guard by the kitten’s sudden commitment to sleeping on her lap. She had suddenly lost the drive to move, as it would awaken the kitten from the slumber that she just started. She decided to fold her list, and set it back down on her desk. Looking around to see if anyone else was done. As she glanced around the room, Monika stood up from the teacher's desk, and cleared her throat.

“Okay everyone, that was 5 minutes!” Monika said, her voice carried authority, yet a warm, welcoming tone. “I managed to shut off the timer before it hit zero.”

“Of course you did.” Natsuki smirked at Monika.

“Oh, hush. Anyway, come and hand your lists over to me, and I'll begin jotting the name you chose down on the chalkboard.” Monika began to scan the room, with a welcoming smile on her face. The sight of her club members together, working in this very room, never failed to bring her warmth.

“Okay! Here-” Sayori began while picking up her list from her desk. That was, before she spots Yuri and her very obvious predicament. “-Oh my gosh! That's so cute, Yuri!”

Yuri deeply blushed, fiddling with her hair as she remained seated, being unable to bring herself to stand up, and having to wake the cat. MC noticed, and slightly smiled to himself, while Natsuki herself was preoccupied with double checking her choice of name. Sayori seemed to get the memo, however, as she took Yuri's folded list off of her desk 

“I'll give this to Monika for you!” Sayori added.

“Thank you, S-sayori…” Yuri's blush began to wash away after the sudden embarrassment of the situation disappeared.

Everyone else had also stood up along with Sayori, with Natsuki having grabbed her own list and confidently walking towards Monika, while MC had grabbed his list, keeping it close to his chest as he cautiously traveled towards Monika. The both of them handed their lists to Monika first, before Sayori arrived shortly after, gifting her and Yuri's list to her as well.

“Thanks, everyone.” Monika said with gratitude. She gathered the 5 lists, before gracefully making her way over to the chalkboard. “Now, let's see our five options, shall we?”

Everyone, say for Monika, is back to being seated at their desks. Waiting for Monika to write, with either excitement or contentment. Retaining her smile, Monika grabbed a piece of chalk resting at the platform of the chalkboard, and began to write the circled names she saw on the lists onto the chalkboard:

‘Sakura’.

‘Haru’ 

‘Akio’

‘Katsumi’

‘Mizuki’

After Monika finished writing the last name on the chalkboard, she turned to face the club members. She gave them a few seconds to think over the choices presented to them on the board. With a large smile, she taps the chalkboard with the chalk still in her hands.

“Alright, remember, when we vote, make sure not to vote for the name you wrote down, okay? And I'll be voting only if there's a tie that needs to be broken, okay?”

Everyone agreed, with varying amounts of enthusiasm.

“Then let's start with Sakura.”

Yuri raises her hand, only to find herself the only one voting for the name. With a hint of surprise, and meekness, she slowly lowers her hand back down. Personally, she thought that Sakura was a great name, so it surprised her to see nobody else agreeing. She looks at the kitten, who is still asleep on her lap, as she remains deep in thought about her opinion. Monika marks down a tick beside Sakura after seeing Yuri vote for it. This causes Sayori to smile.

“Now, how about Haru?” Monika asks, turning back around to observe her fellow club members. Both Sayori and Natsuki raise their hands. After they do so, they peek at each other with surprise. Before nodding, and looking back at Monika. Monika, letting a slight giggle escape her mouth, marks down two ticks beside the name. MC himself looks fairly dumbfounded, but hides his expression quickly after noticing Monika gazing at him.

“It looks to me like everyone made their choice. What were you going to choose, MC?”

“Personally, I liked Akio. So I probably would've gone with that.” MC chuckles a bit, before giving a relaxed shrug. Natsuki's expression lightens up a bit.

“Ahaha, and I would've chosen Katsumi.” Monika mentions, which causes Yuri to snap out of her train of thought, and look at Monika. “In that case, congratulations, MC, her name is now Haru!”

“Woah, that name was by you, MC?!” Sayori looks at him, beaming. “I didn't know you could come up with really good names!”

“About time he finally had a good idea.” Natsuki teases. MC scratches the back of his head, thanking Sayori sheepishly, before chuckling while turning his attention to Natsuki. While the three continued to make conversation, Yuri took a few seconds to gather her thoughts.

“If I can ask, who decided on the other options, then?” Yuri shyly looks back up at Monika.

“Oh! I almost forgot to tell you guys. But as for who came up with the other names, Sakura was Sayori's idea, Akio was Natsuki's, Katsumi's was Yuri's and Mizuki was mine. It feels weird being the only one that wasn't voted for, ahaha~” Monika laughs with slight awkwardness.

“Aw, Monika! Mizuki was a really good name, I promise! I just really liked Haru as a name, that's all.” Sayori adds, while true, she said it more so to make Monika feel better. 

“I know, thanks, Sayori.”

“Yours was very pleasant as well, Sayori. Though, the concept of Sakura being your idea for a name shouldn't surprise me.” Yuri nods to herself, saying this with full confidence.

“Can't we just say that everyone had good names, and call it there?” Natsuki interjected.

“Good thinking. In that case…” Monika pointed over to Yuri's lap, where the kitten, now named Haru, laid. “Welcome Haru to the club, everyone! Quietly, so that we don't wake her up.”

The group decides to clap, in order to celebrate. With enough softness to not wake her up. After the quiet round of applause towards Haru, Natsuki decides to check her phone, and raises her eyebrows upon seeing the time.

“Crap, club is over already?” Natsuki looks over at Monika.

“It is?” Natsuki showed Monika her phone. “Oh wow, It really is. Okay, everyone! That concludes our meeting then. I hope everyone remembers to make a poem for tomorrow. Me and Sayori will see whether Haru has already been chipped or not. But if not, I'll take care of her for the night, and we'll see what to do from there.”

Natsuki quickly packed up her things. “Awesome, sounds like a plan, prez. If that's everything, I'll see you all tomorrow!” She waves as she opens the door, and then exits the classroom, a bit hurriedly. Meanwhile, Yuri exhales, while picking Haru up and carrying her, which wakes up the kitten from her slumber. Yuri then walks over to Monika, feeling more comfortable with carrying the kitten.

“Here, Monika.” Yuri says quietly, passing Haru onto Monika's hands. Monika holds her carefully after being given her. “Although I would like to accompany you and Sayori, I… would prefer some time alone this evening to think over yesterday, and how to properly move forward.”

“That's okay, Yuri. I completely understand where you're coming from, you know.” Monika smiles, and Sayori giggles a bit from behind.

“Yeah! Me too! Have a great night, Yuri!” Sayori adds.

“Thank you both. Goodbye, you three.” Yuri timidly waves, before exiting the classroom herself. Her expression shifted into one of contemplation as she passed through the now open door.

The two girls glance over at MC, who had completely zoned out while staring at the wall. Sayori looks at Monika with a hint of concern, before walking over to MC, getting directly in his line of sight.

“MC?” She begins to say, however, just that alone snaps MC out of his trance. He blinks, glancing around himself.

“Huh, is the meeting over already?” MC questions, looking around the clubroom from left to right.

“It ended a minute ago, you really need to stop spacing out, silly…” Sayori frowns, before remembering what she wanted to talk about. “Oh! Right, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me and Monika to the clinic? We're going to check to see if Haru is already chipped!” 

MC glances at Haru, and looks at her for a few seconds. Haru returned his gaze with one of her own, along with a tiny meow. Which causes Monika to smile. Hesitantly, MC looks back over to Sayori, and stares at her momentarily.

“...Why not?” MC accepts, with a small smile. Sayori gasps excitedly, before grabbing his arm, dragging him out of the desk, and over to Monika. MC had to regain his balance as Sayori dragged him, complaining about her strength as Sayori pulled him over.

“Okay! MC's coming with us, Monika!” Sayori stated, with a wide, joyous grin.

“That's great! In that case, let's get going, you two.” Monika turns around, and begins to hum to herself, still carrying Haru in her arms, as if the kitten was a child. MC and Sayori trailed behind Monika, chatting with one another. Shortly joined by Monika, after hearing the conversation between the two. The trio would proceed to exit the clubroom, with Haru still in Monika’s arms. 

Before the trio could walk any further, MC would remember something. He turned around, rushed back to the door, and closed it. Before catching back up to the girls, who had paused when he departed to close the door. Leaving the events of yesterday's festival behind in the closed classroom. 

Despite the trouble that had occurred the day prior, Monika felt as if this would be the start of something new. She didn't know how to explain the feeling she had, but it was one of overwhelming hope and positivity.

…Maybe writing it down in a poem would help with that.