Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 6: The Concern

Another day of school came and went by as normal, or at least what passes for normal in Itan High: Komi's school. The usual antics came to a close and, after making some plans with her friends in class, made her way up the stairs so she could be present for today's Literature Club meeting.

As she approached the classroom door, she found that it was already open, so she walked right inside.

"Hey, Komi! Punctual as usual, I see." Monika greeted her pleasantly as she came into the room. Komi nodded her head then pulled out her notebook.

"It's the start of a new week. I'm excited." She wrote. Monika hummed and nodded in agreement.

"Mhmm. Yeah! Glad to hear it."

"Good morning, Komi," Yuri, who was already in the room standing at the back table, turned around to greet her. "I took the liberty of preparing tea ahead of time today. Would you like some?" She offered.

"We're here!" Sayori called out before Komi could answer. She and Natsuki entered the room together.

"Bright aaand early!" Natsuki added with a beaming smile.

"Haha, you two are in a good mood." Monika observed.

"Yep! I was on time and got all my homework done already!" Sayori stated proudly, pressing her fists on her hips in a triumphant manner.

"And I'm just in a good mood in general." Natsuki said with a shrug before imitating Sayori's stance. This made Monika laugh.

Meanwhile, Komi turned her attention back to Yuri, who looked back at her. The two of them began to fidget nervously; they were still unsure of what to say to one another, even after establishing themselves as friends. It was a conundrum that both of them were familiar with but still didn't the solution to.

"I'll help you serve the tea." Komi finally offered to break the tension.

"Oh yes! Let's do that! Thank you!" Yuri said appreciatively.

The two of them quickly scurried to the back of the classroom. Komi assisted Yuri in carefully pouring the tea into cups for everyone. As Komi watched Yuri pour, she held the cups steady in place. Because she was focused on this, she didn't notice that Yuri was looking at her while deeply thinking about what to say next.

"Are you excited to begin the new book?" She asked. Komi's head perked up at the question.

"Mhmm!" She answered with a hum and a quick nod.

"Me too. I'm not familiar with this author's work, but I did some research, and the reviews I found were positive. It seems that people like this particular series for its vivid imagery using simple language." She described.

Yuri hummed again to express her interest, nodding her head and picking up two of the cups of tea. She brought them over to Sayori and Natsuki. Yuri brought two cups over, walking up to Monika and handing her one. Then she handed the other to Komi before going back to the back of the room to get her own.

"Thank you, Yuri. Okay, everyone! Let's convene for just a few minutes. Does anyone already have plans today?" She asked.

Komi nodded yes, but Monika didn't seem to notice her. She looked around nervously for her notebook, but that's when she realized that she had left it on top of another desk. Thankfully, Yuri came to her rescue.

"Komi and I are actually going to be reading a book today. We've picked out something to start together." Yuri explained.

"Oh, that sounds exciting! That's great!" Sayori exclaimed.

"Awesome. Well in that case, today will just be a free reading day. However, before we all get started with that, I have one quick announcement that I need to share with the group." Monika brought up.

"Huh? Announcement? What's up?" Natsuki asked.

"Oh, nothing haha. I just wanted to let you guys know that since we weren't able to share poems last week, we'll be doing it at the end of this week. So you'll all still be able to share what you prepared." Monika explained with a smile.

"Oh, awesome! I was really bummed out that I couldn't share. I'm super proud of this last poem I did!" Sayori said.

"Well, you'll get your chance at the end of this week." Monika said with a giggle.

"Boooo. That's a long wait." Sayori pouted at this.

Komi's eyes widened, and her anxious thoughts caused her to start tuning out the girls' conversation. She realized that since the club would be sharing poems at the end of the week, they likely expected her to have something prepared as well...

She had no idea how to write a poem.

"Haha, well anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Meeting adjourned." Monika said with a giggle, pretending to pound a gavel.

"Thank you. Well, Komi, are you ready to begin the book?" Yuri asked, turning to look at her.

"Hmm? Mm. Mhmm!" Komi nodded her head quickly.

Yuri brought her desk up next to Komi's. She sat down and pulled her copy of the book out of her backpack. Komi did the same, placing the book down in front of her. She cracked it open and turned to the first page. Yuri did the same.

"I tend to read quickly, but don't worry. I'll be happy to wait for you if you need me to." Yuri said.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded again before looking down at the first page of the first chapter. She took in a breath and began reading...

But she couldn't focus on the words at all. Her mind was drifting back to her anxiety about writing a poem, as well as the expectations that would no doubt be placed on her by the other girls. She didn't want to disappoint them, but how could she not when she was so knew to this?

"Um...Komi. Are you alright?" Yuri asked, looking at her, "You haven't...gone past the first page. Er, not that I'm rushing you or anything!" She quickly said.

Komi flinched a little before shifting awkwardly. She looked down at the book again, hesitating before closing it. She reached for her notebook and started to write in it,

"How do you write a poem?" She asked bluntly.

"O-Oh. Is that what you're thinking about?" She asked. Komi nodded and wrote once more.

"I've never written a poem before."

"Right! I do recall you saying that before. I can understand why you may be intimidated by it. After all, there's so many different facets that come with writing a poem from the topic to the style, patterns and rhythms and rhyme schemes, not to mention the structure itself can affect the message or the impact of said message." Yuri reasoned.

Komi stared at her blankly, understanding very little of what she was saying. Finally, she just wrote: "I need help."

"Ah, well, I'm not sure how much help I would be. I have a tendency to ramble in my explanations, clearly," Yuri blushed meekly. "Um...Sayori! Could you come here for a moment?" She requested.

"Sure!" Sayori immediately answered. She climbed out of her desk and trotted right over, crouching down by their desks, "What's up?" She asked.

"Komi seems to be nervous about sharing poems at the end of the week. She would like some help." Yuri explained.

"Oh! Yeah, I'd be happy to help!" Sayori replied cheerfully.

"Thank you! I've never written a poem before." Komi wrote her thanks above her sentence about never writing a poem before. Sayori nodded in understanding.

"Of course! And hey, you know what the best part about that is? It is so easy to get started!" Sayori said.

"Really?"

"Yeah! A poem can be anything you want it to be! You can write about anything you want. You don't really have to worry about structures or anything like that. The most important thing is that you write from the heart." Sayori said sincerely.

This piece of advice left Komi conflicted. On the one hand, she understood that Sayori was trying to relieve her concerns about writing a 'proper' poem. But on the other hand, she still had no idea where to start, so it really didn't help much.

"Thank you. I will try to keep that in mind." Komi finally wrote...