Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

The Absent Part 9

Stupid! Stupid!

Those words cycled through Natsuki's head as she ran and ran.

Where was she running too? Should she have run at all? Neither of these questions did anything to stop her. Even her pounding heart heating up from the exertion was enough to stop her.

However, just when it seemed nothing would stop her, her frantic escape came to a screeching halt thanks to a sizable puddle of water.

As she was picking herself up, Natsuki had finally come to realize it was raining. The weather itself was against her now.

"Now what?"

She needed a place to stay. At the very least, there had to be a viable spot for her to weather out the increasingly violent storm.

Some ideas came to mind, but she knew that there was no way she could realistically expect to just show up out of the blue.

Recognizing this, she knew she had only one option left.

She once again started running, braving the antagonistic weather on her way to her new destination. The heavy rain along accompanying the wind slamming against her face seemed almost personal.

I hope it'll be good enough.

This singular thought provided Natsuki with enough strength until she finally reached her goal.

Sighs of relief were mixed in with her heavy breathing as she entered aging old school building residing beside its contemporary counterpart with sound.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea..."

Though the building provided shelter, there was nothing there that could counter the nearly freezing temperature. Fortunately, she had just the thing right in her backpack.

"Of all the times to forget to pack it...!"

Natsuki threw her bag on the ground, berating herself for forgetting to bring a blanket. She turned around to leave in a huff, only to for the sight of millions of raindrops forming a torrent of water serving to remind her of why she sought shelter in the first place.

"This used to be a part of the school. There has to be something here," she rationalized.

That was how her search began. She scoured the building from bottom to top, but something as simple as a blanket never materialized.

"Great. Guessed, they must have cleared all that kind of stuff out of here."

All seemed lost until she heard something flapping in the wind. Behind her was a sizable curtain hanging off a singular hook. Upon closer inspection, she noticed there was a sizable hole in it.

"Oh well."

She snagged the curtain from the hook and brought it over to a nearby couch. Looking around closer, she realized the room looked like it was made for rest and relaxation.

Wonder if this was the teacher's old break room or something.

With a bored shrug, Natsuki laid across the couch and pulled the curtain over her. As she had feared, it did very little to shield her from the cold.

But there was no other option. This was the best she could scrounge up and she knew had to deal with it for the night.

"Guess it still beats sleeping by the stream..."

She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep as soon as possible. Afterall, the sooner she fell under, the sooner the day could finally end.

But just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard footsteps. They already sounded nearby and were rapidly approaching her current location.