Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 33: The Chuunibyou

"Man, I hate it when Mrs. Watanabe runs late!" Natsuki thought to herself as she hurried back to her locker to exchange her things. It was already getting close to time for the Literature Club meeting to begin, but she was running behind because her last class had extended past its scheduled time.

She hurriedly exchanged her textbooks for her poetry notebook and a copy of her favorite manga, shoving them into her school bag. Then she turned right back around and started making her way towards the nearest set of stairs.

"Did I grab the right notebook? I was planning on working on my winter poem today." Natsuki thought to herself, her breathing speeding up gradually as she made her way up the stairs.

However, her right foot caught on the last step, causing her to trip and fall on her knee right at the top of the steps. She let out a quick shriek as she awkwardly fell into a sideways sitting position, her things spilling out of her bag as she went down.

"Ah! Ow..." Natsuki whined a little to herself, hissing and clutching her knee. She growled under her breath and rubbed the reddish skin for a moment before turning and getting to her feet again.

"It appears that a mortal has tripped on the steps again. With no one else around, I suppose it falls on me to come to her aid. Goodness, are you alright, fair lady? Are you injured?" A girl with straight black hair and an eyepatch over one eye came over to check on Natsuki.

"Huh?" Natsuki looked up at her. "Uh...yeah, I'm alright. Just bumped my knee pretty hard." She said, rubbing her knee again before coming up the last step.

"I see. That looked quite painful. You must be very strong." She said with a nod.

"Um...thank you...?" Natsuki said slowly.

"Here. You dropped these...hold on...I recognize this text. Is this 'Parfait Girls'?" She asked, looking down at Natsuki's manga and recognizing the title right away. Natsuki's face immediately began to redden.

She'd never had someone recognize the title before.

"H-How do you know about Parfait Girls?!" They both asked at the same time. While both flustered, Nakanaka was the first to offer an answer to the question.

"I-I used to partake in it back when I was in middle school...o-of course, I grew out of it! I've moved on to more mature and complex types of stories as I've grown in wisdom and experience!" The dark haired girl explained, folding her arms in front of her.

"If you've read it, you know it's not actually that bad." Natsuki commented as she put the manga book back in her bag.

"Eh...well, I used to be the subject of ridicule because of my interest in it." She admitted.

"Yeah? Same, actually. People just look at the cover and think it's for kids." Natsuki said.

"Yes, precisely! But it's so much more than that! Ahem, erm, forgive me, I've been getting ahead of myself this entire time. How rash of me. What is your name?" The girl with the eyepatch asked now.

"I'm Natsuki. What's yours?" She asked.

"I have gone by many names throughout the centuries: Arsot Les Primavera, the dragon of the twilight, even the goddess of anti-matter. But to you, Natsuki, you may know me as Omoharu Nakanaka. Remember this name well." Nakanaka introduced herself.

"Uh...cool, nice to meet you, Nakanaka. Thanks." Natsuki again expressed her appreciation for Nakanaka coming to help her before sliding her poetry notebook back into her bag.

"Where are you off to, traveler? Are you sure that you will be able to complete your journey in your weakened state?" Nakanaka asked, gesturing to Natsuki's knee.