Shinji Nakama is not from this world, he's from a world ravaged from an event known as the incursion, where his world crashed and then merged with another, causing his normal life to take a turn.
WARNING: THIS GETS DARK QUICK
Shinji and Sayori did eventually get to school that morning, albeit a few hours late. The two parted ways as Shinji quickly discarded the noose he took from Sayori's house. The rest of the day played out as normal as it could be. But when Shinji arrived to the Literature Club, Sayori was back to her cheerful self as if nothing had happened earlier that morning.
Shinji went to take a seat at a desk away from everyone else, however Monika quickly walked over to greet him, "Hey Shinji, glad to see you didn't run away on us,"
Shinji just looked up at her and didn't say a word, he was socially drained from earlier's events, then Yuri walked up to Shinji as well.
"So much for keeping my distance," Shinji thought to himself.
"Thank you for staying with us Shinji, I hope this commitment isn't too overwhelming for you," Yuri thanks Shinji for sticking around, a soft smile on her face.
Shinji couldn't look at Yuri, something about her appearance doesn't sit right with him, he just couldn't figure out why.
And as if they were falling like dominos, Natsuki followed suit, they were surrounding him at this point, "As if he deserves any slack! Sayori told me he didn't even want to join any clubs this year,"
Shinji just peered over at Sayori, who had a psuedo innocent smile on her face as she too, began to walk over to the rest of the group. "It's like I'm a magnet or something," Shinji thought once more.
Natsuki continued nagging Shinji, "If you don't take us seriously, then you won't hear the end of it!"
"It feels like I already am," Shinji thought to himself, letting out an audible sigh.
"Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who leaves their manga collection in the clubroom," Monika stepped in and stopped Natsuki from contuining to nag Shinji.
Natsuki then stutters, finding herself stuck between saying Monika and Manga. "Manga is literature!" she cried out.
Swiftly defeated, Natsuki plops down in a nearby desk.
"Don't worry guys, Shinji's the best when he's having fun, he's always helping me with busy work all the time without me asking! Like cooking... cleaning my room!" Sayori jumped in the conversation, painting Shinji as extremely helpful.
"He seems very dependable," Yuri spoke warmly at the thought of Shinji, based on Sayori's descripting, being a house husband for Sayori.
Shinji didn't even have the energy to correct Sayori, he just gave up and let her keep talking about how he has to help her because if he didn't her home would be a pig sty.
"You two must be really good friends... I'm a little a jealous..." Yuri said, looking away with a blush on her face.
Sayori quickly responded, "How come? You and Shinji can become great friends to!"
Shinji facepalms, Sayori has no idea what awkward situation she put the two of them in. Tp make it worse, Sayori continues to speak, "Oh, oh, Yuri even brought you something today, you know!"
"W-wait! Sayori!" Yuri began to panic a tad bit.
"Don't be shy!" Sayori's cheerful demeanor has seemingly no weakness.
Yuri face was flushed with the color red as Shinji finally looked at her, of course that lingering feeling in his chest was still there. "N-nevermind!" Yuri muttered under her breath.
Yuri continued, "S-sayori made it sound like a big deal when it's really not..."
Sayori finally realized what she had done, "Eh? I'm sorry Yuri I wasn't thinking..."
Shinji is forced to finally say something, "It's fine, I wasn't coming here to expect anything in the first place, if you don't want me to make a big deal out of it then I won't,"
"O-okay!" Yuri reaches into her bag and pulls out a book.
"I didn't want you to feel left out, so I went out and picked a book I thought you might enjoy, it's also a short read, so it should keep your attention, even if you don't usually read" She explained.
"And we could... ya know... discuss it... if you want..." Yuri looked away as if she was embarrassed.
"Thank you Yuri, I'll make sure I give it a read for you,"
Shinji grabs the books and takes a look a the cover, the book is titled the Portrait of Markov, the cover's background was red with a single eye in the center staring right at you. Yuri did say she enjoyed reading Horror, so this might be that, with the creepy eye and all.
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"So Yuri, can I ask why you thought I'd enjoy this one in specific?" Shinji asked Yuri which caused her to stammer.
"W-well... I-I assumed that you might appreciate literature that challenges the mind and delves into more complex emotions.... I believed you'd find the book's atmosphere and the protagonist's journey compelling, given the hints of introspection and seriousness I've noticed in you..."
Shinji tilted his head a tad bit confused before Sayori piped in, "She means that you're scary Shinji! With that scar on your cheek and all!"
Shinji places his hand on the aforementioned scar, thinking back to his old life, he had a feeling of longing, almost like he missed his old life.
Everyone began to finally settle down for today's planned activities. Shinji looked around, Monika and Sayori were having a cheery conversation, Natsuki was rumaging around in the closet, and Yuri was already reading a book, the focus she had was immaculate, almost as if she was waiting for this moment. Shinji took a glance at the book she was reading, it was the exact same book she gifted to him, and it even looks like she's on the first few pages.
Yuri did notice Shinji looking over at her and she became flustered, their eyes meeting for a split second which causes her to bury her face deeper into said book.
Shinji sighed, "Sorry, I spaced out,"
"Oh, it's fine, if I was focused like I should've been I wouldn't have even noticed in the first place, but I'm really just re-reading a bit of this,"
"That's the book you gave me right?" Shinji inquires
Yuri nods, "Uh yeah... I just really enjoy the book..."
"Well I'll make sure I give it a read," Shinji tells Yuri.
Shinji continued, "What's it about?"
Yuri then closes her book and then scans the cover of it with her eyes.
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure I didn't give anything away. Basically it's about this girl in High School who moves in with her long lost sister, but as soon as she does so, her life becomes strange, she gets targeted by these people who escaped from a human expirament prison, and while her life is in danger, she needs to desperatly choose who to trust, No matter what she does, she ends up destroying most of her relationships and her life starts to fall apart." Yuri explained
Shinji actually became interested in the book, but that eye just staring back at him... it just doesn't feel right. Shinji shrugged it off as Yuri started softly giggling to herself.
"Is that the sort of thing you might like to read?" She asks shyly
"Yeah, you're description really made it catch my attention, I'll definitely read it later," Shinji's response made Yuri smile softly.
