Just Thoughts [DDLC - Natsuki x Yuri]

Chapter X

They stayed there watching movies for five hours. Yes, five straight hours of laying on a couch, cuddling and watching movies. They eventually fell asleep. Then, the morning came. Yuri faintly heard an alarm. She was groggy, but then she realized it was coming from her room. "It's Monday!" She blurted. "Natsuki, wake up, it's Monday!" It was indeed Monday. The frantically got dressed in their school uniforms and ran out the door. On the way to school, they mostly discussed the movies they watched the night before. They didn't have any of the same periods, so they next met at the literature club. There, Monika made an announcement.

"Hello, everyone! I trust you had a good weekend? Good! So, I just wanted to check if we have everything! Sayori, Morp, did you make enough pamphlets?"

"Yeah." Morp said, clearly not as enthused as Sayori.

"Excellent! I know that I made enough decorations... Yuri, Natsuki! Did you make the cupcakes and the Main Banner?"

"Yeah, and they're the best cupcakes EVER!" Natsuki said. "Oh, Yuri's banner was really good too."

"My banner? Well, you helped, of course!" Yuri said.

"Oh, you came up with the idea, and you did more coloring than I did..." Natsuki protested.

"Alright then! We should be all set for the festival. Remember, setup is at 4:00, and the fair starts ad 5:00. It ends at 6:45." Monika said. She exited the front of the classroom, but then immediately ran back. "Oh, I almost forgot! This is really important! We're going to practice presenting our poems today!"

Yuri froze. She remembered why she didn't look forward to this festival. The reading! This was going to be awful...

Natsuki saw the expression on Yuri's face. "You'll be fine." She said. Oddly, this was enough to comfort her. "Now, who will go first?" Monika asked from the front of the classroom.

"I will." Yuri volunteered.

"Excellent! It's nice to see you finally volunteer!" Monika said.

Yuri got to the front of the classroom. "Uh, this is probably the best poem I've written in my time here, thus far... It's called 'the Raccoon.' Uh, Enjoy."

"It happened in the dead of night while I was slicing bread for a guilty snack.
My attention was caught by the scuttering of a raccoon outside my window.
That was, I believe, the first time I noticed my strange tendencies as an unusual
human.
I gave the raccoon a piece of bread, my subconscius well aware of the consequences.
Well aware that a raccoon that is fed will always come back for more.
The enticing beauty of my cutting knife was the symptom.
The bread, my hungry curiosity.
The raccoon, an urge.

The moon increments its phase and reflects that much more light off of my cutting
knife.
The very same light that glistens in the eyes of my raccoon friend.
I slice the bread, fresh and soft. The raccoon becomes excited.
or perhaps I'm merely projecting my emotions onto the newly-satisfied animal.

The raccoon has taken to following me.
You could say that we've gotten quite used to each other.
The raccoon becomes hungry more and more frequently, so my bread is always handy.
Every time I brandish my cutting knife the raccoon shows me its excitement.
A rush of blood. Classic Pavlovian conditioning. I slice the bread.

And I feed myself again."

Everyone gawked. The poem was spectacular. No one quite knew what to do. That was, of course, until Natsuki started clapping. The room erupted into applause after that. Yuri smiled shyly and got off the stage. "Wow, Yuri, I don't know how I'll be able to outdo that!" Sayori said in her cheerful as usual manner. Yuri is happy to accept the compliment, but she'll never admit it. Sayori was right when she said she wouldn't be able to outdo Yuri. No one does, not even Poetry Star Monika. Before anyone realizes it, class is over. Everyone leaves. Now, the festival is upon us.