Endlessly: Doki Doki Literature Club Oneshots

Shelter (Natsuki/MC)

Natsuki heaved the box out of the closet, wincing as she belatedly realized that she had miscalculated the amount of effort needed to successfully lift it. It weighed down on her arms and she slumped forward with a squeak.

"Need any help before you topple over?"

Natsuki stuck her tongue out at him. "No," she huffed, trying, and falling, to straighten herself. "I'm perfectly capable of carrying- Hey!"

He reached forward and lifted the box away from her before she could finish her sentence, relieving her of its weight. Natsuki placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I didn't need your help!"

"Sure," he adjusted the box's position, sliding it almost effortlessly under one arm and casting her a teasing grin. "You weren't about to fall face first into my closet just now. And besides," he winked at her. "What kind of man would I be if I let a lady struggle?"

Natsuki scrunched up her face in disdain-he laughed, giving the opposite effect she was hoping for- and turned to close the closet.

"No one asked you to be chivalrous, dummy," she muttered to the doors as she pulled them shut. She spun back around on her heels to see he had set the box down on his bed and opened it. Natsuki moved to his side, peering wide eyed into the stacks of manga volumes inside.

"Whoa..." She breathed in awe. "You have such a huge collection!" She dove right into it, not at all waiting for his permission, pulling out book after book and gapping at them. "Neon Genesis Evangelion- Volume 9 ? That's such a rarity! It must've cost you a fortune! And Strawberry Panic ? Limited edition?!"

He laughed again as she continued in her frenzy. "I knew you had a strong passion for manga, but this is pretty violent."

Setting a copy of Saving Life back into the box, Natsuki turned and gawked at him. "Anon, this is the most incredible collection I've ever seen! I mean," she picked Saving Life back up and flipped through the pages. "This series got cancelled after its first volume, and there aren't any other copies of this for sale as far as I've looked. How did you even get this?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know. I've just always had it."

Saving Life fell onto the bed with a gentle plop as Natsuki jabbed a finger into his chest. "You," she muttered fiercely. "Are an amazing person for having all this manga."

"You can borrow some of it if you want," he suggested. Natsuki's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he shrugged again. "I don't really read that one a whole lot, for example." He gestured towards Saving Life. "I'm totally fine with you reading it."

A sort of excited squeal broke from Natsuki's throat and she snatched Saving Life off the bed. As she flipped through it's pages, gazing starry-eyed at the art style of the characters inside, she suddenly realized her mistake of showing too much school girl-like glee and furrowed her brow at him, who had a hand over his mouth, obviously containing yet another round of snickers.

"It's not like I'm too excited," she insisted dryly. "It might not even be that good."

"Right," he moved over to his desk and lifted a thick manga volume from the clutter around it. "You wanna keep reading this before you decide whether it fits your tastes? That's what you wanted to do, right?"