Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Perspective

When I told Shujinkou that I would be coming over to his house, his shocked reaction reminded me of something... I've never actually set foot in a boy's house. It was going to be weird to say the least, but it was way better than having Shujinkou coming over to my house. Dad wouldn't be happy if I brought a boy over, even if he was a partner for something school-related. We even exchanged phone numbers. Of course I needed his number to find his house, but I still found it strange to have a boy's number on my phone.

The night before the day I was supposed to go over his house, I baked two cupcakes and decorated them with our faces. Sort of a good work reward once we get it done. Shujinkou may not know that much about writing and who knows what his analysis skills are like, but I have seen him draw sometimes during the club meetings, so he has to be somewhat good at the least. If he puts in some effort into our poster, then he at least deserves something for the work.

The next day, I texted him that I was outside and he wasted no time in opening the door. He was kind of staring at me, but I figured that he was just dazing off again. I mean, it's not like he would ever be staring at me, right? Then again, he may not be the kind of guy to do that anyway. He really tried his best to avoid eye contact with Monika and other girls at the maid café during the Cultural Festival. With that kind of reaction, I guess I can say that he's not a lusty pervert. He also wasted no time in asking about the cupcakes, but I told him it was a surprise. After all, if he doesn't put in any effort, I may have to give the other to Sayori... Just got to make sure that it's not the one with his face on it.

I asked where we would work and shockingly he said it was his room. I don't think Shujinkou realizes that boys don't usually invite girls to their room so casually, but he also mentioned that all his stuff was there.

His room was kind of an eye-opener. I never really thought about what it would look like, but it was pretty neat. There was a desk that looked like it belonged to a professional artist. He then handed me some drawings of the place we needed to make the posters for and couldn't believe my eyes. The drawings were amazing! I never would have expected that Shujinkou would be this good at drawing. It actually makes me wonder why he never once tried to brag about it. Then he said that he went through the trouble of drawing them because he didn't want us to accidently plagiarize someone else's work. I had to admit, even if I had trouble doing so, it was a pretty smart idea.

After I got an idea of what the place was like, I suggested that we make a poster that was simple, yet very effective. I kinda expected him to chime in with his own suggestion, but he just agreed and asked what kind of art style we should use. His asking opened up a realm of possibility and made me hope that he could draw something in a really cute art style. He agreed to the Kawaii approach and got to work.

I asked him how long it would take and he said it may take all day. I had a hard time believing that, but then again, it's not like the really famous artists finished their stuff quickly or anything. Since I was pretty much useless for the first part, he offered to let me read his manga. He had a lot of the popular stuff, but there was one name I've never heard of: Hikaru no Go. It depicted a kid with a extremely effeminate man that looked like he was from the past. When I asked Shujinkou what it was about, he effortlessly gave a quick summary about how this kid ended up attached to a ghost who was a master of Go. I don't know what surprised me more; that Shujinkou was able to do such a thing or that there was an entire series about a board game.

I got to reading it and was impressed with what I saw. I could already tell that Hikaru had a lot to learn about the game, even if it was just so the ghost Sai could play through him. I even laughed once I reached the part when Hikaru dumped a cup of stones on a bullying player's head and indirectly removed his wig, embarrassing him. I wish I could do something like that to people like that old bully.

I got to the second volume until Shujinkou finally finished drawing. It was a really cute drawing, but I didn't like how he almost made the thing weird. I then wrote down some of the stuff that the resort offers and Shujinkou seemed impressed by what I put down. After that was done, he handed me a thin permanent marker and said it was time to trace what we made. I got to work right away, but Shujinkou's marker was stuck and he struggled to open it. It was kinda funny to watch until all that struggling led to him accidently drawing a line on my left cheek.

He was completely nervous after that and he was right to be. I couldn't just let him get away with that. He tried his best to keep me away, but I was able to successfully draw a mustache on his face. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up the struggle and his loss resulted in us kissing. A felt a lot of emotions hit me at once during that moment. Part of me was happy that we weren't at my house, because if we were, dad would kill us. Another part of me couldn't believe what was happening and another part wondered who would pull away first. There was also a part of me that enjoyed the moment and, looking back at it, I think that part of me wants something similar to happen again.

In the end, I pulled away and got back to work. I had to focus on the task at hand, because if I didn't then things would have gotten weirder than they already were. Shujinkou seemed to go along with the plan until, out of nowhere; he suddenly drew more lines on my cheeks to make it look like I had whiskers. He said it was payback for the mustache, but I'm pretty sure he was just trying to defuse the awkwardness of the situation.

After that, we finally started to color the poster. Shujinkou told me all about lighting, pencil weight and a lot of other stuff regarding coloring things. I have to admit, I never expected Shujinkou to be lecturing me in anything. While we continued to work, we actually started talking about our interests. He doesn't really know much of the technical terms, but Shujinkou really pays attention the different types of literary devices between manga genres. He also brought about how some anime adaptations end up being filler and that while he doesn't hate them; he doesn't understand why some adaptations go that route. Though he also made a point to say that he's grateful to them though as it led to them discovering those properties in the first place.

It was at that point when I began to wonder if Shujinkou has any strong negative feelings towards anything. For example, I was never really that welcoming when he joined the club and constantly call him a dummy, but he just shrugs those facts off and has always been nice to me. It didn't really seem normal to me but... it's not like it was a bad thing... It would actually be nice if there were more people like that at school.

After hours of hard work, we finally finished the poster and it was clear that we were both happy with how it turned out. Shujinkou then noticed the bag I brought the cupcakes over in and spoke up about them. I totally forgot about them and for some reason I felt like he would think it would be dumb. Maybe it was because I was comparing it to his art or something, but I really didn't want him to see them. He assured me that he wouldn't judge, even joking about the mustache I gave him.

Against my better judgment, I showed off the cupcakes I made. He was silent when he first saw them. I thought he was about to break his promise, but I guess he was just dazing off again, because he wasted no time in eating his share. I think he even looked happier than usual whenever he ate something sweet. But I never got a chance to eat mine with him as it was starting to get dark outside. I had to go home.

Shujinkou walked me to the door and even offered to walk me home. I had to shut that idea down, though. It wouldn't have ended well for either of us. Then again, now that I think about it, I guess we could have split up around a corner or something. Anyway, I left his house and headed home. I wasn't really sure if we would win the contest for the school or not but... at least something good came out of thewhole thing. I actually had a lot more fun than I thought I would.