Hold You Forever - DDLC {Natsuki x MC}

-5- It's you! Again!

Welcome once again! But this time to ze fifth chapter!
Please enjoy this chapter!
(Please notify me on any grammar/spelling mistakes, so I can correct it ASAP)

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Natsuki's POV

How does dust even have the audacity to pollute my manga volumes? I desperately wiped the newly forming layer of dust of the vulnerable paper books. "Stupid Monika," I whispered to myself, "If only she didn't keep pushing all my stuff towards the back..."

I stepped down from the stepladder, looking at my collection in full. Satisfied at my cleanup, I took all the cleaning equipment with me and closed the closet.

An excited squeal made me jolt, and I turned around to the source of the sound. Oh, Sayori... Wait, him too?

"Look, look! I brought him!" Sayori announced proudly, showing her friend off like she freshly caught him out of the wild. I stepped in between both Yuri and Monika, and the three of us looked curiously at them. There was actually a lot I wanted to say then and there, but I decided I might as well see how it'd play out.

Apparently, he refused to speak a word, and needed a little kick to the shin from Sayori to get going. "Ah! W-well, my name's Daniel, b-but you can call me Dan, and today I decided to tag along with Sayori," he spoke like a true professional.

"Wait, so..." I couldn't resist not speaking up, "...Let alone that you brought him of all people, but why'd you bring a guy in general, Sayori?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad," he looked partially hurt.

"You can barely keep yourself standing straight, the last thing we'd need here is some nervous wreck to destroy the mood of our club," I protested.

"I'm not a nervous wreck either!"

"You haven't even given a proper defense yet, aside from denial. How can we-"

"Natsuki," Monika cut me off, "Let's be a little nicer to Daniel, alright?" I hummed a reply to her, affirming that I'd shut myself up for now. "Anyway, Daniel, or Dan, welcome to our literature club. My name is Monika, I'm the club president, nice to meet you!"

'Nice to meet you', my ass, I thought, rolling my eyes. As if any guy in this school doesn't know you by both name or appearance.

"Although, correct me if I'm wrong," Monika continued to talk with her sweet, sweet voice. "I thought you were here because you were interested in joining our club?"

Daniel looked taken aback after what he had just been told. "W-well, I don't think I was quite sold on that idea yet, which is why I merely tagged along for now. But it seems a certain someone got a little ahead of herself," he gave Sayori an irritated side-glance.

Monika waved her hands in worry. "Oh, it's totally fine! We're glad to have more people around in general," she chuckled as if she were embarrassed. "Whether you stay or not is your choice to make in the end."

He groaned, rubbing the back of his neck while thinking. "What an ordeal you've gotten me in," Sayori avoided his gaze like it would have been the death of her. "It's alright though, I'll join your club anyway. My choice," he grinned.

"Are you sure?" Monika gasped at his sudden turnaround.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, it's not like I've got much better to do in my spare time. So, I might as well join this club of yours. It definitely seems like fun here."

Yuri nodded, surprisingly. "I'm sure y-you'll enjoy it here as well."

"I know you will!" Sayori chimed in.

"I'm glad to have you here, Dan. Officially, this time," said Monika.

I can't be bothered with all this, even Yuri managed to get a word in, I thought, resentfully. My volume of Parfait Girls, with it's bookmark sticking out, immediately seemed more interesting. Snatching it from the nearby desk, I walked to the back of the class; my last resort comfort zone. Stupid Monika, stupid club, stupid school, it's all just stupid!

The thing I needed at that time, was pure and cliché romance. I was craving it, and so, I consumed it. There weren't many pages left in the first place, yet I still tore through them. It felt like a venting mechanism to me, a way to get my head out of reality. And it definitely worked... for a little while.

It was this big idiot's obnoxious footsteps who pulled me back out of it. He looked at me, wearing this stupid smile. "H-hey, what are you reading?" This guy couldn't have sounded more stiff than he did just then. It's like he badly rehearsed a speech he'd been practicing.

"Do you really need to know?" I accidentally snapped at him. It was clear from his expression that he was hoping I wouldn't react like this.

"Sorry! I swear I c-come in peace though!"

"What?" I could barely resist my laughter, in fact, a chuckle might have slipped. "Hm, if so, state your purpose!" Luckily, I seemed to have saved my snappiness by shrugging it off as a joke.

"Yes, ma'am. I was actually... hoping to discuss some manga with you, if you wouldn't mind. I actually brought-" my eyes lit up the moment he mentioned manga.

"Really?! What did you bring?"

He stared at me for a short instance, in silence. "Oh, I brought shounen manga. I figured you might not have read many within the genre..."

"Wait, what makes you think that?"

"Uh, well, when I found you yesterday, you were surrounded by only romance manga. Not just the wholesome kind either," he mentioned, "No, a few of those titles... I was shocked to know you would-"

"Quiet!" I defensively waved my hands in the air. "You're right, I guess that is what I read most. But I'm also interested in a lot of other genres," I told him. "So, what did you bring exactly?" I patted the floor next to me, inviting him to sit down next to me. I did that almost instinctively.

Daniel grabbed his bag and sat down next to me, scooting a little closer almost immediately, without noticing himself. "It's a shounen manga which has piqued my interest lately, called 'My Hero Academia', the premise is quite simple, yet I believe that simplicity is exactly what makes it so good at first. After that, you're probably already hooked, just like me."

"That so? I wanna see!"

"S-sure!"

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Listen, hamburgers are just so good! This is definitely not me joking around after rewriting this chapter, years after it originally came out :o

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