It was Friday, the day where they were supposed to decide on what they were planning to do for the festival. This might be the last chance Issei has to keep everyone safe. As he entered the club room he saw that everyone was already there, even Natsuki.
Even after sharing their poems there wasn't anything out of the ordinary aside from Yuri and Cordis, as they both seemed to continue hanging out more than they did, to the point that they even left the room for whatever reason. As they came back Monika proceeded to announce what they would be doing for the festival.
"So" Monika clapped her hands once "Now that everyone is here shall we proceed to confirm that everyone is on board with the idea?" She directed her gaze towards Natsuki who simply sighed.
"Oh, sure I'll do it, not because I want to, but because I don't want the club to look bad on the spot" It seemed that Issei was able to make Natsuki be on board with the idea, even for different reasons.
As they continued everything seemed to go somewhat smoothly until it came to Yuri, Monika this time didn't seem to think highly of her, which he didn't really like, but Yuri's demeanor had changed a lot that she seemed confident of herself in a way, she seemed unsure of what to do, but she knew what she wanted.
It came to the same problem again, the girls wanted Cordis to help them with their tasks... except Natsuki, it seemed as she was more worried about her friends than anything else. Both Monika and Yuri kept fighting over who got to partner up with Cordis.
Issei on the other hand simply said "Mind if I help Natsuki a bit? My mother is pretty good at cooking and I'm pretty sure she knows how to bake as well" It was true, she was incredibly skilled at cooking so it was the perfect excuse to stay close to Natsuki.
"Yeah, sure you can do that if you want" Monika nonchalantly accepted it, she was too focused on Cordis. Meanwhile Natsuki seemed a bit flushed over the fact that he had asked to help her, but he didn't say anything.
As Monika and Yuri continued to argue, Natsuki tried to calm the situation, but that wasn't her forte, it was Sayori's, in the end it ended with them saying something hurtful to each other. Cordis on the other hand didn't say anything, staying quiet for the whole time until he got to choose who to help.
He said Monika, but Yuri refuted it. Yet, it felt wrong, something felt... off, like there was something that was not supposed to happen. Yuri ended up breaking down as she completely had gone crazy, she laughed maniacally as she did not accept this response. This... never happened the first time around, what in the world had changed for her to end up acting like this?!
Natsuki was starting to get scared, Issei stood near her while he whispered "We should leave the room for a bit" They both made their way outside the club room while Monika tried to stay in it, but she was then pushed by Yuri and then the doors closed.
"Well, that didn't go as expected" Monika seemed dissappointed, yet Natsuki went up to her and screamed "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You've been acting so weirdly lately! You've even told stuff behind our back to Cordis! You... You're not the person I once knew, what happened to you?!"
Issei stood there quiet as Natsuki took everything out of her chest, Monika simply stood quiet, but this did beg the question, what was happening behind their back? He knew he left prematurely when he went after Natsuki, but he didn't expect there to be something different when he left, everything else felt the same, or at the very least, almost the same.
Was this all because Sayori wasn't here? No... she once said they never acted like this until Cordis came, could it be that this Romance story was screwed up from the very beginning? Was this even romance? It didn't feel like it this time around, it did before to some degree. Yet now it has morphed beyond recognition of what it was supposed to be.
Issei thought that this was enough of Natsuki yelling at Monika, as it looked like she didn't care. "Natsuki, I don't think yelling at her will fix anything, how about we let her talk about it first?"
Natsuki thought about it and then stopped, then Monika proceeded to say "Thank you Hyoudou, the reason why I was doing so is because... You've seen how Yuri was acting, I didn't want Cordis to continue hanging out with Yuri, because... the reason why she's acting like this is because of Cordis."
"What?" Issei couldn't believe what he was hearing but Monika continued to explain "I advised Cordis to stay away from her, because it would make it worse, but he ignored each warning I gave him so in the end he reaped what he sowed."
"But then shouldn't we worry about what they're doing inside?" Natsuki was very worried, but Monika quickly responded "I wouldn't if this is the only way we can calm her, then I'd say let her be, both of them seemed to want to see each other so there was no way of stopping them."
In the end they all went silent, Issei still needed a way to make sure the two sane people would still be fine so he proceeded to ask "So are we still doing the festival preparations?"
Monika immediately responded "Oh yes! Absolutely, while they may not be coming out any time soon, we should still make sure that we prepare for when Monday comes!" Wait so does that mean that they were doing it insi-
"Ew, please remind me to get a mop and bleach so I can not only clean the room up but also remove that mental image." Natsuki felt disgusted about thinking what they were doing inside there.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave, I'll see you on Monday" Monika quickly left the scene, leaving Natsuki and Issei alone. To which Issei started by asking about how they would work together.
"Sooooo, when can you come to my house?" Issei asked Natsuki, to which said "What makes you think I would go to your house?" It took a second before Natsuki realized "Oh right, you know. Let me think about it."
"We should also leave this place, I don't want to hear them do... whatever they're doing inside" Issei would have loved to stay to listen if he was still his past self, but right now, he just wanted nothing to do with both of them. Cordis seemed to have completely lost his mind, or maybe this is the consequence of not having a childhood friend, without her he was basically similar to him and his friends, he could easily pass as another one of them.
_-_
They were now outside of the Academy, no one seemed to be near, it seemed like they spent a long time inside debating on the preparations. They were both walking together, not knowing when they would depart from each other.
"So did you make up your mind?" Issei asked again on what time she was available, he predicted Sunday like how it happened last time, he was unsure if there was a reason why she couldn't come earlier, maybe her father didn't want her to go outside or maybe there was something else going on.
"I've decided on Sunday, I'll be going to your house, so"Just as Issei expected, she went through her bag to pull out a small piece of paper. "Here's my phone number if you need anything ask me, don't you dare use it for anything funny though."
"Thank you, but here's something that might also help" He quickly pulled out a piece of paper as well, Natsuki looked confused as she took it, she then read what was written on it "Wow you really want me to go to your house don't you?" It was his own address, he came prepared in case she needed help as soon as possible.
"Just remember, don't be scared to come to the address if you need to" Issei felt like he was being paranoid, but after what happened last time, he still didn't want anything to happen ever again.
