4 Club Prerequisites Part 2

Shujinkou stretched his aching arms and let out a long sigh. The books were finally delivered to the library and he couldn't be any happier that he no longer had to carry such a heavy object. After letting out another sigh, he glanced to his left and couldn't help but feel embarrass when he noticed Monika giggling.

"Shall we head to the clubroom now?" Monika suggested. Shujinkou awkwardly nodded his head and the two started to head to the literature clubroom.

"I really appreciate the help, Shujinkou" Monika said, smiling at him.

"It was nothing," Shujinkou awkwardly chuckled. He couldn't help but feel slightly nervous around the club president. To him, it was like a peasant talking to a queen and he was having a hard time shaking that feeling. But he knew that he had to move past that feeling or else he was going to have a very uncomfortable experience in the Literature Club for the rest of the year.

"That reminds me," Shujinkou remembered. "You were talking about how the Literature Club was officially recognized."

"Oh right," Monika said, slightly embarrassed that she forgot she was telling a story. Monika took a moment to remember where she left off and, once she did, happily started the story again. "I believe I was at the part where I was wondering what to do until Sayori showed up."

"About that part, what did you mean that you aren't good with people?" Shujinkou asked.

"Oh that? I just meant that I sometimes have a hard time connecting with others," Monika replied in a solemn tone. "It's kinda hard when people always…"

Monika stopped mid-sentence and turned away from Shujinkou.

"Monika?" Shujinkou said, worried he may have somehow struck a sore spot. He stared at the back of her head for what seemed like forever until she turned back towards him with a calm expression on her face.

"Sorry about that," Monika apologized. "Anyway back to the story. It was right when Sayori first appeared."

Monika watched Sayori slowly walk into the room with a confused look on her face. She stared at Monika, then at the empty desks. She then turned back to Monika, then back to the empty desks. After repeating this process two more times, Sayori stopped at Monika, wearing a sad expression on her face.

"Am I too late?" she asked.

"No, no. You're just on time," Monika assured her.

"Eh?? But where are the others?" Sayori wondered.

"It's just me," Monika weakly smiled.

Sayori stared into Monika's eyes and a big grin appeared on her face.

"It's no biggie! Clubs are about quality, not quantity," Sayori assured her "The two of us can make a totally awesome club!"

"That's true but for this club to be officially recognized as a club, we need a total of four members," Monika informed her.

Sayori went quiet for a moment. She noticed that the posters advertising the Literature Club was around for awhile and the fact that she was the only member aside from Monika made it apparent that people are not interested in literature as an afterschool hobby or weren't actually paying attention to the fliers. Either way, at the rate the club was growing there was only option…

"Then if the people won't come to the club, we'll bring the club to the people!" Sayori declared.

"Eh? But how do we do that?" Monika wondered.

"We'll just have to find people that are so in to literature that they the only reason that they aren't here is because their noses are deep in their books," Sayori explained, barely able to contain her excitement. "And there's only one place to find those kinds of people…"

Sayori gently grasped Monika's hand and tugged her out of her seat.

"We're going on our first club field trip!" Sayori cheered. Despite being initially taken aback by Sayori's cheerful nature, Monika couldn't help but enjoy it. She followed her newest club member around the school and found herself in front of the library.

"I bet we'll find a lot of members here," Sayori grinned, opening the doors. The two enthusiastically walked through the doors and felt the hope they had was left outside.

"It's empty…" Monika chuckled weakly.

"There has to be someone here," Sayori responded. Refusing to give up, Sayori took off and started searching the entire library from top to bottom. After 10 minutes of fruitless searching, Sayori reconvened with Monika in the middle of the library and sat down at one of the tables, to rest.

"You know, Sayori, just because someone's in the library doesn't mean that they are passionate about literature," Monika pointed out.

"What do you mean?" asked Sayori.

"They could be here for a project or because they were here to deliver something," Monika explained.

"Hmm… So we shouldn't be thinking about location, but people who obviously enthuse enthusiasm for literature," Sayori realized.

"But I doubt we'll find someone like that at this time of the day," Monika said. "It would take a totally contrived coincidence for that to happen."

Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere of the library was shattered by the sound of giggling. The two looked around their immediate area. The giggling sounded like it was close, but they didn't see any one around. They weren't sure where it was coming from until they realized that there was one place they haven't checked. The two cautiously crouched down under the table and found a petite pink haired girl reading next to a box of books.

"Hey there!" Sayori waved. The girl, startled by Sayori and Monika's appearance, banged her head against the bottom of the table.

"What the heck?!" the girl shouted. "Don't sneak up on me!"

"S-Sorry," Sayori apologized. "I'm Sayori and this is Monika. What's your name?"

The girl stared at Sayori with a skeptical look before switching to Monika. After staring at them for what seemed like forever, the girl sighed.

"…I'm Natsuki," the girl answered. Natsuki then grabbed her box filled with literature and slid out from under the table, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

"So why were you reading under the table?" Monika asked.

"I just was!" Natsuki snapped. "Is there anything wrong with that?!"

"N-No…" Monika weakly chuckled once more. She wasn't sure how to talk to Natsuki. Every time they said anything, the pink haired girl reacted in a negative way.

"Hey, if you like reading then you should join the Literature Club!" Sayori suggested.

"Literature Club? What Literature Club?" a surprised Natsuki asked.

"The one that Monika started," Sayori said proudly.

"How many people are in it? Natsuki asked.

"Just the two of us," Sayori answered.

"Wha-? What kind of club only has two people?" Natsuki asked perplexed.

"Well, we're not really an official club until we have four people," Monika explained.

Natsuki's confused expression immediately switched back to her skeptical one.

"I get it… You just want me as a number to keep your club alive!" Natsuki accused.

"That's… true. But if you enjoy literature, then I think you should join us," said Monika.

"Plus you get to read somewhere better than from under a desk," beamed Sayori. Natsuki quickly glanced at her books and then back at Monika and Sayori, her face now sporting a slightly worried expression on her face.

"Um, so what do you do in this club?" Natsuki asked.

"I haven't really thought up of any club activities yet, but I was thinking that it could be a place for those who enjoy literature to come together and get along. It's a place where people can just read, talk about written works and their interests and maybe share their own written works," Monika passionately explained.

Sayori and Natsuki were left awestruck by Monika's answer.

"That's so… cool!" Sayori approved.

"So I could read anything I want in this club?" Natsuki asked.

"Of course," Monika smiled.

Natsuki glanced at her books once again then back to Monika, this time with a slightly more relaxed expression.

"Fine, I'll join your club," Natsuki shrugged nonchalantly.

That was all it took for Sayori to wrap her arms around Natsuki and excitedly jump up and down.

"You're in! You're in! You're in!" Sayori cheered, unaware f how uncomfortable she was making Natsuki feel.

"Now we only need one more member," Monika thought.

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