10 Couples' Dessert

Nervousness. It's something that Shujinkou hasn't felt much in real life until he joined the Literature Club. But despite all of the awkward moments he's been through since then, he couldn't help but feel especially nervous over the situation he has gotten himself into today. It was a situation that anyone would be nervous about being in.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Shujinkou."

Shujinkou awkwardly raised his head and had to force himself from instinctively looking back towards the ground once he met eyes with Monika.

"Were you waiting long?" she asked.

"Not really," Shujinkou nervously scratched his right cheek. "I just got here."

"Really?" Monika smiled. "Well, shall we head inside?"

"S-sure," Shujinkou nodded. As the two entered the local parfait shop, Shujinkou played back the events that led to the two meeting there today in his head.

The day before, he walked down the third year hallway and noticed Monika patiently standing next to the club room door.

"What are you doing out here, Monika?" Shujinkou asked.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," Monika replied.

She pulled a small slip of paper out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Shujinkou.

"This is something I got for my work during the school festival," Monika explained.

Shujinkou's eyes lit up as he read through the contents of the slip.

"A free limited edition parfait for two?" Shujinkou read aloud. While on the outside he retained a calm, yet surprised attitude, on the inside Shujinkou was very excited. He loved eating sweets and the thought of getting a parfait that is usually out of his price range was almost enough to make him show his excitement on the outside too. But his initial excitement quickly turned into confusion, prompting him to thoroughly read through all the lines again."For two… You mean the two of us?"

"Mm-hmm," Monika nodded. "It's a special couples' coupon."

"B-But…" Shujinkou stammered.

He was so flustered that he couldn't finish his sentence. Was Monika possibly asking him out on a date?

"I know we're not a couple," Monika said. "But we wouldn't want it to go to waste, would we? It expires soon."

"But why me?" Shujinkou asked. He really wasn't sure why Monika would want to go with him of all people. Surely there a lot of other people she could have asked.

"Well…" Monika went quiet for a moment before finishing her sentence. "I just thought it would be fun to do something together as fellow club members."

"And that's how I ended up here with Monika," Shujinkou thought as the waitress gently placed the parfait on the table along with two spoons. The excitement from yesterday returned in full force as his eyes scanned the frozen treat. "It looks so good!"

"You seem excited," Monika giggled.

"Maybe a little…" Shujinkou said, scratching his right cheek once more.

The two eagerly picked up their spoons and each scooped up a tiny piece of the parfait. The moment the parfait made contact with his taste buds sent an intense feeling of sheer bliss throughout Shujinkou's entire body. It was as delicious as he hoped.

"So good!" Shujinkou thought, unable to hide his delight.

"So, Shujinkou, how have you been enjoying your time with the Literature Club?" Monika asked.

"It's been interesting to say the least," Shujinkou replied. "But there is something I wanted to ask you for a while now."

"What?" Monika asked.

"What is it you're always doing during club hours?" he asked. "You always seem to be working on something."

"Just a story I've been working on," Monika answered.

Shujinkou's interest was piqued.

"Really? What's it about?" Shujinkou asked.

"It's a surprise," Monika smiled.

To say Shujinkou was a bit disappointed to hear that would be an understatement. Just like with the Cultural Festival, Monika dodging the question made him even more curious. But despite his curiosity, he decided to respect her decision to keep her story a secret.

"So have you written any other stories?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm," Monika nodded.

"What kinds of stories do you like writing?" Shujinkou asked.

"What kind?" Monika smiled. "I really like writing stories with complex characters in a scenario that allows them to develop. I also like adding in plot twists that make you have to reanalyze the story to fully understand it."

Her answer made Shujinkou's curiosity grow even larger. Those kinds of stories are one of his favorites to play through in video games, even if he doesn't understand them right away. It always gets his brain thinking and the twists are interesting to experience in his day dream scenarios.

"Another thing I like to do with some of my stories is to deconstruct storytelling tropes. Keeps readers from predicting every story beat " Monika added.

"Those kinds of stories can lead to a lot of mind-screw plots," Shujinkou pointed out.

"The thing about those kinds of plots is that a lot of writers like to use them to end their stories on an ambiguous note," Monika said. "Sometimes the endings are so ambiguous that some may never find out what they mean. It's very surreal. But if maybe you'd be better talking about these kinds of things Yuri. She knows more about that stuff than me, the same way Natsuki is more familiar with slice of life related tropes and Sayori with tropes that apply to human emotions."

Hearing about the tropes the others are familiar with made Shujinkou wonder which he was the most familiar with.

"You know what a really popular trope I find interesting is? The Fix Fic," Monika said.

"That's another trope I know well," Shujinkou said. "I think everyone has a Fix Fic somewhere in their head."

"It's one of the cornerstones of fan fiction. A piece of writing created by the fans to fix the things they didn't like about the original source. Whether it's to fix a case of flanderization or allow the characters to get a happier ending than the one they were dealt," Monika said. "To be honest, I kinda find the concept of fan fiction itself interesting. Seeing a lot of people be creative with established universe and add to it is nice to see."

"But you know… I just realized something," Monika said, leaning in closer to Shujinkou. "We only ever talk about me when we're together. Why don't we talk about you?"

"Me?" Shujinkou responded. "What's there to talk about?"

"What are your interests?" she asked. Shujinkou did not know how to answer that question. He has always been nervous about sharing his interest with the others in the club.

"I… enjoy a lot of interactive forms of fiction," Shujinkou answered.

"So you enjoy playing video games," Monika concluded.

"Okay, that answer was kind of a giveaway," he lowered his head in shame.

"No need to be embarrassed," Monika assured him. "It's not like video games are a bad thing. I tend to think of them as another form of literature."

"Really?" Shujinkou asked.

That was the last thing he expected her to say.

"Sure," Monika smiled. "They are in essence literature that you play through."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Shujinkou said, scratching his right cheek. Once again, he didn't know what to say. He really expected that he would really be the odd man out of the club if they found out he was a gamer. It was actually a big relief to him that it seems like that wasn't the case, at least as far as Monika is concerned.

"What else interests you?" she asked.

"Well… I kinda like to draw," Shujinkou answered.

"Really?" Monika eyes lit up with interest. "You think you could share some of them with the club?"

"Maybe," Shujinkou shrugged.

"Maybe you could draw a cover for my story," Monika suggested.

"You would have to tell me what it's about," Shujinkou grinned.

"Your right…" Monika realized.

"So…" Shujinkou said, his hopes rising in anticipation to hearing about what the plot of Monika's story could be.

"I'll ask again later," Monika said, giving Shujinkou a teasing smile.

"Oh… okay…" Shujinkou sighed.

"Don't look so sad," Monika chuckled. "It's not that I don't want to share it. I just want to finish and make sure every asset of it is the best I can make it."

"I understand," Shujinkou said.

The two picked up their spoons once more and went back to eating the parfait. Moments later, the two walked out of the Parfait Shop, satisfied by the treat they finished together.

"This was fun, Shujinkou," Monika smiled. "We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah. We should," Shujinkou nodded his head in agreement.

"So…" Monika silently stared at Shujinkou. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but Shujinkou couldn't figure out what it was. "I guess we'll be going our separate ways now."

"Right. See you later," Shujinkou waved goodbye.