Lust of Misanthropy

III. Bethink of Oneself

In a way, I felt pressured to come up with a response for Yuri, she seemed to be on the verge of tears, in which I could never flout nor do away with. I took her cupped hands into mine and looked her in the eyes.

"Hey, Yuri, she just wanted me to see what she was writing for today, she just admires my skills a little bit, is all... I'll read your's immediately after, I promise." I assured her, slightly constricting the grip of my hands onto her's.

She shook her head violently at me, noting comprehension. She seemed to be treating this as some sort of crisis.

After the dilemma, I finally got to see what Natsuki wrote for today. Hopefully my expert skills came in handy...

"What a surprise! I thought you'd be all over Yuri the moment everyone pulled their poems out," Natsuki cooed, crossing her arms in a sense of victory.

As her eyes trailed away, a florid ruby colour flushed throughout her cheeks; Natsuki seemed flattered.

I sat down and motioned Natsuki to hand me her paper. "Alright, lemme take a peak."

Open Your Eyes.

If I could see what my future holds for me,
It would cost me a notably heavy fee,
There is only one destination left to go,
That one place I want to sleep without my pillow,
Dreams of red and slimy memories,
Expelled from time; put into jeopardy.

It's so clear.
Why won't you listen to me?
There isn't anything holding you back...
It hurts me, it hurts Monika, it hurt

At the last word was a sharp, heavily penetrated blotch of ink jammed at the end of the 't'. Perhaps Natsuki didn't finish in time.

"Are you reading it?" she asked, with a less interrogative ring to the question.

I gave her a sharp glance from behind her paper. "...So I see you've taken note of how I use my vocabulary."

"What do you think, genius?" Natsuki asked, now standing on the tips of her feet.

I slid her paper back on her desk and gave her a soft smile. "Honestly, I actually admire how you use your wor""H"ey -k""un?"

Yeah?

Can I take you to my house tonight?

Oh, I'll be a bit busy to-

That's fine! I can come over and see you! I just want to help with the banners and posters for the festival, I think you'd do an excellent job!

But won't you have school work?

Oh my lord, I'm so obsessed with your voice...

Natsuki's face suddenly saturated into a familiar red glow, as she tightened the grip of her fists and shook ever so visibly. "Yuri, I'm going to be very blunt. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I turned around to catch a glimpse of Yuri, whom I had no idea how she had gotten so close to me without my knowledge. She held a variety of pens and crinkled papers written and stained in questionable substances. Her face displayed a worried look, as I noticed her breathing rapidly increase.

Normally, seeing Yuri like this signals me to calm her down. I took another glance at Natsuki before I spoke, as she was about to continue her speech.

"Ah, no answer, huh? Do you ever find it funny how we're all so open to -kun and you're the most secretive of all but somehow manage to keep him by your side twenty-four-seven?" Natsuki spoke with a hint of newly-found acerbic violence to her voice.

She inched closer to Yuri and held a finger up to her, smirking. "Oh! How about your new cut marks? Go ahead, show -kun your nasty-ass tiger stripes, skank."

Monika would know what to do in this situation, I took a quick and brief look around the room to find her—

Nowhere to be found.

Behind me, Yuri held her trembling hands gentily along my torso, suddenly tightening her grip, and pulling me towards her body.

From my left shoulder, Yuri peaked her head out with a confounded expression. "WRONG! I'VE TOLD HIM EVERYTHING! HE KNOWS ALL ABOUT ME, AND I KNOW ABOUT HIM!" she spoke, as her left hand traveled upwards towards my pectorals, and her right down to my hip.

I couldn't help feeling worried, nor defending Yuri, after I've-

I remember those marks.

It just came to me.

I've forgotten.

I can even recall the exact shade of blood her wounds were.

The patterns.

         all of  it

Taking her hands and turning to face her, Yuri released her tenacious force on me and loosened her facial displeasure. "Yuri, please look at me. I'm not phased, look..." I said to her.

Actually, something inside me made me want to retaliate at Natsuki for being so inconsiderate with Yuri.

I turned to face Natsuki, and unloaded my censure. "Are you serious, Natsuki? Look at what you've done, this entire convedsation has just been unnecessary and downright annoying. Grow up."

Natsuki opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, her blush grew even rosier than before, and her eyes began to glisten.

Ugh... I sort of just realized what I had said to her, I probably ruined her day.

"Natsuki..."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." she responded, shaking her head in sarcasm, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I said nothing as I watched her rip her poem in multiple pieces and scatter the mass along the desk; she left the room without another word.