Benevolent

First Words

Chapter 2

Is she going... To kiss me?! Am I gonna kiss her?! What's happening?!

A thousand thoughts ran through Sayori's head as both girls stood, faces centimeters apart, yet neither one dared to move.

"I brought the- O-Oh, h-hello." Yuri called, stepping into the room with a tea set in her hands.

Monika snapped back into reality, turning to face her classmate as she stepped away from Sayori.

Sayori couldn't quell the wild throbbing in her chest as zoned out into space with a blank face.

Oh my gosh, did I seriously almost do that?! Keep it together, Monika!

Monika shook off her thoughts, trying to forget about the intimate interaction that may have happened had she not been interrupted.

"Hello, Sayori." Yuri nodded, letting the shorter girl know her presence was acknowledged.

"Hey, Yuri." Sayori greeted back with a grin, suppressing the blush that invaded her cheeks moments ago.

"She wants to join my club, Ri!" Monika grabbed her friend's arm, shaking it excitedly.

"T-That's good." Yuri said shyly, not liking the attention of both girls suddenly placed on her.

"Won't you please join too?" Monika begged, tugging her arm.

"Fine." Yuri reluctantly agreed, desperate for the attention to be shifted away from her.

"Great! Now we just need one more member to be an official club!" Monika clapped her hands eagerly.

"Ihaveafriend!" Sayori spat quickly.

Monika looked at her with interest.

"I-I think I can c-convince her to c-come." Sayori explained, pressing the tips of her fingers together nervously.

Monika's eyes brightened, the smile spreading wider on her face.

"Great! Bring her by tomorrow and we'll make this club official!" Monika chirped.

"O-Okay!" Sayori didnt know if her poor heart could take this after all.

~~~

"This is Natsuki!" Sayori presented her friend, throwing her arms around her in an unreciprocated hug.

Monika smiled warmly at the newcomer as Yuri buried her face closer to her book.

"Welcome to the Literature Club!" Monika said sweetly.

"Yeah yeah. Sayo! You owe me two mangas for this, remember?" Natsuki reminded her friend in a monotone.

Sayori chuckled as she nodded, releasing her friend to scratch the back of her neck.

"Okay! Now that we're an official club, I think we should learn more about each other, hm?" Monika spoke, her eyes flicking to Sayori.

The other three nodded as they stood to push some desks together, forming a makeshift circle.

Sayori's heart pounded as Monika sat to the left of her, Natsuki to her right; Beyond that Yuri sat between Monika and Natsuki, completing the circle.

"I'll start," Monika began, "I'm Monika. I like poetry and romance novels and I'm learning piano."

"I-I'm Y-Y-Yuri. I-I like h-horror novels  a-and I-I live a-alone." Yuri said almost silently, gripping her hair in her fingers.

"Heya! I'm Sayori!" Sayori held up a peace sign with a wink. "I love poetry, comedies, and uh, oh! I love cookies!" Sayori giggled, blushing at her own statement.

Sayori nudged Natsuki, who had been staring at Yuri the entire time.

"Huh? Oh! I'm Natsuki. I read manga and bake the best sweets you'll ever eat in your pathetic lives." Natsuki said, raising her chin with pride.

"Great! Well now that we know a bit about each other, let's meet back here tomorrow for an actual meeting, okay?" Monika said as everyone made some form of sound of agreement.

With that, Monika waited for everyone to leave before shutting the door behind her.

Monika then walked back to the music room, which she had purposely left unlocked, and sat by the piano.

Sayori watched from the hall curiously, peeking her head up to the door window to see what Monika was doing.

Monika took a deep breath, shutting her eyes as she slowly began pressing her fingers to the keys as melodious sounds filled the room.

Sayori watched the older girl in awe, her jaw dropping as she watched in silence.

Monika missed a note, sending the off-key echoing around the room.

She slammed her hands on the keys, resting her elbows on the piano and burying her face in her hands.

"I fucking suck shit!" Monika yelled, not expecting anyone else to hear.

"I thought you were amazing..." Sayori didn't realise she had said aloud until it was too late,  Monika whipping her head towards the entrance.

"I, uh-! I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear!" Sayori defended herself as her entire body tensed.

A deep maroon blush settled over Monika's cheeks as she eyed the pretty girl.

Sayori turned to leave but was stopped by a voice calling out to her.

"W-Wait!" Monika stood, taking a step towards the door.

Sayori turned to face her fully, a light blush dusting her cheeks as well.

"Do you wanna... ride home?" Monika asked, biting her lip.

"U-Um, y-yeah! S-Sure!" Sayori tapped her fingertips together, glancing down at them as she nodded at the request.

"Great!" Monika laughed a bit in relief.

The two walked down the hall, coated in a thick fog of awkward silence, until they reached the school parking lot.

There sat Monika's small two-door car, which she had purchased over the summer recently after her sixteenth birthday.

Sayori eyed the car enviously, wishing she had money for such a luxury.

Monika opened the passenger side door as Sayori climbed in, Monika entering the car soon after.

Monika started the car as it purred to life, hot air shooting from the front A/C.

"S-Sorry, it was kinda cold this morning." Monika placed her hands in front of the heater to warm them.

"I-I don't mind. I-It is your car, after all." Sayori chuckled, smiling brightly at the gorgeous girl before her.

Monika smiled back before pulling the car out into the road.

"Tell me how to get to your house." Monika said, eyes on the road.

"Oh, could you just drop me off at Mendy's? I usually go after school anyway so you'd save me the extra trip." Sayori explained, touching her fingertips yet again.

"Of course! And, uh, you can turn the radio up if you like." Monika said, guesturing briefly towards the dial on the console.

Sayori switched to her favourite classical station. Most people would be surprised, but Sayori listened to Mozart very often.

"You like this station?" Monika asked.

"Uh, y-yeah!" Sayori said over the music as Monika turned it up.

"No way! This is my favourite!" Monika squealed with excitement.

Sayori smiled, feeling her heart swell once more at the fact that she and Monika had something else in common besides poetry.

They pulled into the Mendy's parking lot and Sayori hopped out, waving to Monika one last time before the brunette drove off.