Lust of Misanthropy

IV. Youth

Now that I take a brief look at the sky, I find it surprising that I was at the clubroom so late. Usually, I often find time to go slower than faster; perhaps today was an exception.

I had stayed put, watching the door to make sure if anybody else was coming. Surely, Monika would be back with her poem— it was very ominous of her to not show up.

The sky had dimmed to a nostalgic, almost saddening orange tint. Yuri and I had fallen in love with the colour of the sky; it's intruding rays along the insides of the classroom gave me such vibrant, warm sentiments.

I turned to face her, her and her shimmering eyes.

"-KUN! Before we go to your house, I have to show you what I wrote you. Please, all of these are for you!" Yuri said, with a notable decline of sanity.

She handed me what seemed to be a thick stack of 20-25 poor-conditioned, damp papers. An awful stench hung around the aura of them.

Before I could even finish shuffling throw the rows upon rows of crabbed hieroglyphics, she took my hand, as I returned gesture with a firm look at her face.

"Nevermind, we don't have a lot of time... I don't like being in this room, you know that? I've always hated the idea of being locked up in this room, and even m-"

She stopped, and stared at me for a few seconds, "Are you getting sick of me?" she asked.

I widened my eyes in acknowledgement, and assured her, "N-no! Not at all, Yuri. I'm just a bit tired. Gee, heh... I'm sorry, I just have to get going, is all."

"Ah, that's right! YES! Yes, yes, do you want to leave now? FUCK, oh my, darling– Do you mind if I call you that? Actually, I don't care, I can't contain my feelings anymore. When are we leaving, now? NOW?" Yuri said, interrupting herself multiple times.

She was jittering uncontrollably, still grasping my hands with no intentions of letting go.

I had no idea what to do. Taking Yuri home at...

I squinted at the clock overhead of the classroom's door.

17:02? What have I been doing here for so long? No wonder Monika left...

My head spun drastically, as if I was going through a journey of remembrances that I've been trying to comprehend. Not knowing what to do, what to say, anything. I need to go to bed, maybe I'm having memory issues. After all, I was mesmerized by the pretty sky, right? No big deal...

"...Yeah, yeah, let's head out." I said, hoisting my bag over my shoulder lazily, and shoved forward.

"I-I'm getting everything I have! I'm so thankful you're being this nice to me!" Yuri said, as I heard her gather her things in a rather brisk manner.

Before I could even take a step out of the club room, I was halted.

"Guys? What's going on?"

It was Monika. She was wearing what seemed to be some sort of casual dress, accompanied with a fluffy maple-coloured coat. Her hair was let down too, instead of the usual formal hairdo with her cute, unparalleled little ribbon.

I gave her a quizical look, "Hey, what happened today? I feel like I dozed off."

Monika raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, emitting a little 'hm?' from her pressed lips.

"Oh! No, silly... You were more, well, out of it, rather than drowsy," She smiled at me. "I'm sure you're just feeling off today, nothing to worry about."

I sighed and took Monika's word, as I watched her peer over my shoulder to see Yuri, who was now slightly pressed up against my back, nuzzling my neck in seclusion from her.

Monika's smile faded and her joyous posture dropped. "How would I have figured she'd be here with you?"

I shook my hands in denial, "No, no... We're not doing anything, you know... Bad. We've just been, uh, designing stuff for the festival."

She held a cynical, uncomforting glare onto my eyes.

"...Just a little bit of troubles deciding what to do. You know?"

Sighing and drooping her head, Monika spoke, "Alright. Just, head home please. I feel weird about this. Please don't do this kind of... thing... again."

"Absolutely, absolutely. I had no intentions of it. Truthfully, I didn't even keep track of time." I assured Monika a final time before she walked into the room, grabbed a couple of things, unseen to me, and proceeded to vacate.

"Yeah yeah..." she stopped and stared at me, "And, -kun, please try to be more honest with us; everyone."

Yuri and I walked back to my house, the sherbert orange sky was falling bleaker by the minute.

"I think I hurt Natsuki's feelings." I told Yuri.

"It doesn't matter." She said to me.

We stayed silent for a while, as well as the whole area around us. Not a car in sight, which was pretty strange.

"Is it wrong for me to hate people that talk to you?" Yuri asked.

I felt like saying 'no' would startle her, so I fabricated a, in my opinion, meaningless response.

"No, I understand. You don't have to worry, Yuri, you're still my best friend." I told her.