Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 13: The Rainy Day

"Mhmm...well, since it is only us, would you like to spend some time together after school? I...don't have much time available, but I wouldn't mind...I guess we could walk home." She suggested. Komi's head perked up at this suggestion.

"Mhmm!" Komi quickly nodded her head.

"Oh! Okay! I'll meet you by the front doors after school!" Yuri decided.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded again.

"Alright. Well, take care, Komi. I'll see you then." Yuri waved to her and went on her way. Komi waved back before going back into her classroom.

"Who was that, Komi? One of your friends from the Literature Club?" Tadano guessed, asking as Komi sat back down in her seat.

"Mhmm," Komi nodded before writing in her notebook, "Her name is Yuri. She's very kind."

"She certainly seems that way! I'm sure you two get along great!" Tadano agreed with a laugh, "Seriously, they seem so alike it's almost scary." He thought to himself...

After school, Komi first stopped at her shoe locker to retrieve her things. Then she made her way to the front door, walking just behind a crowd of other students. As they poured out, Komi looked around for Yuri, but it was too crowded to see where she was, and it was making her nervous.

Once things had cleared out some, Komi spotted Yuri standing by the window, staring outside at the rain falling down. The clouds were dark and thick, casting an ugly gloom outside. Komi carefully slid her umbrella out from the umbrella rack and walked up next to her.

"Hmm? Oh, Komi! Good, you brought an umbrella. I didn't check the forecast this morning, so I didn't know to bring mine." Yuri said, looking relieved but also embarrassed.

"We can share mine then." Komi wrote.

"Thank you. It's coming down pretty badly outside. Hopefully it clears up soon." Yuri said, looking outside again.

"Perhaps. But I do like bad weather. I think it's interesting." Komi expressed.

"Really?"

"Is that weird?"

"Heh," Yuri smiled at this question. "It's an interesting thing to be interested in. Well, if you're ready to go, I won't keep you waiting any longer." She said, beginning to make her way outside.

Komi opened up her umbrella before they stepped out. She held it up and allowed Yuri to get underneath it before they started walking together. Their shoes lightly patted against the wet pavement as they walked towards Komi's home.

"I was thinking, Komi, perhaps at the next club meeting we could try again with starting that new book we picked out. I went ahead and read a little already, and I think you'll really like it. Of course, I don't mind going back and reading the beginning again so you can get caught up." Yuri suggested.

"Mhmm." Komi agreed to this with a nod.

"It should be nice. I'm glad that you're taking to the club well. If you ever have any problems or questions, I hope that you would feel comfortable enough to come to me or anyone else in the club." Yuri expressed.

"Mm," Upon hearing this, Komi started to slow her walking pace. Noticing this, Yuri looked at her and slowed down too. Komi looked down for a moment before handing the umbrella to Yuri. She took it. This allowed for Komi to reach down and pull out her notebook.

"Natsuki told me something recently." Komi began.

"Oh? She didn't say anything rude, did she? She likes to tease and she can be very harsh sometimes." Yuri said, immediately starting to become defensive.

"Mm mm," Komi quickly shook her head before writing again. "I know about Monika and Alex's relationship. She told me about problems that you all had with it."

"What did she say?! I didn't have any problems with it!" Yuri exclaimed in surprise.

Komi flinched, hiding behind her notebook a little. Yuri, realizing she had accidentally shouted, calmed herself and took another look at what Komi had written.

"Sorry, that was loud...oh I see, you wrote 'you all' here. I misread. None of us have any issues with Monika and Alex's relationship, Komi. It just...well, it changed the dynamic of the club in a way that was difficult to adjust to." Yuri rephrased.

"Hmm?" Komi looked at Yuri over the top of her notebook.

"Ah...well, there were some issues, I can't deny that," Yuri admitted. "Monika has a tendency of being...possessive I suppose is the right word to use. She has every right to be of course, I don't hold that against her.

"However, I feel like the shock in tandem with Monika's sudden attitude change was not only distracting but irritating. It took away from the focus of the club meetings and led to some petty arguments and exchanges. There was just a lot of tension...

"I still feel bad for certain things that I said and did during that time," Yuri sighed. "When Alex left the club, I knew that I shared some blame in making that happen. No one told him to leave, but he did tell me once that he felt like the issues were coming from him since he had chosen to start dating her."

Yuri looked away and rubbed her arm. Komi could tell that thinking back to what had happened in the past made her feel guilty. She couldn't imagine Yuri saying anything terrible, but she wasn't there during the height of this uncomfortable tension.

"As far as I could tell since I came, you all seem like very good friends. Do you still have those disagreements?" Komi asked.

"Well, all friends have issues from time to time, but we've buried the hatchet as far as that whole thing is concerned. We all are still friends now, and I'm grateful for that, because I don't know what I would do without the Literature Club.

"I'm also glad that Alex has started attending meetings again. Now that some time has passed, I think everything has settled and we can all truly move on and be as we were beforehand. Although, I can't say that I'm entirely optimistic, considering some people's attitudes and feelings on the situation haven't quite changed." Yuri commented as an aside.

Komi wasn't sure what Yuri was referring to, but she expressed her own feelings anyways, "I hope that we can all get along and be friends."

"Huhuh, yes, so do I." Yuri chuckled a little before agreeing with her.

Finally, the two of them reached Komi's house. They stopped in front of the gate. Yuri paused for a moment to look at it before realizing that this was her home.

"Oh! I guess this is where we part ways then. Thank you for letting me take shelter under your umbrella." Yuri thanked her and chuckled again.

"Thank you for walking with me, Yuri."

"Thank you for walking with me," Yuri replied in turn. "Here's your umbrella back." She held it out to her.

"Mm mm!" Komi quickly shook her head. "It's still raining. You should keep it."

"Oh no, it's your property. I can't take it." Yuri refused, shaking her head at the thought.

"It's alright. You still need it."

"Ah...I'll return it to you tomorrow." Yuri decided.

"Mhmm." Komi nodded.

"Thank you again. I'll see you tomorrow at the club meeting. Have a good evening, Komi." Yuri said to her before stepping away.

Komi waved to her before turning and going inside. The next day when she arrived at school, she noticed her umbrella in the rack already. Attached to it was a handwritten note that touched Komi's heart:

"Thank you for letting me use your umbrella. You're a wonderful friend ~Yuri"