knives and bruises a yuri x natsuki fanfic

Part 3

Wha-Where are they?"

Natsuki and Yuri entered the clubroom to find it empty, no trace of their friends. Yuri hummed curiously. "They must be running late. How peculiar." She placed a bag with the curtain, banner and other atmospheric enhancements such as the oil burner and candles onto a desk alongside one of the boxes of cupcakes she was carrying.

Natsuki slipped her two boxes onto another desk and folded her arms, looking around impatiently. "It's not like them to be late. Well, Sayori I can understand. But not Monika."

"Perhaps we should begin setting up?" Natsuki agreed hesitantly, pushing some of the desks together to form tables. With care she opened the cupcake boxes and began arranging them on pretty little card trays she'd invested in. Yuri had begun with the door curtain. She had to be extra careful to ensure she didn't glimpse at Yuri's bare stomach as she stretched to attach the curtain to the fixings, her school shirt riding up her waist as she did so. She didn't need to be distracted by her raging gay thoughts right now.

Once that was done and tested, Yuri began positioning the candles around the room, debating different layout ideas with Natsuki the whole time. It made her feel genuinely appreciated when Yuri asked for her opinion, sometimes she wasn't even sure whether the older girl respected her, but it reassured her that she did, at least a little.

Once positioned, Yuri lit the candles and moved to lower the blinds. It looked...really pretty. "What do you think?"

"Spooky," Natsuki said, an eyebrow raised. "But I like it."

Yuri beamed and opened the blinds, beginning to blow the candles out. No need to waste them, yet.

"Sorry, sorry! We're here!" Monika bustled through the door and the curtain with a flustered look on her face, pulling Sayori along behind her by the hand.

Natsuki put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at the couple. "Jeez, what took you guys so long? We thought you'd gone missing or something."

Monika and Sayori exchanged a quiet look, before Monika turned back with a smile. "Oh, nothing! The pamphlet bag broke on the way here so we had to go back and replace it." Hmm, fair enough. Monika emptied the pamphlets onto a desk and looked around approvingly. "This place looks great so far, guys!" Sayori nodded in agreement. She looked...really distant. That was strange for her.

"Thank you, Monika," Yuri said with a faint blush. "Aren't Natsuki's cupcakes are just the sweetest?"

Monika trotted over to the table with the cupcakes on them and gasped a little. "Wow, Natsuki! How cute!"

Ugh, that word again. She was too tired to fight it today.

Sayori peered at them. "And I bet they taste amazing."

Natsuki rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, go on." She knew it was inevitable that she would lose one to Sayori. She shot her a shaky smile and reached for a cupcake of her choosing, giving Natsuki an approving thumbs up.

Monika placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, "Hey, Sayo? Do you mind collecting some card, glue and scissors from the arts room?" Sayori nodded, taking her cupcake with her as she left the room. Monika watched her leave carefully before she gestured for the other two to join her. "Hey, guys? I need to ask you two a favour."

"What is it, Monika?" Yuri asked, concerned. She glanced at the door and lowered her voice.

"I need you to be extra kind to Sayori today. She's having a tough time."

They both agreed without question. Natsuki knew Sayori had her down days, it was unfortunate that one had to interfere with the festival. She'd been so excited about it last week.

Sayori returned, holding up the supplies she'd retrieved with a weak smile. Her eyes seemed pretty dull, as if the light in them had been switched off. Monika beamed at her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, sweetheart!" That brightened Sayori's eyes for a moment, at least.

They returned to their respective jobs for the festival preparations. Natsuki decided to help Sayori with creating little card decorations to hang around the room while the others set up. A last minute idea from Monika, apparently. That girl was too creative for her own good. Or maybe she'd just thought of it as a distraction for her girlfriend. Either way, it was a nice idea.

Her and Sayori chatted between themselves. She always loved talking to Sayori, she was optimistic and could chat about anything for hours. Not so much today, though, but her enthusiasm was still there, if dim. Natsuki offered her another cupcake when she began looking a little spaced out, which was gratefully accepted. Monika periodically checked up on her, too. Occasionally squeezing her shoulder or kissing her cheek, and each time Sayori would smile or laugh for a brief moment before regaining that sad, lost look. It was heartbreaking to see.

As they worked she wondered if Monika and Sayori would ever find out about her and Yuri. When they'd first become a couple they had hid it for a little while, presumably out of fear. But one day Yuri had returned to the club after forgetting her jacket to find them, lips locked. After that they'd been as open as possible about it, showing gross amounts of public affection. Well, it was only gross because Natsuki didn't really understand, but she was beginning to. The couple liked to show each other off, it was sweet, and with Monika being student body president the news of their relationship had spread like wild fire, anyway. No need to try and hide it at that point.

Natsuki wondered how Monika and Sayori would even react to her and Yuri...whatever they were. Well, they obviously weren't homophobic but that wasn't really the problem. They always teased them about their silly disagreements and how they barely even tolerated each other, which was fair enough given the amount of stupid things they often argued about. Hah, it was actually one of the reasons she was so drawn to Yuri. When they had all went to the theatre to see 'Wicked' Sayori had joked about how 'What is This Feeling' suited them to a T. Her and Monika had lip synched the whole thing with each other, assigning themselves the different characters. It had been fun.

They'd made a fair few of the decorations in the time they had and they actually looked really pretty. Monika trotted over to them again, this time with a thought on her mind. "Okay, let's start setting up. The festival is gonna start soon!"

Well, here goes nothing.