Making his way into the clubroom, Alex was surprised to see that only Komi, Natsuki, and Sayori were inside. He turned and looked up at the clock on the wall – it was almost time for the meeting to start.
"Hey. Uh, I thought I was gonna be the last one today for sure." Alex said with an ironic chuckle as he entered the room. He slid his bag off his shoulder and dropped it into an empty seat.
"On any other day you would be," Natsuki said. "But Yuri texted me earlier saying she was gonna be in the library with Monika today. They got a-a English project." She explained.
"Gotcha. So what does that mean for us?" Alex asked.
"Today's gonna be a quiet reading day," Sayori answered. "Or if you've got homework or writing you wanna work on, you can do that too. I'll be working on my next poem!" She declared.
"I'm gonna be reading manga. Alex, care to join?" Natsuki asked.
"Uhh yeah. Sure." He agreed.
"I think I'll work on a poem too." Komi decided.
"Great! So it'll be a quiet reading and writing day." Sayori said with a smile.
So the four of them split into pairs: Komi sat next to Sayori so that they could work on writing poems while Alex and Natsuki sat on the floor by the wall side by side so that they could read from her manga.
Once they were settled, the silence quickly set in.
Komi felt a slight sense of palpable discomfort in the air. It was hard to describe; she was used to things being quiet when she was at home, but in the presence of her friends, the silence didn't quite feel right. Sayori seemed to be fairly engaged in her writing, so maybe it was just her feeling that way?
She glanced over at Natsuki and Alex and that's when she noticed that they weren't reading from the manga. Instead, she was typing something on her phone and then showing it to him. Then he took the phone, looked down at the screen with a strangely serious expression, then he typed something and gave it back to her.
Komi quickly looked down at her paper, confused by what she had just seen. After considering the facts for a few minutes, she realized that Natsuki had likely drawn him in so that they could talk privately, likely about something serious.
Komi tapped her finger against her pencil before writing a message to Sayori on a blank piece of paper. She slid it over to Sayori's desk.
"Is everything alright?" She asked.
"Hm?" Sayori looked up, read the message, then looked at Komi. They stared at each other for a few moments before Komi's eyes fell to the paper. Sayori looked down at it and started writing. Then she slid the paper back to Komi.
"What do you mean?" Sayori asked.
"I'm not sure." Komi admitted. She was unsure of how to explain the feeling she was picking up on. She was hoping that Sayori would be able to read into it the same way Tadano could, but instead Sayori just shrugged and went back to her writing.
She was unsuccessful in expressing her concern...
The quiet meeting soon came to an end. The school bell rang, and everyone stood up from their seats, "Sorry to rush out of here so soon but I gotta get home! See you guys tomorrow!" Natsuki said before rushing out the door.
"Wait, Natsuki! I needed to borrow some of your notes, remember?!" Sayori said, grabbing her bag and running after her.
This left just Komi and Alex in the room. He stood up slowly with a grunt. He took a few moments to stretch his legs, "Ah well. I'mma fix up these desks real quick. Apparently the teacher gets mad if we don't leave the room exactly how we found it." He said as he begun to slide the desks back into their proper place.
"I'll help you." Komi offered.
"Oh yeah, thanks." Alex said with a smile.
The two of them started sliding the desks into place one by one. That silence, that strange feeling started to set in the room again. Komi felt the awkward tension, but she didn't know what to do about it. Alex felt the same, so he tried to muster up some conversation.
"Ahem...so how're you doing, Komi?" Alex asked.
"Mm!" Komi stood up straight and went to grab her notebook, "I'm doing well. How are you?" She asked.
"Not too bad. Ready to head home," He answered with a chuckle. "Did you...uh...get any progress done on your poem?" He asked, trying his best to keep the conversation going.
"I wasn't able to get any progress at all. It was hard to concentrate with how quiet it was today." Komi expressed honestly.
"Yeah, it was kinda unusual today. The vibe was off with Monika and Yuri missing. But you know, it's just like that sometimes." He said with a shrug.
"Yes. I noticed that you and Natsuki were talking. Is everything okay?" Komi asked.
"Oh! Yeah, it's all good. It was just...stupid stuff." Alex said, waving it off. He readjusted one of the desks and then noticed that Komi was staring at him.
She didn't appear to be convinced. This pressured Alex to say more.
"Uh...she was upset with me about the whole...group chat thing. I didn't mean anything by it, but she just misunderstood what I meant by it." He explained.
"I'm not sure what the intention behind that was."
"Okay, well I was thinking that I'm the guy who doesn't come to the meetings every day, right? Sometimes I just don't make it, so I figured if you guys wanted to make plans without me, you could do it in a way where it wouldn't be awkward." He explained.
"Why would we make plans without you?" Komi asked.
"Well...I guess I just assumed. Anyways, Natsuki thought that I was trying to faze myself out of the club again, so I had to explain what I meant by it. We're all good now. We worked it out." He said.
"That's good. I'm glad. I was worried." Komi admitted.
"Worried? Why?" Alex asked with a surprised expression.
"Because you two are my friends and friends with each other. You two seem to get along well. You tease each other a lot. I don't want to see you be upset with each other."
"Ah yeah...well you don't have to worry," He said with a smile before finishing up the last desk. "Thanks for the help, Komi. We kinda got abandoned real quick, huh?" He pointed out with a chuckle.
"I'm happy that I could help. Is there anything else that you need?" She asked.
"Nope. We're all clear here," Alex answered with a chuckle, leaning back against one of the desks. "So, what do you have going on for the rest of the day?" He asked curiously.
"I'm going to be going home and helping my mother cook dinner this evening. What are your plans?" She asked.
"Just heading home and relaxing, probably gonna work on some writing. I don't know. Maybe I'll just play some video games." He answered with a chuckle.
"Ok. May I ask you a question, Alex?" She requested.
"Hm? Oh yeah, totally. What's up?" He asked.
"Was it difficult to settle things with Natsuki?"
"Was it difficult? Not really, no. Why?"
"I'm not always sure how to express myself. Now that I am attending more social gatherings, I worry about saying or doing something that could upset someone. How did you and Natsuki resolve things?" Komi asked.
"We talked things out. I explained my side, she explained hers, we shared our feelings on either side, and from there we came to an understanding. That's all it is. Just talking honestly." He answered, relaxing back with his arms folded.
"What if they're angry?" Komi asked.
"Well then maybe it's best to wait until things are calm...? You're throwing a lot of hypotheticals at me." Alex pointed out with a chuckle.
"Sorry. Thank you for answering my question. I apologize for taking up your time."
"Oh no, you're fine! We're just two friends having a conversation. That's all." He pointed out with a little smile. Komi lowered her head and blushed.
"...y-yes." She quietly agreed. She walked past him to get her stuff from her desk.
Alex turned around, watching her gather her things. That's when she noticed a group of students hanging around outside the classroom, looking inside through the open door. Some of them were giving him threatening looks.
They didn't seem too happy that he was alone with Komi in the classroom. He scoffed and smiled a little, looking at them for a few seconds before his eyes fell on Komi again.
"Hey, Komi. You said you're walking home?" He asked.
"Mhmm." She answered with a nod.
"Let me walk you home. If you don't mind." He offered, walking around and grabbing his stuff. Her eyes widened in surprise at this sudden offer.
"M-Mhmm." She shyly nodded again and started to make her way out the door. He followed her out and shut the door behind him then fell in step next to her.
Alex stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled again as he walked with Komi right past the other students...