The shining Sunday sun rose and Yuri felt no less worried. She texted her girlfriend good morning as always and waited for her to reply.

The day went really quiet in the shy bookworms home. The house that in the recent weeks has been full of life and love had gone back to its lonely mood of recent years. Until some point in the afternoon Yuri had managed to kill some time doing some cleaning and homework, but as she found herself with nothing else to do she tried to continue reading 'dreamcatcher'. However little did it help since she wasn't able to focus as worry striked once again. She kept waiting for that message that hadn't come since the early part of the day.

Natsuki opened her eyes at sound of knocking on her door that felt as if a heavy machine gun tried to bring it down. "I'm coming papa!", Natsuki quickly replied as soon as she regain her senses. "Get your ass up and start cleaning the bathroom like I told you!you have 1 minute before I kick this door down and drag you out myself!", the angry man behind the door shouted. "Yes papa!", Natsuki replied. She then felt a throbbing pain in her abdomen as she tried to get up. The short girl rolled up her t-shirt and saw a purple like bruise right where she felt her father's shoe the previous night. "Great", Natsuki thought. The pink haired girl then got up and brushed her hair in a rush then proceeding to do as her father told her.

Natsuki spent the rest of her Sunday practically restoring her apartment, the only good thing about this was that time moved faster as she kept herself occupied. At least until the earliest times of the evening where she heard her stomach grumbled telling her she has took to long to please it. "Guess I was starting to get you used to proper meals at proper times huh buddy? Well we've been through this before, bear with me for now", she thought to herself and continued removing the thick layers if dust from the shelves.

Evening was coming to an end and Yuri was now re-reading her previous texts she had exchanged with her lover for the past weeks. That brought a couple of smiles to her face at least while she tried to bear with the worry of her girlfriend still not replying. Another message popped up all of sudden, obviously coming from a different chat since she was on her favorite one already. Yuri opened it.

Nevermore: Yo Yuri! This book's great!
Markov's demoiselle: I am glad you are enjoying it.
Nevermore: you bet I am
Nevermore: watcha doing?
Markov's demoiselle: not much, just trying to keep my mind occupied while I wait for something.
Nevermore: I can help you with that 🤗
Markov's demoiselle: well, I guess that would be nice, thank you.
Nevermore: So the first thing you should do when you wait for anything it's not think about it, that'll make things easier. Sooo let's talk about stuff.
Markov's demoiselle: Alright.
Nevermore: What's your favorite kind of music?
Markov's demoiselle: I guess classical, some stuff of the 80's is also good.
Nevermore: cool! Have you listened to the Symphony #9 in E Minor? You know "From the new world" and stuff.
Markov's demoiselle: yes, it is excellent.
Nevermore: ikr! I'm not that much into classical but man that thing is great
Markov's demoiselle: Indeed it is.
Nevermore: Favorite movie?
Markov's demoiselle: Jacob's ladder.
Nevermore: haven't seen that one, gotta give it try if you like it hehe
Markov's demoiselle: it is really good, you should.
Nevermore: If you say so I'm sure it's true ☺️

Despite not being really into the conversation, Yuri at least managed to kill a fair amount of time chatting with the newest club member. Erika had been showing interest in anything about her so she mostly made the questions and Yuri simply answered, which made things easy for someone bad at maintening conversations like her.

Later that night Natsuki's father finally allowed her to go back to her room so she could do her homework. The shorter girl locked her door and immediately grabbed her phone.

Purple dummy: Good morning my beautiful girl, I hope you feel better and have a great day. Please talk to me as soon as you can.
Lovely cupcake: good morning dummy
Purple dummy: Thank god! How are you, love? Everything okay? And it is the middle of the night practically hehe.
Lovely cupcake: yeah, everything fine, sorry for taking so long to reply, my dad kept me busy the whole freaking day (╥﹏╥)
Purple dummy: aww do not worry sweetheart, I did miss you a lot but as long as you are okay, I feel relieved.
Lovely cupcake: ye, I missed you a hell lot too, you better hug me tomorrow or I'll kick your sorry butt
Purple dummy: Your commands are my wishes my princess ❤️
Lovely cupcake: crap, I unleashed the cheese monster again
Purple dummy: I love youuuuu ❤️
Lovely cupcake: I love you too cheesy Godzilla

A brief moment of happiness the pink and purple couple enjoyed to the very end went by, until they finally went to sleep.

The next day Natsuki eagerly waited for lunch time, she never was more grateful for having such a sweet girlfriend that made her food with love. Eventually they went to their usual spot to eat together and the shorter girl enjoyed the delicious food her beloved Yuri prepared for her, eating it surprisingly quick since she hadn't eaten anything in the past 40 or so hours since she had dinner at Yuri's house two days ago.

She put the lunch box down as she finished and leaned to give her girlfriend a soft kiss on her cheek as a thank you for helping her shut her stomach up. Yuri blushed lightly and smiled warmly while she finished the rest of her food as well.

Once done, Natsuki decided it was the best time to explain her girlfriend part of the situation, Yuri had waited for her to be ready since she didn't want to push her. "So, about what happened... I guess I'll explain now", Natsuki said staring into empty space. "Alright, love", Yuri said smiling sweetly at her. "This umm is hard to say but, to put things simple, my dad found out about us and he doesn't want me to go to your house anymore, he basically gave me an ultimatum. He wants me home at 4:30, club ends at 4, so I guess I gotta start running home from today, you know it takes us sometime to get home in general", Natsuki said feeling bitterness inside her chest. "B-But you can still come o-on weekends, r-right?", Yuri asked nervously even though she knew the answer already. "No, I'm sorry, I'm trapped at home on weekends now", Natsuki said looking off to the ground. "I-I could try talking t-to him, m-maybe I can convince-", Yuri stuttered trying to find a solution but was suddenly interrupted. "No! ... I mean, its no use, he's pretty stubborn really so he won't change his mind believe me", the pink tsundere said with a sad tone. "B-But what about o-our time together? I-I want to hold you, t-to be with you, t-there is still a lot of stuff w-we could do", Yuri said feeling anxiety creeping in. "We still have our time at school, I know it's not much, but at least we are not completely apart from each other right?", Natsuki replied trying to reassure her girlfriend and herself. Yuri stared at the ground thinking about what to say or if there was something they could do. Natsuki moved closer to her and held her cheek with one hand. "Hey, it'll be okay, just bear with me for a couple of months, I'll turn 18 next year and I can start looking for a job so I can move out and then we'll have all the time in the world for us, right?", Natsuki said rubbing her girlfriends cheek with her thumb gently, the shy girl finally looked at her. "M-Months? We have barely enjoyed a month together, I feel awful for being so clingy but I really need you with me", Yuri said almost on the verge of tears. "Don't feel like that, I need you too, Yuri, but I love you and I know we can go through this, together. Will you wait for me?", Natsuki asked trying to give her girlfriend her best smile. "I will, forever if I need to", Yuri said forcing a smile of her own. "Cheesy dummy", Natsuki said and pressed her lips against her girlfriends enjoying the kiss as they forgot about all their worries while it lasted. "I promise I'll try to be less tsundere and let you have your way at school", Natsuki flashed a sweet smile at Yuri as they pulled their lips away. Yuri giggled and wrapped her arms around her petite girlfriend and gave her repeated kisses on her cheek. "I'm still not ready cheese monster!", Natsuki said with her face red as ever.

The day went by quietly again, Yuri enjoyed every second of their hour together at the literature club as she used every chance she could get to hold or kiss her lover, until the final bell finally rang.

On the other side of the classroom a twintailed girl once again watched in annoyance at the affection display of the literature club couple, she had been learning to deal with it in the mean time as she waited patiently for a miracle.

Erika's prayers were answered at last when she noticed Natsuki rushing out of the classroom and a lonely Yuri staring at her as she fled. Erika finally saw an opening.

Yuri was about to leave the classroom as she waved bye to the other 3 members when a black haired girl approached her. "Do you mind if I walk home with you?", Erika smiled sweetly at Yuri. "Eh? Umm I guess not", Yuri replied a little surprised. "Cool, let's go then! Bye Moni, bye Sayo!", Erika waved bye at the two girls near the front desk who replied the same.

Monika stared at the two girls suspiciously as the walked away.

Erika was not the type of girl who'd let awkward silence bother her and soon enough she spoke to Yuri who walked apparently immersed in thought. "Why did your girl leave you alone today?", Erika asked. "E-Eh? She did not leave me alone", Yuri replied a little upset. "Sorry, guess I put it the wrong way, why did she leave so soon?", Erika asked again. "Personal stuff", Yuri replied bluntly. "I see... So umm about the book..." Erika changed the topic and continued chatting with Yuri the rest of the way home until they parted ways near Yuri's house. Erika lived in the opposite direction actually but she did not care.

Little time jumps for plot purposes from here, I don't wanna just write more of the same that much.

The rest of the week Yuri and Natsuki spent every second they had together to their fullest. They texted each other every night until they went to sleep.

By the end of the week Erika had already finished Portrait of Markov as her plans kept going smoothly. She had taken every chance of every opening so far, joining the literature club, text her everyday even if Yuri forgot to reply sometimes, talk to her during class and the lastest of walking her home everyday even if that meant having to walk twice the distance to her house. Little by little she was earning the purple haired bookworms trust, even going as far as starting to listen to her talk about her girlfriend sometimes even if that felt like a punch on her stomach everytime.

Friday night the twintailed girl decided to try her next move.

Nevermore: Sup Yuri-Yuri!
Markov's demoiselle: I still do not get the joke of that nickname.
Nevermore: you don't have to 😛
Markov's demoiselle: if you say so...
Nevermore: So what do you usually do on weekends?
Markov's demoiselle: I usually spend most of it with my girlfriend, but that is not option right now, so reading basically.
Nevermore: weeeeell I just finished reading Portrait of Markov earlier, so remember I told you about discussing it sometime?
Markov's demoiselle: yes, I do remember.
Nevermore: cool, then what do you say we have a little hang out? We could go to some cafe or somewhere like that and discuss it, there are things I would like to ask you about it 🤗
Markov's demoiselle: umm I am not really sure...
Nevermore: come on, seems like you need some distraction yourself too
Markov's demoiselle: Okay, I do not get to talk about that book too much outside internet forums anyway, so I guess it will not hurt.
Nevermore: awesome! Are you good tomorrow around noon?
Markov's demoiselle: yes, that time is fine for me.
Nevermore: nice, so I see you at the bookstore near the park?
Markov's demoiselle: Yes, I will be there.
Nevermore: great, I'll see you tomorrow then! 😄

This was one of the major openings Erika has been looking for.