Natsuki groaned to herself and let out a wince when she took a breath, a sharp pain in the right side of her chest making her wake up pretty fast as she stopped moving to rub her eyes. Opening them very tiredly and still in pain, her eyes stung too and her voice was just a little hoarse after all the crying and screaming she had done the night before. She rubbed all the sleep from her eyes that she could before slowly and carefully turning onto her stomach and getting up.

No matter how slowly she moved, it still really hurt, the abused pinkette getting up and standing in front of the sink, she looked at herself and gasped. She was a mess, her eyes had bags and were a little bloodshot and she had some dried blood on the corner of her lip as well as a pretty bad looking bruise on her face. And if she thought that was bad it only got worse when she looked down at her leg that had been stepped on by her father.

As she had thought it didn't just feel bad, but it looked worse too, a deep dark purple shade that went from her ankle nearly up to the spot behind her knee! There was a bit of blood on her leg too, her father had probably broken some skin when he had twisted his heel into her leg.

"Holy shit... s-shit no way I..." she gulps and turns her attention to her chest next, she's terrified to lift her shirt up to look, "How am I going to hide all of this? This is too much I-I can't go today..." she mutters not sure what she's going to do.

Deciding to look at her chest first, she cautiously lifted up her shirt. And she was right to be scared to see herself. Her stomach on its own was bad, her ribs visible... But the massive, almost black bruise on her side nearly made her faint. It ran from the side of her chest to the direction of her starved stomach. Like her leg there was a smear of dried blood. Honestly, she was astounded that nothing was broken.

She lets her shirt drop and takes another painful breath in before leaning against the sink. How can she have survived any of that last night? With the state her body is in, she shouldn't even be standing at this point, but she is.

"But... I can't stay here, I really can't I-I..." she stops and stays quiet when she hears a door open, looking over to the bathroom door which is still closed and locked.

Listening to the sound of what surely is her father's footsteps as he passes right by the door, a few bangs follow shortly after as her father is once again drunk. Even if he does go to work today, Natsuki just couldn't bring herself to stay here, this house is nothing but a place of horror to her now. Nothing was here for her at all, but there was at least something for her at the literature club.

Deciding to do what she can to hide her injuries as best as possible, she waits a little more until the house is entirely quiet before finally unlocking the bathroom door. Leaving the safety of the bathroom, she goes down the hall where her "room" was, looking at her dresser and grabbing the longest pair of socks that she had. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. She slipped them on, the socks barely going up just past the bruise.

If anyone decided to look, they might be able to see a bit of the bruise, but it was enough for now. Her face on the other hand...

"What about this bruise though..?" she wondered, looking at herself in the mirror and searching the cupboard where her father kept his own toiletries like his hair dye and moisturizers.

There was a very old bottle of makeup in the cupboard, it was something she got years ago when her mother was still around. It would have to do for now, at least until the bruise went away, hopefully soon. She hadn't put makeup on in a very long time, it didn't really look good but like everything else in Natsuki's life, it would have to do.

Leaving the bathroom, Natsuki walked down the stairs carefully, her leg still in excruciating pain. The tsundere looked at the clock in her living room. Thankfully, she still had a full hour left till school, as she wasn't sure if she could walk properly at this point.

She stopped however when she looked over to the kitchen, there was no way she could get any food from there, not a single cupboard was unlocked. All of them had locks on them that needed a key, Natsuki had tried before to get one of those doors open but she was not nearly strong enough to make any of them budge even a little bit. The fridge was chained up as well so that was far from an option at all for Natsuki to get any sort of nutrition.

It only made the tsundere hungrier... But she decided not to try and get anything, knowing she'd only fail and make herself even more tired. She turned away and left, her stomach growling almost painfully as the thought of food entered her mind, not bothering to stay staring at the kitchen and just leaving for school...

...

Yuri grunted as she struggled to hang a banner up onto the ceiling of the literature club's classroom. Pinning it into the walls and finally getting it to stay, while MC watches holding the ladder.

Yuri sighs relieved as she carefully comes down from the ladder a little tired, "Finally, it's hung up!" she exclaims proud of herself for it.

"Good job everyone!" Monika exclaims, looking out at the half decorated literature club with a few little banners hung up and these cute little book cut outs Sayori had brought in.

Yuri smiled awkwardly with MC nodding, "Yeah, it looks pretty great, I wonder if anyone will stop by today to check out the club," MC says just glad they're done for now.

"I do as well, this is quite exciting," Yuri adds on, her heart just fluttering at the idea that a new member to their club might be interested in literature just as much as she is.

"Waaaaait, why don't we finish then?!" Sayori whines only wanting to decorate the club even more to which Monika chuckles.

"Well it's time to share poems Sayori, we can finish the decorations tomorrow or later this week. I want Natsuki to make cupcakes again this week for anyone who stops by so we can finish this later."

Sayori pouts but understands while MC just pats her on the head softly, smiling at his long time friend only for the door to the club to open as the pinkette walks in, huffing and breathing heavily.

"Ah! Speak of the devil, Natsuki you're here and uh..." Monika stops and walks over to her as Natsuki leans on the door frame of the room for support, "Are you okay? You're breathing really hard and-"

"Fine!" she blurts out in a panic, still out of breath, "Fine! Just... hah... I ran, I got caught up in my last class, s-sorry," she apologizes, avoiding eye contact with the club's president.

Monika gives a skeptical look, she would've believed it before.But after Yuri had mentioned how odd it was for Natsuki to get so tired all the time, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Oh uh, that's fine, don't worry about it!" Monika assures trying to keep a good poker face, "We were just about to share poems anyways so why not you go and show yours to someone and we can get started?"

Natsuki feels relieved, 'Thank god she hasn't pointed out the makeup on my face, it isn't even the right tone,' she thinks before silently walking into the literature club.

Before she has any chance to pick someone to share her poem to, Monika and Sayori are already together chatting and sharing theirs. As for MC, well he's clearly waiting for one of the presidents to be done so he can share his with them so that only left... Yuri. Natsuki groaned internally at this as the nervous girl approached her, poem clutched to her chest.

"Um... the others are busy sharing their own poems with each other so... can you read mine?" she asks, irking the pinkette.

Natsuki crosses her arms and rolls her eyes before reaching a hand out, "If I have to... fine," she grunts reluctantly

Yuri hands her poem to Natsuki, just glad she isn't being shouted at this time, whilst Natsuki hands her own poem to Yuri who takes it carefully not wanting to crinkle the paper.

They both read silently, Yuri is actually a little impressed at the poem Natsuki wrote, it's well worded she thought. It has a meaning to it that left her puzzled and wanting to better understand what it means.

"Oh my, Natsuki this is quite good," she compliments, Natsuki huffing at her and just snatching at her poem.

Yuri doesn't stop her as Natsuki practically shoves the book worm's poem into her face, "Yeah well, I didn't ask... though I guess... yours is good too," she admits, "It's short for once at least. Weird like usual, but I didn't get confused."

Yuri feels... satisfied, 'Well this is progress I suppose, she at least didn't hate it or say it was shit like usual.'

"U-uh, thanks that's good!" she blurts, Yuri taking her poem back and holding it tightly against her stomach, "Yours was a little bit... darker than usual though Natsuki," Yuri points out, "Can I ask what gave you the inspiration for it?"

The tsundere puts her poem down and avoids eye contact with Yuri, "Nothing I just guess your horrific writing style is rubbing off on me."

Yuri looks down disappointed but accepts this, "I-I see... well I'm glad to have inspired you a little, Natsuki," Yuri says, starting to walk away, "Um, I think Monika and the others are done now."

Natsuki was about to reply but she stopped when she saw something, Yuri's arms were up as she held her poem to her chest. As such, some of her arm was exposed but she saw something white and sorta paper like, they looked like... bandages?

Natsuki instinctively reached out trying to stop Yuri but didn't say anything, deciding instead she was just seeing things or that she might have actually been enjoying Yuri's company. Both were possible thoughts but even so why would Yuri have bandages on, it's not like she was injured or anything anyways.

'Maybe I'm so hungry I'm just starting to see things... I need to get something to eat soon, at this point I really am going to starve,' she thinks, staring off into space only for her thoughts of hunger to be thrown off when MC comes up to her.

Blabbering a bit and talking to the tsundere before they both finally trade poems with one another and so on. The rest of the club time going just like this until the bell for any students to wrap up what they were doing and leave the school grounds for the day.

"Wow, that went a lot quicker than I thought..." Natsuki mutters, holding her arms and wincing suddenly when her elbow pushes against the bruise on her chest.

"To be fair you were only here for about half of the club though," MC points out only getting a glare from the tsundere who is far from amused at this.

"Actually Natsuki, before you go I was wondering if you might be able to make those cupcakes again? The cat ones from last week were really cute, I think a lot of people would like them if they came around to check out the club!" Monika asks, insistent on Natsuki baking them again.

Honestly, Monika probably just really wanted one of those cupcakes again which was unlike her considering Sayori was usually the sweets thief but the pinkette wasn't against the appreciation for her baked goods.

"Oh well... I guess I can yeah, but I'll have to see if I have all the ingredients first so no promises," Natsuki grabs her bag and stuffs her poem down inside of it.

The others all do the exact same and all of them leave at the same time for once, a few of the other students watching as this group of girls and a guy walks out talking normally with Monika. Some of them seemed jealous and others shocked as Monika was the most popular girl in school. None of them actually noticed as they were all too busy talking however and thank goodness for it as Natsuki was very much struggling to walk normally at this point.

All of them walk out as some students walk past them, Yuri waving goodbye to her friends as Natsuki walks off in the same direction as her. She stares and starts to play with her hair a bit, should she say something? She wanted to try and make an effort with the smaller girl and mend things after their argument from the week before. Not to mention she's starting to worry for Natsuki, all day she's seemed so tired and weaker than usual and she's noticed she looks really uncomfortable as if somethings bothering her.

Yuri hurried to catch up to Natsuki, "N-Natsuki!" she calls, making her look over her shoulder as Yuri runs up next to her, "Um... hey, can I walk with you?" she asks.

The pinkette normally would demand Yuri stay away from her and not to bother her but honestly, any company at this point is welcomed over going back home. Especially after last night she was even more terrified than usual so why not?

"Fine, but only because I don't want to be alone for a bit," she mutters, not wanting to admit she's afraid to walk by herself going home.

Yuri didn't question her as they walked together, talking to Natsuki about the club and how well the festival had gone, which to Yuri's surprise, Natsuki seemed happy to respond to! Talking to Yuri how it was actually really fun showing off the literature club and that she hopes someone might stop by this week to join the club. They both were actually talking normally for once and they were really glad for that, it was so weird not shouting at the other for once.

"To be fair, it is Sayori, Natsuki. You should know better than to let any sweet of yours in even a 5 foot radius of her," Yuri giggles, laughing behind her hand as they walked up towards her house.

Natsuki laughed with her, "You don't expect your cookie to be stolen like that either though! I wouldn't be surprised if she looked at it and thought 'locked on target' before taking it from me!"

Yuri shakes her head still smiling as she opens the gate to her residence, the sun is setting now so it looks a bit dark and there's no one home at all. It almost looks a little menacing although weirdly nice, it gives off a quiet vibe, one you get when you get home late at night and there's no one but you there.

She walked through the gate and turned around, waving at Natsuki and saying to her, "Thank you for letting me walk home with you, it was... nice," she admits, Natsuki feeling light and a pink blush appear on her face as Yuri closes the small iron gate, "Goodnight Natsuki, I'll see you tomorrow at the club?"

Natsuki quickly shakes her head a little, refocusing, "Um, yeah, sure! Just hope I'm not late this time," she mutters, rubbing her arm and crossing her leg, ignoring the painful ache that came with it.

Yuri turned and started to walk away, leaving and opening the door to her house as Natsuki watched, she felt upset. She wanted more of this, she liked talking to Yuri just now, it had been so long since she had laughed with someone before! And now she had to leave that behind again and go back home where she was sure she'd be beaten mercilessly once more.

"Goodnight..." she muttered just as Yuri had shut her door, wincing as the silence of this quiet neighborhood bore down onto her and the pain Natsuki's body was in returned to her the moment she started to walk away from that house...

...

Natsuki went from happy to in pain to then confused all in the span of a few minutes, what the heck just happened right now? She was laughing and wanted to be around Yuri more and now she was walking up the neighborhood she lives in expecting more abuse from her father once she walks in the door. Why was she back here? Why didn't she just leave this place by now? If this kept up she was going to die, she was starving and hurting so much and she started to shake when she saw her house.

For some reason though she didn't really think about what would happen when she walked inside this time, all she could think about right now was Yuri... She and her never talked like they had just now. Natsuki always knew Yuri was smart but she was funny too, not to mention passionate as well. Whenever the conversation they had became about a book Yuri read before she became instantly adept in expressing every thought she had on it to Natsuki. It was cute the way Yuri changed so fast towards the pinkette... really cute.

'Wait, what am I thinking?!' Natsuki shakes her head, her little bangs swaying with her as she holds her face, blushing, 'This is Yuri I'm thinking about damnit! She and I are enemies... She hates me, t-this was just a nice little moment I'm trying to make up in my head.'

Natsuki looks up as she walks up her house's steps, reaching for the door without hesitation for once and pushing it only... It doesn't open? Natsuki's puzzled for a moment before trying to open it again but the knob doesn't even turn either.

Goosebumps run up Natsuki's back as she knocks on the door, yelling out to her father, "P-Papa?! Papa open the door!" she shouts, looking up to see there are some lights on in the house with a few others off.

'He's drunk again...' she thinks, dreading this thought as this has happened a few times before.

She'd come home and try to go inside only for the front door to be locked up tight and no other way in present for her. Every time this happens Natsuki has had to sleep outside or wander around the town until morning so she could at least go to school to sleep in between classes. But right now she really couldn't do that, she was too tired and it was really cold out already too, her school uniform was at least a little warm but...

"I-I can't stay out here again, I'll freeze a-and..." she whimpers, holding her arms and feeling the pain in her chest, "I just can't..."

Natsuki doesn't try to get inside her house again, it's not worth it and she doesn't have the energy at all, walking back the way she came instead. Sayori's house is too far and so is MC's, Monika lives even further than those two do as well on the opposite side of the town so... of course that means Yuri's the closest to her. Maybe Natsuki and Yuri didn't get along with one another that much, but not even Yuri could hate her to turn her away.

Building up the courage, she left that place and began to walk back to Yuri's house, scared to ask the violet haired girl if she could stay with her for the night than she ever has been to go back home to her father. The cold breeze made Natsuki shiver the closer to Yuri's home she got, the sun setting and the world darkening around her...