Doki Doki! Reader x Literature Club

Chapter Fourteen: Poem Time

It was almost time to read our poems in front of an entire crowd. I was nervous, and it seems like everybody else was getting a little erratic, and not just me. Before it was poem time, I took a walk around the school, trying to gain my cool. Taking deep breaths, and praying that my heart will calm down by 1:30, which was when we'd read our poems.

As I was walking, I heard some sort of quick and heavy paced breathing around the corner. I stood still for a second, listening intently. The person sounded like they were in pain, so I turned around the corner. Yuri was there, her sleeve was unrolled and there were tiny slits all up her arm.

"A-Ah!" Yuri gasped once she realized I witnessed her cutting herself with a different pocket knife than the one in my backpack. Yuri was frozen in fear, panic filling her eyes. The blood was pouring down her arm, and it seemed painful.

"Yuri...?" I stuttered.

"P-Please! Don't look at m-me like this..." Yuri begged, covering her face in her bloody hands.

"Yuri...look at me," I ordered her. Yuri timidly looked at me, and I carefully took the pocket knife from her hands. I placed the bloody pocket knife in my pocket, and I took Yuri's bloody hands gently. "You don't need to feel embarrassed, okay? How about we go to the nurses office to fix up your wounds?"

Yuri avoided eye contact, but nodded. I took Yuri to the nurses office carefully and I put Neosporin on her cuts and bandaged them. Once they were completely hidden, a few tears rolled down her face.

"I'm such a failure..." Yuri muttered.

"You aren't a failure..." I tried reassuring her.

"I am...just because I was nervous and excited, I self harmed myself to feel anything else but the original emotions I feel. But that just makes me a monster..."

"Yuri...how about every day I check in with you about your wounds and try to help you heal them? Then after they're healed, maybe I can show you some other techniques to deal with anxiety instead of self harming yourself?" I suggested. Yuri looked at me with a bit of shock for a moment, and then nodded.

"That sounds wonderful...thank you," Yuri smiled shyly.

"No problem, Yuri. Anything to make sure you're healthy."

Yuri rolled down her sleeves as we made it to the club room. It was poem time, after all. There was a whole crowd in the club room, curious about our poetry.

"Hello everyone!" Monika introduced. "Welcome to the Literature Club! We'll be reading poems that represent who we all are, and how different we are yet how we all want to achieve the same goal!"

Everybody nodded and cheered in excitement.

"I'll be reading my poem first! Then Sayori, Y/N, Natsuki, and lastly Yuri! I hope you'll enjoy it!!" Monika exclaimed.

Monika took a deep breath and grabbed her poem. She started reading it. Her graceful and beautiful voice hooked everybody on her words. Her poetry expressions were amazing, and it impressed me.

Soon, it was Sayori's turn. I could tell she was getting nervous, but I gave her a reassuring smile and she started reading her poem. Her voice was shy at first, but then it got more powerful and full of courage. Her expression turned from fear, to complete relaxation and concentration on her words.

Next it was me, and I was nervous as hell. But I took a deep breath and started reading my poem out loud. Soon my fear completely disappeared as I read it, my expression was calm after a while, and I was proud of my poem-reading. After I stepped down from the podium, Natsuki went up.

Natsuki unfolded her poem and read it. Her cute and high pitched voice made the poem sound sweet and cute, even if it had a dark meaning behind it. Her voice became loud when the "plot twist" of the poem hit, and it made everybody's mouth agape. Natsuki soon went off of the podium.

Lastly, it was Yuri. She looked extremely anxious, and was rubbing her arms a little bit, which I assumed was for the stinging sensation of her wounds. I gave Yuri a reassuring nod and smile, and she started reading her poem. Her voice was soft and calming, and it made everybody relaxed. Her voice became more intense as the poem went along. Once she was over, everybody applaud for their efforts.

"Thank you everybody for stopping by! Remember: Everybody is a part of our literature club! If you want to join, please talk to one of us! Everybody is welcome!" Monika yelled out. Everybody in the crowd took one cupcake, and left the room, content with what we brought out to the public.

I was happy with what we brought to the table, but parts of me were concerned for the mental health of the literature club...what will happen next...?