More Than Friends [DDLC - Natsuki x Yuri]

Chapter XII

Monika isn't at school Monday.

Nor Tuesday.

"Natsuki, I'm really concerned..." Yuri says, approaching Natsuki.

"Don't worry about it, Yuri, I'm sure she's fine."

Natsuki isn't sure she convinced Yuri of anything, but she's not entirely certain herself. What could they even do, anyway? Call her? She still wasn't picking up. Text her? She wasn't responding to those, either. While unsure of what to do, Natsuki still wanted to act that way.

The next day, Wednesday was the day of Monika's return. She entered the club room with another girl. The other girl had slightly darker skin and aquamarine, curly hair, and was slightly shorter than Monika.

"Um, excuse me!" Monika says from her position in the doorway. All eyes turn to her.

"Um, this is Tamiko! Sh-She's a friend of mine, from back when I was in debate club..."

She grabs Tamiko's hand.

"A-And she's my girlfriend!"

Tamiko beams at the classroom with a wide smile.

"Aw, Monika, I'm really happy for you!" Sayori says, bouncing up and down.

Natsuki and Yuri look at each other knowingly, as if to say "It's good she recovered" without actually saying it.

Monika comes to sit in the classroom, and Tamiko follows shortly after, sitting next to her.

"Ah, will Tamika be joining us for club meetings?" Yuri asks.

"Nah, I'm just here for a couple of minutes before I get back to debate club." Tamiko says.

"Ah, I see." Yuri says, returning to where she was before.

"Anyway, I'll see you later, okay?" Tamiko says to Monika.

"Yeah. Bye!" Monika says. As Tamiko gets up from the table, she stops for a second before turning back and giving Monika a brief kiss.

"Well aren't they sweet?" Natsuki says to Yuri, trying to remain at a volume so that Monika couldn't hear.

"Yeah, I guess you could say they are." Yuri says. "But I guess we're kind of the same as them."

"Oh, really? I'm willing to bet money they haven't had sex yet."

Yuri blushes and looks around the room, trying to see if anyone noticed what Natsuki had said.

"P-Please don't mention that in public!"

Natsuki giggles a little. "Okay, fine."

Yuri relaxes a little, and Natsuki does the same leaning up on Yuri and placing her head on her shoulder.

Yuri begins to think, just like she always does. Not everything's fine, and she knows it. The issue with Hideki still hasn't been permanently dealt with yet, she still hasn't come out to her parents yet, and then there's Natsuki's father (a can of worms Yuri doesn't even know enough about to begin to open). But it's okay if not everything is perfect all the time. It doesn't need to be. As long as she's going through it with Natsuki, then every burden is lessened, just a little bit. She can get through anything as long as Natsuki's there.

"Natsuki"

"Yeah?"

"I love you..."

"I love you too."

"No, I love you... I really, really love you... you mean the entire world to me... you know that?"

Natsuki smiles warmly, her eyes still closed.

Yuri pulls her into a kiss, and as she pulls away the two continue staring into each other's eyes, Yuri with wonder and love, and Natsuki will warm bliss and happiness.

"I love you too, Yuri... I really, really do.."

Yuri smiles.

"I'm glad..."