Chapter 6 : Poetry, Panic, and Possibly a Cult

Monday morning.

My phone buzzes.

It’s 6:45 a.m.

I blink at the screen.

Airi Fujimoto:
“Good morning~ I had fun at the café! Thanks for the umbrella. You smell like fresh laundry. 🧺✨”

…I smell like WHAT?

Is this a compliment?

A coded warning?

A trap?

I stare at my phone for three full minutes until my toast burns.

Now I smell like burnt toast. Great.

At school, I meet Daiki by the front gate.

“Yo,” he says. “You look like a ghost just sent you a love letter.”

“Close. Airi texted me.”

His eyes go wide. “Is that even legal?”

“She said I smell like fresh laundry.”

He gasps. “Bro. That’s serious. That’s wife language.”

“I didn’t ask to be a scented candle.”

Daiki slaps my back like a proud uncle. “You’re in too deep now.”

In class, Airi waves at me like nothing’s weird.

"Good morning, Yuuji-kun~!"

“Uh... morning.”

She’s smiling again. Saturday-sweet. Friday-evil seems gone.

I sit down cautiously, like my chair might bite me.

Then she slides a small origami cat onto my desk. It has a tiny note inside.

I unfold it.

“You looked cute with cats. I forgive you for hogging the cats. ~Airi ♡”

I look up.

She’s doodling cats in her notebook.

She doesn’t even look at me.

What is this power?

I whisper to Daiki, “She’s gonna murder me with kindness.”

“Or marry you with violence,” he whispers back.

First period Mr. Kumagai starts doing his best impression of a lovesick playwright.

“Ah, spring,” he said, wiping away an invisible tear. “The season where young love blooms like cherry blossoms, soft and fleeting, yet unforgettable.”

He looked directly at me.
Then at Airi.
Then back at me.
Then sighed so loudly I felt personally violated.

Airi tilted her head and gave him her usual sweet smile. “Sensei, are you writing a haiku about us?”

I slowly slid my textbook in front of my face.

Kenta, never one to be outdone in the nonsense department, raised his hand.

“Sensei, is it true that our school lunches contain hidden messages if you arrange the carrots by shape?”

Mr. Kumagai blinked. “...What?”

“Think about it,” Kenta said, deadly serious. “Last week I got three star-shaped ones. S-T-A-R. It’s a sign.”

He then opened a notebook titled: “Operation Lunch Truth: Volume 4.”

I knew better than to ask about the previous three volumes.

At break, a tall girl with glasses walks into our class.

“Hello everyone! I’m Rika from the Literature Club. We’re looking for new members!”

Airi’s hand shoots up.

“Ooh! I love books!”

Liar.

“Also,” Rika adds, “our club has lots of free time. We mostly sit around drinking tea and writing short poems.”

My ears perk up.

Free time?

Tea?

Barely doing anything?

That’s... my love language.

Rika notices.

“You there. You look lazy— interested, I mean!”

I point to myself.

“Me?”

“Yes. You’d fit right in.”

Airi grabs my sleeve.

“We should join!”

“Wha— but I don’t even like poetry!”

“You like sitting and doing nothing, right?”

“…Okay, fair.”

The Literature Club room is cozy.

Bookshelves. A kettle. Too many teacups.

Rika bows. “Welcome! Make yourselves comfortable. Just don’t sit on the club president. He’s a cat.”

A ginger cat is sleeping on a pile of papers.

Airi squeals. “He’s so cute!”

The cat opens one eye. Then walks over... to me.

He climbs into my lap like I’m a warm cushion.

Airi reaches out to pet him.

He swats her hand.

“HEY!” she gasps.

I grin. “Looks like cats choose their people.”

She pouts.

Rika serves us tea and paper.

“Today’s theme is : Write a poem about love or snacks. Or both. I don’t really care.”

Airi starts scribbling right away.

I panic and write something safe.

Cookies are sweet,
But tea is my one true love.
Don't judge me, biscuit.

Airi reads it and laughs.

“Simple. Very you.”

I peek at hers.

If love is a cookie,
You’re the chocolate in mine.
Also, you owe me one.

I raise an eyebrow. “What do I owe you?”

She smirks. “The cat’s attention. And probably emotional rent.”

Rika walks over. “These are great! So much hidden feeling!”

More like confusion, but okay.

Suddenly, the clubroom door opens.

“M-Mika?” I blink.

Mika Kuroda peeks in, holding a tray of... something.

“Oh! I, um, was passing by and saw the sign! I didn’t know you guys joined the Literature Club!”

Airi tilts her head. “You pass by the third floor Literature Room after school?”

“I, uh, got lost…”

Her tray wobbles dangerously.

“What’s that?” I ask.

She blushes. “Cookies! I-I thought, maybe, if you were here… you could, um, taste them?”

Airi raises an eyebrow.

“Oh?” she says sweetly. “You brought cookies just in case Yuuji was in this exact room at this exact time?”

“I-it’s not weird!”

Mika offers me one cookie. Then offers Airi one too.

Airi picks hers up and takes a bite.

Then pauses.

Then smiles.

“…Crunchy,” she says.

“That’s good, right?” Mika asks nervously.

“I mean... water is crunchy if it's ice.”

Mika looks like she might die.

I quickly take a bite of mine.

My teeth bounce off it like it’s made of cement.

“O-oh! So, uh, what kind of flour did you use?”

“…Flour?”

Airi coughs into her tea.

Mika goes bright red. “I’ll just… go work on that…”

She scurries away like a hamster.

Airi sips her tea, watching her go.

“She’s cute.”

I nod. “And dangerous with an oven.”

Back at the Shoe Lockers
I try to quietly switch shoes and escape.

But Airi is already there, smiling.

“So~ You liked her cookies?”

“Define ‘liked’,” I say.

“She made them for you.”

“I think she made them for science. And I was the lab rat.”

Airi walks beside me to the gate. The sun is setting.

She’s quiet for a moment. Then—

“Hey, Yuuji-kun.”

“Yeah?”

She leans closer.

“Write me a poem next time.”

“I don’t know how.”

She smirks. “Just describe me in five syllables, then seven, then five.”

I try.

“Nice short hair. Scary smile.
Gives me weird but cute animal notes.
smells like freshly baked cookies.”

I tried.

“…I’ll accept it.”

Yuuji’s Mental Diary – Day 6
Airi Fujimoto Status: 🧺📜🐱

Poem Levels : Terrible

Cookie Damage: 3 teeth

Club : Joined
Club Purpose: Unknown. Suspected cult.

Mika Kuroda Status: ☀️🍪💔

Emotion Detected: Jealousy? (tiny, adorable, possibly explosive)

Note : I may never escape this chaos. But at least there’s tea.

Bonus Scene: Operation Cookie Crush
Sunday – Somewhere in Sweets Disaster Zone

I’m not sure what Mika Kuroda was thinking when she woke up this morning and decided she was going to bake cookies for Yuuji.

Maybe it was the innocent desire to show her affection.

Maybe it was the burning jealousy that bubbled in her heart after spotting Airi handing over a carefully wrapped cookie box.

Or maybe… it was just a dangerous amount of free time and access to flour.

Mika stood in her kitchen, apron on, cheeks puffed out in concentration.

Her recipe book lay open like an ancient scroll.
Flour had exploded across the counter like a battlefield.
Chocolate chips were scattered. And the oven cooking something ominously in the background.

“Alright! Time for test batch number one!” she declared proudly.

“Test batch?” said a voice from the kitchen door.

Enter: Daiki Morishita. Hoodie, headphones, and a look that said he had wandered into this scene by accident. Which he had. Unfortunately.

“Oh, perfect timing!” Mika beamed. “I need a taste tester!”

“…Uh-oh.”

Ten Minutes Later

Daiki sat at the table, eyeing the cookie in front of him like it was a time bomb.

It looked fine, to be fair. Slightly odd shape. And a bit… gray? Was it supposed to be gray?

“Why is it steaming?” he whispered.

“It’s fresh!” Mika says.

“It’s boiling, Mika.”

“C’mon, just one bite!”

Daiki gave her a dramatic look. “If I die, tell Yuuji I still think he’s too dense.”

And with that, he took a bite.

Crunch.

Crack.

Snap.

“…Why does it taste like glue mix with concrete?”

Mika leaned forward eagerly. “Is it… good?”

“I think my mouth is numb. Mika, what did you use instead of sugar?”

“…Salt?”

Daiki immediately stood up and stumbled toward the sink, eyes wide, tongue out.

Mika winced. “Oops. That was the cat treat recipe page…”

Later That Night

Mika sat in her room, cookie attempts #2 through #7 piled in a sad tower of failed dreams. Her notebook lay open.

Batch 1: Too salty

Batch 2: Uncooked center

Batch 3: Burned bottom

Batch 4: Cookie or hockey puck?

Batch 5: Accidentally used mayonnaise

Batch 6: Daiki refused to eat it

Batch 7: It… moved???

She sighed.

“I’ll get it right next time… and when I do… Yuuji will smile for me.”

In the distance, Daiki was seen clutching his stomach on the couch.

“No more test batches,” he groaned. “Next time, use Yuuji as the test subject.”

Writers note :
Yuuji is not getting any job that involves writing.