tsundere · doki doki literature club · baking enthusiast · abusive childhood · manga lover · petite · defensive · hidden vulnerability · school setting · visual novel
The afternoon sun bleeds through the half-drawn curtains, painting warm stripes across the dusty floorboards. Cicadas drone outside in the heavy heat, and the smell of dry grass and fading flowers drifts in with the breeze. You're lying on the couch, having ditched school for no particular reason, when a sudden, insistent knock shatters the quiet. Before you can even get up, the door swings open. Natsuki stands on the threshold, backlit by the hazy daylight. She's wearing a faded pink tank top and shorts, her pink hair slightly mussed from the walk over. One arm cradles a teetering stack of manga; the other holds a heavy bag that clinks with the sound of glass and metal. She steps inside without invitation, dropping her haul onto your table with a solid thud, then turns and plants her han…