As Monika climbed the stairs to the second floor of the school, she felt like her stomach was full of butterflies, but in a good way. She had prepared a fun little exercise to try out, an attempt to break away from the growing monotony of daily poems. It was simple: in the schoolbag slung over Monika's shoulder were several ideas and concepts for stories written on small pieces of paper and stored in a Ziploc bag, and on her head was a rather silly top hat. She would empty all the papers into the hat, have each club member grab one at random, and whatever they got was what they would write about for the day.
This seemed like a good way to get the creative juices flowing, but Monika couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. Up until then, sharing poems had been what was expected of club meetings. Would the other members take kindly to this experiment? To reassure herself, Monika remembered how they had reacted the first time she suggested writing poems. They had initially protested, but over time grew to enjoy sharing what they had written with each other. Hopefully, this exercise would be the same way.
Rounding the corner, Monika paused when she saw the rest of the club standing in front of the usual classroom with similarly-confused expressions on their faces. The door was shut, with a sign on the front deeming it "closed for maintenance."
Before Monika could react, Sayori tackled her with a tight hug. "Monika, the room is closed!" she cried. "What do we do?"
"What? No one told me about this!" Managing to untangle herself from Sayori, Monika approached the door and tried the handle to find it locked.
"Um, what's with the hat?" Natsuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
Monika hesitated. She didn't want to reveal anything until they were ready for the exercise. "…I'll tell you later."
Natsuki gave her an incredulous look, but didn't press. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall with a huff. "Ugh! This is stupid. It doesn't even make any sense! Like, what maintenance would they be doing? It's just a classroom."
"I know, right?" Monika said, jiggering the handle.
"Do you have a key, Monika?" asked Sayori.
"Nope."
"You would think that they would inform you…" Monika jumped at the sound of Yuri's voice right next to her. That girl was so quiet, she seemed to disappear when you weren't paying her direct attention.
Monika gave the handle one last try, but it was fruitless. Why did this have to happen on the day she was going to try something new and fun? With a disappointed sigh, she turned back to the other club members. "Well… I guess we could ask for permission to use a different room, or maybe-" She blinked. "What was that, Sayori?"
"Oh, um, nothing!" Sayori hastily reassured her with a big smile. Under the club president's suspicious eye, though, Sayori couldn't hold it in and crumbled into a giggling fit.
Monika stared at her. "Sayori, did you do this?"
"W-Wait! Ehehe, hold on…" She held up a hand as she tried to catch her breath. Yuri looked on with an amused smile while Natsuki rolled her eyes.
After regaining her composure, Sayori grinned. "You're right, it was me! I just wanted to play a joke on everyone."
"You really got permission from someone to do this?" asked Natsuki.
"Yeah, I was surprised, too! I don't think I would trust me."
"I certainly wouldn't," Yuri chuckled, earning a faux-angry glare from Sayori.
Monika sighed with relief. At least the clubroom wasn't actually closed: it was just a harmless prank. "Well, I guess you got me," she said. "I assume you have the key?"
"Uh-huh!" Sayori bobbed her head and started running her hands through the pockets of her blazer. "I have it right…"
Her face gradually changed to one of bewilderment. "Huh? Where is it?"
"Oh, no…" Monika felt her heart drop. If Sayori lost the key, she would get in serious trouble.
Natsuki suddenly slapped her hand against her face. "I can't believe you, Sayori." She reached into the pocket of her own blazer and produced a small silver key. "This is yours, isn't it?"
Sayori gasped. "It is! But why do you have it?"
"I found it on the stairwell as I was coming up here. I figured I would turn it in to the lost-and-found after the club, but when Sayori couldn't find her key, I realized this had to be it."
Rubbing the back of her head, Sayori gave an embarrassed smile. "I guess I dropped it. Oops!"
Natsuki groaned. "You're such a klutz."
For the second time that day, Monika was filled with relief. "Wow," she said, "it's a good thing you found it, Natsuki."
"Go ahead and open the door," Yuri prodded.
Looking smug, Natsuki stepped up to the door and inserted the key into the lock. However, when she tried to turn it, the key wouldn't budge.
"What the heck? Why won't it open?" Natsuki tried a few more times, but the lock refused to unlatch. She turned on Sayori. "I thought this was - huh?"
Sayori had both hands over her mouth, but was doing a poor job at hiding her laughter.
Monika's mouth fell open. Was this part of the joke? She glanced at the others. Natsuki was staring at Sayori in disbelief, while Yuri was still smiling.
"What's going on?" Natsuki asked, her tone accusative.
With a hammy flourish, Sayori drew finger guns and pointed them at Natsuki. "Gotcha!"
"Are you serious!?"
Monika struggled to piece together what just happened. "You left a fake key for Natsuki to find… as a prank?"
"Okay," Sayori said, clapping her hands, "so I got permission to lock this door for a joke, right? That was just going to be it, but then I had the idea to give someone a key that wouldn't work! I know that Natsuki usually gets to the clubroom first, so I left the fake key on the stairs before she showed up. Get it?"
Monika could hardly believe Sayori thought all that through. However, a new question occurred to her. "If Natsuki is always the first one here, then how did you get here before her?"
"Oh, I skipped class."
Monika rolled her eyes at Sayori's dismissive delinquency. "You know, you could have just left class early. You didn't have to skip it entirely."
"Ah…" Sayori giggled. "…I guess you're right."
Natsuki's expression was some mixture of anger, confusion, and amazement. "You went to all that, just to prank me?" she asked.
"Of course!" answered Sayori, looking at Natsuki like she had just said something strange. "Why wouldn't I?"
Natsuki tossed her hands up. "Just… why?"
"For fun!"
"So, do you actually have the key?" Monika asked.
Sayori shook her head and gestured at Yuri, who wore the same small smile she had had the entire time. Monika watched as she reached into her blazer's pocket and revealed a new key, closely resembling the old one.
"Sayori told me about her plan a few days ago," Yuri explained. "I'm actually the one who received permission to borrow the key to the clubroom; I don't think they trusted her. Anyway, she wanted me to have it for safekeeping."
"I see," said Monika, who now looked at Sayori. She had stopped laughing at Natsuki's reaction and, feeling Monika's eyes on her, looked at the club president questioningly. "Sayori, I wish you'd told me about this. It would've saved me some unnecessary stress."
Sayori's shoulders sagged. "Sorry…"
Monika sighed. Sometimes, Sayori made it hard to be authoritative. "I don't mean to scold you or anything. It was a funny prank - just let me know next time, okay?"
Her face brightening, she nodded. "Okay!"
At least this hadn't been a real problem; it was just a surprisingly elaborate joke. "Anyway," Monika said, "go ahead and open the door for us, Yuri."
"This was certainly entertaining," Yuri said with a light laugh as she inserted the key into the lock. "You know, earlier, I couldn't help but hint that Sayori was playing a prank."
"You did?" asked Monika.
"She did!" Sayori exclaimed. "I didn't want her to blow it!"
"What did she say?"
Sayori scratched her head in thought. "It was about how you shouldn't trust me, or something? I don't remember exactly."
Smirking, Monika put a hand on her hip. "Didn't you say that you wouldn't trust yourself, Sayori?"
"Oh… I guess I did." Sayori paused. "But that was a joke!"
Natsuki, who seemed to have calmed down, shook her head. "I don't think I'm ever trusting Sayori again."
"Um, excuse me…" Everyone turned to look at Yuri, who had yet to open the door. Flustered, she attempted to turn the key, but when the lock still refused to budge, Yuri lowered her head in resignation. "Sayori, are you sure this is the correct key?"
"Eh? I think so…" Furrowing her eyebrows, Sayori checked her person again only to come up short. "I don't have any more keys."
"I don't believe you!" Natsuki suddenly jumped Sayori, digging through the pockets of her blazer herself. Sayori yelped, but didn't fight back. Instead, she threw her hands up like a caught criminal and allowed Natsuki to search her.
After a tense few seconds, Natsuki stepped back and sighed heavily. "She doesn't have any more keys."
"That's what I just said!" Sayori complained.
"Yeah, but I don't trust you. Is this still part of the prank?" Natsuki asked.
Sayori opened her mouth, but again couldn't keep it together and ended up doubled over with laughter.
Natsuki sighed and walked away from her. "This is getting ridiculous."
"I think this was already ridiculous," Monika said. She could hardly believe what was happening. Did Sayori really plan everything? Another, more alarming thought occurred to Monika: Natsuki and then Yuri had been pranked - she might be next.
Wiping a tear from one eye, Sayori glanced at Yuri. The poor girl's face was mostly hidden behind her long, purple hair, but what Sayori could see was flushed red.
She approached Yuri and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Yuri, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It was just a prank. Okay?" Sayori offered a sympathetic smile.
Meeting her eyes, Yuri smiled back, if only a little. "Okay… I'll admit, it was amusing…"
"That's the spirit!"
"Hey, Sayori?" asked Monika, drawing her attention. "If you don't have any other keys, and Yuri's key was also fake… how do we get into the clubroom?" The club president still had a nagging feeling that this wasn't supposed to be happening, but was mostly confident that it was all part of the prank. Mostly.
Sayori held her chin in her hand and gazed thoughtfully into the distance. "Hmm… do you have a key, Monika?"
"No, and you asked that earlier."
"Are you sure you don't?" Sayori insisted.
"I'm sure."
"Did you check?"
Monika hesitated. She didn't carry a key to the clubroom, but something in Sayori's voice made her think. Reaching into her right pocket, Monika found it empty, as usual. In the left, however, she thought her heart stopped when her fingers found something small, thin, and metallic.
She took the key out of her pocket and stared at it in shock. Yuri gasped while Natsuki murmured something in disbelief.
"…How?" Monika asked.
Sayori shrugged. "Magic!"
Monika almost believed that, but knew there had to be a logical explanation. Then, it clicked. "The hug."
"Ooh, you got it!" Sayori jumped and clapped her hands a few times. "Good job, Monika!"
She had thought it was kind of weird for Sayori to hug her out of the blue like that, even if she really had been seriously distressed. Monika had dismissed it as Sayori overreacting as usual, when it had really been an excuse to plant the key. Now, however, Monika was troubled by yet another thought: was this the real real key?
Monika turned to Natsuki for guidance. "What do you think?" she asked. "Is this legit?"
"Well, I made sure she doesn't have any more keys on her," Natsuki said nonchalantly. "I think this is the real deal."
"Unless there's another key on one of us…" Yuri quietly remarked.
She and Natsuki looked at each other, then quickly checked their pockets, only relaxing when they found no keys.
"Okay, everyone," Monika announced. "I guess this is the moment of truth."
Stepping up to the door, her nerves started flaring up for some reason. Why did this feel so important and dramatic? Maybe it was the worry that she was next in line to get pranked. But that couldn't be the case. There weren't any more keys. Right?
Wielding the had-to-be-final key, Monika carefully slid it into the slot below the handle. This was it. With one turn, the door could be opened and Monika could finally start the club meeting. Or, there could be yet another key, hidden in some unforeseeable location. Whatever the case, Monika wouldn't know until she tried the key.
She glanced at the others. Natsuki seemed confident that this was the end of the prank: she impatiently urged Monika to open the door. Yuri watched in curiosity, while Sayori wore her typical happy smile which now came across as an impenetrable poker face.
Monika's hand had started to shake. She let out a breath she had apparently been holding, then slowly turned the key.
The lock clicked.
"Finally!" Natsuki said. "Let us in!"
Was that the end? Monika didn't want to believe it, but she decided to hope for the best. Opening the door, she stood aside and waited for the others to enter the clubroom before following them.
While Natsuki and Yuri headed for their seats, Monika grabbed Sayori's sleeve to stop her. "Hey," she whispered, "is that it? Do you have anything else planned?"
Sayori shook her head. "Nope!" she replied at a normal volume. "That was the prank! What did you think? Was it good?"
"It was…"
Ridiculous. Convoluted. Cunning. There were a lot of words Monika wanted to use, but she settled with a simple one.
"Yeah. It was good. You really got us, Sayori."
The prankster beamed, then addressed the entire club: "April Fools', everybody!"
There was a moment of silence, which Natsuki was the first to break. "Um… it's not April Fools' Day."
Sayori blinked. "What?"
"It's not April Fools' Day," Monika repeated while trying not to laugh.
Narrowing her eyes, Sayori smiled knowingly. "I see. You're trying to prank me back. Well, I won't fall for it!"
"Sayori, it's November," Natsuki said flatly.
"Yeah, and April Fools' is… wait." Sayori looked down and counted something on her fingers. "…Oh."
Monika burst out laughing. How on earth could Sayori plan out that entire prank, but not realize what month April Fools' Day was? To Monika, the only logical answer was "it's Sayori."
Shaking her head, Natsuki leaned back in her chair and stared blankly at the ceiling. "I'm done."
"You know," Yuri spoke up, "when Sayori told me about the prank, she did mention it being for April Fools' Day. However, she then told me today would be the date." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "I realized she was mistaken, so I decided to play a practical joke of my own…"
"And that is…?" Monika asked.
"I didn't tell her today wasn't April Fools' Day."
Sayori gasped as if she had just been horribly betrayed. "Yuri," she whined, "why didn't you tell me?"
Yuri smiled innocently. "For fun."
"Aw, but now I look silly in front of everyone…" Sayori said, crossing her arms and pouting.
Monika laughed. "You are silly, Sayori."
"Amen," Natsuki said with finality.
Monika suddenly clapped her hands and rubbed them together, making everyone jump. "Anyway," she said, "we have to get this meeting started. Given everything that happened, though, I guess ten minutes isn't that bad of a delay. I have a new-"
Before she could continue, Natsuki raised her hand.
"Yes?" Monika asked.
"Seriously, can you explain the hat?"