Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpiece that is Doki Doki Literature Club. Team Salvato does. The only things that are my own are my ideas.

Chapter I: Changes

Monika smiled to herself as Smarty left the clubroom. Soon, she wouldn't have a problem anymore. Smarty, or more accurately, his controller, would be all hers. Sacrificing a few two-dimensional fictional constructs that can't think for themselves wouldn't make a difference. She had already orchestrated Sayori's suicide. Amplifying her already existent depression wasn't even that hard. All that was left was to delete the character file and restart. Man, it's been a while since I tried to use this, she thought, chuckling. Just as she went to try to open the Steam page, she hit a road block, though. What? She tried again. It was as if she couldn't access the files anymore. That didn't make any sense, why would…hold on. If she couldn't access the files, that would mean…Oh no. And if he ever found out…Double oh no. She cursed, and quickly grabbed her things and went to the festival. It was supposed to restart by now. The festival ISN'T PROGRAMED. What's…what's going on? It's almost like it's not just a game anymore. But if that's the case…then how…what…?

Smarty knocked on Sayori's house's door. What was I thinking? he thought to himself. I should have at least stayed to walk her to school. "Sayori?" he called. No answer. She wasn't answering her phone either. Like yesterday, he opened the door and let himself in. Nobody was there again, either. Where are her parents? He quickly walked to Sayori's room. Heh, waking her up in her own home…isn't that more like something a boyfriend would do? He knocked on the door. "Sayori? Wake up, dummy…" he called again. No response. Man, she must be a really heavy sleeper. I didn't want to have to do this, but she doesn't really leave me any choice. He swallowed, and gently opened the door. "…Sayo-!"

Only to be cut off by the single most horrific sight in his entire life. Sayori's body, lifelessly hanging from a rope. Her fingertips were bloody, as if she had tried to claw her way out of the noose. And her eyes…the beautiful blue eyes that were almost always filled with such mirth, the eyes that had never failed to brighten up Smarty's day, were dull and sunken.

Smarty stumbled backward, suppressing the urge to vomit. What the hell? he thought. WHAT THE HELL?! This-this can't be real. It can't be! It must be a nightmare. Sayori wouldn't do this. Sayori wouldn't do this. Sayori…Sayori…wouldn't…

His thoughts trailed off. At this point, he had sunk to the floor, curled up hugging his legs to his chest, and started rocking back and forth, trying to convince himself that it was all a dream and that he would wake up soon. Until he spotted the piece of paper on Sayori's desk. Curiosity about what his best friend's last words were got the better of him, and he read it.

The paper was tear stained, but the worst part was the content.

So…heh…I guess this is my last poem. Well, it's not really a poem, I guess…more of a suicide note. Well, here goes nothing…

Rainclouds

I stand in the rain, all alone.

It's been raining for longer than I can remember now.

The sun tries to poke through, but an entity above makes more rain, blocking me out and claiming the sunshine for itself.

I love my sunshine, but I don't think the sun loves me back.

The pain is unbearable, knowing this.

I hate the entity in the sky, but it always wins.

So, I end it all.

All the pain.

All the sadness.

It'll all be over.

After all, death is just the next great adventure…at least that's what Dumbledore said.

So why am I crying?

Upon finishing the note, Smarty was instantly crushed by the gravity of the situation. The realization that this was not, in fact, a nightmare that he would wake up from soon hit him like a freight train. This is real. Oh dear lord, this is real. I should have confessed. I could have prevented this. I know I could have prevented this. This isn't just some game where I can reset and try again. Screw the club. Screw the festival. I just…lost my best friend. And I can never get her back. Never…never…never…

Almost subconsciously, he picked up his phone and called the police to inform them of what he just found, and then resumed rocking back and forth.

"Hey, have you seen Smarty or Sayori?" Natsuki asked Yuri in the school parking lot.

Yuri shrugged. "I haven't seen either of them today. Perhaps Monika has."

"Hi girls!" Monika said enthusiastically, walking to the two of them. "I haven't seen either of them today either!" Might as well feign ignorance until I can figure out what the hell is going on, she thought.

Yuri checked her watch, then frowned. "It's already eight…"

Natsuki also frowned. "I get that Sayori's normally late, but isn't she just, like, five to ten minutes late, not a full thirty?"

"This is…most unusual," Yuri stated.

"Hmm…" Monika pretended to ponder the possibility of the state of Sayori's and Smarty's punctuality. "Well, if they miss the festival, they miss the festival. Their loss."

Natsuki shrugged, then snorted somewhat. "Yeah, they're probably just sick or something. I certainly wasn't worried. Were you worried, Yuri?"

Yuri was quiet for a moment. "It does seem odd that they would both be ill on the same day."

Natsuki shrugged again. "Who knows? One of them could have been sick, and they could have made out or something."

"NATSUKI!" Yuri shouted.

"What?" Natsuki responded. "We all know how Sayori feels about Smarty. We just don't know his feelings about her. But I'm pretty willing to bet that it's at least similar."

"Didn't he openly deny that on Friday?" Monika asked. She, of course, already knew the answer. It was scripted for him to deny any feelings he had for Sayori, after all. But with the rate things were already falling apart, she couldn't be completely sure.

Natsuki snorted. "He was obviously in denial. It was written all over his face."

"Didn't you go to is house yesterday?" Yuri asked. "You said Sayori showed up."

"Well, yes," Natsuki said, blushing somewhat, "but I high-tailed it out of there before anything could happen. Plus, didn't we agree never to speak of that day again?"

Yuri was pensive for a moment, but soon replied, "Yes, that is probably for the best."

Monika, who at this point was curious as to what would come next, said, "Come on, let's get to the festival. We wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging, after all." She chuckled a bit at her pun, and made her way to the festival, the other two, slightly confused, students trailing behind.

When the police arrived at Sayori's home, they expected that whoever informed them of the find to be traumatized, based on what he had told them. What they didn't expect was the person to have gone into shock, and be nearly unconscious at this point.

Waking up in the hospital an hour after the police showed up was not what Smarty expected either. And it most definitely was not what he was hoping for. He was still clinging to the unlikely hope that all of this wasn't real and that he would wake up in his own room to a normal Monday. Heh, he thought to himself, a teenager hoping for a normal Monday. That's surprising. Despite his, admittedly feeble, attempt to cheer himself up, he was unsuccessful. He sighed internally. She's…she's gone. She's gone forever now. Why? Why?! What did I do wrong?! This…this is my fault. In times like this, in the past, whenever he was feeling down…Sayori would always be there for him. Sighing on the inside, his thoughts went to how they first met, way back in kindergarten.

"But I don't wanna go to school, Mommy!" shouted a five-year-old Smarty, in the car with is mother. The elementary school was much further away than the middle and high school, so they had to drive.

His mother huffed. "You're going to school and that's final."

"B-but…but…that means I'll have to meet people!" Smarty protested.

"Well," his mother responded, "we're already here, so it doesn't even matter."

Sure enough, the two were already outside of the school. "But…" Smarty protested again, looking out the window, "it's a really big school! What if I get lost?"

His mother sighed. "We were already here. You know where your room is, right?"

Five-year-old Smarty looked at the floor. "Yes…"

His mother nodded. "I'll walk you into the building, okay?"

Getting into the building and finding his classroom went off well, though what came after was a major change in Smarty's life. He gave the teacher his name and was told where his seat was. Dutifully, he sat down.

"Alright, class!" said the teacher. "Today, we're just going to get to know each other. I want you all to turn to the person beside you and introduce yourself, okay?"

Smarty turned to his right, only to be greeted by two blue eyes staring right at him. "Hi! I'm Sayori!" said the girl. "Can you spell my name?"

"Umm…" said Smarty, unsurely, "Uh…s…a…um…y…o…r…uh…i?"

"Eeee!" Sayori squealed. "You can spell my name! You're so smart! I'm gonna call you Smarty! Wanna be friends?"

"Uh…sure?" said Smarty, though it was more of a question.

Sayori squealed again and threw her arms around Smarty. "Thank you!"

Oh, god. What did I do wrong? Smarty thought to himself. Why didn't I notice her depression earlier? It's…it's so…lonely…

Happy thoughts…happy thoughts…happy thoughts in shards.

Author's Notes: So, this is just an idea that I came up with after watching GTLive's playthrough of DDLC: what if the story continued after Act I? So I made a fanfiction.