Disclaimer: I don't own DDLC. The masterpiece of a game was made by Team Salvato.

Chapter II: More Changes

Smarty was soon allowed to go back home, and made it there before his mother got back from work. He left a note for her to see when she did.

Hi Mom.

Just so you know, I'd prefer not to talk about my day. I already made myself dinner, and am in my room. I'll just talk about what happened in the morning.

Thanks,

Smarty

The next day, neither Smarty nor Sayori showed up to school again, and this was starting to worry even Natsuki. Though, in her eyes, Monika seemed almost suspiciously unconcerned with everything. She had even told her not to worry about it in their shared first class. Though everything, and I mean everything, came tumbling down for Natsuki when it came time for her second class. You see, Natsuki and Yuri, while only sharing one class, knew each other fairly well. So, when Yuri entered the classroom crying, Natsuki immediately knew something was up.

"What's wrong?" Natsuki asked, sitting down nest to Yuri.

Yuri looked at the pink-haired girl. "You…you didn't see the news last night, did you?"

Natsuki shrugged. "My dad doesn't let me anywhere near the TV. Why? Did something happen?"

Yuri sniffled. "It's…it's about why neither Sayori nor Smarty came to school yesterday." She hiccupped.

Natsuki looked confused. "Why would…" her eyes widened.

Yuri let out another tear. "Sayori…Sayori committed suicide yesterday morning. That's why she wasn't at school yesterday. Smarty…Smarty was the first person to discover her body."

Natsuki was completely in shock. "What…" She had to process that for a second. "She…why…what?"

Yuri hiccupped again. "Depression, they think. She had crippling depression and didn't tell any of us."

Natsuki was silent for a moment, then her face darkened. "Monika…"

Yuri looked up. "What does Monika have anything to do with this?"

Natsuki frowned. "She's been strangely dismissive about all of this. I'm sure she's watched the news, she's told us that she watches it every day. She also told me not to worry about it and that they were both okay when I asked her if she knew anything, anything about Smarty or Sayori's whereabouts."

Yuri looked at her friend. "Natsuki, I get that your first instinct is to look for someone to blame, but don't you think that Monika is a bit of a stretch?"

Natsuki looked Yuri straight in the eye, and continued as if the interjection never happened. "And there's Monika's behavior ever since Smarty joined the club. I've read enough manga to see that she is definitely in love with him. Thing is, Sayori was too, Monika just doesn't show it as much. And I'm also sure that we've all gone to Monika with our problems at some point. I know I have. Monika knew Sayori had depression, and that she was her biggest road block to Smarty, so she capitalized on that and probably told Sayori to kill herself. Conclusion: Monika's evil."

Natsuki sat down, apparently satisfied with her conclusion. Yuri looked at her friend with a blank expression on her face. "That sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel. Or perhaps a fanfiction of one."

Natsuki looked at Yuri, hurt. "You doubt my abilities? I'll prove to you that Monika's the mastermind behind Sayori's death. Just you wait!"

The door to Smarty's room opened. "Smarty?" asked his mother. "Is everything okay? Did something happen yesterday?"

Smarty was silent for a full ten seconds before answering. "Nothing is okay. And…a lot of s**t happened yesterday, and I'm still trying to process it. I still hope that this whole thing is just one long, drawn out nightmare…but…I feel more and more hopeless as time goes on."

His mother sat down on his bed, running her fingers through his hair. "Oh, honey…what happened? You didn't go to school yesterday, and you haven't gone today."

Smarty sighed. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Sayori died yesterday, Mom. She…she hanged herself." He curled up. "And…I feel like it's all my fault."

Smarty's mother sighed and hugged her son. "It's not your fault. No matter what you think, it wasn't your fault."

"But…but she had depression. And…I knew she had depression when…when I…oh god why did I friendzone her?" Smarty responded.

His mother continued hugging him. "It's not your fault that Sayori committed suicide. It's not your fault that she had depression, and it is not your fault that you rejected her confession. I know what you're going through right now."

Smarty's eyes narrowed. "No, you don't. How the hell would you know what I'm going through? I LOVED HER GODDAMNIT!" There was silence for a few moments, until Smarty began to speak again. "I…I didn't know it until after she was gone, but…I loved her. I loved her, Mom, and…and now she's gone forever. I…I can't get her back. I can never say how sorry I am. I…I can't tell her that I love her."

Silence. Silence reigned for a full minute before anyone spoke again. "It's true that I may not know exactly what you're feeling right now," Smarty's mother said, "but I do know what your general emotions feel like."

Smarty looked at his mother. "What?"

"You don't remember your father; he died when you were very young," his mother began. "He died in a car accident. For a long while after the fact, I blamed myself. If I had just insisted harder that he went home earlier and didn't stay out for one more drink. If I had insisted he ride home in a friend's car. If I had just not suggested the birthday trip to the bar in the first place." Smarty's mother started tearing up. "For a while, I had contemplated suicide, but you brought me back. Your existence saved me from taking my own life. I loved your father very much. I'm not sure how much my love for him compared to your love for Sayori, but my point is: don't blame yourself. Blaming yourself will only lead to more anger, more sorrow, and more angst. You don't need any more overtop of the fact that you're a teenager," she said, attempting to lighten the mood even a little bit.

Smarty finally hugged his mother back, before he, too, started to cry. "I loved her. I loved her so much that losing her was more than just painful; it was agonizing. But…I don't think Sayori would have wanted that. I think…I think she would have wanted us to be happy. After all, she never liked other people worrying about her."

No more words needed to be spoken. The two sat in semi-comfortable silence, as only the quite sobs were heard.

That's odd, Monika thought. The festival happened, at least I remember it happening, but it didn't at the same time. She pushed open the door to the clubroom. She had determined that learning how to code was now useless, and had so far figured out that she was definitely in something literary. "I'm here!" she announced, walking into the room.

"Well, well, well…" said Natsuki, turning around in a spinning chair so that she faced Monika. "If it isn't the little mastermind. Tell me, Monika, why did you tell Sayori to kill herself?"

Monika was somewhat stunned that Natsuki had already figured it out, but she didn't let it show. "What are you talking about? Sayori killed herself?" Her eyes widened as she faked ignorance. "Is that why Smarty wasn't at school today?"

Yuri shook her head. "Natsuki, I still think that this all sounds like the plot of a bad fanfiction."

Natsuki's eyes narrowed, and she ignored Yuri's statement. "Cut the bulls**t Monika. We know you watch the news all the time. You can't have not heard about Sayori's suicide. Also, the fact that you were all dismissive about it…so I repeat my question: why did you tell Sayori to kill herself?"

Monika narrowed her eyes. "I didn't," she said, so convincingly that Natsuki almost doubted herself. Almost.

Natsuki opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Yuri, who had been convinced by Monika. "I'm going to have to agree with Monika on this, Natsuki. You can't just immediately blame someone for something based on a leap of logic."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes, and slammed her hands on the desk, getting up. "Well I for one am not staying in the same club as a sociopathic yandere. I quit." She walked out, glaring at Monika the entire time.

How does she even know I watch the news, I didn't tell them. Did I? Monika thought. I don't remember this ever happening…but…it did. And…yes, this is definitely not a game anymore. And the fact that someone is looking at my thoughts is pointing to literary…wait…was Yuri's dialogue…a joke? Fanfiction…that would at least explain why there's no more game files. She grinned to herself. I'll have to experiment with this. "Yuri," she said, "I have to…step outside for a moment. Y'know, to collect my thoughts." And so Monika walked out. Well, this is a literature club, after all…

Author's Notes: Well, it would appear that Monika knows.