Opposing Perspectives Chapter 3 - Coffee and Newspapers
(Disclaimer: I do not own Doki Doki Literature Club or any of its characters. The OCs featured here, however, are mine.)
For a long moment, Monika found herself holding the blond's gaze.
It wasn't in her nature to judge people, but this was... unexpected.
"Oh, you two already know each other?" Yanagi piped up, breaking the silence. An oblivious smile was pasted on her face as her gaze shifted from Sai to hers, and from hers to the blond's.
Sai cleared his throat. "We met." He spoke bluntly, his expression back to its sharp look.
"At lunch, yes." Monika nodded, remembering her reason for being there. She turned to the blond again and gave a polite smile. "It's good to see you again, Karasu-kun."
Sai reclined in his seat again, shoulders heaving somewhat with a nonchalant shrug. "Same here."
Another voice soon cut in, hurried footsteps making their way over to where the three were.
"Yanagi, good to see you're here, I need you to- oh?"
Keiichi poked his head from around the cubicle, his eyes lighting up as he saw them. "Oh, miss Harriet!"
"Good afternoon, sensei." The brunette greeted.
"She's here to talk about being a contributor for the Literary section," Yanagi explained, motioning over to where the two were. "I was just introducing them!"
"Oh, that's good." Keiichi smiled, but soon turned to Yanagi. "That being said, though, Yanagi, I need to talk to you for a second. The principal finally told..."
Yanagi and Keiichi soon left the cubicle, voices fading somewhat as they went- leaving the two on their own.
"So," Sai spoke up, shaking an empty can of coffee on his desk, "you want to get out of here for a second?"
"I thought we were going to talk about contributing?" The brunette tilted her head at him somewhat. She had only gotten here, and here he was, about to step out.
"We are," Sai confirmed, rising from his seat as he picked up his discarded black jacket and slung it over his shoulder. There was no better way of putting it- he looked out of place in the office, with his wrinkled undershirt and sleeves rolled up. Even his collar was mussed, his tie either missing or purposefully excluded.
"Just thought we should give 'em some privacy," He explained, jerking his head over to where Keiichi and Yanagi were talking, "And I'm out of coffee."
"Okay, but what if it concerns the publication?" Monika prompted. The blond gave another shrug.
"If it's got anything to do with Anthem, Yanagi will be blathering my ear off for the entire week. So don't worry. I'll know."
He rolled his shoulders somewhat, peering at her curiously through long locks of blond hair. "So, second offer. You wanna get outta here?"
Monika paused for a moment. It wasn't as if there weren't any delinquents in Katayama; there were, though she admittedly hadn't interacted with them all that often. Her parents always loved warning her about those kinds of people.
Looking back at Sai, though, she figured she could give it a shot.
"Alright." She nodded. "Lead the way?"
His brows raised in surprise, as if he hadn't expected her answer. Slowly, she watched his shoulders lower somewhat as he relaxed.
"Good. Let's go, then."
Clang!
Sai didn't lead her far from where the office was. In fact, he had just led her to the side of the building, right next to one of the many vending machines on campus.
The brunette watched her blond companion as he knelt, collecting a black can of coffee from the flap of the vending machine. Though she was usually quick to initiate conversation, their walk there had been particularly quiet. He had been a lot more talkative when his friends were around- perhaps he just didn't socialize that often without them?
Her train of thought was cut off when Sai looked over at her, their eyes meeting. She caught the way his brow furrowed as he stood.
"Something wrong?"
Monika shook her head. "Nothing, don't worry."
Despite her words, Sai reached up for a moment, brushing his fingers over his cheek for a minute and glancing quickly over his fingertips, as if checking if there was anything on his face. Upon seeing that there was nothing, he relaxed again.
"So," He spoke idly, cracking open the can. "You like literature, Harriet?"
"I do," She confirmed, and smiled. "That's why I'm here, right?"
Sai's gaze shot to hers, eyeing her quickly up and down. "Yeah." He spoke bluntly. "You seem like the type who would."
"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" She stopped herself from asking the question, though she was sure it'd probably linger in her head for a while. She didn't look as bookish as Yuri, did she?
"Then again..." Monika quickly mimicked him, casting her gaze over him from head to toe. Messy hair, an even messier uniform, and beat up sneakers. "I didn't expect you to be the type who does, though." She remarked.
Bringing her gaze back up, she found him staring back at her—his blue eyes narrowed, seemingly in inspection. It was hard to tell from how his hair obscured them a fraction, but it was the safest guess she had.
Almost as quickly as she glanced him over, Sai snapped his gaze away, his expression unreadable as he shrugged.
"I don't blame you. No one believes I'm the editor until they see my name in the magazine, either."
"About that- Yanagi said you were running it all on your own?" She had to ask. It seemed like a lot of stress on someone, even if they genuinely enjoyed writing. And it seemed like she was right- at the mere mention of it, his posture significantly slackened, as if exhausted. It was like she had tied a heavy weight around his neck.
"Yeah, unfortunately." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Someone's gotta."
"Have you had previous contributors?"
Sai's lips tightened into a thin line. "A few. They got published but after a while, I guess people lost interest. I don't blame them- school activities can make you loathe it after all."
"School activities?" Monika looked over at him curiously.
"Research papers, essays, book reports, that kind of stuff." Sai glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Come on, you can't tell me you haven't loathed writing at one point with all the schoolwork that involves it."
"I don't mind it too much, personally..." Monika mulled it over. She did recall Sayori and Natsuki not particularly enjoying any form of academic or formal writing. It was vastly different from its creative counterpart, after all, with strict rules and templates. "Though I can see how some people wouldn't like it."
"Sounds about right." Sai raised the can of coffee to his lips and took a long swig.
A light silence settled over them. Briefly, Monika's eyes flicked to the can of coffee the blond was nursing like a bottle of tequila, running his words and behavior so far through her head. From his nonchalant words to the exhausted way with which he held himself- it was clear that he was tired. Strange, considering it was the first day of classes.
"So, do you enjoy your work on the publication team?" She asked. Sai lowered the can, his gaze shifting to hers briefly.
"You think I don't?" He arched an eyebrow, as if challenging her to go on.
"I'm not implying that, no," She quickly clarified. "But it's just that you seemed awfully exhausted when we started talking about the publication."
"Huh? Oh, no. This is just how I usually am." Sai seemed to relax, shaking the can of coffee. "I can't function without this, see."
Add an over dependence on caffeine to the list of things that gave away his exhaustion.
"But," He continued, averting his gaze, "at least you didn't imply I hated it. Because I don't hate working on Anthem."
He leaned back a little against the wall just next to the vending machine, gaze seemingly drifting off somewhere.
"I don't hate writing. Hell, I do it way too often for my own good. There's just somethin' about sitting down and letting your mind just go wild that's just... liberating, you know?"
Monika nodded, an analogy coming to mind. "Like setting free a bird from its cage?"
"I was thinkin' something more like finally getting to beat the tar out of all the things that annoy you," Sai gave a wry grin, "But yeah, that works. Like setting a bird free."
"I see..." There was a certain degree of alarm that shot through her at his dry joke. Was that really his way of stress relief?
She rapidly shook the thought out of her head. She shouldn't be judging him this early. "So, what do you usually write?"
"Fiction, mostly." Sai hummed. "Short stories, fantasies, even a few fables and fairytales before, if I felt like it."
"Fables and fairytales?" Monika couldn't help the smile that came up on her face. Hearing someone who looked as rough as he did admit to writing those kinds of light-hearted, child-friendly stories was admittedly, amusing.
Sai nodded. "Yeah. Kiddy stories. I wrote a story about two bowls when I was young and stupid, and a fairytale likening a river to love a few years back in middle school." He paused briefly, looking her over.
"So, what about you, Ribbons?"
"Ribbons?" Now it was her turn to be surprised. The nickname had come out of nowhere- and from someone she just met earlier, to boot. Sai seemed to realize what he had just said and averted his gaze, rubbing his neck.
"I mean- you've got a weird surname, and I ain't calling you by your first name."
"What's so wrong with my first name?" Monika placed one hand on her hip, arching a brow at the blond. Sai jolted, still avoiding her gaze.
"Geez, nothing's wrong with it. I mean-" He finally looked back at her, turning fully to face her. She found herself having to look up a little to meet his gaze properly. "You're the one who got all chummy first, callin' me Karasu-kun like I'm some schoolboy. I've got all the right to call you Ribbons in this situation."
"Ahaha~ So, you admit you don't mind me calling you that?" Monika smiled, folding her arms over her chest. "Or would you prefer something more formal, Karasu-san?"
"Yeah, no." Sai moved to mirror her pose. "Karasu-kun's fine...if you're all good with me calling you Ribbons for the entire school year." He cracked a half grin.
The brunette pretended to think it over for a few seconds, before finally flashing her companion a smile. "Deal."
Sai let out a raspy laugh at that, leaning against the vending machine and cocking his head to the side. "Keep that up and you're pretty much a guaranteed contributor, Ribbons."
"Oh really?" Monika relaxed. She seemed to have gotten on his good side, at least, and the earlier tension between them had diffused. "You haven't even seen what I can do yet, Karasu-kun."
"Listen," Sai waved a dismissive hand. "You don't wanna know about the kinds of people I usually get as contributors to this section. There's a reason they don't usually get published. For all I care, you're a breath of fresh air compared to the past ones."
"The only thing you're lacking at this point," He glanced down at her, "is a contribution, hence why I was asking what you usually write."
"Is that so? Well..." Monika paused, pursing her lips in thought as she was steered back onto their original topic. "I try to dabble in a lot of forms, but I mostly write poetry."
"Poetry." Sai echoed, whistling a little afterwards. "Haven't seen that in the publication for a while."
"So, the Literary section featured poetry before?" That caught her attention, especially since the current issue didn't have any.
"When someone submits poetry, yeah."
"You never wrote any yourself?"
"Me? Writing poetry?" Sai glanced away, though she caught the faint hint of red on his face. "Never."
"Your expression says otherwise, Karasu-kun~" She teased.
"Okay, I might have. But I never featured them in the publication." The blond groaned. "Anthem doesn't deserve that garbage."
"Come now, it can't be that bad." Monika laughed, stepping closer to him. "We all get a little embarrassed when we write~"
"Yeah, but this isn't just the nervousness you suffer when you write something new," Sai grumbled, his body tensing as if he was preparing to be attacked, "This is some serious embarrassment. I haven't written poetry since middle school."
"Hmm~" The brunette clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward and stepping closer to him—a teasing smile playing on her lips. Sai tensed further as he took a small step back—he almost seemed like a metal spring coiled back to the maximum.
"Maybe if you get more people reading and contributing to the Literary section or to Anthem in general," He murmured through gritted teeth, averting his gaze from hers, "I'll let you have a look. Or even write a poem for the publication."
"Great!" Monika grinned and straightened up again. "That's about all the motivation I need~"
Now that she wasn't too close, Sai seemed to relax, letting the tension out of his shoulders slowly. "Geez..." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck again. "You sure are somethin', Ribbons."
At that moment, the bell rang again. A cursory glance at the clock on the main building alerted them that it was already half an hour past the end of classes; even club activities would be done at this point. Monika glanced down at her phone again for confirmation; had they been talking that long?
"Damn, we've been talking that long?" Sai cursed under his breath and tossed the now empty can of coffee into a trash bin nearby.
"Seems like it..." Monika winced. There was still some time to catch the train back home, at least. The only problem was if her mother came back early and scolded her for getting home later than usual.
"You'd better be going if you don't wanna miss the train," Sai echoed her thoughts, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I've still gotta go collect my stuff from the publication office. And about the contribution—just turn something in within this week and we'll see where it goes from there. Got it?"
"Got it." Monika adjusted the straps of her book bag and flashed the blond a sheepish smile. "So, I'll see you tomorrow then, Karasu-kun?"
Sai gave a confident nod. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Ribbons."
The brunette smiled and waved, turning to leave soon after.
Blue eyes followed Monika's retreating back as she walked at a brisk pace, heading for the school gates. She already looked like she fit right into Rokurou despite her being a new student- there was just something about her that seemed to encourage people to open up.
It was the only reason, Sai tried to tell himself, that he had allowed her to slip past his carefully built up defenses earlier. Calling him so casually and teasing him as if she had known him for years...he sighed and shook his head. It wasn't everyday he let that happen. The only people he let in were the other three and Yanagi, and even then, he had known them for a while now.
Maybe he was just getting soft, like Ran and Taiga liked to say?
Or maybe it was just her. Yeah, it was definitely her.
"Sheesh..." He muttered, spinning on his heel to start heading back to the publication office. "Leave it to Yanagi to leave me with the weird ones."
"I'm home..."
As the doors of their house creaked open, Monika peered in. It was dark, no response coming from within. She let out a breath she hasn't realized she'd been holding; her mother wasn't home yet, and neither was her father. Late days at the office again, she guessed.
Making her way in and flicking the lights on, she headed upstairs, back to her room.
As soon as she nudged the door open, she was greeted with the comforting, familiar look of her bedroom. One of the few freedoms she had been granted as she grew up was the choice of how she wanted her room to look.
As she grew up, the room grew with her, going from the bright, pastel colors and decorations of her youth to warmer, more comforting colors and fabrics. Under her mother's strict guidance, the pastel pink wall gave way to a white one, but at least she was allowed to decorate as she saw fit, as long as her room didn't become too messy.
Due to her newfound tendency for keeping her room meticulously maintained and all of her belongings organized, she knew by heart where everything was. All of her school materials were situated by her desktop computer. Everything else she did for leisure was on the desk just next to her bed, which was- like the rest of her room- carefully arranged.
Monika closed the door behind her, setting her school bag down next to the desktop computer and moving to turn the machine on. In the meantime she slipped out of her uniform.
As she moved to hang up the navy blazer on the closet, another one came into view- a dark gray blazer, still neatly ironed as if it was to be worn again.
A nostalgic but wry smile came to her lips. It felt just yesterday, she had still been in Katayama, wearing its gray uniform, passing every day with the Literature Club- sharing poems, drinking tea and eating the occasional cupcakes Natsuki would bring to the meetings.
Her eyes flickered to the navy blazer she still held, to the insignia emblazoned at the breast. It wasn't as if she regretted coming to Rokurou. It was far too early for regrets, and besides- she had met and made friends already, or at least she liked to think she made friends.
Her mind wandered to the five people she had met. Yanagi's enthusiasm and dedication to the school publication, Taiga's seemingly undying cheer, Mikami's quiet and polite demeanor, Ran's gentle and laidback way of dealing with things...
"You sure are somethin', Ribbons."
...And Sai. From the looks of it, she was going to be dealing with him pretty often, thanks to the school publication. Not that she particularly minded. Despite his rough outward appearance and sharp behavior, he shared the same interest in literature as her, even if he was rather crass about it. Out of the four boys, he had also been the one she had held a longer, one on one conversation with, and he didn't seem to dislike her, at least.
Her eyes landed on her composition notebook. Briefly, she went over and flicked through the pages, her eyes scanning over the poems she had written within- both from her time at the Literature Club and a few others she had written over the school break. She could easily just turn in one of them to Sai tomorrow; she could even just bring the entire notebook and show it to him like some sort of portfolio.
She pursed her lips, brow furrowing as she turned to a blank page in the notebook.
No. She was going to write something new and submit it properly. He might not have given her any prompts, but she had been good at identifying her clubmates' writing styles. She could probably figure out what kind of writing would impress him the most as long as she got a hold of a few of his own written works.
Fortunately, she had multiple samples of those in the form of Anthem's Literary section. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to get her own copy.
It wasn't anything she couldn't just ask Yanagi for. In other scenarios, she could even just ask to borrow Yuri's copy. But it would delay her writing until tomorrow- at least Sai gave her the whole week to write.
She smiled and nodded to herself, plucking out a dog-eared notebook from her school bag. She made a few quick marks on her to-do list for tomorrow.
"Get a copy of Anthem tomorrow.
Write a contribution for the Literary section."
Satisfied, she shut the notebook and stretched, walking over to her desktop. There wasn't much left to do, so she figured she could hop into their group chatroom for a little and catch up with the other three.
When she logged on, she could see the room already blowing up with notifications. She giggled a little as Sayori immediately greeted her.
"monika's finally online! X3"
"monika! help me explain what the idea of a favorite dessert is to sayori!" She could practically hear Natsuki through the screen.
She stifled a chuckle and typed up a reply. "What's the problem?"
"sayori can't pick a favorite dessert."
"i like all of them, nat, don't be mean about it! D:"
"That kind of eliminates the point of having a favorite dessert, though, Sayori..."
Yuri finally joined the fray. Monika smiled a little. Even in their group chat, the purple-haired girl seemed to have trouble keeping up with their two, much more fast-paced friends.
She typed again.
"Why don't we start with enumerating what you do or don't like in certain desserts, like ice cream?"
"ummmm i guess it can be too cold?"
"that eliminates the point of ice cream, sayori!"
The rest of the night was spent chatting among each other, relieving some of Monika's worries, even just a little.
No matter what, it seemed like they would always stay the same.
Author's Note: Chapter 3 down! Heavily dialogue driven again, kind of like Chapter 1. I'll start showing more action in the coming chapters, but for now please bear with me!
That being said, please feel free to leave a review if you enjoy the story so far, and thank you for supporting the continued writing of Opposing Perspectives!