After our breakfast, which was interspersed with more questions from Monika about my world, she got dressed, put her hair up and left to head to school. She seemed happier than the night before, returning to her normal demeanor. I left about half an hour later. In my classes, I taught about the first recorded humans to step foot into the Americas as per the predetermined schedule I'd been given. I also had four new classrooms that I visited. I wasn't surprised to see each member of the Literature Club in the new classrooms. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. When I entered the room, I saw that everyone else was there. Sayori was talking to Monika.

"Why aren't you wearing your bow, Monika?" she was asking.

"Ahaha, I wanted to try something new," Monika replied. "Does it look bad?"

"No! I like it." Sayori turned and saw me come in. "Hello, Sensei!"

"Hey there, Suzuki-san. Oh, am I late?" I looked around and saw everyone was already there. Natsuki was in the corner, reading manga, Yuri was sitting at a desk reading, and Motoyasu was talking a bit to Sayori.

"You're right on time, actually," I heard Monika say. To my surprise, her bow was gone and she'd let her hair down naturally.

"Oh, thank God," I said with relief.

Monika clapped. "Okay everyone, I'd like to welcome our new official club advisor properly!"

Natsuki looked shocked, Yuri looked embarrassed for some reason, Sayori looked happy, and Motoyasu looked confused. Monika took the lead, standing and bowing. "We're in your care, Sensei." Everyone else stood and said the same thing.

I raised my hand, flustered. "Ahem, well uh, I look forward to seeing what this club does. I'm sure you'll rise to great heights."

Monika giggled. "Well, I hope we do during the festival next week."

I smiled and sat down. I pulled out my book and opened it, but I was far from reading. I was watching Motoyasu, wondering which route this particular runthrough would take. To my shock and confusion, he spent time with every girl. I watched as he spent a bit of time reading with Natsuki and Yuri before going back to his desk. He looked as exhausted as I felt and soon fell asleep. Sayori then snuck over and playfully woke him up. I looked over at Monika, who looked just as confused as I did. We exchanged a glance before I completely focused on my book.

After a while, Monika stood "Why don't we share the poems we wrote now?"

"Yay!" Sayori said happily.

"Don't let me stop you," I chuckled.

"Awww, you're not gonna read them too?" Monika asked. Her tone was slightly teasing.

"Well, if you're all comfortable with me seeing your work, I don't mind looking at them. I'm sure I have a poem left over from my college days I can share." I pulled out my phone and pulled up my Google Docs.

Monika was the first to walk up. "Heh, got to you first," she said as she sat across from me.

"Guess so. By the way, I love your hair."

She blushed and showed me her poem. She'd titled it Hope.

What a concept.
To think that such
Exists and should be mine
For an eternity I looked out
Through a hole, hoping he'd see,
Hoping he'd give me but a glance.
But that day never came.
But even now, hope has returned.
The shadows suddenly vanish in the light
And I can see the end.
Another has arisen,
My knight in shining armor?
Perhaps. But I feel lighter than I ever have.

I blushed at the reference to the knight in shining armor. I looked up and gave Monika a quick knowing smile. "Definitely better than your original," I whispered. "There are hints of past despair within, yes, but the message is crystal clear. You also have some good use of enjambment. If we ever beat this game, you could have a bright future as a poet."

She chuckled. "Thanks, Sensei. Let's see your poem."

I pulled up one of my first assignments for my poetry class on my phone and showed it to her. I had titled it What She'd Been to Him.

A snowcapped mountain peak,
Steeples of rock and iron.
Stones in the stream
And cliffs above the river.
A powerful root which pushed through
The most stubborn of earth,
She had been all these.

The spring breeze, the pink spring petals.
Water in streams and rivers,
The dainty summer rain and a dove's feathers,
A blade of grass and
Blankets of fog in the night.
She'd never been these.

An uncut gem, their gleam hidden within,
The winter snowstorm, harsh and beautiful
As the tempest slammed against treetops,
She might have been these.

The starlight and moonlight which brightens the night.
A rainbow after an autumn shower
And the bird chirping on the evening air.
Dandelion wisps in the wind.
He was all these.

But she'd been that same peak,
Standing stalwart against the weather of the world.
Never eroding, never changing,
And he'd been content with that.

Monika's eyes were wide. "That's really good," she whispered. "Were you thinking of anyone in particular when you wrote this?"

I chuckled a bit. "Not personally. This was part of an assignment to take a template of another poem and replace the imagery with your own. I can't for the life of me remember what the poem was. This was one of the poems I revised to this current form. I hope the imagery is clear."

"It's got good imagery, some constants for the two people that I can appreciate. Honestly, I like this poem. I'm actually excited to think about something new for once."

I then remembered a YouTube video someone made explaining Monika's retreat into madness. Something about knowing everything that's going to happen having the capability to lead some to madness. It must be exciting for her, all these new sensations and feelings, not to mention the reading of a new poem to analyze, even if it was crap. "Well, you can read it later when you come over. And don't say that you weren't planning on dropping by unexpectedly later this evening. It's written all over your face."

She giggled. "Smooth, Sensei."

"Hush up. Sayori's coming over."

True enough, Sayori was walking over, paper in hand. "What were you two talking about?" she asked.

"Our poems," Monika replied. "Is that why you came over?"

"Yeah! I wanted Sensei to read mine, ehehe," Sayori said, pushing her fingers together.

"I'd love to read it. I'm no expert like Nakamura-san, but I'll do my best." I gave Monika a slightly knowing look and she headed away.

I'd seen Sayori's poem before and knew the hidden meaning behind it. I kept a smile on my face as I read, but as I continued, I let that smile falter a bit. When I looked up at the genki girl stereotype, she had an expectant look in her eyes. "Well?"

"Well, you've definitely got talent," I admitted. "This poem is a happy one, although…"

"What is it?" Sayori asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"It's nothing bad," I said quickly to reassure her. "Maybe it's just me, but there's somewhat of a sadness buried deep within that I'm sensing. All in all, a very good poem."

I saw her fake demeanor falter a bit, but then it returned. "Ehehe, thanks Sensei."

"You bet." I smiled, then got serious. "Suzuki-san?"

My tone must have caught her attention, because she looked at me curiously. "Yes?"

"I know this might be coming out of left field, but if you're ever need someone to talk to about anything, especially if you're too embarrassing to tell your friends, you can always come talk to me. I'll gladly listen to anything that might be troubling you. And I won't tell anyone else about it, I promise."

"Aaah, thank you Sensei."

I showed her my poem and, she didn't quite get what I was going for. I acted hurt just to tease her. I had to admit, this girl was cute when acting all huffy. I didn't expect anyone else to approach me, and no one else did. I just pulled out a book this time and began to read it. It wasn't long, though, before I heard two voices being raised across the room. I listened for a bit until they both shouted at Monika. I stood and clapped loudly. "Hey hey! What's going on here?"

"This doesn't involve you either!" Natsuki shouted.

"I'm afraid it does now," I said, moving over to the two. "Sit down, both of you." When they didn't respond, I repeated the phrase in a harsher tone. To my relief they did so, not looking at one another. "Now, I was listening in to your argument. I wasn't going to interfere, but you crossed the line when you yelled at the president here and when you took the fight to personal insults." I indicated Monika. Both girls looked instantly guilt stricken and looked down at their desks. I sat down and out of habit got into the Just Monika pose. "Look at me, you two." Obediently they turned their eyes towards me. I turned to Yuri. "Tanaka-san, there's absolutely nothing wrong with writing simply and plainly. Some good works have been simple. Look at Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It's over two hundred years old and is simple and famous." Natsuki looked like she was about to say something triumphantly, but I raised my hand and focused on her. "But, Kobayashi-san, but, there is merit in a deeper style of writing." I cleared my throat recited a poem I'd memorized for my poetry class.

The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."

What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.

When I finished, the room was deathly silent. Yuri and Natsuki were staring at me wide eyed now. I felt a bit self-conscious, but I knew I had to finish my lecture. I cleared my throat. "There is a simplicity to that poem, the message and thesis is stated in the first stanza, "Everything is meaningless…" but various hidden layers within could be extrapolated upon with thought. There's a reason this text has been discussed among scholars ever since it was written. So, you see, there are plenty of merits for both." I went silent and looked at the two expectantly.

Yuri was the first to speak. "I see your point…Natsuki, I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn."

Natsuki's face was a scowl, but I think I got through to her. "Me too…" she said grudgingly. "Sorry…"

"Also," I said, "personal insults during a fight like that is a low blow." Natsuki flinched, but she seemed to get the message. Yuri looked away, embarrassed as well. "Now, you two have some apologies to give to your fellow club members. I'll leave you to it." I stood and headed back to my desk. I listened happily as Yuri and Natsuki apologized to Monika, Sayori and even Motoyasu. I returned to my book when a pair of shadows blocked the sunlight. Looking up, I saw Yuri and Natsuki bowing a bit towards me. Startled, I nearly dropped my book. "H-hey, what's up girls?"

"We're sorry," Natsuki said.

"We didn't mean to make trouble for you on your first day as our advisor," Yuri said nervously.

I chuckled. "Stand up, you two. I'm a teacher. Making sure you guys learn something is a part of my job. If that means a lecture, then so be it. Besides, I doubt you guys could fight like that if you really didn't care for each other like friends do. And that concludes my Lecture for the Day. Just try and keep what I've said in mind, okay? And if you need to talk to me about anything, just come talk to me."

Yuri seemed a bit happy at that, while Natsuki just gave me a typical tsundere look. Both headed towards their seats. I almost breathed a huge sigh of relief. I picked up my book again and resumed reading.

"Hey."

I was so engrossed in my book again that I didn't notice when Monika came up. "Nakamura-san? What is it?"

She had a nervous look on her face. "I'm…sorry about earlier. I should have taken better control of the situation with those two."

"Don't sweat it. You'll become better adapt at dealing with people. You're already better at it than I am." I took a deep breath. "That was tense. I've never taken control like that before."

"Really? Well you did a good job," she said with a grateful tone. "By the way, where did you get that poem? You didn't right it, did you?"

"As for that poem, it's part of the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, one of the books of the Christian Bible. I memorized it a while ago, and I figured it was the perfect poem to help make my point."

"Well, you're certainly stepping above and beyond as our advisor," she said as she put her hands behind her back and leaned to her side, eyes twinkling.

"Smooth, Madam President. Smooth," I replied, throwing her own jab back at her.

"Oh hush," she giggled before heading back to the others.

I went back to my book for a bit. Not long after, I heard the soft clunk of a cup being placed on my desk. Looking up, I saw Yuri remove her hand from the mug she'd placed in front of me. "What's this?" I asked curiously.

"H-hot chocolate," she stammered.

I grinned at her. "You remembered? You didn't have to do that, you know," I said. I didn't want them worrying about me that much.

"Natsuki brought it actually," Yuri said. "I just boiled the hot water."

"Yuri! Don't tell him!" Natsuki sounded clearly embarrassed.

Am I really having such an impact on these girls? "Well thank you Tanaka-san, Kobayashi-san." I took the cup and sipped it. The chocolate went down smooth and creamy and not too hot either. It was, without a doubt, some of the best hot chocolate I'd ever had. "Oh wow, this is really delicious."

"Ah, um thank you," Yuri said. "I read up online about how to make hot chocolate taste better."

"Research well spent. You'll have to teach me sometime."

"U-um, sure," she said nervously before returning to prepare tea for the others.

"J-just so you know," Natsuki began, "I didn't-"

"-bring the chocolate for me or anything, dummy, b-baka," I finished. "Lemme guess, you accidentally dropped a packet in your backpack when you left home."

"Exactly!" she said, clearly flustered. She stormed off to the closet.

I decided not to make anymore waves that day and read silently, taking sips of the hot chocolate while getting deeply engrossed in my book. A few minutes later, Sayori and Motoyasu walked out together. Natsuki and Yuri followed suite, this time together and talking to each other.

"You sure you're not the actual MC here?" Monika asked as I began packing up my things.

"Oh please," I chuckled as I threw on my coat. "The girls are still interested in Motoyasu here. Nothing wrong with that."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Monika replied as she grabbed her own bags. "I've noticed Yuri and Sayori looking over at you, almost as if they want to approach you."

"You're exaggerating," I said as I headed out. Monika locked the door then handed me the key. "Thanks. Hey, you did notice how Motoyasu took every possible route available, right?"

"I did," she said, concern appearing on her face. "I don't know what to make of it. I can't access his character file."

"I'd be surprised if you could," I replied. "Anyway, I'm going to spend some time doing teacher things before heading home."

"See you later tonight?" she cooed.

"You really wanna ruin me before the week's out, dontcha?" I asked. "But yes. I'll be there in maybe forty five minutes."

Giggling, she skipped away. Huh, who knew she was the skipping type? I headed to the teacher's room and, after putting the key away went to my assigned desk where I went over the next day's lesson plans.

"How was your first day as a real club advisor?" I heard Ito-Sensei ask from across the room.

"Nearly uneventful. I had to break up a small spat between two members."

"Tanaka and Kobayashi?"

I looked up at her. "How did you know?"

"Well, those two are polar opposites in a lot of ways," she replied.

"I guess so, although I haven't gotten a chance to get to know them yet. Tanaka-san is a bit introverted from what I can tell, and I get it. I'm pretty introverted myself. Kobayashi-san is a bit stand-offish, so I'm going to let her approach me if she wants anything. Suzuki-san and Nakamura-san are the more outgoing and friendly ones of the club. They just got a new member, Chiba Motoyasu, and he seems like a nice kid so far."

"You really paid attention," Ito-Sensei said, sounding impressed.

"Isn't that my job?"

She chuckled. "Well yes. Keep up the good work."

I thanked her and a half hour later I thanked everyone for their hard work and headed home. The moment I entered my home I was greeted by first a smell unlike anything I'd ever had before. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Stepping cautiously inside, I saw Monika, now dressed in loose sweats and a light green t-shirt, stirring something in a skillet. I knew better than to question her about how she got in, so I decided to just go with it. "Something smells good. I had no idea you were a cook. What are you making?"

She giggled and looked over, blushing a bit. "Veggie stir-fry."

"And where did you get the ingredients for that? I know I don't have anything veggie related in here, I checked earlier this morning."

"I went on my very first shopping trip."

I nodded, impressed. "It smells delicious. Hold on." I grabbed some sweatpants and a hoodie and, after changing in the bathroom, came back out. "Alright, do you need any help?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I watched a video on how to prepare this dish before you got here, so I should be good."

"Well, if you're sure, then I'm gonna go write for a bit. Give me a holler if you need anything."

"Will do!" I went to the table in the main room and opened my laptop. There, I began to create poems specifically targeted at each member of the club in case they wanted to share. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice a small bowl placed in front of me until a finger pushed my head away from the screen. "You know staring at a screen for too long is bad for your eyesight, right?" Monika admonished me with a giggle.

"Too little, too late," I replied, pointing to my glasses.

"I'm serious," she said with a sudden shift in tone, grabbing my laptop and closing it. "Sensei, even if you were uploaded to the game, you should try and take care of yourself a bit more."

"Okay okay, you have a point."

"Now then…itadakimasu." She sat across from me, grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks and began to eat. The way she handled chopsticks was almost expert-level. Well, she is modeled after a Japanese schoolgirl. Shouldn't be surprised.

Before she could ask me anything about the world, I spoke up. "Hey Monika? I have a request for you."

"What is it?" she asked, surprised.

"I have these admin privileges, but I don't know how to use them. Could you try and teach me how? I'm gonna need them if we ever encounter these virus enemies."

She took her time chewing, obviously deep in thought, before she swallowed and took a gulp of water. "I was actually going to suggest the same thing. I don't know how easy it is, but if your employers gave you this ability, I doubt it'll be hard for you to figure out. I'll teach you all I can."

Monika spent the next few hours after we finished our meal trying to explain to me how to access the game's systems. In those hours, I learned quite a lot. I managed to get a glimpse of the inner codes of the game, and was surprised to see the massive amounts of data being added every nanosecond. It was as if the code wasn't just constantly being improved, but constantly changing, like every line represented the movements of virtual atoms and molecules. I did manage to see that the code, while expanding, was limited to the circumference of the entire town. Nothing seemed able to leave or enter. Monika also explained to me how she'd altered the character files in every single gameplay. I managed to open the character file of someone and edited someone's happiness level, but I refused to save it. "That's now how we're going to save the girls," I said.

"I know, but that doesn't matter. I lost the ability to edit their code the moment you exited your house. I still have some of my abilities, such as summoning certain items and observing everyone's code, but editing people's personality matrices is now out of my reach."

"Well, apparently I can do that, but I won't. Let's keep going."

When I next looked at the clock, it was almost seven. "Damn, it's already this late. It's probably time for you to-"

"Please no!"

Monika's sudden outburst startled me. Her eyes were wide with fear. I pushed my glasses up and sighed. "Monika, we can't be seen together. If I get in trouble, I'd most certainly be kicked out of the school, and then our mission would be-"

"Not tonight, please…" She looked away sadly. "I don't…want to be alone."

I sighed. "Why?"

"I've spent untold years alone," she said. "Yes, there were the others, but they were lines of code at the time. If I had parents, it would be different…but I don't want to be alone tonight."

"One more night, but then I think you should spend some time with some of the girls. Maybe Sayori. She's our first target. And you can't use the fact that they aren't real anymore, because, like it or not, they are."

She curled up a bit, hugging her knees. Man, when did I start giving out so many lectures? "It's…hard to face them," Monika said. "There was a time, you know, when I felt like what I did was for the best…I'm terrified…"

"I know you are," I said softly, "But you can't let your fear rule you. That's now what true sapient beings do. You're going to have to face them at some point. When this is all over, they're going to have to be told the truth about their existence." She nodded silently. "I'll clean up and then we can watch another movie."

After I cleaned the dishes, I made popcorn and we watched the cult classic Dark City. I picked it mostly due to its similarities to The Matrix and the central themes mirroring the current situation of this game. As with the night prior, I found Monika resting peacefully on my shoulder near the end. The poor girl seemed exhausted, but extremely happy, more than likely due to the new experiences that she'd been exposed to. Once more, I let her sleep in my bed and she was asleep in an instant. I shut down everything after finishing up the poems for everyone, then closed my eyes and drifted off into peaceful slumber.

SAYORI'S POV

Useless, completely worthless. A burden to everyone around you. You'd be better off if you weren't here anymore. No one would miss you…not Monika, not Yuri, not Natsuki, and especially not Motoyasu and Price-Sensei.

Sayori sat up suddenly, gasping for air. She'd been dreaming, she realized, a horrific nightmare. She remembered something tightening around her neck, the struggle to breathe, then nothing. Just black. It had felt…peaceful. No more pain, no more suffering.

She lay back down, closing her eyes. The room was silent save for the sound of an early morning breeze from outside her window. She covered herself up with the blanket and curled up, reaching under her pillow. Her hands found the rope hidden within, its familiar knots giving her a sense of comfort and hope.

Hope that the pain would go away…

Happy thoughts…happy thoughts…happy thoughts…

Two chapters in one day yay! Enjoy!

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