Chapter 25: Fool Me Twice
(Wednesday Afternoon, School Yard)
Sayori slowly helped Monty out of the school gates and turned, guiding him towards his house. After that little scuffle she was a bit shaken but not injured; in fact Monty seemed more worse for wear as he clutched at his head and looked pale. She gently moved a hand up towards his forehead and when she touched him he jumped in surprise before calming, as if he was scared. She frowned a bit more; it felt like he was burning up. Her concern grew for her friend as they walked in silence, before finally she spoke.
"T.. Thank you for that Monty." She almost whispered and he glanced over before nodding.
"No problem. I don't like seeing you hurt and I know you don't like violence too much." He replied and she nodded.
"You uh... pushed yourself a bit though; you don't look very good." She replied and he nodded.
"To be honest, I feel like absolute crap. I just want to lie down and sleep or watch some shows with soup." He grimaced as Sayori poked his side.
"Why even come to school if you felt so awful then?" She jabbed and he sighed.
"Because I didn't feel this way when I was coming to school, Sayori. Honest." He said and Sayori continued to give him a look and poke his side before smiling.
"Oh alright, I know Monika would have probably chewed you out about that too." She giggles but notices Monty's eyes drift, looking out at the road. Her brow furrows and she gently nudges him which makes him jump and look around for a second before focusing on Sayori once more.
"Oh uh... sorry." He murmured with an apologetic glance as she shook her head.
"No it's okay, you are sick and you probably just need some rest. But at least we are almost there." She beamed up at Monty and he smiled a bit.
"Y-Yeah. Almost there..." He frowned a bit and turned to her with a serious expression.
"S-Sayori, would it be okay if you stayed over, at least until the club is out?" He began but she shook her head sadly.
"No, I got a test that I need to make it back to... wish I could be sick." Her eyes light up though and she grins at Monty who blinks in surprise.
"Hey, cough on me! Let me get sick so I can miss the test!" She was vibrating with energy as her friend gave the pinkette an incredulous look.
"Are you serious?" He rolled his eyes but a grin was on his face, clearly enjoying her humor. However Sayori was also partially serious; she HATED tests with a passion.
"Yeah yeah! Come on, just one cough and I can fake it!" Sayori beamed but Monty shook his head.
"No can do; I don't want to make my best friend bedridden." He grinned and Sayori pouted, but she smiled once more.
"... It feels just like old times." She said after a minute as Monty glanced over.
"Old times...? Yeah, it does. You were always there for me Sayori, and I have to say that... without you I wouldn't be in such an amazing club, having a wonderful time with all of my friends. You really are looking out for me." He replied and Sayori felt her heart swell.
"Of course... you are too. You always have my back and the backs of the other girls; I know Natsuki won't say it but she thinks highly of you, considering some of the poem scraps she left on the counter ehehe." Sayori's smile could brighten up the darkest storm as Monty looked at her with a mixture of surprise and warmth.
"She.. does? Well I mean I noticed that Natsuki wasn't being as outwardly mean anymore; still got a bit of that feisty spirit but otherwise she's nicer. But I'm a little... surprised about that." Sayori could see from the smile on his lips however that he felt much more than surprise about that.
"Of course. Because after all you care about us Monty. I know that you care about all five of us, and you'll probably care about the new members too. It's just who you are now... who you have shown yourself to be." She beamed at him and a bright smile appeared on his face in response.
"Thanks, Sayori. I can always count on you." He replied and she grinned proudly before noticing they stood at his house.
"Oh we are here!" She exclaimed, turning to Monty. However once more the boy seemed out of it with his eyes focused on something off to their side. Nudging him out of it he blinked before smiling.
"Yeah... home." He mumbled and Sayori gave him a sympathetic look before they walked up and he opened the door.
She led him to the couch and he sat down, gratefully nodding to her.
"Thanks Sayori. Are you sure you don't want to stay? I'm sure the school wouldn't mind since they allowed you to bring me here anyways." He asked but Sayori shook her head.
"I can't, sorry! If I could stay I would but I don't want to fail the class." She pouted and poked her fingers together. Monty sighed before smiling.
"I know I know... I'm proud of you though. And if you ever need help you can come over and I'll help you." He said and she giggled happily while blushing.
"Thanks Monty, and I'll take you up on your offer some time! I hope you don't mind if Natsuki comes over too; I don't want to leave her alone right now." A somber tone mellowed the conversation as Monty nodded.
"Of course; heck one day I'd love to invite the whole club here and chill out. We could watch movies, write, and I'd cook dinner for everyone. It would be great." Sayori's eyes widened and she smiled as brightly as the sun.
"Do you mean that?" Monty nodded and shot her a smile that made her heart warm up.
"Of course."
"Ehe, I'll hold you to it then. Bye Monty, feel better soon~!" She sang and headed out the door as he called out for her to be safe.
As the door closed Sayori stood on the other side of the portal with a hand on her chest. She knew Monika and Monty were happy together.. and yet she couldn't stop the tracing aches.
"No... no! That's not what I want to do; I don't want to live with those thoughts! I am Monty's best friend and he values, trusts and loves me in a different kind of way! But he still loves me and he still wants to be in my life! I... I can do that! I'll be the best friend he's ever had! And even then... even then I will always have him with me."
That thought lifted Sayori's spirits; the cheerful pinkette was back to normal as she hummed and headed back towards the school.
(Monty's PoV)
"She's going to die and it's your fault; you should have gone with her." The false Sayori hisses in my ear, the frayed rope dangling to my left as I clutch my head. The visions had been nagging at me the whole trip, their voices and touches pulling me along at various points. But Sayori had been there and had helped to at least keep me focused. She really was like a sun; a bright and cheerful source of energy to keep me going. No.. not just her. All four of the girls were my suns; even Yuri who was losing it now was one of them.
I had to save her. Closing my eyes I pull out my phone after a deep breath. Once I open my eyes it is almost unsurprising that a blood vision of Yuri is inches away. Her eyes twitch and the grin grows wider as I dial Monika's number and call her. After a moment she picks up.
"Hello, Monty? Are you home safely?" She asks over the line as I keep up my smile as the visions mock and torment me.
"Yeah, I'm home. Sayori walked back to the school alone though; watch over her if you can?" I ask and I hear a slight sigh.
"Okay, I'm on it. Just try and rest love; try to push past the visions." She encourages before the call disconnects. I sigh as a glitching Monika is now in front of me.
"You will fail us, my love. But that's okay because you'll be here forever with me."
"Easy for her to say." I mutter under my breath as my trial to retain my sanity continues.
(Sayori's PoV)
The walk back to school was nice and peaceful for Sayori; she reached the gates while humming a happy tune and thinking about the club. To be honest even though she didn't want to take the test didn't mean she was unprepared for it; Natsuki was surprisingly helpful and motivating in her own way to get Sayori to prep for such. Honestly ever since Natsuki had moved in things also felt pretty nice as she wasn't as alone and often times found herself enjoying the company of the other pinkette. Natsuki also seemed to be doing better and was slowly recovering; she was more open to Sayori in private. They worked together and honestly it felt to Sayori that Natsuki was a sister she never had.
That thought made her smile; all of the club was like her family. Upon reaching the school she walked down the hall before running into someone with an grunt. Falling on her ass Sayori winced and looked up before her eyes widened.
"Mizu! I'm so sorry about that!" She exclaimed but her clubmate just brushed himself off and smiled. Offering her a hand she gratefully took it and stood up with his help.
"You okay? I didn't see you there." He apologized but Sayori just shook her head and beamed at him.
"Yup, I'm fine! Sorry about that I just got back from helping Monty get home safely; he's sick so he won't be at the club today." She expressed a sorrowful expression as Mizu shrugged.
"Eh, it happens. Just hope he feels better soon!" He grins and Sayori nods eagerly before cocking her head.
"But.. what are you doing here Mizu? Classes are still going on." She asked and the blue-eyed boy shrugged.
"I was actually cutting class, don't tell Monika or the others please. I just... I needed some air." He shrugged but Sayori pouted a bit.
"Hey, you need to take your classes seriously though. I mean I get wanting to take a break but don't skip too much." She chastised. Mizu had this odd expression for a moment before smiling.
"I won't. Want me to walk you back to your class?" He asked and Sayori thought about it before nodding.
"Sure!"
With that Sayori walked towards her next class with Mizu in tow; since the class right now was almost over she might as well just wait at the next one and not waste any time. As they walked Sayori glanced over occasionally at her companion and noticed he seemed lost in thought. But what drew her in was his eyes; they seemed so sad. She recalled the conversation they had yesterday as they walked.
"I'm reminded of some friends I lost a while ago."
Her heart ached at those words and as they rounded the corner Sayori stopped. Mizu seemed to notice and came to a stop as he looked at her.
"Something wrong?" He asked as Sayori looked up at him.
"... Yesterday you said you lost some friends. And I notice that when people aren't looking you have that sad expression on your face. I just... I decided something." She moved forwards and took both of his hands in hers which surprised him greatly. His eyes widened and a streak of red crossed his face for an instant before vanishing.
"I'll be their replacement! I'll make you smile again with us!" She declared boldly to try and encourage her new friend.
He went silent for a minute and the pink-haired girl began to feel self-conscious; his expression was completely neutral at this point. However he finally sighed and opened his mouth.
"Sayori, you could never replace them..." He began and her heart sunk like a stone. However his hand moved up and pet her head which made her look up and see a small smile.
"Because you aren't them; you are you. I don't want you to be someone you are not, I want you to be yourself. Because that... is when you are the most amazing person you can possibly be."
Sayori didn't know why; his words, the smile, maybe the warmth and genuine care in his voice made her feel warm all of a sudden. Her heart beat a little faster as Mizu cocked a brow and grinned.
"Hey, you are blushing there. You okay?" He asked and Sayori's blue orbs widened before pulling away a bit and nodding vigorously.
"O-Of course I am! Nothing wrong, hehe!" She passed it off with a nervous chuckle as the two returned to normal. They reached her classroom and like that departed, although Sayori cast one more sparing glance in his direction before turning back to get ready for the test. A surge of energy went through her and she pumped her fist in the air!
"Yes, I'll be the best me I can be and show Mizu, Monty, Natsuki... I'll show everyone!" She encourages herself. She knows that the rain clouds were still there but with her friends believing in her Sayori knew she could keep going.
Today was going to be a great day!
(Monty's PoV, Monty/MC's House)
"Go away..." I growl as more manic laughter erupts around me. Now it's visions of just Monika around me mimicking the way the others girls died; one has a noose and a grotesque purple bruising on her neck and another has multiple stab wounds, with another sporting a broken neck. They are glitching and corrupted and sport the Monika jumpscare face as well which only serves to make things even creepier.
"I'm never going to leave you, my love~ those other girls will though. I'll make sure of that." I close my eyes and cover my ears, trying to block out the horrid phantoms in front of me. The world isn't swimming for me but my senses are still messed up; even though I know they aren't real the visions seemed real to my senses.
"You aren't real, my real beloved would never do that again." I snarl at the visions and they laugh before all but one disappear. This one sits on my lap, the yellow cracks and inverted eyes making a chill run up my spine as she glares down at me.
"How can you be so sure? She has the capacity to murder, to kill; we all do. She can do it again if she so chose. And there would be nothing you could do to stop it. Unlike before, once the girls are gone they are gone; you can't reach out of the game to delete Monika either. She can kill just as easily as you almost did with Hideo-"
That makes my anger snap and I move my hands to roughly throw her off but they pass through air; of course I can't touch them. I growl and stand as the corrupted phantom of Monika laughs darkly.
"My my, what a temper~ I wonder how I ever fell in love with someone like you. But then again... monsters like us do need to stick together-" Her poisonous whispers make me grit my teeth and finally I swing back on her.
"ENOUGH!" I boom and with one last giggle the apparitions disappear for the moment.
I swear that once I find the MC I'm going to beat his head in for this. I sigh and sit down, taking the much needed respite when the door opens. My eyes dart up and slowly it pushes open as the sound of white noise fills the air. I grit my teeth as the bane of my existence himself comes in; yet another hallucination to taunt me?
"Alright, that's enough. I don't care that you aren't real I'm going to punch through that glitchy mass you call a head!" I growl as I stand. My legs shake but I walk towards the glitched MC and cock a fist back, throwing it full force at the hallucination.
However before it even nears his head his hand raises up to catch it, stopping my punch with a firm grip.
My eyes widen and I pale; while the hallucinations did touch and grab me I never felt their fingers or skin; I could feel it with the MC.
He's the real one.
My mind clocks into overdrive as I yank my hand loose and try to rush him; however he sidesteps and with a kick to my knees I topple over in surprise. As I get up I feel his foot swing under me and collide with my gut. The air is forced out of my lungs and I gasp for air as I flip over, looking up at the glitching images that comprise his head. Standing up again I throw punch after punch but the swimming vision and my loss of balance renders them ineffective. He grabs both of my hands and slams his knee into my unguarded gut again as my eyes bulge from the pain and I fall over.
Before I can even recover however I feel his grasp pull me close and a jab of pain in my neck. My eyes widen and I thrash a bit before suddenly he lets me go. Immediately my hand darts to the pain and reveals a bit of blood as I turn and look at him; he holds an empty needle in his hand.
My vision begins to darken and my legs fail me; I fall over to the ground defenseless.
"M... Monika..." I wheeze out my beloved name before my body goes limp everything goes black.
(Natsuki's PoV, School)
The school day had been rather boring for Natsuki but now that it was over she could finally go to one of the places she loved the most; the club. Although with the help of Sayori she was starting to enjoy being at her house too... it felt good to be treated so fondly.
As she arrived at the club Natsuki noticed Yuri was the first one there, already sitting and reading a book. Walking over Natsuki glanced at the contents; plenty of long paragraphs and complex words. Yup, that was a favorite of hers.
"Hey Yuri." She greeted and it broke the purple-haired bookworm out of her trance as she glanced over and smiled warmly at Natsuki.
"Hello Natsuki." She responded in kind but Natsuki noticed it as she arched a brow.
"Say, something good happen to you? You seem happier than normal." She asked and Yuri hesitated before nodding, fiddling with her hair a bit.
"A-Ah, yes something good did happen. T-Thank you for asking." Natsuki flushed a bit at her words.
"W-Well it's just... I sorta noticed from your t-tone..." She mumbled and an awkward silence followed after. Yuri shifted for a minute before Natsuki spoke.
"Oh wait! I have something for you!" Yuri glanced over as Natsuki fished through her bag and pulled out a book. Curious Yuri glanced at the cover and her eyes widened. It was a manga that Natsuki liked to read but unlike her normal cutesy stuff it had a horror motif.
"I.. I g-got that from a friend a while ago. And... w-well I know you don't care much for manga but I f-figured you might enjoy something like that." Natsuki was looking away with a blush on her cheeks; she didn't know why but recently she got very nervous when around Yuri. It wasn't out of fear or anything but it was something that was bugging her. She half-expected Yuri to reject it, saying that 'manga isn't literature' which always burned to hear-
"Thank you, Natsuki." Her voice made the pinkette look up in surprise as Yuri gave her a small smile. That smile made Natsuki's cheeks heat up even more as she grumbled.
"Y-Yeah whatever. I just.. figured you'd like s-something like that..." She trailed off as Yuri nodded.
"I appreciate the gesture. I'll give it a read later at home." Her gentle tone made Natsuki blush more but she managed to huff and smile.
"Okay, tell me what you thought of it; I'm going to change your mind about manga!" She declared proudly and Yuri smiled a little wider, stifling a giggle.
(Monika's PoV)
It didn't take long for Monika and the others to arrive, and once they did club began as normal. Monika did tell them all that Monty would be sick for the day which met with some disappointment from Natsuki, Yuri and Asami but then things continued as per normal. She watched and oversaw the class carefully as they all shared poems and such, helping people or talking to others. She did end up talking to Sayori for a bit and asked how Monty was to which Sayori reported on his condition.
"Well, at least he is still somewhat coherent. I have to make sure that he's okay though." Monika frowned a bit in worry of her beloved but for now she had to focus on the club. As soon as it was done she would just head over there and help him recover, and then they would confront Yuri together later.
With that resolve in mind Monika spent the rest of the club time helping others or keeping an eye on Yuri. It seemed after their confrontation earlier Yuri had more or less returned to normal. However she did shy away from Monika slightly whenever the club president approached. Well... she had scared the hell out of her so it was a fair reaction.
The bell chimed and signaled the end of clubs as the students departed; Monika waved goodbye to everyone and finished cleaning up when footsteps made her pause. In front of her stood Yuri and her heartbeat quickened.
"Oh hi Yuri, something wrong?" She asked with a smile and tried to be polite to mask her wariness. Yuri looked at Monika for a moment before bowing her head.'
"I'm s-sorry about earlier. W-What I did and s-said was unprofessional, a-and rude.. I didn't mean it but I a-am sorry I said it." She apologized and Monika blinked in surprise. However she smiled, her green orbs focused on her friend.
"It's okay Yuri, I forgive you." She beamed and Yuri stood back up looking relieved.
"Oh, t-thank you. W-Well then I'll see you tomorrow Monika." With one more curt bow Yuri left and Monika was finally alone. Opening up the command prompt she teleported to her home and swung open the door.
"Monty, I'm home!" She called and smiled, setting her bag down and closing the door behind her. However only silence greeted her as she frowned.
"Maybe he's sleeping?" She murmured and headed over to the bedroom. Upon opening the door to reveal an empty room her frown grew more. She began to search the house in full, going through every part of it during her search.
But no matter how hard she searched it was no use.
Monty was gone.