"Alright, students," the teacher spoke, disrupting the quiet and studious atmosphere. "Can anyone construct a sentence about this picture?" he questioned as he pointed to an illustration on the board. A hastily-drawn stick figure on a bike was pedaling toward a building that only vaguely resembled a schoolhouse.

There was a long period of total silence in the room, courtesy of the palpable anxiety among MC's classmates. MC himself fidgeted in his chair. How could they not know this? He thought to himself. Of course, he already knew the answer, being sentient and all, but it still bugged him to no end. To him, English was like a first language, and that was because it was his first language. It was the first language of every member of the literature club. Indeed, it was the first language of every single generic student within this classroom. However, because the game had to maintain the facade of a vaguely Japanese setting, there just had to be an English class.

After what seemed like hours of boring torture, a student in the front row tentatively raised her hand. MC could not recall her name, her personality, or even if she always sat in that particular seat. That was because she was little more than an extra in this visual novel's world, and thus not important enough to have a definite answer for any of those facts.

"Uh. . . the boy rides his bicycle to school?" she answered with an inquisitive inflection in her tone. One thing was certain: her accent was undeniably American. However, she behaved as though it was the first time English had ever left her tongue.

The teacher, er, sensei, nodded approvingly. "That is correct," he stated flatly. Then, he turned back to the board and began to write in the Japanese script. This was the part that MC did not understand. Luckily, he did not have to. "I want everyone to turn to page 225 in their textbooks and read to themselves."

The entire class, minus MC of course, opened their books all at the exact same nanosecond. After gaining his sentience, the perfect uniformity in which the other students worked initially frightened him. Now, he didn't even bat an eye. These were the actions one could expect from a background character, nothing more.

Regardless, MC flipped open his textbook as well. Like with the sensei's handwriting, most of the page was written in Japanese, with an occasional English sentence thrown in to presumably provide an example. He scanned the page with mock interest, preparing to zone out in a state of pretend-learning for the rest of the period. It was how he normally spent English class, after all.

Suddenly, a wadded paper ball landed right in the middle of the book, jolting MC out of his train of thought. He immediately shot a glance at the rows in front of him, but everyone was far too busy and too single-minded to throw notes in the middle of the class. The sensei, now at his desk, had his nose buried in the textbook as well. MC stared down at the paper ball curiously, then unwadded it.

Look to your right.

MC did just that. There, sitting in the very desk next to him, was Monika. He flinched in surprise, eliciting a muffled giggle out of her.

"Monika?" MC whispered, shooting a glance to make sure the sensei wasn't paying attention. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to learn English," Monika replied with mock innocence. "Why else would I be here?"

"Very funny," MC responded, rolling his eyes. "You don't even have this class."

"Anything's possible when you have access to some game files," Monika pointed out. "Let's just say I asked really nicely to audit it."

"You are rather persuasive, I suppose" MC remarked. "How come I didn't notice you, though? Did you just get here?"

Monika shook her head. "I've been here the entire class. I tried to get your attention a few minutes ago, but you just stared ahead like you were lost in thought."

MC rubbed the back of his neck in unconscious nervousness. Why was he nervous, anyway? It was just Monika he was talking to, nothing special. "Ah, that probably was the case. It's not like I have anyone to talk to in here, anyway."

"You're preaching to the choir, MC," Monika replied, twirling her hair in boredom. "What do you-"

"What's all the commotion back there?" the sensei questioned without even glancing up from his book.

"N-nothing, sensei!" MC assured. "Monika was just asking for help on-"

"I don't care what she was asking for help on," the sensei interrupted once more. His eyes finally locked with MC's, and there was a dull sternness within them. "This is an independent assignment, got it?"

MC gulped. Generic or otherwise, this guy still made for quite the intimidating authority figure. "Yes sensei, sorry."

The sensei grumbled something unintelligible, and went back to reading.

MC shot an annoyed glare at Monika.

"What?" she whispered innocently. "You're the one that started talking in the first place; I just wanted to get your attention."

MC emitted a defeated sigh. "Fine, just no more talking, OK? I don't need to get into anymore trou-"

"I thought I said this was an independent assignment!" the sensei exclaimed loudly enough to cause the whole class to jump. Almost instantaneously, the whole class had their eyes on MC and Monika. They stared, all of them having that same look of intrigued judgement in their eyes. MC could feel his entire face turning red in total embarrassment. His brain searched for some sort of valid excuse, but nothing came to mind.

"If you can't be quiet long enough to do one simple assignment, maybe I can have you clean the erasers after class," the teacher suggested.

MC bowed his head in shame. "Yes, sensei."

"Wait, sensei?" Monika spoke as she rose from her desk. MC turned to face her.

No, Monika. Stay down, there's no need for-

"I-it's my fault, too. I wasn't understanding number four, and I was the one who asked for MC's help. If he's getting punished, then I deserve the same as him."

The sensei eyed her with mild disbelief, but he relented with a shrug of his shoulders. "Alright, both of you can clean the erasers after class."

Monika sat down without another word. Despite the fact that she had essentially punished herself, she had a rather victorious glint in her eyes. She shifted her gaze onto MC, and she smiled lovingly.

Did she do this for him? Was it so he felt less alone in taking such a punishment? Maybe she did it for herself, so that she could spend just a little more time with him. Perhaps both reasons were true. Regardless, MC returned the smile.

Thank you, he mouthed to her.

Monika's smile widened. Judging by the look on her face, she seemed to be even more thankful than he was.