"Thanks for coming over, Yuri," Monika said after taking a long swig of her tea. "You know, when I called you up, I didn't mean to imply that you had to come right away."
Yuri flinched ever so slightly. "Uh, no problem! Don't w-worry, I was already aware of that!" she assured.
Well, I wasn't, but now I am.
The two girls sat on Monika's bed, each one clasping a teacup. Monika had already downed most of hers in spite of the fact that Yuri had only just brewed it minutes ago. Yuri liked to make her tea last, but she supposed there was nothing wrong with doing it Monika's way. Besides, it didn't take a gregarious person to realize Monika didn't seem to be in a very good place right now. A minute or so passed without any conversation, which Yuri found unnatural. Monika had almost no problem with taking the lead in a conversation if the other person let her, and Yuri certainly didn't mind. Today, however, it was as though she was merely content to drink her troubles away.
"So. . . is there anything on your mind? You seem a little troubled, not that there's anything wrong with that or anything."
Monika shook her head. "No, I'm fine."
In spite of that claim, her half-lidded eyes and sad frown suggested otherwise. Had Monika not been sleeping well? She looked like she hadn't, but Yuri couldn't tell. When the silence proved too much to bear, Yuri cleared her throat. "Y-you know, I'm not saying you have to tell me if you don't want to, but I promise that I w-will not spill the beans if you want to keep something a secret."
Monika glanced up from her teacup. "What do you mean? I just wanted to invite you over to chat, that's all."
"And that's fine," Yuri assured. "It's just that. . . well, we haven't exactly entertained much conversation, have we?"
"Eh, true enough."
It was like talking to a brick wall when it came to this subject. Yuri swallowed. It was up to her to take the lead this time, an intimidating prospect even in her most confident moments.
"So, how are you and MC doing?"
Monika's smile disappeared instantaneously, which caused Yuri to flinch a bit. She had thought the topic a safe one, one that would get Monika to open up more. The risk she took was calculated, but man, she must have been bad at math. For a moment, it seemed as if Monika was actually angered by the mention of her boyfriend, which struck Yuri as rather odd. Instead of allowing her wrath to boil over, however, Monika sipped up the last bit of her tea. Her smile returned, and she hummed blissfully.
"He could be doing better," she said in a tone that was incredibly pleasant. Yuri cocked an eyebrow. The mixed signals were too much for her to understand.
"Uh, I-I'm sorry. Is he sick? I hope he gets-"
"No, no, he's fine. He just-" -Monika gestured idly with her teacup- "-could be doing better, that's all."
Yuri cocked her head. "Eh? I don't understand what you mean."
Monika sighed. She supposed it was no good to keep Yuri in the dark like this. At any rate, airing her dirty laundry might be good for her. "Yuri, do you want to know why I randomly invited you over for tea today?"
"Because you've had a lonely weekend?"
"No, because-" Monika paused, blinked, and gave Yuri shrug. "Actually, that describes things pretty well. How'd you guess?"
"Personal experience," Yuri stated with a knowing smile. "It's not often that I see people on the weekends. N-not that I mind the loneliness or anything; it gives me time alone with my books!"
Monika got off the bed, walked over to the teapot, and poured herself another cup. "MC and I had a fight the other day."
"What about?"
Monika's expression was now deadpan, almost lifeless. She sat down next to Yuri and began to run the tip of her finger in a circle around the surface of her tea, swirling it just a bit. "He called me a bitch," she finally explained.
Yuri reeled back in shock. "W-w-what? Why?"
"He found out what I told you and the others a while ago, and he didn't like it," Monika elaborated. She looked pained, almost remorseful. "Didn't like it one bit."
Yuri understood at once. It was an awkward thing for her to have brought up, but she sure did seem happy for doing it. At any rate, it was a one-time thing. Even if one could call it a mistake, Yuri didn't believe calling Monika a bitch was the right answer.
"Monika, I know you didn't ask for my opinion, but I think he went too far."
That cushioned her expression a little bit. She offered Yuri a smile. It was a sad smile, but it was still a smile. "Thank you, Yuri. I appreciate it. I just. . . I never expected him to say something like that to me."
Monika began to sniffle. She did her best to wipe the tears away, but the heartache of the situation was coming back. Without much of a warning, she burst into tears and began to sob loudly and pitifully.
CODE RED! CODE RED! Your friend is crying, Yuri! What will you do!?
"I don't know!" Yuri cried out to her brain. "I don't know, I'm sorry!"
Monika glanced up, tears in her eyes. The random exclamation was so utterly bewildering that she momentarily forgot about crying. "W-what?"
Yuri's eyes widened. "I said that out loud, didn't I? Sorry."
To her surprise, Monika chuckled and wiped away the tears. "You know what, Yuri? You can be a really funny person when you set your mind to it."
"Thanks, I guess?"
Monika took a few deep breaths, and she finally found herself in control of her emotions once again. "Sorry about that. I don't really know what came over me."
She did, but Yuri couldn't know about it. She thought about everything MC and her had been through, how he showed her forgiveness even when she couldn't forgive herself. She reminded herself of all the times he had put up with her silly antics, no matter how strange, awkward, or even dangerous they could be. What absolutely crushed her wasn't even the fact that he had called her a bitch; that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Ultimately, what perturbed her the most was the fact that he had so casually brought up spilling her darkest secret to the entire club. He knew how much that fear ate at her, and yet he had brought it up as if it was essentially the same thing as talking about their love life. Was it a threat? No, but it was dangerously close to one.
How could he even entertain such an idea? That thought alone threatened to spill more tears. Monika wouldn't let them fall this time.
"Hey, Yuri?"
"Hmmm?"
"All this must be weird to you, and I'm sorry. How about we do something together? Play a board game, read a book together, watch a movie? I just don't want to feel these feelings right now, you know?"
Yuri gave her a hug. "I know exactly what you mean," she added once they pulled away from each other. "Well, I mean, I don't personally, but I've read it in enough books to empathize."
Monika grinned. Classic Yuri.
