Dear MC,
Please meet me by the fountain after your last class. I've thought about all that's happened, and I would like to apologize. Please come alone. I can't wait to see you there!
Your girlfriend,
Monika.
MC scanned the document for what seemed like the hundredth time since he had first found it in his locker. By all accounts, this letter appeared to be entirely with the realm of the ordinary: The handwriting was spot on, and the message wasn't anything out of character. Nothing about it screamed 'trouble'. In fact, part of his heart warmed at the idea of reconciliation. The past few days within the literature club were, to the say the least, frosty. The lack of daily visits from Monika, combined with the mutual refusal to speak with one another during club meetings, had left a gaping hole in his life. Apparently, she felt the same. There was hope, after all.
Well, that was if the letter was all it seemed to be. Something about it seemed off. For instance, why was it so short? He would have expected Monika to open up more within the letter itself, even if she wished to address the matter in person. Another peculiar detail was the conclusion. 'Your girlfriend'? Why not 'with love', or, considering the current state of their relationship, a simple 'from'? Closing a letter like that seemed too warm, yet also too cool. Again, he shrugged it off. She was requesting to speak with him in good faith; he decided that he owed her a heeding.
The last class had just ended. Crowds of students bungled about the hallways. Months of navigating daily high school life within the game granted him a sixth sense when it came to evading his wandering classmates. Bobbing, weaving, ducking, and dodging, MC made his way to the courtyard behind the school. There, sitting by the fountain, was Monika. She gazed upward at one of the third story windows, her expression indicating impatient anger. Slightly befuddled, he checked the time on his phone: 3:04. It had only taken four minutes from the time class ended to reach the courtyard, which, while not quick, was a reasonable time. Why was she angry, then?
He didn't have much time to reflect on it, for as he closed in on her, she caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. At once, her body pivoted to face him. She didn't smile, but her face did soften slightly.
"Where'd you go?" she questioned.
MC cocked his head. "What do you mean? I just got out of class. Your letter said you wanted to apologize?"
Monika's face wrinkled in considerable confusion. "What are you talking about? I got a letter from you saying the exact same thing," she stated, holding out a piece of notebook paper in the process. Quickly, her bewilderment became tainted with anger. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"
MC, now equally perplexed, snatched the letter out of Monika's hands and quickly skimmed over it. Sure enough, with only minor differences in vocabulary, the letter read exactly like his own. What was noticeable about it was the fact that it closely mirrored his own handwriting. It was no wonder why Monika fell for it; he could only just barely tell that it was a mimic.
"I didn't write this," MC asserted matter-of-factly, handing the paper back to Monika. He also passed passed Monika her "own" letter to him. "I guess you didn't write this, either?"
After a moment of reading, Monika nodded. "No, I sure didn't write this. It sure does look like I did though, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," MC nodded coolly. "So, I guess this was a setup by somebody in this club."
"Oh, absolutely!" Monika confirmed with a nod. "There's no way one of the brainless background characters could actually have this much of an impact on the world."
They stroked their chins in thought. They reached the same conclusion at the same time:
"Sayori!" they declared in unison, both smiling at each other. After a moment, however, both of their grins faltered.
"So I guess Sayori is trying to force us to make up, eh?" MC supposed.
"Undoubtedly," Monika said. She frowned, suddenly becoming angry again. She took a seat on the fountain and deliberately looked away from MC. "I don't care what she wants; I'm still mad at you for ruining our Valentine's date!"
"Ruined it!?" MC exclaimed. "Why would I try to ruin something I painstakingly spent a whole night preparing for? In fact, I tried to save it! You were simply too stubborn to accept my apology!"
"It hurt, MC!" Monika shouted back. They were now in each other's face, their noses rubbing up against each other. Despite their close proximity, Monika growled. They stared into each other's eyes, neither one backing down from one another.
You're an asshole! Why did I ever fall in love with you in the first place!? Monika thought. She would have said it, too, had she not heard the words in her own head. In that moment, something happened to her resolve, for it quickly melted. Without the fire of her own righteousness burning in her belly, Monika's expression became a lot more mournful. She stared intently at the water gently pouring from the fountain, then sighed. It seemed to MC that her eyes were filling with tears.
"It hurt," she mumbled. "It really did."
Seeing her show weakness did not fill MC with the righteousness he had hoped to find from winning this argument. In fact, it was just the thing needed to extinguish his own fury. He sat next to her, but made no move toward her. Instead, he found himself watching the water with her. The afternoon sun was beaming down on it, granting a pleasant shimmer. That didn't make the moment anymore bright.
Monika chuckled ruefully. "You know, I really thought you loved me," she admitted.
"I do, Monika," MC declared. It was true; as much as this argument had torn a rift between them, he hadn't stopped loving her. She was his girlfriend, his love. He just couldn't help but to take a stand on this whole privacy concern. And even now, while he still stood by his beliefs, he wished he had never escalated the situation to the degree where this became the end result.
"Then why did you say it?" Monika sniffled. A couple of tears dripped down into the fountain. "You know I still feel terrible about what I did to everyone, right?"
MC moved to put his arm around Monika, to hug her and tell her that he did indeed, but she scooted away from him just a little bit.
"Please don't touch me," she stated, but it was said in the manner of a polite request, not a harsh command. MC respectfully obeyed.
He sighed. "I can't force you to see my point of view about the whole situation, much less forgive me for what I said. Monika, I say this with all of my heart: I am sorry for what I said. In order to stand up for myself, I tore you down, whether I meant to or not. I guess, in that moment, I didn't think about how that would impact your self-image. Please don't ever doubt that I love you. That hurts me more than any argument could."
Monika nodded. She risked a glance at him, and found herself feeling safe. In that moment, she felt like some trust had been regained. She smiled, and when he looked at her, that same little twinge of joy found its way onto his own face.
"I still love you," she promised, knowing that he did not outwardly doubt her. "I'm sorry, too. I shut you out, and not just when you called me a bitch, either. I didn't take into account how much your privacy meant to you. I'm still not great at this whole relationship thing, but I do know that it requires respect. I did not give you any, so it's not wonder why I made you so angry."
When she finished talking, she scooted closer to him, closer than she had been when she first sat down, until they were up in each other's faces once more. MC did not fight it; he didn't want to. He leaned his forehead onto hers. In that moment, nothing mattered in the world except her. It was in that moment that the last of his stubborn anger melted away.
"I'll tell you what," he began, his tone taking on a more flirtatious, playful tone. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me. We can pretend this whole argument never happened."
"Deal!" Monika declared with a giggle. Then, she stopped, a sudden thought coming to her head. "Actually, deal for the first part. Let's not just forget what happened here. We should learn from it, learn from the consequences of not listening to each other. How does that sound?"
MC beamed. "Ah, you're so insightful sometimes, you know that?"
Their lips brushed up against one another. There was no vocal reply at first, only a brief series of kisses. When they pulled back, Monika flashed a shy smile. It looked like somebody had slathered her cheeks in a coat of reddish-pink paint. "Well, hehe, I try."
MC rose and offered his hand out to Monika. This time, she did not refuse his touch. "C'mon, I think a literature club is missing its president."
Determination flowed through Monika. "You're right. Let's go read some books!" she cheered triumphantly.
They walked away from the fountain arm-in-arm. As they were about to exit the courtyard, one last thought entered MC's mind.
"Man, Natsuki and Yuri are gonna be so confused."
Far away, peering out from a third-story window with a pair of binoculars, Sayori watched with a smile.
"Mission accomplished," she declared satisfactorily.
