The alarm blared, and Jon sat upright in his bed at once, already fully awake as he reached for his vibrating phone on the nightstand next to his bed.
With a flick of his finger he quickly put a stop to the intrusive sound he'd set up to ring at this time the day before, yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes as he did so.
It was way earlier than when he usually got up, but he hadn't exactly slept well tonight anyway, his mind too busy lingering on... unpleasant things. As such, he'd only gotten a few hours of sleep at most.
Before he even began considering getting out of bed or doing anything else at all today, he started off doing what had basically become a ritual for him at this point each time he unlocked his phone: opening up the texting app, tapping the icon of a specific user in his friends list, and typing out a message to her.
JON: good morning! :) how are you today?
He watched the screen intently, as if conjuring up a reply with his mind had become one of his latest superpowers. At last, a small animation was displayed at the bottom of the screen, indicating that the recipient of his text was currently typing out a response.
He hadn't even registered how tense he'd been, before feeling the relief wash over him just over seeing this animation. However she was going to respond, be it good, bad or neutral, it at least meant that she was still capable of writing him back.
She's still alive.
Jon's heart began beating fast and hard in anticipation despite his best efforts to stay calm, when the animation stopped, and a new message appeared in the chat.
SAYORI: better
Like the other messages he'd received from her since establishing the hourly check-ins yesterday, this one was limited to a single word, but unlike those other messages, this one was the first one she'd sent to even remotely imply that things were looking up.
He smiled to himself, then sobered up as he tried to formulate a suitable reply in his head. The last thing he wanted to do was put pressure on her, so he couldn't be overjoyed and celebratory like he wanted to, but he couldn't just be completely neutral either, and let her think he didn't care. He had to find a balanced way to support her, without being overwhelming.
He began typing again.
JON: really? that's great! how so?
He had to erase the "proud of you!" he'd originally put into the message, fearing that would have been a bit too much for her. He hoped this would get his meaning across well enough.
Another message popped up.
SAYORI: still not great
Jon frowned a bit at this, but let her continue as he could see she was still typing.
SAYORI: evrything still raincloudy
SAYORI: cant feel happy
SAYORI: still want to do that thing you know but not as much? idk to explain sorry
SAYORI: head doesnt hurt anymore so atleast theres that
SAYORI: sorry i know im disapointing
Jon could feel his heart sink slightly at reading these messages, but did his best to focus on the positives as he wrote her back.
JON: hey, hey we talked about this. you don't have to apologize for feeling the way you do. I think it's amazing progress to feel improvement already after only being there for a day!
SAYORI: i guess. yes
JON: so, how is leslie?
SAYORI: really nice. very patient, doesnt rush me. she gave me ice cream yesterday
Jon smiled again, remembering talking to the kind Doctor yesterday when he'd escorted Sayori over to her Clinic. She was indeed one of the nicest women he knew, with a very understanding smile that let anyone know just how much she cared for her patients. He'd known from the minute he'd suggested Leslie that he could entrust her with handling Sayori, it saying something about how trustworthy she was when even Batman had let her know his secret identity.
Jon considered then if this was the right time for him to ask Sayori if he could do what he'd wanted so desperately to do yesterday. On the one hand, he still thought it was a bit soon, but on the other, he was emboldened by Sayori being in a relatively good mood this morning.
He decided to chance it, and typed out another message.
JON: hey would it be okay if I came to visit today? no pressure or anything, just wanted to ask. it's okay if you don't feel ready still.
He waited anxiously as he watched her typing out the reply.
SAYORI: okay
Jon did a fistbump into the air, resisting the urge to loudly exclaim "YES!" in triumph and do flying loop-de-loops around his room. Then, he looked down again to see she had written more.
SAYORI: but please, not anyone else. especially monika. dont want her to see me like this
Jon couldn't agree more, thinking that she really didn't need the stress of multiple people being there at the same time.
JON: sure thing. see you then :)
She didn't reply, but she didn't need to. Jon would text her again in an hour, and then he'd meet up with her later to talk, so there was no reason to put more pressure on her right at this moment.
He sighed, almost tempted enough to lay down again and go back to sleep from the mental exhaustion this simple texting exchange had caused him.
He really hoped he was handling this right.
He felt the phone vibrate in his hand again, and looked down to see that he'd gotten a new message, not from Sayori this time, but rather from Damian, which was a rare sight. Usually it would be Jon taking the initiative to text him out of boredom, and in the few instances where Damian would actually respond, it would typically be brief, sour and impatient replies telling Jon to stop bothering him while he was on a case or something like that.
Curious, Jon opened their chat.
DAMIAN: I need to talk to you. Now.
Jon raised an eyebrow. It certainly looked like something the spiky-haired boy would say in his commanding voice, but usually he would just tell Jon to come to a meeting location at once if he needed him for something. He wondered if this was the case now as well, as he typed out a reply of his own.
JON: you want me to fly to the manor right now?
It only took about two seconds for another text to appear.
DAMIAN: No, I don't want you to "fly" over, whatever that even means. Just videocall me like a normal person, and make sure you're not looking too unusual when you do it.
Jon furrowed his eyebrows, confused by what Damian was talking about. The boy usually preferred speaking to his "allies" face to face, not over some device. What was especially weird was the fact that Damian knew Jon could be there in a few minutes at most, so why would he suddenly insist on this long-distance conversation?
Nevertheless, Jon obeyed, clicking the button to establish a videocall. He thought Damian could be a little better at explaining his plans instead of letting him play the guessing game like this, as he ran his hand through his hair to make himself a bit more presentable when the camera on his phone turned on. Maybe that was what Damian meant by not looking "unusual?"
The call connected, and Jon was met by the intense, green-eyed stare of Damian, seeming to look directly into Jon's eyes as he glared at the camera, with the unmistakable sight of his extravagant room in Wayne Manor visible in the background. Jon had been in that room many times before on sleepovers, so this sight didn't do much to surprise him.
What was surprising however, and caused Jon's eyebrows to shoot upwards in amazement, was the feminine face right next to Damian's, looking slightly down with mild interest at where Jon's face would be located on Damian's phone. She was about the last person Jon would have ever expected to see in Wayne Manor, inside Damian's room, this early in the morning.
"Morning, Jon." Natsuki's voice greeted him through the phone speakers, before opening her mouth wide to yawn tiredly. Her pink hair was devoid of the usual red ribbons and hourglass hairclip, as well as in a weird state of disarray, looking like she'd just gotten out of bed, which was also evidenced by the general sleepy look on her face.
"Uh... good morning, Natsuki." Jon replied, unsure about how he was supposed to react to this situation. Damian was of no help, continuing looking at the camera with his usual stone face, as if nothing was out of the ordinary whatsoever at the moment.
Well, at least that explains why he didn't want me coming over. He thought, thinking it would probably be tough to explain him arriving so quickly to Natsuki without inventing some alibi of him being some next-door neighbor to Damian. It still did nothing to explain why the two were together, however.
"You look so odd without your glasses." She said, smiling at him. "Almost like a completely different person."
Uh oh.
A mild panic took hold of him as he realized his face was devoid of the spectacles he usually wore in public, having not expected to suddenly be confronted face to face with a civilian like Natsuki here in his room. He scrambled to come up with a suitable response.
"Same thing could be said about you not wearing your hairclip." He retorted.
"Touché. Any news about Sayori?" Natsuki asked quickly, her expression shifting into one of worry and concern.
"She's... she says she's feeling a little better." Jon replied hesitatingly, still taken aback by the sight of the two rivals sitting so close together in front of him. This was so weird. He would think he was still in bed sleeping, but he didn't think even his dreams could conjure up a scenario this bizarre.
"Oh, thank god." Natsuki said, and there was a wave of static through the speakers as she breathed a sigh of relief. "That's so good to hear."
"So, uh..." Jon began, unsure of how best to bring this up. "What, uh... what's going on with you tw-"
"Focus, Kent. We have something to tell you." Damian cut him off, ignoring Jon's unfinished question. "It's about what's been happening at the school lately, specifically at the Club."
Jon frowned, partly at being cut off by Damian, whom he had a sneaking suspicion was avoiding his question on purpose.
"What's been going on at the Club?" He asked, confused.
"Just a fair warning before we start." Natsuki piped up. "This involves talking about Sayori and... what happened to her. Are you okay with that?"
Jon blinked in surprise. He hadn't been prepared for that.
He hesitated a bit, searching his feelings. While the last thing he wanted to do was reliving that fateful event that had occured last Wednesday, the very thought of it having been enough to make him cry like a baby as recent as yesterday, it... wasn't as bad anymore. Of course he was upset about it, and worried out of his mind for Sayori over at the Clinic, but it was more... manageable, now. He felt like maybe he could talk about it without bursting into tears now, helped along in no small way by the support of his mom, dad, and the text of small improvements from Sayori.
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before opening them again, meeting Damian and Natsuki's waiting stares.
"Yes, go ahead." He said. "I'm ready."
"Okay." Natsuki said, with sincerity visible in her pink eyes. "This... will probably sound a little crazy to you, but just hear us out, alright?"
Jon nodded, and listened carefully as she began presenting her case, talking about the odd coincidences of the other girls' personalities changing about the same time as the headaches started. Her main point was Sayori's way too sudden depression, before she went on to Yuri.
"You did notice how Yuri acted yesterday, right?" Natsuki inquired, raising an eyebrow at Jon.
"Uh..." Jon replied, unsure of how to respond since truth was- he hadn't.
The previous day had gone by like something out of a fever dream. The first day back at school after what had happened, the first day without... her. He hadn't really been able to really focus much on anything at all, apart from the time where he'd been thrust head first into a bush by Damian as he rambled on about Yuri- that wasn't exactly the kind of thing you easily glanced over.
But he'd just chalked that up to Damian being Damian, and hadn't actually taken his claims about Yuri being crazy seriously. Everything else about that day had felt like his body being on autopilot, going through the usual motions, with minimal activity from his mind since everything at the school had just seemed to remind him of Sayori, and her absence. He knew, for example, that they'd been sharing poems yesterday, but he couldn't for the life of him recall what any of them had been about, or how the others had reacted to his.
"I, uh... I may need some pointers." Jon said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "I do vaguelyremember a moment last Wednesday that stood out to me about her. Where she kinda... snapped at you, Natsuki."
"Right." The girl nodded. "That was the first thing that made me suspect something was weird at first too, since Yuri, like, never swears. Even at her most disstressed, all you'd typically get out of her is a 'fudge.' It's actually kinda adorable. But then suddenly she drops the hard F-bomb for something I said about Damian of all people? That just doesn't add up."
"I... suppose." Jon said, unsure. He kept listening as Natsuki continued listing the things that Yuri had apparently said and done the other day, which he had to admit sounded quite out of the ordinary for the admittedly limited amount of things he knew about the purple-haired girl, and she did manage to make a quite convincing argument.
Right up until she lost him by saying what, or rather who she thought was causing this.
"Hold on." Jon interrupted, shaking his head in confusion. "Why would you think Monika is the one doing this?"
Not to mention how. He thought.
"Process of elimination." Natsuki said. "I know for a fact it's not me, obviously. I've seen enough from you two to know that neither of you would ever hurt Sayori this way, and Sayori herself being the one doing it is laughable, not to mention impossible since she's at the Clinic and Yuri just keeps getting worse. Monika..."
There were some sharp popping noises erupting from the phone speakers, and Jon guessed Natsuki was snapping her fingers just out of frame, shaking her head, seemingly trying to find the right words.
"...her personality has changed too, I know it. She's gotten the headaches like the others, which I'm sure has something to do with this whole thing. But unlike the others, she doesn't seem like she's... suffering. I don't know how to explain it, I just have this feeling that while Yuri is getting worse and worse, Monika looks like she's... enjoying herself. Like a spider pulling the strings, or something like that. Initially I thought she was poisoning them or drugging their food or something like that."
"Poison, while a possibility, seems unlikely, due to the downright absurd amount of effort she would have to go through in order to mix up the correct chemicals and balancing the exact amount, and all that stuff." Damian cut in, taking over for Natsuki. "I took the liberty of looking up her medical records, and despite her family's best efforts to hide it, I managed to figure out that our Club President has a history with a very mild case of Paranoid Schizophrenia."
"Don't ask him how he figured that one out." Natsuki commented, visibly cringing. "When he told me earlier this morning, it was like he expected me to be all impressed or something, instead of creeped out about how he can apparently hack into confidential records with such ease."
Jon didn't need to ask, or feign being impressed. He'd seen Damian find way more privacy-violating stuff on that computer of his to even be surprised. He decided instead to just accept it and ask about what this meant.
"Schizophrenia? As in, hearing voices and seeing things?"
"Not quite to that extent." Damian replied, scowling sideways at Natsuki, probably for undermining his big reveal. "I meant it when I said 'mild.' All it does, according to her doctor's notes and interviews, is making her view other people as 'out of tune' with the rest of the world, which led to her thinking that nobody else except her is 'real.'"
"Not... real?" Jon asked, going over Damian's words in his head. It was a strange concept to wrap his head around, and yet he felt shivers traveling down his spine just at the thought.
"It's really not that bad." Damian shrugged. "Even she didn't seem to mind it according to the records. I have no idea why her parents tried hiding it so hard. Whatever difficulties she might have had functioning with it, if any, would be eliminated as long as she took her prescribed medicine. But the thing is, I looked into her local pharmacy, and she hasn't been there to pick up her pills for a while, starting right around the time when the Literature Club was established, actually."
Damian paused, looking at Jon expectantly, as if he was awaiting applause for his detective work. When none came, he scoffed, and went on.
"To sum it up, it is conceivable there's another cause for these happenings, like an unknown party doing it from a distance, but for now, Monika is the prime suspect."
"Okay, but like-" Jon spoke up, rubbing his temples trying to make sense of this overload of information they were feeding him with. It still didn't make sense. "If the Schizophrenia is as mild and unharmful as you say it is, why would you think she's the culprit? I'm sorry, but it just doesn't seem related to any of what you've said has been going on lately."
"Because it's not. I wouldn't even take it into consideration if not for the fact that the Metagene is known for exacerbating mental conditions present in its host."
Jon blinked once.
"The Meta-what?"
Damian's face drooped, looking incredibly disappointed with Jon.
"Really, Kent? Do you actually not know this?" He asked in a tone even more condescending than usually.
Jon blushed.
"Don't worry." Natsuki said, with a shrewd smile. "I hadn't ever heard of it either. I think Damian must be a closet cape geek in denial."
He probably thinks I should be one too, due to the life I have. Jon thought, unable to say anything more about it while in Natsuki's presence.
"-TT-" Damian scoffed. "The Metagene, Kent, as you should already know, is a very rare biological abnormality lying dormant deep within the genetic makeup of approximately 12% of the Earth's population. It can be inside a person their entire life without them even knowing, due to the amount of difficulty and effort it takes to spot it, and the extreme conditions you would have to go through to even activate it. IF activated however, it is going to force the host's body through an accelerated evolution process, giving it an unnatural ability it deems best suited for whatever situation they're currently in."
Jon's head was spinning, trying to take in and understand the lecture Damian was giving him. He realized it was entirely possible that he'd heard of the Metagene before, since he was already starting to forget and tune out what it was. He tried his hardest to concentrate however, knowing this could possibly have something to do with helping Sayori. Damian went on.
"The reason the Metagene is so widely unknown, can be chalked up to how nearly none of the more popular heroes have it as the source of their powers. Superman and Martian Manhunter are aliens, Flash has the Speedforce, Green Lantern a ring from space. In fact, most of the people who end up with a triggered Metagene end up as villains, because of what I mentioned before. It gives its hosts powers, and wants them to use those powers. Therfore, it will subtly push at its host's subconscious, urging them towards a situation where they might use it. It doesn't care who it hurts in the process, it just wants to be set loose."
"Can I just say how much I HATE living in a world where suddenly developing superpowers on the spot is a more likely explanation than poison?" Natsuki commented dryly. "Like, it doesn't even matter what the context is, the fact that we can even find ourselves in this kind of situation is just so ridiculous!"
"I kinda agree with Natsuki on this one." Jon said, thinking he was starting to get what they were saying now. The pinkhaired girl was surprisingly good at condensing Damian's jargon into something you could actually understand. "It seems a bit out there, if I'm being honest. Like, how can we be sure of this?"
"We aren't sure of anything, Kent." Damian said, shrugging. "This is all just a theory based on educated guesswork. What we can be sure of, is that the Metagene is activated by the host going through a highly distressing, usually traumatic event, and I have it from reliable sources that Monika went through just that recently. It does add up."
"Reliable sources..." Natsuki mumbled, shaking her head. "Is this what it's like being rich? Hiring detectives to unravel other people's lives? I don't even get how they would be able to discover something like that!"
"They have their ways." Damian said, with a lightly bragging tone that confirmed to Jon without a shadow of a doubt that he was talking about himself in the third person, because of course he was.
"What are we waiting for then?" Jon exclaimed, perhaps a bit too impulsively, but he didn't care. The idea that Monika was behind all of this, torturing his friends unseen, nearly killing Sayori... It made him angry. Angrier than he could remember ever being before. "We need to tell the police immediately! Or call in a superhero!"
She was Sayori's friend!
"Calm down, Kent." Damian said. "Like I said, it's just a theory, and it's entirely likely to be incorrect. We have no proof as of yet."
Jon thought that usually Damian's guesses and theories were pretty darn on point, but he conceded. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, forcing himself to be calm.
"How can we get proof?" He asked.
"I have sent over pieces of the girls' DNA to some contacts over at S.T.A.R. Labs for a deep testing." Damian said, and Jon didn't even need to hear the bragging tone to know he was lying again to throw Natsuki off their conversation. There was no way Damian would trust anyone but himself to do the research for one of his cases. "They'll get back to me later today on whether or not one of them has the Metagene in them."
"Can you believe this guy?" Natsuki asked Jon, snickering. "He has actually grabbed tufts of hair from me, and everyone else in the Club without us knowing for his mad science experiments. He's on another freaking level."
"Uh, right." Jon said, forcing an awkward smile on his face at her lighhearted assumption. If he knew Damian right, it was extremely unlikely that he would stop at hair, and based on past experiences, he knew that it was far more probable of him to take more liquid DNA samples from the girls than simply a few strands of hair. He decided against telling Natsuki this however, not just because it steered into more Robin territory than Damian, but also because it would be so incredibly hard to explain how he'd done it. "Pretty weird Damian, haha."
I still have no idea how he managed to get my blood sample without breaking my skin. He thought, shuddering.
"Excuse me, Miss Natsuki?" A disembodied, british voice could be heard over the phone, and the girl looked up at someone out of frame, who Jon knew could only be Alfred Pennyworth, Damian's trusty Butler, friend, and father figure. Second father figure, anyway.
"What's up?" She responded in a casual tone, once again throwing Jon off by how familiar she apparently was with the Wayne Manor setting already.
What the hell happened yesterday?
"It would appear that a certain someone has been by during the night to deliver you a present." Alfred said. "Specifically, the belongings from your previous place of residence."
Natsuki's face seemed to brighten up.
"Seriously?!" She exclaimed, overjoyed. "Awesome! Can you show me?"
"It would be my greatest pleasure." Alfred's voice said, kindly. "If you would follow me..."
Natsuki got up from the bed, hurriedly waving an arm at Jon as she moved out of frame.
"Bye Jon! See you at school."
"See you. Hi Alfred!" Jon replied back.
"Ah, Master Kent. I do so hope you'll grace us with your presence again soon." Alfred said, recognizing his voice from the many times he'd visited prior.
"I'll see what I can do about that!" Jon said, smiling.
Then, there was a muffled clunk over the speakers, informing Jon that Damian's door had closed behind Alfred and Natsuki, which Jon took as his chance to talk seriously with Damian. He frowned.
"So, what's this traumatic event your 'reliable source' told you Monika has been through?" He asked.
"I researched the case yesterday, singlehandedly." Damian said, promptly, as if he'd been waiting impatiently for someone to ask him of this. "And I discovered that she's been in contact with Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn."
Jon raised his eyebrows, having not expected this answer. And they went further up in his head as Damian relayed what the two dangerous female lunatics had informed him off.
"...so, as you can probably tell, I've been very interested in Monika recently." Damian said, finishing his recounting of the events.
"It's... hard to believe." Jon said, furrowing his brows, struggling to keep track of every major reveal he'd been exposed to since he'd called up Damian, from Natsuki being in the Manor to Monika apparently being superhuman. "Especially the part where you singlehandedly took on Poison Ivy and beat her living jungle all by yourself."
"It is what it is." Damian shrugged. "No big deal."
Jon shook his head.
"But Damian... isn't this basically proof? From what Harley told you, and the fact that she was able to escape from the clutches of one of, if not the most powerful woman in your city, how can she not have this Metagene or whatever?"
"Quinzel isn't exactly the most trustworthy source of information." Damian said. "And it can still be a plethora of other things going on. Just because things seem to line up as well as they do with Monika, we can't just assume things. Let's wait for the results from the deep scanner to come in today before we start jumping to conclusions."
"I guess you're right..." Jon sighed. "But it's going to be hard being around her today, having heard your guess of what she might have done to Sayori."
"Good." Damian replied. "Use that suspiciousness to keep a closer eye on her at school today. No matter if she's a Meta or not, she certainly warrants more investigation."
"Alright, I will." Jon nodded. Then, he couldn't help himself anymore.
"Damian, what is going on between you and Natsu-"
"I'll see you at school, Kent." Damian said, and the screen went blank as he disconnected the call.
Jon sighed. He liked to believe that however awkward he'd been when talking about Sayori at the beginning of this week, at the very least he'd been more mature than Damian was being about Natsuki.
"Why would you come to school with her?!"
"Yuri, please calm down, you're making a sce-"
"Shut the fuck up Natsuki! No one's talking to you! No one's ever fucking talking to you! So just shut up!"
Jon couldn't refrain from flinching at the sound of Yuri's loud, shrill voice, bordering on screaming, audible even without straining his superhearing all the way up to the school roof he'd just landed on.
He thought he could see what Damian had meant now, regarding Yuri's behaviour.
He had found himself in a bit of trouble flying over the schoolyard, seeing the amount of activity going on down there. It seemed the whole school had gathered outside the building, working hard to set up the booths and tents for the festival later this afternoon. He'd known then that he would have to be extra quick to avoid being detected by the increased amount of eyes.
He supposed it was lucky that the warm, sunny summer weather had made its triumphant return after the gray rain of yesterday, now that the students and teachers had to spend most of the day in an outside environment. He hoped Sayori would appreciate the weather from the Clinic, and maybe have her spirits lifted a bit by the lack of what she referred to as "Rainclouds" in the sky. One could hope.
When Jon peered down from his vantage point however, he quickly realized that he had nothing to worry about in terms of being spotted, as everyone's eyes were pointed straight at the tall, purplehaired girl standing in the middle of the yard, uncharacteristically unconcerned with the amount of attention she was gathering as she confronted Damian and Natsuki, both standing side by side.
Jon used his telescopic vision to zoom in on Yuri's face, twisted into an angry sneer as she stared down at the pair with wide, bloodshot eyes, her purple pupils tinier than he'd ever seen them before. Large dark patches under her eyes indicated lack of sleep, a conclusion helped along by the state of disarray her long, purple hair was in.
Her whole body seemed to be shaking in fury as she kept glaring unblinkingly at Natsuki, who at this point stood frozen, overwhelmed by Yuri's verbal assault.
This is bad.
He could definitely see what Damian was talking about now. This... wasn't the same Yuri he'd met at the start of the week. Not the same by a long shot. This was someone else.
Yuri began yelling again, and he took this opportunity while everyone else were distracted to swiftly run down the wall into his bush.
"You always do this!" Yuri yelled, hysterically. "Every single time I think I've finally found happiness, you have to snatch it away from me! I join a Club that finally seems like it's made for me, and then you join too! I express my thoughts, you make fun of me! My look, my body, my taste, everything I do,you always have to cut me down! And now, you've stolen Damia-"
"I didn't steal anyone!" Natsuki protested, getting red in the face as she yelled back. Jon saw this as his cue to run out of the shadows from the trees towards them. "I'm allowed to walk to school with whoever I want! You don't get to control my social life!"
Jon closed the distance between them, put on his glasses before anyone saw, and stepped between the two girls, facing Yuri. It seemed like he'd been just in time too, as the taller girl had gotten a downright murderous look in her eyes at hearing Natsuki's retort.
"Hey, hey, let's all just calm down." He said, trying to make his voice sound more confident than he felt. "If you all just take a deep breath, I'm sure we can find a peaceful way to resolve this."
"Go away, Jon. This doesn't concern you." Yuri sneered, her expression not softening even a fraction at seeing him. "You don't get to come here and act like you're better than us, because you're not! Did 'taking a deep breath' help Sayori?!"
Yuri's comment hurt harder than a superpowered punch to the gut, and he had to use all of his remaining willpower in order to remember that whatever was affecting her, be it Monika or whoever, she wasn't in control of what she was saying. He couldn't take it personally, hold her responsible, or blame her.
Natsuki, however, apparently didn't have that same level of awareness or self-control.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She exclaimed, outraged. "How can you say tha-"
Jon snapped his head back to shush her, knowing she would only make things worse if she kept going. He silently cursed Damian for just standing there, looking at the scene unfold in front of him, without intervening in any way. He might be a genius when it came to detective work and crime fighting, but for social confrontations like this, he was almost completely useless.
"This isn't about that." He said firmly, looking back, directly into Yuri's crazed eyes without blinking, careful not to show weakness like the hurt he was currently feeling. "At all. You're both my friends, and I'd do anything to help you. Whatever this conflict between you and them is about, I'm sure that we can resolve it in a calm, peaceful manner like civilized people. Because screaming and throwing insults won't accomplish anything."
It wasn't normal for Jon to get this passionate and stern while in his Jon Kent persona, but the Superboy jacket he had recently taken to wearing underneath his regular school uniform seemed to act as a sort of talisman for him, making him braver, more confident. Like the knowledge of the S located over his chest somehow connected him to his dad, and let him tap into what he would do to diffuse a tense situation.
He knew wearing his superhero costume was probably a bit on the unnecessarily risky side of things, but... he needed it these days.
There was complete silence for a few seconds as Yuri stared back into his eyes. Then she finally spoke up in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper, shaking from the amount of anger behind it.
"You're taking her side!"
Jon nearly groaned in frustration, but before he could even think up another diplomatic response, a new voice spoke up.
"Guys? What's going on here?"
Jon and the others all looked to the side to see the familiar, white-bowed Club President approach them, once again displaying her uncanny ability to sneak up on them without making any audible noises. Her bright green eyes were scouring over the scene as she frowned in mild concern.
And although objectively she looked as innocent and unthreatening as the school girl student she was, Jon could feel actual shivers traveling down his spine just by her mere presence. Probably a result of the video call he'd had with Damian and Natsuki this morning, but no less valid.
"I want her out of the Club!" Yuri regained her voice, and pointed a trembling finger towards Natsuki, who in turn widened her eyes in surprise, and indignation. "Please make her leave, Monika."
Yuri's voice had something of a childish tone of relief to it, sounding akin to a five year old commanding her mother to kick one of her meanie classmates out of her birthday party.
Monika raised an eyebrow, looking from Yuri to Natsuki, standing by Damian's side, a little behind him, almost like she was trying to hide away. Monika frowned, and furrowed her eyebrows together, looking puzzled and- if Jon wasn't reading her expression completely wrong- was that irritation on her face as she took in the pair?
"Yuri, I can't... throw Natsuki out." Monika said vaguely, sounding like her mind was far away, unconcerned with the disstressed Yuri in front of her as she kept her gaze pointed towards Damian and Natsuki. "You... know that. The minimum amount of members requir-"
"I don't care!" Yuri yelled, her face going red, with tears starting to trickle down from her eyes as she broke down further. "I don't want h- her here! S- she ruins everything, a- and I d- don't like her."
"Gee, thanks." Natsuki muttered.
"You can k- kick her out, Monika..." Yuri pleaded on, ignoring Natsuki's comment. As her sobbing got worse, so did her stammering. She walked closer to Monika, forcing the whitebowed girl to look at her again, stopping as she was right in front of her. "Y- you're the P- President... Y- you can do anything. Please, m- make her leave..."
"Really now." Monika said, shaking her head in a dignified manner, and looking impatiently at Yuri. "We don't have time for this. We have to set up our booth for the Festival, there's a thousand things we need to do before it starts, and I need all hands on deck for-"
"No! Don't let her get away with it again!" Yuri yelled and raised her arm, letting a flat palm fly through the air where it made a sharp impact against Monika's left cheek with a sound like a whip, causing the Club President's head to make a sharp turn to the side.
Jon was speechless, staring in shock at the purplehaired girl, her shoulders going up and down in a slow, steady fashion as she took in deep, shuddering breaths. He had no idea what he should do in a situation this unexpected, and judging from the lack of activity from Natsuki and Damian, neither did they.
Then, Monika slowly turned her head, until her green eyes were making direct contact with Yuri's. Her unyielding stare was colder than Jon had ever seen them before, and a weird, unexplainable sense of dread washed over him, even though the harsh glare wasn't even meant for him.
"You hit me, Yuri?" Monika said, in a low, threatening voice. "Your Club President? After everything I've done for you? Doesn't that make you feel bad? Doesn't that make you feel a sense of guilt?"
Yuri released a small whimper, and scratched idly at one of her arms. She lowered her eyes, but Monika kept up her stare, unflinching.
"I would have thought we had reached an understanding of each other that day in the bathroom." Monika kept going, her voice filled with an emotion Jon was familiar with from all the villains he'd fought, but surprised him anyway as it was the first time he'd heard it coming from her; hatred. Pure, complete loathing dripping from every syllable of every word she spoke."I thought we were friends. But apparently..."
"I- I'm sorry." Yuri whispered, scratching her arm more aggressively, as if she was fighting a rash. "Monika, I'm so sorry, I didn't- didn't mean... to..."
Her words were drowned out when she burst into a new fit of inconsolable sobbing, the tears streaming down her face with no apparent end in sight. She finally stopped scratching her arm, raising her hands to hide her anguished face from view. Then, she started swaying on the spot before actually collapsing to her bare knees, unconcerned by the rough contact of asphalt against skin.
"H- how could I d- do such a thing... all m- my fault. Don't deserve to li- I'm s- so sorry... sorry... sorry..."
Jon was appalled by what he was seeing. Monika didn't so much as raise an eyebrow at the pitiful kneeling figure on the ground, instead keeping her iron-like gaze locked on the young woman without blinking at all. She was showing no signs whatsoever of concern, kindness or mercy.
I have to do something.
Jon couldn't just stand here, watching this take place. What he was witnessing was akin to watching Monika torturing another student. He had to step in, had to stop this before it got any worse!
He turned his head to Damian and Natsuki, the latter of which had her face twisted into a disgusted expression as she watched the scene, an expression that matched pretty well with how he was feeling himself. But the darkhaired boy was looking directly at him instead, his face looking just a bit more sour and grim than usual as he- shook his head?
Jon looked at him in disbelief, hoping that this movement didn't mean what he thought it meant, a hope that was dashed when Damian's lips moved, and with his superhearing picked up the whisper meant for his ears only.
"Let it happen. Too many eyes."
He couldn't be serious. He couldn't actually mean that they should just stand here and look on as Monika exerted her powers over Yuri.
"I want you to understand this, Yuri." Monika kept talking, bending her knees, lowering herself to the kneeling girl's level. "Understand that this guilt you're feeling? You deserve it. So embrace it. Learn from it. Maybe then, you'll know not to disrespect me ever again."
Jon clenched his fists. He couldn't stand hearing this. It was so obvious that it was Monika herself who had made Yuri snap like she had, and now she was blaming her for something she had caused? Did she even realize her own hypocrisy, or did she just enjoy seeing people suffering by her hand?
But that wasn't even the worst part. This whole thing with Yuri wasn't even close to the real reason he could feel himself getting angrier than he'd been in a long, long time.
It was the fact that this basically confirmed that it was indeed her who had been behind Sayori's suicide attempt.
In that moment, Jon made his decision, and took a step forward.
Screw Damian.
"Okay, that's enough." He spoke up in a firm, clear voice with as much authority as he was able. Monika looked at him, surprised. As if she'd forgotten there were anyone else besides her and her victim there. "You've made your point, Monika. I think she gets it now, you can stop."
Jon wasn't stupid. He'd taken care to use vague words, with enough deniability that they could be interpreted as him just telling Monika to stop her scolding, just as much as they could mean to stop her power abuse. He knew that if he outed her as a Meta directly, it was possible that she could react by throwing caution to the wind and endanger everyone present in the yard, so it was important to make the conclusion she would draw from it unclear.
Her hard expression softened as she focused on him, looking like her usual, kind face again.
"Y- you're right." She said, in a shaky voice. "I- I'm sorry, Yuri."
Yuri's response was in the form of a series of sniffs and sobs as she remained there, still kneeling before Monika.
The Club President extended an arm, and after a few seconds of further sniffling, Yuri accepted it, and was pulled to her feet again. Monika clapped her a few times on her back, before turning her head towards Jon and the others, and began addressing them all.
"Okay, everyone. I... I was out of line there, and I'm truly sorry about that. It's just... I think we can all agree this hasn't been a very good week, right?"
Nobody answered her, and discounting the white noise of all the students and teachers around them who seemed to have decided the fewer questions asked about the crying purple-haired girl, the better, the only audible noises came from Yuri's sniffling, shuddering breaths.
Jon in particular kept his mouth shut as he maintained the eyecontact between him and Monika. He was positive that if he tried speaking, all the words from his mouth would be blame and insults to her about Sayori and what she'd done to her.
"Things have been... hectic. We are all a bit stressed out, which is understandable, due to recent events." She went on. "It only makes sense for us all to be a little on edge. I promise you all, I understand these feelings and emotions running through you better than anyone. And I know that I probably haven't been the best leader of the Club during this time. I can definitely do better. You all deserve better."
She released a deep sigh.
"So, how about we all agree to meet up here tomorrow? I know it's a Saturday, but the Staff has entrusted me with keys to the school, and I think it would be good for us all to get together a day without the lessons, homework or festivals hanging over our heads, so we can focus completely on just talking amongst ourselves, discuss what's been bothering us lately, and come up with solutions to how we can fix it and move forward? I'll listen to whatever suggestions you may have, and then maybe we can finally put an end to this dragged out, exhausting nightmare of a week. What do you say?"
"Sounds reasonable." Damian spoke up, surprising both Jon and Natsuki, judging from her expression. Monika nodded at him in confirmation before turning again to smile at Jon.
"Jon, do you think it could be possible to bring Sayori along? It wouldn't really be a Literature Club meeting without her, and her presence here would go a long way in making things go smoothly."
Not a chance in hell. Jon thought, angry at the very suggestion. Him, bringing a fragile and vulnerable Sayori directly to the monster responsible for putting her in the Clinic in the first place? Monika was clearly delusional if she thought he was going to let that happen, and he started opening his mouth to tell her something along those lines.
"Agree to her terms, Kent."
Jon snapped his head backwards, staring at Damian in disbelief at what he was whispering. Damian wasn't making eye contact, instead looking down in a casual manner at his shoes, hiding his lip movements.
"I know what you're thinking, and I promise I'll explain later. But just trust me on this."
No. Absolutely not. There was no way he could do that. No matter what Damian told him. He would have to be completely insane to even consider the option.
"Please." Damian whispered.
Jon suppressed a sigh. So, apparently he was insane. Who would have thought.
"I'll try asking her." He said, suppressing a sigh as he looked back towards the waiting brunette. "I won't guarantee anything, though."
"Thank you, Jon." Monika said, sounding truly grateful. "With that cleared out of the way, you guys think we're ready to get to work then?"
She'd snapped back to her usual chipper attitude unsettlingly fast, as if this conversation hadn't just taken place. Then, Yuri spoke up again in a hoarse voice.
"I d- don't want them working together." Yuri said, and pointed towards Natsuki and Damian.
"You really don't get to decide tha-" Natsuki started, but was silenced by Damian holding up his hand.
"Fine." He said. "I trust we can talk about that particular issue at the meeting tomorrow as well?"
"Definitely." Monika nodded. "But for now though, let's all just cooperate to get through today. Okay? Yuri? Jon?"
Both Jon and Yuri nodded slowly and begrudgingly, agreeing. Jon still had his doubts about tomorrow and the thing he'd agreed to, but he decided to give Damian the benefit of the doubt in this case.
Which was usually his first mistake in these types of situations, he'd have to admit.
"Okay, everyone." Monika said, clapping her hands together. "Who wants to help me move the music room's piano into this yard?"
"Pennyworth just notified me." Damian said importantly, looking at Jon and Natsuki in turn. "The results for her DNA sample is in. Monika is a positive for the Metagene."
"Wow, really?" Natsuki asked, in a very sarcastically surprised tone. "What a revelation that would have been! Y'know, if we hadn't seen her use her powers to mind-melt Yuri just a few hours ago!"
All three of them were gathered inside the Literature Club, having finally managed to slip away from Monika after working hard all day to set up the booth down in the yard. They'd gotten this chance when Yuri had left for the bathroom, leaving Damian unsupervised for the first time today.
Natsuki was sitting slumped over in one of the chairs, over-exerted from all the stuff she'd had to carry down the stairs. Seeing her this exhausted almost made Jon feel a little guilty for not even having broken a sweat despite doing most of the work when helping Damian and Monika relocate the piano.
"-TT-" Damian scoffed. "It's good to have concrete confirmation on what we're dealing with. Going by that display of seemingly telepathic power down in the yard, she could have been a Martian for all we knew, thus making the problem so much more complicated."
"Whatever." Natsuki groaned. "Now that we know, can we go down and confront her about it? I swear I'm gonna kick her fucking teeth in for what she's done to Yuri."
Despite the incredible animosity present in her voice, Jon found himself actually agreeing with her. Having had to work with Monika, cooperating and even engaging in smalltalk with her for most of the day had been close to intolerable, knowing what she'd done. He wanted nothing more than to finally bring her to justice, and make her rectify her actions.
"That would be a poor idea." Damian said. "There are way too many innocent people present down there, people who could easily get hurt if they get in the way of a confrontation like that. And although we now have a decent idea of what she can do thanks to Yuri, it would still be foolish of us to get more people than necessary involved. Plus, just stopping her won't be enough. If we want to fix what she's done, the best option would be to take her up on her offer, bring Sayori tomorrow, and then make Monika undo the damage she's done to both her, and Yuri."
"I'm not comfortable with bringing Sayori anywhere near her when she can warp reality like we saw." Jon said, finally having the chance to protest Damian's earlier decision.
"From what I saw, she had a very mild ability to manipulate emotions." Damian shrugged. "A bit like telepathy, if even that. No idea where you got reality warping from."
He calls making Sayori hang herself "mild?"
"I don't care what it's called." Jon said, angrily. "I don't want her to hurt Sayori more than she already has! And if it is telepathy, then why aren't we calling the heroes right now, before she starts mindcontrolling us?"
"Because she can't do that. Listen to me, Kent." Damian retorted, and Jon had to stifle a groan when he recognized the all too familiar "lecturing" voice he'd now adopted, which always sounded like he was condescendingly explaining something incredibly obvious to a five year old.
"Monika is not a Martian, nor is she a telepath. Not really. She's a girl with a biological abnormality, which adapted her body the best way it knew how, to overcome a particular threat she was facing. Based on my observations, it seems to make her capable of manipulating the emotions of the people around her, technically making her an Empath, but with very clear, and exploitable drawbacks. There seems to be a limited range to how far away she can do it, it causes pain from over-exerting brain activity in both herself and her victims, and, most importantly, it's slow. Sayori and Yuri only got to where they are now through extended periods of time spent in her company, as evidenced by when she needed to go to Sayori's home and be with her for an unknown duration in order to get her to the point of suicide. That's why I called it mild. Once you know what you're dealing with, it'll be trivially easy to recognize random head pains and mood swings as being her doing."
Damian finished his self-satisfied lecturing, looking expectantly to Jon, who was trying his hardest to think over the aspects of the shorter boy's argument in order to find holes in it.
"I still don't understand why she's doing this. And I haven't felt anything close to those symptoms since starting here."
"Me neither." Natsuki said, ponderingly. "And I've been in this Club for longer than you two. I was here all the way back when the headaches started, but I haven't felt even a hint of it myself."
"What's her goal in doing this?" Jon asked.
Damian's response was a shrug.
"This can be one of the things we ask her, when we've made her return things to normal tomorrow." He said. "One thing to remember though, is that she's probably not in the best state of mind, so we can't expect her to go about this in a rational manner. The Metagene will do whatever it can to make sure Monika uses it, and will twist her Schizophrenia to the point where it will make whatever delusions she has appear to be 100% real. But due to the limitations that I just mentioned, she should be able to do very little to us or Sayori tomorrow."
"Can you guarantee these theories of yours? Because if there's even a slight chance that she'll be able to turn me against you guys and make me hurt you, then I really think we should contact the League."
"Such a minor confrontation will be a total waste of their precious time." Damian waved him off, which Jon couldn't help getting somewhat frustrated by, feeling that Damian wasn't taking this situation nearly as seriously as he thought he should. "But, if you're so concerned about Monika turning you evil on the spot, just repeat this in your mind:"
And to his surprise, Jon saw the corners of Damian's mouth stretch upwards into one of his trademark vampyric grins before he spoke up again.
"Sixteen ways. No K."
And despite of the whirlwind of feelings inside of him, like anxiousness at being at a school with an Empath as Damian called Monika, frustration and impatience at not being able to do anything about her or help Yuri until tomorrow, and the general fear and unease that had lingered over him since he'd gone to Sayori's house last Wednesday, Jon couldn't help bursting out laughing at Damian's incredibly dark brand of humor.
"God, you two are such dorks."Natsuki said, looking at them from her chair with a look of mild annoyance and incomprehension.
"Sorry." Jon said, still chuckling slightly as he wiped his eyes. "Inside joke."
"Great. It wasn't like I was feeling left out enough before, with you guys geeking out over your cape stuff."
She sighed.
"Sorry, I'm probably being 'toxic' or something like that again. I just... I really don't like the idea of leaving Yuri and Sayori in their current mental states for any longer than they have to."
Jon sobered up again.
"I agree." He said, quietly.
"It's ultimately for the best." Damian said, sounding as close to reassuring as he could probably get.
Jon knew from experience that Damian would lie and twist the truth in a heartbeat if it meant furthering his own agenda, but he hoped, no, prayed that even he would recognize this as being important enough not to mess around. And he really couldn't think of any better ways to go about this.
"We better get back down again." Natsuki said, groaning as she got to her feet again. "Probably shouldn't give Monika any more of an excuse to fry our brains than she already has."
"Yeah." Jon said, moving towards the fridge so he could grab the cupcake trays and carry them down to the booth.
Tomorrow. He reminded himself.
Jon gathered up his courage, standing on the rooftop of Leslie's Clinic in the middle of Gotham City, before finally making himself jump off, stopping himself in the air right outside the window to Sayori's assigned room.
He'd flown off from the school right before the Festival even started, and he knew Damian and Natsuki had done largely the same, except for the flying part, of course. They'd pretty much been in unspoken agreement after having finished working, that neither of them wanted further company with Monika, all of them (well, him and Natsuki at least) being uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating the festival with the girl they knew they'd have to take down tomorrow. Kind of a moodkiller.
They hadn't seen Yuri since she'd gone away to the bathroom, and Jon hoped she'd shared their sentiment and left early without them noticing.
She didn't deserve getting tangled up in this. He thought. None of them did.
He squinted at the window, trying to see if he could spot Sayori inside. Of course he'd made sure to text her saying he'd be there soon, to mentally prepare her and not come across as a creep, peeping through her window.
He located her lying flat in the room's blue bed, not asleep, but instead staring blankly up into the ceiling, unmoving and seemingly unaware of his presence.
It looked... unnerving, but he'd given the room a quick listen just to avoid any nasty surprises like last time, and had confirmed her heart was definitely beating.
He gently knocked on her window.
She turned her head, squinting at him. The sun was starting to set behind him, casting its golden rays directly against his back, and he supposed he had to be coming across as a dark silhouette of a flying human to Sayori.
Not exactly the ideal way to present himself, but it wasn't like she knew any other flying people to confuse him with. It was probably fine.
She got out of bed, walking slowly across her room towards the window where she unclasped the hinges and pushed it open. She looked up at Jon's face, letting him see her blue eyes.
"Hey Jon." She said, in a dull voice.
Jon hovered inside, landing lightly on the wood floor. He looked up to meet her gaze and smiled at her, forcing himself not to appear put off by her unenthusiastic greeting.
The red bow on top of her head was easily the most vibrant thing about her. Her face was pale, there were dark patches underneath her eyes which indicated that she, like Yuri, was having trouble sleeping. She was wearing a heavy, maroon scarf around her neck, which despite the warm summer weather outside was adorned with christmas decorations like trees, snowmen and reindeer. It had been Leslie's recommendation to wear it after she'd applied the bandages around Sayori's mutilated neck.
"Hi." He said, and moved towards her, opening his arms to embrace her in a hug. She didn't protest, and even placed her own arms around his back, capturing him in a hug of her own. Definite improvement from yesterday where he'd hugged her right before delivering her at the Clinic and it had been like she hadn't even acknowledged it.
"How are you holding up?" He asked softly, whispering to the side of her head he could see from this position.
"One step at a time, I guess." Sayori replied. Her voice didn't sound completely lifeless anymore, a soft shaking having made itself present inside it. He didn't know if that was an improvement. "Doctor Thompkins is super nice, patient and understanding."
"That's good, isn't it?" Jon asked, breaking the hug to look into her face again. Her expression was neutral.
"Kinda." She said. "I don't know. She's fantastic, but it makes me sad when I think about how I won't be able to repay her by becoming cured. I feel like a leech, sucking up her time and effort without giving anything in return."
"Sayori, we've talked about this." Jon said, taking care to make his voice playful and unserious, keeping anything that could possibly be interpreted as sternness or chastisement out of it. "Not every gesture needs to be repaid in kind. We're just doing this to make you happy."
"I know. The thing is, I don't even know if I can get happy ever again." She said, tilting her head to look down at the ground in shame.
Jon frowned. Then, he decided to take a risk by asking her something.
"Has... has The Voice been talking to you again?"
She flinched at the mention of her unwelcome, disembodied companion. He couldn't blame her. When she'd opened up to him about it on the way over here yesterday, he'd thought it was one of the creepiest things he'd ever heard, to have your own thoughts turn against you like that.
"Constantly. It never stops." She whispered, as if afraid someone would hear her. "Right now it's... it's saying that you've come all this way to visit, and I can't even give a genuine smile to show any kind of improvement. That I've wasted your trip."
"That voice doesn't know what it's talking about then." Jon said, confidently. "It's literally zero effort on my part to come here. There's nothing to waste."
Sayori closed her eyes, a pained expression on her face.
"What's the matter?" Jon exclaimed, worried.
"Please, don't insult it." Sayori groaned, barely audible. "It doesn't like that."
"Sorry." Jon said, feeling guilty as he remembered how she'd told him it would start screaming in her head whenever she tried talking back to it. "But, you really don't have to think that you need to show me steady impovement each time I visit. It's only been a day, and besides, just seeing you being okay makes it worth it."
"So, the way I can repay you for visiting is just, not having killed myself I guess?" Sayori said, bluntly.
Jon suppressed a sigh, and looked away, uncomfortable with how casually she brought up suicide.
"Something like that." He mumbled.
"Wow. That sounds pretty depressing. And I would know."
He looked back at her to see a small smile on her face, but he could tell there was no humor behind it.
"So, uh, anyway..." She transitioned, shifting her body awkwardly. "I'm not really sure how much we can do together here. I was just laying in my bed, trying to think happy thoughts, but that probably won't be that fun for you. I've got a small TV in here, or we could ask Dr. Thompkins for some board games, or..."
"I need to tell you something." Jon blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer. He felt bad about interrupting Sayori and probably ruining what could have been a good evening in her presence, but he felt like she needed to know this as soon as possible.
"Oh. Okay." She said, looking worried. Jon had a feeling that she probably thought he was going to denounce their friendship because he was tired of her or something foolish like that, so he jumped right into it before she could jump to any conclusions.
"Monika has requested that we meet up for a Club Meeting tomorrow, just us, without the other students." He said. "All of us. To discuss 'recent events,' she says."
"Oh." Sayori repeated, blinking. "I'm... I'm not sure I can do that. I mean, I'd do anything for Monika and the Club, but-"
"There's more." Jon said, even as he was actively regretting bringing this up in the first place. Still, it had to be done, and he decided to just get it over with as he began explaining.
He started telling her everything Damian and Natsuki had informed him of. How Yuri was acting strangely and obsessively, naming examples of the things he'd seen her do as recently as today. How her depression had rekindled way too suddenly and extremely for it to have happened by natural means.
He struggled a bit when he got to the part about Monika and the Metagene, finding it difficult to relay what Damian had told him about it, but he think he got the gist of it explained in a somewhat concise and understandable manner, naming the proof and reasons for thinking this was the case.
And all throughout his explanation, although she listened carefully without interrupting him once, he saw her brows furrowing and her frown deepen the more he told her.
"...so yeah, we're pretty sure the meeting is a trap, but we're confident we'll be able to overcome whatever she can throw at us. You don't have to come along, though. I don't care what Damian says, having you confront the person who did this to you sounds like such a terrible ide-"
"It's not Monika." Sayori interrupted him, speaking in a low, but firm voice.
Jon blinked, then regained his composure.
"I know it probably sounds crazy and unlikely, but-"
"But nothing!" Sayori said, a surprising amount of iron in her voice. "It's not her! My problems are my own, not the result of some magical Mega Gene or whatever it's called! They're my issues, my responsibility, and trying to make it something else is just a childish, immature way to have someone to blame for something that's entirely my fault!"
"How can you be so sure?" Jon asked.
"I just know it. Deep down in my gut." Sayori said. "It can't be Monika. She's one of my best friends, and she would never, ever in her life do something this cruel."
"Well, like I said, she has a mental condition, and Damian says the Metagene is known to exacerbate..."
"I don't care!" Sayori yelled, making Jon jump, and hope none of the other patients in the building were alerted by the increased volume, since he was pretty sure Leslie would throw him out of the Clinic on the spot if she caught him disturbing her patient. "You don't know Monika like I do! She's my friend! I love her, and I know she would never do this! I don't know why you're saying this stuff about her, but you should just stop! Stop telling lies about her, because it's not a very nice thing to do, and... and..."
She couldn't finish her sentence, unable to form further words when she burst out crying, half-choked sobs being the only sounds she seemed capable of making.
Aghast and shocked over her outbreak, Jon hurried to embrace her in his arms again, wanting her to know he was there for her, shushing her in what he hoped to be a comforting voice.
"Shhh." He said, trying to hide his fear and unease over not having the slightest idea what to do in this situation. "It's okay, Sayori. It's okay."
They stood there for what felt like hours, just him holding her quietly while she cried into his shoulders. At last, Sayori broke the hug and sniffled a bit before she looked up at him with bloodshot eyes meeting his in a steely gaze, and spoke up in a rasping, but firm voice, sounding more confident and sure of herself than he'd ever heard her be since going to her house.
"I will come along with you to the meeting tomorrow." She said. "To prove to you, and everyone else that there is no possible way it can be her. Because... because if someone as sweet, kind and inspiring as Monika could do something like this? I don't think I'll ever be able to trust another friendship ever again. Including the one I have with you."
Thanks to Finwee Lord of Long Winds, for their comment on the previous chapter! I can assure you, writing it was very cathartic for me as well!