Monday
It was a dark five o'clock in the morning, and Sayori was already watching the house that her long time friend and crush, MC, lived in. Not that she could see much from the bushes while all the lights were off, but she couldn't stand to be apart from him after he had lived in the same house as her for so long. It almost physically hurt to see him seemingly so out of her reach. But she would just have to fix that, now wouldn't she? She had had to 'behave' while they were paying proper respects to MC's deceased parents, but walking to school wouldn't require any formalities, leaving her free to do as she wanted.
Normally, Sayori's long time depression would have seen her still in bed at this hour, but she had recently found it easier to wake up earlier, and her thoughts regarding MC were taking a more and more prominent place in her mind. She simply couldn't get over how… manly he was. How… cute he was. How had she not noticed this earlier? Sayori had been hearing voices in her head of late, pushing her more and more from watching him through the eyes of a crush, and toward something… more. She swore that she could just eat MC up like he was one of those cookies that she loved so much, and just like how others had described her eating habits as those of a 'bottomless pit,' that was the direction that her feelings for him were going. She wanted him, and she had the perfect opportunity to start to gain his affections after all. Years of being MC's childhood friend had led him to ask her to walk to school with him, as he was unfamiliar with the area in which the school was located. It was only about a twenty minute walk from their neighborhood, but as their respective houses were right next door to each other, that would be plenty of time for her to butter him up, and hopefully, help her to make him… hers. All she had to do now, was to stay patient until he started walking to school.
Matt's sleep had actually been uneventful, once it had finally overtaken him. This marked a nice change from other nights this previous week, where he had seen nightmares of what looked to be various demonic entities from Japanese folklore, even while he was still in reality. It had occurred to him earlier that these entities were some of the same ones that his gameside memories had shown him as being behind the attack on the hotel during the Tsunami, but he knew that most people would never believe him if he spoke openly about that. Even the fact that Matt knew Japanese fluently was itself a miracle. He had been able to speak a few phrases, and count to a little past ten in the language before, but now he was as fluent in Japanese as a high school student his age would normally be, while still also being fully fluent in American English, with the minor accent that came from spending the majority of his life living in the American Pacific Northwest, mostly in the states of Oregon and Washington.
Matt attributed this linguistic miracle to being in the game itself, as he had seen how in DDLC World of Dreams, the main character had had a similar thing happen to him. Unlike that situation however, Matt knew that the closest thing to parents that he had to worry about now, were Sayori's parents, but aside from MC's memories of them checking up on him every now and then, it seemed like he could depend on being left to his own devices, especially since both of them seemed to work long hours at a financial services company. Sayori's father worked as a lawyer for the company, while her mother worked in the accounting department.
This had helped to explain both the financial nest egg that he had, as well as the convenient legal rulings that had helped save him many legal hassles with the local, prefectural, and central governments. It had also left Sayori by herself much of the time, and while she had been banned from cooking since somehow managing to set water on fire on the stove, which had required the use of a fire extinguisher to battle the flames and keep the house intact, she somehow still managed to keep herself fed, even if she did depend on his own cooking for quite awhile there. Matt had taught himself how to cook by watching Youtube videos on the subject, and doing what the cooks on there did, until he had felt comfortable enough to add his own touches to his cooking. Given that he could cook without threatening to burn down the house, Sayori's parents had allowed him to cook their meals, once he got past a certain age; starting with supervised cooking, and then being allowed to cook on his own, once he had won their trust. This was how he had been the first to notice Sayori's insatiable appetite.
That said, Matt had placed rice, water, mushrooms, seitan, various spices, bullion cubes, coconut milk, curry mix, and mixed vegetables in the rice cooker, and set so that the mixture should be ready by the time he had completed his morning routine, allowing him time to eat the resulting vegetable curry before Sayori was to knock on his door for the walk to school. Given the price of meat in Japan, MC had been trying to cut down on his meat consumption of late, and Matt followed the example thus set. That this would also be appreciated by Monika had also entered Matt's mind, once he 'remembered' that particular memory. Monika had talked about how the livestock industry was a major contributor to global warming, and that had made her become a Pescatarian, when MC and Monika had shared the same class last year in Tsubaki Academy.
In fact, other than Sayori, Monika had been the only other member of the Literature Club that MC had even met yet, Matt realized. Given that everyone had called him 'Chiba-san' since he had arrived in the game, he had been unable to learn the actual name of the character that he was playing as, only knowing him by the game's designation as 'MC.' Even the mailbox at his house bore the name 'Chiba,' which was his own last name from reality. This frustrated the search for the identity of the missing MC, but Matt had other things that he needed to focus on, especially today, of all days. One benefit of living all alone in a middle class Japanese home was that one could scream and yell, and no one would know.
Despite this supposed benefit however, Matt wore a bathrobe as he walked downstairs from his bedroom to the bathroom (which in a Japanese house, is different from the restroom), remembering to take a towel with him, as that would have been an embarrassing thing to forget. As was traditional in modern Japanese homes, there was no shower stall as westerners might understand such things, but the shower was completely open within the bathroom, with a drain in the floor to remove water and everything else that came from a shower. Japanese homes had more powerful bathroom fans than western homes did, and one could also open a window in order to help further air dry the room after a shower had been taken. This also had the benefit of helping to quickly line dry laundry on wet, snowy, or windy days.
One was also expected to shower in order to cleanse the body, before one would take a hot bath in the bathtub. This was done partly to reduce the number of times that one needed to clean the bathtub, but was also born out of traditions from the past. His daily ablutions completed, wiping himself off with a towel helped to dry off his body before he put the bathrobe back on, went back upstairs to his bedroom, and dressed in the Tsubaki Academy school uniform.
Suitably dressed for the day, another trip down the stairs with everything that he would need for the day began, and Matt sat down at the table, serving himself the vegetable curry and rice that he had prepared for the day, even having been thoughtful enough to make enough for Sayori's breakfast today, that portion going into a plastic container, with a pair of chopsticks attached to it, so that she could eat it later. It didn't take Matt long to finish his breakfast, washing off the plate and chopsticks that he had used in the sink, handwashing them and then putting them in the drying rack, so that they could be used again later. This done, Matt gathered his school gear, and waited for Sayori to show up so that they could walk to school.
Sitting back and watching the entire thing as The Observer from Matt's laptop reminded me of all those DDLC mods that I have played, and will continue to play once this is all over. Eating my own breakfast of scrambled eggs with sausage, cheese, and ketchup, finally paired with toast, I made sure not to make a mess on the laptop. After all, if Matt managed to succeed in the quest that had taken him into the DDLC game world, then I wouldn't want him to yell at me for making a mess of his belongings. It didn't really matter to me that Matt did not yet know what he was to face there, I was simply there to record everything that happened, both the good, and the bad. I even made sure that Matt's cat didn't accidentally step on the keyboard and ruin things somehow… cats have always been good at putting their paws where they didn't belong, and yet lots of people thought that they were being cute while they did so, and The Observer was included in that category.
I could not let these thoughts intrude on my duty however, for I was The Observer, and my duty here was to observe and record these events for all to see. Even if I had been placed in this role in order to help ensure my own safety, both in this amazing world called Reality, as well as in the DDLC verse. It was still wondrous to me that I could come and go between the two at will, but if I wanted to be able to keep doing that, then my mission came first.
It had been a full twenty minutes since Matt had finished breakfast, and still nothing from Sayori, not even a text message. Growing concerned that she had somehow managed to oversleep again, numbers were pressed on Matt's cell phone, and the call went out to Sayori. He just hoped that her depression wasn't getting too bad yet.
While Sayori was quickly eating a cupcake that she had managed to swipe from Natsuki a few days earlier without her noticing, Sayori's phone began to ring. Looking at the clock on the phone, she realized that she had allowed herself to space out for too long, and that MC was likely calling in order to find out where she was! Sayori was so embarrassed that she could feel a big blush turning her cheeks red, and she pushed the talk button so that she could talk to her beloved MC. Sayori assured him that she was just running a little late today, then hung up, and waited a couple of minutes before walking up to his front door, and knocking. After living together with him in the same house for so long, it felt very strange indeed to knock on his front door like this, but she didn't care. She just wanted him, and she didn't even care if they made it to the school anymore. Indeed, her thoughts ran like this, 'I. Just. Want. Him.'
"Do you know just how much of a pain it is to have to do all of your laundry in a bathroom sink?," Monika rhetorically asked herself as she was in the middle of doing just that. Having been kicked out of her house since Saturday by her overly strict and controlling parents for the crime of missing two, count them, TWO answers on a Calculus test the previous week, Monika had taken to living at the school, doing laundry and bathing herself using the sinks in the school restrooms, as well as sleeping in the clubroom at night, because she really had nowhere else to go. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Her Presidential Powers had confirmed that something very… interesting had happened to MC today. At first, she had not been able to believe that her great and only love, The Player!, had somehow made it into this prison that others called a game, but try as she might, the same results kept popping up. It was really him!
Monika could have jumped for joy at the news when she had first learned about it, but she had been hiding away from the prying eyes of the school's janitorial staff. If they had managed to spot her still in school while they were doing their work, she could have gotten in serious trouble, and she did not want the school staff to find out that she had been living in the school recently. Indeed, most people probably would have been caught by now under such circumstances, but Monika was not most people. With her powers, she could summon all of the food and drink that she required, and she knew of places in the school where even the janitorial staff did not often go. Similarly, she could use her locker in the school's gymnasium to hold a few pairs of clothes, and no one would question her. Even if she wasn't already one of the few students in the school who already held a master key, she could have just used her powers to unlock any locks, but still stuck to using the key, instead. Still, it just had to be her luck that both the male and female showers in the gymnasium were all down, due to a need to refurbish the plumbing there, she grumbled to herself. The school hadn't even set up a temporary replacement for the busted showers yet! Monika was not at all looking forward to being stuck here when it became 'that time of the month.' She could have fixed the shower issue herself with enough time and effort, but that would also raise suspicions that she did not need right now.
As for why she hadn't immediately gone to the MC's house to speak to her love, she had noticed someone making certain changes to the game, changes that looked as if they would have a major domino effect of cascading changes from how the game was normally played. In fact, trying to hold things together had now started taking up more and more of her time, but she feared that she was only delaying the inevitable. Monika didn't understand all of the changes that were being made, but she knew that they could only lead to bad things, especially since she could already start to feel outside impulses trying to increase her already vast love for The Player into full blown obsession again, and she had learned from what had happened in all those previous cycles of the game. While Monika didn't want to deviate too greatly from the game script until the player was almost physically dragged to the clubroom by Sayori, as MC always had been in the game, she was already worried about Sayori, as well.
At first, Monika had been pleasantly surprised that Sayori's depression level had been dropping, but now she was seeing signs from Sayori that worried her. According to Sayori's character file, she was getting highly obsessive of the person that she assumed to be MC, her aggression levels were increasing, and her mental stability was already dropping slightly. Monika was already concerned for her love's safety, but she was too busy with trying to slow down or halt the game changes to be able to do much about it right now. She just had to trust that The Player would be able to make it to the clubroom safely after school. From there, Monika would do what she could to help protect her one and only love, but until then, he was on his own. This was made even more urgent by a new discovery. Her powers were slowly slipping away from her, and at the rate that they were currently going, they would be gone in about a week. It looked like she would be able to retain her self-awareness through this all, but even thinking about losing her Presidential Powers while in the game was anathema to her. This was her world, and she had been put in charge of it. Who or what could be causing all of this?!
Once Monika had completed 'washing' her laundry in the sink, she took it to an unused classroom, and hung it up to dry in there. She even had to sleep in her school uniform, since she hadn't even been able to take so much as a single warm blanket with her, and the school's heating system was set down low when school was not in session. She had thought about sleeping in the school nurse's office before, but had decided against it. While those bedclothes had a very special laundry arrangement, she didn't want to risk catching some illness from something that might have been missed. Besides, those beds had been made before the nurse had left at the end of the day, and it might well be noticed if one of those beds had been used during the night.
So it was that Monika slept in the same unused classroom in which she had hung her laundry, a school desk as her bed. It was not even a comfortable night's sleep, but it was still better than sleeping out in the street, and safer, as well. Japan was ordinarily a relatively safe country, but there were still criminals out there, and she was a beautiful young woman. Who knew what such people might do to someone like her, despite her self-defense skills? Presidential Powers or no, it still wouldn't do to use said powers to throw cars at them, or do other abnormal things to them, now would it? Too many people would ask questions that she would not be prepared to answer, and it would just be best to avoid that situation altogether.
Getting ready to sleep at the desk that she had chosen the first night she'd slept here, Monika reflected that it was even too early in this cycle for her to have the Space Classroom to retreat to at night! At least with that, she would have been able to summon a Japanese style futon in one corner of the room, and had a decent night's sleep with no worries, but the place wasn't even close to complete yet, and to top it all off, she already had all of these other things to deal with! Well, at least one of those things was a pleasant thing to think about, she mused, as a vision of what The Player might look like danced around in her head.
She had never been able to get a good look at The Player through her so-called "Hole in the Wall," only seeing the outline of a person on the other end. It had continually saddened her that that was as close as she could get to The Player until now. How she longed to be right beside him over there in reality! Even now that he was here, there was simply too much going on for her to simply race to his front door, and leap into his arms, as she really longed to do. She had long wanted to be able to be in The Player's warm embrace, feeling both his warmth, and his heartbeat. Feeling beyond all doubt that he was real, and that she could be with him, forever. Why must life continue to torment her so!
While I wasn't the actual MC, I had played the game enough times, and played enough mods to the game, to know that something wasn't quite right with Sayori. She seemed much too energetic for this early in the morning. While she would normally sneak glances at MC every now and then while they walked when she thought that he wasn't looking, now it was as if she were trying to perpetually stare at me in the way that Monika did during the original DDLC game. In that game, unless Monika's eyes were closed, she would look directly at the person playing the game, the entire time that she was in any given scene. Between that and the theory that everytime that you could hear a piano in the game, that Monika was spying on you, made what Sayori was doing… somewhat creepy. She would even begin to scowl at all of the other girls that we went past, before catching herself, and putting on a happy face once again. During the whole walk to the school, she had even tried sweet talking me, which is something that she has never done to me before. It was more than enough for me to figure out that she liked me, but I really did not feel the same way about her. Whenever I thought of Sayori, I saw what amounted to a younger sister that I never had, and not a love interest. Indeed, Sayori gave off so many younger sister vibes for me, that whenever I even put Sayori and the word romance in the same sentence, it just felt very very wrong to me.
I knew that the MC loved her, but for one thing, I am NOT the MC. I already knew who I wanted, and unlike the MC, I knew that I could treat her as a fellow human being, and not put her on some unobtainable pedestal. Once we got to school, Sayori and I had to split ways to get to our respective lockers, and from there, go to our respective classes. As I still had time before I had to return to class 3-A for the school day, I decided to walk down the hall, and see if I could spot which classroom that Monika was in. I saw Natsuki in class 3-B, but it seemed that she was busy with something else, and didn't look up in order to see me. Passing by class 3-C, I saw Sayori, but she likewise didn't seem to notice me passing by. I finally spotted the person that I was most wanting to spot in the next classroom, but this had to be a really bad joke. Monika was in class 3-D! Given that you see everyone in the game in 2D while playing it, the fact that Monika, the only self-aware person in the game bar Act 4 Sayori, was in class 3-D, was simply too much to take. I laughed at the absurdity of it all, and when I stopped to take a breath, I noticed her staring right at me with those twin Emeralds of hers. Waving at her, she actually got up out of her seat, opened her classroom door, and walked over to me, pulling me by the arm until we got to a place that seemed sufficiently private.
"How did you even get here?! Don't you realize that this world is a prison!?" Monika quietly hissed these words at me while looking incredulously yet longingly at me, even though she must have realized that something was up beforehand.
"Well hello there, my love," I said. "To answer your question, a black demonic looking arm and hand dragged me into my laptop's screen, and the next thing that I knew, I was in MC's body, as well as his bedroom. I had to spend part of yesterday with Sayori, placing flowers at the grave of MC's parents, and paying proper respects, after which we had to tame her insatiable hunger at a nearby restaurant. I even seem to have memories implanted in my mind by the game itself, now! But more importantly, Sayori was not herself during the walk to school today. She was acting very possessive of me the entire way to school, and would only stop when we had to split up for lockers and class. She's never done that before in the game, and that worries me." As I had been gazing into the bottomless depths of her Emerald Green eyes while talking to her, I could see the flash of intense jealousy when I mentioned what Sayori had been doing during the walk to school. Monika had always been prone to easy jealousy when it came to others being romantic toward 'her' man, and this time proved to be no different.
However, I had also seen her eyes light up when I called her 'my love.' From the moment that Monika and MC first met in the club room during the original game, she had noticed the connection between myself and the MC, and had fallen in love with the only other 'real' person that she had ever known… me. Indeed, it was that love for me that had led her to forsake her originally planned role as an observer and adviser, and to manipulate the files of the other girls, so that I would dislike them, and fall for her. Well, her plan had worked, but only so far. I did indeed fall for her, but the game would not let us be together, which when combined with multiple other factors, drove Monika off the deep end into obsession and insanity, resulting in my having to delete her in act three, so that the game could progress. Worse still, merely moving Monika's character file in an attempt to save her was also counted as deletion by the game. That meant that the only other option was to just let act three keep running in a loop, but even then, you could only practically allow that to happen for so long, and thus that was also not a realistic option. But here she was now, and I could finally interact with her one on one, in the manner that I had always wanted.
With these thoughts in mind, I gathered Monika into a passionate embrace, letting her feel my warmth, and my heartbeat, just like she had always wanted. Monika let out a startled little yelp at my move to embrace her, but quickly adapted by moving her head upwards, parting her lips with her breathing getting softer, and favoring me with bedroom eyes. I knew exactly what she wanted, and gave her a long, drawn out, passionate kiss. Our tongues explored each other's mouths, and we gleefully exchanged saliva with each other, and not only did I feel like I had returned to my teenage years, but I was also feeling like I was kissing the Prom Queen, right in front of everyone in the school. Given that Monika was the school idol, I guess that that would not be too far from the truth. Once we both had to come up for air, we put our foreheads together, and through my panting, I managed to stammer out, "That… was amazing."
Before Monika could respond however, we both noticed a shorter girl with pink hair was watching us with a look of intense disapproval on her face. It didn't take my brain long to register that it was Natsuki, but before I could say anything, I could already feel one of her 'friendly' punches in my arm, and hear her say "B-Baka!," before she stormed off toward her class. Natsuki was stronger than she looked, but at least this wasn't a punch to the gut, those could really hurt. This particular punch was likely meant as a warning, especially when paired with the disapproving expression on her face. She probably thought that she was doing a good job of hiding her inner thoughts from me, but we had already met in the original game, even if this Natsuki had no way of knowing that. I could read her pretty well at this point, and if I were forced to judge, she was sad and hurt that I was so blatantly choosing Monika, right in front of her.
Monika was surprised by Natsuki punching her one and only love after our first kiss. Realizing that I had completely lost track of time, both from just being around him, as well as from the kiss itself. Monika subtly glanced at a nearby clock, noticing that we didn't have long, if we both wanted to make it to class on time. While even the thought of being away from my beloved after only having just met him properly produced an almost physical pain, the more responsible side of me accepted it as a reality. After all, wouldn't we see each other again in the club, or maybe even at lunch? I should tell him when and where the club meets, just in case.
Telling Matt where and when the club meets with a very genuine warm smile of the type only meant to be shown to the man that you love, I even struck that cutesy pose from the game that had me leaning forward towards him. His eyes said that he didn't want to leave me either, but when I explained that class was about to start, he at least understood. Giving Matt one last hug before heading back into my classroom, I prepared to start the school day, even though I know that I am going to be thinking about him all day. Just the thought of that made me pause momentarily when I reached my desk. I know that Matt is The Player, and thus my first and only love, and that we had just had our first proper meeting, but I would never have had the feeling that I would be thinking about just one person the entire day, to the point of missing out on my school lessons. This had never happened to me before, and wasn't like me! I was even fantasizing about allowing him to pin me against the wall as I willingly let him take my virginity! In school, no less! What was wrong with me?!
Even during the moments when I had thought about my beloved the most before, I still was able to keep my mind on my lessons. I started wondering if this was normal for when the man that you loved was within reach, or if what was happening to the game was getting to me, as well. But when the more erotic thoughts started coming to the fore, I knew that something was wrong. Trying to regain my focus, I slapped myself, the pain of it forcing me to refocus on my lessons, only to notice that the teacher was looking at me with a concerned expression. Adapting quickly to this new problem, I decided to speak up. "Sensei, may I use the restroom, I think that something I ate didn't agree with me." Getting a nod from the instructor, I left my desk, and headed for the nearest facilities, splashing my face with cold water from a sink, in order to help calm myself down once I got there.
Walking out of there with the intent to find a quiet and private spot to check on the game files with my command console, I saw Yuri emerge from her classroom. She had a very unusual expression on her face, as if she were very much on edge about something. Normally, Yuri was a shy girl, easily overwhelmed by social interaction with strangers, or people that she was not comfortable with. When she turned and saw me however, first her expression changed to one of curiosity, and then into one of recognition and annoyance. This sudden change baffled me, as I didn't know what I would have done to her yet in order to make her react like this… unless she had discovered what had happened originally… but no, there was no way that she could have done that. Not by herself, she was still just an amalgamation of computer code… No! I almost slapped myself again for that line of thinking, which had caused me to turn against my friends in the game, and completely obsess over The Player, instead of loving him. I had been indirectly responsible for the deaths of Sayori and Yuri, while directly deleting Natsuki once her usefulness had ended. The fact that i'd done this fifty times due to the game script did not make me feel any better about it, but I was sincerely hoping that this time would be different. I didn't want to be responsible for doing such things to my friends this time around. I did not want to continue being a monster, I just want a normal loving married life with Matt, no matter what life or the multiverse throws at me.
Yuri hadn't been feeling like herself all day, and still didn't even know why. Thinking about her fellow club members brought feelings of jealousy and anger, but she still could not figure out why this should be. The only piece of an answer that she had was that her mind was focusing on boys, but she still hadn't met any boys that had actually tried to get to know her as a person. Sure there were some that were interested in her chest and body, but Yuri knew better than to get with any of them. Relationships built on lust simply could not last, and she already had enough problems, cutting herself as a form of stress relief. Most people would probably also be put off by the number of knives that she had hidden in various places on her person, and she even had a knife collection in her house. All of this was even before getting started with what Yuri called the 'pleasure room' in the basement of her house. This room was filled with various torture equipment, as well as shackles and chains, meant to keep people from escaping whatever Yuri desired to do to them. Yuri realized that she was on as finely balanced an edge as those of her knives, and she had had to temporarily leave her classroom, trying to figure out what was going on with herself. Even her books and her tea couldn't help her with this, she thought with a level of sadness that she had never experienced before.
It didn't take Yuri long to notice that Monika was also in the hallway, and looking at her with a thoughtful expression, as if she were thinking about what to say to her. Or maybe she was just deep in thought. Yuri didn't know why, but this seemed to bring anger and annoyance to the forefront. While she normally harbored no ill will toward Monika, a sudden and irrational dislike of her took emotional control, making Yuri walk right past her without saying a word. She didn't even want to talk to Monika, sure that whatever she was doing, she was trying to steal something or someone from Yuri, even if the purple haired girl didn't have a clue as to what or who. Yuri was also still confused as to why she was feeling the same way about each and every one of her fellow club members, while still feeling compelled to meet with all of them in the club later.
I still couldn't believe that Monika was already trying to steal my man from me, and this before I had even properly met him, Natuski fumed! Not that I knew who he was or anything like that, though I was vaguely reminded of some stories that Sayori had told me about her best friend who was a loner with his anime and video games. All that I knew was that he was going to be MY MAN, and Monika was already busy trying to steal him from me, those dummies! I may act like a Tsundere, but I wasn't dumb, and it didn't take me long to figure out that I felt the same way towards Monika that I did about Yuri and Sayori, and I still couldn't figure out why I hated those two so intently. It wasn't like they had really done anything to me, though Yuri and I did have our fights about whether manga was literature or not. If anything, I realistically had more to fear from my abusive drunk of a father. I still had bruises from the last beating that he had given me, but I had nowhere to go in order to get away from him. Mom had left us years ago, and never let me know where she had gone, and the rest of that side of the family were out of the country. I couldn't count on my dad's side of the family, it appeared that many of them were just as miserable as he was, and would be unlikely to protect me from him, if it came to that.
Even worse, I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours, and my stomach was acting like it would tear itself out of my body, and go in search of food on its own. I search desperately through my school bag, and find only some Senbei rice crackers that I had made. I knew that they wouldn't sustain me for long, but they were the only things that I had right now, and they would have to do. It wasn't like my dad kept any food in the house, and he only occasionally cooked, so I had to gorge myself on whatever food that I could get ahold of, even buying cheap things at the local grocery stores, vending machines, and convenience stores, just to keep going. Monika would give me protein bars when she could, and while that helped, it still wasn't a complete meal.
Thinking about Monika made me angry again. The image of her passionately kissing what should be MY MAN! Ugh! Well then, we shall just have to see if she invites him to the club, and then i'll just have to make him mine. Even if he doesn't show up at the club, I WILL FIND HIM. HE WILL BE MINE.
Finally, the bell rang for lunch in Matt's classroom. It was still somewhat jarring to see how differently that the girls were reacting than normal, though I am never going to forget that kiss that I had with Monika, even if Natsuki had decided to punch me right after. Following other students from my class to the cafeteria, I put my lunch money into the food ticket machine, collect my ticket for the Pork Katsudon Bento set, and give the ticket over to the cafeteria staff after writing my name on it, so that the staff could call out when my food was ready. Normally I would eat Katsudon before an important test due to the student tradition of doing so because "katsu" was a homophone of the verb "katsu," meaning "to win," or "to be victorious." Today however, I simply wanted a filling meal that would help me get through the stress that had seemed to be building since I had been pulled into this world, and Katsudon certainly fit that bill. Glancing around the cafeteria after collecting my meal and selecting what I wanted to drink, I could feel someone touch my shoulder from behind, and a sultry, sing-song soprano but recognizable voice saying, "I. Caught. Youuuuuuuuuu~!"
Surprised by this, I turned around, being careful to keep from spilling the food and drink on my tray. As I expected from the voice, Monika had been the one to sneak right up behind me. From the mischievous expression that she was giving me, I could easily see her doing something like kissing and play-biting at my neck in a simultaneously loving, yet teasing manner. Following Monika, she led me to a table in the middle of the seating area, the area where the popular students typically sat. Given that Monika was smart, beautiful, and athletic, she certainly qualified as popular in this school, though as I recalled from the various mods that I had played, no one really tried to get to know her as a person. While there was something to be said for the fact that this was largely because Monika and the MC were the only two self-aware people normally in the game, with the MC acting as an avatar for The Player, this time I had been sent to this world, and had personally become the MC, but without any strings attached, or anyone controlling me as I had controlled the MC. I briefly wondered what had become of the MC this go-around, but as I had no way of actually knowing, I quickly turned my attention towards things that I could answer. Or at least, ponder for more than five seconds before hitting a mental brick wall.
As I sat down next to Monika at the table that she had selected for us, I put my tray down on the table. The moment that this was accomplished, I heard something shocking. Given the number of hungry and chatting students that were in this room, complete silence was the last thing that I had been expecting, and yet, there it was. Looking around to see what was going on, it didn't take me long to notice that everyone else was frozen in place, and everything in the room had started to turn grey. Even the "hole in the wall" that Monika's poems had described seemed even less colorful than it normally did, the so-called hole being what allowed Monika to not only see the screen of the computer that we were in, but also to indistinctly 'see' when someone was using the computer. During the course of the Monika After Story Mod, she had once mentioned that she couldn't even see the features of the person who was using the computer, but essentially saw what I would call an outline of a person, with the computer screen acting much like an imperfect one-way mirror. The person playing the game in reality could see the game side clearly, but that was not so for those trapped in the game.
To my great surprise, when I looked back at Monika, even she seemed to be frozen in time. This greatly shocked me, as Monika had quite the affinity for the game's code, despite only having studied Python for a month or two at most, by this point. She had begun practicing coding during the original game as a means to try to end up romantically involved with the player, but due to the lack of a route on her part, as well as other factors, that had not worked out nearly as well as she had planned. To prevent the others from finding out about both her coding practice, and her tinkering with the files of the other girls in the club, she had also taken up the piano, using that as a cover for her programming activities. This had certainly given her great powers in this world of computer code, but as I was starting to appreciate, it might also have important limitations.
Finally, I could hear footsteps that sounded like multiple beings entering the seating area, and with how quiet that everything else had become, this was notable enough for me to spin around in my seat and look in the direction of the noises, while also possibly preparing for a fight. Anyone who could freeze time like this had the potential to be a very powerful enemy, and I did not feel like taking any chances. What I saw made my blood run cold. I may not be an expert on Japanese mythology, but I did recognize Gozu and Mezu, otherwise known as 'Ox Head,' and 'Horse Face' respectively. Guardians of the Underworld in Chinese and Japanese mythology, they were often the first beings that the newly deceased would encounter there, in many cases personally escorting the newly dead directly to the Underworld. The pair had also been reputed to be overpowered by Sun Wukong, but I am certainly not a mythological figure, nor one of that stature. I was immediately apprehensive as to what these two would want with me, given that as far as I knew, I was still alive. The pair did not seem to be escorted by anyone, but given the reputation that these two had as soldiers of the Underworld, it was entirely possible that in their view, they had no need for escorts.
Once the pair had reached a respectful distance for conversation, Gozu spoke. "You who have come to this realm from another, Great King Enma of the Underworld makes the following decree concerning you!" Gozu's voice boomed as if the room had been shaken by an earthquake, but nothing was damaged, or so much as moved one centimeter out of place. "You have met the four girls of this institution's Literature Club, as was your destiny. Now, you will participate in a murder game with these four. You have until the end of the week to see dead all but one of the girls in the club, whether by your own hand, or not. You will then marry the surviving girl and produce heirs with her, after which your destiny is again yours. To ensure your participation in this murder game, Great King Enma has further decreed that you will not be allowed to die before the completion of the game. Nor will you be allowed to leave the confines of this city. If you do not complete the game by the specified time, you and ALL of the girls will die. Further, the girls will become more and more of killers, as the days of the game drag on, to further increase the chances of a successful murder game. Indeed, all four of them have already begun this process, as you might have seen for yourself. If you have a preference amongst the girls, then protect her. Otherwise, you know what you will be required to do with the survivor. The parents of the one you replaced were involved in a previous version of these murder games, and have left you a letter and other helpful items as was decreed to them by the Great King Enma. These items may be found in the basement of your house. Thus it has been decreed by Great King Enma! Thus it shall be so!"
With these thundering pronouncements, Gozu and Mezu vanished from the seating area in twin vortexes of fire, as if to further impress their importance upon me. Certainly, the message that had been relayed to me by Gozu had been stunning enough. I knew that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else for the rest of the day. Kill all but one of the girls? Even if they were already becoming Yanderes with the possibility of later becoming murderers, how was I to justify this to myself? Was I just supposed to go along with this because powerful figures from Japanese mythology said so? What of modern laws and morals dictating that I take no part in this? Even Japan had laws against murder, and I certainly did not wish to spend the rest of my life in prison, or face legal execution, if I was involved in this and got caught! I remembered that the traditional method of legal execution in Japan was death by hanging, and though it was rare, it did still happen. The thought of hanging also brought back memories of Sayori at the end of Act One of the original DDLC game. I was expected to bring such pain and misery upon these girls after all that they had already gone through? What sick and twisted 'decree' was this?! Why would the ruler of the Underworld wish for this to happen!
Before I get more steam behind my anger at what had just happened, I could feel Monika pull me closer to her, and then rest her head on my shoulder as she introduced me to a pair of girls who seemed to be friends of hers, but that I knew were not members of the club. Soon enough, I would learn that their names were Ria and Akari. I had certainly never met either girl before, but given the way that Monika was talking and acting around me to them, it was obvious that she was claiming me as one would plant one's flag on a particular piece of land, and proclaim ownership of a new colony. Normally, I would have been absolutely startled and blown away by such behavior, but we had already shared our first kiss. In addition to that, there had also been that decree which had been passed along to me by Gozu himself. If all four of the girls were being made into yanderes and killers, then I would have to be very very careful about what I said and did. Yanderes were very possessive of the one that they loved, and would kill anyone whom they thought was a threat to their love. Knowing well that one particular purple haired club member was already a Yandere, AND had her own knife collection, did nothing to fill me with confidence, either. In fact, Yuri also had a basement torture dungeon in multiple fanfics. There was no reality in which I could possibly see this going well, and indeed, I could easily imagine Yuri managing one or more kills in this mess herself. If I wasn't careful, I might even have to end up with her, as she was a threat, and not to be underestimated, despite her shy and reserved appearance.
Then there were the fanfics which held that Yuri was the vessel of Elyssa Libitina, who was a being of great psychic, magical, and mystical power in her own right. I knew that the DDLC mods and fanfics were not regarded as cannon by Team Salvato, but in this situation, who knew what scraps of information might be relevant here? If I could be transplanted into the world of DDLC, then who could say that there wasn't more to this world than what had been seen on computer screens, or in writing?
Before I knew it, my food had simply vanished, I had been eating as politely as possible while lost in my own thoughts, and letting Monika dominate the discussion with her friends. Understandably, I wasn't exactly feeling talkative right now. When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, I excused myself, and started for my class, only to find Monika following me there, right by my side, pulling my arm around her as we walked, as if to tell everyone that 'this boy is mine.' Given that Monika would normally prefer to keep the physical affections side of a romantic relationship private, this was also something of a shock. I had meant to tell her about what happened when time froze, but it seemed like Monika was determined to escort me all the way to the door of my classroom, still firmly hanging onto my arm in a possessive manner.
I knew that word was now flying throughout the school that Monika and I were a couple; the information spreading through the school at the speed of light. If there was anything that could travel faster than the speed of light, then it was juicy gossip in a high school. It didn't matter if the high school was in America or Japan, gossip was gossip, and it spread wildly. I also noticed that I was getting cold stares from many of the other male students as we passed by, but there was nothing that I could do about that now. There had always been a lot of male thirst for Monika here at Tsubaki Academy, and a lot of it centered on her thighs. I hadn't even been at this school for long, and I had already heard a lot of rumors regarding Monika's love life. I already knew that all of those rumors were simply not true, and that a lot of them were from people simply trying to use Monika to raise their own social status in the school. I would also have to be very careful from now on, given that there were likely to be many people who were jealous that I had gotten so close to Monika, and would love nothing more than to wipe the floor with me because of it. As if having all four girls be murderously jealous wasn't already a daunting enough prospect in a situation where I was already expected to kill the girls in my club. This was just not turning out to be my week, was it?
Classes had turned out to be as boring here as their American counterparts back in reality, though I at least had to make it look like I was paying attention. Fortunately, our instructors had picked other students to ask questions of today. The only wrinkle was having to share our art class with Natsuki's class, given that their regular art teacher was out sick today, but with how things had turned out, Natsuki had been forced to sit on the other side of the room as we did pencil sketches of various inanimate objects, including the ever-present bowl of various fruits. Natsuki did not seem to be best pleased with this outcome, but knowing what I did about the situation, I could certainly think of worse things than having her on the other side of the room. If she were closer, she would have no doubt tried any number of things of which our instructors would not have approved. As it was, when Natsuki had tried to pass me some sort of note as we left the class, it glitched out of existence in her hand before she could press it into my hands. I immediately knew who had to be behind that, though Natsuki looked to be confused by what had just happened. Shrugging, I headed off toward my next class, which happened to be Physical Education. I could see glimpses of a pink haired girl along the way, but I just simply hoped that she would know better than to follow me into the men's changing facilities. Both because there would be no place for her to hide in there, and well, would anyone really need me to explain this point?
Eventually, the school day was over, and I made my way to the Literature Club. Fortunately, the clubroom was where I remembered it being from the games, a fact all but confirmed when I was able to follow Yuri all the way there without her noticing. Or so I thought. When I made it through the door of the clubroom, Yuri pulled me inside, and pushed me against the wall before leaning in to attempt a kiss. Yuri was very physically strong, and struggle as I might against her, I couldn't pull her off of me. Before I could wonder if there was anyone else in the room, I could hear short yet heavy breathing from Yuri as her head and lips got closer and closer to mine. Yuri's eyes were set in that way where you knew that she was in Yandere mode, and that was when Yuri was at her most dangerous. "I know you want this, just the two of us, MC," she said in a low voice, her lips just inches from mine at this point. Yuri was so close that I could smell her lavender perfume, and while her lips looked soft and inviting, I knew that I had to resist somehow, if I were going to survive. Especially if any of the other girls were to enter the room and see this.
If I were forced to sit in a court, and explain what had happened next, I would not be able to. Without me seeing what had caused it, Yuri's face was smacked away from me, and I was suddenly pulled away from Yuri in the confusion, my unexpected savior pulling my hand to bring me with her as she ran out of the clubroom. Going by how athletic that my savior was being during this rescue, it didn't take me long to figure out who was doing this. Indeed, we soon left behind parts of the school that I frequented, and went into parts of the school that I had never been to, eventually losing a pursuing Yuri in the process. Looking around the classroom where my savior had eventually brought me to, I could immediately see two things about this room. First, it didn't look like this room was being used for any school classes. Second, judging from the female underthings line drying in here, someone was already using the room for other things. Noticing that my face had involuntarily blushed the moment that I noticed the underthings in the room, the very familiar voice of Monika roused me from my interrupted train of thought, with a teasing tone. "Looking at my things, eh Matt? I should really be careful, if you're going to be that perverted." Taking the hint, I looked in a different direction, but Monika seemed more amused than anything, as she started using one of her fingers to trace lazy patterns on my chest area, over my uniform.
"Well, I guess my secret is out now, Matt. Welcome to my 'home.' I've been living in this classroom ever since I was kicked out of my house by my parents. Why did they do that, you might ask? They did it because I got two questions wrong on a test, that's why!" Monika looked angry at that, but none of that anger was directed at me. Feeling sorry for Monika after hearing that, I decided to take a big risk with all this Yandere business. After all, I trusted her more than the others, even with all of the things that she had done in the original game. Or maybe because of what she had done.
"Monika, if you'd like, you could always live at my house. This school is no place for someone to live, and how long has it been since you've had a proper shower? Besides, there are things that I would like to talk to you about that came up today, and my house is the most private place that I can think of to talk to you. Assuming that Sayori doesn't try to come over, that is."
Looking up at me with a surprised yet excited expression, Monika's eyes lit up as she gave me a crushing hug and kissed me, by way of response. I couldn't really blame her for that, because despite what was happening to her; she was still a self-aware AI who had lived in a world full of nothing but computer characters for a long time. This had left Monika indescribably lonely, which was one reason why she had originally fallen for The Player in the original game. In The Player, she had seen someone else who she could regard as 'real' for the first time, and could not abide a world in which she could not maintain that personal connection to reality. Simply being able to live with the man that she loved would likely be a life-changing experience for her, I mused.
After Monika summoned a pair of canvas duffel bags from the ether, I started putting whatever Monika told me to in one of them, reminding her not to forget anything, as it might be dangerous to return later to pick up more of her things. Monika nodded, and started putting her clothing into the other bag. I trusted her to be able to pack away anything which might cause her to get embarrassed. Once the packing had been completed, I sighed with relief that both of the bags had a carry strap made of rope, which would make manhandling them back to my house an easier process. I would rather not think about what other uses that the rope could be used for, if need be, but Monika was flashing me one of those thousand watt smiles, and a genuine smile from her could always help to calm me down. We saw the other girls continuing to search for us on this floor of the school, but were able to sneak past them to a nearby stairwell, and eventually exit the school grounds without being spotted. Our only stop on the way home was to a nearby convenience store, from which we purchased some supplies for dinner, my having had the foresight to remember that Monika is a pescatarian.
When we made it back to my house, I also remembered to remove the spare key from under the welcome mat, reminding myself that I should really find a better place to keep it. Of course, now that Monika would be living here with me, it would probably make sense for me to give it to her, so that she can get into the house when i'm not there. Setting the bags containing Monika's possessions down in a corner of the living room for now, I show her around the house, starting on the ground floor, then the basement, and finally the upstairs. Showing me a spark of her normal self, she made a teasing comment about going a bit far on a first date when I pointed out where my bedroom was, which caused me to blush, and her to laugh. It was just like her to tease me, and I welcomed a sign of seeming normality with how things had gone since yesterday.
Eventually, we went downstairs, and Monika insisted on cooking dinner, since I had been generous enough to open my house to her. I sat back at the kitchen table, and watched Monika cook, relaxing for the first time since I had left my house this morning. Soon enough, the smells of Mapo Tofu were wafting in from the kitchen, Monika using Shiitake mushrooms to replace the beef in the dish. I could also see her making rice, Miso Soup, and a salad as side dishes. She had a look of intense concentration on her face as she cooked, and I decided to start working on a poem while she did. Poems had a great effect in the DDLC-verse, and I wanted to see what effect that even a Haiku would have on Monika under these circumstances. I also felt a little guilty that we hadn't been able to have a regular club meeting today.
So it was that I started working on my Haiku, using the time given me by Monika cooking first to think of a theme. I wasn't going for anything fancy, but knowing how I felt about Monika, there was only one theme that would work for this Haiku, and that was love. Now for those who think that writing a Haiku is easy, let me tell you something. The syllable structure of a Haiku demands that you know what you want to say, with great clarity, so that you can find the words to transmit what you want to express into simple, yet clear and very vivid terms. Thus it was that I drew my inspiration from my feelings for Monika, as well as the fact that she was busily cooking us a meal. Finishing my Haiku in my mind, it was time to put what I had down on paper. Grabbing a piece of scrap paper and a marker, I did just that.
"The Taste of Love"
The taste
Of love
-Why cry?
Okay, so it might not fit the 5-7-5 mold of traditional Haiku, but I was confident that it would work out for my purposes. Somewhat surprisingly, it seemed that cooking dinner had reduced some of Monika's stress, and her features seemed more relaxed than they had earlier. Of course, she had had quite the day today from everything that I had seen, and now she had a house to live in again, after having been so unfairly treated by her own parents! I tried to imagine what sort of parents would kick their own daughter out of the house for getting two test questions wrong, and I just could not imagine someone who would be that uptight and strict. It didn't seem like they wanted a daughter who might turn out to be an actual person, but instead the perfect robot, capable of doing no wrong whatsoever, in any aspect of life. A sudden determination gripped me, I would not allow such a fate to happen to Monika. I loved her, and despite the crazy things going on around and to us, she was much more than some robot to me. She was a lovely young woman who I hoped that I might marry one day.
At least having an idea about a first step of how to accomplish this, I waited until Monika asked me to help move our food to the dining table to make my move. Moving the food over as asked, I stopped her before she could start serving the food to us. "Monika," I told her, "I worked on something for you while you were cooking. I know that we didn't have a proper club meeting today, but I wanted your opinion on something." Giving Monika the piece of scrap paper with my Haiku written on it, I watched as she read what I wrote. It didn't take long to read a Haiku, but I could see her read it, then go back and read it again, her face expressing several emotions before turning toward me, walking around the table, and then jumping into my arms with tears in her eyes, immediately going for a long, passionate kiss. As our tongues explored our mouths, I couldn't focus on anything other than the kiss. It might not have been our first kiss, but unlike that one, it hadn't been interrupted by a certain pink haired girl. For all of that, it was no less passionate, and we eventually had to catch our breaths, pushing our foreheads together as we panted for air before regaining our composure.
Monika simply could not believe everything that Matt had done for her today. First he'd called her 'my love' right off the bat at their first real meeting, followed by a passionate first kiss that took her breath away, then when he saw how she had been living, Matt had displayed unbelievable kindness in opening his house to her. And now there was the attempt at a love haiku that was all the sweeter for his even attempting it. Monika had never known anyone to give her such love, comfort, and attention in her entire life, and as a result, she was head over heels in love with Matt. Not just because he was The Player, but because of who he was, and how kindly that he had been treating her since he had gotten here. Cooking for him, and her rescue of him from Yuri earlier were just small tokens of the love and affection that she had for her man, and she resolved that she would never let anyone lay a hand on him.
"That was so sweet Matt, thank you." Monika continued as she served our food, happy tears in her eyes, and another of those thousand watt smiles on her face, "You've always been really good to me, but since you arrived here, you've done more for me than I think that I could ever repay you for. First you proved beyond all measure that you reciprocated my feelings for you, then you took me into your home when you found out about my circumstances, and now you have put your feelings for me into the written word. I'm just so happy that I could burst! I've never had a happier day in my life, and I could write a poem about this! I love you so, so much, Matt!"
"I love you too, Monika. It started out with a crush that I had on you when we first met in the original clubroom, but the seed of that crush grew and grew, and blossomed into love. I don't approve of what you did to the other club members, but i've long forgiven you for that, given the circumstances behind why you did it. You have flaws yes, but I still think that you are the perfect girl for me, my love."
I could feel myself blushing at seeing Monika so emotional, loving, and happy, all at the same time, even as I talked to her. She also blushed, and I could almost see the red string of fate that connected us, with more and more strands of it wrapping itself around us all the time. A little voice at the back of my mind congratulated me for having had the foresight to create that Haiku, but for my part, seeing Monika like this was more than a sufficient reward. Before either one of us could continue further, we could feel our stomachs growling, and decided to do something about that, first. After saying Itadakimasu over the food, I took a taste of the Mapo Tofu, and found that Monika's cooking was excellent. Taking a momentary break from eating in order to tell her this earned me another beaming smile from her, and we continued eating in a very comfortable silence.
Collecting the dishes to wash after we finish, I put them in the sink, and let them soak for a bit while I show Monika how to use the washer for her clothes after she had changed out of her uniform and into a bathrobe. I had her start the machine after demonstrating how to use it, so that we'd have time to line dry her clothes before we went to bed. Letting Monika use the shower and bath, I continued to clean the dishes in the sink, put the newly clean dishes in the drying rack, and set the television to a mindless samurai show that I could have in the background while working on homework. If I were going to successfully play the part of a Japanese high school student, then I would need to go the whole nine yards, and that included doing the homework. Five whole pages of math homework later, and I was already taking note of the different ways in which the Japanese and Americans did math, with a slight grumble that I had to figure out these differences without having been instructed in them, as I was not from Japan, in reality. Maybe I should get Monika to help me with this.
It didn't take long for her to come back out, dressed in a pair of pajamas that I had never seen her in before, and laid out on the couch with her head in my lap. While I could tell that her hair was still damp in places, Monika started rolling around and posing like a very cute little emerald eyed kitten, purring when I lovingly caressed her right cheek, and giving me a cat like expression with her face, which earned her a kiss on the lips, to which she responded eagerly. She had probably very much enjoyed the chance to shower, since I don't think that she had had the chance to do so for a few days now. As cute and beautiful as Monika was however, I had to keep in mind what I had been told in the sitting area of the cafeteria earlier today. It pained me to think that Monika and the others were having their minds twisted, and being told that the only way to save even one of them was to have the others die… that was too much. As much as I wanted to tell Monika about what I had been told, I also didn't want to ruin the good and romantic mood between us. I was also starting to worry if something had happened to Sayori, since she not only knew where I lived, but probably had also seen me come home with Monika. If what I had been told was true, then that should have triggered some sort of angry, non-suicidal response from my long time best friend. Possibilities swarmed my mind, but I also reminded myself that it would not be safe to go outside right now, it being all too easy for any of the other girls to try and pull some kidnapping stunt on me in the dark.
Soon enough though, time moved on, and it was getting time to sleep. With Monika asleep on my lap, I bridal carried her up the stairs, which was a lot more tricky than I had originally thought. When we finally made it to my bedroom, I could already see both of her duffel bags in one corner, and wondered when she had been able to do that without me noticing. Opening up the covers and putting her on one side of the bed was another challenge, but I managed that task without her waking up. Quietly grabbing a pair of my own pajamas from my closet, I quietly padded on over to the restroom across the hall from my bedroom to change, before heading back in. Putting my dirty laundry in the hamper, I crawl under the covers of the bed, and snuggle up next to Monika, putting an arm around her in order to hold her close. Monika reacted to this by first cuddling up to me, and then holding me very tightly, as if I might drift off back to reality during the night, leaving her high and dry. She had a sleepy angelic look on her face as she held on to me, putting her head on my chest. Not wanting to be too loud, I told her, "Goodnight, my love." Sleep claimed me very soon afterwards.