Sure enough, that evening Natalie found herself back in her room (as close to her own room as she could come), curled up on her bed with her notebook on her lap. She'd forced herself to come up with a poem from scratch, with something about bubbles and . . . maybe rubber ducks? Damn, she was turning into Sayori at this rate.

The door abruptly swung open. Natalie yelped in fear, her notebook and pen clattering to the floor. In the doorway, Monika held up a tub of ice-cream and two spoons. She wore an off-shoulder white top with faded black leggings and pink fluffy slippers . . . so not exactly the type of outfit Natalie had been expecting.

"You have some explaining to do," Monika said. "I did say I'd come."

"If you're quite finished recreating that Big Bird vine where he breaks down the door, come in and close the door behind you," Natalie requested. "I have plenty to say, I guess."

Monika nodded and shut the door behind her with her foot. She placed the ice-cream on her desk and then glanced down at the notebook on the floor, the poem inadvertently left out for her to read. "Hm. I never expected you to be the type to write poems about bubbles, but I suppose we all have our interests," she humoured with a short laugh. "I, well," She sighed and sat down opposite her, "I wanted to apologise."

Natalie gave her a puzzled look. "For . . .?"

"Earlier today, the way I acted was harsh of me, and that's unfair on you," she confessed. "I guess I was just confused, and don't get me wrong, I still am, but I shouldn't have taken that annoyance out on you, Natalie." She paused for a moment. "Unless Natalie isn't your name."

"No, I'm Natalie," she insisted. "And I'm a woman. This is my real life appearance."

"But . . . no, because," Monika paused in thought, "the protagonist shouldn't have a physical appearance of any sort, at least none I can recollect."

"Yes, I'm aware," Natalie responded. "In my universe, my ordinary life, there exists a game named Doki Doki Literature Club. A video game."

"And that's something I'm aware of," Monika said.

Natalie nodded amusedly. "I know you're aware. That's the premise of the game. You see, Doki Doki is listed as a psychological horror game."

It went quiet between them for a moment. That was until Monika started laughing. She clutched her sides and fell sideways on the bed before eventually picking herself back up again. She wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes but then looked to Natalie and froze.

"That's a joke, right?" Monika guessed. "Um, Natalie?"

"In the game, you destroy it," Natalie explained solemnly. "By adjusting variables in the game's code, you cause Sayori's depression to become so severe that she commits . . . unalive, and Yuri becomes so obsessive and terrifying that she ends her own life with a knife. In the end, you delete the entire game except yourself, the player, and the clubroom. 'Just Monika'."

"But that's so . . . no." Monika stood up and began to back up away from her. "No, no, I'd never do that! That's a lie! I wouldn't hurt them!"

"Monika-"

"You're lying!" she accused. "I'd never do something like that!"

"You wouldn't, the game did!" Natalie snapped. "Now sit back down so I can finish explaining. There's a lot we need to discuss . . ."

Monika sat back down, although her hesitancy was increased tenfold. The way she was sat was somehow curled into herself, her arms folded over themselves and her knees hugged to her chest. "Go on then," she said quietly. "Let's discuss."

"At the end of the game, you're deleted by the player, and you reset the game but without yourself. The cycle almost repeats with Sayori instead," Natalie explained, "but you delete her and the entire game before that could happen, claiming that there can be no happiness in the Literature Club."

Monika remained quiet for a moment. "But I don't understand why this is an issue now. Surely it's not, right?" she asked. "Now that I know, I definitely won't do something like that. So what now? And you still haven't explained how you could possibly be interacting with me if you're from an entirely different world."

"I don't really know why I'm here," Natalie admitted. She could feel the heat rising to her face. "I just showed up."

Monika raised an eyebrow. "You just 'showed up', huh?"

"Really, I'm not kidding," she replied slightly desperately. "I went to sleep in my world and woke up here this morning. It was . . . fucking weird. That's why I've been so uncomfortable all day. I don't know why I'm here, I don't know how I got here in the first place, and I don't know how to get back home . . ."

"Oh jeez, this really is like some sci-fi movie," Monika quipped. "So, if I won't do anything to harm the other girls, surely everything will be fine, right? That's the only logical explanation."

"I've been thinking about that all day," Natalie began, "and . . . you might not like my theory."

She crossed her arms. "I'm not a child," she reminded her. "You can tell me. From the sounds of things, what we're dealing with here is way more important than our feelings on the matter."

"Well, earlier on I was walking to school with Sayori, as mentioned in the script," Natalie recalled. "One thing in particular I noticed was that every time I would ask a question deemed irrelevant, or attempt to steer the subject in a different direction, the 'script' would attempt to correct itself. Sayori started lecturing me when I hadn't even said anything against her."

"Okay, so what?" Monika asked.

Natalie sighed. "So, I think it's likely that, whether you interfere or not, the terrible events will occur in anyway. That maybe Sayori will still take her own life, or maybe even Yuri will still harm herself with her knife. Like I said, it's just a theory," she repeated, "but it's definitely one that's been bugging me a lot."

Monika's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at her desk chair unblinkingly. "So you're saying that, no matter what we do, or what I do, we can't help them?"

Natalie nodded. "I-I think we're on a clock now. We have until the festival next Monday. It'll happen that morning."

"No."

"Er . . ." Natalie blinked. "What do you mean, 'no'? If there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do. It sucks, but-"

"And what kind of attitude is that?" Monika reprimanded. "I hardly know you, Natalie, but if you are in fact a truly thoughtful, sentient, and logical person, you wouldn't just give up on the other three. It's not right, it's not fair, and it's just—just not okay to just sit there idly as they hurt themselves without anyone stopping them. We have to do everything possible at least. We can-"

"Hold on," Natalie held up a finger, "'we'?"

"Yes, we," Monika repeated herself. "I made no mistake. You're helping me, whether you like it or not."

Natalie gave her a look. "Damn, I never remember you being this demanding back in the game."

"It was a façade, Natalie," Monika said exasperatedly. "It's all a façade. Well, mostly, anyway. Look, do you really expect me to be able to do all this stuff on my own? I'm only one person, and you're the only other person here who knows. Come on, you can't just make some excuse and let the others . . . have unsightly things done to them. The thought of it makes my skin crawl." Natalie remained quiet for a short time. "And in return, I'll do everything possible to get you back to your old life. After all, few people know this place better than I do."

"Are you sure you do?" Natalie asked. "Despite this place apparently running on some kind of script, I'm not so sure it's a game anymore."

Monika looked down at her lap. "Truthfully, neither am I. But that doesn't mean I won't try to help you. So? Do we have a deal?"

With a sigh, Natalie nodded and forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah. Yeah, we have a deal, Monika. So," She inclined her head towards the ice-cream, "what flavour did you bring?"

"I, er, wasn't sure what you'd like, so . . ." Monika pulled the tub onto her lap and opened it, handing a metal spoon over to Natalie. Their fingertips brushed, if only for a split second, and certainly not long enough for Monika to notice, "I hope you're a fan of salted caramel. It was half price unlike the other flavours. Vegan ice-cream is . . . surprisingly expensive."

Natalie hummed in agreement. "You're telling me," she mused.

Natalie had never run out of a calculus class so quickly in her life. Actually, that was a lie. She just wanted to get to the clubroom as briskly as possible, preferably far before Sayori, or frankly any of the others, did.

By the time she reached the door, she shoved it open and stopped for breath, her hands on her knees. "I—I ran—I ran all the way from—from calculus . . ."

"Oh jeez, you've completely tired yourself out," Monika remarked.

Natalie suddenly felt something make intact with her forehead. She yelped and staggered back, only to find what appeared to be some kind of protein bar on the floor by her feet. She knelt down to pick it up, studying it warily between her hands.

"A protein bar?" she questioned. "You're not trying to poison me, are you?"

Monika seemed taken aback. "I-I'd never. I don't know what you seem to think of me, but I was just trying to be helpful." She attempted to distract herself with a page in her notebook. "I'm sorry, jeez."

"Oh, well . . ." Natalie was suddenly overcome with extreme awkwardness. She slowly sat down beside Monika and removed her own notepad from her bag. "In that case, thanks Monika. That was really nice of you."

Monika's gloomy expression lifted instantly and she smiled warmly. "Of course. So are we still going with today's plan?" she confirmed.

Natalie nodded. "I tried to make my poem as Sayori-friendly as possible and, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I nailed it. Take a read if you want." She slid the open page towards Monika as she continued. "I believe it's today that Yuri and Natsuki get into that argument, but I should be able to break that up myself, hopefully saving Sayori from too much hassle. And you promise to be extra nice to her for the next few days?"

"I'll be on my best behaviour." Monika playfully saluted. "Oh, I think the others are arriving now. Just try to act as according to script as possible, but just . . . better."

Natalie shrugged nonchalantly. "The same but better. Sounds easy enough," she said snidely.

"Oh, you're back, Natalie!" Yuri exclaimed as she entered. She placed her bookshop tote bag down under their table and took her seat. "I'm sorry, that was a bit forward of me. Thanks for keeping your promise, Natalie. I hope this isn't too overwhelming of a commitment for you. Making you dive headfirst into the world of literature when you're not accustomed to it . . ."

"Oh, come on!" Natsuki literally kicked a chair out of her path on her way through the classroom to sit with them. She flopped down into a chair nearby with a melodramatic huff. "Like she deserves any slack. Sayori told me you didn't even want to join any clubs this year."

Natalie's eyes widened. "What—but—I never said—Sayori!"

Sayori laughed sheepishly on her way in and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry," she giggled.

"I don't know if you plan to just come here and hang out, or what, but if you don't take us seriously, then you won't see the end of it," Natsuki threatened with a scowl.

Monika folded her arms over. "Natsuki, you certainly have a big mouth for someone who keeps her manga collection in the clubroom," she commented.

Natsuki then opened her mouth, but due to pure bemusement, only a faint 'M' sound seemed to come out.

Natalie groaned and rested her head against the table. "I can't do this today," she whimpered, just as Natsuki proceeded to scream about manga being literature in her ear.

Monika patted her shoulder slightly. "There there."

". . . Natalie? Nat, wakey-wakey time!"

Natalie jolted upright, whacking her knee against the underside of the table in the process. She hissed in pain and rubbed it, silently praying it wouldn't bruise. In the corner of her eye, she saw Monika temporarily glance away from her conversation with Yuri only to teasingly laugh at her agonised expression.

Sayori laughed and sat down on the table in front of her. "I'm sorry. Wait, actually I'm not sorry at all! It's your fault for sleeping like that. This isn't the napping club!"

Maybe things did go closer to script than Natalie had expected. She didn't even remember falling asleep in the first place. "Well, I just got tired," she excused.

"You stayed up late again, didn't you?" Sayori accused.

"No," Natalie quickly countered. "No. I just . . . needed a nap?" she finished lamely. "Want to join? You look tired yourself. Are you sleeping okay?" she asked.

Sayori blinked at her for longer than natural. "Me? Yeah, no, I'm just worried about you, Natalie. Don't—don't worry about me, okay?"

Natalie glanced over her shoulder back into the corner of the room. Monika was now watching the conversation with interest, and subtly nodded for her to continue, as if in reassurance.

She took a deep breath and faced Sayori again. "Sayori, you're my friend, so of course I'm going to worry about you," Natalie replied. "Otherwise I'd just be a pretty terrible one, honestly. Have you been oversleeping?"

Unlike in the game, Sayori didn't sheepishly laugh but rather stared apathetically at the ground. "Kinda. But it's not a big issue." She forced a beaming, actually quite convincing smile. "I like to sleep. And in anyway, it's not like I oversleep that much . . . yeah."

"Look, I mean, even your bow's lopsided." Natalie stood up and began to adjust Sayori's red bow slightly neater, proceeding to go as far as to quickly braid a small section of her hair while ignoring her protests. "Sayori, please, just take care of yourself. You do kinda worry me sometimes . . ." She trailed off her sentence as she reached the bottom of the braid and tied it off with a small elastic hair band.

"Don't be dumb, of course I'm fine," Sayori insisted with a laugh.

"I'm serious," Natalie said. "And try not to oversleep too much, yeah? I hate our mornings being rushed when we could just be taking our time walking together."

"O-oh, I'll try," Sayori responded. "Thank you for taking care of me by doing my hair." She studied herself in the reflection of the window. "I really love it!"

Natalie laughed under her breath. "You're welcome."

"Okay everyone!" Monika made her way back to the main table with Yuri trailing behind. She winked at Natalie as she went past. Natalie ignored the odd feeling of butterflies in her stomach. "Why don't we share the poems we wrote now?"

Bubbles

Baths are one of my favourite things.

The feeling of the water lapping at my legs, the soft scent of oils in the steam surrounding my head,

There's no way I could be more comfortable.

But it's the bubbles that enrapture me,

With their pure, spherical shape yet impossibly fragile state.

Each and every one a different size, a separate entity.

I could focus on each and every one,

As they form, linger, and pop, all in the space of mere minutes.

Replace those minutes with years, replace those impermanent skins with that of ours,

And how much more are we than bubbles on the surface of a rippling body of water?

...

Natalie read her poem back again and cringed. On the plus side, at least Sayori had somewhat enjoyed it. Yuri seemed to like it more though, but to be honest it hadn't sat notably well with . . . well, any of the girls.

By the time she reached Monika, the poem was practically just a crumpled sheet of paper. Due to the stress and stiffness of the others' critiques, she'd not only torn the page out of her notebook to distract herself but also folded it several times and wrinkled it with her fingertips. There was a reason she couldn't stand English class at school.

Monika glanced from the paper back up to her. "That bad, huh?" she asked, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"Well, at least Sayori didn't exactly hate it , and Yuri thought it was okay," Natalie told her. "Natsuki thought it was terrible, but honestly I saw that coming. I hate poetry."

"Yet you . . . joined a poetry club?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Hey." Natalie held her hands up defensively. "I didn't choose to be here. Why couldn't it have been Doki Doki Art Club, or Doki Doki . . . literally anything else Club?"

"Oh, come on. So what?" Monika shrugged. "It was one bad poem-"

"You thought it was bad too?!" Natalie exclaimed.

She held a finger up to silence her. "It was one bad poem. But these kinds of things just take time, and practise, and a lot of effort."

"But I did put in effort!" she protested.

"And I'm not denying it," Monika reasoned. "Poetry isn't easy, but you'll get the hang of it sooner or later. But trust me, once you do, you won't look back. How did, er," She leaned in to whisper, "how did things go with Sayori?"

"I did what I could, but I'm not sure if what I said really had any effect on her," she admitted. "I'm not so good at this type of thing. I wasn't even sure what she'd want to hear, but I tried. Maybe I should consider googling how to help someone suffering from depression."

"From what I saw, I think your approach was pretty accurate," she assured her. "The last thing you need to do is overwhelm her. Just . . . try to subtly remind her you care."

Natalie nodded. "And what about Natsuki?" she asked. "I know she wasn't doing so terribly in the game, but did you check in on her?"

"I did." Monika nodded her head in confirmation. "She's always had a few problems at home, but I tried to speak to her more today outside of the club, and she's coming to my house to bake cupcakes tonight, so I'd say she should be okay-"

"Hey!" Sayori seemingly appeared out of nowhere and sat cross-legged on the surface of the table with her arms in her lap. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Natalie and I were just exchanging poems," Monika told her. Well, at least it was partially true. "How successful has your poem been with the other two, Sayori?"

Sayori sighed and held her poem out in front of her. "Well," she laughed to herself, "I tried. I think it's not their kinda thing, but that's okay."

"Well, maybe if you didn't write it this morning-"

Before Natalie could finish, she was playfully whacked in the arm using Sayori's poem. "Don't expose me!" she whined. "Are . . . those two still reading? They look like they're about to argue, but I don't know."

Natalie's eyes widened as she turned to Monika, whose expression mirrored hers. "The argument," she whispered.

Monika's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes. I can see," she replied condescendingly.

"I didn't realise you were so invested in trying to impress our new member, Yuri." Natsuki stood out of her seat with Yuri, her hands on her hips.

Yuri began to stammer. "Th-That's not what I—y-you, you're, maybe you're just jealous that Natalie appreciates my advice more than she appreciated yours."

"And how do you know she didn't appreciate my advice more?! Are you that full of yourself?!"

Natalie stood up again and attempted to cut in. "Guys-"

"No," Yuri continued, oblivious to her saying a word. "If I was full of myself, I would deliberately go out of my way to make everything I do overly cutesy!"

Sayori tried to approach them. "Um . . . is everyone okay?"

"Well, you know what?!" Again, no reaction from either of them. "I wasn't the one whose boobs magically grew a size bigger as soon as Natalie started showing up!"

"I'm so confused, is this the lesbian club?" Natalie whispered to Monika, the latter of whom simply shrugged. The girls' sexualities had never been canon, but . . .

"Um, Natsuki," Monika began with a smile, "that's a little-"

"This doesn't involve you!" they shouted at her in unison.

Monika startled and fell back into her chair dejectedly. Natalie sighed and turned her attention back to the growing fight between them.

"I don't like fighting, guys!" Sayori said.

"Taking out your own insecurities on others like that!" Yuri taunted. "You really act as young as you look, Natsuki."

Natalie's expression grew dark. She leaned in to whisper directly into Monika's ear. "They're having the Act 2 fight."

Monika drew back and gave her a puzzled look. ". . . What?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "This one gets way darker than the other one, but it's only supposed to happen after the game resets after . . . what happens on Monday. They're not supposed to ignore Sayori in this."

"Me?! Look who's talking, you wannabe edgy bitch!" Natsuki mocked.

Yuri gasped. "Edgy? Sorry my lifestyle is too much for someone of your mental age to comprehend!"

"Guys," Natalie interjected, "this is getting much-"

"See?" Natsuki continued. "Just saying that proves my point, Yuri! Most people learn to get over themselves after they graduate middle school, you know!"

"If you want to prove anything, then stop harassing others with your sickening attitude!" Yuri argued. "You think you can counterbalance your toxic personality just by dressing and acting cute! The only cute thing about you is how hard you try!"

Natalie began to climb onto the table. Monika edged back and stared at her with her eyebrows raised bewilderedly. "Um, Natalie? The . . . table?"

"Whoa, be careful or you might cut yourself on that edge, Yuri!" Natsuki snapped. "Oh, my bad, you already do, don't you?!"

Natalie cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice and took a very deep breath.

"GUYS, SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Yet somehow, that still did nothing. At this point, Sayori had left the room already with Natalie's debit card, presumably to buy herself a snack to distract herself. In retrospect, maybe her not being present for this event was for the best.

"D-did you just accuse me of cutting myself?!" Yuri exclaimed in horror. "What the fuck is wrong with your head?!"

"Monika, hand me my water bottle, and yours too," Natalie ordered, her hand held out. Monika wasted no time in handing both to her with the lids already removed. Natalie had never been so glad that she'd filled hers up in her entire life.

"Yeah, go on!" Natsuki continued. "Let Natalie hear everything you really think! I'm sure she'll be head over heels for you after this—HOLY SHIT!"

Everything finally went quiet. Yuri and Natsuki were still standing in the centre of the room facing each other, only now they were both completely soaked through to the skin. Balancing on the desk beside them, Natalie was still holding both bottles upside down over their heads. She let the bottles clatter to the ground and caught her breath for a moment.

"Shut . . . the hell . . . up!" Natalie all but screamed breathlessly. "One more word out of either of you and I will slap you!"

Natsuki suddenly began to sob. She turned on her heel and sprinted out of the room, knocking over a chair in the process. The door slammed shut behind her.

"Natsuki!" Monika called after her.

"I-I, uh . . . did I just . . ." Yuri clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick."

And with that, Yuri left in the same manner Natsuki had. The door closed for a second time, although this time it hadn't been slammed with nearly as much force.

After a few seconds, Natalie began to climb down from the table. "I'll be honest, I did not see that coming," she remarked. "Nor did I expect them to be so . . . argumentative."

"That was hands-down the worst fight between those two I've ever witnessed," Monika agreed. "Are you alright, Natalie?"

"Hm? I'm fine," Natalie assured her. "Just a little shaken up. You?"

"Same," Monika responded. "Good thinking with the water thing. I would've never thought of something like that all by myself."

"Hey, guys?" Sayori entered the room again with a half-eaten chocolate bar in one hand and Natalie's card in the other. "Why did I just see Natsuki crying and Yuri puking at the same time?" She glanced at the puddle of water by Natalie's feet bemusedly. "What did I miss?"

Monika attempted a weak smile. "Things got a little intense, aha," she informed her. "Natalie took to slightly desperate and unorthodox methods of breaking those two up."

Natalie hummed in agreement. "I'm going to go and check on Natsuki and Yuri," she said.

"Want me to come with you?" Monika offered.

"No, it's okay," Natalie assured her. "Just keep Sayori company. Maybe clean the floor before it becomes a slip hazard?"

"Oh damn, at this rate you're stealing my job, Natalie," Monika joked. "Come on, Sayori. Let's go and find a bucket and mop."

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: I never liked English much at school, and creative writing was the reason for that in all honesty, which is kinda ironic when you consider the fact that I'm writing fanfiction now. Also, apologies for the shit poetry. It goes without saying that I'm not a poet.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!