"I think there is a tendency for people to get rigid and caught up in their beliefs of what is right and wrong, and they lose sight of humanity. Being human has to come first before right or wrong." ~ Matisyahu

Act 2 - Chapter 10: 近くにいる2; Be Near 2

You have unlocked a special poem.
Would you like to read it?

[YES]

Awkward Awry Bearing Coax Convince Ease Expectations Fairness Goals Grace Help Hold Insight Jumble Keeps Keynotes Lull Music Massage Melody Message Mollifying Nearness Needed Open Permission Praise Pressure Quickly Relief Resilience Resist Rest Song Sonnet Tender Thoughts Tranquility Trigger Trying Unify Undone Vexxed Violin Weight Wreckage Worst Worries

It takes more than words to build a personality

But casting judgment is dreadfully easy

We've developed this function from the beginning

You've used it since first encountering the "Dokis."

From Sayori and Yuri, to Monika and Natsuki

Papa and John, Makoto, and the rest

Aren't you the one who instigated this mess?

It takes two to tango, but you threw a party.

"How's practice going, sweetie? Your food is getting cold at the dinner table. Take a break and join us."

"Don't worry, mom," she turned around with a charismatic grin, "Just give me another half hour. I can't lose my focus now."

"Look, your father can be quite overbearing at times but we saw you rush past us, straight to your keyboard. At least you could tell us about Sayori-"

She cut her off swiftly, "Confidential... but I'll share the safe stuff. Three minutes, please?"

"Okay, I know you don't like it but I'm setting a timer. If you aren't with us when it goes off, you're in the living room the rest of the evening." The door closed and wobbled on the hinges, and the television on the other side roared back to life. It was, the weather program, maybe?

How could I know, too much fuzz in my head... The me from fifteen seconds ago should've said something about that frickin' TV. Where were my clonazepam tablets?

I stood from my makeshift piano bench and gazed around my room. Everything had to be perfectly organized, from my books in alphabetical order to the giant stuffed Kirby at the corner of my bedside. My clothes were closeted by the colors of the rainbow and not a speck of dust was to be seen on my desk. All this neatness here and there, yet I couldn't find this year's treatment plan until I fumbled through every nook and cranny.

The tingling feeling was at the tips of my fingers. 'LORD, where did I put my prescription?!'

I dragged my backpack out from under the bed and filed through its contents. There was the base pamphlet without Naomi's poem, the updated one with - the one he gave me at his house - my favorite, math homework done two days early, chemistry done one day early, Club Event documents ready to submit on Monday, composition notebook, a piano booklet... aha! There it was!

Pulling the case from the bottom, I grabbed my water bottle and simultaneously opened both suckers. One pill, two? I missed the morning at Naomi's so I needed to catch up; two it was. Down the hatch they went and a couple gulps of water afterward. Seeing my jittering arms from the full-length mirror next to my bay window indicated the need to slow down.

I had one minute and twenty-four seconds. It was currently 6:58 PM. I could sit on the carpet, do a few breathing exercises, and then face my parents fifteen before the timer went off. That's exactly what I did... crossed my legs and inhaled deeply.

'Get to him, get to him, he's all I have left.'

The hallway I ran through was endless, dark, and gloomy. Electricity was nigh, save for the lightning flashing throughout the house. Rain hammered and thunder slammed about the walls like an unending echo. I couldn't hear my breathing, no matter how I panted or wheezed at my expending energy.

If I wanted to save Naomi, I needed to pull from my own assets; I opened up the console's command prompt and imagined my bow's PNG file - or was it a JPEG? Didn't matter, I needed more time. Copy-pasting three times over, I instructed the system to untie and attach each object to the other and increase its firewall protection, renaming the object to "lasso."

There was zero possibility to edit my friends' traits or location, no way to set the weather or remove physical alterations. I was only given the script and myself to work with. All it took was a once-over to learn what was coming, yet I couldn't stop myself from its inevitability. Perhaps I can write something more...

Bursting down the door, I looked to the right and found Naomi, surrounded by the plague this simulation infected. Whoever gave out the code injection was a madman, he ruined my friends by turning them into a cacophony of their worst appearances. On the ground he struggled, crying out for anyone's aid.

With desperation turned to determination, I threw out my lasso, pulling my pen out to give myself a brace to work with. The ribbon surrounded him, yes! It surrounded him and snapped like I believed it would.

"N-N-N-a-a-o-i!" No... no... this can't be it. Why was my vision blurring? Why was the storm getting louder? Where did the time go? I haven't said everything yet.

"R-e-e-e-AAAAAA-"

Red Yellow Blue

So basic and true

"Ah-... Ah-... Ngyah..."

I scrambled to the trash can by my entryway and swallowed against the nausea traveling through me. My body ached and my arms shook, lightheaded and hot everywhere. Sure that nothing would be expelled from me, I collapsed on the floor and let myself quiver.

Forty-eight seconds remained. I only needed thirty to cry.

Why would a good God cause me to suffer like this? What was there to be gained from these indiscernible visions, these overtly abundant conjugations in my head? If this truly was a world of infinite choices, we would all be happier in every sense of the word. Sayori wouldn't be suffering from depression. Yuri could remain confident and steadfast. Natsuki's personality wouldn't be so stuck-up and poetry would make sense to Makoto.

My brain would hate my body no more, and Naomi never would have stepped foot in our club.

What drove me to take that boy in? He was helpless in the cafeteria and had nothing to do with me. No wit, nothing to wager, nowhere to run. Connor had every right to be upset and technically was a higher authority, being in Class 3A like me.

"You told me that everyone in the literature club has something to invest in, Monika. How strongly do you believe it?"

Twenty-five. I choked with newfound conviction, as if he was right there, close by me in my weakest, "More than you imagine... Trust me, my dearest."

Deep breath in, exhale out, I hoisted myself back to my feet and adjusted my appearance. My ponytail remained intact, my eyes felt a little dry but we could blame it on my music reading. All was well and all will continue to be well.

Swallowing my anxieties, I placed my hand on the doorknob.

Words cannotprove

Howmuch I love you.