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Chapter 9: "The School Festival, time to confess

?: "My children, my Ultimate's. We will rebuild this world and show everyone their true natures. We'll make them all pay for their hypocrisy and show them that they're no humans. Nothing more, but wild animals. Let The Great Massacre commence. My children." The darkness consuming all around him. The voices speaking nonsense, but yet revealing the truth.

Walking aimlessly in the void. MC remains confused by all this. What are these voices he hears, why do they sound familiar, and where are they coming from? Hours had passed with MC walking through the shadows. "Murderers, Monsters, Why are you doing this!?" The screams continue to echo into his ears. "Please no! Don't do it!" Gun fires and loud screams of pain can be heard. The loud roars frightening MC causing him to run away from it all.

When he finally got away from it all, he continued his walk. Only to see the original nightmare once again. He continued walking aimlessly, ignoring the girls killing themselves. To him, it was too much to bare, seeing them die repeatedly. When he finally left those nightmares, he saw one light shining brightly in front of him. H headed towards the light only to see a door in front of him. The door looked similar to the ones at school. With no hesitation, he entered the door and was shown a new dream.

He saw two people standing in front of each other, but the location was unknown. He tried to say something or touch something, but like last time. He couldn't do anything, but watch. He stood close two the people. One boy and one girl. Their faces covered in shadows. MC couldn't see who they were, but at the same time he felt that he already knew.

Mystery Girl: "H-here" She gives the boy a small box.

Mystery Boy: "A gift for me?" The girl nods and the boy opens the box, surprised at what he saw. MC looked over the boys shoulder to see what made him surprised and when he saw it he felt the same way as him. "Th-this … how did you get it?"

Mystery Girl: "I-I had help from the others to get another copy for you since your original one was torn."

Mystery Boy: "But why waste your time and money for something like this?"

Mystery Girl: "Because it meant a lot to you. It is your soul. Plus you gave me a gift as well … love."

Both the mystery boy and girl faded into the void and MC could not stop thinking about what he just saw.

MC: "Th-that thing? It can't be, can it?" A new image is shown to him. He sees the mystery boy talking with some woman. He walked in closer to hear their conversation.

Mystery Boy: "How much!? Damn I don't have enough to buy it. Well thank you for your time." The boy leaves and MC follows. "Damnit now what? I want to give her a gift to show how much I appreciate her." He pulls something out of his pocket and looks at. "I can't give up, just yet." The boy fades into the void.

MC remained speechless to what he's seeing. He's glad that it isn't the same nightmare, but to see this? The next scene plays to him. "Here" The mystery boy gives a small box to the girl.

Mystery Girl: "W-what is this?"

Mystery Boy: "A gift for you. I want to give you a gift from my heart, just like how you did for mine." He opens the box for her, revealing a ring with two hearts connecting.

Mystery Girl: "Where did you get this?"

Mystery Boy: "Don't ask, please accept this." He pulls out the ring and grabbed her hand putting the ring on her finger. The girl blushing, but smiles with some tears of joy.

Mystery Girl: "I don't deserve you, but I'm glad we're together." The two embraced and MC looks closely at the ring.

MC: "That ring?"

*Alarm Clock Rings*

MC struggles to turn off the alarm. *Yawn* He sat up and looked down to his hands. "What the hell is all this? That ring? That gift and … Father?" He remained still in bed at the mere thought of the word Father. He wasn't sure why, but just hearing it made his stomach turn. "What day is it today?" He looks to his phone to see it was Monday. When he saw that, he froze. "Monday? Monday, Monday … Oh shit! The Festival is today!"

He jumps out of bed and quickly did his morning routine. When he finished he looked around his room and saw all the stuff the girls left behind for the Festival. "Aw shit I got to carry all this to school?" He looked at all the banners, curtains, pamphlets, and when he went downstairs he saw all the cupcakes. After seeing everything he's going to need, he went back to his room gathering everything and set them in his living room.

Soon after he thought to himself of giving the girls something like a gift. "Hmm, even though those dreams were terrifying, that last dream was … I guess it gave me some inspiration?" He went back to his room again and went through his drawer. There he found a small red box containing a calligraphy pen. He owned this pen for a long time, but never had the opportunity to use it. Instead of it gathering dust he decided to give it to Monika, hoping she would make better use out of it.

He placed the box in his blazer pocket for safe keeping until he gives it to her. He then went to his book shelf and looked through all of his Manga. He pulled out the first volume of Berserk. He planned to give this to Yuri despite her not reading Manga. However he had a feeling she might like this since Berserk is similar to her books, only with artwork in it. He places it in his backpack and goes under his bed pulling a big box.

He goes through the box seeing all of his old Duel Monster cards. He pulled out a thin box containing his extra deck cards and pulled Power Tool Dragon. "There we go. This was always Sayori's favorite card back when we were kids, if memory serves me." He put it in his other blazer pocket. He then went downstairs to cook up a bento box for Natsuki. He thought this would return the favor since Natsuki baked him a cupcake before. When he finished setting things up, he heard the doorbell rang and quickly answered it.

Sayori: "Surprise!"

Natsuki: "Sup"

Yuri: "H-hello"

MC: "Hey what are you all doing here?"

Sayori: "Monika told us all to help you take everything to the club."

Natsuki: "Meanwhile she'll be setting up the club room."

Yuri: "To be honest some of us wanted to come over anyways."

Natsuki: "Maybe you two, but I only came here because Monika asked me to and I want to keep an eye on you." She looks at You.

MC: "Sayori?"

Natsuki: "Sayori"

Sayori: "Hey! You meanies."

MC: "Well thank you all for coming. Everything is all here at the living room. I just need to get something upstairs real quick." He rushes upstairs, but before he did he went to the kitchen to grab the bento box first. Just when he was about to enter his room. MC felt a shiver run through his spine.

?: "Get the first aid kit." He looks behind himself and sees no one.

MC: (The hell was that? Who just spoke?) He looks to where his parents room were at. (Get the first aid kit?) He enters his parent's bedroom to the their bathroom. (Not sure why I'd be needing this, but I guess it could come in handy? Just in case.) After getting the first aid kit he goes back to his room and gets his stuff ready. He puts the bento box and the first aid kit in his backpack since he doesn't really need anything else other than his poem to bring to school. "All set." He says before heading back downstairs. With him all set up he helped the girls carry some of the items to school.

On their way to school, Sayori and Natsuki would argue about eating the cupcakes now. Meanwhile Yuri would remain silent and MC would try to work up the courage to talk to her, but after that awkward event they had on Saturday he wasn't sure he can. When they arrived at school, they saw the school was packed with students all around campus. The four of them tried their best to get to the club and soon after they made it.

Monika: "Hello everyone"

Sayori: "Hey Monika what's going on here?" She looks around the room to see that the desks are gone, but the room was filled with chairs.

Monika: "Just setting things up, but enough about me. Let's talk about you. I hope you're all already for today? I expect nothing less from each of my club members."

Everyone Else: "Yes Mam!" They all shout with determination.

Monika: "Well if that's how you all feel, then let's get this room set up."

Everyone Else: "Yes Mam!" They all separate to cover more ground.

Natsuki and Sayori would get the cupcakes ready for people to enjoy when they walk in. While they do this, Natsuki would keep her eye on Sayori to make sure she doesn't eat any of them, much to Sayori's annoyance. Monika would set all the pamphlets on the chairs and the rest near the entrance next to the cupcakes. Yuri would set up the banners and curtains making the room dark, but used Christmas lights to light up the room. As for MC, he grabbed a broom from the closet and sweep all around the room. When all the girls finished they noticed that MC is still cleaning. They began to talk amongst themselves.

Natsuki: "Is it me or is he really into this?"

Monika: "What do you mean?"

Natsuki: "I just got this feeling that he never had the energy to do all this?"

Yuri: "I can't help but to feel the same way? He's like a completely different person?"

Sayori: "Come on girls, he's doing his best?"

Monika: "Sayori's right, let's not forget that he is our fifth member and the only boy in the club." Just as she said that all four girls huddled up together and stared at MC. With all of them looking at him, it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. They all look back at each other intensely. "Okay girls rock, paper, scissors for who gets to spend time with him during break in order." All the girls gathered up accepting Monika's challenge. They were all fired up now.

MC: (Am I a trophy to them? I have feelings you know?)

All Four Girls: "Here we go! Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

Monika: "Hurray I get to go first."

MC: (I call hacks!)

Natsuki: "Hmph! Second isn't so bad?"

MC: (Bull shit!)

Yuri: "Why did I have to get last?"

MC: (Damnit!)

Sayori: "Cause you're too slow."

MC: (Says you.) All four girls stare down on the only boy in the room like a predator stalking it's prey. With the sudden feeling, MC felt a chill run down his spine. (Why is everyone so thirsty today?)

Ignoring the the eyes of hunger, the Literature Club was officially ready. All five of them went to the front of the room on stage to read their poems to people who stopped by to see. Most likely for Natsuki's cupcakes. A lot of students came over to see them perform reading their poems. Sayori was the first to start things off. Feeling energetic she gave it her all. Natsuki was up next and at first she was a bit intimidated, but after seeing Sayori's performance, it help give her a boost in confidence.

After her Yuri was up next. She was by far the most uncomfortable reading her poem out to so many people. However before she went up MC gave her a little pep talk to motivate her. When she heard him, she felt fired up for a brief moment before she started feeling nervous again. She tried her best to read her poem, but she kept stuttering or lagging until she looked out to the crowd and saw MC giving her a huge smile and thumbs up. When she saw him she started reading her poem with confidence.

Next up was Monika. She gave a wonderful performance. No one expected anything less from the queen. While she performs MC looked around the crowd seeing a lot of boys drooling over her. He couldn't blame them since she is considered the most beautiful girl of the school. Hell he saw some girls with envy in their eyes. Soon after Monika finishes her poem, she signaled MC to come up stage to perform his. While he walks up he could feel the envy of the boys clearly jealous that he's in the same club with their queen. He ignored them and performed his poem.

While he reads his poem out for all to hear, he notices something out at the way back of the classroom. He saw another boy watching him perform. To MC something about this guy seemed off. He should've known that he's just another student of the school, but something about him made MC uncomfortable. Even though it was dark he could see his appearance. The boy had short messy dirty blond hair and brown eyes. MC had a feeling he met him before, but he doesn't remember who he is. By the time he finished performing, the Mystery Boy left while everyone claps for him.

Monika: "Thank you all for coming! I hope you all had a wonderful time!" All members bowed as everyone leaves.

MC: "Oh thank God it's over."

Yuri: "Oh, I thought my heart was going to jump out? That was so frightening."

Monika: "Oh come on you two, you did great, as a matter a fact you all did great."

Sayori: "Yay! Free time!"

Monika: "Okay everyone we finally have free time, so go out there and explore to your hearts content." Everyone cheered as Monika walked up to MC. "Oh Michael would you like to accompanying me?"

MC: "Hmm! S-sure, but?"

Monika: "Don't worry, we all agreed to spend time with you one at a time in order."

MC: (By agreement you mean luck?) Monika grabs his hand and drags him out of the club. "H-hey, Monika!"

Monika: "Come on. I want to show you something." He keeps his mouth shut as his face turns pink. She guided MC around the same floor of there club room, bringing him to a random classroom. "Here we are." He looks around the hallway to see no one was around as Monika opens the door. When he entered, MC felt a chill through his spine.

MC: (This room? Have I seen this before?) He felt a sharp pain through his head.

Monika: "Are you okay Michael?"

MC: "Y-yeah I'm fine just popped my neck is all." The pain goes away. "So what did you want to show me?"

Monika: "This is where I practice my piano." She shows off the piano to him. "This is also the same room I go to when I feel stress or when I need time to think. It's basically my comfort zone."

MC: "Cool" He says while looking around some more.

Monika: "Michael" He looks to her. "This is embarrassing to ask, but could you let me play you a song? I've been working on it and I thought you should be the first to hear it?" She says while she starts to blush.

MC: "I would love to here it." Monika smiles in relief before starting hopping a little. She walked passed him and took her seat on the chair. She moves around her fingers before she started playing. When she finished readying her fingers, she starts playing and singing a very familiar tune.

Monika: "Every day I imagine a future where I can be with you." The moment MC heard this song, his eyes widened as he started to feel pain in his heart and mind.

MC: (This song … I remember hearing this before! But where and when?) The more he heard it the more pain he feels. He stood frozen as images of his nightmares start to play in front of him. A girl hanging herself, a girl beaten to death, a girl stabbing herself, and another shooting herself. Before he knew it. The song ended.

Monika: "How was it?" She gives him a nervous smile.

MC: "Oh! Uh?" He clears his throat. "It was beautiful. Thank you for letting me be the first to hear it."

Monika: "Thank you." She smiles brightly and begins to walk to the door.

MC: "..." He stood in silence as she walks by him.

Monika: "Well now, we should be heading back. My time with you is almost over. Huh?" Before she realized it MC is hugging her from behind. With no struggle to get away, she held her arms over his. "Sayori is right, your hugs are warm." He let's go of her and Monika turns around to face him. "Hey Michael can I confess something to you?"

MC: "Of course."

Monika: "Lately I have been getting really bad nightmares." He looks at her with shock. "I've been having nightmares of killing all of my friends and being left alone … forgotten. I can't shake this feeling that someone is watching us suffer. I'm sorry for telling you my personal problems." MC shakes his head.

MC: "Don't be. I'm here for you."

Monika: "Thank you." She starts giggling. "And that why I love you."

MC: "W-what?"

Monika: "You're the only person to look at me as a normal girl instead of a goddess. That's why I like you, but I know you don't feel the same. But you know what that's okay, because I know that I won't be forgotten. Don't get me wrong, I want you to choose me, but only if you truly love me. I want you to be happy too, but remember I will always love you."

She gives him a warm smile, but it was clear to MC that she's putting a fake smile. The same smile Sayori gave him. Just she started to leave for the hallways.

MC: "Wait Monika." He pulls out a small red box from his blazer. "I want you to have this." She takes the box from him and opens it.

Monika: "A calligraphy pen?"

MC: "Yeah I had this for a long time, but never used it. I thought you might make better use out of it. I know it isn't anything special like flowers or jewelry, but …"

Monika: "Michael … I … I don't know what to say?" She breaks her fake smile for a real one. "Thank you. I've never got anything like this before."

MC: "You like it?"

Monika: "I love it. Most girls would prefer flowers or jewelry, but this … this means a lot to me. I promise to make a fantastic poem for you using this." She runs up to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Ready to go back?" MC remains silent and nods while covering his red face. "Okay then lets go." As she takes the lead, MC remained behind to place his hand on his cheek. "Come on Michael. Don't want to upset the others."

MC: "Y-yeah, coming." He soon follows her back to the club room where Natsuki is waiting for her turn.

Natsuki: "Well its about time? Lets go!"

MC: "Can you wait a second. I need to grab my backpack."

Natsuki: "Why?"

MC: "You'll see." He went ahead and grabbed his backpack. "K let's go."

The both of them left the classroom while Sayori and Monika wave to them as they go and Yuri reading her book, most likely still being salty about being last. Meanwhile in the hallways. Both MC and Natsuki explore around the school to see what the other clubs are doing. He remembered seeing a haunted house one before, but notices Natsuki had no interest in it or any of the others for that matter. Instead she dragged him to the roof of the school.

The bright sun shining down on the roof. It wasn't hot or cold, but just right for picnic one may say. "So Natsuki why did you bring me up here?"

Natsuki: "Shut up! I'm trying to think."

MC: (You didn't know yourself?) *Sigh* "Well would it be easier if you had food to power your brain." He pulls out the bento box from his backpack.

Natsuki: "What is that?"

MC: "Food that I cooked up this morning."

Natsuki: "You can cook?"

MC: "Don't judge a book by its cover right?"

Natsuki: "I'm not amused."

MC: "You're no fun, you know that? If you must know, since my parents are never home I got to learn how to cook sooner or later."

Natsuki: "Parents" She whispers. "I guess that makes sense."

MC: "Well here you go." He attempts to offer it to her, but she pushed it away.

Natsuki: "I can't take this?"

MC: "Why not?"

Natsuki: "Because! I … already ate." He stomach growls.

MC: "You're lying."

Natsuki: "What! No I'm not." Her stomach growls even louder.

MC: "Natsuki, be honest with me." Images of the girl with a broken body flashed before his eyes. "Do you have a bad relationship with your dad?" (Why would I ask that? How would I know that?)

Natsuki: "Th-that's none of your business."

MC: (She slipped up.) "True, but I am your friend and I can tell you're having trouble with your dad. So please tell me." Natsuki remains quite for awhile. It was clear to him that she doesn't want to talk about her life at home, but with a heavy heart she did.

Natsuki: "Just so you know, he was never liked this. We used to be a happy family. Until my mom passed away. Ever since then he would blame me for her death, even though I miss her too."

MC: "Does this mean?"

Natsuki: "Yeah, he would let me starve and never leave me any money. That's why I hate being home.

MC: (Her dad? No that can't be true?)

Natsuki: "The only place I ever felt safe was in the club room. The first volume of Parfait Girls was the last gift my mom gave me before she died. Ever since then I've been protecting it. It's all I have left of her love."

MC: "If it was that important to you, then why did you let me borrow it?"

Natsuki: "Because Sayori would talk about you a lot, so a part of me wanted to trust you. When I met you and we started hanging out. I was so happy that I made a friend that I can share my interest with. Yeah there's the others, but they don't read Manga."

MC: "I guess you have a point there."

Natsuki: "Yeah. To be honest with you. You're the only person I really opened up to. I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm scared of being at home. Death staring at me in the face." As she said these things. For the first time since they met. He saw the once proud and toughest girl in the club. Show a side of weakness and vulnerability. When tears started to form, she looked away from him and covered her face in shame.

MC: "Natsuki" She doesn't respond to him. "Natsuki, you don't have to face it alone." She looks to him surprised by his words. "You have us. There's nothing wrong with showing weakness. It just shows you can get stronger. Besides you don't have to face everything alone. Even if your dad kicks you out, I'm here to offer you a home until your ready to face the world again."

Natsuki: "Do you mean it?"

MC: "I do. If you or the others ever feel alone. If your ever in trouble just call me and I'll be there, because I refuse to let any of you down anymore."

Natsuki: "Anymore?"

MC: "I was hoping Sayori would tell you, but she was going through depression."

Natsuki: "She was?"

MC: "Yeah for years and I wasn't around to help her. Instead I was being selfish by leaving her alone under the rainclouds. I'm a bad friend don't you agree?"

Natsuki: "But you're trying your best to fix it right?"

MC: "Only because she told me. If she never told me I would have never known. I'd still be selfish. She may be taking medication right now, but the scars I inflicted on her will remain in her heart."

Natsuki: "But still for you to acknowledge your mistake takes a lot of guts." She looks up to the sky. "Not much people can do that. Instead they would convince themselves that they're right and everyone else is wrong." She wipes away her tears while smiling and turns to face MC. "Guess that proves Sayori's right. You are a good person."

MC: "But still, I failed her."

Natsuki: "No! You didn't, you only fail if you give up." Hearing her say that, put a smile on his face.

MC: "Thanks. Who knew you can motivate me."

Natsuki: "That's because you gave me some motivation. I'm just returning the favor." She takes the bento box. "Thanks. You might want to grab another fork. I can't eat all of this by myself." He nods to her.

MC: "Yeah, let's eat." And so the both of them started eating on top of the roof. While they eat, they both started having a conversation about Manga.

End of Chapter 9