He needed to flee. He needed to get out of this bed, run out of the room, away from this monster. He needed to fucking move, now!

"Take… it. Take… my love." The aforementioned monster beckoned him once again in her soft whisper, shaking slightly as she struggled to keep standing upright.

As always, his body refused listening to his commands. He was stuck here, forced to stare at the blood-soaked organ offered to him by this "Nightmare" Yuri.

He kept screaming. He knew it wouldn't help him, but it was quite literally the only thing left he could still do.

"Wake up!"

He could feel the blood running down his face, could smell the gore. He couldn't stop. If he did, he might hear the faint beating of Yuri's exposed heart, still held right in front of his face.

This wasn't a nightmare. It couldn't be, it was way too real. It had to be real.

"MC, wake up!"

Beyond his screaming, he faintly noted the empty-eyed Yuri collapsing to the floor out of his sight, her outstretched arm holding the heart sliding along with her, away from him. Maybe she'd given in to the blood loss at last? It didn't matter. He knew she was still there. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to shut himself off from the world around him.

"Please, MC! Stop screaming, open your eyes!"

He felt hands gripping his shoulders, shaking his body violently. Was it the monster attacking him? Would he feel her knife hands on his chest next, digging inside his flesh to pull out his heart, too?

"Please, listen to me! It's me, Yuri! You're safe, but you have to wake up!"

With great effort, he stopped screaming for long enough to at least consider the offer. Should he open his eyes? It did sound like Yuri, but it could just as well be another trick. Who was to say he wouldn't just see her again, inflicting even more traumatic injuries on herself?!

He just didn't know what to do. Could he trust this voice, claiming to be his girlfriend? One thing was for sure, he wouldn't be able to take another session with that thing. Maybe keeping his eyes shut was for the best…

But then, he sensed it. That familiar, comforting scent of lavender filling his nostrils like it always did when she got close to him, pushing away the lingering smell of blood and calming him down just enough to make him chance opening his eyes.

Just like before, he was met by Yuri's face inches from his own. He reacted on instinct, recoiling away with another scream.

"M- MC?!" He heard her gasping in alarm.

"What's going on in here?!"

A new voice. One he recognized. Monika.

He opened his eyes anew, just in time to see the her, as well as Sayori and Natsuki tumbling into the room, now lit up by the lamp on his night desk, all of them staring at him in concern.

He shifted his eyes to the side, finally getting a proper look at the purple-haired girl leaning in over the bed.

Immediately, he felt embarrassment flooding his body at his initial reaction.

It was just regular, plain Yuri. A bit taller than him like always, but not abnormally thin and elongated. Her skin pale, but nothing like the pure white marble of her nightmare counterpart. No translucent, white dress, but instead an elegant, black, long-sleeved nightgown. No bleeding chest wound, no bladed fingers, no gaping holes in her head, just two large purple eyes, staring at him in obvious worry and fear.

A perfectly understandable reaction, given how he'd just screamed in her face like a madman in response to seeing her.

God, he was such an idiot.

"I- it's nothing!" He rasped, voice over-exerted from all the screaming as he half-heartedly tried diffusing this mess of a situation he'd gotten himself into. "I j- just had a bad d- dream and overreacted, it's n- nothing to worry about, s- sorry for waking y-"

"Would you stop telling us not to worry?!" Sayori exclaimed in a voice that came as close as he'd ever heard her come to anger. She made a beeline straight to his side, nearly tripping in her hurry, and ripped off his duvet in order to place a hand on his chest.

Her blue eyes widened in shock.

"Your heart is beating faster than ever before!" She stated. "You look freaked out, you're hyperventilating and sweating and I heard you scream! You never scream!"

"I- it's just- I can expl-" He sputtered, trying and failing to come up with some kind of cover story on the spot. An absolutely impossible task with all the girls staring at him like this, and the fact that his lungs were dispelling his breath faster than he could collect it.

"Okay, stop." Monika said, approaching him as well to place a silencing finger on his mouth. "We're obviously not getting anywhere with you like this, try to calm down a bit. Yuri, why don't you explain what happened while MC collects his breath?"

"O- okay." Yuri nodded, taking a deep breath herself. "As it was my night on guard-duty, I had my alarm wake me up to check if MC was okay, and so I could flip him over, preventing bed-sores. When I came in here, I noticed him… writhing in bed, shifting his head all around, moaning incomprehensibly all the while his eyelids were… fluttering wildly. I'm not sure how to explain exactly, but it appeared to me as if he was trying to wake himself up, but… couldn't. Then, he began screaming and I attempted to shake him awake."

"That… doesn't sound like a normal bad dream at all!" Sayori said, looking positively mortified.

Despite the current chaos, MC couldn't help taking note of how Natsuki wasn't saying anything, instead just standing a few feet away, visible from the corner of his eyes. She appeared to be staring at him in silence, unblinking.

He wasn't able to fully look over and meet her judging gaze head on.

"I've… never seen anything like it before." Yuri confirmed. "It looked highly alarming, as you can probably imagine."

Monika raised an eyebrow before turning to face MC, placing both arms on her hips. It was honestly impressive how threatening she managed to look in an emerald green, satin nightgown.

"Well then, MC." She said in a hard voice that made it abundantly clear to him that this wasn't up for debate. "I hope you realize that none of us are leaving this room before you explain what the Hell just happened."

He gulped, suddenly remembering how scary Monika could get when she stopped playing around. It was like she shifted into a totally different person, someone who'd stop at nothing until she got what she wanted.

It was hopeless to try and find a way out of this, especially now that his mental defenses had been stretched so thin by the Nightmare Yuri. The only option available to him was telling them the truth.

…a version of the truth, anyway.

He sighed.

"I… I've been struggling with Sleep Paralysis for a while now."

Their reactions were pretty much exactly as he'd feared. Both Monika and Sayori's eyes widened in shock and Yuri even had to raise her hand to her mouth in order to cover a small gasp.

Great. Even more worrying about me.

"I- I know that sounds bad, but it's really not!" He quickly added. "Usually, I'm able to recognize when it's happening and then I wake myself up by wiggling my fingers and toes, progressively moving up to my arms and legs. Sort of like "shaking" myself awake before things gets really bad."

"Except that now, you can't move at all." Monika pointed out. "Even when you're awake."

"…yeah." He sighed again. "Yeah, that… does complicate things a little, you're right."

"What, uh…" Yuri spoke up, looking at him tentatively. "…what do you see? When it starts happening, I mean?"

MC shifted his eyes in her direction, briefly glancing at the spot below her chest that the Nightmare version had carved out with her blade-fingers. He could still hear the sickening echoes of the flesh tearing apart…

He tried swallowing, but his throat suddenly felt extremely dry for some reason.

"J- just some red demons, dancing in the corner of the room." He lied. "Slowly moving closer, singing about how they're going to eat me."

A deafening silence filled up the room as everyone stared at him.

"Uh." He hesitated, feeling himself blushing. "Saying it aloud… doesn't really sound very scary. But y'know, when you're in the moment and they start chewing…"

"Not very scary?!" A distressed Sayori repeated. "How can you say that? I think I'm going to have nightmares now!"

MC didn't even need to look in her direction as he could physically feel Natsuki's intense, silent stare drilling into him, seeing straight through his lie.

He refused to look at her, hoping he could trust her not to pull the lid off and reveal the truth. Sayori and the other's reactions had all been more than enough to confirm that he could never reveal to them what he actually saw at night.

Thankfully, it seemed the rest of them believed his red demons excuse.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Monika asked, looking slightly upset. "We could have helped you before things ever got to this point."

"You've… already done so much for me." He replied. "I didn't want to overload you with another concern. Especially not one as stupid as 'bad dreams.'"

Monika released an exhausted sigh, rubbing her temples before continuing.

"Well, I really wish you would have told us sooner." She said. "That way, I could have told you just how much of a fucking idiot you were being for ever worrying about this nonsense."

He blinked, once.

"Eh?"

"This is an incredibly simple problem with an even simpler fix." Monika went on, the corners of her mouth slowly drifting upwards into one of her usual, smug smiles. "A fix that I think will make all of us here very happy."

Everyone's stares shifted from MC to Monika, completely dumbfounded by her strange optimism.

"Come on guys, use your heads." She winked at them in response. "If MC is unable to wake up from the nightmares on his own, then one of us are just gonna have to stay throughout the night to guard him!"

MC blinked, twice this time as he struggled to comprehend her suggestion.

"Wait. You don't mean…?"

"Oh, but I do!" She confirmed brightly. "We're gonna have to sleep together!"

The silence that settled over the room following this statement was so all-consuming, a needle dropped on the floor would have probably been deafening. Then, Sayori squealed in delight.

"OH MY GOD, A SLEEPOVER!" She yelled out, startling everyone. "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

"Uhm, objectio-" MC attempted to protest.

"OVERRULED!" Monika interjected the very next second, pointing a finger at him in an overly dramatic fashion. "Frankly, you have nooo say in the matter. As your caretakers, it's our duty to protect you from all possible threats, including creepy and weird Sleep Paralysis demons. And as your girlfriends, it's our duty to make sure that you're never left alone. Really, this is a fault on our behalf for allowing you to sleep unaccompanied in the first place. So, point is, this is happening whether you like it or not, kay?"

"W- what happened to 'respecting my wishes, no matter what?'" He asked, remembering Monika's promise from when she'd pitched living with her in the first place.

"That was before you proved yourself to be so foolishly irrational that you'd rather actively endanger yourself than ask for help." Monika retorted, shrugging.

"Come on, it's just some stupid nightmares!" He argued back. "It's not like they can actually harm me-"

"Your heart nearly exploding from the stress says otherwise." Monika interrupted. "And however you choose to look at this, the undeniable truth is that you're suffering. Clearly, you have no idea what's best for yourself, so we're gonna have to take over from here and you can just suck it!"

Wow. MC thought in a daze, momentarily lost for words. Talk about a verbal beatdown.

Taking full advantage of his silence, Monika turned to the other girls.

"So, what do you guys think? Any objections? Am I being unfair here?"

"Nope!" Sayori said brightly. "MC is just being silly right now, but I know him. He's gonna love this after a few nights, I guarantee!"

"Et tu, Sayori?" MC said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, shush, you know I'm right." She playfully ruffled up his hair. "This is gonna be so much fun, you'll see!"

"I… am inclined to agree." Yuri spoke up next, blushing. "I apologize MC, but… looking at this from a purely rational standpoint, Monika's arguments are just vastly superior to yours. Sleep is very important, and if these nightmares are allowed to continue unabated, it could seriously damage your mental health. I understand it might seem a bit… embarrassing at first, but I have to go with the most logical one of the options presented to me."

…yeah, okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. MC thought, not even able to disagree with her conclusion despite his increasing frustration.

"And you, Natsuki?" Monika asked, turning to face the pink-haired girl, a motion followed by everyone else. "What do you think?"

Natsuki had her arms crossed, frowning lightly as she kept up her one-sided staring contest with him. Now that he'd finally gathered up enough of his courage to actually meet her pink eyes, he noted that despite all expectations, she actually didn't look that mad, or even angry with him.

Just… disappointed.

He wasn't entirely sure if this was a better, or worse outcome.

"…yeah." Natsuki sighed at last, making this the first time she'd spoken since entering the room. She turned her head away from him, looking over at Monika instead. "What Yuri said."

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, MC glanced around at all the allies he'd just lost to Monika.

I really need to get better at arguing.

"Okay!" Monika exclaimed, clapping her hands together. As was always the case, she became incredibly giddy and excitable whenever she got her way. "So, I'm guessing all of us are probably very eager to take the first night with MC, am I correct?!"

Yuri and Natsuki nodded in silent unison, while Sayori blushed and awkwardly pushed together her index fingers.

"Ah, he he… oh well, if you guys want him too then I guess I can just step out…" She said, giggling nervously.

"Come on Sayo, none of that now." Monika shook her head, smiling kindly at her. "The whole point of the Arrangement was to share him as fairly as possible, so you stepping out to make us happier would be kind of self-defeating, wouldn't you agree?"

"…maaaybe…" Sayori hesitated, blushing even deeper.

"Plus, if we look at this from an overly cynical viewpoint- something I'd never do myself, by the way-" Natsuki said, actually flashing a teasing smirk in Sayori's direction. "-then you sacrificing yourself could be interpreted as manipulating your opposition to give you the night by guilt-tripping us with your selflessness."

"Oh no!" Sayori gasped in realization. "Uh, in that case, I really want the spot! Uh… wait, can't we just all share the bed together?!"

"Yeah, no." MC said. "I'm gonna have to put my imaginary, still-functioning foot down on this one. If I can't convince you guys to just let me sleep by myself, then please accept that all four of you would be way too much of a 'good' thing."

"I actually agree with MC on this one." Monika nodded. "Sorry Sayori, but the Arrangement doesn't work in every context. All five of us on the same bed would just be asking for trouble, and it's not going to help him sleep any better."

"Aww…" Sayori groaned in disappointment.

"…is your solution to every tough decision just to share everything between everyone?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

"I mean… if it ain't broke, y'know?" Sayori smiled awkwardly.

"Okay." Monika announced. "Since it looks like all of us wants to go first, I suppose the only truly fair way to decide is by coinflip."

She made a swift movement with her hand, and the next second a shiny, silver coin had appeared between her fingers, seemingly materialized from out of nowhere.

"How'd you do that?" Natsuki exclaimed, blinking wildly. "Are you a magician now, too?!"

"No idea what you're talking about." Monika shrugged. "Okay, so here's how I'm thinking we do this: Yuri and Nat are Heads, me and Sayo are Tails. Then, after we've determined the group, I flip it again to decide the final winner. Sound good?"

She didn't wait for an answer, and flipped the coin high into the air. She effortlessly caught it in her palm, checking the results.

"Wow, would you look at that!" She said, holding it up for all to see. "It's Tails! Tough break guys, sorry. Okay Sayori, now let's say that you're Heads and then I'll be-"

"Hang on a minute!" Natsuki exclaimed, stepping forward with her arm extended, squinting suspiciously at Monika. "Let me see that coin!"

"Uh, I really don't see why you'd need to do that…" Monika said, unable to hide the hint of nervousness entering her voice. "Come on Nat, don't be a sore loser…"

She raised her hand up high, so intent on keeping the coin out of Natsuki's reach that she failed to notice Yuri sneaking up behind her, who with her height advantage effortlessly snatched the silver piece out of her hand, throwing it over to Natsuki who caught it and immediately started inspecting its sides.

"Yuri!" Monika exclaimed indignantly. "How could you?!"

"My apologies President, but it was a very fair demand from Natsuki." Yuri shrugged with a small smile.

"As I suspected." Natsuki said, glaring up at Monika. "Tails on both sides."

"Whaaat?!" Monika exclaimed in a very unconvincing tone. "I had no idea! Where did that coin even come from?! Good thing you caught that, it would have been very bad for our economy if it got into circulation…!"

"So typical." Natsuki shook her head, speaking over Monika's half-baked excuses. "Telling Sayori not to give up on her chances while actively rigging the game so she can't win. Seriously, Monika? Even for you, this is low."

"Ahaha…" Monika giggled awkwardly, blushing as everyone in the room turned to frown in her direction. "…yeah okay, I really don't have any defense for this, do I?"

"You really don't." Natsuki confirmed, and started rummaging around the large pocket on the front of her pink onesie pajamas, fishing out another coin. "Good thing I'm loaded now that I've got a job."

"…you keep money in your pajamas?" Yuri asked.

"Hey, no judging!" Natsuki shot her a glare. "Alright, let's do it right this time. Again, me and Yuri are Heads, Sayori and The Fraud are Tails. And the only reason she's still in the game after that stunt is because we can't do this with an uneven number. Any objections?"

"No, I s'ppose not. Go ahead." Monika sighed in acceptance.

Natsuki flipped the coin in much the same fashion as Monika, and caught it again. Looking down at the result, she smirked.

"Heads."

Monika released a guttural groan.

"That's what happens to cheaters!" Sayori chastised her.

"Yeah, okay, that's fair." Monika said, sighing again. "Probably for the best, to be honest. If I'd gotten the dub, we most likely wouldn't have been doing much sleeping, anyway."

"Oh, I know exactly what you mean!" Sayori nodded. "I always end up chattering with people long into the night, too!"

"…sure." Monika hesitated. "…yeah, let's go with that."

Standing off to the side, Natsuki and Yuri looked like they were engaged in a very intense stare-off.

"So." Natsuki spoke up, narrowing her eyes as if trying to search the taller girl's face for any weaknesses to exploit. "What're you picking?"

"Tails." Yuri replied at once, staring back down at Natsuki with a dignified look.

Natsuki flipped the coin, and looked down. Her frown deepened.

"Did you just read my body language or something to tell exactly how the coin was going to land like when you counted the cards during Poker Night?!" She exclaimed, staring at Yuri in disbelief.

"Maybe." Yuri said, smirking. "Or maybe you're just overly paranoid about a game that's completely fifty-fifty percent luck based."

"Ugh, whatever." Natsuki grunted. "I suppose you won fairly until I can prove otherwise. Enjoy your reward."

"Don't worry. I intend to do just that." Yuri replied in a tone that MC thought could have been just a bit less smug.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight then…" Monika said a bit dejectedly as she began slouching out of the room.

"Aw, don't worry Moni!" Sayori happily said as she followed the President out. "You'll get him in a few days. In the meantime, I'll gladly sleep with you!"

"Lucky me…" Monika chuckled humorlessly.

"I'll just say goodnight to him and then I'll be out of your hair too, Yuri." Natsuki said, and hurriedly approached him.

Her "goodnight" consisted of shooting him a menacing glare while mouthing "we'll talk, later." He gulped, already dreading this inevitable encounter before she turned on the spot and exited the room too.

"Hey Nat, do you wanna join me and Moni in bed?" He heard Sayori's oblivious call from the hallway. "We can make this a threeway!"

"…I think I'll pass, thanks." Came Natsuki's response.

With that, Yuri slowly sat down in the bed next to him, sending him a soft smile while blushing slightly.

"Uh, hi." She greeted him.

"Hi…?" He greeted her back, unsure about where they were supposed to go from here.

Then, her smile vanished on the spot.

"I'm s- sorry!" She blurted out. "Th- this situation must really be breaking your boundaries, and I'm so sorry for putting you into it! I'll try my best to remain on the furthest edge of the bed, or if you'd prefer, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor either! I'll just have to sit up to check periodically that you're not caught up in another nightmare and-"

"Yuri, it's okay, I'm not upset!" He interrupted her before she could really get going in her apology streak. It was as if all the confidence and smugness she'd displayed before had just been a fake façade put up to appear strong in front of Natsuki, melting away the moment she was alone with him.

"You don't have to do any of that stuff!" He continued. "I should be the one apologizing for being so hesitant towards this and making you feel unwanted in here! Because you're not, I'd be lucky to share my bed with any one of you. I mean, we're supposed to be a couple, and this is what couples do, right? It really shouldn't be this awkward."

"Well… y- yes." Yuri said, taking a deep breath as she tried calming herself down again. "Al- although I don't think that's entirely fair, comparing our r- relationship to other's. It's a… fairly unique one, after all."

"Because of the Arrangement?"

"Well, that's an obvious factor, but even going beyond that." Yuri said, her stammering gone now that she got the opportunity to explain her thought process, something that always seemed to have a soothing effect on her. "We in particular have been developing our relationship at a much slower rate than you have with Monika, Sayori and Natsuki. It took us seven dates before we even felt comfortable saying 'I love you,' and we still haven't had our first k- kiss. It's only natural that something like this would be uncomfortable, since we haven't broken down the barrier yet."

"U- uhm." MC began nervously, suddenly feeling a great amount of pressure taking hold of him. Was Yuri expressing her dissatisfaction with the way they were going about this? "S- so, uh, do you think we're t- taking it too slow, then? Should we uh, k- kiss right now and break the barrier?"

"O- oh, uh, n- no, I d- d- don't- I didn't m-" Yuri said, looking flustered again before taking another deep breath. "N- no, I think… I think that certain things like that shouldn't be rushed, and- and I don't think I'm ready for it just yet, anyway.

"Oh, good." MC exhaled. "That's such a relief. Uh, n- not that I don't want to…!"

God, just shut up! You're just making it worse every time you open your mouth, upsetting Yuri more and more!

But to his surprise, Yuri merely giggled lightly.

"Don't worry, I understand perfectly! It's just the wrong set of circumstances to jump into that now. I'm sure it will happen naturally at some point when we're both more comfortable with the idea. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with taking things slow."

"A- agreed." He said, thankful for how patient and understanding Yuri always was with him. He really didn't think he deserved being with someone so kind.

"But on the other hand, with something like this," She gestured at the bed they were supposed to share. "I think- I think the best way to go about this is just… taking a leap of faith and do it, without worrying so much about the consequences. And guarding you against nightmares is probably the best excuse that I'm going to get."

"That… does actually make sense, when you put it like that."

"And it- it is a little exciting too, isn't it?" She asked nervously. "I mean, looking aside from all the boundaries being broken and these circumstances, I… think Sayori was onto something. I don't think I've had a 'sleepover' since having frie- I mean, uh, since I was a kid. This has the potential to be really, well, fun!"

"Y'know what, I think you might be right." MC said, actually managing to return her smile. He could hardly believe it himself, but just having Yuri sitting there, talking to him about her perspective on this situation… somehow, she'd managed to calm him down completely after the encounter with her Nightmare counterpart. His heart was no longer wildly beating and he could actually look her in the eye without flinching away. It was as if that lavender scent she was exuding somehow acted as a kind of protective aura, capable of chasing away all evil.

Although it pained him to admit, he was starting to think Monika's plan would actually work. The thought of any other nightmares visiting him with her next to him seemed incredibly doubtful.

"Did I ever tell you that you're an actual angel, Yuri?"

"I think this must be the sixteenth time you've said so." She smiled. "But I don't think I will ever grow tired of hearing it."

She made another gesture to the bed's covers.

"May I?"

"Make yourself comfortable."

She nodded, lifting up the duvet, and settled herself beneath it. It was so large that both of them could easily share it without having to fear accidentally touching each other.

Although… that might not be such a bad thing if it happened.

Yuri shifted over to her side, her head nestled in the extra pillow, looking at him with her large, purple eyes. It was almost unnatural how cute she looked like that.

"Is- is this okay with you?" She asked, blushing.

"It's perfect." He said, and received one of her adorable smiles in return.

"W- well, we should really go ahead and get back to sleep now." She said. "We've already kept each other awake for far too long."

"Yeah, you're probably ri- ri- riiight." He nodded just as a great yawn forced its way out of his mouth, proving her point.

"I'll go ahead and turn off the night light."

"Sounds good." He confirmed, shifting his head in the pillow to get comfortable, taking a last, appraising look around the bedroom-

-and felt the blood in his veins freeze solid once he reached the half-open door to the hallway outside, and saw the thing lurking in the darkness.

Freakishly tall and thin.

Completely white skin.

A mess of dried, red blood staining her dress.

Empty, black, blood-leaking holes instead of eyes, but still staring directly at him.

Though barely visible, there was no mistaking her. The Nightmare version of Yuri from earlier was right there, standing in the doorframe silent and unmoving. Waiting.

The panic from before took hold of him again. He tried blinking. She was still there.

How could she be there? Had he fallen asleep again without realizing? But that meant… the person lying next to him…!

"Y- Yuri?!" He exclaimed, surprised that he was still able to speak. That was usually one of the telltale signs of him having another "episode."

"Yes? What is it?"

He turned his head (he was still able to move?!) towards the sound of her surprised voice, seeing regular old Yuri still sitting there by his side on the bed, her hand inches away from the night-light's switch. There was nothing abnormal about her appearance at all, with the exception of the mildly alarmed look she was giving him.

"I- but- how is-" He sputtered, unable to comprehend what the Hell was going on here.

He snapped his head back towards the doorframe where the monstrous reflection of the girl next to him was still standing, slowly tilting her head to the side as she observed him.

This… this is impossible!

But the evidence was irrefutable. He was wide awake right now, and still, there she was. What did this mean?!

"M- MC?" The Yuri to his side asked, and he saw her nervously follow his eyes to the door with the monster, looking directly at it. "A- are you okay? Is something wrong?"

He couldn't reply. Didn't know how to.

It wasn't possible for her to miss it. There was an overly tall, misshapen woman with empty bleeding eyes right outside the door, and Yuri didn't even acknowledge her. She wasn't the type to play pranks like this, and he knew there was nothing wrong with her vision. There was no other explanation for it, she just… couldn't see it.

Am I going insane?

He was shaken out of his panicked thoughts when he caught the Nightmare Yuri moving, raising her awful hand which still had long, razor sharp blades protruding from each fingertip. Slowly, she slid the hand through the doorframe, settling it upon the side of the door as if wanting to open it further.

But something else happened. The moment her knife-hand came through and breached the border between hallway and bedroom, it started… flickering. Blinking in and out of existence like a faulty light bulb. It was subtle at first, but as her hand kept making contact with the faint light of the room, it was as if it started losing some of its form, becoming less solid, less tangible, less… real.

Nightmare Yuri quickly retracted her arm again, grasping her wrist as if burned. Her eyesockets didn't allow for much display of emotion, but he thought she looked… distraught. Frustrated.

He didn't know what was going on. He had no idea where this monster came from or what on earth made it so he could see this monster when the real Yuri couldn't. But based on how she'd just reacted to the light, he thought he'd gotten a vague idea on how she worked.

As long as the light was turned on, it seemed she wouldn't be able to enter the room. As soon as Yuri turned it off, however, he had this unshakable feeling that she'd be perfectly capable of stepping inside and pull out more of her vital organs in front of him or God knows what else.

"…MC?" Yuri spoke again, sounding increasingly worried, probably on account of him not replying to her inquiries. He needed to figure out a solution to this, now. He couldn't ask Yuri to keep the light turned on throughout the night without explaining why, but at the same time he had to find a method of keeping this monster at bay. He needed… help.

"Sorry." He said, turning to look at Yuri, but making sure to keep the Nightmare in his peripheral. "I… think I might still be a bit shaken up from the nightmare."

One of his better excuses, since it was perfectly true in this case.

"Oh. I- I understand." Yuri said, sympathetically. "Is- is there anything I can do to help?"

"Uhm… there might be." He began.

MC couldn't explain what compelled him to say it, or what made him think it would actually work. Somehow it just… felt like the right thing to do.

Didn't make it any less awkward, though.

"W- would it be too weird if I asked you to… put your hand on me?"

Yuri blinked a few times in response to his request, clearly caught off guard.

"J- just so I can… feel that you're here with me and I'm not alone?" He clarified. "Sorry, I know that sounds really, really weird but-"

"I'd be happy to." Yuri interrupted, shaking off her clueless expression and replacing it with a look of determination. "I'll do anything to make you feel more at ease about this."

And with that she scooted even closer to him, shifting to her side and reached out with her arm to carefully place a soft hand on his chest. Almost immediately upon feeling her comforting touch, his heart seemed to slow down to a much more normal pace.

A sudden movement drew his attention towards the bedroom door once again, where the Nightmare Yuri seemed to be having some trouble. Her jaw had unhinged once more, allowing it to open its mouth far wider than should be possible. Although not a single sound could be heard from her, it was only too obvious that she was screaming at him, angrily.

And then, the most surprising thing happened: She staggered away, disappearing from view of the open door, leaving no trace of her ever having even been there… and maybe she hadn't?

"So uhm… is this okay?" Yuri asked insecurely, keeping her hand planted on his chest.

"Yeah." He said, shifting his head to meet her eyes. He didn't have even the faintest idea of what had just happened, but it was late and he was much too tired to dwell on that stuff right now. All that mattered to him was that the monster was gone, and he had the strangest feeling that it wouldn't return as long as Yuri was here. Having her laying this close next to him on the bed was definitely preferable to that thing walking in here.

"Thanks again." He said, gratefully.

"Don't mention it." She smiled back, and briefly removed her hand to roll over and finally switch off the light, plunging the room into darkness once more. Quickly, she returned to her former position and he felt the comforting presence of her hand return to his chest.

"Goodnight, MC."

"'Night, Yuri."

He closed his eyes, finally starting to feel calm again as he slowly drifted off to sleep while breathing in the wonderful scent of lavender. The implications of this latest visit had been… disturbing, to say the least. But he'd worry about that tomorrow. For now, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Yuri would keep him safe throughout the rest of the night.

For now, that was good enough for him.