"Come on MC, just take it already. Don't you want this cupcake I baked for you? You're being pretty rude, y'know."
MC stared dead-eyed at the delicious-looking, rainbow-frosted cupcake being held right in front of his face, and sighed deeply. He then shifted his gaze to the pink-haired girl sitting on the bed with him, the girl who knew full well that he had no way to actually raise his paralyzed arms and accept the pastry.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Natsuki?" He asked in a tired voice. Perhaps he'd find this gag of hers a bit more amusing if she hadn't done it to him every single day since they'd moved in here.
"Oh, immensely so. You sure you don't want a taste of this?" She smirked, extending her arm just a little closer, trying to goad him into leaning forward and attempt snatching the cupcake out of her grip with his teeth. He refused to take the bait however, after the last seven times where she'd effortlessly pulled it out of his reach at just the last second, making him look like an idiot.
"No?" She tilted her head at his lack of response. "Oh well, more for me then!"
She lifted the cupcake to her mouth where she took an enormous bite of the top, making sure to give overly exaggerated moans of pleasure as she chewed to make the cupcake seem as tasty and mouthwatering as she possibly could. A bit unnecessary, since MC was perfectly aware of how tasty her baking was, and how much it sucked to miss out on it.
"You sure seem to be in a good mood today." MC said, ignoring her shenanigans. Based on the other few days, he knew she'd take pity on him eventually and feed him once she got bored of her psychological torture. He just needed to avoid giving her the reactions she was looking for and hope his stomach wouldn't start growling in the meantime, as that would only fuel her motivation.
"Yah, todah ish pheddy cool" She managed to reply before swallowing the massive amounts of cupcake filling her mouth. "Monika helped me make a new batch of cupcakes earlier, they're in the oven as we speak."
Wonder if she'll allow me to get a taste of those? MC thought quietly, doing his best to avoid staring at the half-eaten pastry Natsuki was waving around as she spoke. Appearing desperate wouldn't get him a bite any sooner.
"I hate to say it, but she's actually pretty good at baking." She continued. "Almost as good a helper as you."
"Did you just admit that I'm actually good at helping you?" MC smirked, raising an eyebrow at her slip-up.
She fixed him with a harsh glare as a frown replaced her teasing smile.
"Let me rephrase that. She's almost as 'non-terrible' as you." She corrected herself.
"I'll take that." He chuckled. "By the way, speaking of Monika. Do you actually like it? Living here, I mean?"
As he recalled, she was the one who'd had the most reservations about moving in with Monika- aside from him, of course. He wondered if her opinions had changed at all now that they'd stayed here for nearly a week.
She gave a great sigh before replying.
"It's… hard to say, really. I feel like the house is way too big, and there's so much stuff everywhere that I might accidentally break… it kinda makes me feel a bit uncomfortable walking around, y'know? It's like I'm that kid from the fairytale with the beanstalk, sneaking around the giant's castle. Just seems like I don't belong and shouldn't be here sometimes."
"Yeah." He nodded. "I definitely get that. Felt like that too when I first started visiting her back in the day."
"Mmh. But I think in your case, she had ways to make you feel extra 'comfortable' about staying here that she can't really extend to me and the other girls." She retorted, cringing to herself. "Not without making things super weird, anyway."
"Yeah, uh…" MC blushed, suddenly remembering back to the first time he'd visited Monika on what had been supposed to be a standard study session, just after getting the Arrangement up and running:
"So, what I'm thinking is, maybe we go over our biology essay first, and then depending on how far we get, we can move on to the trigonometry homework next. What do you think, Monika?"
"Sounds good, just ONE small suggestion, MC. How would you feel about instead of doing any of that, you take my virginity?"
"Wait, what?"
"I'm asking if you would like to have sex. With me."
"…what?!"
"…I think you might have a point there." MC admitted.
"Like, don't get me wrong, there are definite upsides that makes her house way better than my own. For one thing, I don't have to walk past spots where Papa beat me to a pulp and get flashbacks every single day. Plus, her kitchen is just amazing. But still, it's just… weird, sharing a place with someone, especially Monika."
"There… aren't any problems going on between the two of you, right?" MC asked, unsure if he should comment on the thing with her father. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I've kinda noticed you being on her case a bit more than usual lately. You don't hate her or anything, do you?"
"I don't hate Monika. Don't tell her this, but… I actually think she's really cool, and- and I kinda admire her. She's just completely fearless, y'know? But… she's also so different from me, and I can't really understand a lot of the things she does. The constant sex jokes for example, but a lot of other things, too! So it's harder for me to get a read on her than it was with Sayori, Yuri and you. And if I can't read someone, I just can't bring myself to trust them."
"Maybe you could try spending some more time together, then?" MC suggested. "Talk to her and gain a kind of mutual understanding? I think she'd be over the moon at such an opportunity."
"…maybe you're right about that." Natsuki sighed. "She's kept her promise about respecting my privacy and not barging into my room unannounced, so at least I can trust her to keep her wor-"
As if on cue, the bedroom door suddenly burst wide open with such an explosive force it collided against the inside wall with a loud BANG.
He and Natsuki both jumped in shock at the unexpected noise, with him releasing a yell that was totally dignified and not girly at all whatsoever, whereas Natsuki immediately flipped around to face the source of the impact head on, raising the half-eaten cupcake above her head as if intending to use it as a makeshift projectile against their intruder.
A very strange sight met them, standing tall and proud in the now open doorway, striking an action pose as she locked in on MC with her bright, emerald eyes.
Those very same eyes made him realize that it had to be Monika he was looking at, although it still took him a bit to make the connection since… nothing else about her matched up.
Her face was completely covered in makeup, painting her skin chalk-white while a black domino mask stretched across her eyes. Her long brown hair was nowhere to be seen, impressively hidden underneath the Jester's cap on her head, distinctively colored a bright red on one side and black on the other.
A color scheme mirrored by the skintight spandex outfit that covered the rest of her body, hugging her considerable curves, complete with white frills on her neck and wrists, and red and black diamond shapes on her arms and legs.
Monika might not have been immediately identifiable as herself, but MC was instantly able to recognize the character she was trying to look like.
Oh dear.
Her lips, painted too in black lipstick, stretched into a wide, playful smile.
"Heya puddin'" She exclaimed, making her normally level voice overly giddy and highpitched, while also putting on what sounded like an attempt at a Brooklyn accent. "Are ya ready ta rev up yer Harl- wait."
Her eyes shifted from him to Natsuki, as if just now noticing the pink-haired girl in the room with them. Natsuki in turn stared at Monika completely stone-faced, displaying no emotion whatsoever for the new arrival.
"I really, really wish I could say this surprised me." She finally spoke up in the driest voice MC had ever heard from her. "Like, desperately so."
"Uhhh… hey there, Natsuki!" Monika said in something closer to her regular voice, although a lot more awkward than usual as her smile suddenly turning forced and strained. MC thought she was probably blushing scarlet beneath all the white makeup. "What, uh… what are you doing in here?"
"It's still my time with MC." Natsuki replied simply.
Monika snapped her head towards the electronic clock mounted on the wall, staring intensely at it for a few seconds. Then, her eyes widened and she planted a gloved palm to her forehead, smearing her impeccable makeup.
"God, stupid daylight savings." She groaned in exasperation. "I always forget about that!"
"So, this is the sort of thing you two do together when you're alone?" Natsuki asked, the corners of her lip drifting upwards into a derisive smirk. "Y'know, when I opened up that cabinet of yours with all the costumes, I thought you were just really into Halloween, but now I see that was incredibly naïve of me."
"You looked through my outfits?" Monika frowned.
"Hey, if you don't want people snooping, don't keep your fetish gear in the fucking living room! God, I think I even saw a freaking Pennywise costume in there, are you seriously telling me that you two…?"
"Oh, that!" Monika said, smiling to herself in reminiscence. "Such a fun scene to act out, remember MC? 'You look like a nice boy, Georgie~'"
"Please, no." MC groaned, feeling his face growing hot, wishing he could bury himself in a hole and exit this conversation. "Can we just not bring up that moment ever again?"
"Oh my God." Natsuki said, trying in vain to stifle her laughter. "You're such freaks, the both of you!"
"Eh, maybe so." Monika shrugged uncaringly, having seemingly gotten over the initial embarrassment at having been caught in-costume. "I for one don't think there's anything wrong with spicing things up a bit, and I certainly don't hear any complaints about my cosplaying from MC. Isn't that right?"
"Uh… think you can ask me again at a time when Natsuki's not here?" MC asked, trying to ignore how much Monika's tight spandex audibly squeaked with every movement she made.
"Don't worry, at this point I've pretty much reached a state of complete apathy towards Monika's weirdness." Natsuki shrugged. "I really don't think I can bring myself to care about this at all. Whatever floats your boat, Georgie."
"Ayy!" Monika exclaimed, shooting fingerguns at Natsuki. "Nice reference!"
"Thanks." Natsuki smiled back.
"I regret every decision I've ever made, ever." MC sighed, to which both girls erupted into giggling.
"Ahaha… so, uh, Natsuki?" Monika said as the laughter died down a bit, making her eyes as large and adorable as she could from behind the domino mask. "I'm… kinda in the outfit right now."
"Yeah, I can see that." Natsuki stated, pointedly looking her up and down.
"It took me a really, really long time to put it on and write the scene I had in mind."
"Aight."
"So, uh… d'you think maybe you could… give the rest of your schedule to-"
"Hell no." Natsuki cut her off promptly, still smiling. "I am getting my time's worth of MC."
"Alright, that's fair and I totally understand." Monika nodded in solemn acceptance. "…but then, would you mind if me and MC still went ahead and acted out the scene anyway?"
MC blinked, twice.
"Are… are you asking me if I want to watch?!" Natsuki asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief as her smile disappeared.
There was a silent pause for a bit.
"…well, do you?" Monika then asked, a hopeful smile spreading across her face.
"No!" Natsuki exclaimed, looking deeply offended at the very idea. "Leave! Go to horny jail!"
"Ugh, fiiine!" Monika groaned dejectedly, appearing to lose some of her vigor as she slumped her shoulders. "I guess I'll wait then…"
She began slouching out of the room with her head bent down to the floor. MC couldn't help feeling a hint of sympathy at seeing her this disappointed.
"Uh… I think your Harley Quinn looks really cool, Monika!" He tried calling after her.
At once, Monika turned around, her whole face brightening up eerily fast as she gave him a big smile and struck another pose.
"Just you wait 'till I finish up my Punchline!" She said, shifting into the high-pitched Brooklyn accent once more. "Now that's gonna be a sight worthy of my puddin!"
"Since when do you even read American Superhero comics?!" Natsuki called out too, looking completely thrown off by how quickly Monika had shifted into another persona.
"Since me and MC walked past a poster for the Suicide Squad movie and I noticed him gettin' visibly arou-"
"O-KAY!" MC exclaimed loudly, wanting to drown out Monika before she could finish her sentence. "THANK YOU FOR VISITING MONIKA, YOUR COSTUME WAS GREAT AS ALWAYS, YOU CAN LEAVE NOW."
"Whatever ya say, Mistah C!" Monika winked at him before finally exiting the room, very deliberately swaying her spandex clad hips as she walked through the door, leaving him and Natsuki to stare after her in stunned silence.
"…I realize how redundant it is to point out oddities about this entire thing." Natsuki finally said. "But isn't it a bit weird for her to suggest that you're the Joker in this weird fetish roleplay scenario? I mean, the whole point of him and Harley's relationship is that he's incredibly abusive, right?"
"Oh, Mistah C can be as abusive as he likes ta' me~!" Monika said, suddenly sliding back into the doorframe. "Ah don't mind none~!"
"OUT!" Natsuki yelled, jumping out of the bed and running across the room to slam the door shut. She sent him a wide-eyed stare.
"I changed my mind. I hate Monika, I hate her house, everyone in it, and quite possibly the rest of humanity as well."
"Sorry about that." MC tried an apologetic smile.
"God, what is wrong with her? And furthermore, what's wrong with you?"
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"Come on, dude." Natsuki said, pointing a dramatic finger directly at him. "It was so obvious that you were totally into that display. Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that I wouldn't see any visible reaction to that outfit of hers if I were to pull off your covers?"
Oh, that's just not fair! I'm only human and that was Monika, dressed as Harley Quinn!"
"…I plead the fifth." He replied, blushing.
"I knew it!" Natsuki said, rolling her eyes, but also giggling triumphantly to herself. "So, I couldn't help noticing a certain trend there. Harley, Punchline, Pennywise. MC, why clowns?"
"Don't ask me." He replied with a tired groan. "Seriously, don't. I really have no idea, and I don't think I want to find out anytime soon."
"I can understand that. I mean, this must be a really, really embarrassing thing that you wouldn't want anyone else to know about!" Natsuki said, full on laughing at this point.
"You're never gonna let this go, are you?"
"Not in a million years, Clownfucker."
"Awesome. Just great." MC deadpanned.
"Like, I always thought the things happening between you and Monika was a Circus show, but I didn't think that was literally what-"
Fortunately, Natsuki was interrupted by a sudden upbeat jingle emerging from her pocket. She quickly pulled out an expectantly pink-cased phone and muted the alarm with the press of a button.
"Whoop, looks like the cupcakes are done!" She exclaimed brightly. "I'll just run down and get them out of the oven real quick, then we can continue this conversation from where we left off!"
"Do we have to?"
"Oh MC, always so witty." She said with a self-satisfied smirk as she leaned down to place the cupcake she'd been holding on the night desk next to the bed.
"Go ahead and help yourself, I'll be right back!"
"Oh, ha ha!" He sarcastically called after her.
She giggled and waved cheerily at him before exiting the room.
He looked after her, releasing his deepest sigh yet. If he had to be totally honest, her teasing jabs really didn't bother him that much, because… that was all they were. Harmless jabs. It wasn't like she had any malicious intent when ripping on Monika's antics and his compliance with said antics. Poking fun at one another was just part of the "Natsuki" charm, keeping things fun and interesting and only occasionally taking things too far.
Needless to say though, it was admittedly far more enjoyable when it wasn't him on the receiving end of it, but whatever. He'd get her back eventually, it wasn't like she was an infallible being who couldn't be criticized. He only needed to find the right angle.
Ah, planning your sweet revenge against your girlfriend. Relationships were awesome.
He glanced sideways at the cupcake Natsuki had left him, then shifted his gaze towards the door she'd left through, listening intently for signs of life.
Hearing nothing, he determined the coast was clear enough. He took a deep breath, preparing himself.
"Ngghhh…!"
Gritting his teeth, he groaned in effort and he unleashed every last bit of his abdominal strength, twisting his torso as far to the side as he possibly could, while keeping his eyes focused on his goal, refusing to blink until he reached it.
The cupcake was right there. He just needed to move a few more inches until he reached it. He extended his tongue as far as he could, intent on getting a taste before Natsuki returned. He could smell it, could practically taste it, just a little bit further…!
A painful pull from somewhere within his neck muscles put a disappointing end to his endeavor, making him give up and collapse back to his prior position with a slight outcry, sinking into his pillow in defeat.
Rationally, he knew not being able to reach a cupcake because of this fucking paralysis was an incredibly silly thing to get upset about. Of course he knew that. He was a smart individual.
However, that certainly didn't stop him from letting out his most guttural sigh as of yet, giving voice to pure, primal frustration.
It was RIGHT. THERE.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm down. No way was he gonna let Natsuki get a whiff of this latest failure of his.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A strange, hollow banging suddenly interrupted his thought process. He furrowed his brows, confused. It sounded as if someone was knocking on the far wall which by itself was weird, but what was even stranger was the fact that it seemed to be coming from inside this room.
The room he by all accounts should have been alone in.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, inspecting the room as he tried to identity the source of the continued banging. He found it quickly enough in the form of a small, feminine figure by the far end, just to the side of the TV, standing with her back to him. He watched as she tilted her head far back, then rapidly thrusting it forward and letting it collide against the wall with another dull thump. Then, she tilted her head back again, and repeated the process anew.
Certainly an odd thing to do by all accounts, although MC found himself being much more thrown off by the vibrant pink hair on top of the girl's head.
How did Natsuki return this quickly? He thought, feeling like it couldn't have been much more than a minute since she'd departed.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He wanted to say something, but he wasn't exactly sure how to respond to such an outlandish sight. Asking Natsuki what on earth she was doing to herself seemed like a good place to start, but… he found himself oddly stunned by the sight.
The almost rhythmic pounding of her head against the wall was downright hypnotic to look at for some reason…
Thump! Thump! Thump! THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-
The situation took a shocking turn when Natsuki suddenly picked up the speed, force and overall aggressiveness of her head-banging. Her head now violently making contact with the wall approximately once per second, MC started hearing a distinct, wet undertone to the thumps as droplets of red started spraying to the side of the wall with every collision.
He was immediately pulled out of his inactive trance as he opened his mouth, intending to yell out for Natsuki to stop whatever the hell she was doing- only to discover his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth and making him incapable of producing a single sound.
And yet, it seemed as if Natsuki had somehow heard his failed outcry anyway as she suddenly ceased all movements, freezing her head mid-thrust.
The room was deathly quiet for a few moments as MC stared at the motionless Natsuki, not having the faintest idea of what was happening, and what he should do about it. Then-
Crunch.
His eyes widened as Natsuki's head, and only her head spun all the way around to face him, her thin neck producing an absolutely sickening sound as it twisted around like rubber at the movement.
This… ISN'T Natsuki. He realized dimly as he looked upon the face staring at him from over her back.
Her forehead was a complete mess from where she'd hit it against the wall, torn skin bleeding wide streaks of blood down her pale face. He even thought he could see a tiny, cracked piece of her exposed skull from where the wound was deepest.
The undoubtedly overwhelming pain didn't seem to be bothering her at all however, judging from the unwavering smile stretched unnaturally wide, literally going from ear to ear and exposing every single one of her teeth, her small and under normal circumstances adorable fang included.
And her eyes… the normally bright pink irises that matched her hair had vanished completely, replaced instead by an all-consuming blackness that seemed to pull MC in, compelling him to keep looking.
The creature's impossible mouth spread even wider as she released an unintelligible gurgling noise, apparently attempting to speak. However, only a thin streak of more blood escaped her lips.
A small part of MC's still functioning rationality told him that her windpipe was probably way too mangled to properly function. He then realized how insane it was to even try applying logic to this nonsensical situation.
Crack.
Natsuki's already twisted neck sustained even further damage as it snapped again, collapsing her head sideways where it remained dangling limply, still keeping up her blank, black-eyed stare at him.
She released another wet gurgling noise that faintly sounded like laughter. Then, with the rest of her body still facing away from him, she took a staggering step backwards. Towards him.
Yeah, no, fuck that.
MC had seen enough to guess what was happening, where it might be going, and wanted no further part in it. He promptly closed his eyes tightly, refusing to look, think or acknowledge these things any further.
He'd learned from his experiences with Nightmare Yuri and Sayori. He wouldn't fall in the same trap again. He just needed to keep his eyes closed, repeat his "wake up" mantra to himself until it worked, and this latest apparition wouldn't be able to do anything about it. No matter how horrifying it was to watch her pick up even more speed in her backwards trampling as she steadily approached his bed…
Wait, what?
He closed his eyes again, briefly wondering why they'd opened in the first place and how he hadn't even noticed, but exorcised the thoughts from his head.
Focus on waking up, MC. Don't think about her. Don't think about how she's almost made it all the way to you. Don't think about what she might do once she reaches you. Don't think about how her head swings for every step she takes-
She was there again, closer now, even faster. He was able to hear her excited, gurgling breath.
He closed his eyes again.
She was there.
He tried again.
She was still there.
It didn't work. Every time he closed his eyes, he would just find himself back on the bed, powerless to do anything except watch as the monster approached.
You're dreaming! Your thoughts automatically translate to the reality you're in! You have to stop thinking about her!
What a profoundly stupid piece of advice from his mind. He thought he'd probably have better luck trying not to think of a pink elephant than the broken-necked atrocity coming right towards him!
There was nothing he could do, she had started to run at him, she'd reached the bed at this point…!
His heart pounded in terror as she made contact with the foot end, and promptly fell over backwards, collapsing on the mattress with her unsupported head face down. She remained there, unmoving.
Please, stay dead. He caught himself begging in his mind as he stared at her lifeless body. Please have succumbed to your injuries. Please just don't do anything else-
Snap.
The monster's head spun around again, looking directly up at him from the mattress, still sporting her grotesque Cheshire grin. She raised a thin arm, reaching directly towards him-
"WAKE UP, NOW!"
He felt a sudden, sharp impact directly on his cheek, the force of which so great that his head twisted to the side of the pillow. Panicked, disoriented and confused, he turned his head back to see Natsuki, the real Natsuki with her neck still intact, leaned over him on the bed, a flat hand raised and an expression that perfectly mirrored how he felt just now.
"…Nat?" He spoke up in a hoarse voice.
Instead of responding, the girl's wide, pink eyes rapidly filled up with tears, and she burst out crying.
"I'm sorry!" Natsuki choked out between heavy sobs. "Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry, I'm so fucking sorry!"
Her whole body collapsed upon his as she buried her head in his shoulder, unable to stop crying. Feeling more confused that ever, he began looking around the room, searching for traces of the monster. He found none, not even the smallest droplet of blood on the wall she'd banged against just moments before. He did notice a black, metal baking tray lying in the middle of the floor, with several, colorful cupcakes spread carelessly all around it.
"I d- dropped everything when I came in here and s- saw you like th- that!" Natsuki rasped into his shoulder, explaining the mess of pastries. "I tried to wake you up, but n- nothing worked! I swear, I never wanted to hurt you, but I just d- didn't know what else to do!"
He blinked, realizing a correlation between Natsuki's raised hand and the sudden pain to his cheek that he could still feel, stinging mildly. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together.
"Natsuki-" He tried.
"I was only gone for five minutes at most, I d-didn't think anything would happen in such a short time!" She kept going, speaking over him. "God, I'm so stupid! Stupid, irresponsible, childish Natsuki! And not only that, I actually hit you! I'm just like Papa! Don't know how to fix a problem, just use violence, that'll fix it! God, I'm the worst person in this house, everyone would be better off without m-"
"NATSUKI!" MC yelled out, recognizing the beginnings of a panic attack forming and promptly ignored his own left-over feelings from the nightmare in order to help guide her through it. "You're not a bad person, and I promise that you're nothing like your father! Remember to breathe!"
"I- I hurt you… I hurt e- everyone who gets close to me…!"
"No, Natsuki." He soothed. "I know you, I know how much you hate causing harm to anyone, and I know you would never do it unless absolutely necessary. You just said that nothing else worked when you tried to wake me, right? I can barely even feel it anymore honestly, and I'm glad you slapped me when you did, since that- that thing was just about to get me! Now please, just try and breathe."
Natsuki reluctantly obeyed, taking a few quick, deep, rasping breaths, which seemed to calm her down just enough to stop cursing herself any longer. Then, she leaned back enough in order to look at him, allowing him to see her tearstained face and quivering lips.
"W- what happened, MC?" She asked, her voice shaky as she tried to wipe her eyes with little success. "What 'thing' was just about to get you? What the fuck happened while I was gone?!"
"I… guess I must have fallen asleep, and had another Sleep Paralysis episode." MC said, instinctively going for the easy excuse he'd made up back during the Yuri encounter. "There was this red, butt-naked demon flying at me, telling me it was going to feast on my eyeballs and-"
"S- stop." Natsuki interrupted, and she gave him a look so fierce, it managed to break right through all the tears. "J- just stop. You wanna bullshit the others, fine, but don't. fucking. lie to me. Which one of them was it this time?!"
He hesitated for a fraction of a second, but one look at her hard stare was enough to tell him that he needed to come clean now, or else. Simple as that.
Why did I even try to hide it from Natsuki? He quietly asked himself. She's known from the very beginning.
"…You." He whispered, looking away from her in shame.
"…the one with the fucked up neck?" She clarified, sniffling a bit.
"…yeah." MC sighed and reflected back to several months ago, before any of this, before the Arrangement had even been put into conception. Back when the thought of him being in a relationship with anyone, let alone four girls, was little more than a nice, if not completely unrealistic daydream to fantasize about whenever he wasn't obsessively watching anime.
Back to the days that followed after he'd beat up Natsuki's abusive, piece of shit excuse for a dad, and in a dash of inspiration that he would never have thought himself capable of, actually managed to drive him away from the house under threat of telling the police what he'd been doing to his daughter all these years. By all means, this should have been a triumphant time!
Except… it hadn't been. Not entirely, anyway. While Natsuki had finally been freed from the clutches of her real father, she was still far from done being haunted by the version of him who'd give chase to her when the dark settled- in her dreams. She'd wake up screaming almost every single night, convinced that her Papa had returned to her once more, ready to abuse her again, with seemingly nothing being able to help her.
Nothing… except for him.
MC had started sleeping with her. NOT like he'd "slept" with Monika, but actually staying the night in bed by her side, just… keeping her company. Sometimes his mere presence was enough for her to get a full night's sleep, while other times… it wasn't. But in those cases where she'd still wake up screaming, at least he'd be able to be there for her, calm her down and reassure her that he wasn't going to let anything hurt her again. It was the least he could do after what she'd had to endure.
They'd kept up this kind of "Prototype-Arrangement" for quite a while, him staying with her or her staying with him throughout the nights, even keeping it up long after Natsuki's nightmares had subsided a bit, and the actual Arrangement had started. Even though it technically wasn't necessary to stay with each other anymore, it'd just… felt nice, and he thought he probably had those nights to thank for him and Natsuki becoming as close as they were now.
And then… the Sleep Paralysis had suddenly started, at first appearing to him approximately once a week, then escalating to every three days, before manifesting at a nightly basis. They'd just sort of stopped their ritual a little bit after that per his request, under the pretense that it was only a matter of time before the other girls became jealous of their nights together. Although it hadn't been before Natsuki, to his eternal regret, had gotten a pretty good idea of the kind of monsters he was dealing with.
"…I see." Natsuki said with a sigh, and leaned over to grab the mostly intact cupcake she'd left on the nightstand, which she then proceeded to hold close to his face.
Knowing she wasn't going to pull it away from him as a joke with the current atmosphere, he gratefully took a bite of her pastry, savoring the delicious sweetness filling up his tastebuds. Although the situation was certainly tense and unpleasant, there was very little that one of Natsuki's cupcakes wasn't able to improve at least somewhat.
"And I'm guessing the others probably had a part with the other two times we found you with your heart going berserk, right?" Natsuki asked quietly after he'd swallowed his second bite.
"Yep." MC sighed, knowing there was no point lying anymore, at least to her. "All three of them have visited during my stay here."
"Are they still doing what they used to? Just standing in the shadows, staring at you?"
"I wish." He shook his head. "No, Sayori's rope snapped, and she crawled into bed with me. Yuri's gotten… knife hands, and stabbed her heart out. This time, she didn't really get a chance to do much before you awoke me. You just kinda… ran at me."
Natsuki's whole body seemed to shiver at his recounting of the events.
"Don't… refer to that thing as me, please." She said, cringing in disgust. "Call it the 'fucking neck bitch' or something else like that, I don't want to be associated with it."
"I understand. Sorry."
"You promised to tell me if the nightmares got any worse, remember? Well, I'd say they sound pretty fucking worse now!"
"I know, I know, sorry! I really did have it under control before all of this, but ever since the Paralysis… it's like they've gotten stronger. More frequent, too."
"Jeez…" Natsuki sighed again, rubbing her temples in exasperation. "And what about our new sleeping arrangements? Hasn't that helped at all?"
"…yes." He admitted reluctantly, feeling embarrassed that the suggestion from Monika he'd been so strongly against, had actually worked like a charm. "So far, they haven't been able to attack me with another person in the room. But…"
He recalled the night a few days ago, remembering seeing the Nightmare standing right outside the door, even when he'd had Yuri by his side, and been awake.
"…I've been having a bit of trouble telling my dreams apart from reality lately." He admitted in a moment of weakness that he immediately regretted upon seeing the following look of alarm on Natsuki's face.
She crossed her arms.
"I think you should tell the other girls." She advised him, matter-of-factly. "This shit you're dealing with? It's not normal."
"I'm living in a million-dollar mansion, I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm in a relationship with four girls from my school." He summarized. "I don't even know what 'normal' is anymore, Natsuki. I can't tell the others, I can't… do that to them."
"'Do that to them?!'" She repeated, staring in disbelief. "You're the one being tormented!"
"You know what I mean." He dismissed her. "These nightmares… it doesn't exactly take a genius to realize what they're about. Obviously, they stem from memories of awful moments that… should be forgotten. The Literature Club is already stressed enough with this whole Paralysis thing, I'm not going to add to their burden by digging up legitimately painful memories just because 'oooh, spooky monsters!'"
"You're being really uncharitable towards the others right now." Natsuki argued, frowning. "Of course I think it sucks that you have this image of a beat up demon me in your head that's obviously inspired by what Papa did to me, but I can deal! And so can Sayori and Yuri, they're both so much stronger than you give them credit for!"
"That's not the matter here, of course I know how strong they are!" MC retorted. "Stronger than me, that's for sure! But telling them would still be adding unnecessary stress to their day-to-day lives, and I wanna avoid that by all means! Look, you guys went through actual, horrifying shit. Self-harm, parental abuse, depression and even a suicide attempt! And then there's me who struggled with none of those things, me, who just watched from the sidelines as it happened to you, and somehow I'm the one traumatized enough to have nightmares?! I'm nothing but a selfish, fucking asshole!"
"You're ridiculous, is what you are!" Natsuki snapped back. "Literally nobody on Earth thinks that about you. How can you be selfish after you helped us get past all our issues? Y'know, the whole reason we have this Arrangement in the first place?! Everyone in this house wants to help you, but we can't fucking do that unless you fucking talk to us!"
"And what's telling them going to help?" MC asked, surprising himself with his ability to keep up with Natsuki in an argument like this. He supposed he should consider himself lucky it wasn't Monika, who would have undoubtedly destroyed him verbally by now. "I'm talking to you about it now, and I don't think that's going to make the demons go away. Hell, I don't even want to think about these things if I can help it, so how do you think the others would feel if I brought them up?!"
"They'd be happy. Ecstatic! Over the flippin' moon at getting the chance to help you! Not to mention grateful that you would trust them enough to share your fears with them." Natsuki shot back, looking completely fired up.
"It's not about trust, of course I trust them!" MC exclaimed, frustrated that Natsuki still wasn't getting this. "But they've been through more than enough already, and these nightmares are entirely my problem, not theirs. As long as I keep them to myself, they won't affect the others."
"Oh my Goood!" Natsuki groaned in exhaustion, burying her face in her hands. "Why are all boys so fucking moronic?!"
MC couldn't help himself from feeling just a little bit triumphant. Although he hadn't managed to convince Natsuki of his viewpoint at all, her arguments had just devolved into insults and name-calling. This meant she'd run out of proper points to make, and they could finally move forward.
He'd actually "won" a battle of attrition against someone as stubborn as Nat. Who would've guessed?!
"Please, don't tell the others about this." He pleaded.
Natsuki raised her shoulders tensely, before lowering them again as she sighed. She raised her head from her hands, giving him a dour look.
"Come on, dude." She said. "I might not agree with what you're doing. In fact, I think it's one of the stupidest decisions you've ever made, but give me some credit here. I'm not a fucking snitch. Your secrets will always be safe with me."
"Thank you." He said, releasing a sigh of relief. In truth, he'd known she wouldn't tell on him. Beneath the rough exterior and blunt mannerisms, was the single most loyal girl he'd ever met. He was well aware she'd rather die than betray someone's trust.
Natsuki shook her head.
"Yeah, I don't think I should be thanked for allowing you to needlessly suffer when help is literally just around the corner. For the first time in my life, I'm actually hoping Monika eavesdropped on our conversation so she can jump in and set you straight."
She briefly glanced at the bedroom door, as if awaiting the Club President to jump into view, yelling "gotcha!"
When nobody came, she sighed.
"Figures."
"Sorry about this." MC said.
"Whatever, I suppose I'll just have to deal." Natsuki said, extending the cupcake again to allow him another bite. "…y'know, I'm actually glad to have sleeping duty with you tonight, now that I know the neck bitch is back. I think I'm gonna bring my baseball bat with me. I don't mind giving ugly monsters a taste of Papa's love."
Thanks for your review, Hunter. I had hoped it wouldn't be TOO obvious, but yeah, my Nightmare Yuri was DEFINITELY a 096 ripoff, lol.