(Monday, 6:00AM; House; Akihito's PoV)

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Another Monday, another week of school. Luckily, next week is winter break. Unluckily, this week is finals, and we all know how that goes. Over the weekend, I learned that Mom is leaving this Friday. So, I spent the weekend with her. I told Monika beforehand about it, and she was completely fine with it. We'll be spending winter break together anyway, so it's fine. I get up from my bed and do my daily morning routine. Heading down, I can smell Mom's cooking.

Aki: "Good morning, Mom."

Akira: "Good morning, Aki! I made some eggs and bacon for breakfast."

Aki: "Alright."

I sit down at the dining table and wait for my breakfast.

Akira: "Alrighty, breakfast is served!"

Aki: "This looks amazing! Thanks, Mom!"

Akira: "Anything for my sweet child."

I start eating my breakfast. Mom's cooking tastes just as good as it always has been.

Aki: "Hey, Mom? Can I ask you something?"

Akira: "Sure!"

Aki: "What're you gonna do while I'm at school?"

Akira: "Oh, I'll probably be doing some work from home, watching TV, sleeping, that kind of stuff. Why do you ask?"

Aki: "Just curious, that's all."

I finish my breakfast and put my plate in the sink. Dammit, I'm getting chest pain again. I guess with Mom coming home I forgot to take some Tylenol. I'll take some now before heading to school.

Aki: "Hey Mom?"

Akira: "What is it honey?"

Aki: "Can I have some Tylenol?"

Akira: "What for?"

Aki: "I'm having some chest pain."

Akira: "Oh no! When did it start?"

Aki: "It started last night when I was heading back home with Monika. I was gonna take it last night, but I forgot."

Akira: "Is it serious? Do you need to go to a hospital or anything?"

Aki: "It's not that serious Mom. I'll just have some Tylenol, that should help it."

Akira: "Okay… I'll get it for you."

Aki: "Thanks Mom."

I pack my bag while Mom gets the Tylenol.

Akira: "Here you go."

Mom hands me a pill and a glass of water. I take the water and Tylenol, and hand back the empty glass to Mom.

Akira: "If anything happens, call me and I will pick you up from school. Okay?"

I walk up to the door and open it.

Aki: "Will do Mom. See you later."

Akira: "Bye Aki!"

Just before I close the door, I hear Sayori's voice.

Sayori: "Aki? Who were you saying bye to?"

Aki: "Oh! Mom came home for vacation. You wanna talk with her?"

Sayori: "Sure! I think we have a few minutes before school starts."

We both head inside, and I close the door.

Aki: "Hey Mom?"

Akira: "What is it Aki?"

Aki: "We have a visitor."

Akira: "Who is it?"

Sayori: "Hi Mrs. Yamada!"

Akira: "Sayori? Oh my gosh it's been so long since I've seen you! How've you been?"

Sayori: "I'm doing great!"

Akira: "Are you taking good care of Aki?"

Aki: "Mooom…"

Sayori: "Ehe, yes I am! We've been catching up ever since he joined the club!"

Akira: "That's good to hear! Well, I won't keep you guys long, you guys head to school."

Sayori: "If you'd like, I can come over here after school so we can catch up more!"

Akira: "That would be lovely!"

Sayori: "Okay! Aki and I walk home everyday after the club, so I'll definitely stop by!"

Akira: "That's good to hear! Alright you two, head off to school now."

Aki: "Bye Mom."

Sayori: "Bye Mrs. Yamada!"

Akira: "Bye you two. Have fun!"

I close the door and head to school with Sayori. We talk about what we did on the weekend, and I try so hard to not tell Sayori that I'm dating Monika. I don't know when we plan to tell the others, but it's not going to be anytime soon. We eventually arrive at school, and part ways to our classes.

(Monday, 4:00PM; House; Akihito's PoV)

Another day of school finished, now to head to the club. Upon arriving at the club, I notice everyone but Monika is here.

Aki: "Huh. That's weird."

Natsuki: "What is?"

Aki: "Monika hasn't arrived yet. Since she's the club president, she's supposed to be one of the first ones here."

Natsuki: "She's probably talking with her boyfriend or something. Considering how popular she is, she's bound to have one."

Now, that's partially true. She's right about Monika having a boyfriend, but she clearly isn't talking with him right now.

Aki: "I doubt that's the case."

Natsuki: "And how would you know that?"

Aki: "Because-"

Before I can say anything, the door bursts open.

Monika: "SORRY I'M LATE!"

Natsuki: "Jeez, calm down."

Monika: "Sorry about that. I'm here now! Did I miss anything?"

Aki: "Not much, we were just talking about where you might've been."

Monika: "Oh, that's not important…"

Aki: "Really? The least you can do is at least tell us why you were tardy."

Monika: "Alright alright, I was practicing piano in the music room."

Yuri: "You play piano, Monika?"

Monika: "Well, I just started. I thought I would try something new."

Natsuki: "Well, just don't be late again."

Monika: "I promise I won't!"

Natsuki: "Whatever, I'm heading to my spot."

Monika: "And where would that be?"

Natsuki: "The closet, duh. That's where I keep my manga."

Monika: "Okay then…"

Natsuki heads off to the closet, and everyone does their usual stuff. Yuri is in a corner reading a book, and Sayori is at a desk doodling on a piece of paper. I guess I can talk with Monika for a bit.

Monika: "Hey Aki! What's up?"

Aki: "Hey-"

Natsuki: "MONIKA!"

Monika rushes to the closet to see what's wrong. I follow behind her, only because I have nothing else to do.

Monika: "What's the problem Natsuki?"

Natsuki: "You're the problem here!"

Aki: "Wait what? How is she the problem?"

Natsuki: "Our club president over here keeps moving my manga collection to places I can't even reach!"

Monika: "Natsuki, I keep telling you, the teacher who uses this classroom keeps telling me to move it!"

Natsuki: "Whatever."

Monika: "You want me to grab it for you?"

Natsuki: "No, I can do it myself."

Monika: "Okay then… I'll leave you be."

Monika and I head back to the teacher's desk. Shortly after we head there, Natsuki comes up and takes the teacher's chair.

Monika: "What're you doing with that?"

Natsuki: "What do you think? I'm trying to get my manga. This is the only chair that I can use to reach the top shelf, since the other ones are connected to the desks."

Monika: "Okay… be careful."

Monika's right about that. This is an office chair, which means it rotates. One wrong move and you come crashing down. Natsuki doesn't say anything and just takes the chair with her.

Aki: "So... where were we?"

Monika: "Nowhere actually. We never got to start since Natsuki interrupted us."

Aki: "Yeah, does she do that a lot?"

Monika: "Well, not that much, but-"

Natsuki: "AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

THUD

What the fuck?!

Monika: "NATSUKI!"

We all rush towards the closet. Natsuki is lying on the floor, crying profusely. She seems to have landed on her arm. Monika kneels down to check on Natsuki. She first sits her upright, and then she begins to roll up Natsuki's sleeve.

Natsuki: "No... don't do that..."

Monika: "Natsuki, I need to check to make sure your arm is okay."

Natsuki tries to get out of Monika's grasp, but Monika isn't budging. She rolls up Natsuki's sleeve completely and-

HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT?! THAT IS NOT NATURAL!

Monika: "Oh my god... that's it. I am taking you to the nurse right now. Aki, help me carry Natsuki."

Aki: "On it."

I proceed to pick up Natsuki, and we both rush her to the nurse. Natsuki is flailing around, but I try my best to keep carrying her. She is really light, so it's not hard to control her flailing so I don't drop her.

We eventually reach the nurse's office, and Monika tells the nurse what happened. She tells me to put Natsuki on the bed. The nurse then tells us to wait outside her office. We both comply and wait outside.

Monika: "That... was scary..."

Aki: "Something seems… fishy."

Monika: "What's wrong?"

Aki: "Natsuki simply fell off the chair, right?"

Monika: "Yeah...?"

Aki: "And it wasn't that high of a fall, but her bruises were very severe."

Monika: "I noticed that too..."

Aki: "She had to have had those bruises beforehand."

Monika: "How can you be so sure that she had those bruises before?"

Aki: "Think about it. She landed right on her bruises, which made her cry a lot. A small fall like that normally doesn't induce that much pain, but landing on bruises does."

Monika: "That still doesn't prove anything though. She still could have gotten them from the fall."

Aki: "That brings me to my second point. When you were trying to roll up her sleeve, she was resisting."

Monika: "That is true..."

Aki: "So not only that means that she had those bruises before, but there's also a certain reason she has them."

Monika: "What would that reason be?"

Aki: "I'm not sure, but she wants to hide that reason. Which means it's something serious."

Monika: "Oh dear..."

Aki: "We'll find out later, for now, let's just focus on helping Natsuki at the moment."

Monika: "Well, there's not much we can do there. The nurse is helping her right now. I'll talk with her tomorrow and see if I can get any details, okay?"

Aki: "That'd be great."

Shortly after, Natsuki comes out with the nurse. It's clearly visible that the nurse put some bandages on Natsuki.

Nurse: "May I speak with you two privately for a minute?"

Aki: "Uh, okay."

Nurse: "Thank you. Natsuki, you can sit on that bench right there. I'll send your friends out in a minute."

Natsuki doesn't say anything and just sits at the bench. Monika and I head inside the nurses office.

Monika: "Is everything alright nurse?"

Nurse: "She's fine for now, but there's something about her bruises that doesn't match her story."

Monika: "What did she say?"

Nurse: "She said that she was standing on a chair and fell from it. Is that true?"

Monika: "Yes, that's true."

Nurse: "Really? Her bruises seem more severe than a simple fall."

Monika: "Well-"

Aki: "I have an explanation for that."

Nurse: "And what would that be?"

Aki: "I believe that she had those bruises beforehand. I do not know the cause of them yet."

Nurse: "That... seems reasonable... well I won't keep you two any longer. You guys can go back to your club."

Monika: "Thank you, have a good day."

We both head out of the nurses office. Natsuki is sitting on a bench, looking down and clutching her arm.

Monika: "Come on Natsuki, let's go."

Natsuki gets up without saying a word. I decide to not bring up how she got the bruises now. Judging by the look of Monika's face, she has the same idea. We walk to the clubroom in silence. Once we reach there, Monika makes an announcement.

Monika: "Okay everyone, I think we'll end the meeting here. See you guys tomorrow."

Everyone wordlessly packs up their bags. Natsuki is the first one to leave, shortly followed by Yuri. Sayori and I say bye to Monika, who simply waves back. I'll have to find out about Natsuki's bruises tomorrow.