(Friday, 4:00PM; Mall; Natsuki's PoV)
We all finish bowling, and do some window shopping. We're all having a great time, until I see a familiar person. Wait, is that… oh no. Dad's here. I stop dead in my tracks, I can't be seen with Aki around! Who knows what'll happen!
Natsuki: "Oh no… this is bad…"
Aki: "Natsuki? What's wrong?"
Natsuki: "He's here…"
Aki: "What do you mean?"
Natsuki: "MY DAD'S HERE GODDAMMIT!"
Aki: "Oh shit, we need to do something, now."
Wait, how does he know that something bad will happen? I only told Monika about my father. Okay, that doesn't matter right now. I could potentially die literally is Aki doesn't leave, right. Fucking. Now.
Natsuki: "Quick, you need to go somewhere else. I don't want my dad to see me with a boy. I only told him I'm coming here with girls."
Aki: "Got it. Monika?"
Monika: "Yes?"
Aki: "Message me if anything happens."
Monika: "Got it. Now, get away from here!"
Aki leaves the group and heads to a nearby store. Probably to see what happens from a distance. I don't think he'll be able to hear what happens, but he'll definitely see the shit that's about to go down. Dad spots me, and head's towards me and the rest of the club.
Dad: "Natsuki? What are you doing here?"
Natsuki: "I'm… just… with some friends…"
Dad: "I see. Who are these friends?"
Natsuki: "They're… in the Literature Club that I'm in…'
Dad: "I see. Well, let's go home. You've had enough fun."
Natsuki: "B-but you said I had to be home by 5!"
Dad: "Are you talking back to me? You know I don't like it when you talk back."
Natsuki: "N-no…"
Dad: "That's what I thought. Now, come. We're going home."
Natsuki: "B-but… I want to stay!"
Dad: "Are you disobeying me?"
Natsuki: "N-no…"
Dad: "That's what I thought. These friends of yours are giving you a bad influence. It seems they're making you rebellious against me. You're no longer spending time with them. Understood?"
Monika: "But sir-"
Dad: "I'm sorry, did I ask you to speak?"
Monika immediately stops speaking and stays silent.
Dad: "Come. We're going home."
Dad practically drags me out of the mall. He then drags me into his car, and we start driving home.
Dad: "You know you're not supposed to talk back to your father. And disobey me. I'm going to teach you a lesson once we get home."
Oh no. That can only mean one thing…
(Friday, 4:00PM; Mall; Akihito's PoV)
I head to a nearby store as instructed by both Monika and Natsuki. From the store, I can see what's happening, but I can't hear what anyone is saying. I see Natsuki's father walk up to the club members. This is the first time I've seen her father, and he doesn't look very pleasant. He talks with Natsuki for a few minutes, then grabs her.
Just before he's about to leave, Monika tries saying something, but is stopped by Natsuki's father. He then drags Natsuki out of the mall. Once they both leave, Monika looks at me, and gives me a signal to come back to the group. I head out of the store, and head back.
Aki: "I assume Natsuki's father took her back home?"
Monika: "Yep."
Aki: "Tell me exactly what happened. Give me all the details."
Monika then tells me all the things that happened, including all the things Natsuki's father said. Apparently Natsuki was given permission to stay until 5, but her father came for some reason and took her home, claiming that she had enough fun.
Aki: "Damn… well there's one good thing. Now we know what he looks like, so that's some good information. What's the next step in the plan?"
Yuri: "Um, a question if I may."
Aki: "Oh, what's up Yuri?"
Yuri: "What is this 'plan' thing you are talking about?"
Aki: "Oh, Monika hasn't told you anything?"
Monika: "No, I totally forgot to fill you in. You can explain if you want, Aki."
Aki: "Sure thing. Yuri, you remember the day when Natsuki fell from the closet?"
Yuri: "Yes, I am aware."
Aki: "Did you see any large bruises on her arm? Specifically the one that she fell on."
Yuri: "I do recall seeing some severe bruises, but those were just from her fall, correct?"
Aki: "That's what a person would think at first glance. But think about it, she only fell from a chair which wasn't that high from the ground. So really, she shouldn't have any bruises at all."
Yuri: "But she was crying a lot, that means that she must have been severely hurt, right?"
Aki: "That is true, but to an extent."
Yuri: "What do you mean?"
Aki: "If you were to fall from a chair, it wouldn't hurt a lot, right?"
Yuri: "That is true."
Aki: "So it wouldn't inflict that much pain. But landing on a bruise that was already there would. Based on how much she was crying, she was in a lot of pain, and she just so happened to land on her bruises."
Yuri: "Okay… that makes sense."
Aki: "Furthermore-"
Monika: "You're trying to add words to make this longer, aren't you?"
Aki: "W-what? No I'm not! I'm just explaining!"
Monika: "An explanation wouldn't take this long. Either shorten it down, or I'll explain it shortly."
Aki: "But-"
Monika: "No buts. Shorten it, or I explain. Your choice."
Aki: "...fine. I'll shorten it down."
Monika: "Good."
Aki: "Basically we found Natsuki's bruises, I had a feeling that she had those before, Monika spoke with her yesterday, we found out that her father abuses her, and I told Sayori all about it."
Monika: "Thank you! That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Aki: "...no."
Yuri: "So, it is confirmed that Natsuki's father abuses her?"
Monika: "Yes, she directly told me. And it didn't seem like she was lying."
Yuri: "Okay… so what do you plan on doing?"
Aki: "What do you mean?"
Yuri: "To stop Natsuki's father."
Aki: "Oh! I uh… uh… I haven't thought that far yet…"
Monika: "Yeah… we just found out about all this, so we never had a chance to think ahead."
Aki: "Monika, do you happen to know how old Natsuki is?"
Monika: "Well, she's one grade below us so… 17?"
Aki: "Perfect. I have an idea."
Monika: "What is it?"
Aki: "This is going to sound super weird and extreme, but it's the only thing I can think of."
Monika: "I'm listening…"
Aki: "We… gather evidence of Natsuki's father abusing Natsuki and… report him to the police for child abuse."
Monika: "Are you crazy?!"
Monika then proceeds to slap me in the face. That's… the first time I've ever been slapped by someone who isn't my parents…
Sayori and Yuri look at the both of us, with a shocked look on their faces. They can't believe what they just saw. I would understand because Monika and I are dating, but they still think we're just friends. And friends normally don't slap each other.
Sayori: "D-did you just…"
Monika: "You're damn right I did. What the hell are you thinking Aki?!"
Aki: "Let's see you come up with a better solution!"
Monika: "Oh I don't know, maybe something where we don't send Natsuki's father to jail!"
Aki: "What else are we supposed to do?! We can't just go up to him and say 'Hey there! Can you maybe not abuse our friend here?'"
Monika: "Would you like it if someone else sent your father to jail?!"
Aki: "YES. I. FUCKING. WOULD."
All three of the girls look at me stunned. I don't think I've ever been this angry around them. But if Monika thinks she can just bring up my father like that, she's dead wrong.
Aki: "I'm sorry, but I'm done with this bullshit. Goodbye."
I then leave the mall and head home.
(Friday, 4:10PM; Mall; Monika's PoV)
Once Natsuki is dragged out of the mall by her dad, I look over to where Aki is. I then signal for him to come over.
Aki: "I assume Natsuki's father took her back home?"
Monika: "Yep."
Aki: "Tell me exactly what happened. Give me all the details."
I then tell him everything that happened while Natsuki's father was here.
Aki: "Damn… well there's one good thing. Now we know what he looks like, so that's some good information. What's the next step in the plan?"
Yuri: "Um, a question if I may."
Aki: "Oh, what's up Yuri?"
Yuri: "What is this 'plan' thing you are talking about?"
Aki: "Oh, Monika hasn't told you anything?"
Oh right, I totally forgot Yuri doesn't know anything about all this.
Monika: "No, I totally forgot to fill you in. You can explain if you want, Aki."
Aki: "Sure thing."
He then starts to explain to Yuri about Natsuki's father, but very slowly.
Monika: "You're trying to add words to make this longer, aren't you?"
Aki: "W-what? No I'm not! I'm just explaining!"
Monika: "An explanation wouldn't take this long. Either shorten it down, or I'll explain it shortly."
Aki: "But-"
Monika: "No buts. Shorten it, or I explain. Your choice."
Aki: "...fine. I'll shorten it down."
Monika: "Good."
He then explains super quickly. Much better.
Yuri: "So... what do you plan on doing?"
Aki: "What do you mean?"
Yuri: "To stop Natsuki's father."
Aki: "Oh! I uh… uh… I haven't thought that far yet…"
Monika: "Yeah… we just found out about all this, so we never had a chance to think ahead."
Aki: "Monika, do you happen to know how old Natsuki is?"
That's… a weird question to ask...
Monika: "Well, she's one grade below us so… 17?"
We've never really talked about our ages and things like that, so I wouldn't know for sure.
Aki: "Perfect. I have an idea."
Monika: "What is it?"
Aki: "This is going to sound super weird and extreme, but it's the only thing I can think of."
Monika: "I'm listening…"
Aki: "We… gather evidence of Natsuki's father abusing Natsuki and… report him to the police for child abuse."
Monika: "Are you crazy?!"
I proceed to slap Aki in the face. Sayori and Yuri look at us with a shocked expression.
Sayori: "D-did you just…"
Monika: "You're damn right I did. What the hell are you thinking Aki?!"
Aki: "Let's see you come up with a better solution!"
Monika: "Oh I don't know, maybe something where we don't send Natsuki's father to jail!"
Aki: "What else are we supposed to do?! We can't just go up to him and say 'Hey there! Can you maybe not abuse our friend here?'"
Monika: "Would you like it if someone else sent your father to jail?!"
Aki: "YES. I. FUCKING. WOULD."
H-huh? Me and the other girls look at Aki, stunned. We've never seen him this angry. In fact, we've never seen him angry at all.
Aki: "I'm sorry, but I'm done with this bullshit. Goodbye."
He then storms out of the mall. At that moment, I realized what I said. I fall to my knees and break into tears.
Sayori: "Monika?! What's wrong?!"
Monika: "I… I shouldn't have said that…"
Yuri: "Said what?"
Monika: "About his father…"
Sayori: "Oh no…"
Yuri: "Does Aki not like his father?"
I can't speak anymore, hopefully Sayori will explain. She's been very close to Aki, she should know about it.
Sayori: "He… doesn't have a good relationship with his father. Let's leave it at that. Sorry Yuri."
Yuri: "It's understandable. Talking about these things is hard to do."
Sayori: "Thanks. Now, let's get Monika home. I'll get a taxi or something."
Monika: "No… I can walk…"
Sayori: "Monika, please listen to me. You're not in a good state of mind. You won't be able to walk properly, so I'm getting a taxi."
Monika: "O-okay…"
Sayori: "Come on. Let's go."
We all get up. Sayori and Yuri carry me on their shoulders to prevent me from walking. Sayori eventually gets a taxi, and we all head in.
As we're driving, I slowly recover. I need to apologize to Aki.
Monika: "Excuse me? I need to get off at a stop."
Sayori: "What are you doing?!"
Monika: "I need to apologize, I'm going to Aki's house."
Driver: "What's the address?"
I tell the driver that I can get off at Sayori's stop.
Monika: "Please drop me there, and then take this lady to her place safely."
Sayori: "But-"
Monika: "Sayori, please. I need to do this."
Sayori: "Okay..."
Monika: "Thank you."
I then pull out my purse, and take out some money.
Monika: "Here, take it. You can pay for your trip, Yuri."
Yuri: "M-Monika! That's a lot of money!"
Monika: "Yuri, it's fine. I come from a wealthy family, so this won't impact me at all."
Yuri: "A-are you absolutely sure?"
Monika: "I insist. If there's any extra money, keep it."
Yuri: "W-what?!"
Monika: "I'm not going back on my word."
Yuri: "Okay…"
The taxi reaches Aki's house. I get out of the taxi and pay for my trip. I then head up to the front door and knock. Hopefully he will accept my apology.