DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 11: Reading Minds

"Okay! It's about that time again, so let's go ahead and get out of here. I'll see you all tomorrow." Monika said with a smile. Everyone got up from their desks and got ready to go.

"Alright! I gotta hurry home. See ya later, everyone!" Natsuki said, giving a quick wave to everyone before leaving the room.

"Thank you for another enjoyable meeting, Monika. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, everyone." Yuri said, looking at everyone briefly and smiling a little at Alex before exiting the room with her belongings.

"Hey, Monika, are you heading straight home?" Sayori asked curiously as she stood up.

"Yeahhh?" Monika answered slowly, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Okay! And you too, Alex?" She asked.

"Yeah...well, I gotta stop and get some food , but other than that, yeah." He answered.

"Ooh! Where are you going?" She asked curiously.

"Just gonna pick up some fast food." Alex answered with a shrug.

"Oh, can I come? Can I come?" Sayori asked excitedly, bouncing in place a little.

"Heheh, uh, sure. I don't mind." Alex said before glancing at Monika for a moment.

Monika looked back and forth between Alex and Sayori, took in a deep breath, and then smiled at him, "You two be careful out there. It's getting late." She said.

"Thanks, Monika. We'll see you tomorrow." Alex said.

"Bye, Monika! See you tomorrow!" Sayori waved to her. She ran up to Monika and gave her a quick hug before she left the room with Alex.

"See you tomorrow." Monika said again.

Alex and Sayori came out into the hallway. They pulled on their backpacks, and Sayori tightened the straps of hers before they started to exit the school. Sayori led the way down the stairs and out the front door.

"What were you thinking about getting today, Alex?" Sayori asked.

"I don't know. You got any preference?" He asked.

"Nope!"

"I was thinking a burger." Alex suggested with a shrug.

"Burger it is! There's a place in town that we can stop at really quick. It's not too far of a walk." She suggested.

"Yeah? You lead the way for me then." Alex said.

"Okay!" Sayori beamed. The two of them started to make their way away from the school and into town. Alex kept his hands in his pockets as they walked.

"So...how're you doing today?" Alex asked.

"I'm great! And you?"

"Doing good, doing good. Can't complain." He shrugged.

"Good! Hey, how's your writing going? I've noticed you've been looking very focused on your papers the last few club meetings. Are you working on something? Something big? Ooh! Is it something dramatic? Or a big 'I love you' confession?!" She asked.

"Heheh, no, nothing like that. I'm not that kind of a writer." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Well what are you working on?" Sayori asked curiously.

"I'm...working on a superhero story." He answered quietly, looking away.

"Oh yeah?! Cool! What superpowers do you have?" She asked next.

"I don't have any superpowers." Alex answered jokingly.

"In the story, silly!" Sayori clarified with a laugh.

"I know, haha. Well, my main character has super speed. So he runs really fast and he has enhanced reflexes - you know, because of the super speed?" Alex explained simply.

"That sounds like fun! If I had super speed, I'd never be late for a club meeting." Sayori laughed. Alex chuckled and shook his head.

"Yeah, true. And you could get burgers a lot faster." Alex added.

"Yeah, exactly!" Sayori giggled.

"Heheh, if you could have any superpower, what would you choose?" Alex asked.

"Hmm," Sayori thought about this, tapping a finger on her jaw. After a few seconds, her face lit up. "Oh that's easy! Reading minds!"

"Reading minds? Really? Not like flying or super strength or something?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ooh, flying would be fun...but nope! Reading minds. That way, I can see what people are thinking. I'll know if there's something wrong with my friends, or if I'm doing something wrong and annoying people. Heheh." Sayori chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. Alex nodded in understanding.

"Yeah...oh yeah, that's way more useful! Then no one would be able to like lie to you or anything." Alex realized. He'd never thought about reading minds like that before.

"That's also true! I hate it when people can't be honest with me. It's so mean!" Sayori griped.

"Yeah, you're telling me." He agreed with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh? Have you been dealing with that lately? I'm sorry." Sayori quickly said.

"It's alright. People suck. It happens all the time." Alex shrugged.

"Yeah. But we're people too." Sayori pointed out.

"True, so I guess we also suck." Alex joked with a chuckle.

"Aww! I suck?"

"Nah, you don't suck, Sayori. You're alright."

"Yay!" Sayori giggled. Alex laughed at this.

"Yeah. But yeah, reading minds would be cool. I'm not always the best at being able to tell what people are thinking or how they feel about me, so that would be helpful. Saves a lot of struggle too. If they don't like you, you know not to bother them again." He continued.

"Yeah...but then I'd wanna know why they don't like me, you know?" Sayori said.

"Yeah, true. It'd be hard not to wanna listen in and figure it out." Alex agreed.

"You know, maybe I'll have to think about the whole reading minds thing some more. It sounds more like you're invading someone's privacy now." Sayori chuckled again.

"Maybe a little, but that's okay. Besides, then you could also read the minds of people who like you and see why they like you. It doesn't have to all be negative." He pointed out.

"Aww that would make me happy!" Sayori smiled. She pressed her fingers to her temples, turning towards Alex and making a buzzing sound with her lips. "Bzzz, scanning your thoughts." She said in a robotic voice.

"Does the superpower make you a robot?" Alex joked before tilting his head towards her. "Do you hear anything?" He asked. Sayori giggled and pretended to scan him again.

"I'm not hearing anything! You must have tight security in there!" Sayori laughed.

"Heheh, nah, there's just nothing going on in here." Alex joked in response...