I think I now have a good enough understanding of what I want to do here. The only problem that remains is handling passage of time and writing people correctly.
With story statistics back, I can now tell that this is doing relatively fine.
It's been so long since Sayori got up this early in the morning and wasn't horribly late to school.
Combined with how late she fell asleep, the poor girl is now having a hard time staying awake. She tries hiding it as much as she can though she still lets loose an occasional yawn.
Monika choosing to accompany her was unexpected and Sayori's conflicted on it. On one hand, this means she'll learn more about how poorly her life is going and Sayori would rather have her focus on something better. On the other hand, she missed the feeling of having some company even if Monika isn't physically present.
"Sssooooo...Got anything on your mind?" - Monika asks, breaking the silence. There's a bit of static in her voice, but it's not too distracting.
"How are you doing all of this anyway? - Sayori responds with a question of her own, making sure to keep her voice down just in case.
"To be honest, I have no idea. It all feels very natural, like breathing, but I can't put it into words," - she replies.
"I think it's pretty cool, almost like magic!"
"You might be overselling it a little...I guess it is magic...Is it? Yuri definitely can tell you if there's a difference if you just ask her, she's really into this kind of stuff as you should know by now."
"Hmmm...Can you leave the game? I mean, like, uh, enter the real world or something?"
"I've never tried before, but I think I'll stay like this for now. I don't know what will happen if I try."
"Awwww..."
Being a more physical person, Sayori wishes she could interact with the literature club directly rather than through the screen. She feels a little too distant and helpless like this.
A light bulb goes off inside her head.
"Ah, Monika! Can you do that dream thing again?" - Sayori asks, almost bumping into someone.
"...Oh, that. I guess I can try, but remember that you need to sleep well! I'll cut it short if needed."
Sayori is not sure if she'll be able to make use of it. She wants to ensure it won't upset anyone first, but with only Monika around, that will have to wait until she's back home. The last thing she wants is to have her selfishness ruin everything again.
"Why are you in a game like that anyway?"
A sudden weird noise causes Sayori to immediately pull her phone out of the pocket and look at the screen. Blood sprays from Monika's neck like an infernal geyser, somehow strong enough to even push her a little, and she tries burying her equally red face in her hands, then the screen glitches out and Sayori loses sight of the club president.
"I-I-I have no idea, hahaha! Maybe it just...works like that? I rea- Hey, did you do your homework?" - Monika asks in a hurry, blatantly trying to change topics. Unfortunately, she chooses a bad one.
"Ehehe...I forgot about it?" - Sayori lies. At least it's fairly reasonable with her clumsy nature and how busy yesterday was.
In truth, she hasn't bothered doing homework for a very long time. She hasn't put much of an effort into studying in general. Coming late, skipping classes or whole days, remaining silent when she's actually present, she simply doesn't see any point in trying. Sayori's not smart enough and no amount of studying will fix that. Even if she graduates, she won't get any less worthless.
Everyone has already given up on her (as they should have).
But with Monika around, she'll have to try. It won't actually change anything, but she'll worry too much otherwise. She's already doing too much of that.
"Gosh, you really need...I'll make sure to remind you from now on. I can help you with it if you want too!" - Monika offers. She's back to her confident self.
"No no, I...I guess that would be nice?" - Sayori responds, changing her mind once she thinks a little more about it. It could be useful beyond slacking off.
"I'm a model student, you know? I should be able to handle anything."
"I believe you, really!"
"...You've mentioned your friend before...Can you tell me more about him? Only if that's okay with you!"
Sayori thinks about whether she should tell her anything and how much, but ultimately decides that there's no harm in doing so. Monika patiently listens to her both reminisce and vent about him, asking very few questions for clarification. Unable to see or hear her, Sayori can't tell what she thinks of him or her relation to him.
She reaches her destination before she can start jumping to conclusions about the lack of response, which also happens to distract her enough to forget about the topic for now since she has to briefly cut off communications with Monika.
Unfortunately, since she's still around, Sayori has to be more active in classes, which doesn't go unnoticed for everyone else. At least they don't ask too many questions about that.
But it doesn't stop there. It takes her some time to notice, but it gets really cold in the classrooms, sometimes enough for her breath to become visible. Sometimes, lights start flickering and at least a few light bulbs outright burst in her presence. Sayori even notices some people outright avoid her and some give her an odd look rather than ignore like they usually do.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Monika is somehow responsible for it and so she waits until she has an opportunity to ask her.
"Um, Monika? Are you doing all of this?"
"Probably. I can assure you it's not intentional. Maybe I shouldn't have come with you..." - she replies, the static becoming even more noticeable. Another light bulb pops somewhere, startling Sayori.
"I-It's okay, you didn't know this would happen! Besides, it's more fun when you're with me!" - Sayori says quietly. When she notices that lights stop flickering, she realizes what's going on. "Monika, is something bothering you?"
"N-No, I'm fine, I was just thinking about...Nevermind, you should probably hurry before the bell rings!"
While things got better afterwards, Sayori can't help thinking about what could be troubling Monika. Everything was fine back home and on her way to school, so, what's different now? Asking her directly probably wouldn't work. Maybe she'll be more willing to tell her later?
With her classes over, she heads to the exit, but then stops and walks up to a vending machine instead. She pulls out her coin purse and looks inside it, rummaging its contents (for way longer than needed). Unable to find any money, she sighs (way louder than needed) and her shoulders slump.
"Oh no..." - Sayori whines, then sighs again. She looks absolutely miserable now. When her phone starts vibrating, she puts on earphones.
"Sayori, is everything alright?" - Monika asks, clearly worried.
"Monikaaaaa, I forgot to take some money with me, but now I'm hungry...Hey, can you, like, pull something out for me? Please?" - Sayori pleads. She hears a sigh in response.
"I know we talked about magic and all that, but I'm a ghost, not a wizard."
"But-"
"No. Dead or not, I don't think I should be doing something like that anyway."
"Awwww..."
When Sayori is back home, the first thing she notices is that her laptop no longer displays Satori's house. It's back at the literature club with both Natsuki and Yuri visible and, thankfully, still looking normal.
"Thank god you're still alive. Did Monika give you shit today?" - Natsuki immediately asks with arms crossed over her chest.
"Natsuki, please stop saying things like that," - Monika says, suddenly appearing uncomfortably close to Natsuki and scaring her badly enough for the smaller girl to get flung offscreen. Sayori looks at her phone and finds her missing. "I haven't mentioned it, but I can switch between your phone and laptop whenever I want. Don't think I'm gone entirely just because you can't see me."
"That's convenient," - Yuri mumbles, but otherwise chooses not to comment and walks offscreen, probably to help her friend. Said friend says something, but Sayori can't make it out clearly and Monika doesn't acknowledge it beyond briefly glancing in her direction.
"Well, I'll leave you be for now, there's something I need to do. Let me know if you need me!" - Monika says before vanishing.
Once Natsuki is back on her feet and visible again, Yuri clears her throat.
"I...I think I found something, but...I'm not sure how helpful it will be. I might need some tea before we can begin. I wish I could share with you, but I'm afraid that's not possible."