A/N: Should I be starting another fic when I already have so many I need to update? No. am I doing it anyway? Yes.

Before you read this, you should know a few things. The relationship that'll form between the dokis is a poly affectionate (like polyamory but not romantic) queerplatonic relationship. This is because I am aroace and romance repulsed, and I dislike writing romance.

Speaking of the girls, their identities here are not necessarily headcanons, but things I would like to play with, so it's what you're getting. I will list them here in case that keeps you from reading.

Monika: Cis female, she/her pronouns, pan oriented aroace (experiences esthetic, sensual, can't tell the difference between QP and platonic attraction but eventually wants to commit to the club fully if you know what I mean)

Sayori: Cis female, she/her pronouns, alloaro (because we need more aro representation of characters that aren't emotionless robots and more alloaro representation who aren't heartless players) sexually attracted to men (though there will be no sex in this fic because I would rather not write that either.)

Natsuki: Cis female, she/her pronouns, ace lesbian but experiences other attractions too.

Yuri: Gender non-conforming and pronoun non-conforming cis female, eventual use of she/they pronouns (this is my gender identity and Yuri is who I choose to project it onto), aegosexual and aegoromantic/lithromantic.

MC: Cis male, he/him pronouns, straight as a board. (This isn't a bad thing, I have nothing against Cishet people.)

At the beginning of the fic, Monika is the only one who has her identity figured out. The rest will discover it as side plots. So if you all are still with me, let's do this!

Ive had had a long day. He had been tasked to put the finishing touches on VM1, but he was so exhausted from his long day's work that he could barely make out what was on his screen. I guess I'll just make sure the most important setting is in place before I get out of here and hit the hay. He decides. I'm too pooped to do anything else. Screw the others if they got issues with it!

~Give elevated permissions to?~

~ALL~

~MONIKA~

~NATSUKI~

~SAYORI~

~YURI~

Ive really was tired. If he wasn't, he would have realized that he had moved the mouse a little higher than he should have, and clicked the wrong option. He would defend himself later by exclaiming 'the options were right next to each other!' and 'why do we even have that option?' But he was completely unaware of it at present, so he didn't care.

Monika found herself trapped once again in that terrible, screaming void, If it wasn't for the code stringing behind her eyes, she would've gone mad by now. She was currently working on the biggest project of her life, a way to access the code from outside the void, when the game was active. With this, the world would be hers to manipulate. She didn't intend to do much with this, don't get her wrong, but it would be nice if she could make the air a little less biting on cold mornings, keep her food from getting cold or going bad, and other things like that. When one lives in a world where one is the only real person, one has to make the most of it.

It was late, probably 3:00 AM, maybe even 4:00. Natsuki wasn't keeping track. She was rereading her favorite chapter of Parfait Girls as she anticipated the new release sometime tomorrow. She'd have to wait until after school to get her hands on it, but the excitement of it was keeping her awake.

Natsuki turned the page, doing a double take. She must be more tired than she thought, because the page was blank. As white as a sheet of printer paper. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, looking back. It was the same, still blank.

Did Papa do something? She wondered. Her father did disapprove of her manga reading, but he never kept her from doing it, and certainly never tampered with any of her belongings. Feeling increasingly confused and upset, she flipped to the previous page, and froze. It was blank, too.

"Ah!" Natsuki shrieked, tossing the manga across the room. It hit the wall with a quiet thump.

Natsuki clutched at her temples, her breathing becoming erratic. She knew she might be overreacting a bit, but this was really freaking her out. That page hadn't been blank before, it hadn't! It hadn't! None of them had! Her heart pounded in her ears, which began to ring as she desperately thought back.

She was reading Parfait Girls. A wholesome manga about girls who ran a bakery and…

She had been reading it since the release. She was currently on chapter number…

Her favorite character was Minori. Minori was… well, she was a girl, and…

I can't remember!

Natsuki gasped as a loud cracking noise seemed to reverberate through the entire world, and her room seemed to warp. No, glitch. Natsuki started trembling, harsh gasps wracking through her throat. No! No! NO! No! Her mind works on overdrive, thoughts overlapping. She couldn't keep track. Is this a nightmare? It… has to be! This can't be real, there's no way this can be real! We—I'm not in a game!

But everything around her was intent on proving otherwise.

Yuri's epiphany was much less dramatic. One would think it'd be more so, given her personality and interests, but it wasn't.

It was small things she seemed to notice (or not notice) day by day. The way, she couldn't seem to recall what she had just read. The way grass seemed to grow far too perfectly. The way a cut healed or stayed longer than it should have.

Yuri didn't intend to mention this, though. She had more ammunition than she would ever need for people to call her crazy already, thank you very much. If someone else mentioned it, that may change, but for now? She would endure in silence.

Sayori was having a bad morning. The rain clouds were getting worse. They had been for a while now. Presently, she was curled up tight in her bed, attempting to muster the will to get up. What's the point? The rain clouds asked. It's not like any of this is real anyway.

What? Sayori wasn't sure if it was possible to do a mental double take, but if it was, she was doing it. Her rainclouds had never said anything like that before. She would know, they talk to her a lot.

This is a game, the clouds whisper. This is nothing but a silly game.

And though Sayori doesn't want to believe it, she knows it in her heart to be true.

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was so short. Next time, we get to see the girls dance around each other before someone finally gives, and probably a little more, too. Hope you enjoyed.