"Here we go…"

He wasn't completely sure that he could pull it off again, but Shujinkou was able to successfully carry a friend home and bring them to their room without trouble.

He gently laid Monika in her bed and sighed in relief. "Here we are."

"Here we are," Monika playfully repeated as she slowly sat up along the edge of her bed. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"I can tell; you don't seem exhausted at all."

"I kinda carry a lot of things…"

"Are you trying to brag?"

"Not really…"

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Something about Monika caviler attitude despite what she had been through seemed oddly familiar.

"You're okay, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You sure? You've kinda been held hostage almost two days."

"Yeah; I'm fine."

Shujinkou nodded his head. It was as he thought earlier, Monika was one of the only people he knew that could handle something as traumatizing as abduction fairly well. "That's good."

"Plus, if I wasn't, being carried like a princess by one of her rescuers certainly would have helped," she added with a giggle.

Taken aback by what she just said, Shujinkou could only awkwardly scratch his right cheek. Even though he knew it was a possibility, the comparison still made his heart go a little "Doki Doki".

"Well, Fuyu and Rei did everything; I was just around.

They were pretty amazing; Fuyu knocked Nese out with one punch and Rei… Rei took a knife to the hand for her sister…"

Those were acts that deserved praise all things considered, but thinking about it also weighed heavily on Shujinkou's heart.

"Shujinkou…?"

He was almost claimed by his subconscious, but Monika's worried voice kept him from leaving.

"Yeah…?"

Monika brushed her finger across his right cheek, wiping away his tears. "Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know where that came from," he solemnly answered.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Well…"

Shujinkou wanted to say he was fine, but his face gave a different answer. Monika motioned him to sit down, and though he had his doubts, he took the offer and sat down.

"So what's been bothering you?" she asked.

He felt like he's been asking that for a long time now; even longer then his sudden outburst in front of Hiroko.

"I couldn't tell you. It just been coming and going. I think it all started a few days ago. I saw my sister and… I felt happy and sad at the same time."

"Really?" a concerned look rested on Monika's face. "And you don't know where that came from?"

Shujinkou shook his head. "Not really."

"And just now?"

"I don't know. You said that maybe I'm experiencing Jamias Vu but, when I think about it, it's not just familiar things seeming unfamiliar. The happy and sad feelings seem pretty familiar and I don't think that's just Déjà vu."

Shujinkou anxiously solemnly scratched his right cheek. "It's just something… Maybe something's wrong with me..."

Monika remained silent as she processed what she just heard.

"This has been really bothering you these last few days, huh?" she asked.

"Sometimes… I'm fine most of the time. I probably wouldn't even think about so much if it wasn't out of nowhere and… well, painful," he admitted.

"I see…"

Without saying another word, Monika rested her head on Shujinkou's shoulder.

"Monika…?"

"You ever feel like you want something, but it doesn't end well for you?"

"I think so… Doesn't everyone have to face that?"

"Yeah… To be honest with you; the reason why the whole kidnapping thing didn't bother me that much was because I've honestly been through worse."

"You have?"

"Mm-hmm. Try imagining being blasted with constant screeching and seizure-inducing lights or just complete darkness."

"Have you… Were people torturing you?"

"You could say that… Though some of that was a result of my actions."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted something very much, but it didn't end well for me. Maybe I deserved it for what I sacrificed for it."

Shujinkou silently scratched his right cheek. With no idea what to say, it was the only thing he could do.

"I know we haven't known each other for long, but…"

She lifted her head from his shoulder and stared into his eyes. Even when he was confused, they were kind and inviting.

"Do you think you can do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Think you can close your eyes?"

"My eyes?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Okay…"

Shujinkou did as he was requested and closed his eyes. Monika then covered his eyes with her left hand.

"Just making sure you don't peek," she playfully explained.

Though she sounded playful, Monika was actually trembling over what she planned to do. With bright red cheeks, she slowly moved herself closer to him.

Her lips parted as they slowly inched their way closer to his. They slowly closing in, but never reached their target. A mere centimeter away, she slowly pulled herself away with a look of regret.

"Hey, Shujinkou…"

"Yeah?"

"Would you consider me a friend?"

"Huh? Of course."

Even thought that was the answer she wanted to hear, it didn't make her feel better.

"Okay…" she plastered a smile on her face as she removed her hand from Shujinkou's face. "You should probably go now."

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"It's sweet of you to be concerned. But I think I want to naturally catch up on my sleep in my own bed instead of a chair."

"Oh… Okay," Shujinkou sat up and walked towards the door. "See ya, later?"

"Mm-hmm."

With a single nod, Shujinkou took his leave.

…

Shujinkou looked up. He could tell by the descent of the sun and the sky hovering above the tall buildings changing from blue to orange that he had been aimlessly wandering around the city for hours.

Walking down the crowded sidewalk, he could naturally hear the sound of cars mixing with the conversations that took place around. Normally, they both are usually just background noise to him when he's trying to clear his head, but the cars were beginning to become the most prevalent sound he heard.

It wasn't just the sound of the engines; he heard a single horn and the screeching of tires harshly rubbing against the worn down cement.

That was all he heard until… nothing. Following that silence was a sharp pain throbbing in his head. Out of nowhere, he began to recall one of his daydreams from the earlier semester/chapters.

"How is she?" Shujinkou asked. He was barely able to keep himself composed, but he had to in front of everyone. If he lost to his emotions, then how could he expect the others to win against theirs?

The doctor sighed and turned back to Shujinkou with a sorrowful expression on his face, giving the boy the answer he didn't want.

"We tried everything we could, but… the damage was too much," the doctor reported. "She's… She's gone…"

"I see…" Shujinkou said.

He slowly bent down on one knee over the coffin that held the corpse as a single tear traced the right side of his face.

"Forgive me for not being there for you," Shujinkou wept. "I should have been there…"

He stood back up and turned back to his men. They were ready to follow any orders he would give.

"Do it," Shujinkou ordered.

His fellow soldiers surrounded the coffin and sealed the lid over the corpse. Words couldn't express the grief Shujinkou felt over the whole ordeal. He almost didn't want to watch what happened next, but he knew if he did that then he would be disrespecting the fallen.

He forcefully kept his eyes trained on the coffin as his men carried it to the edge of the base. They turned back to their boss and all he could muster was a silent nod. They slowly tipped the coffin over the edge and solemnly watched it descend towards the calm sea. After watching the mighty blue swallow its latest gift, Shujinkou sorrowfully closed his eyes to reflect.

"Goodbye," he whispered. "Goodbye…"

…

I… I never had a daydream like that.

"Yes, you did."

Complete and utter shock was all Shujinkou felt at that moment. It wasn't because of the strange daydream or the fact that a sudden childlike voice responded to his thoughts. It was because the voice sounded like his.

The young man opened his eyes. Standing right before him was a younger version of himself.

Tears filled his child self's eyes as he looked up at him. "I wished I had a chance to say goodbye… No, I wish I had the chance to say I'm sorry. I always thought it would have been better if it was me."

"What're you talking about?" Shujinkou asked.

"You don't remember? It's all we ever thought about since that day. The reason why we've spent so long beating ourselves up. The reason we pushed everyone away."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Though he didn't understand what was going on, his younger self's words resonated with him.

"Wouldn't things be better if we weren't the one here? Maybe dad would have stayed if I was the one to go. He always liked her better."

"Wha…?"

"There's no happy ending for me. Why does everyone think that my friends have feels for me? I doubt any girl would like me; I don't deserve that. Nothing about me would make a girl like me like that. I'm lucky that I have friends at all."

Every word his younger self said was like a stab to the heart. Shujinkou never considered himself the best, but he couldn't recall hating himself so much before. He couldn't remember feeling so much guilt and regret.

He was afraid to ask, but he knew he had to, "Who are you?"

"I'm the part of you that can't let that moment go. You forgot, but I can't. That's why it was hard to look at her after so long, wasn't it? You tried to suppress me because of her, but you couldn't. Maybe you could have if you didn't lose Monika too…"

"Monika? But she's home."

His younger self shook his head. "Not ours. Ours is gone."

"What?"

"Gone as fast as our sister."

Shujinkou violently shook his head and slapped his cheeks. "…I gotta be going crazy. This is even stranger than Angel and Devil Mickey."

"Crazy's the one thing we never were."

"I'm talking to myself and I'm telling myself that Monika and Hiroko are gone when they're clearly not," he argued.

"That's because you can't remember. I've been trying so hard remind you in a more normal way, but you've been writing them off as nothing important."

"This still just makes it seem like I'm going crazy. I mean, what are you talking about…? How could I forget things like that? It really sounds like something from fiction."

"And maybe that's why a part of you still remembers."

"Huh?"

Shujinkou's younger self approached him and grabbed his hands.

"What're you-?"

"You can't let her try the same thing again and expect a happier ending from it... and to do that, you need to remember."

Those words struck a chord with Shujinkou, one that caused his confusion to quickly evolve into genuine fear.

"I know you're scared. You'd probably don't want to remember the past, but we both know that we would never willingly forget it, no matter how painful.

It's not the life we wanted, but it's ours and we both know that there are a lot of happy things we don't want to forget either. You can accept that and remember or you can forget and lose yourself for good."

Shujinkou still couldn't fathom what was going on but, at the same time, it was the first thing that made sense to him all week. It was strange, but so was what he was dealing with.

"Okay…"

He closed his eyes and his younger self soon burst into tiny particles. The particles sunk into him, each one reminding him of what was forgotten.

…

Monika looked to her left, then to her right. No matter where she looked, there was nothing. She felt like she's been walking for hours, but there was no way of knowing for sure.

Fatigue soon set in, prompting her to sit down and take a moment to rest.

"Okay… Now is not a time to freak out, Monika. I just have to calmly remember what I was doing last so I can at least figure out how I ended up… here."

Monika started to recall the events of the last few days. She met another version of herself, Shujinkou was admitted to the hospital after a mental shutdown, then-

Monika's heart ached as she remembered what happened next.

"Oh yeah… Monika erased me from existence…"

Though she didn't get the chance to fully acquaint herself with her counterpart, it hurt her that she got rid of her without a second thought.

She curled up as the reality of her current predicament fully sunk in.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to everyone… I had to ask Shujinkou to do it for me…"

She could remember the pained expression on his face as she vanished.

"I didn't even get to tell him how I really felt. I may have confessed, but I didn't get to tell him how much I…"

Monika breathed a depressed sigh.

"I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I'm just alone now. I don't even know if I'm even dead. Maybe I'm in some kinda purgatory…"

"That's kinda a dour way of looking at it."

Monika's eyes were drawn towards that sudden voice. The space in front of her distorted with coded text spilling out of it. A black hole soon filled the space before suddenly spitting out Sayori.

Monika watched with great surpise as Sayori fell flat on her face.

"Ow!" she cried.

The hole she came through soon vanished as Sayori sat up.

"I'm pretty sure that never happened to other people who travel like that…" she pouted.

"Sayori…?"

Two conflicting emotions appeared within Monika. She was happy to see a familiar face, but also upset upon the realization that she may have trapped herself in this empty space.

"Hm?" Sayori glanced up with a surprised expression on her face. "Oh yeah… Nice to meet you, Monika."

"'Nice to meet you?'"

The happiness Monika felt upon seeing a familiar face soon devolved into confusion. Recalling what she just went through and just saw, she soon realized what was transpiring.

"I see… you're from another reality aren't you?"

"That's right!" Sayori beamed. "I'm from the same one the Monika you met came from."

Sayori's eyes were soon filled with immediate regret once she realized what she just said.

"Then again, you probably don't want to hear about her in such a cheery tone so soon after you ending up here…" she nervously chuckled.

Even though she didn't know this Sayori, her carefree mannerisms and bubbly personality provided some comfort to Monika. "You're a lot like the Sayori I know."

"Really?" a sad look crossed Sayori's face. "She doesn't have rainclouds too, does she?"

"I… I don't really know."

It seemed like a random question, but Monika knew what she meant.

A sorrowful smile filled Sayori's face. "That's okay… I'm not here to talk about me… or my other self… Us?"

"So… Do you know what this place is…?" Monika asked.

"Um… I think it's the blank white page."

"'Blank white page'?"

"Yeah. I didn't think that you would be here, but I'm glad you are."

Sayori's eyes were once again filled with immediate regret upon realizing what she just said. "Ah! I mean, I'm glad you're okay."

"I get what you meant…" Monika assured her. "How did you find me?"

"I think it was because of your friend's connection to you. He doesn't completely remember, in fact, I think he wasn't supposed to remember, but a part of him still remembered you.

I couldn't get him to completely remember, but the connection was there. So I followed it and ended up here."

"That's right… Monika said she erased me from everyone's minds, but Shujinkou was able to see and remember me."

That one factor was the only thing that provided her comfort as she met her supposed end.

"How was she able to do that? Was she lying when she said your reality was a normal one?"

"Not exactly… It is pretty normal, it's just…"

Sayori averted her gaze as she considered her next words very carefully.

"What is it?"

"Well, I'm just afraid if I tell you… you may react like my Monika. But I don't think we can get you back home unless you do know."

"Know what?"

"Well… Our reality is pretty normal, same as yours. It's just that Monika knew how to manipulate the medium."

Monika tilted her head as she tried to understand Sayori's explanation. "'Manipulate the medium'?"

"Yeah? Monika knew that she was part of a Visual Novel."

"You two are from a Visual Novel?"

"Mm-hmm. But things happened and now she somehow ended up in the fanfiction you're from."

Monika imagined her jaw hitting the ground as she took in what she just heard. "I'm… I'm from a fanfiction...?"

"Yep… It turns out it's a little easier to manipulate then a Visual Novel."

Monika wasn't sure how to respond. Her entire life was a story written by a fan based on a Visual Novel? It couldn't be true, could it?

Then again… This entire scenario seems like it could only happen in a fanfiction…

Monika shook her head. Every choice she made, every word she has spoken was all predetermined. It was like she had no free will; just knowing such information made her wonder if the pain she and her friends have faced was just for others' entertainment. Even her feelings… Were they real?

"You okay?" Sayori worriedly asked.

"I… I think I'm starting to understand the other Monika a little better," Monika weakly answered. "Monika Prime… I understand the naming convention now. You and her are the originals, right?"

"You could say that… But that doesn't mean that you aren't important!" Sayori vehemently insisted. "So… Don't think that."

Monika appreciated the sentiment, but it didn't really dampen the blow of the sudden revelation. "So… Monika knew she was part of a game and left?"

"Not exactly…" Sadness once again appeared on Sayori's face as she recalled her friend's actions. "A lot of things happened and she ended up forced out of it. She could've come back but she refused too. I really wish she came back…"

"But how did a video game character end up in a fanfiction?"

"I don't really know. It was hard for me to get in and I was only able to do by following a connection to her. The strange thing is, I ended up meeting Shujinkou. I think part of him is reacting to everything that's going on."

"He's been having visions since Monika showed up in our story… He may have been seeing what happened in your game."

"Really? Maybe that's why I felt something was off."

"What do you mean?"

"It felt like someone was connecting to our novel sometimes. That's what got me to realize something was happening."

"I see. So… What now?"

"We have to get you back to your world and convince Monika to stop what she's doing."

"… I don't know…"

"Eh?" Sayori gasped. "But don't you won't to go home?"

"I don't see the point…" Monika sighed. "I'm just a fictional character, an idea made by someone else. As far as writer and reader are concerned, they have a Monika. What's more they have the original Monika, so the story should be more authentic and better overall right?"

"No, it's not!" Sayori cried. "Just because Monika was the first doesn't make you any less important. You're just as important as any other Monika and I'm sure everyone reading your story wants you back.

And who cares if you're a fictional character? Just because someone mad you doesn't make your own feelings not feelings not important. You're free from your story right now and Monika's been manipulating the medium so nothing's controlling you right now."

"So…"

"Think about it. What is your heart telling you right now? Is it telling you to let the rainclouds in or is it telling you to try your hardest to return to those that filled it with happiness."

Monika placed her hand over her heart. She wasn't completely sure whether it was her or someone telling her to feel this way, but she felt a strong longing for her friends.

Whether it's me or someone telling me to, I want to go back… No…

Monika slowly stood up.

"Isn't it sometimes said that a character guides the author in their writing?" Monika asked.

A bright smile stretched across Sayori's face. "Yeah!"

"Then that's good enough for me," Monika assured her with a smile. "So how do we get to where I came from?"

"Eh… I was kinda hoping you could take us there." Sayori anxiously admitted.

"Me?"

"I tried, but I couldn't fully get in. The best I could do what posses a flashback version of my other self."

"But I don't know how to get back. I just learned that I came from a fanfiction."

"You just have to manipulate the medium like I just did."

"I… I don't know how to do that. I just learned that that was a real thing."

"You just have to focus on breaking the walls that separate all fiction. Or in this case the wall separating the blank white page to the series of chapters that make up your story."

"So… I just focus on returning home?"

"Mm-hmm. The travelling is pretty easy when you already have a connection to the place."

"But do I still have a connection?" Monika doubted. "Monika tried to erase me. I'm sure she took my place as the Monika of the story."

"I don't know… But… Maybe you could focus on the one person that refused to sever theirs to you even when forced to," Sayori advised.

Monika placed her hand over her chest. It was faint, but she could feel a small connection calling her home.

Even from where she was standing, she could feel the warmth and acceptance of the person she was connected to. "Got it."

She raised her right palm and stretched it as far as she could.

Suddenly, the space was subtly dyed in a light pink hue. Sayori watched in awe as bubble-gum colored hearts and circles formed above them before they gathered together in front of Monika.

She flexed her hand, merging them together into one large red heart. Still maintaining her distance, she used her index finger to carve out a smaller heart and slid it away, revealing a familiar classroom.

"You did it!" Sayori congratulated.

A proud smile crossed Monika's face as she beheld their old clubroom. "Ready to go?"

Sayori eagerly nodded her head. "Mm-hmm."

With determination in their hearts, the two proceeded through pathway Monika had opened for them.