"I guess I failed this gambit."
Monika's eyes were glued to her bedroom ceiling. It seemed like it was only moments ago they were painted with the dark shadows of the night. Now it was brightly lit by daylight.
Monika yawned softly as she sat up. Right now, she felt defeat on two levels: One regarding her inability to come up with a plan on how to confront her two wayward friends and the other due to sacrificing her sleep for nothing.
Even with Sayori's plan for Natsuki, the trouble is how can we even confront them? Given Yuri's reaction was much more intense than last time, I can only imagine it would be the same with Natsuki… That is, if I can even see her outside of school.
Monika shook her head, disillusioned by another obstacle with no ideas on how to resolve it.
"Maybe we need a fresh, outside perspective on all of this."
Taking a moment to appreciate the fact that it took her all night to reach that conclusion, Monika soon got dressed and started her trek to her first destination: Shujinkou's Home.
…
Monika waited anxiously for an answer to the doorbell. Being so close to the area where one of her closest friends rejected her appeal was more than a little nerve wracking for her, among other things.
She soon heard the clicking sounds of a lock and the door soon opened.
"Morning, Monika," Hisa greeted. "You're looking lovely as usual."
"Oh, thanks, Lady Hisa. Um…"
"Hiro's still asleep and Sayori's in Shujinkou's room."
"W-Wow… How'd you know that was what I was going to ask?"
"You learn to feel for these things and predict what others will say when you run a business like mine," Replying calmly, Hisa stood aside, allowing Monika to enter the residence. "I would be driven insane otherwise."
"Speaking of your business; how are things going there with you here?" Monika asked.
"Fine. Fine. You all should come up for another visit sometime after Christmas."
"Well… Here's hoping all of us can make it. Um… I'm going to go check up on Sayori now."
"Check away."
Monika turned and lightly jogged up the stairs. She didn't mean to sound pessimistic, but she was still struggling to find a surefire solution that would guarantee that scenario.
Once up top, she turned and made her way to Shujinkou's room.
The moment Monika stepped inside; she found a blanketed Sayori resting her head on Shujinkou's chest. Her face was flushed, and Monika could make out a few mumbled words as she approached them.
"-ko. Don't go…"
"Sayori?"
Monika gently placed her hand on Sayori's shoulder and just as gently shook her.
"…Sugoi?"
Sayori eyes slowly opened. Her head turned from side to side, scanning every inch of the room that entered her field of view. It was if she was lost and was trying to get her bearings.
She then looked up, her still groggy eyes locking on to the curious set Monika currently possessed.
"Monika? Is it tomorrow already?" Sayori yawned.
A knowing smile crossed Monika's face as she giggled. "Yep."
"What's so funny?"
"Well, I don't really find it funny, more so something that warms the heart."
"Wha?"
"Your current pillow?"
Confused by her response, Sayori followed Monika's eyes to discover that she was currently resting on Shujinkou.
"Ah!"
She jolted up to Monika's side, her face red with surprise and embarrassment.
"I wasn't…! I was just…!"
"You just fell asleep because you were tired from helping out?" Monika said amongst her friend's stammering.
"Y-Yeah. Um…"
As her friend desperately tried to think of some way to change the subject, Monika noticed something peculiar about her appearance. Her eyes were red and under them were stains that trailed down her face.
"Have you been crying?" Monika asked.
"Eh?" A worried look fell on Sayori's face as her fingers brushed against the stains on her face. "I guess… I was just thinking of some unimportant stuff."
"Sayori…"
"I mean it. I mean, it's not 'unimportant' but… Right now…"
"Sayori…"
Not another word was said. The girls continued to stare at each other in silence, hoping the other would break the uncomfortable air around them.
Finally, Sayori spoke up.
"…It's a lot of things but… It's just… I really wish Shiko was awake right now. Some moments I accept it and others… I go off on weird tangents. I just… Right now, I really want everything to go back to the way it was before any of this happened."
"Yeah, I want that too," Monika agreed, managing to give her a small smile. "That's why we got to keep working hard to make that happen, right?"
"Right… There's just one thing though…"
"What?"
An intense, serious look fell on Sayori's face.
"When this is all done, I want to make sure that no one calls me stubborn!" she declared.
"Huh?"
"I know everyone thinks I'm stubborn when it comes to something I've put my mind to. Well, it's fair to say we've all been stubborn since the whole Devil's Night thing so…"
Monika softly chuckled. "Let's make sure we get to that point first, okay?"
"Right! So, what's today's plan?"
"I was thinking that maybe we could get a bit of an outside perspective on our current situation. Maybe we could ask Fuyu what she thinks."
"Yeah, I think she can give us advice."
It was a relief that Sayori so readily agreed to the idea.
"Should we ask Kiyo too?" Sayori suddenly suggested. "I'm sure Kiyo could at least get us to calm down if we freak out again."
Those words reminded Monika of the last time she talked to Kiyoko while distressed.
"Kiyoko does have that quality. Plus, it's amazing how easily she can shrug off things..." Monika thought aloud.
"Yeah, but if we do see her then we should do it after Fuyu, because we should save her cool calmness for last just in case," Sayori advised.
"You really like that quality of hers, don't you?"
"It's really amazing how nothing really phases her. Even Mali can't phase her and she's easily phases everyone without even really trying."
"Yeah, I really respect that about Kiyoko too; the always calm thing I mean. Anyway, let's go see Fuyu before we lose anymore daylight."
"Okay!"
Armed with a plan, Sayori and Monika headed outside and began the journey to their next destination.
"You think we'll be running around a lot today too?" Sayori queried.
"Probably. We'll need to pace ourselves," Monika advised.
"I can imagine Kiyo saying something like that, with her liking her downt- Oof!"
Sayori could feel muscles pressing against her cheek. Through them, she could hear a heart beating against the stranger's chest.
"Sorry! I was- Ah!"
The moment she looked up, Sayori's face turned pale white. Right in front of her was someone very familiar to her.
"Jomei?!"
Jomei looked down, taking note of the fear in her eyes.
"Been a long time, Sayori."
"W-What are you doing here?"
Ignoring Sayori's question, Jomei turned his gaze towards Monika.
"I see you've finally decided to pay Shujinkou a visit."
Monika calmly nodded her head. "Yeah. I finally did."
Despite her calm demeanor, Jomei could sense a hint of defiance in her words.
"How come you're here though?" Sayori asked again. "I mean, you're not planning to actually visit Shiko, are you?"
"…I assume Monika has told you of why I am here?"
"Yeah, but… If that's the case, why are you still here? I thought you ran into a weird dead end and would have left by now."
"I have my reasons. After all, just because I hit a dead end, that doesn't mean that everything is over and done with."
Those words weighed heavily on Monika and Sayori's hearts
"Eh? What does that mean?" Sayori worriedly questioned.
Not saying a word, Jomei's gaze drifted away. "…It shouldn't concern you."
Before any response could be made, Jomei walked past the two, and soon vanished from sight.
"…Jomei's as secretive as ever…" Sayori sighed.
Monika agreed with that sentiment. And Shujinkou and his sister had to live with that coldness…
"…You know, I really regret encouraging Shiko to hang out with him during that school trip…"
Saying no more, Sayori took the lead and continued the trip to their next destination, unaware that Monika had yet to follow after her.
Sayori… She may actually like Jomei less than Akui or Akuma despite everything they've done. I guess that makes sense when you consider it; whatever pain strangers give doesn't compare to what a person's father can give and Sayori's been forced to watch that for a long time…
That singular observation added more weight to the fear and doubt she was trying her hardest to suppress.
Can we really just sit back and wait for Mali to fulfill whatever Sayori's plan is for Natsuki?
…
"You want my advice?"
Fuyu looked around her shared bedroom, making sure there was no one else her sudden guests could be talking to. Her eyes briefly met with Rei's, prompting her silent roommate to slowly wave.
"Yes, we want your opinion on what we should regarding Natsuki and Yuri," Monika confirmed.
"Um, guys… You do know what my default answer as a school official would be right? What our teachers would have me say?""
"We know, but you're the same school official that let me peek at Natsuki's files!" Sayori pointed out.
An unnerving aura flowed out of Fuyu after that statement. Readjusting her glasses, the eyes that lied behind them were sharp and oppressive.
"…I can neither confirm or deny any duplicity in your actions while I was out of my office nor were there any witness to such acts nor did such a thing occur at all."
"R-Right…" Sayori whimpered. "But still-!"
"I don't really think I'm the right person to offer an 'outside looking in perspective'. All I can advise as a friend is to stubbornly be there for your friends."
"I know…" Monika sighed a dejected sigh. "I really feel like this is karmic payback for acting the way I did; being so difficult to talk to. Everyone was open and patient with me, but I at least let everyone get a few words in, no matter how much I tried not for that to happen at first. But Yuri is adamant about us staying away from her and we don't have a solid reason as to why. All we have are the various theories running around in our heads.
I mean, was I trying to have my cake and eat it to by keeping everyone at arm's length back then? And right now, am I just going around needing to hear what I already have some idea about?"
"No and it doesn't hurt to have confirmation before you do things," Fuyu answered.
"I guess. But I guess I just have to accept that what I'm still looking for is that magical answer whenever facing a setback," Monika admitted. "Well, there's only one thing to do now."
"Find Yuri and not freeze up like we did last time?" Sayori questioned.
"Mm-hmm."
"But where do we even start looking for her? She wasn't at any of the spots we checked yesterday; we only lucked out finding her at Shujinkou's house."
"She was at Shujinkou's?" Fuyu asked.
"Just outside of it. We found her staring at it before she noticed us then ran off," Sayori explained.
"Hmm… So, what do you plan on doing now; Checking out more places that would mean something to her?"
"It seems like the only option," Monika confirmed.
"Maybe…"
"'Maybe'?" Sayori repeated, perplexed.
Fuyu's gaze snapped to Monika. "Monika, what were you doing before you visited Sayori?"
"Um, not much really. I was just sulking," she answered, her cheeks slightly red with embarrassment.
"But how did you act around people or subjects you didn't want to be around?"
"I… I kept running away so I didn't have to face anyone or the one subject I was deliberately avoiding."
"Right. It's human nature to want to distance yourself from something uncomfortable and to do that, we take steps to make distancing easier."
"But what does that have to do with Yuri other than it would be harder to find her?" Sayori wondered aloud.
"Maybe searching places you think she would be at is the wrong course of action," Fuyu suggested.
"Are you suggesting that we search places she wouldn't be at?" Monika inquired.
Fuyu nodded her head. "Whenever we want distance, don't we usually break our routine to ensure that?"
"Yeah, that's why I've been eating lunch at different places until recently. It made it easier to avoid people."
"And I eventually just stayed at home…" Sayori added.
"And if someone was just faced with that uncomfortable something and just narrowly avoided that, then wouldn't steps be taken to really make sure it couldn't happen again?" Fuyu proposed. "Say you wanted to make sure you could avoid people that may come around you again despite your own words and actions."
Fuyu's words resonated with Monika. She wasn't sure if this was just speculation or if Fuyu was using her as an example. Perhaps it was something she did herself. "If that's the case… If Yuri would go to places she normally wouldn't then…"
"Well, if I go by what Shiko did then no matter what, she wouldn't be home. She would have to be out somewhere and if she would actually avoid places she would go at all costs, then that would mean places that have the stuff that she's really interested in would be off limits because she would know that we know her well enough to make guesses to where she could be," Sayori speculated. "So…"
"Just eliminating places she would normally be isn't enough though, because that would still leave a lot of places to check. If she really wanted to avoid us at all costs… If she was thinking and acting like I was when trying to avoid people…"
Monika took a moment to consider all of her past thoughts and feelings.
"…Maybe the answer lies in the places she would normally be. Knowing that, then maybe she would go to the far opposite. But then… The normal places she may be at would be the store we went to yesterday or any number of stores that provide stuff she would like, home, and until recently, any of our homes and…"
Monika let out a sudden gasp, startling Sayori out of her own train of thought.
"Could she have-?"
"'Could she have' what? Did you get an idea?" Sayori queried.
"Sayori, after Devil's Night, what's the one place none of us considered going too?"
"Shiko's house?"
"Eh… Besides that."
It didn't take long for Sayori to realize what place Monika was referring to.
"There? You really think she would be there after yesterday?"
"It's because of yesterday that I can even consider it. It's so far removed that I actually considered hiding there myself. The only reason I didn't was because just that it seemed like people still would have looked there back then."
"Then we better get there before she leaves!"
Sayori took Monika's hand.
"Thanks, Fuyu! See ya, Rei!"
Sayori rushed out of their room, taking Monika with her.
…
"Sayori, wait!" Monika cried.
"We can't wait! We have to hurry!"
"But we shouldn't be running like this up the sta-!
Suddenly, Sayori's foot slipped, causing her to fall into Monika and send them plummeting down to the landing.
"Ow… Good thing we weren't any higher…" Sayori groaned.
"Yeah…" Monika slowly sat up, trying her hardest to ignore the aching feeling in her back. "I know we're in a rush, but we can't ignore our safety."
"Sorry, it's just… This is our only lead right now and we can't waste it."
"I know, but-"
Monika's words were suddenly cut off by the sounds of footsteps. Looking up, she saw-
"Yuri!"
Walking down the steps was the person they were looking for. She seemed to be in a trance until she stepped into the landing and met eyes with them.
"…What are you two doing?" she asked.
"Wincing in pain…?" Monika answered with a weak chuckle.
"We fell," Sayori added, chuckling as well.
"I see…"
An unsettling atmosphere hung over them as the exchanged glances with each other. It seemed as if it would last forever until Yuri turned to leave.
"Well, goodbye."
"Wait!" Sayori implored. "We need to talk to you."
"I don't have anything to say."
"That's exactly what we have to talk about. Why are you being so cold to us all of a sudden?"
"…I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do. You're doing it right now. What I don't get is what happened to make you be mad at us?"
Yuri turned around, her face showing no trace of emotion.
"…If you don't understand then I don't see the point in explaining it to you."
"That seems counterproductive to your desire for us to leave you alone, Yuri," Monika calmly pointed out.
"You realize that and yet you still sought me out a third time," Yuri noted.
"I know, that's because I felt the same way. I wanted to be left alone after making some half-hearted attempts to salvage everything, but I now know that all I was doing was just running away from my own problems.
I didn't believe that I could really be there for my friends at all or really just believe in myself. I was supposed to be someone anyone could come to but that was always delegated to others.
But now I know that way of thinking is wrong and I was only able to realize that because I slowly let others in again."
"You think I'm shutting others out?"
"Aren't you?"
Yuri shook her head and asked, "Does simply wanting to be alone really mean that I'm shutting people out?"
"It does when you act the way you've been acting," Sayori reasoned.
"…You don't what you're saying."
"Of course I do! I've dealt with something like this for years. You know I've already watched a friend shut everyone out and tried to escape into his daydreams. I still clearly remember how he acted and the way you're acting is pretty similar."
"Yuri, trust me, you don't want to shut everyone out like this," Monika appealed. "I regret the short time I've done so and Shujinkou desperately didn't want to be in a similar situation again either, so I know what its like to see it happen to others and do it myself."
"I'm not shutting anyone out. I… I just want to be left alone," Yuri explained.
"If that's all, then why are you being so cold to us?" Sayori questioned again.
"I just told you; I want to be left alone."
It was then when Sayori finally realized what Yuri was saying.
"…But for how long?" she asked.
Yuri didn't answer.
"You… You really just want us to go away?"
"…Yes."
"But… How could we do that? We're friends, aren't we?"
"…"
"Aren't we?"
"…"
"Everything we've been through… Does that mean nothing to you now?"
"…"
"All those times we've laughed and talked and hung out and had fun?"
"…"
"…Even Shiko? All those times you spent with Shiko means nothing?"
"…"
"The same person who risked his life several times to save us even though he was struggling to stay who he was and is now gone and we don't know when he'll be back? Does he mean nothing to you now?"
"…"
"And Natsuki? She could be feeling the same way or possibly worse and that means nothing to you? Has our friendship really meant nothing to the point you could so easily cut us off like this?!"
"…"
Yuri's refusal to respond to her passionate cries invoked a familiar feeling in Sayori, a nostalgic feeling that was about to burst inside her.
"I… I already lost two friends once and I lost one of them again along with my new ones because of someone else's grudge. The first time Hiroko was gone and Shiko went away. Him going away really hurt, but a small part of me understood why he would cut himself off like that and he was open with me when he did so.
I thought we were all doing the same thing Shiko did all that time ago, but maybe I was wrong. If you're so willing to act like everything meant nothing and just wash your hands of us just because its convenient to you in some way then… Then you're no better than Jomei!"
For the first time during their conversation, Yuri showed a tinge of emotion. It was brief, but Monika was sure she saw surprise.
"…How am I like him…?"
"Because you're doing the same thing as he did; you're trying to leave without giving a reason! You're leaving without caring about others's feelings. You're leaving despite knowing I'll be all alone again Sh-!"
Sayori immediately stopped herself from saying anymore, though she already knew she said too much. Soon after, she felt a hand softly rest on her shoulder.
"Sayori, that's enough," Monika said in a gentle tone.
"But-"
Monika shook her head, convincing her friend to remain say more.
"Yuri, if you want to be alone now, then that's your choice," Monika conceded. "Let's go, Sayori."
It was clear that Sayori didn't want to leave, but she offered no signs of resisting that idea. As they began to leave, Monika looked back and offered a few last words.
"But… if you ever want to talk, then we'll always be around to listen."