Chapter 3: Infinite Choices

As the rest of the day progressed, MC only had one thing on his mind. Even more than the fact that he was a week into the past.

'Stands.'

Now, while MC was excited to see how much his Stand could actually do, a small part of him was afraid of what he would find. And that was mainly because of one constant image that popped up in MC's head.

Kenji Hoketsu's bruised and battered body that MC had destroyed.

MC had badly hurt him, maybe even enough to send him to the ER. Yet he didn't feel bad about it. That was what scared him.

Was he becoming so numbed to humanity that he was ready to beat someone up like that whenever? And if that was the case, did all that power truly deserve to be in his hands?

Normally, MC would never think of things like these, but Hoketsu's injuries were a wake-up call to him. It was enough to teach him how to reflect on his actions.

'So why did I almost kill him?'

As MC picked up his bag after the end-of-class bell, he thought back to the time he had reversed and remembered the thing that made him rewind time in the first place.

'He tried to kill Joster.'

Suddenly things made much more sense. MC couldn't bear the thought of someone so willingly killing someone who had just saved him. That's why he fought.

'Well, that's a relief.' MC let out a sigh. 'For a second there I thought I was turning craz-'

"MC? Is that you?"

Looking to the source of the voice, MC noticed Monika standing nearby.

"Hey, Monika. How's it going?" MC said like he was wont to.

Monika crossed her eyes a bit. "MC, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" MC looked ahead and noticed that he had automatically moved to the entrance of the Literature Club. "I'm right where I'm-"

That was when it stumbled upon MC that he forgot something incredibly important.

'Shit, I haven't joined the club yet! I'm still a week in the past!'

"-supposed to be, I think." MC turned to Monika again. "Sayori gave me this location, but this is for the Literature Club, right?"

Monika frowned a bit and nodded. "Sayori gave you the location? That seems unnaturally insightful of her."

Speaking of the devil, the two heard a wild panting approaching nearer.

"I'm… I'm here!" Sayori announced, having finally made it to the club. She looked at her childhood friend. "MC, where were you? I went to your class to pick you up!"

'Good insight, Sayori, but I was a dumbass,' MC nodded as he replied. "Oh, I just thought I'd make my way on my own. I mean you did tell me where the club was today morning, right?"

Sayori widened her eyes a bit but then continued. "Uh, y-yeah! I sure did!"

MC nodded frantically. "Great! Let's go in then!"

Sayori nodded as well. "Y-Yeah, yeah! I can't wait!"

The two then barged into the club.

"E-Everyone!" Sayori shouted. "The n-new member is here!"

"Y-Yeah, new member…"

MC drifted away, seeing Natsuki and Yuri standing there. Now seeing them, he realized something for the first time.

The way that they were looking at him, like he was a complete stranger, he hated that view.

And finally, he learned that he missed the future. Even if Sayori had died then, he still missed his occasional antics with the other club members. He missed reading manga with Natsuki in the corner, talking with Yuri about her tea and the book she had given him, even his banter with Monika about their poems. He missed it all.

"-ey, hey!" a hand shook in front of his head, knocking him out of his reflective stupor.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, Natsuki." MC stepped back from a frowning pinkette, trying to maintain his distance from her fists. "Sorry for staring, it was just… weird, I guess."

There was no way he could talk about having come back in time without revealing Stands, and there was no way that the people here would believe him.

Natsuki expression faltered for some reason, which quickly got known to MC. "How the hell do you know my name?" Natsuki muttered, almost looking afraid of the boy.

MC immediately felt like slapping himself. He shot a quick glance at Sayori, hoping that she could get him out of this mess he put himself in.

"U-Uh, don't worry!" Sayori reassured. "I-I just described you to him earlier, yeah! Because you made cupcakes!"

'Good save,' MC thought.

"Y-Yeah!" MC quickly added, praying to every god out there that he wouldn't mess up here. "T-Thanks for making the cupcakes, Natsuki!"

Natsuki's worried face quickly vanished, getting replaced by her signature scowl as she looked away from MC. "W-Well, shut up! I-It's not like I made them for you, or anything!"

'Typical,' MC suppressed a chuckle at Natsuki's antics. 'Thank you, Sayori, for letting her buy that.'

"Anyway, MC, I gotta introduce you to everyone else! For the first time!" Sayori continued. "This is Yuri! The smartest member of the club!"

"O-Oh… Don't say things like that, please…" Yuri twirled her long purple hair as she shyly looked away.

MC, for a moment, felt his heart melt as he recognized Yuri's shyness. "Good to meet you, Yuri." He held his hand out, which was now much easier that he had actually known her a little better.

Yuri froze upon seeing MC's extended hand, and while hiding the rest of her body with her left, crept out her right hand into MC's. She gave a curt shake as she withdrew her hand as quick as possible, as her face went beet-red under her bangs protecting her.

"And this is Monika!" Sayori finally announced, gesturing to Monika who had just entered the room. Luckily, she was still wearing her smile. "The president of the club!"

"Oh, Sayori, thank you! But MC already knows who I am." Monika smiled sweetly at the boy.

Normally, MC would have internally broken down upon seeing that smile. He did have a crush on her once, after all. However, now that he saw it, he only felt more unnerved. He didn't understand what it was about Monika that made him feel that way, but he decided that after travelling back in time, trusting your senses was the best thing to do.

"Y-You too, Monika." Some would say that he was just unnerved by the presence of Monika in front of him, and MC would agree but for all the wrong reasons. He felt unnerved by her, much more unnerved than he should ever feel.

"O-Okay, guys!" Sayori quickly interrupted, breaking the mounting pressure forming between me and Monika. "Let's all sit down! We've made an extra spot for you as well, MC, so you can sit wherever you want. Natsuki, you can go get the cupcakes!"

Natsuki nodded and smiled as she went to take the foiled tray where those delicious treats rested.

"I'll make some tea as well." Yuri threw in as she went to her teaset.

MC tentatively took his seat next to Sayori, just like last time. Oddly, Sayori leaned into him as he sat down.

"MC." Sayori whispered. "Why don't you want to tell them?"

MC frowned. "Do you think they'll believe us?"

Sayori shared his frown, seeing his point.

MC looked around as he stayed in his seat but paused upon seeing Monika stare at him. He could see the concern etched on her face. It quickly got masked by one of her smiles, however, letting MC smile back despite his unease around her and look away.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" Natsuki announced as she brought the cupcakes to the table. She then dramatically lifted off the foil from the tray, revealing the dozen cat cupcakes sitting inside.

MC's mouth was already watering upon seeing the cupcakes in front of him. He knew that it would be a precious day when he would have these cupcakes again. He just didn't expect it to be so soon after baking a batch of similar ones. Funny enough, he could now imagine the process behind every part of the creation of those cupcakes. It gave him an unnatural appraisal for them and for Natsuki's skill.

"Ahaha, looks like you two are getting a little too exited there~" Monika teased as she saw MC and Sayori visibly drool upon seeing the cupcakes. MC quickly cleaned his mouth along with Sayori, much to their chagrin and the snickering of the other club members.

"Funny," Monika commented, "I get Sayori drooling, but MC? I didn't expect you to get so excited over cupcakes?"

MC looked at Monika, only just realizing how out of character that act was for him. He shouldn't know anything about these cupcakes, but he knew how to even make them! It somehow put into scope how much he had to lie about these matters.

However, MC smiled as a plan quickly came to him. "I don't know," MC started, "sometimes you just know if something's going to taste amazing, don't you?"

Natsuki quickly reddened upon hearing that, and Yuri let out an almost unnoticeable chuckle. Monika simply smiled as she nodded.

"H-Hey, just eat one already!" Natsuki quickly called out, attracting the club's attention.

"Don't need to tell me twice," MC said as he dove in with Sayori for the first set of cupcakes to be taken from the tray. However, he didn't take a second with his other hand like Sayori had.

MC didn't bother looking for a good angle as he unwrapped the cupcake and bit down with a practiced ease. He smirked as he felt the familiar copious sugar cascading his mouth.

'Who knew diabeetus could be so glorious?' MC pondered.

"Huh?!" Natsuki yelled out, about to take a bite from one of her own cupcakes.

"Oh shit," MC said, "did I say that out loud?"

He looked at Sayori for help, and immediately regretted it. She was in the process of demolishing two cupcakes, attacking them by taking wild turns with her mouth, critical hits every time.

'She's getting crumbs everywhere, silly girl…' the part that cared for her thought as he looked at her.

Smiling, MC looked back at Natsuki. "Well, there's no denying it." MC smiled. "I completely meant it."

Natsuki scowled. "Even the… diabeetus… bit?"

MC nodded, not letting his smile go regardless.

"Um, if I may ask," Yuri quickly interrupted, "I don't really understand what you mean by… diabeetus. Diabetes exists, but I do not understand why you pronounce it like that?"

MC and Natsuki took one look at Yuri, who just returned confused looks at both of them. The next thing Yuri knew, the two were wildly laughing, crumbs threatening to fly out of their mouths.

"W-What is it?" Yuri worriedly asked. "D-Did I say something wrong? Uhhh… I honestly didn't know…"

MC wiped out a tear from his eye as he turned to Yuri. "I-It's okay, Yuri." He quickly caught his breath again. "You don't need to worry about it. It's just a meme."

"O-Oh." Yuri simply nodded as she turned to her tea set. "Well, the tea is ready! I can lay the cups out now."

As she said, she laid out her standard intricate teacups. She then picked up the kettle, but it shook in her hands.

"Yuri, do you need help with that?" Monika asked.

"N-No, I'm fine." Yuri reassured. "I just need to calm myself."

Taking a breath, Yuri poured out a cup for herself and for Monika. She successfully poured one out for Sayori, but paused as she reached MC. As she tried to lower the heavy kettle, it started shaking one more time. The ornate kettle immediately slipped from her hands, crashing onto the ground, spilling tea everywhere.

"AAAAGH!" Natsuki yelled as most of the scalding hot tea fell on her.

Yuri looked stricken as her own leggings protected most of the splashback, but the people around her were severely hurt.

"DO SOMETHING!" Natsuki yelled as she clawed the peeling flesh on her arm and the clear glass shard sticking through it. "DO SOMETHING!"

MC, having his eyes widened, ignored the masked pain in his own left arm and yelled out.

"Day One! Rollback!"

MC's green stand came out and pushed its hand forward, bringing out the clock hologram, pausing time around him.

MC looked around and saw some things he hadn't expected. The first was that Sayori had stumbled away from MC, looking directly at Day One. The second was Monika, who was also looking at Day One, but she held a more curious expression instead.

'How?' MC thought. 'How can the two of them see my Stand?'

MC let his thoughts pause as the rollback concluded. This time, he pushed himself back into his old position. Teleporting in the middle of the class would be far too ridiculous to explain, after all.

"Day One, return."

Day One quickly returned as time started again, letting MC carry on the conversation like nothing happened.

"Well, the tea is ready! I can lay the cups out now."

She set out the cups like last time and shook the kettle like last time as well. She poured glasses for herself, Monika and Sayori. But as she came to MC, he smiled and simply put his hand out, blocking Yuri's kettle's path to his cup.

"Yuri," MC asked, "could I possibly pour this myself? I don't really have experience with something like this, so I'd like to see what it's like. With your permission, of course, I am using your kettle after all."

Yuri looked at MC with a rather unusual expression for someone like her, then let out a rare smile. "Very well, MC. I shall let you pour your own cup."

She set down the kettle in front of him, letting him tenderly pick it up after her. He aimed the spout at his own cup, ignoring the waves of heat from its body. He poured as much as he needed, then quickly stood up, much to Yuri's surprise. He then turned to Natsuki and poured her cup for her too, much to the rest of the girls' surprise.

Stepping back to his own chair, MC revealed an incredibly red Natsuki, sitting frozen in her chair. Yuri tentatively picked up her kettle after MC set it down with a smile, failing to hold in her chuckles. Even Monika was sniggering nearby. Sayori, however, was looking downcast. MC saw this, and for some reason, was reminded of how she was last Friday. Coming Friday? He wasn't exactly sure.

"Wow, MC," Monika commented. "Never pegged you as a player."

"Player?" MC cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

She smirked and nodded towards Natsuki, who was still frozen and red-faced as she gingerly held her teacup in her hands, shielding herself with it.

"Um, Natsuki?" MC asked, waving his hand in front of her like she had done to him earlier. "Are you alright?"

Menacing…

MC paused as he heard the girls around him sniggering even louder while Natsuki slowly screeched her eyes to his direction. Her teeth suddenly gritted in frustration as she set her teacup down and stood up, gripping the table in fury.

"You… you PERVERT!"

Natsuki shot out her hand, punching MC hard in the chest. MC felt himself get winded immediately and stumbled back from the force of the punch that had come onto him.

'Wow, I forgot about her strength!' MC realized.

"MC!" Sayori yelled out and held onto the dark-haired boy who was currently catching his breath.

"Hmph." Natsuki huffed as she sat back down on her chair and started sipping her tea.

"Okay… well, that happened." Monika said as MC finally went back to his chair, ignoring the glaring daggers from Natsuki.

"Um, Natsuki?" MC said, risking the deepening glare from her. "I'm so sorry, I hadn't meant to come off that way."

Natsuki looked at him a bit more, expression softening. But she quickly harrumphed once again as she turned away.

Seeing the tension rising in the club, Monika immediately broke into conversation. "So, MC," she started, "what brought you to the Literature Club?"

"W-Well, I guess I'm here because Sayori recommended me." His truthful answer earned a light chuckle from Monika. "But I'm planning to stay because I think you all are actually rather interesting, and I'd love to get to know you all better."

Monika smirked, "Do you mean all of us, or one of us…?"

MC quickly shook his head and hands. "N-No, nothing like that! Seriously, I h-hadn't meant to hurt Natsuki like that, and I-I'm so s-sorry for that! I-I just wanted to h-help her!"

Monika kept her smirk but gave up the convincing.

"Um, MC?" Yuri cut in, earning her attention from the club. "I believe I should ask this on behest of the club, but what specific genre of literature do you read?"

"O-Oh…" MC looked down, but grinned as he remembered that he shared his interests with Natsuki. "M-Manga…" He held onto his old embarrassment for it though.

Sure enough, he earned the familiar look from Natsuki upon the mention of manga.

"Not much of a reader, I guess…" Yuri kept her reply like the last time.

"Well, no, but I'm open to learn!" MC immediately announced. "What about you?"

Yuri smiled, and went on the tangent that MC remembered her for. As she traced her teacup, she started.

"My favorites are usually novels that build deep and complex fantasy worlds. The level of creativity ad craftsmanship behind them is amazing to me. And telling a good story in such a foreign world is equally impressive to me. Stories with deep psychological elements usually immerse me as well. Isn't it amazing how a writer can so deliberately take advantage of your own lack of imagination to completely throw you for a loop? Anyway, I've been reading a lot of horror lately…"

"Ah, I read a horror book once…" MC grimaced as he remembered how he hadn't even touched the Portrait of Markov even once in the old timeline.

"Really?" Monika interrupted. "I wouldn't have expected something like that, Yuri, from someone as gentle as you…"

Yuri's smile only grew brighter. "I guess you could say that. But if a story makes me think, or transports me to another world, I just can't put it down. Surreal horror is often very successful at changing the way you look at the world, if only for a brief moment."

MC smiled as he remembered what was coming next. "Ugh, I hate horror." Natsuki shot a remark from nearby.

"Oh? Why's that?"

Natsuki shot another glare at MC. "Doesn't matter!" she jolted.

Yuri flinched back, but Monika stayed unfazed.

"That's right, you usually like to write about cute things, don't you?"

Natsuki redirected her glare at the club president. "A-And what gives you that idea?"

Monika's smile widened. "You left a piece of scrap paper last meeting." Natsuki's eyes widened in recognition. "It looked like you were working on a poem called-"

"H-Hey!" Natsuki interrupted. "N-Not so loud! And give that back!"

Sayori smiled from nearby and started speaking. "Ehehe, your poems, your cupcakes, everything about you is as cute as you are, Natsuki!" The coral-haired girl daftly snakes her arms around Natsuki from behind her.

Natsuki deeply crossed her eyes and shouted in defeat. "I'M NOT CUTE!"

MC laughed a bit, as he remembered all this from last time.

"H-Hey, Natsuki?" MC held in his heaves for his bit in the script. "You write your own poems?"

"Huh? Yeah, what about it, perv?!" Natsuki shoved off Sayori's arms from her shoulders and glared at MC again.

"I think that's rather impressive, honestly." MC felt his smile widen as he knew what he would lead to right now. "I'd love to read them sometime."

"No!" Natsuki interrupted. "You… you wouldn't like them."

"Ah, not a very confident writer yet, huh?"

Yuri then took over. "I understand how Natsuki feels. The truest form of writing is writing to must be willing to open up to your readers, exposing your vulnerabilities and showing even the deepest reaches of your heart."

Monika smiled as she carried on. "Sounds like you have some writing experience of your own, Yuri. Maybe if you share your work, Natsuki here will be more confident in sharing her poems as well."

Yuri reddened face looking away was a good enough answer from her.

Sayori frowned but didn't say anything. She knew what would happen in a moment after all.

"Ahaha, very well!" Monika stood up and clapped, attracting everyone's attention. "How about this? We all write a poem and share them with each other tomorrow. This can be our club assignment!"

Sayori felt her smile creep back up again as she quickly announced, "Yeah! Let's do it! I wanna read your poems!"

Natsuki and Yuri, however, didn't share her enthusiasm.

MC smiled as he threw in his own two cents. "Not to toot my own horn, but I've written a few poems before as well. I'd love to get back into this."

Sayori nodded. "Yeah, MC's poems are amazing! I've read all of them! Well, almost…"

MC grimaced a bit as he remembered Friday. Sayori seemed to share the sentiment too.

Monika, however, had widened eyes. "MC, you've written poems before? I wouldn't have imagined that from you."

MC laughed a bit as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Well, I hadn't done much, honestly. Just 2 or 3, so I'm still a rookie."

Monika nodded as she regained her smile. She turned to the last two members of the club.

"What do you two say? Are you in?"

The two shared an odd look, but hesitantly nodded, agreeing to join.

"Great!" Monika announced. "MC, I'm looking forward to see how you express yourself this time!"

'This time?' MC noticed, but quickly shook off the suspicion from that statement. "Yeah, me too! I can't wait!"

"Oh?" Monika cocked her head to the side. "No argument against joining the club?"

"Well, it's as I said earlier." MC looked away. "I think it'll be interesting here, and all of you are certainly fun to be around. I can definitely see myself in this club in the coming days."

"That's a relief to hear, MC!" Monika cheered.

Natsuki scowled as she looked at MC. "I'd have beat you up if you came here only for the cupcakes. But, well… thanks for staying, I guess."

MC smiled as he looked at the pink-haired girl. "I know you can beat me up. That punch earlier was suggestive enough of that, I mean I can still feel it. But thanks for having me!"

Yuri simply nodded in approval, while Sayori smiled brighter upon seeing MC. The coral-haired girl already knew that MC wouldn't leave the club that soon, not after spending the whole week in the alternate timeline in the club.

"Well, that's all the time we have for this club meeting, everyone!" Monika announced as she picked up her bag. "Club dismissed!"

MC nodded as he picked up his own bag too.

"Hey, MC!" Sayori approached the boy. "You wanna head back together?"

MC nodded and let himself get pulled along by Sayori.

As MC walked alongside his childhood friend after the end of the club, he rummaged his pockets and felt something in them. Pulling it out, he noticed it was the slip of paper that Geoff gave him with his number in it.

"Hey, what's that?" Sayori asked.

"Oh, a new friend's number, I guess." MC pulled out his phone as inserted it into his contacts. He quickly shot him a text message, letting him know that he was out of the club and was heading back.

"A new friend?" Sayori cocked her head. "So, I didn't need to bring you into the club this time?"

"What? No!" MC scoffed. "I'd always join the club. I wasn't joking about what I was saying earlier, you know."

"Yeah, about that…" Sayori looked ahead. "MC, do you remember our last conversation? Before I… you know?"

Before MC could reply, he felt his phone ping. Pulling it out, he noticed it was Geoff asking for his location. He quickly shot his address to him.

"MC?" Sayori caught his attention again.

"O-Oh, yeah!" MC pocketed his phone again. 'Was it about… your feelings for me?"

"Y-Yeah…" Sayori gave a small smile. "I… I understand why you had to lie then. I had put you on the spot, and you hadn't probably thought of anything better."

"Lie?" MC asked. "What are you talking about, Sayori?"

Sayori looked into MC's amber eyes. "You lied, right? When you said you… you loved me?"

"Sayori, why would you say that?" MC reassured. "I certainly do love you."

"Romantically?" Sayori asked. "I saw how you were with Natsuki back there. I'd understand if you feel like she's better than me. She wouldn't… selfishly kill herself, after all…"

"Sayori, please don't say that!" MC pleaded. "I won't pretend to know what depression is like, but I think I can understand how you couldn't stand it anymore. You're strong if you had to fight through something as bad as that every day, so please don't think of yourself as lesser for any reason. Please."

Sayori, breaking tears through her eyes, immediately wrapped her arms around MC and squeezed him. Mc returned the hug and uttered into the girl's ear, "What I offered earlier still stands. If you face any more trouble with your rainclouds, let me know. I'll chase them all away."

Sayori nodded into the crook of his shoulder.

Having stood there for a while, the duo decided to split from their hug and head back home. Sayori, however, still wasn't smiling.

"Sayori?" Mc asked. "What is it?"

"You… You still haven't answered the question, MC." Sayori confided. "Can you please tell me who you like?"

MC grimaced a bit. "I… I'll be honest, Sayori. I do certainly love you, but… I don't know if my feelings for you are truly romantic. Especially not after everything that happened to us. Could you please give me some more time to actually place my feelings?"

Sayori had her frown deepen further, but she nodded. She wiped a tear from her eye as she stayed on the route back home alongside her best friend.

Soon enough, they reached back. They said their goodbyes, and MC made it into his house. He quickly changed out of his uniform and decided that, for once, he would do his homework sooner rather than later. However, just as he sat down by his table, he heard the front doorbell ring.

'Who could that be?' MC thought. 'Sayori?'

Upon reaching the door and opening it, he saw the sandy-hair of Geoff Joster standing there.

"Hello, Caulfield," he said. "I believe you want answers. Can you please let me in?"

A/N: Kinda rushed this chapter tbh, so you can expect a couple errors here and there

This is yet another chapter I made in the middle of other work that I had to do. I am terrible at doing the things that I am supposed to. The more you know, right?

Anyway, next chapter, we'll have the Stand talk with MC somehow discovering his Stand abilities, and Sayori will discover more than she bargained for.

Sadly, no reviews to talk about.

Btw, I've decided that I'm going to keep this here. It doesn't matter if it doesn't get enough of an audience, fanfiction for DDLC is basically dead already. True DDLC content comes from mods, but obviously, there are those out there (like me) who aren't able to invest in their own mod for reasons. That's why fanfiction is still a good thing. So even though its dead, its something that I will personally encourage regardless.

Anyway, that's the end of this! I'll see you all next chapter!