Chapter 8
I Imagine a Future Part 1: Damned to Wander
Sayori and MC dragged themselves into the clubroom. They were still trying to wrap their heads around the events that had just occurred. It was not everyday that you see someone get blinked out of reality, after all.
MC opened the clubroom door, with Sayori trailing along behind him. The usual scene in the club had greeted them.
A purple haired girl walked up to the boy. 'Welcome back, MC," she introduced. "And… Sayori…" MC felt a little off from the way that she had said that last bit.
"H-Hey, Yuri," Sayori responded from behind him. MC followed with a simple, "Hi, Yuri."
"U-Um," Yuri slightly cocked her head in confusion, "A-Are you alright, MC? I-I'm sorry if I'm overstepping or something, but I-"
"It's okay, Yuri," MC reassured, shooting a glance back at Sayori. "We'll be fine, just tired."
"O-Okay," Yuri nodded, but then gazed into MC's eyes. She then glanced back at Sayori, and slowly walked away.
MC and Sayori walked into the room and set their bags down by their usual spots. Looking around, MC noticed that only Yuri and Natsuki was there beside them. Natsuki was reading a manga on one of the desks, while Yuri sat in her seat, oddly fidgeting. MC made a mental note that he had to look into whatever was going on with her.
"Hey, Sayori," he attracted his friend's attention, as she responded with a yelp and a chuckle. "Will you be alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I think," Sayori nodded, keeping up one of her fake smiles. "It's just… I can't forget that image. I can't forget that guy's expression as he… well… you know."
MC nodded with a hesitant gulp. "Yeah. Me neither," he admitted. "I'm going to talk with the others for a bit, alright?"
"Yeah, okay," Sayori said, sitting in her seat, still looking downcast.
"You know what to look out for, right?" he wanted to confirm. "Watch out for Monika and other Stands, remember? And don't bring out your own Stand as well."
"Y-Yeah," she agreed. "I know."
Nodding, MC left the spot and turned around, looking straight at his new goal.
"Hey, Yuri?"
Yuri turned back to see MC walking up to her, and her eyes lit up for the briefest of a second. She looked around the club, checking on the other members. Monika was still missing, Natsuki was still reading her manga and Sayori was idly dragging an eraser across her table.
Yuri immediately grabbed MC's arm, much to his surprise, and pulled him up to the closet door.
"Um, MC," she began, taking a deep breath to steel her fluttering nerves. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I had never done anything like that before. Something seemed to have come over me at that moment, I think. I wasn't acting mentally sound."
That sentence immediately blared alarm bells in MC's head.
"Please don't think we're usually like this," she continued, not giving MC room to interrupt. "And not just me, Natsuki too!"
MC loked into Yuri's eyes, seeing the pain and concern within. He smiled to sate her. "Yuri," he said, "I'm happy that you apologized. I may not fully understand what happened yesterday, either, but I know for a fact that you aren't a bad person, Yuri. And since you're apologizing, I now know that you hadn't meant it."
"A-Ah," Yuri shivered a bit as she replied, quickly reddening as well. "P-Please don't say things like that so frankly, MC. They can… make me a little too happy…"
MC felt another set of alarm bells ringing from that comment, but ignored it.
"I'm so glad that you're such a nice person, and that you decided to join this club," Yuri continued, "Everything is just a bit brighter with you around, and I- Ah!" she immediately yelped out. "S-Sorry, what am I saying?"
"T-That's okay, Yuri, thank you for saying that," MC quickly stalled her, but only made her face redder. "Also, about that apology, I don't think I'm the only one you should tell it to."
"Huh?" Yuri asked, cocking her head to the side. "Whatever do you mean, MC?"
"Well," MC continued, "Sayori was quite hurt yesterday, so I know that she'd love an apology. Natsuki, too."
"A-Ah, Sayori," she said, "You two… you two are very close, right?"
"Yeah, well, she is my best friend," MC admitted. "But that's not important. Your apologies?"
"A-Ah, you're right!" Yuri reacted. "Although, I don't know if Natsuki would even want to-"
"Hey, have you guys seen Monika?"
Yuri and MC turned to see the short stature of Natsuki approach them with a curious look.
"Uh, no, Natsuki," MC responded. "She'll probably be here soon, however."
"That's odd," Natsuki said. "She would have been here by now. I'm kinda worried about her, honestly. Let me ask Sayori." She was about to head to Sayori, before Yuri stopped her.
"Natsuki, wait!" Yuri called out, attracting the pink-haired girl's attention. "Listen, I'm so very sorry for what happened yesterday. I had taken things too far and it shouldn't have gotten out of hand like that and I-"
"Hey, Yuri?" Natsuki interrupted. "What the hell are you talking about? Did you do something yesterday?"
"H-Huh?" both Yuri and MC were taken aback by Natsuki's nonchalance.
"Jeez," Natsuki's eyes suddenly glossed over as she held a blank smile while she said, "Whatever's on your mind, I'm sure it was nothing. I don't even remember anything bad happening."
MC widened his eyes upon the sight in front of him, while Yuri still seemed confused and a little afraid.
"I'll still accept your apology, anyway. If it makes you feel better."
Yuri stammered as she said, "A-Ah, right. T-Thank you."
As they continued to talk about how they don't hate each other anymore, MC made his way out of the conversation to talk to Sayori.
"Hey," he told the coral haired girl, "The situation's worse."
Sayori lifted her head from the table and looked at MC. "How can it get worse than this?"
"The whole fight Natsuki and Yuri had? Well, Natsuki can't remember any of it. She's treating her like normal, now."
"Wait, really?" Sayori sat up straight as she looked at MC. "You don't think…?"
"Yeah," MC confessed. "I think it's Monika."
Sayori held her glare as she gazed ahead. "MC," she slowly asked, "I… I still don't know about that. Can't we count Monika out of this? I don't think she'd have done any of this."
"Believe me, it's hard for me to believe too," MC admitted, "but we have to look at the facts. She drove you to suicide before our reset. I remember her saying something about Natsuki not remembering a thing yesterday, and look at her now."
Sayori frowned as MC laid the facts out and laid her head down again.
"She's… she's a friend, MC."
"Yeah. But she hurt you. I can't let that slide."
Suddenly, the door swung open. 'Speak of the devil, and she arrives,' MC thought.
"Sorry!" Monika yelled as she trudged into the clubroom. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be late. I hope I didn't worry you."
MC and Sayori stayed silent, still looking at the monster in front of them. It took Natsuki to break the budding silence.
"What took you so damn long?!" she demanded.
"Ahaha, well, I kind of lost track of time while playing the piano."
"The piano?" Yuri asked. "That is quite impressive, Monika."
"Maybe," she confessed. "I mean, I've been playing for a while now, and I'd say I'm quite good with it. At least my boyfriend loves to hear me play."
"I knew it!" Natsuki yelled as she pointed at the brunette. "Monika has a secret boyfriend!"
"Ahaha, what are you talking about, Natsuki?" Monika let her eyes drift to MC as she said that.
"Alright," Natsuki marched up to her. "Spill the beans. Tell us everything about this boyfriend of yours."
"Um, Natsuki? I thought you knew already," Yuri interrupted. "She's dating the student president."
"Wait, the prez?!" Natsuki screamed yet again. "What the hell, Monika?! No wonder you're so damn popular!"
"It's not like that, Natsuki," Monika replied with a furtive giggle, before shooting a quick glance at MC. "I'll let you in on a fun fact about him. He actually looks a lot like MC over here!"
"Huh?" MC widened his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"It's just as I said," she continued. "I honestly think the only difference between you two is your height and your gaze."
"Huh," MC frowned, only slightly put off by the fact that Monika's boyfriend is his doppelganger. "Alright."
"Hey!" Natsuki yelled at her again. "You didn't answer my question!"
"Ahaha, don't worry about it, Natsuki!"
MC drifted out of the conversation, only to see Sayori still resting her head on the table.
"Hey," he gently approached her, "Are you okay?"
"What am I supposed to say, MC?" Sayori whined. "My friend tried to kill me, we both have superpowers now, and there are other strangers trying to kill us too. A guy was killed right in front of us a moment ago, and no one else even noticed. How would I be okay with any of that?"
MC stayed silent. He had no idea what to say to this, after all.
"Hey," MC heard Monika approach them. "Are you two okay?"
Sayori turned her head away from the girl as she said, "Yeah, I'm fine, Monika. MC, you can play with the others today."
"Um, Sayori," Monika bent down next to her. MC kept his gaze trained on them, looking for any abnormalities just in case. "I heard you were sick earlier. Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," Sayori turned to her to show her one of her fake smiles. "See? You don't need to worry about me. You can do your work now, so please leave me alone."
MC quietly let out a breath of relief as Monika distanced herself. Hopefully that time wasn't enough to change Sayori in any way.
MC sighed as he walked away as well. However, his newfound freedom was quickly lost as a purple-haired girl walked up to him.
"MC, I was wondering if you would like to spend some time together today."
MC frowned at this approach. Yuri was never this forward in the last run.
"Uh, sure," MC hesitantly relented. "But I already told Natsuki I'd read with her yesterday, so I should just check in with her-"
"She's fine!" Yuri immediately interrupted, causing MC to widen his eyes and slide a foot back a little. "Can't you see she's comfortably reading there?"
Looking past her, MC could see that Natsuki was, surely, engrossed in her manga.
"Uhh, alright," MC accepted. "I'll read with you then."
"Okay!" Yuri cheered with a skip, which was so out of character for her that MC was immediately concerned. She dragged MC to her seat and pushed a bench next to hers. "Let's find a place to sit and- Ah," she immediately withdrew her hand. "I'm being a little forceful, aren't I? I'm so sorry, my heart just won't stop pounding…"
"N-No, it's okay," MC said, still concerned at the growing blankness in Yuri's eyes. "This is just a very new side to you, that's all. It's quite refreshing, really."
"A-Ah, that's good to hear," Yuri said, as she pulled the chair back for MC. MC took the set that she held out for her with a quick thanks, and she took her own seat after. "It's just…" she continued, "I need to calm myself, otherwise I won't be able to read properly with you…"
"That's alright, Yuri. You can take your time."
MC let the purple haired girl take a few breaths as she pulled her copy of The Portrait of Markov.
After opening the book, Yuri immediately set it down between them.
"Are we… going to read from the same book together?" MC asked.
"Well, yes," Yuri said. "It will make the reading process far more engaging if we were to share the book between ourselves."
"Ah, right." MC replied as he accepted his side of the book. "Anyway, I haven't had the time to review the book on my own, so can you give me a summary?"
As Yuri described the, rather admittedly dark-themed book, MC could only think about what Monika could be doing to Yuri and Natsuki.
'She seems to be able to control their minds,' he realized. 'Although, how does she do it? What does it take for her Stand to control someone. The effects have randomly occurred till now, so how was she able to control them?'
"MC, are you ready?" Yuri asked, snapping MC out of his daze.
"A-Ah! Yeah! I'm alright." MC quickly threw in, hoping that Yuri would accept it.
"Um, are you ready to turn the page?"
"Huh?" MC finally realized the position he was in. He was currently huddled up next to Yuri, having a book open between them. He held one end with his right hand as Yuri held the other with her left. It took everything in his willpower to not accidentally stretch out his left arm and touch Yuri somewhere she should not be touched.
"Ah, sorry," MC said with a light chuckle, "I got a bit distracted there."
"Ah, that's okay," Yuri smiled as she looked back down at the words on her book. "Different readers read at different paces, so I can understand if you take some time. I can be patient for a while. After all, it's the least I could do after you've been so patient with me…"
MC smiled as he looked at Yuri again. "Thanks, Yuri."
After that, we had been able to be silent enough to read properly. I ended up flipping the page whenever I was done reading, because I expected that Yuri would be done before I was.
Soon into the story, I notice some features within the protagonist that were quite familiar.
"Hey, Yuri," I broke our silence for a moment, "The main character reminds me of you in a way, you know?"
"What?! No! I don't resemble her at all!" Yuri immediately yelped as her eyes glossed over once again.
"Uh, I mean to say that you tend to second-guess the things you say, just like this character," he explained.
"O-Oh," Yuri shook a bit as she tried to calm down. "T-That's what you're talking about, huh?"
"Yeah, but Yuri, what were you talking about?" MC asked. "What do you think I compared you with?"
"It's nothing!" Yuri immediately yelped. "We haven't even gotten to that point in the chapter yet, so I don't know why my mind went there. It's nothing to worry about."
Seeing Yuri's eyes oddly narrow as they glaze over made MC realize that he had to find out what it was that she had referenced.
"Yuri, are you alright?" MC asked. "You're breathing is getting quite heavy there."
"My breathing…?" Yuri asked, not helping the drastic heaving she was doing at the moment. Resting a hand on her chest, she muttered, "I hadn't even noticed…"
"Do you need any help, Yuri?"
"I'm fine!" she yelped again. "I just need some water. I'll be back as soon as possible!"
Without letting him say another word, she had immediately rushed out of the classroom.
MC frowned as she left. He could only imagine what she was going through at this point.
"Hey, MC?" Monika walked up to him. "What happened to Yuri?"
Oh, how badly he wanted to smash her in the face right now.
Pulling himself back, he managed to feign ignorance the best he could. "I guess… she just ran away for some reason."
Monika crossed her eyes as she stared at MC. "Are you sure? You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"
"Eh, me?" MC replied. "No. I'm sorry, but I don't know much."
Monika sighed. "Ah, very well then. As long as you didn't hurt her in any way."
MC looked at Monika, unknowingly hardening his gaze. "Trust me, I hadn't done anything. I wouldn't even dream of hurting her like that."
Monika giggled. "Ahaha, nothing to worry about, MC. Yuri does this sometimes, it's alright. She'll be back very soon."
MC widened his eyes in confusion. He had never seen Yuri do anything like that during the last run. But at the same time, he hadn't really spent enough time with her to understand what she did and didn't do. In any case, it had done nothing to help Monika's case.
"Anyway," Monika continued, "why don't we start sharing our poems?"
MC looked at the door, then back at Monika. "Shouldn't we wait for Yuri first?"
"It's okay," Monika insisted. "Yuri might take a while, so we should get started on this."
"Ah, very well then." MC nodded as he walked back to his bag to collect his poem.
Wanting to check in on her as soon as possible, MC decided to share his poem with Sayori first.
"Hey, Sayori," MC said, "are you doing okay now?"
Sayori shook her head. "MC, we saw someone die. I won't get over that so quickly. Let's just share our poems."
Gingerly switching their poems, he noticed that Sayori's poem was the same as before once again. Bottles. However, now knowing about her depression, he could see all of the references she had made to her issue. Somehow, it helped him understand her a little bit more.
"It was a good poem, MC." Sayori muttered as she handed his poem back. "Like always."
"Yeah," MC returned her poem too. "Yours is good as always, too."
"Thanks." The two took their poems back in tandem, standing in silence for a while.
"Sayori," MC broke the weight filling around them. "I want you to stay with me tonight."
"Huh?" Sayori widened her eyes and stepped back. "W-What did you…?"
"Ah, right," MC grimaced, just realizing how that sounded. "I mean, I don't want you to be alone tonight, Sayori. We both went through a lot, and we need to look out for each other."
"Y-Yeah," Sayori said, looking at MC in the eyes. "Alright. I'll come over." She then smirked. "I'll have to bring rope, though. I've still got Take Me to Church after all."
MC paused for a moment, trying to understand what she was trying to say, until he did.
His eyes widened in shock. "Sayori!" he near yelled, "You can't joke about that!"
Sayori then burst laughing, clutching her belly as she heaved out. Even though MC was irritated that Sayori would joke about her own suicide, seeing her laugh like that was the best thing he had ever seen.
"I'm s-s-sorry, MC," Sayori let her laugh died own as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I shouldn't have said that, huh?"
"It's okay, Sayori," MC smiled. "But hey, we'll meet later, right?"
"Yep!" Sayori nodded, finally back to her old self. "It'll be just like old times!"
MC laughed a bit as well. "Yeah, it will be. I can't wait."
Sharing with Natsuki had gone quite well, until she had reprimanded MC for not going to read with her that day. MC had to apologize and say that Yuri had insisted for some reason. She had just harrumphed and looked away.
That leaved only one person left, other than Yuri who still hadn't returned. Monika.
"Hi again, MC!" Monika chirpily addressed him as he walked up to her. "How's your writing going?"
"It's alright, but I still need to get used to the flow of things," MC replied.
"Ahaha, I know!" Monika smirked. "I mean, when your responsibilities stack up, you'll need to get used to managing them, after all!"
'Huh?' MC thought, 'Why did she say it like that?'
"Anyway, I'll take that," Monika plucked the poem out of MC's hands and beheld it. "I'm really happy that you're applying yourself, MC. Maybe you'll make a masterpiece one day."
"Ah, well," MC rubbed the back of his neck, even though he still kept his guard up. "I don't know, I'm still a long ways away from that."
Humming in approval, Monika finally took her time to read the poem, then handed it back to MC.
"I see you're still sticking with the bittersweet style?" Monika quirked a brow as she asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," MC admitted. "I'm just more comfortable with it, I think."
"No, I understand," Monika admitted. "It's a good poem. Made me go 'Ooh' as I was reading it. However, I would probably recommend branching out to other styles? You'll never know what's really best for you if you keep copying someone else, after all."
"Ah, right," MC nodded. "I'll try that."
"Good to hear!" Monika cheered. "Now, I hope my poem can give you some insight."
Suddenly, the two heard the clubroom door open.
"Yuri!" Monika called out.
"I'm back…" Yuri declared before stepping in. "Umm… What did I miss?"
"Not much, don't worry." Monika beamed as she spoke. "We all started sharing poems, that's all."
"Oh," Yuri looked down, "I guess I'll get mine as well, then. I'm so sorry for being late…"
"Nothing to worry about, Yuri!" Monika declared. "We still have a lot of time left, so you're good."
"Yeah!" Sayori called out as well, making Natsuki grimace in front of her and grasp her ears. "You go, Yuri!"
"A-Ah, right," Yuri nodded, as she picked up her own poem.
Monika then looked back at MC. "Ah, where were we… oh yes! You can read my poem now."
Accepting her poem, MC looked at it and immediately felt uneasy about the style. Not only was it different from the last run, which was odd in itself, but it seemed like someone had taken that old poem and bastardized it.
However, the top and bottom lines were what held the most value to MC. The top was "Save Me". MC wondered why she would want someone to save her when she was the one committing the murders, but eventually chalked it up to some psychotic victimization of hers.
However, the last one was so much more painful. "Delete Her". The moment MC read this line, all he could think about was what happened to Oyanagi.
'Oyanagi wasn't just erased,' MC realized, 'He was deleted!'
Going slightly pale at the realization, MC handed Monika her poem back.
"So, what do you think?" she asked him.
"It's, uhh, abstract." MC nodded as he spoke, hoping that his worry wasn't bleeding through his speech. "Creepy too, but I think you wanted it that way."
"Ahaha, I'm so sorry," Monika said, "I didn't expect my poem to have such an adverse reaction on you."
"N-No, it's alright," MC shook off his worry for the moment.
"Very well, here's Monika's Writing Tip of the Day!" Monika declared, making MC look back at her. "Sometimes, you'll end up having to make choices that will influence your life. To make this easier, remember to save your game every now and then!"
MC widened his eyes. 'What the hell?!' he thought. 'Wait, she said the same thing last time, too! I thought she was just speaking nonsense!'
"Ah, what am I talking about?" Monika laughed as she waved her hand. "I'm sorry, MC, you can just forget that."
"A-Ah, right," MC stuttered.
Smiling, Monika made her way away from him with a curt goodbye. As she walked away, MC kept thinking about what had just occurred.
'Does she know what I can do?' he pondered. 'She seemed to come up with the saving aspect far too easily, but she said the same thing last time? When I didn't have my Stand? How does this make sense? What is Monika?!'
Before MC could think any further about what had just happened, Yuri had approached him.
"MC, can we share poems?" she asked.
Being knocked out of his head, MC replied, "Well, y-yeah."
Sighing in relief, Yuri said, "Excellent. I've been waiting for this."
MC handed his poem over to her. Upon accepting it, she said, "Let's see what you've written for today…"
Quickly going through it, she hands MC the poem back.
"Uh, did you like it?" MC asked.
"Yes, I did," Yuri admitted, "although I do believe that there are a few areas in which you can improve. I'd gladly let you know how!"
"Yeah, I guess so," MC admitted. "I mean, I really do value your advice. I've been told I need to branch out a little, so maybe I can try your suggestions?"
"Really?" Yuri asked, suddenly gulping and wiping her hands on her skirt, "That… makes me so happy! Thank you for valuing me so much, MC!"
"E-Eh?" MC rebutted, but Yuri continued, ignoring him.
"Everything that you write is a treasure to me. My heart was pounding by just holding it… I… ahaha… I want to write a poem about this feeling…"
Here eyes glazed over yet again as she looked at MC. "Is that so wrong, MC?" she asked. "Is it wrong to bask in this feeling like this? I hope I'm not being weird to you, or anything…"
Before MC could give her a reply, she continued with a very wide smile, "But that doesn't matter right now. I want you to read my poem too!"
Gulping, MC accepted Yuri's poem and looked at it.
He regretted it immediately.
The poem was titled "Wheel." And for what it was, no one could explain. It was a bunch of random stuff meshed together without any real rhyme or reason. Yet, the near unending nature of the poem and the unusual topics that they covered along with the repetition of certain topics made the poem all the more unnerving to him.
"Ahaha," Yuri muttered, seeing MC lift his eyes from the poem. "It doesn't really matter what it is about. My mind has been a little hyperactive lately, so I had to take it out on your pen."
'Wait, my pen?' MC widened his eyes in surprise.
"A-Ah!" Yuri yelped, then swallowed as she looked at MC once again. "T-That is… a pen fell out of your bag yesterday, so I took it home for safekeeping… and… I really like… the way it… writes…"
MC was still confused, his horror still rising with every word that came out of Yuri's mouth.
"And so… I wrote this poem… with it…" Yuri smiled as her eyes went almost white with their glaze. "And now you're… touching it… ahaha…"
"Um, Yuri-" MC tried to break her out before-
"I'm okay!" she yelped, interrupting MC. "W-What did I just…"
Turning red-faced yet again, and losing the glaze in her eyes, she turned her head away and fiddled with her hair. "C-Can we pretend this conversation never happened…?"
MC nodded, still horrified at what had just occurred.
"Y-You can keep the poem though…" she muttered as she walked away.
MC cursed to himself as the poem sharing got over. He had to reconvene with Sayori about what just happened, and maybe even bring JoJo up to speed on it as well. He'd probably even have to see if JoJo could join the club, too.
"Okay, everyone, if you're all done sharing your poems, can we all discuss something today?" Monika called out.
"Is this about the festival?" Natsuki asked.
MC paled at the mention of the event. That was the day Sayori had…
"Yeah!" Sayori happily cheered, "The festival!"
Natsuki pouted. "Do we really have to do something for the festival?" she asked. "It's not like we can put something together that quickly."
"Yes, that is a concern of mine as well," Yuri added. "I don't really do well with last minute preparations."
"Don't worry about it, alright?" Monika calmed the two down. "We still haven't confirmed what we will be doing yet, but it will not take anything more than a couple decorations to prepare."
"Yeah!" Sayori cheered, echoing Monika's enthusiasm. "I can't wait for the festival!"
MC nodded, but then looked at Monika. "Wait, what do you mean by not having confirmed what to do yet?"
"Oh, well, about that," Monika sheepishly laughed and scratched her chin, "I had thought of an idea, but Sayori thought it would be best if everyone could discuss one instead."
Yuri frowned. "Could you please tell us what you had planned?"
"Ah, yes!" Monika perked up upon hearing Yuri's question. "I was hoping that we could present our poems, but Sayori said that not all of us might enjoy that."
Natsuki looked at Sayori. "Thanks for that," she told her, now turning to Monika. "That's the worst idea I've ever heard. There's no way I'm going to do that."
"While Natsuki could be… milder… about her word choice, I must agree with her," Yuri chimed, fiddling with her hair in nervousness. "I simply can't even imagine…"
"Ah, but I really believe that it could be a good activity," Monika suggested, losing her smirk a little. "It would easily allow the Literature Club to reach out to everyone else. And presenting our poems in front of them would be an incredible way for us to maintain our connection with them, making them feel more at home. Don't any of you want any new club members?"
"To be honest, Monika?" Natsuki spoke up. "No. I don't want anyone else."
"Eh?" Monika's gaze froze upon hearing Natsuki's word, while Sayori let out a sad smile, expecting this.
"Yeah, I mean," Natsuki continued. "I really like the club the way it is right now, you know? Seriously, if I wanted a club that would be hounded by a bunch of people, I could have joined any club out there. But this club… I enjoy this club mainly because of how low-profile it is and how close every single member can get with each other. I don't want to lose that, and if we look for new members, we will."
"Natsuki," Sayori spoke up. "I understand what you're talking about, but can't we just try this out? For Monika, at least."
Natsuki stayed quiet, thinking about Sayori's words.
"Besides," Sayori continued, "Don't you want to share our love for our club with others? I know you want to keep the club small, but we can manage it well if it gets bigger! We'll make sure that every member is treated as equally as possible!"
Seeing Natsuki's hesitance, MC decided to throw in his own two cents.
"I don't think it's that big of an issue," he said. "I mean, realistically speaking, not many people will be willing to join a club based on Literature of all things, anyway. That means that the people who will join will only be those who are genuinely interested and willing to work with us."
"I… have to agree with MC." Yuri spoke up as well. "I, too, prefer to keep the club quiet, but MC raised some fair points. I'd be willing to put ourselves forth."
"Gggrrrrhh…" Natsuki grumbled. "Dammit, alright then! We'll hold the festival, alright?"
"I… Thank you, everyone." Monika smiled as she looked at her club members. "Now, onto the important business. I know that some of you aren't willing to present your poems, but since we are on a time crunch, can we all come up with an idea for the festival by tomorrow?"
The rest of the club responded with a resounding, "Okay." Monika beamed upon hearing their acceptance.
"Great! I'd love to hear what you guys can come up with! However, that's all for today's meeting!"
Nodding, they all went back to get their bags before they left.
"Hey, MC," Sayori approached the boy, "Let's head back home, shall we?"
MC smiled as he remembered his promise of watching over her for the day. He hummed in approval as they started to walk out together before-
"MC, wait!" Monika called out as they were about to exit the door. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.
MC frowned. "Is this urgent?" he asked. "Sayori and I've got things we need to do today."
Monika was about to reply, but then paused upon seeing Sayori stand nearby, by MC's side. "Very well," she relented. "I'll talk to you later."
The two were about to head out, only to be stopped once again.
"Umm, you two…" Yuri approached them. "You two always walk back together every time, huh?"
"Well, yeah," MC replied. "What about it?"
"O-Oh, nothing!" Yuri jerked out a reply. "N-Nothing at all!"
Sayori frowned as well. "Um, Yuri, are you sure you're okay?"
"I-I'm fine!" Yuri declared once again. "I just… I just need some sleep, that's all."
Sayori gazed at Yuri, then turned her stare to Monika for a moment. Luckily, the brunette hadn't spotted her staring.
"Hope you get better, Yuri!" Sayori cheered, once again wearing a fake smile. MC got quite perturbed, seeing how similar that front was to Sayori's real behavior.
And with that, the duo finally made it out of the Literature Club that day.
"MC," Sayori asked as they walked back, now out of earshot of everyone else. "What are we going to do about all this? About Monika and Yuri?"
"Only one thing we can do," MC admitted, hands deep within his pockets. "We have to stop them ourselves. Also, a little help would be good too."
MC pulled out his phone and quickly dialed up a number.
"Hey, JoJo, can you come over to my place today? There are some things we need to discuss."
A/N: My sem's over, I've just got finals left to prepare for. I can relax a little bit for now, which is why I started writing this. I may even write an Ascension chapter as well.
This actually took way longer than it needed to. I ended up copying a lot of the dialogue from the base game Act 2, so I had to constantly refer to that as I wrote. Tbh, it was pretty irritating, but the chapter came out well in the end.
Anyway, there's only about two chapters left for the end of the Yuri route. Maybe even three. I'm planning to end the route at I Imagine a Future Part 2 after the interlude that's coming up, but I might move on to a part 3 if it doesn't fit. I'll have to think of an apt subtitle for it if its there, though.
We've got a review!
IzuOchaShipper99: I haven't read JoJolion, so I don't really understand what Wonder of U does. I had to go through the wiki, but I still didn't get the hype. Oh well, gotta save it for when I read it, I guess. But anyway, I had to laugh at how your review made so much sense, yet is so damn false. My deceptions are working perfectly. Well, I'll have to see after this chapter, though.
And seriously, thanks for all the reviews, man. I really love to read those.
Anyway, next chapter is gonna be a meeting between the Doki Stand Users, discussing what they should do about Monika. Will Sayori get over her rising guilt and depression that the world of Stands gave her? Will Geoff Joster finally fulfil his 'Chi no Sadame'? Will MC, for once, save the literature club? We'll find out soon enough, but for now, I'll see you next chapter.