Chapter 14

Where I Can Part 1: Safe

It was Friday. The same day that Yuri almost killed MC in the previous run.

The group of Stand Users did meet the previous day, but they hadn't had a whole lot to discuss. JoJo briefly tested their flinch reflex suppression, and they had shared how Monika was somehow making Natsuki hungrier and how she somehow knew about MC's ability to revert time.

To say that MC was shocked about that last point would be an understatement. He did ask how they found out about this, and Sayori and Yuri mentioned that it was in a comment by Monika, about how she knew that Sayori had already heard her poem before. MC couldn't find any way to dispute with that observation, so he had to settle with the fact that their abilities were somehow compromised as well.

That also begged a new question; did Monika know about all their Stand abilities? How much did she know? Was she even aware that they were Stand Users in the first place?

None of them knew, and that taught them one thing. They were all afraid of what the truth was.

"Mr. Caulfield, what is-"

"32 by 15."

"A-Ah, well, that's right, just remember to pay attention."

MC gulped as he looked back again at his teacher continuing their lecture. Casting a glance at the clock, he noticed that-

RRRIIIINGGG!

That it was about time for the bell to ring.

MC got up alongside his classmates, shoving his unused notebooks into his bag and holstering it. Since he wasn't close with anyone in the class, he didn't need to say goodbye to anyone as he left the class.

As students headed out through the front door en masse, MC took the opposite direction as he walked all the way to the clubroom.

Upon opening the door, he noticed the regular scene.

Yuri was sitting in the edge of the room, reading a book while hiding the scratch she had made on the wall there earlier. Sayori was sitting nearby, coloring a poster.

'Oh yeah, that was there too,' MC thought as he watched her. He remembered how she had dragged him into his room and forced him to sit with her and make that poster. MC tried to say that it was useless, that they probably wouldn't hold the festival in the first place, Sayori still insisted that she wanted to do that. So, MC couldn't find any time to waste as he helped Sayori with her poster, finished his poem for the day and completed his homework. He also found time to finish the Parfait Girls volume that he unknowingly brought back home.

Speaking of Parfait Girls, Natsuki bag was barely visible next to a desk in front of the closet. 'But where is she?'

Looking around, MC eventually saw that the closet door was closed. Apprehensively walking towards it while sending quick worried glances to Sayori and Yuri, he knocked on the door.

"Natsuki, are you in there?" he asked out loud.

He got no response.

"Okay, I'm coming in," he declared as he gently opened the door.

Upon opening the door, he noticed that Natsuki was inside. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, until he actually saw her.

She was staring blankly into her manga collection that was on the top shelf, out of her reach. Her face shone a little differently than normal in certain patches of her skin, and MC didn't know why.

"Umm, Natsuki?" MC called, waving a hand in front of her face. Natsuki's eyes widened as she saw the hand in front of her face, then turned to the side to see who it belonged to.

Upon seeing MC, Natsuki's eyes suddenly trembled as she suddenly pulled herself to the opposite end of the closet.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

MC jerked away from her as she shrieked out loud, merely from seeing him. The noise ended up also catching the attention of the other two girls, who quickly made their way into the closet.

MC unwillingly moved outside the closet, still thinking about why Natsuki would react like that, as Yuri and Sayori entered to check in on the pink-haired girl who was currently hiding her face in her hands, keeping her blazer-sleeves firmly pressed into her eyes. In a few moments, Sayori made her way out of the closet as well.

"S-Sayori, I-"

"Don't worry, MC," Sayori reassured, "I know you well enough to know you didn't do anything. What happened?"

"I-I don't know," MC gulped as he spoke. "S-She just saw me, and she lost it."

"Oh, I'm late today again!" Monika yelled out as she barged in through the door. "Sorry to keep you – wait, did something happen?"

MC and Sayori looked at each other, still bearing their unsure expressions.

Slowly, Sayori turned to Monika. "It's Natsuki."

"Oh, her?" Monika sighed in relief. "No need to worry then. She's just going through some things."

MC then turned to her, gritting his teeth. "How… How the hell can you say that? How dare you-"

His speech was truncated by Sayori's hand put on top of his mouth. "MC, we can't do this now," she whispered in his ear. "We can't risk her hurting us as well."

MC slowly sighed under Sayori's hand and nodded to let her take her hand off. He held himself back from saying anything else as he turned to Sayori again.

"Can you please check on her? I feel like she shouldn't see me now."

Sayori nodded as she walked back into the closet.

MC turned back to see Monika, who just took her seat in the teacher's desk. She beamed at him, while MC returned a dirty look.

As he turned back to move to the closet just in case, he heard the doors open as the three girls walked out, Natsuki being supported by both Sayori and Yuri. Natsuki took one more look at MC. He could see her eyes tremble again, but then she forced them shut and looked away, gritting her teeth a little. There were no tear streaks on her cheeks, but her eyes were red and puffy.

Yuri left her behind with Sayori, as she went to her bag and pulled out a couple protein bars. Handing them to Natsuki, the pink-haired girl quickly teared them open and wolfed them down.

Hesitantly, MC approached them. "A-Are you okay, Natsuki?" he apprehensively asked.

Natsuki paused from taking another bite of her third protein bar, and slowly gulped the food in her mouth. "S-S-Sorry," she whined out as she took another bite out of her bar. "I souwn't haw souw-ed," she spoke in between her chewing. Gulping once again, she spoke again with a light grimace. "I shouldn't have shouted."

"D-Don't mention it, Natsuki," MC replied as Natsuki went back to eating her protein bars. He guessed that Natsuki wasn't willing to talk about it, and he knew that he couldn't coax what he needed from her either.

After that event, everyone had settled down. Sayori slowly went back to her posters and Yuri to her book, while making sure that Natsuki didn't need anything else. MC went back to his bag and brought out the manga volume that he took back and went to Natsuki.

"Hey, Natsuki?" he carefully asked.

As she wiped the crumbs away from face, she turned to MC. "What is it?" she asked.

"Well, I forgot to give you your manga volume back yesterday, I just wanted to do it now."

She gently lowered her eyes to the volume, then turned back to the closet.

"I'll take it back, just give me a moment."

She entered the closet once again, keeping her somber expression. She looked up at the newly positioned manga collection.

"Fucking Monika…" she muttered. "Seriously, how many times have I told her to stop moving my manga?"

Walking out of the closet, she tried to budge one of the desk chairs. However, she soon realized that they were connected to their desks and bolted to the ground.

"Grrrh!" she grumbled as she went up to Monika.

"Hey, I'm taking your chair," she said.

Monika merely smiled at her in return as she got up and walked to another desk nearby. Natsuki then came back to the closet, a wheeled swivel chair in hands.

'Shit!' MC thought. 'I remember this!'

Quickly, MC walked alongside her, setting the manga volume in his hands on a nearby desk. "Hey, I can try taking it down."

"I'm not relying on a boy like you." She abruptly replied.

MC paused as he slowly watched Natsuki still moving to the closet. Shaking his head, he walked up to her again.

"Natsuki, please," he insisted. "Standing on this is dangerous. Let me try taking it instead."

Natsuki paused as she turned to MC, shooting pure fury at him in her gaze. "Don't you dare tell me about what's good for me."

MC paused yet again, now with an agape mouth and widened eyes. Natsuki moved ahead a little, then paused as well. Turning back to MC, she said, "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You're not like…"

She sighed quietly, as she turned back to the closet. "Just… okay, you can help me. But I'm getting that down."

'No, that would be bad as well,' MC thought. 'I can't let history repeat itself.'

They eventually made it to the closet, where Natsuki positioned the swivel chair.

"Alright, make sure this doesn't fall, alright?" she turned to MC and asked.

"Umm, Natsuki?" MC started to ask.

"Urgh, what is it now?" Natsuki replied, not hiding her irritation.

"Well…" MC started to speak. "Y-You should know that-"

"You know what, save it for later." Natsuki suddenly stepped up onto the chair and with a little support from the opposing shelf, she managed to stand straight.

Yelping at her action, MC immediately dove ahead to grip the end of the chair, making sure that it doesn't move.

"Alright… and…"

"Natsuki!" MC yelled out as he kept his face down, letting her keep her dignity. "I can't be down here while you're up there!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsuki pulled the box of manga from the shelf and looked down, finally seeing how MC positioned his head down.

"Why is your head turned like-" she froze as she suddenly realized what MC had just said a moment ago. She was currently flashing her panties to MC.

"AAAHH! You… You fucking pervert!"

MC slowly felt the chair that he was holding shake. "Natsuki, please don't move so much!" he said, still keeping his head down. "You'll fall!"

"Go fuck yourself, goddamit!" she yelled out as she tried to hide her underwear with her skirt, while handling the heavy and large manga box in one hand.

Suddenly, Natsuki let the box of manga slip from her hand.

This box abruptly landed on Natsuki's feet, making her cry out and reflexively shift her body weight back.

However, since she was on a swivel chair, it couldn't support the shift in weight even with MC holding it down, thus making her fall down right onto him.

However, since MC knew this would happen, he decided to act first.

"Day One!"

The green Stand emerged from his body and held Natsuki's body and gently rested it nearby, while MC himself took the brunt of the manga box falling on him from the flipped chair.

"Grk!" he yelped as the manga box landed on his legs, landing hard. However, he decided that he didn't need to Rollback to remove the pain, because Natsuki was safe.

"Ugh, shit," Natsuki growled as she crawled up to a kneel, seeing MC lying down on the side, manga scattered around his legs.

"Are you okay?" MC softly asked as he sat up, watching the manga volumes nearby to ensure that he doesn't damage them any further. Day One quickly withdrew within himself as well.

"What happened?" Yuri cried out as she opened the door to the closet, Sayori and Monika close behind her.

"No, no, no, no…" Natsuki mumbled as she frantically picked up the scattered manga. Moving most of them into the box without giving them a second thought, she paused as she saw the first volume. Gingerly picking up the well maintained, yet old manga volume, she flipped it over to where it had landed open. Natsuki paled upon seeing it.

Suddenly dropping the book, Natsuki ran out of the closet, running past MC and shoving all the other girls away.

"Natsuki!" MC yelled out as he stood up, picking up the volume she had dropped. That was when he saw the large crease made on the page as the page folded on itself during the fall.

"Shit…" MC said to himself as he stood up and ran after her, trying make sure she was alright.

Upon exiting the clubroom, he heard a thud of something falling on the floor. Looking down the hallway, he noticed Natsuki lying down on the ground, trying to get up. He quickly ran up to her, wanting to check on her.

However, as MC got closer, he paled as he saw Natsuki's back as her uniform rolled up from the fall.

Bruises. Ugly splotches of red and purple marred her skin.

"N-Natsuki, what…?" MC stammered out as he walked up to her. As Natsuki turned back to face him, MC noticed that the tears that she was crying had managed to stain her face this time. She unconsciously wiped the tears away, but in doing so, she also carried away the makeup on her face, covering the red hand mark on it.

"W-Who did this to you…?" MC slowly asked as Natsuki widened her eyes at the question.

She closed her eyes as she collapsed back onto the floor, with a soft smile. "I'm… done. I broke the rule. Papa's going to kill me now."

MC paled as he heard those words. "Your… Your dad did this to you?"

"Yeah, he did," Natsuki confessed, not bothering to stop her flowing tears anymore. "No point in hiding it now. The moment I reach home, he's gonna know. I'm already dead."

'Crap, I can't let her be like this! I don't know if she's actually serious about her dying!' MC thought as he quickly brought out his Stand. "Day One! Rollback!"

Rolling back the whole twelve seconds, he witnessed how Natsuki had fallen as her legs failed on her while running. He followed the journey all the way back to when Natsuki had run past him, which was where his Rollback ended. He chose to move back to his old position to keep away from the seeming teleportation.

This time, as Natsuki ran out, MC stayed where he was, still contemplating whatever it was that he saw. Yuri and Sayori noticed his expression, which made them stay as well. However, that only left Monika behind to go check in on her.

"I think she'll be back soon," MC said, hoping to keep Monika away from her.

Monika smiled from behind the other girls. "Well, that's alright then. I hope you're right about that."

MC slowly stood back up. "Yeah, I hope so too."

As Monika walked away, MC slowly bent back down to pick up the scattered manga and put them all back in the box. Seeing his actions, Sayori and Yuri leaned down with him to gather them as well.

"MC…" Sayori gently asked. "I hate to ask this now, but can you tell us what you learned?"

MC took a breath, then finally picked up the first volume, the one with the crease running through the center. Gingerly straightening out the page, he set the volume back into the box.

"Her dad's physically abusing her."

Soon enough, Natsuki returned back to the club with a new mask of makeup covering the marks on her face. MC looked at her once again, hoping that she was alright.

Natsuki stood at the entrance for a moment, and upon seeing MC, walked towards him. "Hey, umm…" she started. "I'm-"

"Don't worry about it," MC replied, interrupting her. "I should have told you about that sooner. It was my fault."

'Why the hell didn't I Rollback then?!' he mentally scolded himself.

"N-No, it was mine," Natsuki said, quickly wiping her eye before a tear could fall out again. "I-I shouldn't have been so angry at you. I should have listened."

"I-I don't think we're going to get anywhere if we end up blaming ourselves," MC concluded with a sheepish smile. "Why don't we just call it bad luck and call a truce?" MC put a hand out, sharing an olive branch.

Natsuki looked down at his hand, then at him. She smiled as she took his hand. "Truce it is."

MC nodded, then yelped as she dragged him back into the closet.

Natsuki, however, froze upon seeing the cleanliness of the room. She noticed the manga collection, properly lined up on the shelf next to her.

"Did… Did you do this?" Natsuki asked.

"Well, with help from Sayori and Yuri," MC said, but frowned as he pulled out the first volume, opening it up to the formed crease. "This was the only bit of damage. We couldn't do anything about this. Sorry."

Natsuki's expression fell as she noticed the manga. Slowly taking it from MC's hands, she gently thumbed the crease.

"You know," she started, "My mom gave this to me. It was her last gift to me."

MC's eyes widened. 'Is she going to talk about her home life now?'

Closing the book, she slid the book into its slot, right next to the second that MC set back. Turning back to him, she said, "You have no idea how hard it for me to say this right now, but Sayori's lucky to have you as a boyfriend, you know? You're probably the only boy I know that won't take advantage of me."

MC widened his eyes in surprise. "Wait, really? Don't you trust any other guys like that?"

Natsuki frowned. "Like I'd be friends with boys. My pa – dad made sure… nevermind."

MC decided that going deeper into her father issue would not be a good idea, so he decided to move on to something else. "Alright, but what told you that? That I won't take advantage of you?"

Natsuki quirked a brow. "Are you saying you'll betray me like that?" Natsuki held up a fist and cracked her knuckles as an intimidation tactic.

"What, no!" MC chuckled as he replied. "I'm just asking what gave you the idea."

Chuckling as well, Natsuki let her hands fall to her sides again. "I'm not stupid, you know?" she said, shaking her head. "I literally shoved my panties in your face. You, choosing not to look at them and even trying to warn me about it, can tell me something about you."

MC widened his eyes again. "Oh. I didn't think of it like that."

Natsuki laughed. "Of course, you didn't. Hell, if I didn't know any better, you'd be like a knight in shining armor or something like that."

'Wait, really?' MC pondered, then reservedly chuckled. 'Well, more like a time-travelling crusader.'

"Alright, let's start!" Natsuki yelled out, breaking MC from his thoughts.

"Start what?" MC asked in return.

"The third volume of Parfait Girls, of course!" Natsuki cried in reply as she pulled the volume out from her box, but then paused as it was midway out.

"Wait, you did finish the second volume, right?" Natsuki asked, turning to MC.

"Well, yeah," MC confessed. "I had time last night."

'I didn't, I had to sacrifice gaming time, but she doesn't need to know that.'

"That's great!" Natsuki applauded him with a toothy grin, flashing her fangs. "I knew I could count on you to do that!"

"Well, thanks, even though I don't know if I deserve all that praise."

"Of course, you do, now come on!"

Natsuki yanked MC out of the closet, just like the previous day, with the third volume in hand.

"Okay, everyone!" Monika suddenly announced. "It's time to share poems!"

"What, already?!" Natsuki bemoaned, drooping her head. "Damn, we hadn't even got to the fun part yet."

Turning back to MC, she handed him the volume. "You better have this volume done by the next club meeting, got it?"

MC felt that they wouldn't face the next club meeting anytime soon, but he still nodded. "Sure."

Sharing with Sayori and Yuri were quick. They both had poems that he had already read before. Turns out, Yuri and Natsuki decided to write about the beach again, so Yuri's poem had been the exact same as it was the last time. Yuri was quite shocked to hear that, however.

After sharing with them both, he went on to Natsuki.

"Alright, let's see!" Natsuki smiled as MC walked over to her.

"You seem excited," MC commented as he handed his poem over to her.

"Of course. I mean, I really like your poems, after all," Natsuki replied with another wide smile as she read his poem.

"Hm! Up to the mark like always!" Natsuki handed him his poem back. "Not much I can say about it, really."

"You know, I've noticed something odd about you." MC decided to repeat a question from his first run. "You've never mentioned liking my poems like you just did before."

"I mean, y-yeah!" Natsuki yelped out, a little startled by the question. "I-I didn't really trust you then, ya know? I had to put you in your place."

MC grinned. "So, what you're saying is that you're a tsundere."

"W-What, no!" Natsuki yelled out in reply but went beet-red. "Tsundere's are absolute assholes! I'm not like that, got it?!"

MC chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it, Tsun-suki."

Natsuki grit her teeth in frustration, as she smacked him on the side of his arm. "Y-You… goddamit! I am so gonna get you back someday, get it?!"

MC chuckled in reply as he gently rubbed the place where she hit. "I'll be waiting for that, then."

Natsuki looked a little more frustrated, but then her expression was immediately replaced with a sly smile.

"Yeah, well, I can't really be a tsundere," she said. "I mean, I'd have to actually be in love with you to be one, right?"

"Ouch!" MC yelled out, as he mockingly gripped his heart and bent his knees a little, grimacing as he did so. "You really have to be careful about who you say that to, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't care," Natsuki laughed as she said. "I mean, you've got Sayori, right? Me having feelings for you after that would just be wrong."

"Well, yeah, you're right there," MC admitted, standing straight again. "However, even then, you'll have to be careful about those words. They can cause some serious heartbreak to a single guy."

"Yeah, like I'll actually be friends with a guy just so they can get in my pants," Natsuki replied, but then suddenly winced. MC raised a brow in concern, to which Natsuki just turned to him. "L-Let's just talk about something else. Here's my poem."

MC decided that it was best not to question her problems, and just accepted the poem from her hands.

This was the first time he had read this poem. Natsuki's poem about the beach, titled "I'll Be Your Beach". He expected that if he hadn't sought after Natsuki in his first run, then he could have come across this poem.

"I ended up asking Yuri to write about the Beach. As you can see, this is what came out of it." Natsuki commented.

Putting the poem down, MC smiled. "I like it."

Natsuki was about to say something but faltered as her face turned red and she looked away. "G-G-Gee, thanks," she mumbled out, gulping as she did so.

Handing her poem back, MC decided to leave her with one last message, just so she knew that she could count on him.

"Hey, Natsuki," he said. "I want you to know that you're not too far off from that 'knight in shining armor' comment you made earlier. I may not actually care about hooking up with the princess right after, but I'll be there if you need anything."

Natsuki looked at him in surprise, but then frowned. "And what can you do…?" she mumbled out softly.

However, MC managed to hear it. "A lot more than you can imagine, really," he confessed. "Trust me, you'd be surprised."

Natsuki looked at him with a questioning look, but then sighed as she folded her arms. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," she broke eye contact and spoke.

"Mhm! I see you're sticking with the cute style even now!" Monika said, looking up to him. "I see you still want to be with Natsuki?"

"Well, yeah," MC hastily said. He always hated sharing with Monika. He found it hard to hold his anger back.

"Hmm… I hope you got food for her today, then," Monika asked.

MC didn't bother gracing her with a reply, feeling his anger for her rising.

Handing him his poem back, she took out hers. She eyed it for a moment, but then sighed as she put it away.

"Why do I even bother showing you these poems," Monika sighed, then looked up at him and smiled. "I mean, you've already read them in previous runs, haven't you?"

MC widened his eyes, then ferociously grinned. "Oh, so we're dropping the act now?" He walked up to Monika, towering over her. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't use Day One and beat you to the ends of your life."

Monika chuckled. "Well, you'd leave a poor impression on Natsuki if you punch a poor girl to death, wouldn't you?"

MC widened his eyes, and turned around to see Natsuki simply standing by, not being able to share her poem with anyone else.

"I'm disclosing myself for one reason only," Monika said, getting MC's attention. "My new Writing Tip of the Day."

"Huh?"

"Yep!" Monika blissfully cheered. "And here it is!"

Monika sighed and ominously recited. "No matter how many times you try to rewrite time, you can't fix what never existed in the first place."

Monika's expression quickly morphed into her regular cheerful one. "That's all for now, MC! Thank you for sharing!"

"W-Wait, what?" MC remarked. "What does that even mean?!"

Monika didn't grace him with a reply as she walked away.

As the poem sharing event came to a close, MC found himself pensively thinking about what Monika had just told him.

'I can't fix what never existed in the first place? What does she mean by that?' he pondered.

"Okay, everyone!" the monster called his attention again, breaking his thought process. "Can we all meet in the center for a moment?"

MC zoned out of the conversation, already knowing what it was about. It was the standard conversation about what everyone would do for the festival.

'Could she be talking about deletion?' MC pondered. 'Had JoJo ever come back to me with what he learned about Oyanagi?'

Looking around, he could see Sayori and Yuri also trying to speed through the conversation.

"And that leaves you, MC!" Monika said, his called out name getting his attention yet again. "You see these two girls have some pretty heavy tasks. It will go a long way if you could help one of them. Of course, you could help me too~!"

"Oh, come on!" Natsuki cried out. "You've already got Sayori helping you, why the hell do you need MC as well?"

Yuri chose not to say anything, vaguely remembering how this conversation went the last time.

"Well, I guess it should depend on who MC chooses, right?" Monika sweetly smiled as she turned back to him. "So, MC, who's it going to be?"

As MC was about to reply, out of nowhere, Mess is Mine appeared in front of his face and pulled an arm back to drive into his eye.

Choosing to forget JoJo's training for that moment, MC immediately jumped to the side, avoiding the ghostly arm coming his way.

Mess is Mine turned its head toward him, moaned out another standard 'Tokkeeeaaa…' and faded away from existence.

"I'll go with Natsuki!" he suddenly declared before Monika's Stand could find its way again.

"That's a fair choice," Yuri said. "Although, I should ask, MC, why did you jump like that?"

"Oh, uhh, I tripped," MC quickly replied.

"Okay, MC's antics aside, you're really okay with me working with MC, Yuri?" Natsuki turned to the purple-haired girl and asked. "I thought you'd fight me for him. I mean, I was just going to give him some dirty work."

Yuri sighed. "That's okay. I can manage the decorations on my own. You can use him."

"Well, thanks," Natsuki replied with a slight smile.

"Ah, well, that's confirmed then!" Monika declared. "MC will be helping Natsuki during the weekend! And that is all for this meeting, everyone! Sayori, I hope you can close up today; I've got something I need to attend to."

"Alright!" Sayori grinned as Monika picked up her bag and made her way out the door.

"Hey!" MC turned around to see Natsuki calling him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, nowhere?" MC replied.

"Good, I need your number," Natsuki said. "I need some way of talking to you for Sunday, right? N-Not like I need it for anything else, alright?!"

"Yeah, you're right," and so, MC gave Natsuki his number. Not like she'd need it anyway.

Natsuki folded up the number she noted down and pocketed it. "Umm, well…" she started.

"What is it?" MC asked.

"It's just… I don't want to go home just yet…"

MC froze, and from nearby, Sayori and Yuri froze as well. 'Crap,' they all thought simultaneously.

"I-It's fine, don't worry about it," Natsuki shook her head and said, walking away to get her bag.

"Hey, um…" MC ran up to her. "A-Are you sure? I mean, I don't mind spending some time."

"I-I wish I could, but…" Natsuki looked off to the side, puckering her lips. "My dad wants me home on time."

"A-Ah, okay," MC hesitantly replied. "Just… let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Yeah, I will," she said as she started walking out of the club.

As MC joined Sayori and Yuri watching her leave, he briefly heard Yuri mumble out, "The Knife."

Yuri's purple Stand immediately emerged from her body and went up to Natsuki. As she was about to set her hand back down to her side after adjusting her shoulder strap, she felt a light slice on her palm.

"Ah!" she cried out a little as she saw the odd scratch on her palm that had formed out of nowhere. However, paying no heed to it as it was a light scratch, she decided to walk away.

"Why did you do that?" MC asked Yuri as The Knife returned.

"Just in case," she said. "Maybe we'll need to teleport her to safety. Or maybe, we can teleport into her house through her."

MC sighed. "Are we going to do it today?"

"We have everything we need, MC," Sayori replied. "We can't waste any more time today. We've seen how she was today. Something really bad must have happened yesterday."

MC looked at her. "You don't think…!"

"Possibly," she replied morosely. "I mean, she was afraid of you, a guy. I wouldn't see any other explanation."

"That… That fucking son of a bitch!" MC yelled out as he gritted his teeth in frustration. "I… I really should have pounded Monika down today, huh?"

MC suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him, comforting him from his sudden anger. "Thank you, MC, for holding back for so long," Sayori said to him. "I promise you, when we're done saving Natsuki from her absolute asshole of a dad, then you can beat up Monika all you want. There'll be no one left for her to influence after Natsuki."

Sighing, MC slowly nodded, to which Sayori nodded by letting go of him.

"Today's the day, then," MC pulled out his phone from his pocket and shot JoJo a text.

"Today's the day we invade Natsuki's home and save her from her dad."

A/N: Sadly, today's not the day you can see what will happen when they invade. That will be in the next chapter.

I've got direction for the arc now. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I've come up with a suitable Stand for Natsuki's Dad, along with a backstory. I will admit, this is one of my better Stands, also uninspired by MHA. You'll have to see what they are in the next chapter, though.

I did plan on giving a little sneak peek into the chapter, but I've decided against it. I'll leave you guys dying in suspense instead.

We are also quickly closing in on a secret reveal for the story as well. I'm still unsure if I should mention it's possibility so early on in the story, but I'll think about it depending on how the next chapter goes.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you guys had a fun Christmas, and I'll aim to publish the next chapter on or before New Year. I've got it planned out, but nothing's written yet.

I'll see you all next chapter!