I think it's safe to say that the rest of the story (i.e. 3 more chapters) will be from Kazuki's POV.
I'm woken up by someone shaking me out of sleep. Natsuki is still sleeping on my bed, so, it has to be someone else, but shouldn't the door be locked?
"Ah, you're awake. Well, congratulations! You've managed to defeat the monster way out of your league. How did you do it?" - Monika asks with her usual smile.
"W-How did you get here?" - I ask as I stand up.
"Obviously through the front door." - she replies as she shows me what appears to be a replica of my door key. I pull of my key and compare them.
"This isn't the t- I don't remember giving you my keys. Where did you get it?" - I ask her once I'm sure that these keys are identical.
"That's completely irrelevant, don't you think? I'm sure you've got bigger problems to think of." - she says and she is right.
"...Monika...Why did you let Natsuki kidnap me?" - I ask her. Something tells me this is how the rest of our conversation will go.
"Why would I stop her? Your survival is completely meaningless to me. All I need is you to exist. It doesn't matter what state you're in. As long as your existence is recognized by the world, he can use it as his vessel." - she...what?...Is she...
I grab the gun and point it at her face. I expect some kind of reaction, but she doesn't even flinch. Her smile doesn't even falter one bit.
"Um, Kazuki? Things like these are dangerous. Could you, well, not to point it at my face?...Ah, I see. I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion, but you can lower it. I'm just as human as you a...Scratch that, I'm more human than any of you." - she says as she puts her hand on the barrel of the weapon in my hand. I lower it, but her words don't make me calm down.
"Are you some kind of delusional cultist? I've seen enough of these in fiction to tell you t-"
"What? Pfft, no! No! I'm just a girl in love with someone, that's all. It just that this someone happens to be from another world and YOU are his eyes and ears here...well, that's how it should be at least. Unfortunately, he's been absent for a while now." - she interrupts me...I still don't get it. What the hell is she talking about? Who is that guy and w-
Suddenly, something tackles Monika down to the floor.
"MONIKA WHAT THE FUCK?!" - Natsuki yells at the club president. Looks like she woke up too. Her speech is back to normal, so, I don't have to worry about getting attacked again. Hopefully I won't have to explain what happened to her face.
"...Jesus Christ, if you want answers so badly, then let me actually give them to you." - Monika says with a sigh. She does have a point, but Natsuki doesn't let her go. Instead, she stabs the floor uncomfortably close to Monika's head with one of her extra limbs.
"YOU...You...You didn't even try to stop me! I could have done so many things I would regret now and yet to didn't even bat an eye! What the fuck were you thinking?!" - Natsuki keeps yelling at Monika, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on her.
"Oh, trust me, if you knew half the things I know of, you wouldn't be so mad at me. With that said, could you get off me? I'm not here to waste time on this." - Monika says and Natsuki complies reluctantly.
"Then why are you here?" - I ask.
"...You want to help Yuri, don't you?" - Monika asks.
"Yes, I do." - I reply. She finally drops her smile and frowns.
"...Yeah, about that. I wouldn't try that if I were you. It's a really bad idea." - Monika says. Natsuki is certainly not amused.
"Oh yeah? And why is it so?" - Natsuki asks with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Well, you see, she's been...How should I put it...She's gone mad? Lost her marbles? I haven't actually seen her since the day of the festival, but the wailing coming from her house and the occasional screams should tell you everything you need to know about her current state. If that's not enough for you, the malignant aura her house radiates should seal the deal." - she replies in a very matter-of-fact way. Honestly, it's getting more infuriating than disturbing at this point.
"But we can't just leave her alone either!" - I say before Natsuki can say anything offensive.
"Actually, you can and you should. Soon, that part of her will completely break down and vanish without a trace. Approaching her in her current state will prove to be disastrous. If you simply wait for Yuri to lose herself and avoid going anywhere near her house, I can spare you from what comes next. Ah, yes. You'll have nothing to worry about. No school or literature club to attend, no monsters to take care of, no difficult decisions to make, no pain to endure. Nothing. Now, do you I accept my offer?" - she asks as she extends her arm towards me. That fucking smile is back on her face.
"Hell no! Do you really think I'm going to just...abandon her after all this time? And what kind of offer is that?!" - I reply. She doesn't even move.
"...Good grief, why does it always have to be so difficult...Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you. You will meet a horrible fate and there's nothing you can do about it. Still, I am impressed by what you've managed to accomplish, so, I guess I can tell you how to save the part of Yuri you care about even if there's no way you can get that far...Ahaha...It might sound really stupid, but...A kiss from you should work. I would explain why exactly, but then I would have to tell you many other things and I don't have that much time to waste. With that said, there's one more thing I must tell you...Keep one bullet for yourself. Don't even bother shooting her. The best you'll get out of it is a few seconds of delay before your death."
"Wait, wh-"
"See you later!" - she says before...disappearing. There are no portals or hellfire or anything like that. She's just...gone in an instant.
"...What the flying fuck was that?!" - Natsuki exclaims.
"I have no idea. At the very least, now we know where to look for Yuri. I really doubt that "solution" was anything more than a sick joke." - I say.
Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do about her. I still don't know how I managed to make Natsuki go back to normal...well, she's still not a human, but at least her mind is still the same...I think I should ask her about it.
"By the way, do you know how I made you snap out of it?" - I ask. Hopefully she knows something.
"I...I can't tell you the whole story, but when you shot me, the pain brought some...unpleasant memories. It was so...alien to that side of me that she just...broke down." - she replies. It's clearly something she doesn't want to talk about, so, I'm not going to ask her what those memories were about.
"...Say, is there anything that could have a similar effect on Yuri?" - I ask.
"I don't think so? It's not like we even know if it's actually going to work for her. Maybe it worked only because of what I am. We probably shouldn't try it until we try everything else. I really don't want to bring up any bad memories only to find out that it didn't work." - she replies.
Damn it...This is going to be much more difficult than I thought. Still, we have some time to think about everything. It looks like the sun is going to set soon and I don't think it would be a good idea to try approaching her at night, so, we'll have to go there tomorrow...Hm...We should probably try to keep her inside her house and make sure she doesn't go outside. I don't know how fast she is in the air, but I'd rather not find out. The limited space should limit her movements, but that applies to us as well, so, we'll have to be extra careful. Yuri's long tail and large wings will be the biggest problem and that's assuming she doesn't have anything else up her sleeve. For all we know, she can breathe fire. She is a dragon after all...But she's also a vampire...That's a lot to think of.
"Hey, Natsuki...You can spin web now, right?" - I ask. I remember her using it earlier to hang from the ceiling and the extra details on her dress are certainly made of that web.
"Yes and OH...Um, you probably shouldn't go outside for now...Let's just say that I was trying to make your house more comfortable for myself and my idea of comfortable wasn't exactly normal at the time." - she replies...Really now?
"...Anyway, is it durable enough to restrain Yuri?" - I ask.
"It should be, but I doubt she's going to let me do it even if I manage to sneak up on her. Last time I tried to attack her, she was fast enough to close my mouth shut as I lunged at her. She'll just throw me off." - she replies...Wait, when did that happen?
"...I see. Well, do you have any other ideas?" - I ask, putting my curiosity aside for now.
"I could try to use this first, but I don't know how much I need to immobilize her without killing her." - she replies as her spider abdomen uncurls into a scorpion tail.
"I think it wouldn't hurt to try...Oh, um, I should have asked it earlier. How are you feeling?" - I ask.
"Surprisingly well. If you're worried about my face, then it doesn't hurt anymore and my spiders should be able to fix it later...Speaking of spiders, I think I have an idea..." - she replies.
"And what is it?" - I ask.
...It's going to be a long night, but it will be worth it in the end. No matter what it takes, we will save Yuri. We'll prove Monika wrong.
