I own nothing. Monika does

Sayori awoke to the sight of Shujin's nurse office. She felt incredibly groggy, which was to be expected as she had fainted hours before. As she gathered her thoughts, she was pleased to find Goro sitting next to her. He was reading a book, looking somewhat distraught.

"What… what happened?" Sayori inquired.

"You passed out when that girl tried to kill herself. They called me to come get you." Goro said with a detached tone. He didn't look up from his book.

"Oh, now I remember… Shiho…" Sayori was on the verge of tears. "What happened to her, do you know?"

"They took her to the hospital. I don't know what's going to happen to her. I know she's in critical condition." Goro looked towards Sayori with sadness in his eyes.

"What about Takamaki-san? She's her best friend. She should know something."

"I don't know anything about anyone named Takamaki." Goro growled.

Sayori took note of this sudden tonal shift. "How are you feeling, Goro? You seem different."

Goro snapped his book shut and stood up. "I am feeling… very, very poor." He seemed ready to break down at any moment.

Sayori wondered if this had anything to do with her. "Oh, I'm… I'm sorry. What happened?"

Goro snapped. "You happened! I'm supposed to be a detective, not a babysitter! I should be out there solving crimes, punishing scum, not wasting money and time on a little girl!"

Sayori's heart fell into despair. She knew it. This was all her fault.

"Even at that, I'm a complete failure! I'm supposed to be keeping you safe, finding out where your parents are, getting you home, but all I've done so far is take you on a playdate to the mall and sent you to a garbage, child molester-filled school for poor people! I'm a piece of shit!" Goro's face was filled with rage. Right now, he was a completely different person.

Sayori couldn't recognize him anymore. This wasn't the Goro she knew. Gone was the cool visage, the nice outfits, the intelligence. This was someone far more broken. She began to cry.

Goro's rage continued for a moment until he noticed Sayori's tears. They stabbed his heart like a rain of daggers. This isn't right! She shouldn't see me like this! What am I doing?! He released the anger from his system as if he were an overheating machine releasing exhaust. He looked towards Sayori, whose face was drenched with tears.

"Oh, god… Sayori, I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to burst like that."

Sayori continued to cry. She couldn't hear him through her sadness. Goro grabbed her by the hands and pulled himself close.

"Sayori, listen to me! I'm sorry! It… it isn't your fault. None of this is. Please, Sayori."

Sayori stopped crying, but she still couldn't look Goro in the eyes. She remembered her friends back home. How she trusted them when they said everything would be alright. She wiped the leftover tears from her face as she made a shocking realization. She felt the exact same way about the detective that stood in front of her.

"Why do I feel like I should trust you? We barely met only a few days ago, and now you're yelling at me. I try my hardest to not get in your way, to not make anything harder for you, and you still yell at me! So why do I believe you when you say that?"

Goro gripped her hands harder. Sayori felt a shudder through her body. Goro struggled to reply to her question. "...I don't know. I don't. All I know is that I'm sorry, and that you don't deserve for me to yell at you like that. Do you forgive me?"

Sayori knew the answer in her heart, but she still had troubling saying it out loud. "...Yes. I forgive you."

"Then it's settled. I'll try to control my temper from now on. Now come on, let's go ho-" Sayori embraced him in a surprise hug mid-sentence. Goro was startled at her strong embrace, but found himself with closed eyes and a smile on his face.

Goro kept his hands closely locked on Sayori's as they left Shujin Academy. He was sure of his purpose now.

Goro found himself lost in thought during the subway ride home. Something was dreadfully wrong.

There's no way all of these events are a mere coincidence. Could it be the- No! There's no way! I would have seen the signs by now!

Sayori sensed Goro's unease. "What's up?"

"N-nothing, I'm just… thinking. Thinking about what I need to do for the future. It's plain to see that something isn't working out here. Your first days at this school have been nothing but terrible. I sent you here so you would have something to do during the investigation, but I don't know if it'll be worth the effort. I've made no progress. No leads, no new evidence, nothing. At this rate, I'm never gonna get you back home." Goro felt his anger start to boil again.

Sayori stared at her feet for a moment. She felt disappointed. What am I going to do? Natsuki, Yuri, Monika… they must be so worried about me. However, she decided to remain confident. She looked up at him and smiled. "That's alright. I'll wait as long as it takes. Something will come up eventually." She put her hand on top of his, which caused Goro to blush ever so slightly. His anger dispersed as he displayed a rare, genuine smile.

"You're quite optimistic, aren't you? I wish I had that kind of attitude. It'd probably be helpful in my line of work."

"I dunno where it comes from, but I'm grateful for it. Sometimes you need some happiness to get through life."

"...Yeah, I suppose you do." Goro chuckled in response. The train home rattled on down the line, carrying two firm friends onboard.

The next week went by without much excitement. No new info in the investigation, no new happenings at school. Sayori was both thankful and resentful of this. She was glad that nothing terrible happened to any more students, but she was also finding herself falling into a malaise due to boredom.

However, this all changed when the calling cards arrived.

"'Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust. We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

Sayori was shocked at what she was reading. Just a week after her encounter with Kamoshida, and now these cards show up in the hallway? The Phantom Thieves of Hearts… who could they be?

Sorry if this seemed shorter than normal. Please R&R!