(Author's Note: I'm SO sorry about how long it took for this chapter to come out. I know I said that updates wouldn't be that long any more, but I just so happened to have a family vacation soon after that announcement. On top of that, we had family over, and I finally got a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, so that was another factor. Again, want to reiterate: I'm sorry for the delay, it hopefully won't happen again. Anyway, on with the chapter!)
Chapter 6: Yuri Nsane
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"Alex smash!" I slammed my fist down onto the OFF-button of my alarm clock. "Puny clock..."
It was my fourth day in the world of Doki Doki Literature Club, and it just so happened to be a very important day as well. It was Friday, which was the day that Monika assigns tasks to the other club members in preparation for the festival. As I got dressed for the day, I recalled what will happen.
Monika and Sayori would be working together on pamphlets for the club event, so they would be fine. Yuri would be assigned the job of setting up the atmosphere for the club event, so signs, banners, etc. Natsuki would be making cupcakes for the event that would be handed out to the visitors. Finally, Mc would be given the opportunity to choose who to help. In this case, he would obviously choose to help Yuri. I would probably be given the same opportunity, of which I would choose to help Natsuki.
I burst out of my bedroom door, both anxious and excited for the day. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw Mc in his usual place, eating more cereal. He waved hello to me as I walked in, but he continued to look at me strangely, probably confused by my sudden excitement.
"Well, you seem excited. What's up?" He greeted me as I sat down. I smiled at him knowingly.
"It's Friday. When have you ever not been excited on a Friday?" I joked. Mc chuckled, then instantly went back to his cereal. I followed suit.
*Twenty minutes later*
Mc and I exited the house to be met with the familiar scene of Sayori, Natsuki, and Tiffany all waiting at the end of the walkway for us. However, there was an extra person this time. Talking to Sayori, just on the other side of her, was Monika. While it didn't surprise me, it was strange to see her being so playful. She was laughing and talking to Sayori animatedly, as was Sayori to Monika. I smiled, happily aware that Sayori was finally getting the help she needed.
Looking over to Natsuki, I saw that they were also talking. They weren't as enthusiastic as Sayori and Monika, but it was still easy to tell they were already close friends. I thought back to when they were so worried about offending each other, the memory making me chuckle.
"Well, let's go." Mc said from behind me as he finished locking his door. I looked at him and nodded, shortly followed by me beginning the trek towards the others.
The first one to notice us was Monika, who caught a glance from over Sayori's head and promptly waved at us. The others quickly caught on and each had a different reaction to our presence.
Monika kept waving at us, obviously happy, Sayori began jumping up and down excitedly, periodically obscuring Monika's vision with her body, Tiffany merely smiled at our approach, and Natsuki crossed her arms and tried to look annoyed, but was very obviously happy to see us. Natsuki was the first to greet us.
"Took you long enough." She complained with a joking smile on her face. Tiffany lightly shoved her playfully, followed by Natsuki returning the gesture. I laughed at how close those two had gotten in just a day.
"I thought you didn't like being called cute." I teased Natsuki. Her face turned bright red as she tried to charge at me, but Tiffany held her back as everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Natsuki. This seemed to set off Sayori, and she promptly sauntered over to Natsuki and lifted her up, encasing her in another one of her vise-hugs.
Natsuki was now constantly struggling against the force of two people, all because I called her cute... I was proud of it. Unfortunately, the fun was brought to an end when Monika stepped forward.
"While this is hilarious," she laughed, "we should probably move on now. We don't have all day!" Sayori groaned in disappointment and reluctantly let Natsuki go, who was thankfully calmed down.
We started down the street to begin our now-familiar walk to school. Not even ten steps down the road, a loud voice called out from far behind us. We all turned around simultaneously to find Shiro barreling down the sidewalk towards us, sweat beading on his forehead. Natsuki nudged my shoulder.
"Do you know this guy?" She asked, pointing at Shiro, who was panting so loud that we could hear it from that far away.
"That's Shiro. He's a guy who I met in my math class yesterday who moved in from Tokyo." I turned around to face Mc and Sayori. "Hey, haven't you two met him as well?" Mc facepalmed while Sayori crossed her arms behind herself and whistled innocently. Well, I say 'whistled', but it was more just her blowing air out of her mouth, not knowing how to whistle.
I turned back to Shiro, who was about halfway to us by that point. We all just watched him awkwardly as he ran, so much so that Monika even checked her watch.
Finally, he stood right in front of us, doubled over and panting heavily. He held up a finger in a 'give me a moment' gesture without even looking up.
"Not much of a runner, are you?" I asked jokingly. Shiro looked up at me.
"Yeah. If you... couldn't tell... I'm not... very in shape..." He said in between deep pants. Natsuki impatiently shoved past me.
"Who the hell are you and why are you wasting our time like this?!" She demanded angrily. After another five seconds of panting, Shiro was able to stand up straight and looked at Natsuki with a clever smile.
"What, is a guy not allowed to walk to school with his pals? Hey, Mc! Hey, Sayori!" He walked up to the two, completely disregarding everyone else as he walked past the rest of us. Not knowing what else to do, we continued on our daily route to school, this time with an otaku in tow.
Halfway down the road, Monika slowed down to the back and matched my pace next to me.
"Thank you for what you did with Sayori last night." She said with tears in the corners of her eyes. "You don't know just how much this means to me." She looked forward again at Sayori, who was laughing along with Mc and Shiro, despite their previous hints at finding him embarrassing. I smiled, recalling the events that had happened the night before.
"You know, Monika, Sayori really means a lot to both of us." I felt a tear rolling down my right cheek. "Despite the fact that I've only known her for a few days, she's almost like a sister to me." Monika turned to me in shock, causing me to notice what that statement entailed.
"Alex," she started, "if you need someone to talk to, I'm always open." I put up my hand in a 'stop' gesture.
"She's dead, Monika." I stated. "They're all dead, and there's nothing I can do about it." I sighed. "If I dwell on what I've lost, I could lose what I've gained." Monika lost the look of shock on her face, but was only replaced with confusion.
"Alex... what are we to you?" She asked. I was slightly surprised by the question, considering my previous statement. I put my hand to my chin and began to think of an answer.
What were they to me? Classmates? Friends? A flicker on a screen? No, none of these were the answer. There was only one thing that could describe how I felt about the group. I turned back to Monika and answered with a confident smile:
"You're like family." Monika was back to being shocked, but it luckily didn't last long and was replaced with a warm smile. "I have as much reason to thank you as you have to thank me, Monika. You helped me to let go of my past, and now I'm helping you to save your future."
Monika smiled gratefully, clearly happy to know she wasn't alone in this ordeal. Before anything else could be said, Sayori appeared next to us and referred to me.
"Are you excited for the festival this Monday, Alex?" She asked, bouncing up and down in excitement. I smiled at her, happy to see that she was finally beating her depression. Thinking about her question, however, I merely shrugged my shoulders.
"All of the schools that I've gone to before didn't really have any school events like this, so I don't know what to expect." For once, I was actually serious about not knowing what to expect. In the original game, Mc was never able to experience the school festival because Sayori normally hangs herself that very morning. Now that Sayori was getting help from Monika, that wouldn't happen. Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed my mind.
It was Friday, which was the day that Yuri stabbed herself after confessing to Mc in the original game. Monika told me that the changes that she made to the other members were still in effect, so Yuri's suicide would be coming very soon. Panicking, I tried to remember exactly what happened in the game.
'Mc chose to help Monika over the weekend, which led to Yuri to get angry and force everyone else out of the room. She confessed to Mc, then stabbed herself no matter what he said in response.' I remembered. I tried to think of a plan to prevent this from happening, but Sayori's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Are you even listening?" She was trying to sound annoyed, but her smile broke the illusion. My worries thawed out, and I smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry about that, Sayori." I apologized. "What were you saying?" Sayori gave up trying to be annoyed and gave me a wide smile.
"You're in for a surprise, because this school festival will be HUGE!" She extended her arms outward enthusiastically, making Monika giggle. That giggling was instantly stopped, however, when we all heard Tiffany scream. Everyone snapped their heads to her direction, where we were met with a worrying sight.
Natsuki, who had previously been having a conversation with Tiffany just moments ago, was now laying on the ground, completely limp and motionless. Tiffany kneeled down at her side as the rest of us rushed to them. Monika and I kneeled next to Natsuki opposite of Tiffany with the others looking on in extreme worry.
"What happened?" I asked Tiffany as Monika put a hand on Natsuki's forehead.
"I-I don't know!" She exclaimed. "We were just talking about the festival, and she just suddenly fainted!" As she said this, I looked Natsuki over.
Her skin was its normal shade, and a touch to her forearm confirmed that she was still normal temperature. Bringing my ear to her chest, I could still hear a heartbeat and normal breathing. As I got back into the kneeling position, I began to relay this information.
"She isn't suffering any blood loss, she's still breathing, her heartbeat is normal, and she's at a normal body temperature." I said. I said this as if I didn't know what was happening, but it was pretty easy to tell she was malnourished, considering her abusive asshole of a father.
"She just didn't eat enough." Explained Monika, confirming my obvious suspicions. "This isn't the first time this's happened." She reached into her purse and pulled out a nutrient bar, then began to force-feed it to Natsuki. Within a few moments, Natsuki's eyes fluttered open.
"What happened?" She asked as she got up and rubbed her head. In response, Sayori threw herself against Natsuki and wrapped her arms around her, crying into her shoulder. Instead of getting angry or annoyed, Natsuki just let it happen, most likely due to her not knowing what the hell just happened. Tiffany was the first to step up to the plate as I began to pry Sayori off Natsuki.
"You just randomly... fell unconscious." She told her. "Monika said you didn't eat enough?" Natsuki looked defensive the exact second she finished that sentence.
"I... don't want to talk about it..." Surprisingly, Tiffany just agreed and began to help Natsuki up. Then, I had an idea. I tapped Monika's shoulder to get her attention.
"Monika, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked. Monika nodded in affirmation, and we took a few steps back to prevent the others from hearing.
"Alright, I'm just going to say it." I said. "I think we should let Tiffany in on what we're doing." Monika looked shocked, but was just barely able to scream out "WHAT?!" at me. Instead, she calmly cleared her throat and did her best to respond.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She berated me. "If Tiffany finds out about us, not to mention who you truly are this soon-" To prevent her from getting the wrong idea, I quickly cut her off.
"I don't mean that stuff. We'll just tell her that we also have suspicions about Natsuki's father." I explained. Monika lost her disguise of calmness and was back to shocked.
"Wait, she knows about Hiran?" She asked, then realized she must've been leaving some information out. "And before you ask, Hiran is the name of Natsuki's father." I nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, but not much. She's Natsuki's neighbour, and her previous interactions with him have given her some suspicions." I explained. "If we tell her that we also think there's something going on, then she could really help us. She's their neighbour, after all." Monika paused to consider the idea.
"Alright." She said at last. "Let's do it. Only tell her about our 'suspicions', and don't let any other information slip out." We looked at each other for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement.
We joined back with the group just as they continued their journey. Monika gestured me to the back of the group, then walked up to Tiffany. They exchanged a few words that I couldn't make out, and Monika led Tiffany back to me. Tiffany had a worried, but excited expression on her face. As they stopped next to me and matched my pace, it became apparent that Monika and I were flanking Tiffany with me on the left and Monika on her right.
"So, I'm not the only one?" Asked Tiffany. Monika shook her head, but didn't say anything. She probably wanted me to explain it, since this was my idea and all. I cleared my throat and began.
"We can't be sure, but it's most likely that there's some physical and mental abuse going on in Natsuki's home." I explained, then gestured to Monika to pass it on to her. She nodded.
"We've had our suspicions for a while about her home life, but your descriptions of Natsuki's father and their house have all but confirmed them." Monika said. "In addition to what Alex said, however, I believe she might be going through some sexual abuse as well. I looked up her last name of 'Kurushimi' on the school computers and found nothing out of the ordinary. So I switched over to Google and found the name of her father: 'Hiran Kurushimi'." Monika paused to let it sink in.
"But how does that imply she's going through sexual abuse?" Tiffany inquired with a shaken tone.
"I was getting there." Monika said politely. "His name wasn't all I found. I did some more research and unearthed that he was pressed with three charges of sexual assault twenty years ago. However, there somehow wasn't enough evidence to get him prosecuted, despite multiple eyewitness accounts." This pissed me off more than it should have.
"How the hell did they not have enough evidence to arrest him?!" I complained. Monika shushed me then pointed ahead at the others to remind me not to let them hear us. Monika then righted herself and continued.
"He came from a rich family, so it wasn't all that difficult to bail him out." Monika explained. "Surprisingly, a few months later he got married to Kojin Josei, a very rich bank owner in Tokyo. In 2011, Kojin Josei died in an alleyway mugging. Police reports say she was shot to death, but the perpetrator was never found."
"So Natsuki lost her mother when she was eight years old?" Tiffany asked with small tears running down her cheeks. Monika nodded gravely.
"It appears so." Monika confirmed. "From the rumors that I heard, along with my own personal thoughts, I've been able to cobble together a theory as to what happened next. Based on stories from people that knew them personally, Hiran and Kojin were both wonderful people before the accident. After the accident, however, it's believed that Hiran began to drink heavily. Because of this, I think that he began to take out his frustration and grief on his daughter, along with himself. This is all the information I know." Monika finished speaking and turned to us to see our reactions. Tiffany looked shocked, but then quickly recomposed herself.
"Well, if we're all in this together, then we should all probably exchange phone numbers. That way, I can call you two if something happens." Tiffany said.
Monika and I nodded in agreement and fished our phones out of our pockets. We exchanged our phone numbers with Tiffany and disbanded our little group, moving back up to join the others. Natsuki gave me a strange look as we approached, but said nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, reassured with knowing that we had a third companion in our mission.
*Twenty minutes later*
We walked through the open gateway to the school grounds, and the chaotic chatter of our group ceased. As we made our way to the front door of the school, I saw a flash of purple out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I saw Yuri walking towards us in a slightly less graceful trot than usual. I tapped Mc's shoulder and pointed to her, bringing her presence to his attention. Mc turned his head to Yuri, blushed, then looked away in embarrassment. Yuri, however, looked at Mc much more excitedly. Her gaze disturbed me.
"Hello, Mc!" She greeted as she walked up to us. Something about her speech worried me.
"Hey, Yuri." Mc greeted back as he put his hand up in a 'hello' gesture. They looked at each other, a feeling of awkwardness in the air, and said nothing. Tired of the quiet, I chipped into the 'conversation'.
"Are we going to talk, or are we just going to stand here until the end of time?" I joked badly. Mc and Yuri shook their heads and snapped out of their confusion.
"Actually, Alex, is it okay if I talk to Mc in private?" Yuri asked. I didn't feel okay with letting the two of them alone together, considering Yuri was meant to stab herself after confessing to him, but it was too early for that to happen, so I nodded my head and walked inside, waving goodbye to the two of them.
As I walked down the hall, I noticed that people were looking at me as I passed, muttering things under their breath or to their friends. I smiled to myself.
'Seems like my fights with Okane and Chad aren't going unnoticed.' I thought, satisfied with myself.
*Ten minutes later*
As I walked into my math class, my eyes were assaulted by a blinding light. Against my better judgment, I looked directly at the light to locate the source, which turned out to be Shiro's glasses. It seemed like he had some strange curved lenses that were refracting the light behind him into my eyes. Before I could become permanently blind for the rest of my life, Shiro looked towards the front of the class, saving my retinas from serious burn damage. As I walked over to my desk and sat down, I noticed Shiro smiling slyly at me. I sighed.
"You were doing that on purpose, weren't you?" I asked. Shiro let out a small laugh.
"Maybe." He admitted, then his expression suddenly turned serious and he leaned in closer. "What were you, Tiffany, and Monika talking about earlier? I heard the name 'Hiran'." I froze in fear. If Shiro found out about what we're doing, it could throw the entire operation into jeopardy. Not that I didn't trust him, I just wasn't sure he was exactly 'airtight' with secrets. Knowing this, I righted myself and tried to limit the information I gave him.
"Hiran is the name of Natsuki's father." I explained, careful of what I said. "We were just talking about how he was pressed with charges a while back. Nothing too major." Shiro put his hand to his chin, probably thinking about what I said.
"Hiran, you say? You wouldn't by chance be talking about Hiran Kurushimi, would you?" He inquired. I looked at him in shock.
"Yeah, how did you know?" I tried to keep my voice as level as possible.
"He's an old business partner of my father." Shiro explained, sitting proudly. "They worked together in Tokyo up until he moved away. I had no idea he was Natsuki's father, though!" He sounded amazed and surprised, and I was confused by this.
"Did you meet him often?" I asked, trying to get as much information as possible.
"You could say that." Shiro said. "Him and my father were close friends, and he was invited over often. He treated me quite well during his visits. He was almost like an uncle to me." Shiro's expression changed to one of thought and nostalgia, and I could easily tell that he was deep in his memories. He was like this for so long that I considered slapping him awake, but the bell rang before I came to a decision. It snapped Shiro out of his trance and he instantly faced forward. I followed suit as the class started.
*One class later*
I put away my notes as the bell rang, as did Shiro. He began to walk towards the door, but I grabbed his arm before he could. He turned around and I began to talk.
"A word of advice: Don't mention anything I told you to Natsuki, okay?" I requested. "She's a little sensitive about her home life." Shiro looked disappointed, but nodded in acknowledgment. I let go of his arm and he rushed out of the classroom. I chuckled to myself, then followed him out.
As I passed through the doorway out into the hall, I looked to my left to see Natsuki leaning against the wall with her arms crossed again. I was worried that she'd chew me out for somehow being late again (seriously, how is it possible?), but she instead smiled when she saw me.
"So, are you ready to go?" I gestured down the hall. Natsuki snickered.
"Why would I not be ready?" She teased. I thought for a moment, then laughed at my stupidity.
"Good point." I said, then we both laughed at the absurdity of the situation. I began to walk, and Natsuki quickly caught up to me. She was the first to make conversation.
"So, what are you doing to help prepare for the festival?" She asked. I didn't wait a second to answer.
"I'll probably be helping another club member with what they're doing." I said. "There isn't all that much that I'm good at design-wise." Natsuki looked at me strangely.
"What about your poems?" She sounded genuinely confused.
"We're all presenting poems." I pointed out the obvious. "Besides, I'm going to be doing a bit of a different poem than what you're used to." I had the perfect idea for a poem for the festival, and unlike the poems that I'd been making so far, it would be in my normal style. "What will you be doing?" I tried to sound as interested as possible. Natsuki put her hands on her hips proudly.
"I'll be baking cupcakes for the festival!" She announced. We had made it to science by this point, and we were just walking through the door. I thought back to when she baked cupcakes for my first club meeting and how delicious they were.
"Well, knowing you, they'll be amazing." I said as we sat down. Natsuki looked smug.
"You got that right!" She quietly exclaimed, but then looked at me strange. "Wait, you aren't just saying that to get on my good side, are you?" I shook my head.
"Nope, not even a little bit." I denied. "Besides, you only have a good side." I smiled deviously, waiting for Natsuki to get the joke. I didn't have to wait very long, because she punched me in the arm almost a second after I said it. I rubbed my arm in pain, but it was so worth it.
"Dummy." Was the last thing I heard her say before the bell rang, and the class began.
*One class later*
The bell rang, class ended, you get the idea by now. As Natsuki and I were putting our notes away, I saw Okane walking past us in the corner of my eye. I turned my head in his direction as he did the same. He quickly looked away in fear and continued on, not wanting to get his head caved in. I smiled in amusement as I finished getting ready to leave.
"See you in the cafeteria." Natsuki bade me farewell as she walked away. I followed her, but she was nowhere to be seen when I left the classroom.
'How does she move so quick?' I wondered.
*Five minutes later*
As I walked through the doors to the cafeteria, my eyes instantly snapped to our table. Everyone was sitting in their usual spot, and doing their usual thing. Yes, that included Sayori waving her arms in the air to get my attention. I sighed, but didn't complain. It wouldn't help much with her depression. I walked over and sat down in between Natsuki and Monika like usual.
Unlike usual, however, an eighth person strolled up to the table as soon as I sat down. Everyone trained their eyes on the new arrival, and it turned out to be Shiro. He was holding his bento box and looked a bit uncomfortable.
"Hey, uh... could I sit with you guys?" He asked. "I'd rather not sit on the floor to eat again." Despite the fact that his nervousness was a bit uncharacteristic, I was a little tied up with helping Natsuki at the moment, so I ignored it.
"Sure, take a seat." I answered. Shiro nodded in thanks, then plopped down next to Tiffany. Tiffany looked surprisingly comfortable sitting next to Shiro, happy, even. They instantly struck up a conversation, leaving me curious to this sudden change in familiarity between the two of them. I chose not to satiate that curiosity, as I didn't want to be nosy.
'They probably just have a class together.' I thought as I opened up my bento box.
As I ate, multiple conversations arose between the others. I raised my head from my lunch and looked around me at everyone else. Ever since I said it, the phrase 'you're like family' had been stuck in my head. Looking around at the others, the phrase rang true. Everyone seemed like one big, happy family. Now, that may seem cliché, but it's the only way I could describe it.
Despite what people would normally assume, I wasn't all that close to my family. Caitlyn and I argued a lot, and my parents and I had very different views on everything, so we never really saw eye-to-eye. That's why when our parents died, I was able to keep it together better than Caitlyn. It fell upon me to help her get through the grief, but as you already know, I wasn't able to.
I felt a tear rolling down my cheek, remembering the horrible events once again. Natsuki was the only one who noticed, so she promptly tapped my shoulder to get my attention.
"Hey, are you alright?" She whispered. I looked at her, the girl who was abused by her father, asking if I was alright. This refocused my thoughts, and I quickly wiped away the tears and nodded my head.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I responded. "Just some bad memories." I smiled at her. She looked at me confusedly, but then shrugged and looked away. I turned back to my lunch and continued to eat, listening to the conversations.
Mc and Shiro seemed to be having a minor disagreement about something, but I couldn't tell what. That uncertainty was dissolved when they both agreed on something that went something like this: "Fuck Oberon". I can safely say that I agree with that statement.
Tiffany and Natsuki were having a conversation, but they were talking so quickly that I couldn't even tell what they were saying. However, I was sure that it had something to do with manga and anime.
Monika and Sayori were talking happily, with Sayori making jokes during their conversation, and Monika laughing at everything Sayori said. I turned my head to look at them, and was mildly surprised to see Monika's arm around Sayori's shoulder. I wasn't going to assume anything, but it was hard not to.
Finally, I looked over at Yuri to find her just merely reading 'Portrait of Markov' quietly. I wondered how many times she'd read that book before, but I was more concerned with the looks she was giving Mc in between pages. Unlike her usual embarrassment, she had an air of obsession around her. Somehow, no one else noticed, but it scared me a lot.
*Thirty minutes later*
I barely ate throughout lunch, and I could see that Yuri wasn't faring much better. Her bento box was completely full and ignored, her attention constantly focused on her book, but mostly Mc. It may seem small, but to me, it was a safe guess that this was the start of her self-destructive tendencies. If I didn't do something soon, Yuri wouldn't make it to the end of the day. I was so close to the deadline, and period three would be my last chance to talk to her before the club session.
Soon enough, everyone had their lunch put away and set their eyes on their next class. Before I knew it, Yuri and I were already in the hallways, walking towards History. We came to a T in the hallway, and I had a sudden, desperate idea. Our history class was to the left, but to the right was a completely empty hallway that had another turn to the left, also presumably empty. Without thinking, I suddenly grabbed Yuri's wrist and yanked her into the empty hallway, her making a small yelp as I did so. I pulled her with me around the second turn, which turned out to be just a small indent in the wall with two bathrooms on the left and right.
When we were both completely out of sight, I let go of Yuri and whispered:
"Okay, we need to talk." Yuri seemed nervous, and for good reason. She'd been acting weird all day around Mc, and she was constantly looking at him from the corner of her eye.
"Alex, w-what is this about?" Yuri asked nervously. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever me saying this would cause.
"Yuri, you're obsessed with Mc." I stated. "If this keeps up, it could lead to self-harm." It wasn't until I finished that sentence that I figured out how stupid it sounded. With Sayori, I had some leverage in the form of her noose to convince her to open up. Here, I had nothing. Lucky for me, or unlucky for me, Yuri understood what I was saying instantly.
"W-what are you talking about, Alex?" Her nervousness was gone, and she now had her 'obsessed' look on her face. "For Mc, I would do anything." She put on an unsettling smile. "A few cuts here and there don't mean anything as long as it's for him." Well, she went from 0 to 100 REAL fast. I put my hands up in defense.
"Woah, woah. Calm down Yuri." But Yuri didn't listen.
"There's only one thing standing in between us..." Yuri lamented. "Alex, does Mc love me back?"
"Y-yes." I said before I could stop myself. I clasped my hand over my mouth, but the damage had already been done. Quicker than I could see, Yuri grabbed something from the bottom of her purse and...
'OH FUCK!' She was now holding a kitchen knife by her torso, the blade aimed directly at her abdomen. She still had the look of obsession in her eyes, with a terrifyingly crazy grin on her face.
Without thinking, I grabbed Yuri's hands, still over the handle of the knife, and tried to pull it away from her. Despite me using a ton of strength, even with it being enhanced, it was still a completely even standoff between us. Yuri, realizing what I was trying to do, shook my hands off and punched me in the chest with her left hand, now off the knife. It didn't hurt much, but it was enough to push me back against the wall.
"Don't get in my way!" Yuri ordered, then pinned me to the wall with her left arm. She raised the knife up and tried to stab me, but I held it back with own hands. Again, despite the enhanced strength, Yuri had the upper hand. The knife inched its way closer to my face. Closer. Closer. Until it was directly in front of my eye, the blade between my eye and my glasses.
Then, just when I thought it was over, Yuri was tackled to the floor by an unknown person. Seeing my chance, I pulled on the knife with all my strength, and finally wrested it from Yuri's hand. Turning back to Yuri, I saw her being held down by Monika, obviously the one who'd saved me. I looked around for something that could help us, and noticed that 'Portrait of Markov' had fallen out of Yuri's purse in the chaos. It was a thick book, and could easily be used as a weapon. I rushed forward, grabbed it off the floor, and turned back to the scuffle that Monika and Yuri were having.
Yuri had managed to reverse the roles, now being on top of Monika. Without hesitation, I ran forward, reared the book over my head, and brought it down onto the back of Yuri's head. She froze for a second before collapsing on top of Monika, completely unconscious. I dragged Yuri off of Monika and extended my hand to help her up. She grabbed it and I hoisted her to her feet.
"How'd you know I was here?" I asked.
"It was your last chance to stop Yuri from killing herself, and I kind of assumed you would use this place to talk to her." She answered, then turned to Yuri's unconscious form on the ground. "More importantly, what do we do with her?"
I walked over to Yuri and kneeled down. "I'll bring her to the nurse. Could you maybe hand me her purse?" I pointed at the purple purse that was now sitting a meter away. It still had everything in it, sans 'Portrait of Markov' and the knife. Monika walked over to the purse, reached down, and picked it up. She walked back to me and handed it to me. I slung it over my arm, feeling a little embarrassed to be wearing a purse.
"What should we do about that?" Monika gestured to the knife on the ground. "We can't just leave it there." I thought for a moment.
"Put it in my backpack. The combination to my locker is 10-22-03." Monika nodded, but didn't move. She was staring at 'Portrait of Markov' on the floor. Suddenly, I remembered all the problems that book caused in other mods.
"Also, burn the fucking book." I spat out, startling Monika. "That thing isn't any normal book. It can cause a lot of trouble in the future, so we'd better get rid of it, understand?" Monika looked at me in confusion.
"Why don't you take the book? You seem to know a lot more about it than me. Here, I'll take Yuri." Monika offered, but I shook my head.
"Something tells me I'm not quite done with Yuri, yet." I explained. "I want to be in the nurse's office with her, just in case." Monika looked like she wanted to protest, but could easily see my logic.
"Alright." She said. "I'll see you at the clubroom. Bye." She turned around to leave, but looked around one more time. "Oh, and Alex?" I looked at her as I picked up Yuri.
"Yeah?" I drove her on.
"I... never mind." She said. "Thanks for helping Yuri." She quickly turned around and rushed away, the book and knife in her purse. A part of me wanted to chase after her and figure out what she was going to say, but the better part of me decided against it, thinking it was probably a bit too invasive of her personal thoughts.
*One hour later*
As I sat next to Yuri's hospital bed in the nurse's office, I began to think of what I'd done so far. I already saved Sayori and Yuri from themselves, but I had yet to save Natsuki. Unlike the others, Natsuki's pain came from outside. Her abusive father was the root of her problems, while Sayori and Yuri's problems came from mental issues. A simple talk with Natsuki wouldn't fix the problem. If I wanted to help her, I had to confront her father.
"Ah, my head..." Yuri's words ejected me from my thoughts, and my gaze focused back on her as she awoke, rubbing her temples in pain. "Where am I?" Yuri hadn't opened her eyes yet, probably not used to the bright lights yet.
"You're in the nurse's office." I answered, startling her. "The nurse is out right now, but he'll be back soon." I watched as Yuri slowly opened her eyes, clearly uncomfortable with the light. After a few blinks, she looked at me with half-opened eyes. Her expression was neutral, but gradually changed to surprise as she slowly figured out where she was.
"Alex... what happened?" She asked. I had already thought up a cover story, and while she wouldn't like it, it would work better than telling her the truth. I took a deep breath and began my fake story.
"While we were walking down the hall towards History, you suddenly collapsed." I lied. "I brought you over to the nurse's office, and he said you were experiencing minor blood loss. When he rolled up your sleeves, he discovered that your arms were covered with cuts." Yuri looked at me in shock as I continued. "Now... I don't want to assume anything... but..." I trailed off, guessing that Yuri already understood what I was going to say. Turned out that I was right in that guess, as Yuri looked down in shame.
"Y-yes, Alex." She admitted. "I've been cutting myself." She slowly rolled up the sleeves of her blazer, revealing tons of tiny cuts that were spotted along the entire length of her arm. The ones toward her wrists were older, almost scars by that point, but the cuts got gradually newer as they traveled up her arm, the highest ones still bleeding a little bit. The scene was depressing, and it was only made worse by Yuri's ashamed expression.
"Yuri... why?" I almost couldn't get the words out. It was one thing to see it on a screen, but seeing the cuts on her arms as real, physical wounds was absolutely horrible.
"E-ever since I was a little girl, I was always f-fascinated with knives." Yuri explained shakily. "The s-shape, the b-beauty, the d-d-danger... O-one day, a kitchen knife fell off the c-countertop while my mother was c-cooking dinner and it grazed my arm. I-it hurt a lot, b-but there was something about it that e-exhilarated me." A tear rolled down her cheek as she continued. "So... one day... when m-my parents weren't looking, I snagged a knife from the kitchen and c-c-cut my wrist. I-it still hurt, b-but it e-excited me more. A-after that I-I couldn't s-stop. I-it became m-my go-to s-stress relief."
Yuri buried her head in her hands and began to sob. I stood up from my chair and kneeled next to Yuri. I lightly grabbed her hands and gently pulled them away from her face, exposing her water-filled eyes. Then, I moved my hands around her and encased her in a gentle, reassuring embrace.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Yuri." I gently told her. "You're worried that people will judge you because of this, and I know how that feels. But more than that, you're worried about what Mc will think, aren't you?" Yuri quietly gasped. She pushed away from me in shock, but quickly calmed down and put her hands in her lap. She stared at them.
"Y-yes." She confirmed. "I-I just couldn't bear it if he knew. I-if he judged me..." She looked like she was about to start crying again. I moved my hand to her chin and gently pushed her head up until she was looking me directly in the eyes.
"Mc's an understanding guy." I said. "He may be a bit dense with people at times, but he really cares about those around him. If he knew about this, he would do his best to help you through it." Yuri's expression didn't change, but I could see her eyes light up just a bit.
"A-are you sure?" She asked.
"I'm positive." I assured her. Yuri's mouth curled up into a small smile of gratitude, and she began to weep tears of joy. She opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, the door to the hallway opened with excessive force, and the nurse strolled in while staring at a clipboard he was holding in his right hand.
"Okay, Ms. Kizu." He greeted. "You are now clear to return to class. Your blood pressure should be normal now, but I'd suggest taking it easy for the rest of the day, just in case. Your parents have been notified of this issue, and they've scheduled an appointment at the local hospital to insert more blood this Saturday."
If you need clarification, the doctor knew that the reason for Yuri's unconsciousness was due to a concussion. However, I brought up the cuts on her arms and the fact that she was sensitive about them, so the doctor agreed to my cover story. It was against his contract, but he saw how important it was for Yuri, so he went along with it.
"M-my parents know?" Yuri sounded distressed, but the nurse just smiled.
"They only know about the blood loss, Ms. Kizu. They don't know about the cuts or how they got there. Your secret is safe with me." Yuri exhaled in relief, but I looked on at the nurse in confusion.
"I was listening through the door." The nurse mouthed to me when Yuri wasn't looking. I smiled back at him knowingly.
Then, the bell rang. Yup, Yuri and I skipped an entire class because she had some cuts on her arms.
"Well, you two should be off." The nurse said. "Wouldn't want to be late for class, now."
Yuri and I walked out of the nurse's office with a farewell to the nurse, and then split up with a farewell to each other. That was two out of three, and the only person left to help was Natsuki. It was quite lucky that the next class I had was with Tiffany, as we could think up a plan together.
*Two minutes later*
Tiffany wasn't there. Shit. As soon as I noticed this (which was right when I walked into the classroom), I instantly rushed up to the teacher and asked him where she was. He said he didn't know, so I asked if I could step out for a moment to make a phone call. He told me I could, but I had to go back inside as soon as the bell rang. I thanked him and rushed out the door, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I quickly called Tiffany and on the second ring she answered.
"Hello?" She greeted. Her voice sounded strange and reserved, like her nose was plugged.
"Hey, Tiffany. It's Alex. Are you okay?" I asked. I heard a sniffle from the other end.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sick." Tiffany notified. "I didn't feel well after lunch, and it turned out I have a small cold. The nurse said it should clear up by next week." I sighed in both relief and frustration, if that was even possible.
"Well, okay then. I was going to talk to you about the whole 'Natsuki situation', but it's clear you can't right now." I took a breath to say more, but Tiffany took that time to interrupt me.
"Wait, no!" She panicked. "L-listen, if it's for Natsu, then I can-"
"Tiffany, NO." I interrupted her. "I know you're concerned for Nat, and so am I, but you need to know your limits. Get some rest, and we'll talk later." Tiffany let out a groan of disappointment.
"Dammit, I don't just want to sit on the sidelines..." I could understand her disappointment, but that just made it even more frustrating that she couldn't do anything. Suddenly, I had an epiphany.
"Tiffany, do you have a window in your bedroom?" I asked. It must've been a strange request for Tiffany, but she did oblige.
"Yeah. What about it?" Tiffany sounded confused, and for good reason.
"What is the view from it?" I inquired.
"Um... it's looking directly at Natsu's house." Perfect.
"Alright, Tiffany. I have a plan." I stated. "Act as the lookout for Monika and I. If anything suspicious goes on at Natsuki's house, then you tell one of us. It could help us get Hiran convicted." There was silence on the other end, but the silence only lasted a few moments.
"Alex, you can count on me." Tiffany promised. "Anyway, I have to go now. Talk to you later!"
"See you." I hung up just as the bell rang. Remembering what my teacher told me, I ran back inside as soon as I could, a plan finally in place. It was a plan being held together by duct tape and determination, but it was a plan nonetheless.
*One class later*
'Fucking finally' I thought at I heard the bell. The rich, pure tone that signaled the end of the class. Unlike the previous days, that day seemed to take the longest amount of time to get through. I chocked it up to it just being Friday, though. With this in mind, I packed up my notes and walked out of the classroom, excited for yet another club meeting.
As I turned a corner in the hallway, I spotted Monika and Sayori walking up ahead. I called their names to get their attention.
"Hey, Monika! Sayori!" I called. They turned around and Sayori's face lit up as she saw me. She barreled towards me and tackle-hugged me so fast that I almost fell over. It had literally been less than three hours since I'd seen her last, and she was hugging me like I hadn't seen her in three years.
"Wow. You sure are excitable, aren't you?" I joked. Sayori looked up at me and smiled. I ruffled her hair like the child she was and she let go. By this point, Monika had already made her way to us and pulled Sayori back, much to her dismay.
"Her antidepressants work really well, if you didn't notice. Almost too well." Monika laughed. Sayori and I followed suit.
"Well? Should we be off?" I asked. Monika and Sayori nodded. I walked past them and led the way, them following behind me.
*Three minutes later*
As I walked up to the clubroom doors, Sayori rushed past me and burst through the doors, throwing them open in an extravagant way. Monika giggled, then followed Sayori inside. I came in last.
As I strode into the clubroom, I noticed that Sayori and Monika had somehow already gotten over to their usual table to discuss plans for the festival. Looking over at Mc and Yuri, Yuri didn't even look up from their book while Mc looked at me and gave me a friendly wave. I waved back, then turned my attention towards the closet at the back.
I went over to the closet and peeked inside. Natsuki had her back turned and she was looking across the shelves at the back. With a sly smile, I crept inside quietly and snuck up behind her. Then, just as I was about to scare her, she turned around and slapped me. I recoiled in pain, as this slap hurt surprisingly more than the others.
"Ah, shit!" I exclaimed. Natsuki suddenly looked mortified.
"Shit, sorry Alex!" She apologized. "I didn't know that it was you!" Looking at her, I could see that she legitimately felt bad about it, so I did my best to just suck it up.
"Apology accepted, Nat." I said. "This isn't the first time I've been slapped due to a misunderstanding."
"Are you sure?" She questioned. "That's a pretty bad mark on your face." She seemed genuinely concerned.
"What mark? This is just my face." I joked. That seemed to do it, and Natsuki burst out laughing.
"You dork." She said as she finally finished laughing. "Anyway, did you want to continue reading?" I pulled out the volume of manga and gave it to her.
"Is that even a question by this point?" I asked. Natsuki smiled thoughtfully for a moment, then gave me a toothy grin.
"I guess not." She said. "But first, I'm going to go buy a snack. Want to come with me?" Judging by what I know from the original game and some of the mods, it was a safe bet that going with her would be a good idea.
"Sure, lead the way." I stepped to the side and gestured out of the closet. Natsuki strode past me and she guided me out of the closet.
We walked out through the double doors and into the hallway, where I spotted a vending machine just a bit down the hall. Natsuki skipped over to it happily and I trailed behind, having a good idea of what was about to happen. She stopped in front of the vending machine and stared at it, pulling a few small coins out of her pocket. I walked up behind her and spied the coins she was holding.
'What the hell?' I thought. 'That's barely enough for the most basic stuff in there!' I have never claimed to know much about foreign currency, but I knew enough to see that Natsuki had what was the equivalent of fifty cents back in Canada.
I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and peered inside, hoping that Monika thought ahead. Sure enough, all of my Canadian money was replaced with Yen, and a lot of it. I reminded myself to thank Monika later, and tapped Natsuki's shoulder.
"Here, I'll pay." I said. "I can see that you don't have that much." No response. I tapped her shoulder again and repeated myself, but there was still no response. Then, Natsuki began to keel over to the side. With my wallet in my left hand, I quickly caught Natsuki with my right just before she fell. The coins that she was holding fell to the ground and scattered across the floor.
"Natsuki? Natsuki!" I shook her a bit, but to no response. "Shit." I folded my wallet back up and placed it back in my pocket. I used my now-free left hand to lift up Natsuki's legs, while using my right hand to hold up her head. I carried her over to a nearby bench that rest just a bit down the hall and laid her out on it.
'Wow, she's light as a feather.' I thought. I turned around and walked back to the vending machine, picking up the coins that Natsuki dropped as I did. I looked at the snacks in the vending machine, which were surprisingly written in English. At least, it looked like that to me. Monika's translation thing worked for more than just speech, it seemed.
Despite being able to read the packaging, I still struggled to understand exactly what they were. That may sound dumb, but I think I can be forgiven for not knowing what a 'Strawberry Pocky' is. So, I just picked something at random and put the respective amount of money in the machine. Pulling out what I ordered at random, I read what it said on the packaging: 'Soft Senbei'.
It was a plastic packaging containing ten of what looked like sugar cookies. I shrugged, thinking that Natsuki would probably like it. I turned to my right, back towards the bench that I left Natsuki on. Walking down the hall towards the bench, I sat down next to the sleeping Natsuki.
I propped her back into a sitting position and sat down next to her. I took the package of soft senbei and wrestled with the wrapping for a bit before getting it open. Taking one out of the package, I broke a piece off and force-fed it to Natsuki. She swallowed, and I repeated the process with a second piece. I continued to do this until the whole thing was gone, and her eyes slowly opened. She looked at me groggily, then wiped her eyes to focus herself. She shook her head and looked around, probably still confused about where she was. Then, her gaze focused on me and the package of soft senbei I was holding.
"What happened?" She asked tiredly, still rubbing her eyes.
"You fainted again." I explained. "Would you like some?" I held out the soft senbei to her. She reached inside and pulled one out, taking a bite out of it.
"Aren't you going to have some?" Natsuki asked. I looked at her in concern.
"Wouldn't it be best if you ate them? It's pretty obvious you don't get enough nutrition." I pointed out. Natsuki looked away in annoyance.
"Do you think I WANT to be malnourished?" She complained, but then turned back to me with a softer expression. "Sorry... I'm just... going through a lot right now. You saw a bit of that yesterday." She looked down dejectedly.
"No need to apologize, Nat." I said. "If you don't want to talk about it, then that's just fine." Suddenly, I remembered the coins that Natsuki had dropped when she fainted. "Oh, wait... here you go." I fished the coins out of my pocket and handed them out to her, and she stared at them in shock.
"Wait... you used your own money to pay for this?" She asked worriedly. I nodded, causing her to shove her half-eaten soft senbei back into the packaging I was holding.
"Hey, what am I supposed to do with this?" I joked, but Natsuki crossed her arms.
"It isn't fair that I have someone else pay for me." She said. "Don't waste your money..." Tears rolled down Natsuki's face, but I wiped them away before they could reach the bottom. Natsuki looked at me, surprised, so I put my hand on her shoulder.
"Wasting money? What are you talking about? For you no price is too high." I tried to cheer her up. "Besides, your options were pretty damn limited with the amount of money you had. It would be a sin for me to not cash in." Natsuki toothily grinned.
"Seriously? THAT'S the best you could come up with?" She laughed. "That's pathetic." I smiled.
"Well, it cheered you up, didn't it?" I asked. "Anyway, finish your soft senbei. I'm not eating something that you've already bit into." Natsuki laughed as she took her soft senbei out of the package and continued eating it. I gestured for her to take them all, but she declined.
"Eat some yourself!" She said. "I know you didn't eat much today!" I rolled my eyes, knowing that there was no way I was winning this argument, and grabbed a soft senbei out from the package. I took a small bite and tasted it.
It tasted plain, but had a flavouring of soy sauce on it among other, smaller flavours. I wasn't that big a fan of soy sauce, but it tasted really good. We ate in silence for a bit and didn't notice how long it'd been until there were no more left.
"So, did you want to continue reading?" Natsuki asked, pulling volume four of Parfait Girls out of her pocket. "I planned ahead." I nodded, and we quickly got into our 'manga reading' positions. Sitting on a bench while reading with Natsuki was a nice change of pace.
*Thirty minutes later*
We were about halfway through when the door to the literature club opened and Mc poked his head out.
"Hey, you two!" He called. "We're having a meeting about the festival, and we need you two in here!" He shrunk back inside and shut the door. I closed the manga and looked at Natsuki.
"You're not keeping the manga for the whole weekend." She told me. I put on a look of mock disappointment, causing us both to laugh as we stood up and walked towards the clubroom. I handed Natsuki the manga as we walked through the doors and got rid of the empty package in the garbage bin by the door.
"Guys! You missed poem sharing!" Sayori whined. She was sitting in her usual spot at the rectangle of desks, along with everyone else. Natsuki and I quickly followed her example and sat down in our usual spots as well.
"Sorry about that. We got kind of sidetracked." I apologized, but Monika put up a hand in a 'stop' gesture.
"No, it's my fault. I forgot you two were out there and didn't announce it to you." She explained. Natsuki looked on impatiently.
"Guys, it's not that big a deal." Natsuki said. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?" I was surprised to see Natsuki taking charge in this situation, but Monika wasn't phased. She cleared her throat and began to speak.
"As you already know, we're going to be doing poem sharing on Monday for the festival." Monika explained. "Now, we need something to draw people into the clubroom. Just announcing our event and doing it well won't attract people that much, so Sayori and I have come up with some ideas." She gestured to Sayori. "The two of us will be making pamphlets for advertising." She gestured to Natsuki. "Natsuki, could you bake cupcakes for the visitors?"
"Hell yeah!" Natsuki exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. Monika gestured to Yuri.
"Yuri, could you work on atmospheric enhancements for our clubroom like banners and decorations?" She asked.
"I guess..." Yuri agreed shyly, so Mc put a hand on her back to calm her down. It seemed to work, but then Mc looked confused.
"Wait... what are Alex and I doing?" He asked. Monika shifted in her chair, then gave him a knowing smile.
"You two could help Natsuki and Yuri with their respective tasks." She explained. "It's quite a lot of work for one person, and I assume that Natsuki and Yuri would appreciate your help quite a bit." She smiled slyly at me.
"I could always give Alex some of the dirty work." Natsuki said. I nodded in agreement, and Monika nodded back.
"Then I assume Mc would help Yuri?" She asked, gesturing to Yuri.
"Yes, of course." I was worried that her obsessive nature was starting to surface, but the thankful look she gave me convinced me otherwise.
It was a good thing that we had everything planned out that moment, because it was at that moment that the bell rang.
"Okay, everyone!" Monika announced. "You have your assignments. Work on them over the weekend together and set them up on Monday before the start of the festival. Club dismissed!" Everyone began to get out of their seats, and I turned to Natsuki as we did so.
"So am I coming over to your place, or are you coming over to Mc's?" I asked. Without hesitation, Natsuki turned to me and said:
"I'm coming over to Mc's. It'll be much easier that way, trust me." I didn't question her as I already knew why she chose this. "Let's exchange phone numbers and set up the date and time tonight." She fished her phone out of her pocket as I did the same and we swapped the two. I put my phone number into her contacts list as she put hers into mine. When I was done, I went to hand Natsuki's phone back to her, but she was staring at my screen in confusion.
"Uh... Nat? You there?" I asked. Natsuki came out of her stupor and looked at me suspiciously.
"Alex, why are Monika and Tiffany in your contacts list?" I almost panicked, but got a hold of myself fairly quickly. Then, I did my best to come up with a believable cover story.
"When Monika and I went out to talk on my first day here, she gave me her phone number to give me information about the club because there wasn't enough time to explain it all right then and there." I lied. "As for Tiffany, she's just a friendly person overall, so why wouldn't I have her phone number?" Natsuki looked at me, then my phone, then back at me, then back at my phone. She finally shrugged and handed my phone back to me, relieving the worry in an instant.
"Okay, my number's on your phone. You'd better not make this weird!" She told me as I handed her phone back. She looked to the side, embarrassed. I smiled at her.
"Don't worry, I won't. What kind of person would I be if I did that?" I reassured her. We picked up our bags and left the clubroom, catching up to Mc and Sayori without a prompt for once.
"Well, let's be off." Mc said. He led the way through the school, and we soon found ourselves outside before we knew it. We were already chatting and laughing as we walked through the gates and down the road.
*Thirty minutes later*
We soon came up to Mc's property and split up, saying our goodbyes to each other. Sayori and Natsuki continued down the road as Mc and I walked up to his front door.
"So, a weekend with our crushes, huh?" Mc joked as he unlocked the door. I let out a small laugh as he opened the door. He gestured inside, inviting me to go in first. I accepted the offer and walked inside.
"So, what's for dinner?" I asked as he walked inside. Mc thought for a moment, then came up with an idea that I hadn't expected.
"How about we order some pizza?" He offered. I nodded enthusiastically, and Mc brought his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and put it up to his ear as we walked into the living room.
"Yeah, I'd like one medium sized pizza." He turned to me. "What would you like?" Without hesitation, I just said plain. "Alright." He put his phone back to his ear and finished the order. We sat down on the couch just as he put the phone away.
*Five minutes later*
We chatted until the pizza arrived. When the doorbell rang, Mc stood up from the couch and walked over to the front door. I spied the TV remote on the coffee table and reached for it. Picking it up, I pressed the power button and the TV sparked to life. I switched over to Netflix and entered Mc's account. Looking through what he's watched, it was literally all anime. Soul Eater, Seven Deadly Sins, and even Sword Art Online were in there.
"Dude! What the hell!" Mc exclaimed from behind me. I turned around to see him holding a pizza box and staring at me in annoyance. Not seeing why he was angry, I instantly resolved the only reason I could see as to why he was angry.
"Hey, I'm not judging you for watching Sword Art Online, man." I explained. "If I'm being honest, I actually like it as well." Mc's anger immediately vanished and he smiled at me.
"Well, what did you want to watch?" He asked. I debated about what to watch for a bit, then settled on an old favourite.
"Have you ever watched Clone Wars?" I asked.
*Three hours later*
Yes, we watched Clone Wars for a full three hours. Do I regret it? No. It was at this moment that Mc decided to throw in the towel for the night and went to bed. I told him goodnight and continued watching for about one more episode. As the end credits rolled for the extra episode, I heard my phone ding. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. I got a text from Natsuki. I opened the texting app and read it.
Natsuki: Hey, Alex.
You: Sup, Nat?
Natsuki: When are we doing this?
You: How about Sunday?
Natsuki: Sure. Hey, here's a list of things we'll need. If you don't have them, buy them tomorrow:
I stared at the list of ingredients and baking utensils that she sent me. It was so long, I had to scroll up and down to see the whole thing. With shaky hands, I replied.
You: That's a lot of stuff.
Natsuki: Oh, calm down. It's not that much. Mc probably already owns most of them, so it shouldn't be that bad.
You: Alright, fine. I got to go. Good night.
Natsuki: Good night.
I put my phone back in my pocket and turned off the TV. Mc had already gotten rid of the empty pizza box, so I just turned off all the lights and started towards my bedroom. Nothing would be happening on Saturday, so I could sleep in if I wanted. With this in mind, I turned off my alarm clock as I got to my bed.
"Not this time, bitch." I joked to myself. I was about to lay down, but another ding from my phone prevented me from doing so. With an annoyed sigh, I grabbed my phone and looked at the screen. It was a message from Monika.
Monika: Nice job today, Alex. We saved Yuri, and all that's left is Natsuki. How do you want to approach this?
You: Tiffany is sick at home and spying on her house. She'll tell me if anything suspicious goes on there.
Monika: Planning ahead, I see?
You: Yeah, you could say that. Anyway, I'm tired. Good night.
Monika: Good night.
I collapsed on the bed as I put my glasses, watch, and phone on the bedside table. I didn't even bother with getting under the covers because of how exhausted I was. It was a good thing the next day was Saturday, because it would take me a while to get up. As I laid there on my bed, I tried to think about what I'd accomplished that day, but my mind was just so tired that I couldn't handle the stress. It wasn't long before I drifted off, and thus ended my first week in the world of Doki Doki Literature Club...
End of Chapter 6