The girls arrived at the mall as Sayori had told them to. They entered through the double doors of the mall's entrance and scanned the building for any sighting of their missing friend. As they walked, they came upon the map documenting where each department was located. Monika pulled her cell phone out of her pocket beginning to text Sayori. She waited a few seconds before her phone buzzed. Monika immediately opened her messages to read it.

"She says that she's at the food court."

"Which one?" Natsuki asked.

"The one that sells those cute cookie pizzas," Monika clarified. She sighed, her precious little girlfriend and her sweet tooth.

"Well, we should be heading there without haste," Yuri noted.

The group of friends followed the signs leading to the food courts. There was a plethora of food courts to choose from: Philly cheese steak sandwiches; Mexican food; Japanese-style food; the choices were infinite. Waves of people flocked at the food courts. Nothing more but rows upon rows of heads of varying shapes and sizes. Anthy was slightly creeped out by this.

"Do you guys know why all of these people are…shadowy?"

"Oh, that," Monika chuckled, "you know because of the limitations of this game we could not afford to copy and paste random people on the internet into it?"

Anthy shrugged her shoulders. "I take it that they are all NPCs then?"

Monika nodded. "Something like that…just do not look into their soulless eyes for too long; it might drive you insane."

"Whatever." Anthy spotted a taco booth. "I'm feeling like having tacos; you guys want anything?"

"We're fine, thank you," Monika said. Ako had once again forgotten that Monika was a vegetarian. Though to be fair, it was not a topic that Monika would allude to much.

Anthy then turned her attention to Ako. "Anything you want, babe?"

Ako blushed at the sharp-toothed girl. "No, but please come back soon."

Anthy kisses Ako's cheek and started to trot away.

As Anthy walked away, Monika and the other girls slithered through the crowd of NPCs to search for their missing friend. Their movements were met with a rough grunt of annoyance from the customers. "Sorry," Ako said timidly, "we are trying to find our friend."

They rummaged through the waves of blackness until Monika spot the all-too-familiar red bow of her coral-haired girlfriend. "Guys, I found her!"

Sayori was sitting at a table with a big cookie in the middle of it. It was a chocolate chip one that had red icing on it. On the cookie was a message that read "Welcome, Literature Club."

Sayori somehow sensed their presence and looked up. She had a wide smile on her face. "Hey, girls!"

Monika's eyes lit up. "Sayori! I'm so glad you're safe!"

She ran towards the coral-haired girl with her arms outstretched. Before she could scoop up Sayori into an embrace, Sayori inched herself away out of Monika's reach. Monika opened her eyes seeing that she was hugging thin air. It perplexed her.

"Sayori? What's wrong?"

Sayori reflexively reaffirmed her smile. "Oh, it's just that I was worried that you would misstep and accidentally fall on top of our cookie."

Monika stared at the cookie. Monika nodded her head trying to understand but she nevertheless felt hurt by Sayori's sudden coldness with her. "I guess that makes sense. You got the baker to write that down?"

"Yep! Enjoy, everyone."

The big cookie was already sliced up leaving the girls to merely take a slice out of it. It started off with Natsuki taking a piece and eating it. Yuri followed suit, then Ako. Monika was the last one to partake of it. Lifting it to her mouth, she could not help but notice that Sayori was closely looking at her. Sayori's bright, blue eyes became darker. Throughout all this, Sayori said nothing; she just concentrated on Monika.

"Uh, Sayori," Monika said, "you are kinda creeping me out."

Sayori blinked and shook her head. She smiled again, but her smile had become artificial and disconcerting. "Oh, I just hope that you especially enjoy it!"

"Oh, okay then."

Monika bit into her cookie slice. Before she could take a second bit out of it, there came loud rioting. "What the?"

The taco booth was utterly decimated. Anthy was sprawled on the floor in a daze with her tummy bulging out. She felt a nauseous spell wash over her. The owner of the booth was painfully mad shouting different words in Hispanic. From the way he was reacting, they were most certainly obscenities.

"Looks like Anthy ate all of the tacos," Monika groaned. She got up from her side of the table and began to walk over. "You guys, I'll be right back. I have to fix this problem before the mall cops get called in."

With Monika gone, Yuri, Natsuki, Sayori, and Ako were left. "Oh, this reminds me," Ako said, "are you learning how to make cakes now, Yuri?"

Yuri nodded faintly. "That's correct. After a few trial and errors, my cute little girlfriend helped me to master it."

Natsuki nodded. "You're doing great, dear. You came a long way from when you accidentally made a salad from butter, eggs, and the like."

"Wait, how did she make a salad out of eggs and butter?" Ako asked.

"That's—not something I am fond of thinking about," Yuri said. She lowered her head in shame.

"Oh, okay, sorry," Ako replied unaware that it was still a fresh wound from Yuri's end.

Natsuki got up from her seat and allowed her eyes to scan her surroundings. "Since I am here, I need to talk to Sayori for a minute."

Sayori was too invested with eating more of the big cookie, she almost did not hear her. "Hm?"

"Oh, dearest me," Yuri replied, "is it something alarming, cupcake?"

"There's nothing to worry your pretty little head about."

Sayori got up from her seat and followed the pink-haired girl. "What's going on?"

Natsuki turned and looked sternly at her. "Follow me to the clothes department."

A sudden course of events. Sayori batted her eyelashes. "Sure?"

Entering the clothes department, the two girls walked past clotheslines centered around feminine clothing. Sweaters; dresses; summer and winter outfits some frilly, others…somewhat revealing. Natsuki skimmed through some of the clothes her cheeks becoming tomato-red. Sayori did not take much notice, becoming bored immediately.

"Natsuki, what do you want of me?" she finally asked.

"You know that my anniversary with Yuri is coming up, right?"

Sweat beat down from Sayori's forehead. "Sure…sure I do."

"I was wanting to get her something special. Every time we walk with each other, she would notice this scarf." She pointed to a scarf. "It's a lavender colored, fluffy one. It really brings out my darling's eyes, does it not?"

Sayori waved her hand to indicate that she was still listening. Natsuki expectantly responds back. "Do you think she'll love it?"

"Sure. It looks good." Sayori answered.

Natsuki sighs happily. "Thanks, Sayori, I knew I could count on you."

Natsuki takes the scarf of its hook and gathers it in her hands. As they were on their way to the front to check out at the cash register, Natsuki stopped.

"Natsuki?" Sayori said confusingly.

Natsuki's eyes widened. She was lost in spiraling thoughts for before her were some cute clothes that typically would fit her style. Her eyes were glued on the clothes. Natsuki's throat started to close. She gripped at her collar. The clothes were giving her feelings of discomfort, and yet, she was fixated on them.

"Uh, Earth to Natsuki," Sayori repeated. That time it snapped Natsuki out of her trance.

"What? What is it?"

"You seemed to be obsessed with those clothes," Sayori pointed out.

"It's nothing," Natsuki insisted.

"Natsuki," Sayori emphasized.

Natsuki crossed her arms. "Can you keep a secret?"

The two girls walked into the dressing room. Selecting the last open stall, Sayori closed the door behind them. "You aren't going to propose to me?" Sayori snickered.

She stopped laughing when she saw that Natsuki was fidgeting. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Go ahead," Sayori said, "we are already in this stall, so hurry it up."

Natsuki sighed. "Okay then." She inhaled deeply and exhaled. "The truth is I was biologically born a boy."

Sayori's eyes widened. "Oh my god, does Yuri know?"

Natsuki covered Sayori's mouth. "Shush! Not so loud! But yes, Yuri does not know. We are not that far in my relationship that she knows my dark secret."

Sayori rubbed her chin. "Are you…like having that preop thingie?"

Natsuki silenced her again. "I am hoping so. If you are going to ask about my Dad…he knows that I identify myself as a girl…he is…conflicted about it, but I want to make my own decisions."

Sayori nodded her head. "Do you think that it is wrong for you to keep such a bombshell from Yuri?"

Natsuki frowned. "I will tell her. Slowly but surely until I feel the time is right."

Natsuki sighed in relief and reached out to open the door to the stall. The coast was still clear when the two exited the stall. They both walked to the front of the department and placed the scarf on the counter. The cashier scanned the barcode and added the sales tax to it. Natsuki pulled out a pink coin purse to give the cashier the right amount. With that done, the scarf is inserted into a shopping bag and is given back to them. "Have a good day."

Sayori and Natsuki exited the department seeing that Monika had worked her magic again and reassembled the destroyed taco booth. Yuri looked at them and smiled. "Everything is going swimmingly, do not worry!"

Sayori and Natsuki chuckled and walked towards them. Natsuki leaned in and whispered into Sayori's ear. "Remember that it is a secret only me and you know."

"Relax, Natsuki," Sayori assured her, "I would never tell anyone about your secret."

Behind her back, Sayori had crossed her middle finger over her index finger. Yuri naturally noticed the bag in her little girlfriend's hand and inquired her of it. Natsuki simply stated that it was a surprise that she knew she would enjoy.