Monika went through the rest of the day in a tense sort of trance, taking caution not to expose herself to too much social interaction. Everyone around her, every single boy and girl in every one of her classes, was now completely unique. Even the ones that were similar had small differences that set them apart from their peers. Each one had their own unique, three dimensional personality. Each was capable of intelligent discussion.

And it was driving her insane. There were so many other students around her, so many living, breathing people. But whenever she opened up her mouth, nothing came out of it. Try as she might, fear would overwhelm her every time without fail, and Monika couldn't bring herself to say anything. Her breathing quickened, her chest seized up, and all she could think of was what would happen if she messed up. Of the millions of directions that the conversation could take. What if it took the wrong one? What if it took a good one, but she was unprepared for it?

This was supposed to be what she wanted. Other people with which she could share herself. Why was she so uncertain? Was she that used to controlling conversations? To controlling people?

Monika huffed. No more worrying. It wouldn't do any good. Right now, she had one goal – to find the player character and figure out what they knew. Until then, she wouldn't worry. All she had to do was get through the rest of the day with as little talking as possible.

Thankfully, Sayori was more than willing to pick up her slack.

"And History was boring, but it always is," Sayori said with a sheepish chuckle. "Ehehehe…I might've dozed off for a bit towards the end. But that's fine! We have a couple of weeks to prepare for the next test, right?"

Monika nodded, feigning knowledge of said test. "Right."

Sayori pumped her fist. "Right! So I figure I'll be okay. And I just got out a few minutes ago, and here we are in the hallway together! And that's been my day so far."

Monika hummed in response and allowed her bubbly friend to continue. Good old Sayori. All she had to do was give her one or two-word responses every minute or so and she was good to go. Now that she was talking to the right person, Monika was having a blast doing it. New subjects and sentences poured out of Sayori's ear-wide grin in abundance without Monika having to put in any effort whatsoever. And they just kept coming, like there were a million more sentences that could be said. And with a small sigh and a smile, Monika realized that there probably were.

Just then, the inflexion of one of Sayori's words went up in pitch. Monika blinked and turned back to the girl, who was looking at her expectantly. Was that a question just now?

Monika gulped. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite – I didn't catch – what did you just say?"

Sayori sighed. "I was asking you why you've been so quite all day…you've barely said a word and we've almost made it to the clubroom."

"Oh, I – the clubroom?" Monika whirled around to face forward again. A second-floor hallway with rows of lockers and intermittently placed doors lining either side faced her. "Where's the clubroom?"

"What do you mean, 'where's the clubroom?'" Sayori asked with a worried look on her face.

Monika put a hand up to her chin. "Oh, right…I thought I'd have more classes, but I came into school late. How did I forget that…?"

"Monika, seriously. I'm really worried about you," Sayori said, grabbing

something that I can't see is touching my shoulder

the club president's shoulder. Monika gasped and jerked away, whirling on Sayori. Sayori leaned back, shocked, and retracted her hand.

Monika didn't say a word. Her eyes, wide and dilated, did the talking for her.

"Monika…?" Sayori began concernedly. "What's wrong? You've been acting weird all day, and I can't even remember the last time you were late to school. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Really," Monika said shakily, avoiding Sayori's eyes. "J-Just…please don't touch me again."

Sayori looked like she wanted to say more, but instead, she simply closed her mouth and let her hands fall to her sides. "Okay," she said quietly.

The two continued walking. Monika took a deep breath and fell behind, allowing Sayori to lead the way to the club. She knew she'd been blunt, but she wasn't thinking about that at the moment. Instead, she was thinking about trying to breathe evenly – and about her heart, which was slamming into her throat. The tingling sensation on her shoulder from where Sayori's hand had been still lingered. Something else had touched her. Something real.

She hadn't expected it to feel so intense.