Monika stood on Yuri's doorstep, sweating profusely, her finger hovering over the doorbell. For the umpteenth time in as many minutes, she turned to Sayori and asked, "Do I have to?"

Sayori whined from a few steps behind. "Monikaaa."

"I know, I know…" Monika groaned.

"It'll be fine. It'll go just like I said it would when I drove us here," Sayori said, pumping her fists into the air in an effort to invigorate her anxiety-riddled friend. "We're here to hang out and help her with the decorations! I'll take charge of the conversation, and you and Yuri can each chime in every so often. It's the perfect plan!"

Monika looked down at Sayori pleadingly. And, as many times before, Sayori did nothing but stare back with big eyes and an ever-so-slight pout. Monika turned away, helpless before Sayori's innate talent for cuteness, and let out a defeated sigh.

They'd stopped at Monika's house on the way to Yuri's, and she'd changed into a white, knee-length dress. It breathed nicely, and curls of cool, Spring air brushed pleasantly against her legs and exposed arms. However, pleasant though the breeze was, it did nothing to lower her heartrate or her anxiety, both of which remained locked in at a high velocity and showed no signs of slowing down.

However, deep down, Monika knew that she would have to ring the doorbell eventually. Sayori would go through every pair of puppy dog eyes in her entourage if she didn't. But, beyond that, she understood now that experience was the only way that she was going to get better at talking to people. She had to do this for her own sake – and for the sake of those around her.

So, with one final breath, she rang the doorbell.

She waited five seconds.

Then she waited ten.

At fifteen, she turned to look back at Sayori awkwardly. The girl in question tilted her head confusedly, reached up, and rang the doorbell herself. Again, there was no response for several seconds. Then, just as Monika reached up to ring again, a sharp click was heard from the door, and a heartbeat later, it opened a crack.

A pair of bloodshot eyes stared back from the darkness of the house – what little of the eyes that could be seen, that is, through the veil of tousled, unkempt hair that shrouded them from the light. They glimmered faintly in recognition. "Hi, Monika," croaked a voice from beyond the doorframe.

Monika was lost for words. "Y-Yuri?"

"Oh my gosh, what happened?!" Sayori said, hopping up to stand on the front porch by Monika's side. "You look super tired!"

'Tired' wasn't the phrase that Monika was thinking of – something closer to 'deathly ill' felt more appropriate. Yuri was wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants and an equally baggy sweater that reached down to below her wrists, leaving only the tips of her fingers to poke out from their depths. They twitched errantly, as though they had somewhere to be – or something to write. Dark bags sagged under the girl's eyes, and her face was gaunt and lifeless. A little too lifeless for Monika's liking, and she shuddered inwardly, recalling a particularly disturbing image file from her past sins.

But she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and stood her ground. She wouldn't allow any more self-deprecation, however much she deserved it. She wasn't going to improve herself by standing still and letting things take their course without her. She had to take action – and she had to be honest.

And so, Monika said the first thing that came to mind: "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Yuri replied, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Didn't you get my texts?" Sayori asked concernedly. "Monika and I came over to make the decorations with you."

Yuri stared off into space for a moment before nodding slowly. "Right. I've got to get those done, too…" She slumped against the doorframe, sinking almost a full six inches downwards.

"'Too?'" Monika repeated questioningly. "What have you been doing?"

"I…" Yuri paused to yawn. "I have been working on completing my poem for Monday."

"You're – because of the poem?" Monika asked incredulously. "If it's giving you this much trouble, then…I mean, you don't have to put yourself through all of this just for a poem."

For an instant, Yuri's body stiffened. Then, just as quickly as Monika registered the change, her friend deflated once more. "I told you, I'm fine," she replied. "Now, I really have to get back to writing it, so if you don't mind…"

Yuri made to close the door, but without even thinking, Monika reached out and grabbed onto its edge so forcefully that Yuri and Sayori both jumped.

"Yuri, no," Monika said as firmly as she could. "This is too painful to watch. You're my friend, and the last thing I want is for you to hurt yourself for the sake of the club."

Yuri shrank back a little. "B-But you said – "

"I know what I said!" cried Monika. Then, catching herself slipping, she paused for a moment before continuing, her heart slamming against the walls of her chest like a jackhammer attempting to plow through concrete. "I messed up on Friday. Okay? I should've been thinking about what was best for you. I didn't…"

Monika took a shaky breath. "I didn't want to put the needs of the club over the needs of my friends. I was stressed and tired and anxious and…I messed up. That's all."

Sayori elected to remain silent. Yuri's hands gripped the edges of her sleeves tightly.

"I…" she said quietly, her breath rattling in and out of her throat. "I have to go finish my poem…"

"What? Are you even listening to me?" Monika cried. "I just said, you don't have to do that – "

In one, swift motion, Monika's hand was knocked away from the door. Yuri swiftly retreated back into the darkness of her house and slammed her front door shut. Monika had just recovered and grabbed onto the doorknob when she heard it lock.

"Whoa," was all that Sayori could offer. She looked down at Monika's wrist worriedly. "Are you okay? I can't believe she actually hit you…"

"It doesn't hurt," Monika said. She put a hand to her forehead and let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it. I messed up and said the wrong thing again."

"N-No, I think that you did fine, actually…" Sayori said, resting a hand on Monika's shoulder. "You apologized to her and everything."

"Mmm," Monika hummed and looked off to the side. "Doesn't feel like enough."

Sayori gave a short chuckle. "You're not perfect, Monika. Your best is all you can do, and I think that you did your best. Besides," she continued, her smile wavering. "It seems like Yuri has her own reasons for wanting to finish that poem so bad aside from performing it at the festival."

Monika frowned. "Well, whatever they are, they aren't worth that level of self-destruction."

"It might feel like it's worth it to her, though," Sayori replied. "Emotions are hard that way. They can trick you into feeling something that isn't actually true."

"Well, then her feelings are wrong," Monika said, reaching for the doorbell. "Let's try and get through to her again."

"What? No way!" Sayori said, slapping Monika's hand away.

"Ow-w…" Monika whined. "Okay, that one hurt."

"Sorry," Sayori said with a sympathetic smile. "But anyways, there's no way that Yuri will listen to either of us. Didn't you see how she just left?"

"Then we'll have to try harder," Monika replied. "We can't just leave her like this. She's our friend!"

Sayori walked around to stand in front of Monika and raised her hands up to either side of her friend's face. Monika looked at them cautiously before Sayori brought them together to slap her on both of her cheeks lightly.

"Hey…" Monika muttered with a chuckle.

Sayori reciprocated with a small smile. "We're not going to leave her like this. We're just going to need a little help."

"Alright," Monika replied, taking a deep breath. "Who's going to help us?"

Sayori took out her phone and started scrolling through her contacts. "Natsuki."

"What?!" Monika shouted. "But – but – they fight all of the time!"

"I know, but they still care about each other very much," Sayori said. "And Natsuki's the only one who's aggressive enough to talk to Yuri when she closes herself off like this, right?"

"I…" Monika trailed off. "That's fair, but how can you know for sure that they won't end up at each other's throats?"

Sayori smiled nervously. "I mean, I can't be one hundred percent sure. But I also know that she's the best chance we've got. We can't do this by ourselves, Monika.."

Monika looked at Sayori helplessly, and the peach-haired girl offered up a sympathetic smile, grabbing Monika's hand and squeezing it softly. "Do you trust me?"

Monika thought hard for a moment. Even if she tried again, she considered herself far too socially inexperienced to get Yuri to open up. And, now that she thought about it, she supposed that perhaps Sayori might be a little too mild when it came to handling Yuri's more intense emotions, meaning that the two of them were useless on their own. Given that, and reminding herself one last time to speak from the heart…

Monika smiled nervously. "I trust you to do the best you can," she said, intertwining her fingers around Sayori's and squeezing back. "And right now, I think that the best we can do is get Natsuki to help us."

Sayori beamed. "Look at you go! You're already getting better." She raised her phone up to her ear just as it began to ring.