Monday begins anew, and how Naïve I am for thinking everything will be the same. My parents for ne thing have changed somewhat. They look thinner, and wearier. Father is drinking from his favourite mug, but I can smell more than just coffee in there. Breakfast is very simple. No one speaks. I hate it; right now, I feel as if I could cry. I'm almost too scared to go outside, but I fear I must. Evan was right, I'm the only one that can solve this. But can I look past my own selfishness to save my digital world? Or will I be doomed to repeat my selfish mistakes until it's my turn?

The walk to school is unsettling. Students appear to have an unnatural drop shadow on them, making their faces somewhat. Nobody is interacting with one another; just walking silently and staring at the floor. I See Him Up ahead, No sign of Sayori. Of course not. I deleted her. I won't speak to him, not yet. I have to play this very carefully.

First period begins and I find myself unable to work or concentrate. Several times I am chastised for not paying attention. But I'm not the only one. Usually the player character would act as if nothing was amiss. I think the 'usual' has been gone from this world for a long time now.

" " The generic teacher snaps, as Jake had simply given up and had his head between his arms, flat to the desk.

"Get bent Blondie." He retorts venomously, not once looking up. The teacher marched up to his desk in disgust as the class looked on at the drama.

"Could you repeat that?" She asks sternly, glaring daggers into his back.
"would you like that in writing, cloth ears?" He muttered. "I Can't do this right now…." The teacher attempted to lift his head up, and stared right at him.

"out of this class this instant, and detention for the next week." She stated, in that calm yet scary voice staff put on sometimes. Jake was unphased, dead even. He gave the slightest shrug in response, and began to leave. One of the typical bully types stifled a laugh as he passed by. Big mistake. Almost as fast as one could blink, the guy was on the floor, bleeding profusely from his nose. The teacher muttered something about further detention, and went back to her desk to continue.

It didn't take long for the teacher to look back at the bully again, as he began to twitch. She ran out of class; presumably to call on a first aider-and possibly an ambulance. The rest of class just sort of stared in morbid curiosity as he spasmed away. In the heat of the moment I panicked and ran out of class; Closely followed by Yuri.

"Monika!" Yuri Calls after me. I pause outside of class. No sign of Jake.
"Monika!" Yuri repeats, grabbing my arm. "I think he just wants to be alone right now. He's probably not had a good weekend, given that Sayori has been declared missing and all."

I looked at yuri with genuine confusion. I was certain that deleting Sayori would reset the timeline. But maybe it's like one of those online roleplay games now, where time keeps going forward even if content is added or removed. I began to break down in tears, scared and frustrated at how powerless I had become. Yuri just helped me to sit down on the floor and gave me a reassuring hug.

Who is this monster of a young man? And why can't I stop crushing on them; even after the façade has been lifted? I guess this must be how the 'players' felt when I started going off the rails. But this is different; magnitudes more violent. Reminds me a lot of Lenny in 'Of mice and men'. An incredibly strong person that just can't help but destroy the things he loves.

I stand up; wiping the tears from my eyes. Murderer or not; this person is real, realer than the lines of code of this world. They were put here for a reason, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm going to help this 'Jake', even if it kills me. My life isn't worth much anyway.

I Walk down the corridor, Yuri in tow; trying to think of where he might have run off to. Our teacher returns rushing down the corridor with Even, and pauses upon seeing the two of us out of class.

"Monika, Yuri, back to class pl-" She begins, but is immediately waved off by Even.
"Miss Shirayuki, if you could locate , myself and the faculty would be rather grateful." He instructed with a stern, yet soft expression. I barely noticed him referring to me by Surname; something I had never once considered and yet felt…right.

The teacher just help up their hands. "Even, I don't think they will be able to help that ruffian; but I'll trust your Judgement." They responded, carrying on hastily down the corridor. Yuri and I silently made our way down the school halls, searching every nook and cranny, to no avail.

"I think we're looking at this from the wrong angle." Yuri mused "Monika, where would you go if you were stricken with grief and frustration?" A difficult question. But then I remembered something I overheard the other day. That aside from being the English teacher, this 'Ienzo' was the new school councillor. Other than that; I do recall visiting the pagoda gardens on school grounds. It was something that had 'been there' for a few months, part of a big project to promote gardening and healthy spiritual wellbeing.

I relay all of this to Yuri, who nods. We both conclude that finding Ienzo would be the best idea; as if nothing else, he could help us search. However, we both go our separate ways to save time, with me going directly to the garden.

Upon opening the doors and taking in a breath of fresh floral air, I relax a little. It dosen't take me long to find him, as I sit on a bench and let my 'admin-sight' look around in my stead. He sits in the main pagoda, accompanied by a student I think I have seen before but never paid attention to. A dark-skinned young man; with smartly kept platinum hair, piercing yellow eyes. Eerily familiar, and yet alien to me. They have their arm on his shoulder, as if consoling him.

"One cannot change the past, Friend. No matter our choices, we cannot see into the murky machinations of time. Thus, there is no need to blame yourself for Sayori's Dissapearance." They spoke, with a voice like sweetened honey-yet deep and almost commanding. In the background there is the strangest music, emanating seemingly from nowhere. A violin accompanied by piano; as sinister as the stranger's words are soothing. My instinct tells me this stranger is untrustworthy, perhaps even malevolent. I try to keep an open mind as I listen more; but a pit in my stomach warns me that something is very wrong here-worse than even the most world breaking glitch.

"You…don't understand. I-" Jake begins to explain, probably trying to state how he directly influenced the situation. I assume that-like the players before him-He is aware of everything that has transpired; even if I had a hand in changing the story to keep him sane and out of prison. I didn't just delete Sayori, but also that entire police station, including…. all of them. I still feel sick just thinking about it.

"Oh~ I understand perfectly." The stranger warbled, smiling just a little too much. "But you must not blame yourself. You have been…. altered, by a serpent. A dark temptress trying to keep you all to herself~. Your rage, your bloo*6jio8… it is not who you are~"

I can't take any more. That toxic villain IS up to no good after all! I feel so offended and insulted; that they would try to pin the blame on me! I haven't done anything this time but watch like a cat fearfully watches their kittens drowned in a bag! I storm over to the Gazebo, ready to give them a piece of my mind.

But once I arrived there; the dark-skinned stranger had vanished, and Jake was alone. He was lying there on the bench in the foetal position-sobbing. Looking back, I spot a blot of blue near to the door back into the halls. I pray silently, realising that I might be way in over my head in this whole ordeal…