Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious by now that DaMastah101 doesn't own the rights to DDLC? It should be. Hi there! It's me, Monika~
From this chapter onward, I'm hijacking the disclaimer section so I can talk to you guys, with DaMastah101's permission of course. I'm liking where the fanfic is going so far but geez, the previous chapter had too much drama! I hope we get a lighthearted one this time. I'll stop talking for now, so that everyone can start reading. See you all in the next disclaimer, ahaha~!
(No character files or Dokis were harmed in the writing of this disclaimer.)
Just Monika - Regular text
"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue
'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts
{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV
[Chapter 5 - Revelations]
I watched with a smile on my face as the girls were trying out the various outfits that Yumi brought over. My sister really did bring quite the selection with her. 'I'm sure Monika would look nice no matter what she wears to be honest...' I happily muse to myself.
Before my imagination could run wild any longer though, I felt a vibrating sensation in my pocket. My phone was ringing due to an incoming call. I looked at the display with mild curiosity, if only to see who on Earth would be calling me at freaking 10 in the evening.
The caller ID read: "Val (Work)". Ah yes, my good friend and senior. It was through his recommendation that I got accepted at the store as an employee. He was older than me, being 24 years old like my sister, while I was only 18. We got along pretty well though. Val was a pretty cool dude for his age.
His defining attribute was that he happened to be a very avid and hardcore gamer. He oftentimes gave the customers very detailed and thorough explanations of the games they were about to buy, and they'd always end up learning something. This made him the most popular guy among the staff. I picked up a couple of gaming factoids too, just from listening in to his explanations. Gaming was in his blood, it was his passion.
Another reason he was popular however... was that he had that effeminate look going on. He looked very feminine for a dude. He even had enough delicate features on his appearance to pass off as a girl, if given the proper stuff like makeup or a wig. Some people considered effeminate men like Val to be "hot". I wasn't fazed since I was kinda obsessed with Monika, but the point still stands. There had been several incidents of me having to drive away loiterers, mostly smitten fangirls. And no, it wasn't due to jealousy. It was because they'd stand there for literally hours, just to gawk at Val.
The most important thing to note though, was that Val happened to be the same friend that introduced me to Doki Doki Literature Club. He was indirectly responsible for bringing Monika into my life. 'I really need to treat that guy to something, he's the reason I met Monika after all.'
I answered my phone and placed it beside my ear. Val's panicked voice greets me. He sounded really worried for some reason.
{"Oh thank goodness you answered Izuna. Sorry for calling you all of a sudden at such a late hour."}
"I don't mind man, but why do you sound all worked up? Something happened?"
{"Yeah, something indeed happened. Listen, I'm about to tell you some weird shennanigans that I've just witnessed. No matter what, promise that you won't freak out. Okay dude?"} he began telling me. His voice was laced with fear for some reason. Like he just saw something freaky. 'Hmmm, well at least it can't be any more surprising than Monika and Sayori entering the real world...'
"Try me. What's bothering you man?" I asked, eager to find out what Val was worrying about.
I suddenly heard Monika calling out at me. "Izuna dear! Ms. Yumi says she's going to order some food to be delivered, since we haven't eaten dinner yet at all, not to mention that Sayori's tummy happens to be rumbling quite audibly, ahaha~!"
"You don't need to tell Izuna that! Monika, you meanie..." Sayori pouts at Monika who merely giggled in turn.
"Anyway, is there anything particular you want to eat, my love?"
I thought about it for a second before quickly answering Monika. "Thanks for asking, tell sis that I'm fine with whatever you guys get!" I responded back while pointing at my phone. Monika nods, telling my sister and Sayori that I was on the phone at the moment and that I didn't have any particular requests for dinner.
{"Is that a girl's voice I just heard? And it's not just you and your mean older sister over there, because yet another female voice was the one to say 'Ms. Yumi', therefore it's another girl with you right now!"}
"You're just hearing things, Val."
{"Izuna."}
"It's just me and my sister here right now. Right, Yumi?"
"Huh? What about Mo-" before my sister could blurt it out, Monika and Sayori hastily covered her mouth. I breathe a sigh of relief and flash them a thumbs up.
"Yep, it's just me and my sister. So... what were you about to tell me again my friend?" hopefully, Val doesn't pry any further.
{"Izuna, don't even bother hiding it. Who's this female friend of yours? And she's even calling you 'my love'!"}
'Son of a basket... Bah. Might as well tell him, but I'm not revealing that it's Monika. I can't just lay it out there that my girlfriend is freaking Monika from DDLC in the flesh, after all.'
"Okay... you caught me. It's my girlfriend." I state with utmost sincerity. Silence ensues. It stays like this for a minute.
"Uh... Val? You still there?"
I was this close to hanging up prematurely, but I suddenly hear loud cackling on the other end of the line, with Val laughing up a storm.
"What's so funny, Val?!" I snapped at my friend who was still wheezing from excessive laughter. What was so amusing about the thought of me getting a girlfriend anyway?
I hear him composing himself a bit, clearing his throat before answering me. {"I just didn't think that you'd get over your DDLC slump with Monika, that's all. Let alone you actually getting yourself a girlfriend of all things! Speaking of which, now that I've mentioned it... let's get back to the reason I called you in the first place, Izuna. It has something to do with DDLC. Like I said, don't freak out on me. Are we clear?"}
"Er, okay...?" I answered slowly, since I already had an idea of what he was probably gonna tell me. The moment he mentioned DDLC, it confirmed that Val's dilemma had to be something connected to Monika and Sayori suddenly being missing from the game. My sister's copy of DDLC also got affected after all, if I recall correctly.
(Flashback start)
"Forever... Sayori?" I was shocked to my core. The "New Game" option got turned into "Forever Sayori". Does that mean that this was Sayori was now her Act 4 self? This was getting weird again. I looked at Monika who only shook her head. Looks like she doesn't know what happened either.
Yumi then tells us something. "Before coming here, I went to check on the game to see if Monika got removed from my copy as well. I was right. She wasn't in the game at all. The game also got altered in the same manner as yours did, Izuna. I haven't tested it yet, but try clicking on that "Forever Sayori" option."
(Flashback end)
Having said that, I guess it's reasonable to assume that every DDLC copy gets affected in some way. That seems to be the case.
{"Alright, I'm spilling the beans. So you know how the main menu screen usually looks like in all 4 Acts, right?"}
"Of course I do. In Act 1, it has all 4 sprites of the girls. In Act 2, it's still 4 sprites but Sayori's sprite is replaced by a glitched out one. Act 3 is the same as Act 2, and finally in Act 4 it's just Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki."
{"Correct. As expected from a fully invested DDLC player like yourself. But yeah, it should be like that. However, an hour ago I went to boot up the game. And the main menu was acting quite differently from normal."} I felt my jaw tighten, waiting for Val to elaborate, since it was most likely connected to Sayori's appearance here earlier.
{"First of all, Monika and Sayori's sprites weren't on the main menu screen anymore. At first I thought I unlocked a hidden route or something. But then I saw that the 'New Game' option got replaced with a 'Forever Sayori' one. I got totally spooked by that!"}
Yep, nothing new so far. "Really? I see..."
{"That's how you react? I know that I told you not to freak out, but what's with that lukewarm reaction?! This is some paranormal activity going on here!"}
"I mean, I play DDLC regularly because of Monika anyway, so I noticed those changes too. Might've been a stealth update that downloaded in the background or something. But I'm gonna assume that wasn't all you wanted to tell me, right?" I smoothly lied through my teeth, I'm not risking anything yet by telling Val about Monika or Sayori crossing over into reality. Not without talking it over with sis and the girls first.
{"Hmmmm. That would make sense I guess, if not for what I'm about to tell you. So, being the curious gamer that I am, I went ahead and clicked the Forever Sayori link. I saw the game glitch out a bit, and then DDLC remained frozen in that state for like 30 to 40 minutes. Scratch that, my whole computer was stuck frozen during that entire time period. Then, it unfroze and the game closed itself. I started up the game again and the New Game option returned. The main menu still had only Natsuki and Yuri on it though. I got too freaked out to continue so I closed the game and immediately called you."}
Val and I both remained silent for a bit. I then spoke up.
"Now that I've heard all that, it does seem really strange. I have no idea what could've possibly caused these events. As soon as I saw the Forever Sayori option, I closed the game and called over my sister and my girlfriend to discuss it. They also played DDLC after all, so I thought I should hear their input on this as well." As I gave out even more half-baked lies to my friend, my brain went into overdrive to process this new information. 'That's new. I guess since we summoned Sayori using my copy, every other copy of DDLC that was open at the time couldn't really run the "Forever Sayori" option simultaneously with mine... We can't have multiple copies of one Doki running around after all. And 30 to 40 minutes means that this was during Sayori's venting session. I'll need to talk with them about this later.' This was getting pretty complicated.
{"So that explains why you have them over right now. Well then, I won't hog you from them any longer. I'll see you around at work in a few days, my good man. I have a date with Persona 5 for the weekend and I need to get to it. Enjoy your Saturday Izuna, godspeed."}
"Bye, Val. You have a good weekend too." And with that, I hung up the call.
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
I pocketed my phone and went over to where the girls were. Monika and Sayori were done trying out clothes from my sister and had them sorted out already. Monika was currently reading the encyclopedia I gave her again. She really likes reading. Sayori was watching my sister do something on her smartphone.
"Done talking to your friend, little bro? I happened to overhear some of the things you two talked about and it sounded pretty important. By the way, I ordered pizza for tonight." Yumi informs me without lifting her head, fingers still drumming actively on her phone.
"I am, that was Val from work by the way. Oh and pizza sounds good. But for goodness' sake sis, you almost revealed Monika and Sayori to him if the girls didn't stop you in time!"
"I'm sorry Izuna, big sister almost screwed up! Hahahahaha!"
"This isn't a laughing matter at all Yumi!"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. So the guy who called you. It's girly-boy right? What did he want from you Izuna?" my sister inquires. Yumi has indeed met Val before. Unlike his legion of fangirls who fawned over him all day though, big sis was the one girl who opted to keep teasing Val for being a "girly boy". They first met when Yumi had come to "Digital Dimension", the tech and gaming shop I worked at. That was quite the day.
(Flashback start)
Val and I were busy organizing the gaming shelves. New copies of a very popular game had just arrived so we had to re-arrange the shelves to accomodate the new stock. We suddenly heard the shop's front door open.
"I'll get it Val!"
"Okay dude, leave the stacking of these cases to me. Go tend to the new customer."
I nodded my thanks to Val and went over to the store's entrance.
"Welcome to Digital Dimension! Your one-stop shop for anything gaming or tech-related! How can I be of assistance today?" I gave out my usual greeting with a polite bow. But when I lifted up my head to look at the newcomer, my eyes widened a bit. The customer was actually my sister.
"Yumi?! What are you doing here?"
"Oh! Fancy seeing you here little bro. I needed to buy some parts for my rig. I'm planning on expanding my laptop's internal storage capcity from 500GB to 1TB. Do you have any recommendations for me Izuna?" that explains Yumi suddenly coming here. 'Probably ran out of space to save her anime, knowing her. Heh.'
"As a matter of fact sis, I do. Gimme a sec. Val, I need your help with something, could you come over here for a bit?"
"Sure thing man, I'm coming!" Val yells over at me from the shelf area. Minutes later he appears beside me. "What can I help you with Izuna?"
"This is my sister, Yumi Takaya. Yumi, this right here is Val Walker, my senior here at Digital Dimension. Yumi's looking for a good replacement HDD for her laptop. She wants to upgrade her current 500GB storage to a 1TB one."
"Nice to meet you Val, I'm Yumi, Izuna's big sister! What's a pretty lady like you doing working here~?
"Yumi... Val's actually a gu-" before I could correct my sister, I felt Val subtly clamping down on my shoulder with his hand. He was pissed but wasn't showing it.
"The pleasure is mine, Yumi. And I happen to like this place. I love gaming, so Digital Dimension is perfect for someone like me. Let's go get your new HDD, ma'am."
"Wow, a gamer girl huh? That's so awesome! Show me the way, Val~!" my sister beams at the silently fuming Val, who held a perfect poker face. I sighed internally. Sis really thought Val was a girl. I mean, sure he looks effeminate but I'm pretty sure being mistaken for a girl was annoying Val to no end. I sneak a glance at my co-worker and sure enough, he was looking pretty ticked off whenever Yumi wasn't looking at him. The other customers did think he was effeminate, but none of them ever thought he was a girl. Yumi was the first to do so.
The three of us reached the shelf where the HDDs and other storage media such as flash drives, memory cards and Blu-ray discs were on display. Val diligently helped Yumi pick out a good brand and she thanks him profusely.
"Thank you so much Ms. Val! I'll be sure to come again whenever I need something for my laptop! I'll be taking this baby to the cashier now. See you around! You too Izuna!"
"Sure thing, sis." I wave her off awkwardly, she still didn't realize that my friend was a male...
"Thank you as well for your purchase Ms. Yumi. It was an honor for a 'gentleman' such as myself to be able to help you out." I heard Val put extra emphasis on the word 'gentleman'. Val gave Yumi some time to let his parting words sink in. After hearing Val's declaration, Yumi robotically went over to the cashier to pay for the HDD she just bought. Minutes later, she came back to me and Val and was pretty much hyperventilating.
"IZUNA, VAL IS A GUY?! VAL, YOU'RE A GUY?! WHAT IN THE NINE CIRCLES OF HELL?!" she exclaims. Good thing there weren't any other customers today. Sis making a scene like this would be troublesome.
"Yes, Ms. Yumi. I am indeed a male. Through and through." Val laughs a bit while I had to stiffle my laughter.
"You're not just messing with me are you Val?!"
"Nope... I'm a guy..."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I thought 'Val' was short for 'Valerie' or something! Y'know, since you're supposed to be a girl!"
"But I'm a guy, and my name is merely Val. It's not short for anything. Val Walker." Val merely shrugs his shoulders while saying this.
"It's absolutely positive that you're a guy?"
"Absolutely, without a doubt."
"You're really a guy? Honest to goodness? No tomfoolery of any sort?" Yumi insists while scratching her head in denial.
"I am. Ms. Yumi, I'm really a guy..."
An awkward silence prevails. Neither Val nor Yumi had anything to say for a while. Was it really that hard for sis to believe that my friend had the XY chromosome instead of XX?
"...pinky promise, with a cherry on top?"
"Yumi, for crying out loud. Val is a guy!" I interjected. This whole charade was going on for far too long. We can't change facts. Val is a guy, not a girl. No matter how feminine he looked.
Yumi then calmed down a bit and started to give Val a once-over. Looking him up and down, she continued eerily staring at him while entering a thinking pose.
"Um... Ms. Yumi... is there something on my face?" my co-worker timidly asks. I had a feeling about where this was going...
"It's settled. From now on, you will be known to me as 'girly-boy', because you're a girly looking boy. Got it, girly-boy?"
"G-girly... boy..." Val looked mortified at hearing that new nickname while I lost it and exploded into laughter.
"Oh boy! This is too freaking rich! Ahahahahaha! Val, sis just called you a freaking GIRLY BOY! GOOD LORD! I guess you've finally found a girl immune to your feminine charm~" Man this was funny as all heck. Yumi looked pleased with herself while Val was glaring at me, this was one of the rare times he actually lost his patience.
"Izunaaaaaa! Tell your sister not to call me that!"
"Too late, girly-boy! From now on you're Val the girly-boy! Yes, let's go with that. See you around, teehee!" she chimes out in a sing-song voice while skipping out of the store. I was still doubling over due to laughter while Val had a scowl plastered on his face that was now beet red due to anger.
(Flashback end)
Yumi came to the store multiple times after that. She really did start calling Val "girly-boy" every chance she got. It irked Val but he eventually got used to my sister's teasing. It was pretty hilarious at first, but later on I felt that Val had endured enough and that Yumi should cease her mockery of my friend.
"You should stop mocking Val like that you know-"
"But girly-boy is a girly looking boy! Therefore, big sister will still call him girly-boy. End of discussion~" I facepalmed at that. 'Big sis, you know I love you so much. But sometimes, and I say this with all the love I could muster... you need to get whacked with a frying pan.' I thought in annoyance as I attempt to steer the conversation back to more serious matters.
"-moving on... Val called me about DDLC. It looks like his game also got affected."
Monika and Sayori perk up at this. Sayori is the first to chime in. "Did... did he get the Forever Sayori option on his game copy too, Izuna?"
I turned to the strawberry-blonde. "Yes, he did. But Val also told me that after he clicked it, nothing happened. His computer and the game itself just became frozen and stuck like that for approximately 40 minutes."
Monika gives her input. "That probably means you were here already at Izuna's house, Sayori. His computer freezing for 40 minutes seems about right too, because it was when Sayori and I were..." I saw Monika suddenly looking downcast. She still felt guilty for everything after all.
'Everything Monika heard from Sayori's venting was probably still lingering in her mind... I wish I could comfort her more.' I solemnly thought. Sayori also notices Monika's crestfallen expression and squeezes the brunette's hand, trying to cheer her up.
"Sayori..."
"It's all in the past now Monika. Cheer up! You look prettier when you're smiling~" Sayori beams at Monika.
"Thank you, Sayori..." she clears her throat before continuing.
"Sorry about that everyone. But yes, your friend girly-boy... oops, I mean Val. Ahaha~! His name is Val right, Izuna?" Yumi snickers at Monika's blunder. Great, now my girlfriend might start calling Val that awful nickname too.
"Yeah his name is Val, he's a friend from work. The one I told you about that introduced me to DDLC."
"Thanks, my love! So Val probably couldn't access the game at all because whatever caused me to appear here in reality, as well as Sayori, was trying to prevent... well for lack of a better word, an 'error'. My hypothesis is that Val would've summoned Sayori at his place instead if he was the one to click the 'Forever Sayori' option before we did." Monika reached the same conclusion as I did it seems. Sayori was nervously fidgeting with her uniform's skirt while Yumi had a thinking expression.
"That's basically what I think as well, Monika. Well then, Sayori? Yumi? Any thoughts on this?"
Sayori blinks a bit. "Er... I'm not too sure about this, but I agree with Monika. Doki Doki Literature Club probably didn't want any duplexes of me here in the real world."
"Don't you mean 'duplicates', Sayori?" Monika points out.
"Right! Duplicates. Ehehe. The game probably froze any other open copy of DDLC other than yours Izuna, when I was being transported here. What do you think Ms. Yumi?"
Yumi ponders for a moment. She then spoke up in a serious tone. Despite how eccentric my sister may be, she probably had the most insight among the four of us right now. She was the oldest after all. "That's probably accurate. However, I think there's one more important thing here that you guys may have missed."
"What do you mean, Yumi?" I asked her with budding curiosity. What else could we be missing here? Monika and Sayori were listening intently as well.
"We're all assuming that Sayori would've been summoned at Val's place if he had been the one to click on Forever Sayori, right?"
"Basically, that should be what happens Ms. Yumi." Monika states with Sayori and myself nodding in agreement.
"But how are we so sure of that in the first place? What if the summoning only happens on Izuna's computer? Just because the copies of DDLC itself get affected, doesn't really guarantee that they could also be used to summon the DDLC characters. I mean think about it. My own copy got the Forever Sayori option even before I came over here, Izuna. That means that the other copies also got 'updated' earlier with that option as well, by whatever's causing this. Who's to say that there aren't many people who already tried clicking it before you and Monika did?"
My sister made a valid point. So far we only knew three cases of the "Forever Sayori" option appearing in a DDLC copy. Those were my own, Yumi's, and Val's. We didn't have a big enough sample size to get conclusive results.
"Which brings me to my next point. This is only a theory for now, but I think I have a pretty good guess so far."
"Explain it to us then, Yumi." I prompt her to continue. Whatever she says might shed some light to the circumstances of Sayori's appearance at least.
"I'm thinking that for a DDLC copy to be 'active', and by active I mean capable of summoning the DDLC charcaters into reality, it must be the same one that summons Monika into the real world. That's why I think only your PC could be capable of doing this, Izuna. The other copies being updated with the changes like that 'Forever Sayori' option, was probably because the power that's causing all of this is treating the DDLC characters as singular entities."
What did my sister mean by "singular entities", exactly? "Sis, can you explain in simpler terms what you meant by Monika and the rest being these so-called 'singular entities'?"
"No problem little bro. It simply means that our Monika, or specifically the Monika from your computer Izuna, is the same Monika that's within every DDLC copy. This also applies to Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki as well."
"But wait Ms. Yumi, there's something not adding up!" Monika hastily chimes in.
"Yes Monika dear, tell us what's on your mind?" My sister lets Monika explain her thoughts.
"If that's the case... If I'm really the same Monika that's present in every DDLC copy, then why do I only have the memories of my time in Izuna's computer? Why can't I recall my time in your computer? Or Val's? Or anyone else's?"
We turn to Sayori for her comments on this. She was a DDLC character too after all. "It's the same for me, Ms. Yumi... I only recall being in IzuTaka- I mean Izuna's PC..."
"Yes, I did consider that. But if we assume that Izuna's PC is indeed the only one capable of summoning DDLC characters, then the only way to explain the other copies being modified is through the singular entity theory. We could probably try bringing Monika and Sayori near my laptop, and see if it triggers their memory. Monika was just telling me and Sayori that she had her cybernetic powers carry over after all." that was really our only option for now.
"That's probably what we should do then. I say go for it." I turn to Monika and Sayori who nodded their support of the idea.
"Okay then, it's settled. We're stopping by my apartment before we go to the mall. Is everybody cool with that?" none of us raised any objections.
Be that as may however, something had been unsettling me a bit.
I agreed to this test in order to verify my sister's thoughts, but inwardly I was beginning to grow anxious.
If Monika was indeed a singular entity, it meant that within DDLC... she had also confessed her love to thousands of other players as well. I potentially wasn't really her 'boyfriend' anymore. Surely, I wasn't the only hardcore DDLC player that fell in love with Monika out there. Granted, Monika was merely acting within the script when she was still trapped in-game whenever she confessed to the player in Act 3, but that may change soon and it might not be just the script anymore that causes Monika to act that way.
I was scared that if Yumi's theory was correct, and if she regains her memories from the other players' copies... that she might leave me for someone else. And the thought of losing Monika was enough to throw me into despair.
"Izuna, are you okay, my love?" I suddenly hear Monika's voice, full of concern. I felt a bit of dampness on my right cheek. Apparently, a stray tear fell while I was having my internal anxiety. I discreetly wiped it away and put on a fake smile.
"I'm fine Monika, just mulling over things."
"Are you sure? You know that you could tell me anything, right? I'll always be here for you, Izuna."
"Yeah, I know."
The truth however, was that I didn't really know anymore.
-Chapter 5 END-
A/N: Thank you for reading the fifth chapter of TWBTS. I know I promised that they'd be going out shopping this chapter, but life doesn't always give you what you want...
My fiancee and I went over the current story outline for this "Introduction Arc" and the upcoming "School Pandemonium Arc". It was then that I realized there were a lot of loose plot threads that needed to be ironed out. So, in the pursuit of making this fanfic be the best it could be, I'm gonna have to extend the current arc for a few more chapters(by my estimate, it'll be up to either Chapter 9 or 10) before we could move on to the next story arc.
That means no shopping yet, ugh. I can't really say anymore if they're going shopping next chapter or not, because I might end up revising Chapter 6 a few more times again(I already have a sort of semi-finalized draft for the next chapter ready).
Thank you everyone for the support I've been getting with TWBTS. All the reviews, all my new readers who recently fav'd and follow'd, as well as my loyal readers. You guys rock! Please continue to follow TWBTS, as it's only going to get better from here. I have big plans for TWBTS, and this is becoming my main story project. Who knows, maybe in the future I could post character sketches of Izuna, Yumi and Val on my DeviantArt. Like my favorite anime character Okabe Rintarou said: "Nobody knows what the future holds. That's why its potential is infinite."
That was DaMastah101's Author's Notes of the Day! Thanks for listening. See you all in the next chapter!