Disclaimer: Wow... there are no words. Normally, I'd defend my author regarding the very long absence of updates on this story like any of my fellow Monikas would when it comes to siding with their player... but there really are no words.

Thus, I apologize on DaMastah101's behalf for the very long hiatus. He told me that just so you guys could have some sort of progress on TWBTS, he made this chapter. You'll first notice that it isn't "Izuna's Resolve, Part 2". But he says that it still isn't ready or something along those lines, so he hopes that this Sayori-centric one would suffice for now.

Chapter could've been about me instead, but noooooooo...

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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

"Long ago, in a big castle floating in the clouds, a boy who dreamed of being a warrior and a girl who loved to cook met and fell in love. Those two are gone, but after a long, long journey, their hearts met again."

-Reki Kawahara

Author of the world-famous series, "Sword Art Online".

[Chapter 20 - Sayori's Breakfast]

While Izuna was undergoing the training that his grandfather Osamu had in store, life went on as usual for the rest of the gang in the Takaya household.

And for the bright and formerly-depressed ball of sunshine known as Sayori, the usual routine included breakfast. Especially on a Saturday, the day of rest for many people in their age bracket.

Getting between the girl and her regularly scheduled morning mealtime was tantamount to committing the worst of divine sacrilege. All hell would break loose, no nation shall be spared, and the skies shall be painted with the darkest, bloodiest, and reddest of reds.

Not even Monika, for all of the confidence that the emerald-eyed beauty had possessed, would so much as attempt to dare cross with a scorned Sayori if it meant hindering the girl from getting her morning fill of eggs and bacon. Pancakes. The works.

Currently, the only people in the Takaya household were Monika, Blank, Erika, and Sayori herself. They had already been notified by Natsuki that her group would be coming home a bit later today, when the pink-haired girl gave Monika a call yesterday evening.

Thus, Natsuki, Yuri and Yumi were nowhere to be seen for now. Elyssa also was once again off somewhere else, on an errand and whatnot.

Getting back to the topic at hand, nobody came between Sayori and the breakfast that she craved. She was getting food, one way or the other.

Normally, she would've even woken up her boyfriend, a certain former avatar, to cook some food. But when she saw the peaceful look on his face as he remained asleep on his usual spot, she didn't have the heart to do so.

There was also the thing about it only being 8 o'clock in the morning. On a freaking Saturday nonetheless. And so, our strawberry-blonde heroine could only think of one solution, without waking up Blank and the rest, and it was one heck of a solution.

The starving girl did the unthinkable that fated morning...

She went to Wendy's, willingly, and it was an experience, I'll tell you that much at least. She could've gone to somewhere that was a lot better suited for breakfast time such as a bakery or the local Starbucks, but Wendy's somehow happened to be the nearest location for her.

Thank goodness that Sayori had access to Google Maps on her smartphone. It offered a ton of convenience towards the girl, who wasn't really the best with navigation.

I honestly don't know how in the blue blazes did such a left-field idea come to her. Randomly deciding to have her morning breakfast at a freaking Wendy's. She just did, no rhyme or reason whatsoever. Then again, Sayori oftentimes had these random bursts of inspiration towards something.

And this was one of said bursts for the girl, apparently.

She proudly declared in spite of her growing hunger, "I'm gonna go to Wendy's and you know what? No regrets! I'm just gonna go in and I'm definitely gonna get something to eat. I'm really hungry right now, ehehe."

It just came out of the blue. She wasn't really thinking about a scenario in which she'd go to Wendy's in the freaking morning, nothing. It just came to her all of a sudden.

Wendy's... She was going to go to Wendy's, stuff her face full with food, and have a good old time. Hunger be damned!

The fierce determination that she displayed was quite frankly, on another level today. Quite unparalleled in its intensity. That's all that I could even... That's the only way I could've expressed it... It was on a completely different level. Because it's a cold day today and, keep in mind, she's been in Horizon City for a while now.

Even as narrator, this girl had piqued my interest on where this was all headed at.

It was quite the breezy day today. The wind kept on blowing its callous gusts of air towards the girl's direction, but she paid no attention to that. Not with the grunting of her still-empty stomach.

Definitely, it was a cold day. It was harsh. Some would say it was dangerous. Treacherous, even. But Sayori only stated, "You know what? I'm gonna brave that cold. I'm gonna brave the ice. I'm gonna brave the dropping temperature. The arctic winds, I will fight against and I'm gonna do what I have to do to take the 15-minute travel and get to Wendy's. I will stop at nothing!"

She continued on the path towards her destination, on that ever-increasing sidewalk, and that wave of cold was incredible! Nature was fighting against her! I could feel that cold air and part of me wanted to break the fourth wall already and advise her to just turn around, go back inside! Get comfortable and eat something else. But I fought against it.

I persisted and Sayori also kept pushing forward. She was not gonna let that cold stop her, and I've grown to respect her for that. She was a woman on a mission and She was gonna freaking go to Wendy's! Thus, the journey of the visionary robbed of her breakfast showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

And this is one of those things that it's like... You ever get that feeling where you're just doing something that you know, you don't normally do and you're kind of getting this feeling like, wow, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. And perhaps sometimes it's a pleasant but welcome anticipation, other times it can be a little worrisome.

That was probably what our heroine was kind of feeling, as she was decidely making her way over to that nearby Wendy's and it was like, you know, I can't believe she was actually deadset on doing this sort of thing. Her eyes were ignited with the embers of her burning passion, as she took each step forward.

She was headed towards her Valhalla, her Mecca, her promised land - Wendy's.

And that fifteen minute travel seemed like it was at least 5 hours long.

When Sayori had finally gotten to the Wendy's parking lot, the girl seemed to pause for a bit, and it appeared to me that she just had to examine the entirety of the Wendy's edifice for a short period of time, not anything too long, but for a few minutes at least to just take it in.

Number one: She reached the destination and Sayori needed to take a, you know, moment just to size up this building. Sayori needed to know what she was in for when she finally went in there, but she wasn't just going to settle for takeout, no, no, she was actually dining in this time around. No cop-outs or anything. Just pure, unadulterated, dining in.

She was sizing it up. She was assessing it. 'What am I going to be in for when I open those doors and set foot inside the almighty Wendy's' were the thoughts that culminated in her mind.

And after a few minutes, Sayori exhaled the weariest of exhales. She closed her eyes and she took a deep breath, pumping herself up in anticipation of what was yet to come. Starved or not, Sayori was getting psyched!

"Alright, I'm gonna do this on the count of three. I am gonna go in there and whatever happens, happens! One. Two. Three..."

After what seemed like an eternity, Sayori made it past the parking lot and got in. When she opened the door, it was eerily quiet in there, and that usually meant one of two things:

A. It wasn't really a busy time for that branch.

B. They were waiting for me... waiting intently for this very moment...

As it turned out, it was just the first option, meaning that there wasn't a lot of business. But Sayori only had to go in, right?.

And go in, she finally did. Even I had to smile at that. Go on and embrace your destiny, Sayori.

The menu stood there, imposing in its splendour. Like, you know in the movie "2001 - A Space Odyssey?" You know the black... What is that? The monolith? That was what it kinda reminded Sayori of, to be honest.

That may or may not have been due to a recent movie marathon that she had with Blank, only two days ago.

It was towering over her, and she was trying to read every line. And all the time, Sayori was thinking, 'There's too many choices for me to get!' She was feeling spontaneous.

She didn't have any plan when she decided this, Sayori just knew that she had to be at Wendy's and that she had to get something there! Anything! Her very pride was on the line right now, God damn it!

Slightly gulping as she now stood in front of the cashier, a random guy named "Bob", or at least that's what the nametag on his shirt said...

"O-One Baconator... please..."

Her hand had this slight tremble permeating through its form, as she gave the man the amount required to pay for her meal.

She was served. She paid for it. And now it was the moment of truth - Dine-in.

I could barely even get it out of my metaphorical mouth at that point, but I kept saying "Hold yourself together! Just keep it together girl!", even though I knew that she couldn't hear me due to my status as the narrator.

Sayori was doing a good job of inwardly psyching herself up though. 'And what you have to do next is get some napkins. No drink today, no need to spend that much extra. What matters is you got the goods. The damn burger. Get some napkins and get to a seat. Okay. You got this! You can do it! You made it this far! You got to Wendy's. You got your food and now you just have to get a seat and eat it too. You are this far. Do not turn back! Do not waver! Do not give up!'

Very well then. She gingerly clasped the food tray. Because they gave her a tray. You know, they like, you know how some places they'll just give you a bag and then you're all set even if you didn't finish your food... but they gave her a tray because of course they did, and she got the Baconator and it was wrapped up, and once again it was on a freaking tray, with napkins on the tray.

Sayori began scanning the restaurant for a place to sit. And then the girl saw it! The Ketchup dispenser! Though... she didn't really do anything with them, Sayori just kind of looked at the condiment and then just kept going about her business till she finally found a vacant booth.

Food tray still in hand, the girl sat in the booth. And at this point she was in the zone.

Inner Zen. Euphoria. The ultimate state of balance. She had entered Nirvana.

She said to herself, "You know what? I've got a hold of myself. I'm just gonna eat this Baconator and you know what? We're just gonna do it!" And that's what she did.

She sat down. Sayori had firmly planted herself in that seat. Acting as though she was buckling herself in for a wild ride. I could clearly see that Sayori was in the zone at this point!

Finally, the time of reckoning had come, as Sayori slowly but surely, started unwrapping her breakfast. She took a good whiff off of it, inhaling that nice tangy smell that only Bacon could give off.

She took that first bite and the Baconator was fighting back! It was... the mayonnaise! She had forgotten to order the damn thing with no mayo, and now the white liquid was getting everywhere. It was getting on her face! It was trying to get onto her shirt too, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Sayori didn't want to look like some sort of burger serial killer.

The bacon strips were sliding out from the buns. Some of the melted cheese had started oozing downwards, adding to the already messy ordeal of eating the damn thing. But Sayori kept chomping down and devouring this Baconator of a burger. And she ate it. And you know what?

The Baconator was actually pretty good.

She couldn't really complain. I couldn't really complain either, and I was merely a spectator. Even Blank, Monika, Erika and Elyssa couldn't complain, and they were all probably still asleep. Even Natsuki, Yuri, Yumi and Mizuki couldn't complain, and they weren't even in this scene.

It was actually a pretty decent Baconator burger. Job well done! So she threw out the garbage.

And, you know, she wiped her face. Sayori was capable of proper hygiene at that level at least, even if her hair was usually unkempt. Any remnants of the Baconator was promptly discarded off her hands. She made sure that she was all cleaned up. Then she packed it up. Exited the building post-haste. And made her way back towards the Takaya residence once more.

Job well done, Sayori emerged from the almighty Wendy's, victorious. A total victory.

Breakfast, had been rightfully served. And it was good.

Happiness was found.

-Chapter 20 END-

[The Main Story will resume in Chapter 21 - Izuna's Resolve, Part 2.]

A/N: And yes, I know this was a weird chapter lmao. Don't worry, we're going back to the proper story in the next chapter!

EDIT: Multiple typos regarding contractions and missing apostrophes have been rectified.