Sayori ran through the hallways of the mostly empty school. Her eyes were stinging with the tears falling down her face. 'They were right,' she thought over and over again as she ran. 'I couldn't help Natsuki, and it is all my fault.' As she was running, she bumped into a girl with 2 backpacks, though she didn't really notice her. She just kept running. Eventually she found herself on the third floor, where she decided that she would hide in the restroom. She ran into the restroom, and saw another girl in there.

"Uh…" Sayori looked at the girl. She was very pretty, Sayori thought. Long, purple hair. She then noticed that she was bleeding.

After their encounter a while minutes ago, Yuri's heart was racing. She couldn't handle it, and just had to get away from Monika for just a few minutes. But, even being apart, her heart was still pounding. She had to do something to release, so she went to the third floor and went into the restroom to relieve that excitement the only way that she knew how. She pulled her sleeves up and pulled out a knife. Yuri was always careful when doing her… hobby… but still, the sense of danger and the pain of the blade sliding across her arm had a soothing effect on her for some reason. 'No one would really understand if they saw me doing this, but it's the only thing that can relieve this excitement I'm feeling. I mean, Monika is coming to my home and she's taking me on a date, how could I not be excited? Then to get up close the way she did, I thought she was about to kiss me. It would be our first kiss together, and I guess that just got me so excited I couldn't stand it.' Yuri slid the blade across her arm again, audibly inhaling as it cut her skin.

Just as she finished this cut, a girl ran in, leaving Yuri standing there with her arms out, panic setting in. She didn't know what to say. This girl was wiping tears from her eyes. Yuri hid her arms behind her back. 'Maybe she didn't notice? Oh, who am I kidding, of course she saw.' Yuri was panicking, she'd never been caught like this before. "Uh…"

"Are you okay?" The girl asked Yuri, sniffling after asking.

"Um… yes? But, I think I should be the one asking you that question." The girl shook her head.

"That's no good. I, uh… I saw your arms."

"Oh, you did?" The girl nodded her head. "Well, no sense in hiding it, I guess." Yuri revealed her arms.

"Does it hurt?"

This question caught Yuri off guard. 'I was expecting her to mock me,' Yuri thought. "Uh, well, I suppose it does."

"If it's okay with you, why are you doing that then?"

"I'm, uh… it's complicated, I suppose. It… helps me a little when I'm too overly excited. It's, like a release of sorts. See, my friend was, uh, being a little too affectionate and I couldn't really handle it very well, so I ended up in here."

"What's your name? I'm Sayori."

"My name is Yuri."

"I have some bandages in my bag, if you need some, Yuri."

"Oh, th-thanks Sayori. I, uh… that would be helpful." Sayori pulled out a small first-aid kit and grabbed some bandages from it. She helped put the bandages on Yuri's arm. With everything bandaged up, Yuri pulled the sleeves back down. "Thanks, Sayori. If I'm being honest, I was actually kinda worried that you were going to mock me for doing this."

"Huh? Why would I do that?"

"Well, uh, most people tend to mock me for my habits, so I was kinda just expecting it."

"Oh. Well, I am concerned about you doing this, but I'm in no place to mock you for it. That just wouldn't be right."

"So, are you doing alright? You were crying when you came in here," Yuri said, concerned for the girl that was helping her.

"Oh, that? Don't worry, it was nothing."

"I don't think 'nothing' would make someone run into a restroom while sobbing. You helped me with my arms, the least I could do is listen to you."

"I wouldn't want to burden you with my problems, though. It would make me feel bad."

"Hey, it's no burden, really. I want to listen."

"Well… if you really want to listen. My friend is being bullied, and I couldn't even help her. And the things that they said to me were right. I am pathetic and worthless."

"No, you're not, Sayori," Yuri said softly. "No one is worthless."

"But I am. My friend was hurt because I couldn't do anything. All I could do was cry and stand there." Sayori began to sob. "There's no way she'd want to be friends with me now, after I couldn't do anything. Everything that those bullies said about me was right. I am a waste of space, and everything would be better without me around." Sayori's sobbing became uncontrollable, and she couldn't speak. She fell to her knees, her face buried in her hands. Yuri knelt in front of her, and pulled her into a hug. She wasn't the most social person, but Yuri felt she had to do something for this girl, and her instincts told her to hug Sayori. Sayori clung to Yuri and cried her heart out while Yuri whispered calming words to her. The two remained like that for a while. Eventually, Sayori stopped crying, and just remained in the hug.

"Never believe what bullies say about you, Sayori. They intentionally try to hurt you, so you can't listen to what they say. Okay?"

"Okay." The two stood up, and Sayori hugged Yuri again. "Thanks, Yuri, I really needed that."

Monika was walking the halls, looking for Yuri, to no avail. "Where did she go? She hasn't responded to my texts either." As she looked at her phone, she noticed a girl running in her peripheral vision. Monika looked up, and saw that she was crying. As this crying girl ran past her, she paused and turned towards her and saw her run up stairs. 'I wonder what that was about.' She continued walking and shortly after, saw another girl running.

"Sayori! Wait!" this girl shouted.

'Sayori must be that crying girl.' The other girl stopped in front of Monika.

"Um, hey, did you see a girl with a red bow run through here? She was crying, and I need to find her as soon as possible."

"Uh, yeah, she passed me a little bit ago, what's going on?"

"Some bullies said some awful things to her, and I'm worried about her."

"Oh, I'll you find her, if you need help."

"You will? Thanks! Her name is Sayori, I'm Natsuki."

"My name is Monika. I saw her run upstairs, so we should start there." 'Sorry, Yuri, I'll get you your backpack at some point.'