Hey folks! Thanks so so much for the truly inspiring response to the first chapter! Fun fact: we've had readers from 26 different countries at time of writing, which... wow, that's humbling. Every single one of the reviews I got truly made me want to jump up and down with joy, no joke. If you do enjoy the story, please keep those coming! :D

This chapter ended up being WAY LONGER than originally intended, but it was the best I could manage with the amount of ground I had to cover. I think it's worth it, though.

Also, a guest left a really solid piece of criticism that I thought a lot about a LOT while I was writing this. If that's you, just wanna say that I think your line of thought was great, and something I tried to address better in the below, and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

(I'm really not sure if this should still be K+. I'm not familiar with ratings on here. Shoot me a PM if you really think it should be higher. More than willing to change it.)

Thanks again y'all! Hope you enjoy!


"That's why I want to trust you... You know what's best for me."

She's... Sayori's walking back to her house. Your gaze follows her, every step of the way. You've just confessed your mutual love for each other in the heat of a terrifying moment, but even though you've said so much to her in the last few minutes, tried to console her and comfort her in the face of the darkness you've just uncovered for the first time today, you still want to yell for her to stop, to say something more. Nothing you've said has really helped, every attempt you made to penetrate this... this veil of sorrow surrounding her, to rip it off and bring back the old Sayori, full of joy and excitement... no, NO.

You KNOW that's not the right way to think about this anymore. This depressed Sayori IS the old Sayori. You have to accept that, but... you just can't.

It... None of it makes any sense, no matter how much she tried to explain it. You can recall every single word she's said today with crystal clarity, but putting it together, trying to make any sense of it... rrgh... You want to rush in after her, not leave her alone... but you've got nothing else to say.

You go through the rest of the motions of the afternoon, trying to piece everything you've learned together in your head as you prepare a quick dinner, polish up some homework, pick out a poem online to recite tomorrow for the festival, but nothing clicks.

You lay down in bed, but sleep doesn't come after one hour, or after two... and you're not even making any progress at figuring this out, no closer to something concrete, something you can really act on to help Sayori. You turn the lights back on. You aren't even tired; your memories won't let you be...

Okay, fine. Casual contemplation isn't working, so you need a new angle. You made Sayori a promise, that you'd do whatever you could to try to bring her peace, and you can't put that commitment aside for the sake of sleep. Right now, it's time for a merciless assault on this beast in her head, from every angle.

You need to do this logically... You jump out of bed and hunker down at your desk, pulling open your backpack, extracting every notebook and pen you have. Any other day when you were laying your materials out like this, you'd be about to write a poem. But not tonight.

Maybe, just maybe, if you get everything down in written form, all the new information from the last few days, everything she's told you... it'll all start to connect more tangibly. Maybe there is some sort of larger design to this depression, some logic. The first step to helping her is understanding.

So... back to the beginning. It started at the club on Friday. That was the first time she seemed upset, noticeably. You think only you talked to her... no, Monika did as well. Right. And she... she seemed upset that you were writing your poems with her in mind, not everybody else...

"Easier". That was the weird word that stuck out. Sayori said something would be "easier" if... if you were friends with everyone else, not just her. She said some other stuff regarding that earlier in her bedroom as well... but you're still not sure what exactly would BE "Easier". You give "Easier" its own dedicated page in your notes. You feel like it's crucial.

Friday was foggy, but today is far easier (heh) to remember. You went over to her house, and she was just in her room alone, not doing anything, which was odd enough. And... this is when the floodgates really came down. You compile a list of every way she insulted herself.

Waste of other's energy/caring
Worthless
Weak

It hurts to keep writing, but of course there's more.

Horrible person
Unimportant
Selfish
Deserves punishment

Seeing it all laid out like this, it really strikes you how amazing of an actor Sayori is. Day in, day out, all the time you've know her, the misery has been right under the surface. Seems impossible, but you get that it was because she didn't want anyone worrying...

But if that was the case, why was she ever around anyone in the first place? She made it very clear to you that it hurts her to know that others care about her. Why didn't she just push everyone away, instead of being so friendly?

Well, letting people into her life ties into her end goal, you guess. The whole "make everyone friends with everyone else" thing. So, she became friends with Monika, you, Yuri, Natsuki, to make everyone friends with each other? But...

But why?! It's a zero-sum game! There's no end goal! What would make her even start? You remember that when she was describing why she had trouble getting out of bed in the morning, Sayori said she also had no motivation to make friends, because she was so worthless.

What's the purpose of putting herself through the pain of being cared about, to make others care for people besides her?

This is too much. You rip a page in half in frustration before tossing both halves across the room, and you're suddenly reminded of what she said earlier, outside your house...

Seeing you being happy with the others in the club... made her feel like her heart was splitting in half.

*sigh* You're kind of getting it now. The conflict isn't just here on paper, it's inside her too. It's one of the many things she doesn't understand about this, and if she doesn't... can you? You feel like you're getting nowhere...

You've been taking a lot of notes, trying to get this all down to facilitate your thought, and it's starting to get frustrating flipping through the notebooks, going from page to page. You need to be able to see everything at once. You start ripping out pages of notes, scattering them across the desk... but there's only so much room on it's surface. You've got a little box of thumb-tacks, so you pin some pages on the wall in front of you as well. You need the big-picture here. You gaze across everything, just looking for somewhere new to start.

Your eyes land on the word "selfish"... Okay, what does Sayori see as selfish? Well... she said that while you were in her bedroom. That was what the world was punishing her for, being selfish...

She was being selfish with... you. Right. She wants everyone to be happy, and if you were spending all your club time with her... it got in the way of... you making the others happy? Maybe? Okay. That might seem basic, but at least... You...

God, why are you stuck on such a surface level? You've known her for your entire life and you can't get a deeper read on her than this?

Tea. A caffeine boost might help your focus, get the synapses firing a bit quicker. You head down to the kitchen quietly. You're no Yuri; this is just tea from a can in the fridge, but it'll work all the same. As you sip, you stare across the night at Sayori's house. Her lights are all out, so you guess that she was able to get to sleep, at least. She's so close, physically, but mentally she feels like a citizen of a distant land, far away from everything you've ever known or understood.

You head back to the desk, refreshed slightly. Where were you? Oh, yeah, your inability to get past the basic facts, to make any deeper realizations, despite your extensive experiences with her.

Well, now that you think about it, those experiences pretty worthless when trying to figure this out, because she's been lying to you about so much, her whole life... That sounded harsh, but it's true. She was pretending to be happy... so that everyone else would be happy too. That was the purpose of the lying, to deflect other's concern... Right?

That's what she told you, over and over again. This was about EVERYBODY but her. But then, like you'd thought earlier, nobody would be concerned if she hadn't reached out to them herself, purposefully. Except...

Wait... wait.. let's back up a step. She's known you longer than anybody else. You're her oldest friend. You grew up together. You can't remember a point when you didn't know Sayori, and she's probably the same way.

She...

She DIDN'T choose to be friends with you. It just always was that way.

So that's how it starts. The thorns in her heart. Is all this effort and illusion really for everyone's benefit? Or... or is it just for you?

Why did Sayori join the Literature club in the first place again? ...She didn't just join it, she STARTED it with Monika. That's quite the challenge, and she's not exactly the bookish type.

She wanted you to make friends so badly. That motivation... it couldn't have gone back that far, could it? If it did... did she start a club just so she could get you to socialize?

Oh, geez. You might be assuming a lot, but suddenly disparate pieces of information are all connecting, weaving and locking together in a larger design.

Maybe she does want everyone to be happy... but that wasn't the case at first.

It was just you, only you at the beginning. You were the only one that really cared about her beyond casual acquaintance for so long. She sees you're a loner, and she starts a club to get you more friends, using Monika as an "in".

But then... she starts to care about them too, Yuri and Natsuki. How could she not? You haven't known them THAT long, but even you can tell that they're really nice people, if a bit brusque or shy at first, and they've got their own problems to sort through as well. Maybe Sayori related to that, and suddenly she wanted to help them too...

But it starts with you, and all of the pain she described... it was all from you, your thoughts or relationships or lack thereof. This isn't really about everybody; it's about you, and it always has been.

You're on a roll. Everything's unraveling. For the first time tonight, you don't feel clueless. You're thiiiiis close, you think, to something big. The end goal...

"Easier".

You've had a few passing notions as to what this whole plan of her's makes "easier", but nothing concrete.

You lean backwards, pressing your palms into your eyes with a twist, concentrating, searching for that last crucial piece of the puzzle...

And all at once, it's like Sayori is standing right next to you, screaming into your ear something she said earlier, something you'd somehow discounted.

"This would be so much better if I could just disappear!"

Oh...

Oh god...

If you had someone else in your life beside her, someone you were as good of friends with, someone you were close to, someone she knew was good, someone she had personally vetted...

It'd make it easier for her to disappear... and easier for you to cope, once she was gone...

It might be the exhaustion, or the late-night caffeine, or anything else... but... could this be right? It seems too dark... but doesn't everything that she's said?

You'd believe anything at this point. Maybe you're right. You hope you aren't, that things aren't really that grim, but it's the most you've had to work with all night.

You feel like you've hit a stopping point. For the moment, there's nothing left to think. Maybe now, your mind will let you rest for a few hours before morning. What time is it anyway?

You check the clock. 8:02.

But... you went to bed at 9:30, same as every night. How did time reverse an hour and a half? You pull the blinds open, and true to their name, you're blinded with bright light flooding in from the outside world.

...

You... you worked ALL NIGHT?! Can that really be possible?

It's at this point that you look back at your desk with a fresh perspective and realize that there's pages upon pages of hastily scrawled notes scattered across the desk and floor and pinned against the wall, connected with lines in pencil and pen to point out possible links in content...

If anyone else had done this, especially about a girl they were in love with, you'd assume they were a serial killer. Seems that you got so caught up in thinking about Sayori, you didn't realize how much time was passing.

Okay, so no time to sleep. Ice-cold shower and two more teas should keep you going, at least until the festival, you hope.

You're dressed for school, but you're heading straight for Sayori's house. You can hear her voice again, clear as day, shouting from your memories.

"Most days, I can't even find a reason to get out of bed."

Well, you're gonna give her a reason, even if it means busting down her door. After what you've considered, you wouldn't dare leave for school without her in tow.

You knock on the front door, assuming you'll get no answer based on recent history. When that seems to be the case, you wonder if you'll have to literally bust down the door, but you think to try the knob first, and the door opens without incident. You bolt up the stairs, and knock twice on her closed bedroom door, hard.

When there's no response, you become more than a little concerned.

She... she couldn't have... not so soon...

You swallow, take a deep breath, steel yourself for the reality that you may be confronted with something horrible in a few moments, and slowly creak the door open, looking through squinted eyes. You see...

Sayori, still asleep, but she's stirring a bit, a sliver of light from her window cutting across her face and intruding past her eyelids. You try to hide your sigh of relief, in case she's more conscious than she seems. You don't want to shock her by having her wake up to a figure looming over her bed, so you lean down next to her, softly whispering "Hey... Good morning, Sayori..."

Her eyes part a bit, adjusting to the light, and landing on your face. She smiles a little, weakly, a little unsure, but not scared.

"Hey... what's going on? Why did you wake me up?"

"Well, I missed you..." She's... so beautiful, in the soft morning light, and you can't help but brush a few pink locks aside and plant a quick kiss on her forehead, eliciting a surprised gasp. You feel your cheeks reddening a little. Despite the amount of thought you've put into this, acting romantically toward her is still new. "Besides, did you think I was gonna let my favorite girl oversleep on the day of the festival? We have work to do out there. Can't let them down, right?"

"...no, I guess not." She sits up, rubbing her bright-blue eyes. She's in a grey baggy button-down shirt with a yellowish collar and long sleeves, and a pair of red shorts. You don't recognize the shirt, and it certainly doesn't seem like something you'd want to sleep in, but that's not exactly important at the moment. Besides, she'd be adorable in anything, and you know that.

You lock eyes for a few seconds, before her gaze sinks a bit, not sure how to react, whether to keep up the smiles like before, or dispense with the illusions, so she just mutters, "I'll get washed up and dressed, then, if you'd like to get going..."

"Sure thing. Sayori. Meet you downstairs, okay?"

She starts to gather the different pieces of her uniform as you step out and make your way back down to the lower level.

After a minute or two of waiting around, you decide to put your hands to better use in the kitchen. You're no great cook, but even you can manage her favorite, eggs sunny-side up with toast. You know where everything is in her kitchen, so you have it done in a few more minutes, all plated and ready right as you hear her coming down the stairs, clearly focused on following the scent as she glides toward you.

"Wow... Nobody's made me breakfast like this in a really, really long time!" She smiles brightly, and you hope, genuinely, as she digs in. You pick at your own, but you're too fascinated by the sight of her with a joyful look on her face to care much about eating.

Soon enough, you're walking to school together, the same way you have hundreds of times before. But, of course, things are different this time. You both fall silent for a few minutes, and you know you need to be the one that breaks the quiet between you.

"Listen, Sayori..." you start as she looks over at you, a little hesitantly, "I was doing some thinking about... well, EVERYTHING, last night," you say, in the understatement of the millennium, "and..." Your voice fails a little. You didn't exactly have time to write a speech, but you thought you'd be able to speak from the heart. It's scary... but it has to be done. You start again.

"I... A part of me is really, really terrified that nothing that I can do can really fix what's broken."

She gives you another weak smile, a trademark of her's over the last few days.

"I can't pretend to know the future perfectly... But I do know one thing."

You grab her gently by the shoulder and spin her to face you, but her eyes are glued to the ground now. You pull her face up to meet your own, cliche as it may be.

"Nobody else could ever, EVER make me as happy as you have... And, I got to thinking... this might sound weird, I don't know, but..." God, just say it already, you nervous wreck.

"If I ever lost you, I... I don't know what I'd do." She gasps, but you continue without faltering. "It'd kill me, Sayori. I can't even begin to imagine how unlivable my life would become without you to brighten it." You can see tears starting to well up, just a little bit in her eyes. "So please..." you pull her into a close embrace, "promise me you won't ever disappear. You're so, so special, and my world would be a very dark place without you in it."

You can feel the tears against your shoulder, not unlike yesterday at all, as she shudders at your touch. They aren't happy tears, not all of them at least, but you hope at least that, if your theory was right, you've just stopped something terrible in its tracks.

"I can't... I can't do it... It hurts... Just living hurts, now... How am I supposed to spend every day with half of my mind full of joy, and the other half screaming, ripping me apart?"

"Day by day, Sayori. The same way you always have." You want to say more, but... you've just had an idea, so you just let Sayori cry against you, a silent support.

Eventually, the two of you start walking again, each with an arm wrapped around the other as you continue onward. A few other students whisper and point and smirk at such an open display of affection, but Sayori has never been the type to feel shame in public, always running after you, yelling your name in the morning, regardless of who saw.

You enter the club room, and Monika turns to greet you with a smile, but freezes in her tracks, sharply inhaling at the sight of... you two? Who else was she expecting? Just as quick, she seems to be back to normal.

"Hey, you two! Glad to see you out here so early!"

You and Sayori seem to be the first besides her. Natsuki and Yuri are no-shows so far.

"...and so chummy, too! Say, would you mind if Sayori and I talked in private real quick? It's about... the poem she picked to perform today."

You can feel Sayori suddenly squeeze your hand tightly, as if there's something wrong. You look at her, but her face is actually relatively calm. What's she so worried about? You try to think of a reason to stay in the room regardless, but nothing comes.

"Actually, Monika, I was gonna tell you," Sayori starts, collected and confident, that acting skill of hers returning in full force, "I don't think I can recite today. I've been feeling sick ever since I left on Friday, and... I just wouldn't feel comfortable performing in front of others like this." She bows far forward, her hands pressed together above her head. "Please forgive me!"

This is so weird. You know Sayori isn't sick, that she just said that as an excuse to leave because of... well, YOU, the other day.

Monika's smile is unyielding, but she seems a little... angry? Could that be? She starts to speak, very deliberately and slower than usual. "Are you absolutely certain, Sayori? You'd really be letting me down."

"Hey, if Sayori's feeling sick, we shouldn't make her do anything she doesn't want to." You interject, playing along with Sayori. What the hell is going on here?

Monika's a little taken aback at you butting in, but puts back on her friendliest smile. "Of course! Just being certain. I hope you'll still feel well enough to watch the rest of us, Sayori!" She jumps back, scooping up the pamphlets she'd been laying out on the desks. "I'll need to get these all reprinted if we're down a speaker, take out Sayori's name and poem, but that shouldn't be an issue. I'll see you later!"

And just like that, she's gone.

You sit with each other in a few desks near the back for a moment, but before you get the courage to ask about Monika's odd behavior, Yuri shows up with a big box of beautiful handmade decorations and aromatic candles, and Natsuki follows not-too-far behind with her scrumptious-looking cupcakes.

You all start scrambling to get things looking nice for the recitation, but you take a few minutes on the sidelines while Sayori is helping hang Yuri's banner. You get a few lines of poetry that popped into your head on the way here scrambled down on one of the last sheets of notepaper you didn't use in your feverish mania last night. When Monika returns with the new pamphlets, you stop her before she can start laying them out.

"Hey, Monika. I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble... could I switch my poem? I wrote something I'd much rather recite."

She looks at you, cocking her head a bit to figure out if you're kidding, before letting out a rather deflated sigh. "I really have to go get another set of pamphlets printed, huh?"

She doesn't take it all that hard in the end, and heads back to the school's printing office for the third time today. There's plenty of time until the recitation, and everyone's mentally practiced and ready long before visitors start flowing in. You don't quite fill the clubroom with attendees, but it's more people than any of you expected, and the thought of reciting what you just wrote, not just to strangers, but also your close friends from the club, and even one or two acquaintances you recognize among the audience, makes you more than a little anxious.

Monika opens with a empowered, slightly intense reading, followed by a cute short tale selected by Natsuki, and a very experimental landscape description picked out by Yuri, leaving you to finish the event. You're nervous, of course, but you see Sayori sitting at the back, smiling encouragingly, and remember the real reason why you're up here. You begin to recite, calm and direct.

"I don't ever remember being alone
Because there was always her
Always someone to make me laugh
Always someone to sing
Always someone for me to disappoint
I was blind, and wrapped in a heavy raincoat
It was comfortable, but I didn't really know what was outside
When I took the coat off and uncovered my eyes
I realized we'd been in a storm all this time
And the rainclouds drenched her
And she shivered in the freezing cold
And the ocean rose from the deluge and nearly drowned her

But she never left my side
No matter how much I failed to see
But I do see the rain now
And feel the icy water's sting
And hope she can forgive me for being so blind
And wrap her in the raincoat
And build her a boat to float in
And hold her in my tight embrace to warm her from the cold
And tell her that all rainclouds give way to a rainbow
And tell her the oceans will be calm
And tell her roses will grow from the drenched earth as it dries
And promise her we'll always float together"

You take your bow as the final round of applause begins. It was a little sappy, and definitely not your best work, you'll be the first to admit, but it felt more real than whatever you'd found online the other night. The other three reciters join you for a final bow to close the recitation, and people begin to file out, several stopping with Monika to inquire about the club further as Yuri and Natsuki bombard you with questions.

"Did you really write that? Jeez, how saccharine can you get? Bit too much, even for me." Natsuki teases.

"Well, I thought it was very nice, but... who was it about?" Yuri asks, her gaze diverting a little as she asks shyly.

Sayori is standing just behind them, waiting her turn to talk to you, and you reach over their shoulders and pull her forward as she throws her hands over her face in mock distress. You give her a twirl and dramatically motion toward her like she was a renaissance debutante being introduced for the first time. "Ladies, meet the subject of today's composition."

There's a moment of silence, and you worry that you've somehow given away some compromising info on Sayori in your excitement, but your fears are cut short by a combined "WHAAAT?!" from your shocked club-mates as their attention turns rapidly to Sayori.

"You two are-"

"When did you-

"How lon-"

"Have y-"

Neither can get a full question in over the other before Sayori raises her hands in embarrassment, a blush beginning to form around her smile, whining a pathetic "Help meeeeee!"

"Now look at what you did, Natsuki. You've embarrassed Sayori!" Yuri chides.

"Sorry, did you just say I DID?! You were even louder than me!"

As they bicker, you try to sneak Sayori out. As you do, you're suddenly stopped by Monika grabbing your shoulder, rather forcefully. As you turn to look back at her, she seems a little... distracted. Like there was something stuck in the back of her head that was pulling her off of her usual course. You'd expected Monika to be a bit happier after such a successful round of recitations, with so many people interested afterward. She starts to speak after just looking at you for a second or so.

"That... your poem was very beautiful, I thought. Just wanted to say."

"Thanks so much Monika!" You try to respond cheerily, even though earlier events left you feeling more than a little weird about her recent behavior toward Sayori. "Your's was really great too! So powerful!"

"...thanks." You don't seem to have raised her spirits at all. "Where are you two off to now?"

"I was hoping to check out the outdoor booths with Sayori for a while. Hopefully we'll see you later on!"

You wave goodbyes as you head out, but as soon as you turn the corner and Monika is out of sight, Sayori suddenly sharply exhales like she's been holding her breath, and wraps you in a tight hug, which is a new turn of events; usually, it's been the other way around ever since you became a couple, you hugging her.

"That was so... I... You really do love me, don't you?"

What? "Of course, Sayori. Haven't I said as much?"

"...I couldn't believe you. I still don't know if I can. You're so nice... You'd never say anything to hurt me. How can I believe anyone?"

Still? Has anything you've said made an impact? "Why would I lie to you? You've been my best friend for my whole life."

She smiles, but you can see the hint of sorrow in her eyes. "That's exactly why you would lie. Don't you see? It's much easier to lie to the people we don't want to see get hurt, because it protects them from the bad feelings, from the pain... I was a chipper happy-go-lucky girl with a go-get-em attitude, remember? I kept all the sadness away from you. I only told you the truth... when I became weak..."

"Sayori, you are the strongest person I know. Carrying all this with you for so many years, never letting anyone see... One day, you'll realize that I'm here for you now, whether you like it or not. If you keep saying silly things like "I'm weak", how do you expect me to take you seriously?"

She laughs, despite everything, and you finally feel her embrace loosen as her arms fall away from you, your fingers lingering together for a few more seconds before you start heading for the outdoor booths again.

You buy a big bag of dark chocolate candies to share as you walk the school grounds, and though they're not your favorite, Sayori seems to love them (you make a mental "note to self" - definitely keep that in mind). You finally see that anime club you were considering joining a few days ago, but... well, let's just say you're glad you joined the literature club instead.

Before you can make too much progress exploring, there's a crash of lightning that tears across the sky in an instant, and many of the outdoor booth teams start to flee for the interior, followed by the festival-goers, as the rain begins to fall.

You're a little confused. There was absolutely no rain in the forecast today. They'd planned the whole festival around that fact, you heard. Still, can't deny what you feel falling on your skin, so, hand still clasped with Sayori's, you head for the doors.

But Sayori refuses to budge. You look back, and she's paralyzed, eyes somehow both totally empty and full of agony at the drops bounce off her skin, dampen her hair, soak into her uniform. Her demeanor has totally changed. The rain is steadily increasing, rapidly approaching a storm, as you start to speak a bit louder than usual due to the sound of rainfall becoming louder and louder.

"Sayori! Let's go!"

"I... I can't! We can't do this anymore! It's not right! The world doesn't want it... The world wants me to die, don't you see? The rainclouds, they... they'll never leave..."

"It's just rain!" you plead. "C'mon, we can talk about this inside!"

"NO! I... You need to let me go... You need to let me die already, right here, right now... It'll be better for you... better for everyone... just go!" She drops your hand, but you dive to grab her's again. She slaps your hand away, but you wrap her in your arms in a bear hug. She tries to throw you off, but you've got a death grip on her.

Eventually, her struggles subside, and you're both pushed to the wet, cold ground by the growing winds, surrounded by a rushing barrage of frigid water.

The gusts rush at you like a knife, almost as if nature itself wanted to separate you, but you just slide across the slick concrete as every inch of clothing and skin is saturated with icy rainwater. Why is everything so cold?! Sure, it's not exactly summer anymore, but it was warm out this morning. You feel like you're freezing to death, but you still try to give whatever warmth you have left to Sayori, squeezing as hard as possible.

Despite this, she starts screaming sobs into your shoulder, trying to form words but failing, as you hold on as tight as you can against the elemental fury around you. She's lost any self-control she'd maintained, and she's rapidly breaking down mentally.

Why? What went wrong? You thought it was going so well. You had made progress. You thought you understood. But still, nothing makes sense. The entire world is a maelstrom, cold and uncaring, trying to tear her away from you, but you know, deep down, that if this wind rips off your arms, you'll hang on with your legs, and if those come off next, you'll just have to kiss her strong enough to keep her from flying away. You pray to anything that will listen for help, but none comes.

Eventually, you can start piecing together her screams into something coherent.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please! I'm sorry! I'm trying! Please!"

You think she's apologizing to you, but as you look her in the face, you can see that her gaze is locked in total horror at something behind your back. You crane your neck around against the wind, and can make out the shape and face of Monika, despite the extremely low visibility in the fiercest storm you've ever seen. She's somehow standing alone in the fury, her typically friendly face twisted into a powerful glare that emits pure, cold hatred, teeth gritted in impatient rage.

You don't understand. What does Monika have to do with this? Why is she outside? How can she be so still and steady in all this chaos? Why is she looking at Sayori like that? Is...

Is she behind this storm?

Or... maybe even more than that?

"M-M-Monika! What's happening!?" You scream through your shivering, but she doesn't respond. You'll beg if you need to. You aren't proud. You yell Monika's name, over and over, stretching your voice across the storm's devastation. Finally, her glare turns from Sayori to you.

"Please! Stop this! Don't hurt her any more! I'm begging you! I can't lose her, Monika! Please! You aren't just killing her, you're killing both of us!" You continue on like this at the tears course from your eyes, disguised by the torrent as blood rushes to your face, your facial muscles stiff from the wind, barely able to form words. You aren't even sure if you believe what you're saying has any real connection to the events unfolding, but it's the best you've got.

You didn't have a hope that your pleas would help, but... something softens in her expression. She's glaring at you, but the malice is fading. You'd almost call it... dawning... something. As it progresses just a touch more, you realize it's guilt.

You keep begging against the wind, and when she tries to look away, you scream louder. "Look at us! Look, Monika!"

Whatever is happening, whatever you're doing is working. She looks at you one last time, trying to muster that intensity, that wrath she'd pointed at Sayori moments ago, but her shoulders slump as her line of sight fall to the wet ground below, and she looks... you'd describe it as wrecked.

She collapses to her knees, and suddenly, the rain stops, and the wind, and the sky is clear, and everything is silent, and you're dry, and your hands fly against your own body as you realize Sayori is gone too. It's just you and Monika.

You jump up, in a rage of your own. "Where's Sayori!? What the hell is going on?! Wh-"

"You really do love her, don't you?" Monika asks, coldly staring up at you from the ground.

Why is she asking that? You've got a million questions... but you feel like it's important to answer this question, right now, beyond any other priority.

"...more than life itself."

She sighs, and manages a weak, sad smile. The kind you've seen on Sayori's face several times over the last two days. "I want to feel angry... but I can't. Not after seeing how... real, your love for her is" She gets back to her feet, her facial expression full of a somber longing, along with the guilt.

"I'll undo what I can, but I'm not going to whitewash her every flaw. That'd be just as bad as what I've done already."

"...what are you TALKING about?"

"Don't hate me too much. I just wanted that realness. You can understand that, can't you?

"... I don't hate you Monika, but can you please te-"

"No, of course you can't. Goodbye."

"Wh-"

...

There's a few seconds of drizzle following that stray lightning bolt over your and Sayori's head, but just as soon as it started, the rain slows to a halt, and suddenly, the sky seems to be just as blue as it had been this morning. You see festival-goers and booth-runners alike sheepishly returning from their cover, and you can't help but laugh a bit at how quickly they'd run from a little rain.

You turn back to Sayori, but she's not looking at you. She's not really looking at anything in particular, actually. Just sort of staring off into space. She didn't get much of the rain after all, but you suddenly recall that rainclouds are a part of her complex emotional web, and even that quick bit of downpour might've been a bit too much for her. She's had a rough few days, after all.

"Sayori?" You grab her lightly by the shoulder and give her a quick shake. Suddenly, she jolts back to attention, like she's just woken up with a start, and her eyes lock with yours in shock.

"Are you okay?"

She takes a second, but as she detects you about to ask again, she manages to blurt out a "Yeah!... I'm... I'm okay..." She says, like even she's surprised at that fact. "S-Sorry about that."

She still seems bewildered, like she's trying to adjust to something strange, but as you look around, nothing's significantly different, as far as you can tell.

The two of you just continue onward after you make sure she doesn't need anything else right away, and eventually you catch Natsuki and Yuri perusing a stand together. You know you told Sayori the two of you'd spend the festival together, but as soon as she gets talking with them, you get the impression that you four are gonna be a group for the rest of the day. You don't mind a bit, and neither does Sayori.

After a couple hours of exploration, snacking, and fun, you think to ask Yuri and Natsuki if either of them had seen Monika. Apparently, once they'd finished tidying up after the last recital-watchers had filed out, she told them she wasn't feeling too well, and left for home not too long after. You're sad you didn't get to see her before she left, but you don't pay it too much mind.

Eventually, the sun starts going down, and the four of you say your goodbyes as you and Sayori depart for home. On the way back, Sayori has a peaceful smile on her face, eyes closed, her head against her shoulder, as she lets you lead her home by the hand. You're ecstatic, honestly. Everything has turned out so well, after how scary yesterday had been. You know that her depression isn't gone. Things like that don't vanish in a day, and in the long run, it's something you'll have to learn to cope with as well as she has. But somehow, you feel like she's getting closer to accepting that the way you feel is real, and valid, and only for her, against all odds.

Even then, something feels... wrong, in your head. Like there's something really important you've forgotten, or taken for granted.

Eventually, you come to your houses, and you decide to accompany her back to her room before you say good evening. As you ascend the steps, that feeling of unease and wrongness is getting stronger, not just in your head, but in your knees as well. You're struggling to walk up any further, but you stay strong for Sayori.

Once you're in her bedroom, whatever bit of resolve was keeping you upright totally shatters, and you feel your legs buckle out from underneath you. Your body slams against the floor, limp, and you hear Sayori yelp in shock as you cave to the ground.

Oh god...

You...

Mo...

More or less haven't eaten or slept in almost 36 hours. How could you forget that? You nibbled on some eggs and a few dark chocolates, but other than that, your body is completely out of energy on all fronts. You're completely wiped out, now that everything's done and sorted for the day, and you must've hit whatever arbitrary limit your system has, on the way up the stairs.

Sayori falls to her knees, shaking you until your eyes flutter back open. "What's going on? Are you okay? Answer me!"

You manage a chuckle to disarm her concern. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine." You struggle back to a sitting position. "I... ah... didn't sleep last night... like, at all... I wasn't even in bed for more than an hour or two."

Do you tell her why? You know she hates it when others are concerned about her, so you decide to leave that up to her imagination.

It feels like a Herculean task, but you start trying to get back to your feet, every inch of you exhausted from walking around the festival all day. It sucks, but you've still gotta make it home before you can collapse into unconsciousness.

Before you can make too much vertical progress, you feel her hand stop you, pushing you back against the ground gently. You're much too weak to resist in your current state, and expect your head to bounce off the hardwood.

But there's a pillow to cushion its fall, and another lands right next to it. You watch a blanket fly off of Sayori's bed and puff up like a parachute, sinking slowly through the air and completely covering your body, blinding you with fabric.

After a second of confusion, your tired mind struggling to catch up, you pull your face free, only to see Sayori laying beside you on the ground, similarly tucked in under the comforter.

"Sayori, wha-" you're cut off by a piece of dark chocolate being shoved between your lips with a giggle.

"You're not going anywhere, you big dummy." Sayori teases.

She snuggles up, pressed against you beneath the covers, and gives you a quick peck on the cheek before tucking her head next to you, her face as red as your's would be if you weren't so tired, and closes her eyes. Even though you're both in stiff uniforms, laying on the firm and unyielding floor, you can't imagine a single more wonderful place to rest, but that might just be your completely drained brain talking.

You wrap an arm around Sayori's back, feeling her chest rise and fall against you with each breath, her heartbeat, steady and calm, and you melt into each other, floating away to peaceful slumber.