Prior to today, MC had believed firmly in karma. He liked to hold doors open for others, or lend a hand to his folks with chores around the house, stuff like that. Small things that people appreciated. He'd even helped an old lady cross the street last week. Doing good felt good, and the thought that he'd eventually have good done unto him, however minor it may have been, was enough of a motivator to keep him on the path of kindness.

It was unfortunate, then, that life had rewarded him for being a staunch believer by leaving him bound to a chair, his fate in the hands of a psychotic runt with an attitude problem. Maybe karma was made-up bullshit after all.

"Don't fuckin' play dumb with me," the short girl's high-pitched voice carried within the barren room he had found himself trapped in. Her expression seemed simultaneously haughty and hostile. "The pendant. Hand it over, and maybe I'll let you walk out of here with your balls still attached."

Beyond the fact she was threatening his physical wellbeing, there were way too many questions swimming in his head to even think of responding to whatever nonsense she was asking him. "Who are you? I've never seen you before today, why are you kidnapping me? Do you even go to our school? Why are you—"

"Oh my god shut up!" The girl shouted, banging the empty bucket against the concrete floor. MC did indeed shut up. "Who the fuck said you get to ask me anything? I'm giving you a chance to walk away from this, and you think you're the one who gets to ask the questions here?"

"I don't even know who you are or what you're asking about!" MC yelled, fear setting into his voice. "You knock me out and kidnap me, asking about some... pendant that I've never heard of before, and I'm supposed to just go along with it? What the hell's your problem?"

"Yes, you're supposed to go along with it!" His kidnapper snarled. "You're lucky I haven't chopped your fucking head off and gone looking for it myself! I'm giving you an out here, dumbass! Take it or die!"

Why did he have to die? Why was any of this even happening? Today had started off so normally. What had he done to get himself kidnapped and possibly tortured by what might have been a fellow student?

"Whatever this is about, I'm sorry," MC pleaded, attempting to reason with her. "I-I don't know anything about a pendant, but if this is about the uniform, I swear to god I'll get you the money for—"

"This isn't about the fucking uniform, moron!" Natsuki slammed the bucket against the ground again. "God, why are you so fucking stupid? I don't care about you, or the uniform, or your stupid fucking wallet!" On cue, she launched a projectile that smacked him dead in the face. Once his nose wasn't stinging, MC noticed the rectangular leather that he had spent the latter portion of his day worrying about sitting harmlessly on the ground.

"How did you..." he muttered, but his assailant continued ranting.

"I'm after one thing! One! All you have to do is give me the stupid pendant, and we can forget this entire thing even happened." MC was suddenly lurched forward, his uniform's collar gripped tightly in the girl's hands. "So, what's it gonna be? Your pendant, or your life? 'Cause I'm leaving here with one."

Her face was right in front of him. Though he feared for his life and was only barely managing not to go into a full-blown panic attack, he noticed how soft her features were. Despite her yelling and her anger, her expression seemed more annoyed than anything else. Like his interrogation was a chore she had to do. Like his life was a tick she had to mark in a checklist.

It wasn't quite like his life flashing before his eyes, but he certainly felt a sudden reckoning of his existence up to this point. Was he really worth so little? Something to be used, and promptly discarded? Hell, if he died, would anyone outside of Sayori and his parents miss him all that much?

Something released in him, like a tension was broken. In its place, a sudden fire emerged, stoked by the fear of death. Who the hell was this girl to waltz into his life and call it over? Threatening him over what? Some stupid piece of jewelry that he didn't even have? Yeah, maybe his life was boring, but it was still his, wasn't it?

He got to choose how to live. He chose when it was over. Not this five-foot-nothing child who suddenly thought he was a means to an end.

All that abrupt anger culminated in something he would have never dreamed of doing were he not in a life-or-death scenario. With her so close to him, her expression little more than bothered and inconvenienced, he angled his head up, reached deep within himself...

... and spat right in her eye.

He was dropped soundlessly, the awkward angle leaving him laying on his side, still bound to his chair. Shifting his head as best he could, he managed to witness the shocked expression on the girl's face, though she had already wiped the spit off and was looking at what remained on her hand.

Despite himself, there was a small surge of pride that welled within him. Yeah, he had probably doomed himself, but he had gone down fighting. For as ordinary a life as his was, when presented with death, he had managed to stand tall and laugh in its face at the end. Or in his specific case, spit in her face.

That pride was briefly forgotten as he was forced up again, this time much more violently. Gone was his assailant's annoyed expression, instead replaced by something much more primal and furious. Her voice was nearly deafening as she shrieked right in his face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

He didn't get a chance to respond before he got socked in the face. For as tiny and soft as the rest of her looked, her knuckles were rugged and coarse. MC could taste blood in his mouth as he crashed against the floor, cheek stinging.

Natsuki wasn't done, however. Stomping next to him, she slammed her foot into his torso. She continued to savagely kick him, shouting angrily as she did so.

"Who—the fuck—do you think—you are?!" She barked with each kick, foot driving itself deeper into his midsection with each go. MC's stomach and ribs felt like they were on fire. If they weren't bruised or broken, they very well would be soon.

One last kick prompted a pained wheeze from him, before she mercifully stopped. MC's vision was swimming, his consciousness flickering in and out. All he could register was the sharp aching in his torso that came with every breath, and the sound of Natsuki panting from exertion.

After a moment, he was set upright once more, though her grip on him was just as forceful. "Well?" She asked, fury only slightly abated. "Was it worth it? Feel like a big shot now?"

It was a struggle to speak, with all the pain. He could still distinctly taste the blood in his cheek, and he thought he felt some more blood dribbling from his lip. Maybe he'd busted it after hitting the floor so many times.

Still, that didn't matter. For as much as it hurt, his sudden outburst of daring dictated he wouldn't cower. Not after already receiving punishment for defying her. After taking a moment to collect himself, he managed the two words he'd wanted to say to Natsuki since the moment they'd met. "Fuck... you."

Her eyes narrowed again, but he wasn't finished. "Who—hrk—do I think I am? Who do you think you are? Do you see what you're doing to me?" A brief flare of pain in his midsection cut him off, but he quickly recovered. "Extorting me, kidnapping me, beating me up... who does that to someone they just met, huh?"

"You have something I want," Natsuki growled.

"And for the last time, I don't have it!" MC shouted back, ignoring the stinging in his stomach it caused. "God, you're not even listening to me!"

"Yesterday, seven o'clock, South Metropolitan," the girl spelled out. "You were there. Don't even try lying to me."

When he'd gone shopping for gifts for his parents. Why was she bringing that up now? "I mean, yeah, I was—wait, how do you know about that?"

"Then you're literally admitting it!" Natsuki snapped, ignoring him. "You were at Pubes! You robbed the place! You have the pendant!"

Pubes? Robbery? "What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't at Pubes, and I didn't rob anyone!"

"Then what were you doing in Metropolitan?"

"I was in the Entertainment District, getting gifts for my parents!"

"Bullshit!" Natsuki yelled. "A criminal who casually goes out to buy presents for mommy and daddy on a weekday? Yeah fucking right!"

"Why am I a criminal?" MC retorted. "You're literally making shit up! What is wrong with you?"

"That's it!" His kidnapper declared with finality. "If you're not gonna tell me where it is, I'm gonna raid your house." Her eyes glinted dangerously. "After I kill you for wasting my fucking time."

Before he could interject, Natsuki had set him down and quickly shifted to behind him and the chair. An arm entered his field of vision, before it clamped down on his throat. With his breathing cut off, MC flailed wildly in attempt to get it back.

"Normally, I'd snap your neck and be done with it," Natsuki spoke, hardly bothered by his thrashing. "But after spitting in my fucking face, you deserve something slow and painful, bitch."

How was she so strong? She was close to an entire foot shorter than him, and yet he wasn't even close to breaking away from her grip. He could feel taut muscles against his neck, but her arms were otherwise smaller and shorter than his. Where did all this strength come from?

Despite his struggling, he was fading fast. His injuries from minutes ago were only worsening the problem, as his shaking about only further messed with his ribs. Vision blurring, he could feel his windpipe throbbing, begging for air.

He couldn't die. Not like this. Not with everything left he still wanted to do. At least not before giving a final farewell to his parents.

And Sayori, too. God, what would she do if she found out he'd died? She'd be devastated. She didn't deserve that.

Still, reality was setting in. If he was going to die, then he'd spend his final moments apologizing to his best friend. 'Sayori... I'm sorry... please take care of yourself...'

MC had stopped struggling and accepted the end, when the arm was suddenly removed from his neck. Sweet, sweet air returned to his body, and he gasped in relief as he took in as much oxygen as he could.

"Fucking great," he faintly heard Natsuki groan. "What the hell do you want? If you're coming to claim, I've already got dibs."

A response came from the last person on earth he expected one from. "No. I'm here for my friend."

Whipping his head around, he saw his childhood friend standing at an open doorway behind him. Sayori was still in her school uniform, and she was sweating slightly. She had something clutched in her left hand—was that a lock pick?—and something else hidden in her right. Natsuki had stopped choking him to face her, it seemed.

MC had seen Sayori mildly upset before, but the current look on her face was one he'd never seen. It wasn't outright anger or anything similar; rather, it was simply blank. Neutral and expressionless. For a girl as spirited and animated as Sayori, the thin line her mouth was stretched in looked entirely foreign.

"Figured you'd come," Natsuki drawled, seemingly unsurprised by her interruption. "Once I found out the bounty was your childhood friend, I knew you'd try and get to him first. Yuri actually thought you'd exercise professional restraint, believe it or not."

"Let him go, Natsuki."

"You don't seriously think I will, right?" Natsuki deadpanned. "Sure, I'll hand over the easiest twenty-five million I'll ever make just because the guy's your boyfriend or whatever."

"That's not the point," Sayori growled.

"Then what is the point of this? You knew how this was going to be the second his name was put out over the bounty boards." MC could feel Natsuki gesturing to him. "If you're not here to either save him, or claim the bounty for yourself, then what are you here for?"

Sayori didn't respond for a moment. MC took the time to digest what Natsuki had said. Something about a bounty? Was that what this was about? But then what did he have to do with it?

"Taggers could have been wrong, you know," Sayori spoke eventually.

Natsuki scoffed. "Those basement-dwelling rejects over at Tagging are a lot of things, but I can count on one hand the amount of times they've been wrong about a bounty. And they've never fumbled a score as big as this."

The shock of seeing her finally wearing off, MC called to his friend. "S-Sayori... what's going on? What's happening?"

Sayori finally smiled, turning an apologetic gaze in his direction. "Hi, MC. I'm really sorry about all this—you must be really, really confused. We'll be outta here in a sec, okay? I'll explain everything then."

"Like hell you will." MC felt himself go rigid as something sharp pressed against his throat. Natsuki continued as she held him at knifepoint. "I was just about to kill him anyway. Take another step and you can kiss your boytoy goodbye. That bounty is mine, one way or another."

Sayori's gaze was sharp once more. "You wouldn't."

"Try me, bitch."

They stood at a standstill, a conflicted look crossing Sayori's face. It was clear she wanted to do something, but with the lethal weapon pressed against his neck, any sudden movement would do him in. It was frustrating to know that he was so helpless, and that he had no one to blame but himself.

Still, he couldn't just sit and watch Sayori have to acquiesce to this psychopath. More than that, he couldn't sit and let said psychopath kill him. His best friend had risked her life to save him, and he wouldn't let that go to waste.

Natsuki's eyes were trained solely on Sayori, and though he was barely an arm's length away from his captor, that meant her attention was currently directed elsewhere. An idea came to him, born of desperation. It was risky, and very likely to get him killed, but if he was just quiet and subtle enough...

Slowly, MC shifted the lower part of his mass to his left, careful to keep his neck still as to not either accidentally cut it against the blade pressed to his throat or give away that he was moving to Natsuki. Once he went as far as he could go, he quickly forced his mass to the right. As he felt his chair tipping over once more, he felt the blade nick his neck—and by sheer luck, the wound wasn't deep enough to make blood gush from his throat.

He crashed into Natsuki, who yelped in surprise as she toppled down alongside him. "What the—!"

"Sayori!" MC shouted as a wild slash of Natsuki's knife just barely missed his face. Barely a few seconds later and Sayori had closed the distance between them, forcing MC off of Natsuki and slamming a crowbar into his captor's head. A few quick hits, and Natsuki went limp.

MC didn't even have time to process how Sayori had just bludgeoned someone before Sayori quickly grabbed his face. "Oh my god, MC! Are you okay? Did she hurt you? Is anything broken?"

He was very far from okay, quite honestly. "She busted up my ribs, but I'll live." He shot a wary glance at Natsuki. "Is she...?"

"She's not dead," Sayori answered, releasing MC from his binds. Relishing the feeling returning to his hands and feet, he saw Sayori use the same rope he had been tied with to bind Natsuki's limbs. "But I know she won't be out for long. This will buy us some time, at least."

"I can't believe you're here," MC breathed, incredulous. The torrent of questions he wanted to ask flooded out of him. "How did you get here? How did you know where to find me? What's even—"

"MC," Sayori quickly silenced him with a finger to his lips. "I know there's a ton you wanna ask, but that's gonna have to wait until we're back home."

"Home?" MC asked.

Despite their situation, Sayori's expression turned sheepish. "Um... how would you feel about an impromptu sleepover?"

MC had gone over to Sayori's house plenty of times. Most weekdays, in fact, he let himself in to wake her up. The circumstances surrounding today's visit, however, were substantially different.

Immediately after entering, Sayori rushed around closing blinds, locking doors, and arming security systems MC didn't even know she owned. After a minute or so, she huffed with her hands on her hips. "Okay. We should be good now."

"Good from what?"

"Good from anyone trying to break in." That didn't settle MC's nerves at all. Sayori went upstairs, presumably to her room, MC following not far behind.

After closing the door behind her, Sayori dashed to her bathroom, coming back with a first-aid kit. "Sit by the desk. I'm gonna get you cleaned up."

MC obeyed, not without a surprised look. "Since when did you know first-aid?"

"Since forever." Sayori pouted at MC's disbelieving expression. "I don't think you're in much of a position to complain, mister. It's either me or nothing."

Fair point. "Please be gentle with me." Sayori smiled softly and got to work.

He had been half-kidding about not believing that Sayori knew first aid, but the purpose and confidence she moved with while working on him quickly put any doubt of his to rest. She was gentle, yet precise. It was like she was an entirely different person.

"You said she got your ribs too, right?" Sayori spoke, snapping MC out of his trance. "Did she break them?"

He honestly didn't know. "Maybe? She kicked me pretty good."

Sayori nodded, frowning. "Better safe than sorry. I'm gonna get some ice and painkillers. Be right back."

Another weird thing she owned. "What do you have painkillers for?"

"My periods!" Sayori called from down the stairs, and MC was thankful she couldn't see the embarrassed flush on his face. 'Duh,' MC chastised himself. No matter who or what Sayori moonlit as, she was still a girl. There wasn't anything nefarious about owning pain relievers for that kind of reason.

Now with a moment to himself, MC finally allowed himself to take in everything from the past hour or so. There was a massive misunderstanding about him, and it apparently stemmed from what he did in the city. Recalling Natsuki's words, there was some kind of pendant she was after. One that he didn't own.

MC didn't even know how to start clearing his name. More than the pendant, it seemed there was a price on his life too, going by how nonchalant his assailant had been in attempting to kill him. He shivered at the remembrance of what had happened—he'd almost died.

And Sayori had saved him. No matter what her story was, the first thing he needed to do was thank her before asking any questions. If nothing else, he owed her that much.

On cue, Sayori reentered the room with some water, an ice pack, and pills. "This should do for now. We'll have to get your ribs looked at by a professional later, so just keep the ice on your..."

Her look shifted into one of concern. "MC? What's wrong?"

Was he that obvious? "I... it's nothing."

He didn't think she'd believe that for even a second, and true to that, Sayori immediately put everything she was holding down and firmly placed her hands on his shoulders. "MC. Don't lie to me."

He attempted to laugh it off. "Since when did you get so assertive?"

"MC."

One look at her gaze was enough to get him to abandon the act. "I'm sorry," he sighed, slumping. "It's just... so much happened."

"I know."

"And I almost... died."

She didn't respond this time. MC felt himself rambling, voice hitching. "A-and, she was gonna slice my neck open, and I was gonna... I-I..." His eyes were watering, and he didn't trust himself to say anything else, so he settled for saying the one thing he absolutely had to. "S-Sayori... thank you."

Sayori's smile reassured him like nothing else. "You're welcome." She pulled him into a hug, and MC was content to release everything he'd been feeling since waking up in that chair.

"It's okay," Sayori whispered in his ear as his shuddering subsided. "You're okay. I'm here with you now. You're my best friend in the whole world, and I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you."

The conviction and certainty she spoke with gave him no choice but to believe her. And after she'd already saved his life once, how could he believe otherwise?

It took a while, but MC finally managed to get everything out of his system. Reluctantly pulling away from his best friend, he was met with a soft smile. "Feeling better?"

He nodded, blinking away the last of his tears. "Y-yeah," he nodded, clearing his throat. "That helped. Thanks."

"Don't mention it!" Sayori beamed, looking more like how she usually did. "You've helped me out so many times, it's kinda nice to be able to pay it back!"

MC laughed, and the two fell into a brief comfortable silence. Sayori wordlessly offered him the painkillers, which he took with a gulp of water, and moved to recline on the chair by her desk. Placing the ice on his chest, he attempted to relax as best he could.

With him settled in relatively comfortably, Sayori plopped herself adjacent to him on her bed. Her legs were crossed, and she seemed antsy. "So..."

MC nodded slowly. "So...?"

"How was school?"

"Sayori."

"What?" She blushed. "I didn't think I'd be having this conversation today! I'm nervous!"

Well, if nothing else, she seemed somewhat prepared for the questions he was about to ask. He figured he'd start with the biggest one. "So, can I ask about why I was almost mugged and killed today?"

Sayori took a breath, calming yourself. "Okay. In order to answer that, I need to ask you a question first." Her look was stern. "No matter how crazy it sounds, I need you to answer honestly, okay?"

MC nodded. "Okay."

"MC," Sayori started. "When you went to Metropolitan yesterday, what were you doing?"

"I was buying gifts for my parents," MC answered. "They've been away for work for a while, and I wanted to get them something for when they got back."

"What did you buy?"

"Tennis shoes for my dad, and a hairdryer for my mom."

"Did you keep the receipts for both?"

"I did."

Sayori nodded. "And you weren't, at any point, in the Business and Commerce District, at the Parnell-Underwood Banking and Exchange Services Building?"

MC shook his head. "I was never there."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Sayori gave him a long, hard stare, but MC kept his cool. He'd told her the exact truth. He had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.

After what felt like hours, Sayori finally relented, an easy smile returning. "Okay, I believe you."

While MC was thankful for her trust, he was a little surprised she was already done questioning him. "I'm glad you're done, but was that really all you needed?"

"MC, I've known you forever, so I definitely know when you're telling the truth." Sayori crossed her arms, confident. "Plus, you're like, a really bad liar."

He didn't think that one weakness of his would be so helpful. With that cleared up, however... "So, my turn?"

Sayori started fiddling with her fingers—a nervous tic, he knew—but she otherwise seemed ready. "Okay... ask away."

He certainly would. "First things first... what are you?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Your bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

That would have been endearing if their situation weren't so dire. "And when you're not my bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

He'd never seen Sayori this embarrassed before. "O-okay, so... remember when I told you that everyone has their secrets?"

MC nodded along. That had only been this morning, but it felt like days ago. "Yes...?"

"Even me?" She continued.

"You did say that," MC confirmed.

"So... surprise! I'm a part-time bounty hunter!" Sayori forced as much false cheer into her voice as she could, with jazz hands to boot. "Yaaay!"

MC took a moment to process her words. Sayori. A bounty hunter. "... a bounty hunter."

"That's what I said," Sayori answered, smile faltering.

"I just..." MC rubbed his face, attempting to alleviate the coming migraine. "Why? How?"

Sayori's gaze fell to her lap. "So... you remember how I wanted to go to college for environmental science, right?"

He could recall. She'd told him about that dream years ago, around the end of middle school. It'd been so long since she'd talked about it, he'd almost forgotten about it. "I remember."

"And you also know how college is, like, suuuper expensive?"

MC was certainly aware. "Mhm."

"Well, I wanted to make money quick to afford tuition at Metro U, but a regular ol' job wasn't gonna cut it." She pressed the tips of her pointer fingers together. "So, I started bounty hunting. My first few gigs were small, but they paid pretty well, and hey, I was actually pretty good! Fast forward two years and..." she gestured to herself. "I'm a bit of a professional, I guess."

"How do you start bounty hunting?" MC asked, barely registering how insane the words sounded coming out of his mouth. "What, is there a bounty hunting job fair somewhere? An orientation you have to attend?"

"Pssh, no," Sayori shook her head, as if it were obvious. "It's kind of... invite only. An..." she paused briefly. "Acquaintance of mine actually suggested it, and got me hooked up with the local union. She got me a few easy jobs to get my feet wet, and well, the rest is history!"

"There's a union?" MC repeated, incredulous.

"Every worker has a right to fair wage," Sayori replied knowingly.

Labor laws aside, MC had to know more. "So, what do you do? You say the jobs were easy, but what even is a bounty hunter job?" His breath hitched. "Do you... do you assassinate people?"

Sayori was taken back. "No way!" She denied vehemently. "For your information, I've never even thought about killing someone else for money! My job might be a bit on the illegal side, but that's a line I'm definitely never gonna cross!"

For as much of a relief as that was to hear, that didn't answer his question. "Then what do you do?"

"Espionage, surveillance, and information gathering," she recited. MC eyes widened. Sayori? His loud, noisy, endlessly positive friend, working in espionage?

"So you're a spy," MC clarified.

"Basically, yeah."

"And if you're accepting jobs from clients, you're also a mercenary?"

"Ew, no," Sayori blanched. "Mercenaries are the ones who kill people. We're not like that." She paused briefly. "Well, I'm not like that."

Seeing MC was still confused, Sayori elaborated. "Okay, so even though I say I'm a bounty hunter, people in the union technically fall into the definition of a mercenary. But we're not mercenaries!" She quickly clarified. "You can tailor any potential requests for work to certain jobs or clients. That's in addition to any bounties that are put up by Tagging, which are free for anyone to try and collect if they want."

MC's head was aching from all the sudden information. That, or the mild concussion he might have gotten from earlier. "This is all so complicated."

"Maybe I should give you an example," Sayori suggested. "Okay, so for instance, a few months ago I was called by the union about a potential job. A pretty major political figure—whose name I am legally not allowed to disclose—wanted some information on a private meeting his opponent was having with high-ranking members of his party. It's almost election season, so jobs like this are pretty frequent. They asked the union for potential candidates for the job, and after looking through my... resumé, I guess, they wanted to hire me for the job."

"And I'm guessing you took it?" MC guessed.

"You betcha. A few bugs here, a couple wiretaps there, and I got everything I needed. I sent the recordings to the client, and that was it. That same week, a bounty went up for a child abduction. There was a reward offered for rescuing the kid and bringing in the kidnapper alive. I happened to be really close by, so I was lucky enough to find them first."

That was actually pretty heroic of her. "Okay, that's... I can get behind that." A bit more comfortable now, he pressed on. "So how much were you paid?"

"For both combined? About fifty thousand dollars."

MC almost fell over in his chair. "What?! Fifty thousand?!"

Sayori tittered bashfully. "Oh, and uh, not that it matters, but it's also tax-exempt..."

Sayori did taxes? "That's insane!" A thought popped into his head and out of his mouth. "Wait, assuming you make that much money for a few jobs and bounties, you could easily afford college. Why not stop?" While the pay sounded incredible, the risk such jobs carried with them were equally massive. Spying on a private meeting between high-ranking political officials? That had to be a felony, right?

His friend didn't have an immediate response this time. "I... I know I should," she started hesitantly. "And yeah, I'd be lying if I said the money wasn't a big reason why I keep doing this, but I can do good with this job!" Her fist clenched. "When I rescued that kid... that was the most fulfilled I've ever felt, MC. I saved someone's life."

"But what if you get caught?" MC shot back. "You could go to jail, or... or worse."

"I know, but I'm gonna take that risk if I help people."

"You can help people as an ecologist, or a climatologist, or a horticulturist! Isn't that your main passion to begin with? The thing you're working so hard for?"

Sayori shook her head. "It is, but this is different."

"I know it's different!" MC pleaded. "It's dangerous! You could die, Sayori!"

"You wouldn't understand, MC."

"Yeah, I don't understand! That's why I'm asking you about all of this!" Some of the earlier hysteria returned to his voice. "Bounties and espionage and mercenaries and everything else you've told me, I thought that stuff was only in movies! And now I'm learning my best friend since diapers is some kind of master spy or whatever, and I had no idea because you never thought to tell me!"

The sad look on Sayori's face snapped him back to reality. Getting upset with her wasn't what he wanted to do, and she didn't deserve as much. "I'm sorry... it's just—"

"A lot to take in at once?" Sayori offered.

MC nodded. "Yeah, that." He hadn't even gotten to the part where he was supposed to fit into all this. A lot might have been an understatement.

He didn't even notice Sayori had scooted beside him in the chair he was sitting in until half his butt slid off the seat. Not that he minded terribly, as he was occupied by Sayori staring right into his eyes from inches away. "MC... I know it's tough to hear all of this, and I don't blame you for being scared and upset. But if you take away anything from this whole conversation, I want you to know that I do understand the risks that come with this." Her eyes glimmered with conviction. "But still, I wanna keep going for a little while. I promise I'll stop once I go to college, but for now... I wanna keep making a difference."

His best friend, making a difference. Sweet, innocent Sayori, slinking through the night as an intelligence specialist. He still had trouble imagining it, but with everything else that had happened today, Sayori's reveal didn't seem so unbelievable.

And there was no faking the determination in her gaze. MC always thought Sayori had gotten a bit of a bad rap among their peers. Everyone always thought she was the ditzy, easygoing type, when that couldn't have been further from the truth. Sayori was driven entirely by emotion, taking in the highs and lows of her life more intensely than most. Her bouts of excitement, cheerfulness and happiness were all extreme—as were the feelings on the opposite end of that spectrum.

"I just want you to be safe." He settled for expressing the truth of what he was feeling. He was grateful that Sayori had shared all this with him, but this new side of her scared him.

She smiled, and MC didn't know if the sudden red on her cheeks was natural or a trick of the light. "I know. I've always appreciated you looking out for me, MC. But..." she trailed off purposefully. "Maybe you should let me look out for you every now and again, yaknow?"

MC managed to muster a soft roll of the eyes. "First time for everything, I guess."

"Hey!" She attempted to sound upset, but the small laugh that followed didn't do much for her threatening act. MC controlled his chuckling in short bursts, seeing as every snicker prompted a flare in his ribs.

MC was content to let that train of conversation end and get back to his questioning, but in a surprisingly un-Sayori-like gesture, he found his hand had been clasped firmly in hers. "MC... I..." she chewed her lip. Was she nervous? "... are we still friends?"

That was hardly a question. "Even if you're apparently running errands for the shadow government, you're still the same dork I grew up with. Nothing will ever change the fact we're friends."

That didn't seem to bring her any comfort, as her grip tightened marginally. "... nothing ever?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, eyebrows knit. Was that not why she'd asked that question? "Is something up?"

He could feel her hand growing warmer. "I-I, well, you know—"

"No, I don't know," he cut off. "Are you okay?"

Sayori's other hand fanned her face. "O-oh gosh. I'm sorry, it's just... I mean, I know that this is a really bad time and all, but..." her eyes were warring against either looking at the floor or right at him. "There's still something I should kinda, maybe, probably tell you..."

There was more? How many professions did this girl have? "You're not gonna tell me you do underground wrestling on weekends, right?"

'N-no!" Sayori quickly denied. "It's n-nothing like that, it's more... it's more about..." she swallowed. "... us."

That sounded infinitely more concerning than underground wrestling. "Us?"

"MC..." Sayori started. "We've known each other for a long, long time. And you know, I like being with you more than anyone else."

That was good, right? "Uh, yeah. Of course. I'm, uh, glad you're always comfortable with me."

Sayori nodded. "It's... it's more than that. You know, for a long time, the only one I had was you. You stuck by me, a-and you were always there to help me through everything. Gosh, even when we were kids, I..." whatever she was going to say, she suddenly changed her mind. "What I mean is, you're very, very important to me. And I... I couldn't imagine living life without you."

Was that all she had to say? He thought that'd been a foregone conclusion for the both of them. "Sayori, c'mon. You know I feel the same way."

"No, MC, I don't think you do." Sayori attempted to steel herself. "What I-I'm saying is, I can't imagine living life without you, next to me." She squeezed his hand for emphasis. "For... you know, the rest of our lives and stuff..."

The rest of their lives? What did she mean by—oh. The realization hit as he repeated her words in his head. Oh.

He was suddenly very much aware that his face was likely a similar shade of red as hers. "S-Sayori... when you say that, you mean—"

"Please don't make me say it again," Sayori softly begged. "I-I'm barely keeping it together over here..."

MC felt more lost now than he did during Sayori's entire explanation of her secret job. She hadn't been kidding—this was an awful time to drop this on him. What was he even supposed to say?

"Can I ask why now?" He settled for saying. Thankfully, Sayori indulged him. "When I first found you, and saw what Natsuki had done to you, I thought... I wasn't sure you were alive. Those few seconds where I didn't know... MC, I don't think you'll believe me when I say those were the scariest few seconds of my entire life."

Knowing what he knew about Sayori, those words carried a lot of weight. And sadly, he could say he understood where she was coming from. Their roles had been reversed, once upon a time.

"I-I know it's selfish, and dumb, and really bad timing, but I couldn't live with the regret of not telling you. And with this whole pendant mixup happening with you... I don't know what'll happen." She stood up from her spot on the bed, edging closer to him. "I'll do everything I can to keep you safe, but... I wanted you to know."

That... made sense. Things were a lot different now than they were even a day ago. While he would have been floored by her confession on the best of days, the circumstances surrounding him now probably scared her as much as they did him. It was sudden and surprising, sure, but he wouldn't blame her for it.

Still... circumstances aside, this was really awkward. "Uh... can I ask how long?"

Sayori shifted uncomfortably. "I said since we were kids, didn't I?"

MC's eyes widened. "T-that long?"

Sayori nodded. MC felt a wave of guilt wash over him. "Wow, I, uh... I'm sorry you had to wait so long." His lips pursed. "I'm really bad at this, if you haven't noticed."

"N-no worries! I am too," Sayori added helpfully. "Though... I thought I was kinda obvious. Part of me thought you might have already known."

He definitely hadn't. "Sorry for being stupid."

"It's okay. I... I still like you anyway."

He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to that. Regardless of how he felt though, he owed her at least some kind of response. "Sayori... I—"

A flicker in the lights cut him off, before a crash sounded from downstairs. The two's attention went toward the door. It sounded like it had come from the first floor. Like a switch was flipped, Sayori's expression hardened. "Shoot... she's here."

MC's heart fell. "You mean Natsuki?"

"Yeah."

"B-but how do you know?"

"Only a professional could get past the locks and security systems I set up." Sayori frowned. "I didn't think Natsuki could do that, though. To only turn off the security and nothing else, she'd need specialized EMP tech. That's not her speciality."

That was worrying. "How'd she figure out where you live?"

"We all said we wouldn't track each other's homes, but I guess Natsuki went and did it anyway." Sayori reached beneath her bed, pulling out a small knife. "Hopefully, she didn't think to bring the others. Though it would explain how she got past the locks."

MC felt his breath quicken. "... others?"

Sayori didn't bother elaborating, handing him the knife. "Go to my closet and hide. If... if something happens to me, run away from here and hide somewhere. I'll try and find you." She grabbed his shoulders. "Whatever you do, do not try and hide in the city. She's got too many eyes there."

"Natsuki?"

"Worse." Sayori shooed him into her closet. "I'll be back, don't worry. Sit tight, and try to be as quiet as you can."

She tried to leave, but MC clasped her forearm. "How will I know you'll be safe?"

Sayori allowed a tiny smile. "Well, this is my house. Just 'cause she beat the security doesn't mean I'm out of tricks." Despite the situation, she flushed red a bit. "Plus, I still kinda need to hear your answer to my... you know. So I can't die yet!"

He didn't want to leave her by herself down there, but he knew he didn't have a choice. Natsuki would find them at this rate. Sayori was easily their best chance of getting out of this alive. And, from what he'd already seen, she could take Natsuki out if given the chance.

It took considerable effort, but he did eventually let her go. "Don't die," he said softly. "I'll be waiting. Good luck."

Sayori nodded. "Thanks, MC." Turning, Sayori retrieved a few lethal-looking items from her room, before opening the door and dashing downstairs.

Left by himself, MC took a shuddering breath before turning toward her closet. Normal circumstances would have seen him hesitant to hide himself among a girl's personal effects, but with his life at stake, he instead closed the door behind him, and buried himself beneath as many clothes as he could get his hands on. It was a tight fit, and he was sure the pile he was under was hardly inconspicuous, but it was all he could do at the moment.

That, and pray he'd get to see Sayori again.

The keen among you readers will notice the rating change on this story, from T to M. That is, in part, due to the sheer number of curses Natsuki has dropped in this chapter, but also due to future mature elements of the story I've decided to implement later. I've already foreshadowed one of them in this chapter—if you know literally anything about the characters in DDLC, you can hazard a pretty good guess as to what it is.

But fear not, the tone of the story up to this point will stay largely the same. I'm willing to go as far as to say you'll all really like what I've cooked up for future chapters, especially once all of our lovely ladies enter the picture.

Let me know what you all thought! It's been a minute since I've updated, and I wanted to know how you all felt about the balance in this chapter. A lot of explaining, I know, but it is necessary to the plot. We'll be getting into the meat and potatoes of it all next chapter, so I hope you're looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all again soon.

~Slalem