An abyss, nothing but a black and swirling void around me. It feels like I'm constantly falling in a bottomless pit. So this is how it feels to be unconscious. If I focus hard enough... I could hear the distant sounds of people talking and shouting and the sound of people crying beside me. Suddenly, I saw a bright light in front of me. I look closer and I see a pink textbox, like the one in the game.
[ It's time to wake up, dear]
I reach for the box, but it disappears just before I grab a hold of it. Then suddenly, A bunch of new ones materializes around me.
[ Yoku... please wake up]
[ We're all waiting for you here]
[ Everyone is worried about you, I'm worried about you]
[ So please... for my sake, open your eyes]
[ Please wake up]
[ Please wake up]
[ Please wake up]
[ Please wake up]
[ Please wake up]
[ Please wake up]
The words in those text boxes gave me a little bit of strength. The words ring trough my mind as I begin to focus on opening my eyes. Soon, I could hear the the sobbing of people around me and the pleas of my friends around me. After a while, a streak of bright light cross my vision before a blurry scene enter my view. The first thing I saw is the teary green eyes of Monika, her cheeks are red and puffy, a sign she has been crying for some time now. I smile as she suddenly gave me a really tight and warm embrace from my left side. I look around and I see that I'm in an hospital room, an IV bag connected to my arm by a long tube and a needle. I look and saw that everyone in the club is here, including Yosuke and Amy.
" H-How... long have I been out?" I ask weakly, my right side still hurts due to the blows I have received earlier.
" Hmmm... About an hour or so." Akami-sama said out loud as he sat in a chair watching TV. The god didn't even bother looking at me, his eyes are fixated at the cat girl on screen.
" Yoku! You're finally awake! Don't you do that ever again! But, but... I'm so glad you're here...Waaaaaaah!~" Sayori hugged me on my right side. I was about to give her a hug, but due to her pressing on my injuries, a jolt of pain is sent throughout my body.
" Ah! S-Sayori, it hurts..." I politely tell Sayori. She gasps and immediately lets go of me. Her worried expression made me chuckle lightly.
" I-I'm so sorry! I did not notice. Please forgive me!" Sayori tremble as I look at her. I smile warmly and shake my head lightly.
" Nah, It's okay. I know you didn't mean it." I say with a gentle tone. Sayori let out a sigh of relief before approaching me slowly. I raise a hand and pat her on her pink head. She cozies up to the pat, but suddenly, I felt my other hand being lifted up.
" Pet me too!" Monika places my hand atop her head. I gently pat her head while she purr at the touch.
" Yoku, U-Ummm, p-p-pe..." Yuri begins to mutter out something.
" Hmm? Yuri, is something wrong?" I ask curiosly to the tall girl. She gets flustered and immediately starts shaking her head.
" Nevermind." She mutters out before taking a sit beside me. She starts to caress the bandage on my right arm. I saw it, a glimmer of lust in her eyes, but it quickly disappears.
" A-are you sure you're o-okay, Yoku?" She asks gently as she held my hand. Their is something scary as her fingers touched mine, it was like something is digging into my hand.
" Yeah... I'm fine. But thanks for your concern, Yuri." I politely pull away my hand from her touch. She seems disappointed at this, but she manages to let out a smile.
" Anyway, why are you guys here?"" I ask the two at the foot of my bed. They were holding hands when they sigh at me.
" Come on! Do you really think we would not visit the person responsible for our romance? Besides, we haven't properly thanked you yet... so here!" The two run towards the small refrigerator and pulls out a large velvet cake with 'Get Well Soon!' written with vanilla icing on top of it.
" Wait, one two three... five, six... Where is Natsuki?" I look around the room. Natsuki's bright pink hair is like a beacon in the dark corner if the white room. She is as silent as an empty cemetery. She kept her head down and kept her arms to herself.
" Natsuki... what's wrong? Come here." I gesture at her to come forward. She took small steps and was slow to come near me. With the light now illuminating her face, I could see that she is crying.
" Idiot..." She mutter out the word, before rushing towards me and hugging me tightly. She begins to cry on me, though the embrace is painful, I just ignore the ain and return her hug.
" I'm... sorry! I drag you into this, and you got hurt because of it. I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." She buries her head on my chest. I could feel my shirt getting wet due to her tears. I look at Monika and I quietly mouth to her.
" Give us some time alone." She nods and turns around.
" Okay everyone! Let's go buy some food for Yoku. That includes you, Akami-sensei." Monika gets up and turns off the TV. Akami-sama let out a sigh before he took everyone outside the room. As the doors close, I begin to gently ruffle Natsuki's pink hair.
" There, there, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what happened." I try to comfort Natsuki, who is still crying on me. Her tears are still flowing nonstop.
" No! It's my own damn fault! If only I knew how to do this alone, I... I would not have put you trough this." Her voice is pained, her usual snarky and defensive exterior is gone, replaced by a soft and caring nature because someone she cares for got hurt. This girl truly is a tsundere.
" Natsuki... You don't have to do this alone. I've said this before, the club is here for you, I'm... here for you." I say with a soothing tone. She clench her hands on my chest.
" Why... Why are you like this Yoku?" She pull away from her hug and look straight into my eyes. She cups my right cheek and her pink gaze penetrates my very being. Her eyes are still wet from tears, yet she wipes a few off her puffy cheeks.
" You are so nice and thoughtful to others, but because of this you end up getting hurt." She said with a concerned tone. Her eyes show pitg towards me.
" Geez, you're such an idiot of a hero... Acting heroic and such, then being beaten up by the villain." As she said those words, she began to lean closer to me.
" Natsuki! Umm... W-We, we shouldn't do th-" She place a finger on my lips and pout.
" Just shut up and close your eyes! It's embarrassing for me also." I sigh and shut my eyes. Monika, if anything bad happens... don't kill me! I felt a soft kiss on my cheek. The warmth of her body and her soft, silky skin made my heart skip a beat for a second. She pulls away and I open my eyes to see her puffing out her red cheeks and embarrassed expression.
" D-don't think a-a-anything bad about it... It's j-just a t-t-thank you gift from me, and stuff. I-IT'S NOT L-LIKE I... I... I LIKE Y-YOU O-OR ANYTHING! IDIOT!" She huffs at me before pouting and folding her arms at me. I chuckle a bit, before smiling at her.
" Tsundere." Her face turn red and I laugh as she began to rant at how dumb I am and how she is not a tsundere. After a few more minutes of me teasing her, the group finally returns to the room with burgers, but it seems Akami-sama is not with them.
Monika told me that Akami-sama drove the two home since it is getting pretty late. The five of us took the focus off ny injuries and towards the different other kinds of topics like how fun the festival is to what kinds of activities we all enjoy. All of us ate burgers, except for Monika, who ordered a salad. It was a relatively fun night, although I wish it was at home rather in the hospital. As we finished our meal and settled in to watch anime, I ask Monika discreetly about Natsuki's dad.
" That guy? Oh, he's doing fine in another hospital. Well, after he recovers, he is going away for a long time." Monika said as she let out a yawn. Suddenly, Akami-sama bursts trough the door.
" It seems we can finally admit you out, Yoku!" Akami-sama took a step sideward and a nurse came in to take out the IV bag and to get the needle out of my body. I feel a slight sting as the nurse pulls out the needle under the gauze pad. After the nurse sterilized and covered the spot where the needle entered my blood stream, she brought out a wheel chair for me to sit on.
" Let's get going then, shall we?" The god wheels me out of the room swiftly. As we quickly made our way out of the hospital, I heard the god mutter something.
" I hate hospitals... It's so full of death." Before I could say anything, I hear the elevator doors open in front of me. We all got in and the doors closed in front of us.
" Akami-sama, I'm just going to wal-"
" Nope! I'm going to drive you to your house. It's very dangerous for a girl to walk home alone at night." Akami-sama cut Yuri off from what she was about to say. Yuri tried to argue, but the god is having none of it. Then, he reaches for something in his pocket.
" Well, fine... If you insist on walking home, ok. But then, who am I going to give this chocolate bar to?" The god has a grin like that of a predator who lured out his prey. Yuri's eyes lit up at the chocolate.
" A-Akami-sama, t-that's a really expensive chocolate! W-Where did you get that?!" Yuri exclaims as she look intensely at the sweet treat in front of her. Akami-sama hands the chocolate to the purple haired girl.
" Yup! It is expensive, and I it was hard to get my hands on one. So you owe me a favor, Yuri." The god laugh as Yuri got flustered and confused. Due to Yuri's timid and shy nature, it is hard for her to refuse the god since he already shoved the chocolate in her hands.
The elevator doors opens into the lobby and Akami-sama wheels me near the loadingloading area and entrusts me to the care of the four. He went to get the car so that it would be easier for me to get on. After a while, Akami-sama's car pulls over infront of us. I manage to stand up, although I'm still wobbly in walking. I got inside the front passenger seat, while the four sit beside each other in the back. The time is around 8 pm when we left the hospital grounds. Monika and Sayori sat between Natsuki and Yuri. We just entered the highway when the two began to bicker about manga.
" For the last time Natsuki, pictures in books does not count as literature!" Yuri exclaims with an annoyed tone.
" Well, at least manga is easier to read than those long and boring books of yours! The words in them are too flowery and deep, it makes it hard for me to understand it." Natsuki huffs as she turns her head to look outside the window.
" That's the point! It shouldn't be easy to understand because it is up to the reader find the meaning of the book. Well, I shouldn't blame you, it's something your tiny-"
" ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! Akami-sensei, let's get ice cream!" Sayori cuts Yuri off from starting a war inside the car by pointing at an ice cream shop. I look at Sayori and give her a discreet thumbs up. I turn around to ask Monika if she wants ice cream.
" Monika, what do you- oh." I see Monika sleeping quietly. Her head rested on the soft cushion of the back seat.
" It's been a long day, huh? Well it's best not to disturb the poor girl from her sleep." Akami-sama whisper to us as he pulls over in the parking lot.
The four gets out of the car to buy some ice cream while I watch over Monika. I move to the back to the back of the car to rest beside Monika. Her soft breathing and her warmth made me sleepy as well. But before I could slump my head forward to sleep, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Monika slightly opens her eyes and pats her lap.
" Lay your head here." She has a welcoming smile on her face. I gently lay my head on her lap. But as I drifted off to sleep, I notice that Monika is still wearing our school's uniform. Suddenly, she closes my eyes and giggles.
" No peeking~ We might get into trouble if anything happens." I chuckle before letting out a sigh.
" It's been a long day, huh?" I ask Monika as I gaze on her enchanting visage. A few strands of her hair tickle my face as she looks down on me.
" Yeah... it has been a long day. So you better get some sleep, your body is still in bad shape." Monika run her fingers trough my hair. I close my eyes and begin to sleep.
I woke up with Sayori gently poking me in the face. I look around and I see that we are already at my house. It seems that we have already dropped Yuri off at her house while I slept. We got off the car and the three girls aid me towards the door. We enter the empty and dark house, only our soft footsteps and our breathing could be heard. It seems my walk is still wobbly since my sense of balance is still not fully restored. I made my way upstairs so that I could finally get some sleep. I jump on my bed and let my mind wander off as I begin to drift away.
I open my eyes and I see that I'm inside an hospital room once again. I look at myself and I see that my hands are see transparent. I look around the room and the bed in the center caught the attention of my eyes. On it lay Natsuki's dad, who is currently asleep. An IV bag is attached to him along with an oxygen mask. He doesn't seem to be in critical condition, which is kinda relieving. Suddenly, a bunch of code materialized beside him, and it took the form of a human. Then, from those lines of code and numerical values, Akami-sama emerged.
" Poor soul, for a long time, you will be punished for your transgressions. The prisons of this country is not forgiving, but I wish you luck." Akami-sama took a sit at the foot of his bed.
" It's saddening for me, but it must be done. If you were not an abusive father, Natsuki would have never joined the Literature Club. Now, let me help you get back on the right path." Akami-sama pulls out the command console and begins to change some files and attributes.
" ...violence.level=1, remorse=10, symphaty=10, and lastly, guilt=10. There, it may take a while for the changes to take place, but it will. Now, you better wake up Yoku." The god smiles at my direction. Before I could say anything, I was torn away from my dreams and I woke up to the sound of me falling on the floor and an alarm clock hitting my head shortly after.
Monika looks at me in shock. Surprisingly, my sides didn't hurt as much as I thought they would. I let out a pained laugh as I stand up, shaking this damn alarm clock! We laugh together as we went downstairs, and it seems my sense of balance is back! We head downstairs so that I could make breakfast, but I saw the notebook given to us by Akami-sama on the table. We rarely use it since the intervals to get information has gotten pretty long, but we decide to read some of the logs. The first one we see is that of Yuri's, which seems to have taken place last night.
Time: 9:37pm Location: Yuri's bedroom
Yuri grabs her favorite knife on top of a shelf. The image of Yoku in pain is still fresh in her memories. She unfolds one of her sleeves and reveals the countless scars and wounds etched into her fair skin. The thought of a new one excites her. She begins to cut. Pain and ecstasy rings throughout her body. She is in bliss at the feeling of a fresh wound. She lies in bed and stops cutting. Her eyes catch a glimpse of Yoku's pen. She smiles.
I close the notebook, I fear what my eyes would see if I continue. It seems Yuri is getting worse. I look at Monika, who is also worried.
" We need to act quickly." Those are the only words that escapes my mouth.
" Yeah... but I don't think we'll be able to save her in just a matter of days." Monika sighs as she takes a sit and summons two cups of coffee in front of her.
" Uh-huh, it would be a really hard case for sure, since Akami-sama won't be able to help us anymore after Sunday." I respond to Monika, who just shrugs it off.
" Well, let's just eat breakfast for now, we'll think about that later, okay?" Monika smiles and reaches for my hand. I smile back and I look at the stove.
" Yeah... breakfast.That would be wonderful right now." I say before I stand up and walk towards the refrigerator.
Pancakes sound nice. Maybe I'll go make some.