I began making my way to school.

Natsuki is meeting me after we are dismissed, so I might as well just go to some of my classes.

It wouldn't exactly help me out to get in trouble at school for skipping too much.

My first class is as boring as ever.

I fiddle with my pencil in my hands, flipping it around, and my mind keeps wandering to Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri...

I might as well give all I can to these girls, while I can.

I know that Monika was the main reason all those things happened, but I just can't... get certain images out of my head.

It's so haunting I just feel like I have to help them.

You never know, maybe Monika's influence was less than I suspect, and they are headed towards dark paths, or worse... death.

After all, didn't Yuri say something in that letter to Sayori, something like...

I probably wouldn't... be here.

Did Sayori really already save Yuri's life once?

I stop daydreaming for a moment, and unroll my sleeve to check my watch.

Fresh wounds are still there on my arm.

I better not let the stress of this get to me again...

I don't know if I can handle another breakdown like that.

And I'm wondering what drove me to do that, besides the desire to determine if this was reality.

But I can't focus on myself right now. There are people in the world who need me.

The bell rings, and I step outside the classroom, still zoning out, when I spot the familiar purple haired girl on the opposite end of the hall.

No time to waste, I quickly push past students to get to her.

She keeps on moving at a steady pace toward her locker.

In my mind's eye, I see her...

I just want to open up your skin and crawl inside you.

Do you accept my confession?

I feel like a creep following her down the hall, but I can't think of how to approach her.

The clock is ticking.

Well, I might as well just go for it. She was at her locker, grabbing a textbook or something.

MC : "Excuse me, is your name Yuri?"

Yuri jumps a little bit at my sudden voice from behind her, then slowly turns to face me.

She looks at me, then toward the ground with a slightly dejected look on her face.

She is as tall, elegant, and beautiful as ever, but her body language says she is uncomfortable.

She reaches for the sharpest blade.

Slowly dragging it across and savoring the burning pain

"Haah...Haah..."

Until her arms are nothing but red,

blood dripping down to the floor.

The blade plunges

again and again

Her artery sliced

the color draining from her eyes and face as she decomposes.

Yuri : "Um... Yes, I'm Yuri."

How should I deal with this?

Well, I can't exactly ask her out, since I already asked Natsuki, and that would be just wrong.

I already feel bad enough going on this date after last night with Sayori.

MC : "Hi, I'm MC. Sayori has talked about you, and I've seen you two hanging out together. I thought I would introduce myself."

Yuri blushes, and speaks softly and apprehensively : "Oh, um.. It's nice to meet you... finally."

Yuri seems extremely timid, even more so than I remember her.

I know she doesn't remember me at all, but it's making this so much more difficult for me.

MC : "Anyway, I'm sorry to bug you.."

Where am I going with this?

MC : "But... I haven't had a place to eat lunch in a while."

That was a lie, but it was just a white lie, it's okay, right?

The truth was, I never ate lunch with Sayori, Yuri, or Natsuki, because I just wasn't very interested at all.

I would have rather eaten lunch with my fellow anime nerd friends.

But that was before the literature club.

MC : "And I was wondering if I had your permission to join you tomorrow."

Yuri looks a little confused, or upset, or something.

Or maybe she's just thinking real hard, like she usually does, but for whatever reason, she doesn't say anything for a while.

Just an intense expression on her face, while she holds her hand to her chest.

Yuri suddenly looks towards me, as if noticing I was there.

Yuri : "Oh-I'm sorry, I.. forgot to speak."

She manages a weak smile.

She speaks slowly, and deliberately, and her voice is deeper than both Natsuki and Sayori's.

Yuri : "Yes, please join us. Sayori has been missing from lunch recently."

Yuri : "So we would like to hear how she is doing from her best friend."

I smile back. Yuri really is the sweetest girl.

MC : "Great! I'm looking forward to it. And don't worry, Sayori just had to take a little break. I'll talk to you more about it later."

We stood for a moment there, as the halls became empty as people poured into the classrooms.

MC : "Anyway, I should be getting to class, so..."

I smile again, say goodbye, and walk away.

I probably shouldn't burden Yuri with any serious stuff about Sayori.

I also shouldn't ambush her like that, either. I need to give her time.

Yuri is the kind of person who needs to process things a bit, and she doesn't really handle intense rapid stimulation very well.

When she gets excited, she goes into a corner, and...

I can relate to Yuri more than she knows.

The school day ends before too long, and it's time to meet up with Natsuki.

I'm feeling a bit anxious now about how I'm going to deal with all of these girls.

In the literature club, they seemed to be pretty obviously into me.

But now I feel pretty strongly that Sayori is the only girl for me.

Except... I mean, I do really like Yuri and Natsuki.

I hope this doesn't become more complicated than I intended. I should have probably thought this through.

I see the tiny pink haired girl in the distance, and make my way over to her.

MC : "Wow, you didn't stick me up."

Natsuki looks hardly amused.

Natsuki : "Believe me, I thought about it."

MC : "Anyway, let's head on over to my car. I'm parked way over there."

We begin walking to a far parking lot, the one I use because it's the only one that consistently has space.

MC : "How was your school day?"

Natsuki pouted just a little.

Natsuki : "Typical. Stupid."

MC : "Yeah, I'm just about done going to classes myself." I try to relate to her.

She seems sour, as expected, but also kind of down in the dumps.

We got in the car, and I started to head toward a fast food place, maybe Del Taco, or something, not really thinking hard about it.

My dad would beat the shit out of me if he found them

Actually, you know... I do have some extra cash.

And now that I'm here with Natsuki, I am really feeling sympathetic for her.

It may not be obvious to those who don't know about it, but...

You can hear the pain and exhaustion in her voice.

She often looks tired, under the makeup.

And while I don't know exactly what happens to her at home, I know she deserves something that can make her life just a little bit better.

Something that will give her... a little bit of hope, maybe, that not all in this world just want to take advantage of you.

I make a turn away from Del Taco and head towards the nearby steakhouse.

MC : "Hey Natsuki, how does steak sound?"

Natsuki's face tightens up.

She has an expression of confusion, or shock.

Natsuki : "Oh, um... No, that's okay, I don't want to cost you a fortune. The steakhouses around here aren't cheap.. A-and.."

Her face betrays everything she is saying.

MC : "Natsuki, it's alright. I want to do something special for you. Just be honest, do you even like steak?"

Natsuki looks away from me, out the window. She finally speaks.

Natsuki : "...Yeah..."

….

Natsuki : "...Thank you, MC."

She looks confused, and I don't blame her.

After all, she just met me for the first time the other day.

We arrive, and sit down at our tables. The waiter comes and we order our meals.

While we wait, we make small talk about our classes and teachers.

Natsuki seemed to have had an attitude shift.

She was really opening up to me, and being way nicer than usual.

Under the dim light of the characteristic steakhouse lamps, and beaming as she spoke to me, she looked more beautiful than her typical cute.

It was rare to see her like this.

And I didn't feel any tension at all. We actually get along pretty well.

We finally got our food.

Natsuki looked rather enthusiastically at her meal, a large T-bone steak, mashed potatoes, green beans

I think to myself that it is kinda weird that we Japanese school kids are having such American meals, but oh well, let's just say that's another thing that gets 'lost in translation'.

I also ordered a steak, and I started digging in immediately.

MC : "Looks delicious, man, I can't wait- I haven't eaten anything today yet in preparation for this."

I realize immediately that was a stupid thing to say.

Natsuki doesn't take her eyes off the plate, and grabs her fork and knife and attempts to begin cutting.

While cutting my steak, I see her struggling, her knife and fork scraping against the plate and sliding around.

Oh no... This isn't her... first time cutting meat, is it?

MC : "Natsuki, let me help you, please."

Natsuki looks angrily towards me for a moment.

Natsuki : "No! I can..."

She looks away. Then she pushes the plate towards me without looking toward me or saying anything.

I cut up her steak for her into little bite sized pieces, and pour some steak sauce on her platter.

MC : "Here, try it with this sauce. It's really good, trust me."

Natsuki continues to look slightly uncomfortable until she begins to eat.

I continue talking so that she doesn't feel the need to while she eats.

Natsuki stops for a moment to speak.

Natsuki : "This is so delicious! This is almost..."

Natsuki : "Better than cupcakes. Almost."

I can't help but laugh, and when I do, she looks pleased with her joke.

We head out the door into the frigid air after we paid the bill, and made our way to the car.

Natsuki once again has an expression on her face that I can't seem to pin down very well.

We get in and close the doors.

Natsuki : "Take me home." She says reluctantly.

She gives me an address, and I just follow her wishes and begin to take her to her house.

This time in the car ride, we were pretty quiet.

There was something hanging over the air, now, that wasn't earlier.

I peek over at Natsuki in the passenger seat and she's got her eyes closed, with a rather intense expression on her face.

We pull into the driveway.

Natsuki : "Thank you for the.. date, MC. I really enjoyed it."

Natsuki : "I wish there was... always, something to do after school. And..."

I say it for her.

MC : "We can do it again sometime. Anytime, Natsuki. In fact, could I join you for lunch tomorrow?"

I probably shouldn't make so many promises, but...

Natsuki : "Yes, of course." She pauses again. "I'll see you then?"

She smiles a big and bright smile, showing her cute and characteristic 'fang' as she asks that.

MC : "Yeah."

It's pretty weird for her to be so genuine and nice, but I should take it as a compliment. I must be doing something right this time.

As she opens the door to leave, Natsuki looks like she wants to say something.

There is definitely something on her mind, but she is struggling to get it out.

She freezes.

Natsuki : "...goodbye."

And before I can say anything, she's closed the door behind her and gone into her house.

That night, when I got home, I texted Sayori to check up on her.

I might even go over and visit her.

Tomorrow, I have to go have lunch with all three of them.

Afterwards, I hope I can spend more time with Sayori.

My current plan is to take her down to one of the local parks or springs to enjoy a bit of nature together.

Still, I can't stop thinking about Natsuki earlier.

I don't want to imagine the possibility that Monika actually didn't change Natsuki's home life at all.

Judging by how she reacted to my kindness, she must not get it often.

Balancing my relationship with three unique and beautiful girls may prove more challenging than I thought.

I sigh and sit down at my desk.

I count the minutes, waiting for Sayori to respond to my text,

gathering anxiety the longer time draws on.

A glass shard catches my eye, and I see my reflection in it.