I can't help myself. I really can't. I've been holding this off for a while because I'm afraid it won't turn out as good, but I cannot keep avoiding this. I want to make this as good as possible. This is a fanfiction of DDLC, as it should be obvious, but I still would like to point out that I have never done something like this before. I was thinking about writing two, actually. This one and another one. While this one isn't anything new, I hope the other one will have something different enough worth reading, but I hope this one is also worth reading. Anyway, I do not own it, as it's owned by Team Salvato. I only own the OC I'm using for this, and he isn't made for this fanfic but just an OC that can appear in anything I want. I feel like I should mention this, but this fanfic is inspired by another one called "Another Chance" by zatask. It's one of the best fanfics I have ever read, and you should check it out if you're a fan of the game. Anyway, I think that's everything.
?'s House (Bedroom) [Monday/7:00 A.M.]
Sunlight shines through the window curtains of a small bedroom. It's your typical fare. There's a plain desk in a corner, and there's a sliding door that leads to a closet. There are bland posters, such as a poster with an unidentifiable baseball player. There's a small bed in the corner. Generally speaking, this room looks like a stock photo you'd seen in a picture frame at a Walmart. But in that aforementioned small bed, there was a boy. More like a teenager. Covers pulled over in a vain attempt to block the sun.
BEEP! BEEP!
The boy groans with irritation in his voice as he slowly picks himself up, "Alright… I'm up…" Upon pulling down the covers, one can see the boy has anime brown hair syndrome. Which is to say his hair is short with his bangs parted on both sides of his face. His eyes are blue, and he's got a sporty tan. He is wearing simple pajamas. He kneels on top of his bed, and he reaches over to a small table for his phone. He turns off the alarm that's just absolutely blaring on his phone. He says to himself, "So… the first day of school, huh?" He has a smile covering something else. He is looking down at his bed.
The boy goes to his bathroom sink and stares at himself in the mirror. The smile fades, and all that is left is the truth. He looks extremely weary. He slaps both sides of his face. "Okay, Eric, relax… it's just school. You can do this." He talks to his reflection to reassure himself that nothing is wrong. Except… perhaps something is wrong. Deep into his expression is a thought, a worry.
Eric finishes up his shower, He looks at himself in the mirror to analyze his outfit since this is the first time he has tried it on. As he does so, he begins to comb his dark brown hair back to the parted bangs look. "Uniforms, huh? I suppose this is the kind of thing that particular schools do to have a professional outlook among themselves. Something like that. Although, I feel that I would just blend in with everyone else and not stand out." After he finishes talking like a crazy person while combing his hair, he brushes his teeth. Finishing that up, he finishes his previous thought as well, "For now, it'll do. I need more time to plan everything out." He heads out of his bathroom and goes into the kitchen to fix up his breakfast
Eric grabs two pieces of bread and tosses them in the toaster. Next, he gets some jam and some orange juice—the ultimate breakfast. Not the best, but he doesn't have time for anything extravagant. He gets a glass out and pours the juice. He leans back to the counter, lazily gazing at the toaster. "I wonder if I'll be able to make any friends. … It'd probably be better than chatting to myself alone." He takes a sip. "Why am I doing that anyway?" The toaster pops out the toast. Eric quickly grabs a plate."Wait, I know what the problem is. Too many toasters." He goes back to the table and sits back down to eat. "'Cause all toasters toast toast." He begins to spread the strawberry jam on the toast, and he finally begins to eat. However, he stops for a second. "... Well, technically speaking, they toast bread, not toast. Wouldn't it just like, BURN the toast?"
He ponders the ethics of Hotel Mario for a second.
Eric wanders into the living room, right beside the front door, he still has a piece of toast that he is munching on, but he is about to head out the door to go to school. "Now, where did I place that spiral notebook?" He says to himself as he munches on his strawberry jam-slathered toast. His backpack is right by the front door, so he isn't concerned about that. It all comes down to the spiral notebook. "Oh wait…" Eric goes over to the coffee table and looks underneath the table, and sure enough, it is there. He takes it and looks at it; it's a plain green spiral notebook with nothing significant about it. He opens it and quickly goes through the pages, "Going to need to work on my plans. Still need to write more before I forget them." He closes it back up and walks back to the front door to grab his bag.
Eric opens his backpack and puts the spiral notebook in there. As he zips up his bag, he pats it as if it means a lot to him. Why does it matter? Only Eric knows. With that, Eric begins to open the front door; he spots two people in the street, pretty much right in front of him. "Oh hey, it's them." Eric says as he observes the two. They seem to be best friends or maybe even closer than that. "Pretty sure they live near my house." He uses his hand as a veil to look at them closer as if it'll help. The guy doesn't seem to be anyone special; he has brown hair and brown eyes, and he is wearing the same exact uniform as Eric. The girl with him, however, seems to be trying to drag him along and looks to be bouncing with energy. As Eric looks at her, she seems to not care about how she presents her uniform, as her blazer isn't even buttoned up at all. She has short coral-pink hair with a large red bow on top and blue eyes. The bow is fastened on just as well as how she did her blazer at the last minute. And unlike male students, the girls wear a red bow tie instead of a regular tie and a blue skirt.
It's clear that those two go to the same school as Eric and are also his neighbors. "Not that I ever introduced myself to them or anything. I have seen them from time to time. I just have been busy moving in here, among other things." Eric says to himself as now the two go past his house. It finally dawns on him, "I better get going!" With that, Eric puts his backpack on and heads out.
Streets [7:31 A.M.]
Eric continues to walk to school. So far, his two neighbors haven't seen him yet, which is surprising for him, but he can see how. The two were talking with each other and went on ahead of him. Eric can still see the two in the distance; he is thinking about whether or not he should introduce himself now or later. "Hmm…" Eric takes his bag and opens it, and pulls out that green spiral. He looks through it; what's written are notes or plans to do in school. "Fine." He closes the spiral notebook and puts it away, "I just hope I don't come off as awkward." With that, Eric begins to jog to catch up to them.
Eric begins to approach them, and it doesn't take him long to catch up to them eventually. He arrives, and they notice him immediately. Jumping into silence. Eric says something to explain himself, "Oh, hello. I'm actually a neighbor of yours. I just moved here recently but haven't had the time to introduce myself, and since we're going to the same school, I might as well do that now. My name is Eric, and it's nice to meet you two." Eric beams happily as he finishes his introduction. The two look at Eric for a few seconds, which gets Eric nervous as he begins to think he might have made the wrong move.
The girl smiles, easing the tension immediately. "It's nice to meet you, too, Eric!" She pauses as she thinks about something. "I… actually had no idea that you were living in the same neighborhood as us. It's almost as if you came out of nowhere." She frowns for a bit as she holds that thought. "It's perfectly fine! We were all too busy unpacking to say hi." Eric says as he tries to ease the girl's worry about ignoring him this whole time. He even gives a friendly smile to reassure her. It seems to work as the girl begins to beam again, brimming with the joy she had earlier, "Well, anyway, my name is Sayori, and this is my childhood friend, MC." Sayori smiles. MC sighs however. "So, what were you two talking about? Sorry, I know this isn't my business; I was just hoping that the three of us could become friends."
"Well, I wouldn't mind if the three of us became friends. That would be great, honestly!" Sayori says as if she's thinking about it mid-conversation as she gets more excited about the idea as she speaks. "Well, anyway, we were talking about MC joining a club." MC speaks up for the first time as Sayori says, "Why are you telling him that?! I told you I wasn't interested in joining a club!" Eric stood silent hearing this, and Sayori chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry about my friend, Eric. He can be a meanie sometimes." Eric shakes his head, bearing the same expression that Sayori is, "It's fine. Maybe he just doesn't want to do anything outside of his comfort zone." Eric seems to hit the nail right on the head as he says this. Sayori follows up with, "That's exactly right! I'm just looking out for him, and besides, he promised!"
"I promised that I would look into a club, but I'm still not sure about joining one." MC says in objection as the group, now a trio, starts walking and talking to the school.
"I'm sure there is the right club for you, and even if there are things you'd probably rather do than stay after school. Who knows? Maybe something can surprise you." He adds. That seems to have helped a bit as MC responds with, "Alright. It seems that you two have made up my mind for me. I'll look into the clubs."
Sayori giggles with glee as she hears that, "That's great, MC! Maybe the two of you can look for a club together!" The two twist to look at Sayori.
"Excuse me, the two of us? Not that I mind, but I just met you two. Are you sure I can just tag along looking for a club like we're friends?" Eric questions, but Sayori waves it off.
"But, we are friends, silly! You were the one who asked if you wanted to be friends with us." Sayori states as though it were immediately fact. Eric nods, kind of embarrassed. "Right… I did say that. But is it okay with MC?" Eric turns to MC. MC shrugs in response. "It wouldn't matter if I am, as long as Sayori wants us to be friends anyway, so I'm just going to go along with it." Yup, that sounds about right.
"You are our friend now, Eric! So that means I must look out for you, too, whether you want me to or not!" Sayori beams to her new friend Eric chuckles at this, "Well, I guess that's settled!"
Sayori can't help but feel giddy about this, and does a little excited jump. "Yay! I've made a nice new friend! That's a sign that this will be a great year!" Eric can't help but smile at the bubbly weirdo; she really is the type of person that could make anyone happy. But, it doesn't seem to work for long, as he soon gains a somber look.
Seeing Eric's expression, Sayori looks at him with a shocked expression, "Why are you looking at me like that?" She turns it into a frown, "Did I… say something wrong?" Eric makes the same shocked expression and laughs it off. He smiles again, "Sorry, I didn't realize I was frowning." He scratches the back of his neck. "No, you didn't say anything wrong. Err… I was just thinking of a friend I lost back where I used to live, and I spaced out. You know, being homesick and all!"
Sayori buys that bag of nonsense for a dollar, but still seems nervous about her purchase. "Oh good! I thought it was me for a second! Yeah, being in a new town will definitely make you feel homesick, but I'll be sure to make you feel right at home!" Sayori beams happily like the little ball of sunshine that she is, putting Eric in a good mood again.
Further along the way, they begin to see other students, meaning that, unfortunately, they're getting closer to the school; which causes Sayori to pout. "Noooo! I wanna chat some more with our new friend!" Eric laughs at Sayori's dilemma. "We'll have more time to chat after school or something, right?" Sayori unfortunately already bought nonsense. "See, I would love that, but I have a club meeting to go to after school." Sayori says in defeat, but she then smiles again as she adds, "But maybe we'll have class together, and we can chat then!" Sayori decides she's gonna start selling, not just nonsense, but optimistic nonsense. Eric seems to have a bit of doubt, but grins back at her, anyway. "Sounds good!" With that, the trio finally makes it to school, and they simply wave each other goodbye and go their separate ways.
School: A Classroom [3:34 P.M.]
Eric walks by what he thinks is Classroom A. That's at least where he heard the MC might be. Hearing that MC might be inside, and it seems he's right. He definitely hears Sayori & MC on the other side. "-I wasn't trying to take advantage of him. I dozed off." MC waves his arms at Sayori as he tries to defend his argument. "Well… okay. But you should apologize to him when he comes back!" Sayori says to her childhood friend with a pouty face. And as soon as she says that, Eric returns to the classroom, "Speak of the devil~!" Sayori exclaims boisterously.
Eric smiles nervously at Sayori due to her greeting, "Hey, what's up?" He follows up with a wave.
"Someone would like to say something to you." Sayori gives a "Go on" scowl to the MC. MC gets the picture, and gives his habitual sigh. Does the dude have a breathing problem or…? "I'm sorry." Sayori still hasn't lost the scowl. "For?"
"I'm sorry for forgetting to look for clubs with you, and dozing off."
He finishes off with a shrug; which does not fly for Sayo. "Hey, what kind of apology is that?! You weren't even trying!" Sayori doesn't seem upset, just disappointed. Eric laughs and says, "It's fine. I wasn't even looking for that long, anyway." Being carefree about the situation. "Yeah, I only looked at one so far." Eric adds, which gets MC to ask, "And that one would be…?" Getting Eric to elaborate.
"It's the anime club that you asked me to check out." Eric honestly says, which gets Sayori to yet again scold MC, "What?! You got him to check out the anime club?! You didn't join it, did you?!" Sayori turned to Eric when she said the last sentence, looking all worried. "Nope! I'm not interested in anime."
Sayori exhales an apparently much-needed sigh of relief, "Good. So, have you decided on a club yet? If not, you are more than welcome to join my club~!" She beams happily after exclaiming this. Before Eric can say anything, MC chimes in, "Sayori…" MC stating her name catches Sayori off guard, and she faces him again, "Yes?" MC looks like he's walking on eggshells for a second. Before deciding to just get it over with. "I'm sorry, there's no way I'm joining your club." Bluntly cold and a bit harsh, this gets Sayori to exclaim with a mix of confusion and disappointment, "W-whuuh?!" And Sayori's reaction changes as if she has been insulted a bit because MC turned down her kind offer. "Yeah… I'm joining the anime club." After hearing MC's decision regarding his after-school plans, Eric sighs, "Yeah… I wouldn't recommend it. It's full of… err…" Eric contemplates whether or not he should finish that thought. After a moment of mulling it over, he goes for it, "... weirdos." Just because Eric is a nice guy doesn't mean he has a time when he can be brutally honest when he needs to be.
After hearing this, Sayori panics a bit and asks, "W-what should I tell the others? I promised them that you'd be joining! Do I tell them that they made cupcakes for nothing?!" Eric stays silent as the two exchange dialogue with each other; MC exclaims, "Don't make promises you can't keep! Besides, you are still waiting for Eric's answer, right?" Eric is definitely starting to feel like a third wheel. It seems they've got a long history together. "Don't bring him into this! I'll get to him in a moment, but first, you should reconsider. I mean… I specifically mentioned that you would be joining, and there's even cupcakes!" Sayori frowns at MC. Wanting to ask a question, Eric finally chimes in, "So… are there going to be cupcakes for me, too?" Sayori makes an apologetic face at Eric, "Sorry, it was planned in advance, so they were made for MC. But now that you asked, are you going to join, Eric?" Sayori looks at Eric, hopefully awaiting his answer. It doesn't take long for Eric to decide as he nonchalantly goes
"Yeah, okay. I was going to join at the beginning anyway." Sayori's eyes light up, and this makes her so happy that she embraces Eric and hops up and down with him, "Really?! Yay! I'm so happy~!" She realizes what she did, lets go of Eric, and steps back, giggling nervously, "Ehehe, sorry… I got excited."
Eric exchanges a nervous chuckle of his own, rather caught off guard by Sayori's puppy dog-like reaction. "You're good. I don't blame you for getting excited over a new member. Although I do think MC should join as well. Why not join a club that your friend is a part of? That's why I'm joining."
Sayori sighs as she knows her close friend too well; she explains to Eric, "That's a very good question. Unfortunately, like I said, MC likes to stay where he's comfortable, and he's been holding off joining a club because of that reason. I wouldn't have to worry about him so much if he had the same mindset as you." Sayori giggles as if she is trying to take a jab at MC, which works as he responds with, "Hey! I am still here, you know!" MC takes a deep breath and exhales as he gets ready to say something else, "I'll stop by and have a cupcake if that would make the two of you happy." Sayori smiles happily as she hears MC decide on something, "Yay! Just imagine the look on their faces when I bring in two new members~!"
MC jumps in immediately to remind her, "I'm not joining! I'm just going to stop by and have a cupcake." Eric jumps in as well in an attempt to counter MC's statement, "Just imagine the look on their faces when I tell them you said that, MC!" Eric snickers right after, which gets Sayori to join in. "You better not!" MC exclaims after hearing Eric's snarky remark.
Before Eric or MC could say anything else, Sayori checks the time and exclaims in a panicky tone, "Oh no! We're gonna be laaate!" Sayori reaches for MC's sleeve and pulls him out of his seat, "H-hey! Stop trying to yank my arm, Sayori!" and drags him out of the classroom and into the hallway. Eric stands there impressed that Sayori is strong enough even to pull this off. He snaps out of this trance of amazement, "Oh right!" he quickly catches up to them.
Outside The Clubroom [4:12 P.M.]
The three of them stand outside the clubroom, Sayori stops them there for some reason, she looks a bit worried, and she frowns, saying, "Oooh… I hope they aren't too upset that their vice president is late…" She presses her two index fingers together as she fidgets a bit. Eric steps in to say something to take her mind off of that thought. "You're the vice president, Sayori? That's pretty cool!"
Sayori's compliment works wonders as she smiles. "Ehehe, thanks! Although MC doesn't think it's cool, he thinks I only became VP to help the club get its footing. Which it's kinda true." Eric crosses his arms and nods understandably, "Uh huh, I see. I still think that's super cool of you, Sayori. I mean… you helped get this club started and probably helped out get its members." Eric says, but then adds "And you've recruited us!" Except for MC, but Eric isn't gonna just discredit Sayori for at least trying.
Sayori hasn't budged yet, as she is still fidgeting, so Eric assumes she still has some anxiety about how her friends will react to her tardiness. "Thanks for saying that, Eric, but I don't know if that'll excuse me from being late. Ehehe… I am a mess, aren't I?" Sayori makes a sad smile afterward. Eric gives Sayori more of his pep talk, "What? Are you kidding?! They'll be so ecstatic to have new members, they'll forget all about it! Besides, if they are upset at you, we have your back! Besides, it's mostly our fault, anyway!" Sayori takes a moment to let what Eric said sink in, impressed by how selfless he is. Sayori pumps herself up. "Thanks! Ah, we should go in now. It's not going to do us any good if we are later than we already are." With that, Sayori opens the door to the clubroom, and MC and Eric follow suit.
Clubroom [4:14 P.M.]
The three of them enter the classroom and are immediately faced with the rest of the club members. All of them are looking right at them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the mood has become pretty heavy with them entering the classroom. The three tardy members can't be that late, can they? The three other members staring at the tardy ones make Sayori shrink with nervousness as the tension gets to her. She turns her head towards Eric for guidance, and he simply smiles and nods as if saying, "Go ahead. We got your back." Sayori smiles, regaining her lost confidence.
"Soooo sorry we're late! We were caught up with… something. Ehehehe." Sayori exclaims sheepishly, pushing her index fingers together. One of the club members staring at them begins to speak up, "Geez, Sayori! You should have given me a warning in advance that you were going to bring two members with you instead of just the one!" A short with even short pink hair girl with similarly pink eyes. Her hair is tied up into pigtails with red ribbons, and she has a criss-crossed red hair clip that wraps around her longest bangs. Unlike Sayori, her uniform is put together properly. Sayori and her group look at the pink-haired girl in confusion as they are slowly piecing together that they aren't staring at them because they are late but rather because Sayori brought in an extra member that she didn't even mention to the rest of them. The pink-haired girl adds with a grin that bears a single fang that expresses what kind of girl she is, "It's just like Sayori to leave out important details like this!"
Sayori pouts as if she has been scolded, "Natsukiiiiiiiiiiiii!" She flails her arms around in an exaggerated manner, "It's not even my faaault!" Natsuki, ignores her but instead adds to the scolding, "And you had to bring in two boys?! Way to kill the atmosphere!" She places her hands on her hips to add more sass to her scolding.
MC doesn't say a single thing to back Sayori up as he nervously stays silent throughout the whole ordeal. Eric, however, keeps his word and speaks up for Sayori by asking Natsuki some questions, "And how does that ruin the atmosphere, exactly? Isn't it a good thing to have new members, no matter who they are?" Natsuki quickly darts her eyes toward Eric and gives him the sharpest glare that he has ever seen, sharper than knives, "Like you would understand!"
"No, I don't understand. Wouldn't you want more friends to hang out with in the clubroom or watch it grow with new members?" Eric retorts. His rebuttal seems to phase Natsuki, though. "I like things how they were, okay?!" She ends off with a huff.
"Hmm." Eric frowns. He won the battle, but he definitely didn't win the war. Sayori smiles at Eric for at least trying to get Natsuki to see things a different way. Another one of the members begins to speak up. "Natsuki does have a point in her own way. It would have been nice to have been informed of an extra member." The way she speaks sounds professional and sophisticated, "That being said, I don't believe I recognize this new member. I've seen MC, but I haven't seen this boy around school before.." This girl has coral brown hair and ties her hair in a ponytail with a big white bow. She also has emerald eyes. She's also probably the Club Prez. With no time for Eric to react, Sayori steps in. "Oh, that's because he's a new student~! His name is Eric, and he just moved to this town recently. He's actually a neighbor of mine, just like MC!"
"What Sayori said…" He says with a heavy-heart, having been caught off guard. The preppy girl gives Eric a heartwarming smile, "Oh, that explains everything! It's your first day, so it makes sense that Sayori wouldn't be able to give us a notice in time." She replies, trying to keep up the upbeat and cheery tone. "I hope you enjoyed your first day here at school, Eric! Glad you decided to join the literature club!"
She then turns towards MC. "Same goes for you too, MC!" MC hesitantly responds to Monika, "R-right…" Knowing the fact that he hadn't decided yet. The preppy girl feels like she has almost forgotten something essential and suddenly remembers, "Oh, how silly of me! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Monika! I'm this club's president! But please feel free to treat me as you would the rest of the members! I don't want you to feel too intimidated to talk to me, and I can assure you that I am easy to approach!" She ends off with a friendly smile.
With the tension finally lifted, Eric feels like he can relax more in the clubroom. The same goes for Sayori and MC, "It's very nice to meet all of you. Also, I think it's very cool that you started your own club, Monika. Sayori told me that she's the vice president, and it's great that the two of you started your own club and want to make something worthwhile for the school. It's a shame that you don't have more members." Saying this makes Sayori beam happily as she knows how nice Eric can be, and Monika can tell as well, "It's very kind of you to say. Unfortunately, most people don't find literature fun or engaging, it's kind of a hard sell for some."
"That's true… then again, I guess what Natsuki said earlier kinda would make sense for a literature club. I mean… it'll be easier to concentrate on reading or writing with fewer people, I suppose." Saying this, Monika begins to chuckle at that notion, "You're not wrong! With fewer people, there's less noise, so you'll have an easier time working on something." With that topic done, Monika asks Eric something, "So what made you decide to join the literature club? You've been awfully chatty, so I get the impression that you are very eager to be a part of it, so I'd love to know!"
He looks at everyone in the clubroom, and everyone is looking at him, waiting for him to answer this question. Even a purple-haired girl has been reading a book this entire time, but Eric realizes that she has been listening this whole time as well and stops reading to listen to Eric's answer. With everyone looking at him and waiting for his answer, Eric carefully thinks about his answer before speaking as he wants to make this count, "It's simple; actually, I wanted to join a club that my friends are a part of." He sees the disappointment on everyone's faces, and he continues, "There's a bit more to it!" He had everyone going for a bit as he planned, "I also want to help the club in any way I can, whether it be ideas for activities or helping my fellow club members. The reason is that I want to bring happiness and give it all to my pals!" Everyone is taken aback by the answer as they all have shocked expressions on their face. Sayori can't help but be touched by this, "Eric…" Sayori gets a bit teary-eyed at what Eric said.
Natsuki, however, responds in her usual way, "Geez, this is a literature club, not a friendship club!" The quiet girl who didn't say anything this whole time finally speaks up, "Well, I think it was quite nice. It's clear that you are a very caring person, Eric." The way this girl speaks is very shy, but at the same time, pretty elegant, especially when she's talking about something that interests her. Other than this girl having purple hair, she has purple eyes to match and a lilac hairclip of a lighter shade on the side. Natsuki chuckles at the quiet girl, "Oh, you were here this whole time, Yuri? You were so quiet that I legitimately forgot you were here!"
This gets Yuri to become flustered as she begins to turn beat red, "U-um… that's because I thought we were only going to get one new member. I-I could handle one new person but with two… I-it took some time…" Yuri shielded her face with her hair and started to mumble. "S-sorry…" Yuri says as she looks over at MC and Eric. MC is pretty much listening at this point as he can't find much to say to these girls that could be worthwhile and knows that Eric pretty much has this. "I understand. It felt like you waited until you found us easy to talk to. I hope that what I said eased your worries about that." Yuri gives Eric a shy smile and nods, "Mmhm."
Sayori beams happily and says to Eric ecstatically, "You're a natural at this! I can tell you're gonna be a huge help here at the club! What do you think, Monika?" Sayori turns her head towards Monika and sees that she's deep in thought about something as if something is… off. "Monika?" Sayori frowns as Monika doesn't respond to her earlier and is a bit worried. The second attempt gets Monika to snap out of it, "O-oh! Sorry! I was spacing out! That's not very professional of me… ehehe." Monika frowns as whatever is on her mind is still there, "It's not important right now. Anyway, what were you saying, Sayori?" Sayori is still frowning as she is worried about Monika, "Are you sure it's not important? It's not like you to space out like that. After all… that's my job!" Sayori poked fun at herself to cheer Monika up, and it seemed to work, "I'm fine! I just needed a moment to gather my thoughts." With that, Monika bounces back to her usual self. Eric feels like he needs to say something, "I hope it isn't what I said. It's not because of the dramatic pause, is it?" Monika giggles at that and shakes her head, "No, you did nothing wrong! In fact… it's very sweet of you that you want to bring happiness to the club and help out."
After that, Eric could have sworn Monika's mouth was moving as if she was saying something else, but it was too quiet to tell. He dismisses it and adds, "That's good. I guess being a club president is hard work. You would have to plan many events ahead of time and ensure nothing goes wrong. Glad that Sayori is there to help you out."
Monika keeps her smile on Eric, "Sometimes it is, but thankfully, there haven't been many events to keep track of, but I'm sure you can come up with something fun for us. I'm counting on you!" Eric can't help but smile back at Monika, as being counted on makes him feel good inside. MC decides to bring something up as he has met Monika before, "That reminds me. I'm surprised you decided to make your own club; you could have been a board leader. Weren't you a member of the debate club last year?" Monika nods as what MC says is true, "I was, but I couldn't stand all of the politics."
Eric chuckles at that as that reason seems relatable, "It probably got old after a while. And in my opinion, creating your own club is a lot more impressive." Monika chuckles back at Eric and gives him a look as if she is teasing him, "Are you just saying that to get on my good side?" Eric realizes that he's been complimenting Monika this whole time and feels she is on to him, "N-no! Of course not! I mean what I say. There are no ulterior motives, either!"
Saying that last bit could have been a death sentence for Eric because it made him seem awfully sketchy, but Monika put him on the spot that he didn't think when he said that. His face begins to trickle with sweat with nervousness as he realizes this fact. That didn't help matters either, as it could also be a sign of someone lying. Monika realizes that she's making Eric uneasy and giggles, "Relax… I believe you." It seems that Monika's plan all along was to tease the new member a bit. It worked like a charm. "R-right…" Eric leaves it at that for now, as he wants to move away from that topic as quickly as possible, given the likely chance it gets worse from there. And thankfully, someone else decides to change the topic right away, someone who has grown impatient, "Ugh… can I finally show everyone what I worked hard on last night, Monika?" Of course, that someone is none other than Natsuki, who has her hands on her hips impatiently.
This whole time, Monika has taken the spotlight from Natsuki, who has been dying to show everyone what she brought in. She gives her a sheepish expression as she realizes this, "Oops, my bad. Go ahead, Natsuki! I'll be… over here." Monika moves over to one of the desks in the clubroom and sits down. Natsuki gives an exasperated sigh and says in an annoyed tone, "Finally! Monika can be an attention hog sometimes." With that, Natsuki moves over to a desk that has a tray wrapped with aluminum foil. "I bet everyone is dying to see what I brought!"
"Tada!" Natsuki peels off the foil, and underneath them are six cupcakes decorated with fluffy icing, all of them shaped to be cute kitty cats! Everyone gasps at the craftsmanship of the cupcakes, even Eric, whose gaze is fixated on them. He eventually says something, "There are six cupcakes." He sounds relieved when he says this.
Instead of giving him a straight answer, Natsuki decides to answer it in her own usual way, "Yes, there are six cupcakes. How very observant of you." Her voice is oozing with sarcasm. "You are very lucky I made just enough because otherwise, you're gonna have to sacrifice your cupcake, Sayori!" Hearing that, Sayori pouts at Natsuki, clearly upset by the comment, "Nooooo… why do I gotta do that?! It's not even my faaaaault!" She is acting as if it's actually happening, even though it was a hypothetical statement. Natsuki sighs at the rather hyperbolic Sayori, "Sayori! You do realize that you're still getting a cupcake, right? I've made enough for all of us!" Sayori is still making her pouty face as she responds, "I know, but stiiiill! A Sayori from another timeline wouldn't have her cupcake if there were only five!" That response catches Natsuki off guard, and she chuckles from that, "You've been hanging out with Monika way too much!" Monika turns her head towards Natsuki as she hears that. She makes a sheepish smile but doesn't say anything to her.
It's up to Eric again to save this conversation, and he says to Sayori, "If that were the case, then I'll let you keep your cupcake. No matter how delicious they might be."
"How noble of you! I hope that doesn't imply that you think you are too good for my cupcakes!" Like before, Eric does not know what Natsuki is going with this, "Well… no. If I really thought that, then I would have given Sayori my cupcake. Which I'm not!" He says the last sentence loud and clear, and it is directed toward Sayori. This gets Sayori to make a sheepish smile, as she would have most likely taken that as Eric being literal. Eric continues, "Besides, I should take responsibility for my actions. I pretty much joined at the very last minute, so the blame shouldn't be pointed at Sayori. And… at a very inconvenient time, considering I joined after you were told there was only one person joining. Still my fault, though."
Natsuki takes a good bit to respond to Eric, and with nothing particularly nice to say as usual, she groans and retorts to him, "Ugh! You talk too much! Just take your cupcake and shut up!" Eric doesn't really take the retort seriously; he just snickers quietly as he finds it funnier than threatening. Eric hopes that Natsuki doesn't hear him snicker as he grabs a cupcake from the pan. After Eric grabs a cupcake, the rest of them grab one, except for Monika, who is deep in thought about something while sitting at her desk. Eric is the first one to notice this and goes over to Sayori and talks about it to her, "Um… Monika hadn't moved from her desk ever since she sat down. Not even to grab a cupcake. Is this normal?" Sayori looks over at Monika, and sure enough, Eric is right. She looks back at the tray, and there's one left, which means that Monika didn't grab it as everyone else has a cupcake in hand.
Sayori frowns, seeing this, and shakes her head, "No… this isn't normal. Something is seriously upsetting her." Sayori then looks at Eric and smiles at him, "You should go take this cupcake and sit next to her. Maybe you can cheer her up!" Eric smiles sheepishly as he points to himself, "M-me? Why me?" Sayori giggles at Eric, and she replies to him, "Well, you were the first one to notice something's off with her, and you were even concerned about her earlier. Plus, you are incredibly nice, and I know for sure you can cheer her up from whatever is bothering her!" Eric grabs the cupcake and nods slowly, "I guess you're right." Sayori beams at Eric at being told this, "I know I'm right! Now go sit next to her!" She turns towards MC and says, "And you should sit next to me!"
Eric shrugs as Sayori drags MC to the desk next to her, and he walks over to Monika and places the cupcake on her desk, "You forgot to grab a cupcake… uh… yeah." Eric beads sweat, and he goes to sit next to her. Monika looks over at the cupcake and back at Eric and smiles weakly, "Oh… you're too nice. Thank you." Eric frowns as he knows that Monika is faking her smile. "Hey, I know something's wrong with you!" He gasps, realizing that was a tad loud. Monika nervously looks away from the group, and from Eric. "W-what do you mean…?"
"Well… don't ya think it's bad for the president to be so glum? A leader is supposed to give confidence not depression." After Eric says this, Monika gives him a more convincing smile, "I'm fine. See?"
Unfortunately for her, Eric is a nonsense salesman. He knows it when he sees it. "I… might know what's going on. Can I talk to you in private?" Monika makes a nervous smile again and says, "O-of course, but why in private? I'm sure whatever it is, the others should know as well." Eric glares.
"You know what it is, and you can't keep dodging this forever, especially if it affects you this badly. Please." Monika stares Eric down. Eventually she nods slowly, "Very well…" She gets up from her desk and motions to Eric, "Follow me, please." Eric quietly trails after her. Sayori notices the two leaving and looks over the desks they are sitting at, and the two cupcakes are still there, "Cupcakes…" Natsuki notices Sayori reaching for their cupcakes and shouts at her, "Don't even think about it!" Sayori's expression changes to that of a scolded child, "Oh…!"
Another Classroom [4:30 P.M.]
Upon entering, a heavy tension permeates the room, and a silence follows suit. "Why…?"
"Why… what?" Eric speaks with veigned confusion. Monika then turns around with tears building up around her eyes, her face red with emotion. "Why did you bring us back, Eric?" Once again surrounded in silence. Eric's facade finally broke, and a confident grin broke through. "So… you figured it out, huh?"
"Why did you bring us back?! Did you want to torture me some more?! I know your act isn't genuine! You're trying to hurt us again?!" The tears flow faster, turning into streams. Each word bringing red hot pain. "Are you trying to make me look bad? I already feel bad, so what do you really want? Because it definitely isn't happiness and friendship!" Eric stops grinning, as the words sting, they hurt. He lets it get quiet, letting Monika cool down. "Not really. I said what I meant. Although… I guess I did put up a bit of a front." Eric scratches his head, "Listen… I'm not trying to torture anyone or make you look bad. I want to make everyone happy, like I said before during my speech."
"Bullshit! All of you players are the same! You just want to play the game, watch my friends get tortured then delete me at the end, only to just fucking do it again and AGAIN!" She screams at him. This was a long time coming. "That was apparent when you even deleted me before the reset!" Monika reels back, trying to wipe her eyes in some vain attempt to regain strength. "H-haven't I suffered enough?! Haven't WE suffered enough!? What the fuck is it that you want here!? "
"Monika… it's true that I deleted you when I played the game regularly. But I have to be honest. I didn't want to. I'll tell you what happened on my side. I had no idea that I was able to do that until I poked around in the game files. I was in disbelief that I could do something like that. Especially after listening to you, and all you wanted was to be loved. Even after knowing that I could delete you, I didn't for a while." Monika stays silent after listening to Eric's story, "You didn't?" After a bit, she adds on, "Then why waste your time with this? Just to do it again? You wanna see my friends die and then delete me!" The tears come once more, as the avalanche of emotions come hurdling down once more. "Just go ahead and fucking do it again!"
"You must know that I'm completely different from all of those other players! Didn't you notice something really crucial? The fact that I'm actually in your game world!" He says the last sentence loud and clear to Monika. Monika stops crying aside from some sniffles, "T-that's true… but… how is that possible?" Eric adds, "You must have felt the game's code is different than before. Almost as if it's… real." Monika's eyes widen as she comes to this conclusion, "You're… you're right! Normally, I wouldn't even have this time to talk to you about this, and you did it as if you had free will." Monika stares into Eric's eyes with hers, wanting more, "How? How are you able to do this? Please tell me."
Eric chuckles in a cocky tone, so this is how he normally acts, "It's simple… I'm from the future!" He shouts this as loud as he can, sending an echo back in and around. Monika lets it sink in. Really get the flavor from this. Because it tastes like nonsense, but it doesn't smell like it. "So… you're a player… from the future?" Monika blinks as she tries to process this. Eric nods, "Yep! So that means I have technology that allowed me to get here."
Monika stops crying as she wants to know more from Eric, "Is… is that so? That does explain how you were able to enter the game and why it feels so real, unlike the other times." Monika then adds something else. "So… you really had no intention of hurting me?" Eric shakes his head, "Of course not. At first, I was mad about what you did to the others, but the more I listened to you, the more I understood. You just wanted someone to love and be loved. I forgave you at that moment because… you really had no choice. I really wanted to help you, but I had no way of doing so, at least not at that moment. I wrote blueprints on a VR chamber that will allow me to enter your game and wrote ideas to help out when I get to your world. All while I listened to you."
Hearing this, Monika gasps as if what Eric said meant something to her, "You… you listened to me? So does that mean you only deleted me… because you knew you'd come back for me?" Eric nods immediately. "Exactly. I'm very sorry that I did that, especially when you said at the very end that there will never be a player that will understand and care for you truly." Monika gasps again at what Eric told her, "My… my message went through? You… heard my plea?" Monika cries again, but from tears of joy, "T… thank you." Monika rushes over to embrace Eric tightly, "I forgive you, Eric. Oh… oh my god…" Monika cries even harder, "After so long… countless resets… millions of players… only you… you were the one that saved me."
Eric darts his eyes around as he hears Monika's words, feeling weirded out by what she's saying, "So, you remember everything that happened? What every player did to you?" Monika nods slowly while holding onto Eric tightly, her hands digging into his back, "I had to say the same line over and over for each player, hoping that at least one would understand me. But… when I got to you, I had enough… I broke and said what I've been keeping inside of me this whole time. And you… actually listened." Eric nods, "Of course I did. I felt I could do something to help you, and so I did." Monika nods back at Eric, "And I'm incredibly grateful for it." Eric then gets reminded, "Oh, we should go back to the clubroom. But first… do you feel better now?" He gives Monika a sad smile, "There's probably more you want to talk about, and I understand that, but you have a club to run." Monika nods, "You're right… about both things. If what you said is true, and I have more free will, then I would love to talk to you again."
Eric nods, "Sounds good. I guess we can leave it at that for now until you want to talk to me again." Monika nods, with her tone being incredibly happy now as if the curse of her sorrows has been finally lifted. "Believe me, I have SO much I want to talk to you about, and I really want to, but you're right! I have a club to run, and at least you've cheered me up enough for me to focus." Eric realizes that Monika is still hugging him tightly, "Uh… you're still holding on to me."
Monika does not let go but, in fact, holds on even tighter. She says to him, "I know. It's just… you feel so real to me, and you are actually here with me. My player…" Monika holds Eric close without the intention of letting go of him. "Do I feel real to you as well, Eric?"
Even so, Eric responds to her in a nervous tone, as if it still weirds him out, "Y-yeah, that is what the VR device can do, after all." Eric lets Monika get it out of her system a bit longer as he thinks to himself while she continues to hug him, "Yeah, not gonna lie, as nice as this hug feels, it's getting a bit creepy from how long it's lasting. Still… if I'm going to keep everyone happy, I have to comply with everyone's whims." After a good bit, Monika lets go of Eric and exhales, "Thanks for that. I really needed it." Eric smirks a bit while shrugging, "No problem. I trust that you are okay now. Because we definitely should go back before we worry the others." Monika gives Eric a sheepish smile, "Oh yes! We definitely should! But I would really much love to talk with you again like this, for longer if that's okay!" She changes her sheepish smile to a loving one, pretty much returning to her usual self. Eric responds with a more casual tone as he follows Monika out of the random classroom, "Yeah. Whatever you want, Monika. You're the club president." Shrugging out of the door.
I'll stop here for now! It'll get way too long if I keep going so I'll post the second chapter later. This story will celebrate the 6th anniversary of DDLC. I hope whoever reads this enjoys it and leave some suggestions and thoughts if you like! I had some help with the editing so I hope you enjoy that, too. I'll leave it up to the readers to find what part has been edited. I believe that's it so, happy reading!