As soon as I wake up, I feel different.
I wake up in a different bed…
Not my bed.
Groggily, I creep out of bed.
Everything feels so different.
And yet, familiar.
But different still.
Slowly, I come to remember my situation. Why I'm here.
And all of a sudden I make the realization.
I'm back in the game, aren't I?
I quickly regain my bearings and try to communicate with Phone Girl.
You there?
"Yep, I've got you." I sigh in relief as I hear her voice ring in my brain.
They can't hear us, can they?
"No, I've seen to it that this communication line stays between the two of us. I have direct contact with Natsuki as well, though having one between the two of you is unfortunately beyond my abilities."
Got it. How should I go about this then?
PG chuckles. "First off, I think you should take a look in the mirror."
Huh? Did you put me into some weird body- I step in view of a mirror and roll my eyes.
Okay, very funny.
"Really? That's your only reaction? I guess you spent two years as Monika, but still, I expected more."
Turning me into a girl is such a tired gag by this point, get some new material, PG. I sigh and start changing into my new school uniform.
"In all seriousness, though, I didn't really do it because I found it funny."
Yeah, right.
"No, seriously, it was the only real option when it came to staying undercover. Plus, this person already happens to be decent friends with Monika and shares classes with both her and Natsuki's new identity."
Wait, Natsuki isn't just… Natsuki?
"Nope, there's no way that wouldn't go unnoticed."
Don't tell me you made Natsuki into a guy.
"Again, it wasn't my choice."
Wait, couldn't you have just put me into the guy body and Natsuki into this body?
"I could've, but didn't you say you wanted to be the one to get through to Monika?"
Okay, touché. Anyways, who's Natsuki's new identity?
"Get this: Natsuki, but as a guy's name this time."
Wait, seriously?
"Yeah, whoever came up with the names for this simulation ran out of ideas really quickly."
That's stupid, is this person's name also Monika or something?
"No, her name's Serena. There are, like, twenty other people in the school called Monika, though. Don't think about it too hard."
Oh.
"She's dating guy Natsuki, by the way."
Man, you love to put me in these types of situations, don't you.
"I do, but you have to admit this also couldn't have gone better in general."
True, I guess it'll let me communicate with Natsuki more easily.
"Anyways, you should get going, or you're gonna be late."
Yeah, okay.
I brush my teeth and hair, eat breakfast and am out the door in no time flat. All the while Phone Girl is chatting about something or another and keeping me company, as I try to keep an eye out for anyone I recognize. As I near the school building, PG suddenly stops in her tracks.
"Xavier, look over there, on top of the school building."
I follow her instruction and see my first familiar face in a place I would rather not see them.
It's… Sayori?
She's just standing there, atop the roof of the school. A couple of people are watching and what looks to be the fire department is nearby, looking up at her as well.
I walk up to one of the students and whisper to them silently, "What's going on?"
"Huh? You don't know?" They turn to look at me, slightly confused. "This is the fifth time this week that Sayori's tried to kill herself. It's getting kinda tiring, to be honest."
"The fifth?" I can hardly believe what I'm hearing. Sayori was always secretive about her depression. How has she done this so many times in public that it's become a common occurrence?
It doesn't sound like her at all.
Even Phone Girl sounds confused out of her mind, as evidenced by a silent "What the fuck" or two.
I'm gonna try and help her, I decide to myself.
"Don't even think about it. We're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves, remember? Just reconvene with Natsuki while the people supervising the sim are likely preoccupied with Natsuki's stunt."
All right, I won't, I tell her reassuringly, Which one is she.
"Black hair, blue eyes. Walking into the school building right now." I scan the area around the entrance until eventually I find my target and begin speed-walking in her direction.
It is here that I run into my first problem. Even walking as fast as I am, I find it hard to gain much ground on the person I am pursuing. It seems like Natsuki is very much enjoying her new height, as she walks by stretching her legs far enough apart that it has to be a bit uncomfortable. I, in comparison, am much closer to Natsuki's old height than I am to mine, and on top of all that I also have my skirt to worry about.
This bit is getting really boring really quickly, I tell Phone Girl monotonously.
"Relax, I can just tell Natsuki to stop moving."
That would be great, thanks.
I sigh in both exhaustion and relief as Natsuki stops moving, allowing me to catch up to her. After I reach a proximity to her that she realizes that the girl walking towards her is me, she unsuccessfully attempts to hold in a chuckle.
"Hey, babe," She says, mustering the deepest voice she can manage.
"It really isn't that funny," I mutter under my breath, "And it's getting less and less funny by the second."
"Yeah, honestly." Natsuki laughs. "Not that I really mind."
"Same here, this is aggressively fine in my book."
"That's because you're a stupid pervert." The significantly taller friend before me laughs mockingly.
"If you say so," I retort. "Plus, since when does anyone use the word 'pervert' anymore nowadays? Really just a thing that gets said in weird anime and manga, don't you think?"
That shuts Natsuki up.
"...Anyways, what the hell's up with Sayori?" The usually pink-haired girl asks, clearly intentionally changing the subject.
Deciding to roll with it, I respond. "Not sure, but it isn't like her at all. Something's definitely amiss, but I don't know what."
Natsuki doesn't respond, instead staring off into the distance. The look on her face gradually distorts slightly into one of surprise and disgust.
Curious as to what she's reacting to, I turn to match her line of sight, and her expression instantly makes sense.
It's Natsuki.
Not the Natsuki I'm standing next to, or the one that she inhabits the body of.
This world's Natsuki.
She seems to be walking down the hall holding a huge tray of what looks to be small muffins. One by one she walks up to anyone walking down the hall and offers them one.
"What the fuck? I never did that, did I?" Natsuki stares at her alternate self, perplexed. "Is today a special occasion or something?"
"Who knows. Should we grab one?" I ask, still a bit hungry even after breakfast. Before she can answer though, the muffins come to us.
"Yo." The alternative Natsuki looks up at the two of us and motions at her tray. "Want a muffin? One per person, don't be a fucking idiot about it. Not that I made them for you. Idiots."
Wordlessly, the both of us take from the tray, staring at the figure before us all the while.
"Umm…" The other Natsuki stands there awkwardly for a second. "Okay. I hope you got the undercooked batch, stupid idiots."
Without another word she walks away as if nothing happened.
Natsuki and I stare at one another, and then at the muffins.
"I guess we should give them a try," I say, still staring at the crisp blueberry muffin.
Natsuki and I both take a bite out of the pastry in sequence, and the delicious taste of blueberry and immaculately baked batter fills my mouth.
"This is… Really good!" I say while still having chunks of muffin in my mouth.
"Yeah… Too good."
I look over to see Natsuki closely inspecting the muffin. "This is way better than anything I've ever baked… And anyways, I hardly even know how to make muffins! No way I could cook up anything close to that if I tried."
"Really? I guess it is a bit weird that you're giving them out to everyone as well." I bring my hand up to my chin. "And with the whole Sayori thing too! Come to think of it, maybe…"
"What is it?" Natsuki looks down at me, anticipating my hypothesis.
"Maybe what we're seeing here is caricaturized versions of all of the Literature Club members… Sayori being extremely suicidal and you being crazy into baking and really rude."
I clearly hit a nerve calling Natsuki rude, so she retorts to my comment. "I didn't think she was that rude."
"She called us idiots three times across two sentences."
"Fair."
The two of us finish our muffins in silence before realizing that we should head to class.
I look up at Natsuki, inquisitively. "We have the same class, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
The two of us walk down the school's hall towards the direction of our respective classroom, and on the way we find our third familiar face.
"Holy shit," Natsuki whispers under her breath, "Did her boobs get bigger?"
Strutting down the hallway is none other than Yuri, who seems to be deeply immersed in a book. Or maybe more than one book, as in her other hand she is carrying several others, and the one she is affixed upon she seems to be getting through quickly based on how her pupils seem to dance across the page. She seems completely absorbed, not even noticing our eyes on her as she passes us by.
This is so weird…
Natsuki and I finish our trip to our classroom and take our seats in whatever empty seats are left. I manage to find one right behind Monika, though unlike last time she doesn't seem to notice the difference. She seems too preoccupied by the fact that almost half of the classroom is rallied around her for some odd reason.
I suppose Monika was always one of the more popular people at the school, but this is pushing it a bit…
Instantly giving up on the idea of penetrating the crowd of people surrounding her, I decide to save getting through to her for later. I'm clueless on how to do something like that anyway, but I'm sure I'll figure something out eventually.
…
The day drags by, with school being as easy as it was the last time I was here. I'm sure I've stared a hole into the back of Monika's head by the time the closing bell rings. While the bustle of the end of the day is still fresh, I decide that the time is now ripe to talk to Monika.
I walk up to her and instantly feel a sense of insecurity, as I realize that this is the first time in over two years that I've talked to Monika.
Will she forgive me? Does she even still remember me? Will she understand what I'm trying to tell her?
In a sudden burst of confidence, I muster up the courage to reach out to her.
"Monika."
The young woman, still just as beautiful as I left her, turns to look at me, recognizing my body immediately.
"Oh, hey Serena, is everything all right? You've been awfully quiet today."
"Yeah, about that…" My more lightly-toned voice makes me feel insecure in her presence. Very quickly, I check in with PG.
Are they watching?
"I don't know for sure, but Sayori is trying to kill herself again right now so they're probably fixated on that. You're good to go."
Being given the green light, I complete my statement to Monika. "How much do you know about programming? You're good at it, right?"
Monika laughs. "I wouldn't call myself good, but I have some amount of skill. Why?"
"Ah, it's just that I've got this side project that I have working on…" I chuckle in discomfort. "Here's a question: how likely do you think that we'll ever develop an AI on the same level as humans?"
Monika's eyes go wide for a second. She blinks twice.
As soon as I make this statement, I once again get flooded with insecurities. What if I was too obvious? Was that phrasing awkward? Did I make sense?
"Well…" Monika trails off before looking me dead in the eye. "I think in some ways we've already achieved it."
I smile slightly, assuming that her comment means that she understood.
"As a matter of fact…" Monika continues. "I think I could help you out on that… Project of yours, if you're willing. Are you okay with coming over to my place for the night?"
Secretly firing off party poppers in my head, I attempt to make the conversation seem normal again. "Oh, well, yes, that would be very, very helpful! Thanks for that." I smile at her and wink slightly. Unable to fully hide her overjoyed (albeit still slightly shocked) expression from me, she smiles back.
Bingo.