I apologize if I absolutely slaughter the Japanese culture, I have great respect and admiration for it, but the internet research I did was kind of confusing. I figured DDLC is kind of like a hybrid between American and Japanese schools. Also, part of this chapter was inspired by the Sayonika animatic Cliché by Megui. Definitely go check their channel out, it's amazing!

Chapter 1

The First Day

Sayori laid across her bed, drool leaking out the side of her mouth. The gentle sounds of birds tweeting awakened her. She slowly opened her eyes with a smile, until it hit her.

"H- huh? Huh?!"

Sayori jumped to her feet, hands clutching the side of her head, fingers writhing through her messy hair. Her breathing was heavy and labored. A thousand thoughts overwhelmed her mind, each one clamoring for attention like an insistent younger sibling.

"What is this? What does any of this mean?! Reality- simulation- player- dating simulator?!" She cried.

She was almost completely overwhelmed by the thoughts, but the sound of her alarm clock beeping startled her. She turned to look at the time.

"8:25? Crap, I'm gonna be late!"

She raced around her room, hurriedly putting on her blazer, making sure her blazer was fully buttoned. As she ran out the door, she combed her hair, placing her signature red bow on the side. She looked messy, but that didn't matter. She was already going to be a mental and emotional mess, so why not complete the set?

As she ran into the door of the school, the late bell rung. It had taken her a total of ten minutes to make it to the school, which was record time for her, but she was still late. She groaned as she trekked up the stairs to math class. On her way, she saw a flyer for a club.

"Join the literature club, a place where everyone can be happy," Sayori read aloud. She winced as a throb in her head made her feel like she had heard that before. She noticed that none of the tickets on the bottom of the flyer had been grabbed. She felt a wave of pity for whoever the president was. She shrugged and grabbed one of the tickets on it. It couldn't hurt to join. Besides, her school did have a requirement that all students had to join a club. Then, she dashed into class, wincing as she realized the teacher was staring right at her.

"So glad to see that you could finally join us, Sayori," he sarcastically smiled.

Sayori bowed her head slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sasaki-san! I ov-"

"-You overslept, I know. Take a seat, please," he said, sighing.

Sayori walked slowly to her chair. Many of her classmates were grinning, even chuckling, as they knew this was a common habit of hers. Her childhood best friend, MC, simply shook his head and looked at his paper, pretending to ignore her. Sayori was pretty sure she saw the hint of a smile on his face. She plopped into her chair with very bad posture and blew her hair out of her eyes.

(I'm too lazy to write the rest of the school day.)

Sayori fought the urge to jump for joy as the bell signaling the end of o Soji rung. She hung her mop on the wall and slung her bag on her shoulder. Then, she looked at the note she had written on her hand in permanent marker: Go to the club :) ;) XD! Past Sayori may have overdone it a little bit with the smiley faces. She checked the room number for the literature club and waved to MC before walking up to the second floor to the club. She pushed open the door, hesitantly standing in the doorway. A girl was standing across the classroom, looking out the window. A white ribbon was tied in her auburn ponytail. Sayori knocked on the door to get her attention. The girl whirled around, and both of their faces morphed into shocked expressions. It was as though Sayori had been whacked with a sledgehammer. She saw lines of numbers and words running across the screen, and strange images of other girls that she didn't recognize. Little did she know, the other girl was seeing the same thing. It lasted for about a split second before Monika's face split into a wide smile.

"Hi there! I'm Monika, president of the Literature Club! Are you here to sign up?"

Sayori opened her mouth to speak and took a half-step forward before she tripped and fell. Monika rushed forward and barely caught her head just after the rest of her hit the floor. Sayori sighed.

"Sorry, I'm really clum-"

She looked up and saw Monika's concerned expression. Wow, her face was really close. Sayori could see herself reflected in those emerald eyes, and make out every tiny stress line in Monika's face that was otherwise very smooth. For some odd reason, her cheeks felt slightly warm. She jumped to her feet, clearing her throat.

"CLUMSY, YEAH, HAHA! I'm clumsy…"

Monika tried not to laugh. "Yes, I can see that. Anyways, what's your name?"

Sayori smiled. "I'm Sayori! It's nice to meet you! And yes, I'd love to join!"

Monika tilted her head, extending her hand to shake it. "Then welcome, new vice president! I have a feeling we're going to become good friends!"

This is the result of me starting two different fanfics at the same time, having not finished a really big one I'm working on over in the Undertale-Percy Jackson universe. Why do I do this to myself…

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! And hey, hang in there!