Chapter 27: Fun at the arcade

The following day after everything has been planned out. All four girls gathered at the bus station waiting for Michael to show up as planned.

Monika: "It's almost time for us to leave."

Yuri: "Do you believe he'll arrive?"

Monika: "I hope so." (I hope his mother was able to convince him to join. I'm worried that Sara might not allow him to see us.) She starts remembering the bruises he had on his arm. (Sara, I hope you pay for all this.)

Sayori: "Hey look over there." Everyone looks to where she's pointing.

Michael: "Why did you all bring me here?"

Sayori: "MC you made it."

Natsuki: "Nice to see you again."

Michael: "Like I had a choice."

Yuri: "How so?"

Michael: "My mom forced me to meet Sayori here, but I didn't expect the rest of you to show up. You think I should have."

"You need to go out and have fun in town."

"That's what she told me, so here I am." He says tiredly.

Monika: "I see." (Thanks Gabriella.) "Well, what's important is you're here."

Michael: "Why am I here?"

Monika: "Isn't it obvious? We're going to have fun again like last time."

Sayori: "Come on MC, let's go have some fun together as a group." She grabs his arm.

Michael: "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Sayori: "Nope"

Michael: *Sigh* "Very well. What are we going to do today?"

Monika: "No idea."

Michael: "What?"

Monika: "You heard me. I didn't make any plans this time except for the time and place we be meeting, as a matter of fact today we're going to go wherever the wind takes us. This is going to be a night we're not going to forget."

Michael: "I see." He tilts his head away from them.

Monika: (He doesn't seem enthusiastic? Then again, he rarely ever shows emotion or maybe Sara manipulated him to be more cautious around us? No matter. We're going to help you.) "Come on everyone let's go take our seats before the bus leaves without us."

They all cheered except for Michael and did what Monika asked entering the bus heading to town once again. During the bus ride no one said a word to each other. They all kept their mouths shut not knowing what to say. When they arrived, downtown Monika spoke up again.

"Okay everyone, we're here."

Yuri: "Back here once again." She looks around as the snow stops falling.

Natsuki: "What are we going to do anyways?"

Monika: "Like I said before. We're going wherever the wind takes us. We're going to walk around town and see what it has to offer on this glorious day. You're all free to suggest anything you want to do, so don't be scared to saying something."

Natsuki: "Hmm, something we could do."

Yuri: "What could we possibly do for fun?"

Sayori: "Oh I know where we could go." She says while jumping up raising her hand.

Monika: "I knew I could always count on you Sayori. What do you have in mind?"

Sayori: "There's an arcade I saw the last time we were here."

Monika: "Arcade you say?"

Sayori: "Yeah, yeah. I wanted to go there last time, but we had so much to do that there wasn't any enough time to play some games."

Monika: "Interesting, if that's the case then lead the way."

Sayori: "You got it." She runs up front signaling the others to follow. "Come on everyone. Let's play some games."

Natsuki: "Arcade huh? Well, that does sound fun." She soon follows.

Michael: "... Whatever." He then follows Sayori's lead.

Yuri: "Oh dear."

Monika: "What's wrong?"

Yuri: "I'm afraid I don't really play any video games. Maybe it would best if I stay out of it?"

Monika: "Yuri … Come on. Remember this is for Michael. We got to show him how much we care and to see him smile. I know this is asking a lot from you, so I don't blame you for feeling uneasy, but we got to get away from our comfort zone every once in a while."

Yuri: "… You're right. I'll do it for him. I'll give it my best shot."

Monika: "That's the spirit." She walks with Yuri to catch up with the others and they all follow Sayori to the arcade. When they arrived, there were a lot of people playing games as the music plays through the speakers.

[I'm Believer by Kotono Shibuya]

"Woah, so this is what an arcade looks like?"

Natsuki: "They have a lot of games here. Where should we start off?"

Sayori: "Yes"

Natsuki: "What?"

Sayori: "Yes"

Natsuki: "That doesn't answer my question?"

Sayori: "Just pick a game and let's do it. Any kind will do."

Natsuki: "Then how about that one?" She points at a shooting game.

Monika: "Nice choice. Does anyone disagree?"

Yuri: "N-no, but I'll give it a shot."

Monika: "Great and what about you Michael?"

Michael: "Do as you will." He starts walking up to the machine.

Monika: "Looks to me only two people can play at a time. Who should go first?"

Natsuki: "Oh I know how we could settle this. Let's settle this with rock, paper, scissors."

Monika: "Well okay then. Is everyone ready?"

Yuri: "Yes"

Sayori: "I am!"

Michael: "Fine"

They all played to determine the order.

Monika: "Looks like I won."

Natsuki: "Eh, second isn't so bad."

Sayori: "I got third."

Yuri: "I manage to get fourth."

Michael: "I'm last."

Natsuki: "You're too slow dude."

Michael "..."

After determining the order Monika and Natsuki step forward to the machine and pulled out the small guns from their holsters. They both inserted some money and pressed start. For the next few minutes, they all started playing the game. They each took turns of who got the lowest score. Monika did decently, Sayori did alright, Yuri did badly, and Natsuki was the one dominating the game.

Natsuki: "Ha bow before your master!"

Yuri: "I suck at this." She starts feeling gloomy.

Monika: "Don't feel too bad." She pats her back.

Sayori: "Who knew she would be this good?"

Monika "Seems like she's got a lot of experience with these types of games?"

Natsuki: "So who's next?"

Michael: "That would be me." He steps forward.

Natsuki: "Well I hope you give it your all then?" She says confidently while Michael doesn't say anything and just starts the game. After a couple of minutes had passed of intense gaming. "What!? How? How could I lose?"

Monika: "Wow looks like Michael dethroned the master?"

Natsuki: "Damn zombie. It just popped out of nowhere as I reloaded my gun."

Sayori: "That was awesome! MC how are you so good at this game? Those zombies come out of nowhere."

Michael: "Don't worry about it. I just had practice is all."

Sayori: "What kind of practice?"

Michael: "... So, what's next?"

Monika: "Oh I know. How about that?" She points at the dancing game.

Yuri: "Oh I know of that. It's one of those games where you follow the arrows on the screen."

Monika: "You got that right. Michael, want to go first?"

Michael: "Think I'll pass."

Monika: "Oh come on Michael. We all saw those moves of yours. Why not give it go again? Come on I'll be joining you."

Sayori: "Yeah come on MC. Show us how it's done."

Michael: *Sigh* "Alright then." He starts walking up to the dance pad along with Monika as she takes off her green jacket and passes it to Yuri.

[Song Ends]

Monika: "Yuri, could you please hold on to that for me?"

Yuri: "S-sure" Michael takes off his black jacket.

Sayori: "You want me to hold that for you?"

Michael: "If you want to." He passes his jacket to her. They both do some stretching while setting things up before starting. After stretching her body Monika scrolls down the music list to choose what music to play while Michael waits for her to pick.

Monika: "Alrighty then, this time I'll make sure that I'm the winner." She says playfully.

Michael: "We'll see soon enough."

[Move Your Body by Eiffel 65]

As the music started playing. Both Monika and Michael waited for the arrows to pop up. They both started tapping their feet to get into rhythm and started moving their bodies to warm up before the arrows showed up on screen. When the arrows showed up and the music picked up, they both started following the arrows. The other three watch to see who would score the highest but were too distracted with their movements. While they dance an audience started to form seeing the both of them square off.

When the other girls notice this, they thought that they were only here because Monika was on stage. The way some of the boys were looking at her as she moves her hips and the flow of her hair.

Monika: (Should've known I would catch their attention. No matter got to keep my focus. Can't lose to him.)

She ignores the crowd and keeps her eye on the screen as the arrows start to appear faster. While she continues to dance against Michael, more and more people start to gather up to watch the dance off. More and more boys start to cheer for her, but not all of them did as a matter of fact some of them were also distracted with Michael's movements. Despite him being a boy, the other guys were impressed with his moves and started cheering.

Random Person: "Yeah shake it girl!"

Random Person 2: "Come on man! Don't let her get ahead of you!"

Random Person 3: "You're doing great girl!"

Random Person 4: "Show off the goods!"

Random Person 5: "Don't listen to these horn dogs! You're doing great man!"

It didn't take long until half of the crowd started to have a war between the other about who would win. Monika or Michael. Natsuki started to get annoyed while Yuri started to panic a bit to be so close to all these people. Sayori remained calm watching very closely at Michael. She wasn't sure why she's staring at him so closely instead of cheering for them, but she notices something on Michael's face.

Sayori: (There's the smile I wanted to see.)

Monika: (I can't look away from the screen to see his face, but something is telling me he's having fun. Can't give up here just yet. Got to kick it up.)

Michael: (How long has it been? How long have I heard cheers like this? It's been a long time since I heard cheers back when I did shows with Jason and Sara. This is very nostalgic. I'm glad to feel this again. The movement of my body, the roaring crowd, the intense breathing, the warmth of my body. It feels good again.)

Random Person: "Shake that ass!"

Random Person 2: "Don't give up man!"

Random Crowd: "Go girl!"

Random Crowd 2: "Go man!"

The two got more intense as the crowd starts cheering on them harder. Despite all this both Michael and Monika kept calm and kept competing against each other. However just as the music got louder Michael ended up slipping, terrifying the crowd as Monika kept her position racking up the points, but that doesn't mean he's out of this competition that easily. At the last minute he resorted to using his hands as he quickly gets back on his feet. This act surprised everyone in the building and when he did get up some of the crowd that cheered for Monika started cheering for him instead.

Random Person: "That's how you do it! Go man!" They all kept cheering for Michael as the music comes to its end.

[Song Ends]

Sayori: "We have a winner! MC!"

The crowd cheered while clapping as they start to walk away one at a time.

Random Person: "Phew that was awesome to watch."

Random Person 2: "You know he looks familiar, but I don't know who he is. Well, whatever that was cool." They all go back to playing more games while others leave.

Monika: "Phew. That was tiring than I thought. Looks like you win again."

Michael: "Thank you."

Monika: "Hm?"

Michael: "It was fun." He smiles to her.

Monika: "You're welcome." She smiles back. (I think that's his first legitimate smile.)

Sayori: "That was awesome MC!" She hands him back his jacket.

Natsuki: "You got some nice moves. Same to you Monika."

Monika: "Thanks"

Yuri: "Agreed, that was an amazing performance you two performed."

Michael & Monika: "Thanks"

Monika: "Well now. I believe it your guy's turn?"

Natsuki: "Wait what?"

Monika: "Oh come on. You didn't think it would just be me and Michael now did you?"

Natsuki: "Now hold on just a minute!"

Sayori: "Come on Natsuki. It's our turn." She pushes her up stage.

Natsuki: "W-w-wait you idiot!"

Monika: "Well after their done want to give it a shot Yuri?"

Yuri: "W-w-w-what me? Oh no I couldn't. It's far too embarrassing."

Monika: "Come on. It doesn't hurt to try out new things." She gives her a bright smile.

Yuri: "W-w-w-well."

While those two have a talk. Michael looks up at the stage to see Natsuki and Sayori dancing. Seeing everyone having a good time, it made him think about his life. He looks at his hand and remembers the scars he had. Whether physically or mentally. One thought came mind.

Michael: (Do I deserve this? Do I deserve happiness? Do I deserve them? When was the last time I felt true happiness? Those four … they're all so amazing. I'm jealous of each of them. They all deserve someone better. Not someone like me who does nothing, but complain. Is it possible? Is it possible for me to let go of the past? Perhaps not. I'm better off being alone. Only being with Sara until death finally arrives.)

End of Chapter 27