Rewrite Note: (07/03/2025) 10k to 13k
I decided to completely overhaul the ending of this chapter and by extension, Monika's character
Nonetheless, the change will give me more room to develop the second arc.
I personally like this version more than the previous one, the previous one felt... a bit edgy if I had to put it into words.
And I also expanded a bit/gave a small twist to the DDLC story while tying it a bit more into DxD.
The A/N of this chapter at the end may not make much sense.
Aside from that, well, extra OST got used for this chapter.
One last thing to add, I decided to also add a sort of "Encyclopedia" section for certain content, specifically fan made Sacred Gears and other content once they come into play
It was Friday, the day where they were supposed to decide on what they were going to plan for the festival.
With Yuri taken care of, Monika being dependable, and giving Natsuki an exit, all that was left was to continue with the festival plans.
As he entered the club room he saw that everyone was already there, and from the looks of it, Natsuki decided to truly participate.
Even after sharing their poems there wasn't anything out of the ordinary aside from Yuri and Cordis, as they both seemed to continue hanging out more than they previously did, to the point that they even left the room for whatever reason.
Perhaps a relationship bloomed between them, Issei could only look down as he did sort of feel irked by it.
After all, Sayori was supposed to be by Cordis' side.
As they came back, Monika proceeded to announce what they would be doing for the festival.
"So." Monika clapped her hands once. "Now that everyone is here, shall we proceed to confirm that everyone is on board with the idea?" She directed her gaze towards Natsuki who simply sighed.
"Oh, sure I'll do it, not because I want to, but because I don't want the club to look bad on the spot." She groaned.
Issei smiled at her, happy that he was able to make her change her mind. Natsuki looked away, feeling annoyed at the smile of the supposed pervert.
As they continued, everything seemed to go somewhat smoothly until it came to Yuri.
Monika this time didn't seem to think highly of her, which he noticed, but Yuri's demeanor had changed a lot recently, so he let the attitude go.
Yuri seemed confident of herself in a way, she was unsure of what to do, but she knew what she wanted.
It came to the same problem again, the girls wanted Cordis to help them with their tasks... except Natsuki, it seemed as she was more worried about her friends than anything else.
Both Monika and Yuri kept fighting over who got to partner up with Cordis.
Issei on the other hand simply said. "Mind if I help Natsuki a bit? My mother is pretty good at cooking and I'm pretty sure she knows how to bake as well."
It was true, she was incredibly skilled at cooking so it was the perfect excuse to stay close to Natsuki.
"..." Monika looked at Issei for a moment, no emotions behind her smile as she sighed.
However, she clenched her fist despite that.
"Yeah, sure, you can do that if you want." Monika nonchalantly accepted.
Issei frowned, not expecting her to act like this. But given how everyone has been changing in attitude, it wasn't as much of a surprise as it used to.
Meanwhile Natsuki seemed a bit flustered over the fact that he had asked to help her.
As Monika and Yuri continued to argue, Natsuki tried to calm the situation, but that wasn't her forte, it was Sayori's, in the end it ended with them saying something hurtful to each other.
Cordis on the other hand didn't say anything, staying quiet for the whole time until he interrupted the conversation.
He came to choose one or the other, and he pointed his finger at Yuri.
The smile on the girl was sinister, Issei felt a few shivers crawling down his neck.
It didn't help that Yuri was starting to act weirdly.
Before long, he grabbed Natsuki's hand and left the room.
"W-wait what are you-" Natsuki attempted to protest.
But when she looked at Issei's face, she saw a worried expression as he shook his head before looking back at Yuri.
"This... never happened the first time around, what in the world had changed for her to end up acting like this?!" Issei said with a bit of fear, looking at this craze driven girl.
"We shouldn't have left her to Cordis..." He whispered, which Natsuki alone could hear.
Natsuki was starting to get scared, Issei stood near her while he whispered again. "We should leave the room for a bit."
Yet before leaving, he signaled to Monika to do the same, which was ignored by her as she continued to stay in it, protesting over the plans that Yuri and Cordis seemed to have agreed on.
They both made their way outside the club room while Monika tried to stay in it, but she was then pushed by Yuri to then close the doors.
Monika tried to reason with Yuri, but it didn't seem to have worked at all, as a loud bang from the doors shutting made Monika finally give up.
She sighed with annoyance. "Well, that didn't go as expected."
Monika seemed disappointed, yet that same disappointment annoyed Natsuki.
She went up to her and screamed. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You've been acting so weirdly lately! You've even told stuff behind our back to Cordis! You... You're not the person I once knew, what happened to you?!"
Issei stood there quiet as Natsuki let everything out of her chest, Monika simply stood quiet, but this did beg the question, what was happening behind their back?
He knew he left early when he went after Natsuki back when she had the argument with Yuri, but he didn't know that it would be giving her the chance to further get closer to Cordis.
He didn't expect there to be so many consequences for what he did, everything seemed to have changed slightly, to the point that it has culminated into this huge difference.
Did this all happen because Sayori wasn't here? No... she once said they never acted like this until Cordis came.
Moreover, was this even a romance anymore?
It didn't feel like it this time around, it did before to some degree. Yet now it has morphed beyond recognition of what it was supposed to be.
Issei thought that this was enough of Natsuki yelling at Monika, as it looked like she didn't care. "Natsuki, I don't think yelling at her will fix anything, how about we let her explain herself first?"
Natsuki thought about it and then stopped, then Monika proceeded to say. "Thank you, Hyoudou, the reason why I have been more aggressive... You've seen how Yuri was acting, I didn't want Cordis to continue hanging out with Yuri, because... the reason why she's acting like this is because of Cordis."
"What?" Issei couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did they screw up by allowing Cordis to stay by Yuri's side?
Natsuki flinched upon hearing that, perhaps feeling guilty that she was part of the reason for Yuri's drastic change.
But Monika continued to explain. "I advised Cordis to stay away from her, because it would make it worse, but he ignored each warning I gave him, so in the end he reaped what he sowed."
"But then shouldn't we worry about what they're doing inside?" Natsuki was very worried. She clenched her fists as she truly felt like she was the reason why this all was happening.
Monika quickly responded. "I wouldn't, this is the only way we can calm her. I say let her be, both of them seemed to want to see each other so there was no way of stopping them."
In the end they all went silent, Issei still needed a way to make sure the two sane people with him were still willing to continue with their plans. "So are we still doing the festival preparations?"
Monika immediately responded. "Oh yes! Absolutely, while they may not be coming out any time soon, we should still make sure that we prepare for when Monday comes!"
"Ahd uh... we should get away from this place before they start making noises..." She sheepishly laughed.
Wait so does that mean that they were doing it insi-
"Ew, please remind me to get a mop and bleach so I can not only clean the room up but also remove that mental image." Natsuki said as she felt disgusted about thinking what they were doing inside there.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave, I'll see you on Monday" Monika quickly left the scene, leaving Natsuki and Issei alone.
To which Issei started by asking about how they would work together. "Sooooo, when can you come to my house?" Issei asked Natsuki.
The girl then said. "What makes you think I would go to your house?"
It took a second before Natsuki to realize her situation again. "Oh right, I suppose there is no other way to do this..."
"We should also leave this place like Monika said, I don't want to hear them do... whatever they're doing inside." Mentioned Issei.
Issei would have loved to stay to listen had it not been for the fact that it was between two people he knew to some degree. Hopefully his two friends don't come anywhere near here, because he knew they would be ecstatic.
But it did bother him that two of the members were already far gone mentally.
Cordis seemed to have completely lost his mind, or maybe this was the consequence of not having a childhood friend, without her he was basically similar to him and his friends, he could easily pass as another one of them.
Possibly due to his lack of female friends, he had turned much more perverted, he didn't blame him, he was the same, and he thought he was still the same as before.
Maybe in another reality, they were known as the perverted quartet instead of trio.
As he left alongside Natsuki, Monika remained silent, hidden behind one of the corners.
"Next time, uh?" She whispered, remembering that promise Issei made to her in that last reset.
Just like with Cordis, it seemed as if she was being put aside like always.
She thought that maybe Issei would be someone she could count on, after all, she noted how Issei was being overshadowed by Cordis, just like her with her club mates.
After all, he appeared out of nowhere, a character she had never heard of before, perhaps this so-called 'game' decided to have a DLC or something.
But alas, it looked like she was being set aside once again.
Did the world just want to see her downfall?
She sighed. "Will I ever be able to have my own happy ending?"
Natsuki and Issei were now outside of the Academy, no one seemed to be near, they had spent a long time inside debating on the preparations.
They were both walking together, not knowing when they would depart from each other, the only remnants of the club that seemed sane enough.
"So did you make up your mind?" Issei asked again, that had been talking about the preparations and time to work on the festival's content.
He predicted Sunday like how it happened last time, he was unsure if there was a reason why she couldn't come earlier, maybe her father didn't want her to go outside or maybe there was something else going on.
Either way, he did not push the issue any further.
"I've decided on Sunday, I'll be going to your house." She responded.
A time that Issei expected. What he didn't expect was to see her rummage through her bag until she pulled out a small piece of paper. "Here's my phone number, if you need anything ask me, don't you dare use it for anything funny though."
Issei softly picked it from Natsuki's small hands. "Thank you, but here's something that might also help."
He quickly pulled out a piece of paper as well, Natsuki looked confused as she took it, she then read what was written on it.
"Wow, you really want me to go to your house don't you?" Natsuki chuckled as she rolled her eyes.
It was his own address, he came prepared in case she needed help as soon as possible.
"Just remember, don't be scared to come to the address if you need to." He gently reminded.
Issei felt like he was being paranoid, but after what happened last time, he still didn't want anything remotely close to that event occurring again.
"Why are you even helping me this much? We've only met like 3 or 4 days ago." Frowned Natsuki, still unsure about Issei's intentions.
He himself was a bit unsure, the prospect of saving everyone could have been one of the motives, but probably not the one he was focused on.
Perhaps he wanted to act as Sayori, so that the club that she held so dearly would continue to prosper... and he could only mentally frown as he knew what a horrible job he was doing.
"Well, maybe one day I'll tell you." He responded.
He didn't know when, but if he's able to get past Monday, perhaps somewhere along the way. "I guess this is where we part away, I'll see you on Sunday."
"Same to you, and just so you know, you better not think anything funny when I come visit." She huffed as she glared at him.
Issei chuckled, he simply thought of her as adorable with that pouty face.
Natsuki tried to threaten him, but it only came out as your typical Tsundere line, despite that, Issei knew that they all weren't the typical ones as he thought they were at the beginning.
That being said... he did wonder...
What was Monika's backstory?
It was now Saturday, Issei hadn't gone out with his friends for almost a week now, he really wasn't in the mood, but his friends seemed to not ask either, since they were jealous of his affiliation to the Literature Club.
Seriously though, when would they stop? Their pact was not about hanging with hot chicks, it was abandoning the oath by getting a girlfriend.
But... he did feel a bit empty, he was laying in bed doing nothing.
He wasn't really in the mood to create poems at the moment, his interest for games and porn wasn't there either.
But... he did find some comfort thanks to the manga Natsuki gave him.
That being said, he felt a bit guilty, he felt like he was just using Natsuki to replace Sayori's spot, just as the world replaced her completely, or rather, erased her from reality.
Even so, he couldn't push Natsuki away just because of his own gripes, she was not in a good situation, and it would be insanely selfish of him to just leave her to her own luck just because of personal issues.
Selfishness... He knew that being selfish wasn't a bad thing by itself, but being too selfish would do him worse than good.
That being said, right now, he really was just doing nothing alone in his house.
His parents had to go to work due to a few emergencies, be it due to understaffed workplaces or help with a colleague at work.
Well, in actuality, it was his father since his mother was a housewife. The reason why she went with Gorou was because she wanted to talk to a few of her husband's colleagues.
Thankfully they always had leftover food for situations like this, so he didn't have to worry about starving.
It was getting close to dinner time, so he decided to do something for once and walked down the stairs.
Suddenly, he heard someone knock at the door, he was expecting to see his parents, perhaps forgetting something back home while leaving, and they were coming back to get it.
When he went towards the entrance he looked through the peephole, and his eyes widened, seeing that Natsuki was the one on the other side.
Quickly opening the door, he then asked. "Natsuki? Why are yo- Wait is everything alright? Did anything happen at home?" He grabbed her by the shoulders with worry.
Natsuki pushed him away as she started yelling at him. "What the hell are you doing! Don't touch me unless I tell you to!" Her attitude calmed Issei down as it was the usual mood she had.
"I came here because... I- I ran away." Natsuki finally confessed as she looked down.
Issei remained silent for a moment, he wasn't expecting her to do something so drastic, but at the same time, he smiled.
He smiled over the fact that Natsuki was able to detach herself from her father.
He then continued to say "I'm sorry for acting so rashly, here, come in."
As she came in he noticed that she had a huge bag with her, it surprised him the fact that she could even lift the thing up, but that thought was replaced as Natsuki commented. "Hey, where are your parents?"
Issei scratched his neck awkwardly as he explained. "Well, they said that they had important stuff at work so they had to leave, this doesn't happen very often but I don't know when they'll come back."
"Oh well, I guess it's just... the two of us." Natsuki started blushing once she finished the sentence.
Issei figured out why she was blushing but didn't comment, he simply went to the living room to sit down on the couch while he waited for her to follow.
She eventually did sit down on the couch as they both decided to talk while watching the TV. "So got any ideas when they'll be back?"
Issei looked at her with a gentle smile. "Probably tonight, around the time we're already asleep if I were to guess. I would have loved to see you and my mom get along since she's been trying some new recipes for desserts recently and she would have loved to share some of her recipes with you."
He then chuckled. "Ah, though if anything I'd say she would be thanking the heavens that her son was able to bring home a girl."
This did make Natsuki laugh a bit.
She seemed to be more relaxed now that Issei noticed. It was a part of her that Issei hadn't seen yet.
She then twiddled with her fingers as she asked. "Uhm, if it's not much to ask, can I stay here for the night? I'm not sure if you'll allow me.. or if your parents will allow it."
Issei couldn't help but find her current attitude cute.
He realized her question and coughed before saying. "So it was that bad... But responding to your question, I'd say they would let you live here actually, we do have a free room, we could set it up for you."
"Wait, are you serious?!" She said, not believing what she was hearing.
Not long after, Natsuki composed herself as she then inquired. "N-not that I really want to, it's just... are you sure?"
Issei's demeanor did get a bit sad as he then said. "Yeah, my parents would treat you like their own daughter, they've been wanting to have more kids but... they've had difficulties doing so and... they were thinking of even adopting."
Thinking back, he did remember that he was supposed to have older brothers, but that never truly happened.
He wondered, would they have been better than him? Made his parents proud? Many possibilities that he wondered throughout many years.
"I'm sorry to hear that... but... I'll accept the proposal" She responded.
Issei smiled hearing her response.
"But only if I hear it from your parents!" Natsuki quickly added, just so that he wouldn't be getting any odd ideas.
"Then I guess we should go have dinner now, I've got some leftovers my parents left just in case they had to be at work for a long time." He went to the kitchen where he crouched to get a bowl wrapped in plastic, inside it were the leftovers of pasta that they had yesterday.
"You sure we couldn't just cook anything?" Wondered Natsuki as she looked inside the fridge, which was stocked with many ingredients.
"I mean... we could, but these are supposed to be used for the preparations for the festival." He explained.
"Hey, now that I think about it, do you even know how to cook?" He inquired.
"What? I can bake, shouldn't that be a good enough answer?"
"I mean... baking and cooking are different." He clarified.
"Mmm... I guess I never tried cooking on a frying pan..." She said as she frowned.
"Well, I guess pasta leftovers it is, I'll just put them inside the microwave." Declared Issei.
They spent having dinner laughing and chatting with one another, all while the TV was on in the background.
Once finished, he went to put away the dishes, all while Issei was telling Natsuki a few of his tales with his friends, their shenanigans and hijinks that were of questionable morals.
"And so when Matsuda tried to get up, he headbutted the kendo girl by accident." Issei was telling a funny story of one of the times he had peeked at the girls kendo club, not the best story to tell anyone, but Natsuki really didn't care as she had heard worse.
"Jeez you guys really are perverts." Natsuki said, a bit annoyed about how perverted the three idiots were.
Nonetheless, she was having fun hearing them. "I can't believe you guys aren't expelled yet"
"Actually I do wonder as well, but I didn't really want to challenge fate." Issei added as he washed the dishes.
Natsuki then looked at the TV and asked. "What made you join the Literature Club by the way?"
Issei paused for a second, he didn't know what to say really, saying that he did it because of the system would make him look crazy, saying that he just felt like it was also dumb, but he remembered what he told Yuri before.
"I've actually been practicing poetry for a while now." He spoke.
This took Natsuki's attention. "Wait, really?"
Issei nodded as he continued washing the dishes. "Their quality varies from one to another, some are terrible, others are decent, and there are some that I think are pretty good. If you want to, we can go upstairs to my room to look at them and also prepare a bed for you."
"Wa-wait to your room?! I-I mean sure, let's go there" Natsuki said flustered as she looked away.
Issei couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at what he just said, it sounded really dirty now that he thought about it again.
Once he finished, he guided her to his room, he did hesitate a bit before opening his door.
"And here's my room, sorry for the mess, I wasn't really expecting you to come." Issei admitted as Natsuki entered his room. It was a bit messy, but compared to how it used to be, it was much tidier than before.
What made it messy were the various notebooks scattered around, and the pile of shredded and crumbled paper that formed around the trash bin.
"Oh wow, look at that mountain of notebooks" Natsuki said in awe as she went towards it, she took one of them and started reading some of the poems. "Pfft, wow this one is bad."
She then looked at Issei's desk, noticing that a pink book with cherry blossom petals was lying on it. She grabbed it and decided to read through it.
Issei noticed as he couldn't say anything before she picked it up. The poem she had grabbed was The Cherry Blossoms' Grave.
Issei reminisced once again about Sayori and how she could brighten up the Literature Club.
Without her, he saw the club entirely crumble, and now, all he had left was Natsuki, the girl who disliked him at first.
She finished the book to finally comment on it. "I... got the message from it..." She looked at issei, who had a sad expression all over his face.
She took a deep breath as she then asked. "Do... you want to talk about it?"
Issei clenched his fists as he looked down at the floor. This was the second time she asked for his well-being after reading a poem.
He sighed as he sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. "I... I suppose I do want to talk about it..."
Natsuki slowly sat by his side as he took a deep breath before he finally let all his pain out.
"... I once met someone while I was starting to write poems." He started.
"She was nice, willing to help everyone... and... always put everyone else before her." he smiled while remembering Sayori.
"And... I fell in love with her... I wrote a poem about her before..."
"I declared my love to her, but... I chose the worst time to do it." He said as he frowned. "She was depressed at the time, and I made it worse for her."
"... But... She didn't love me back." He said with a shaky breath, exasperated while remembering his dumb decisions and how it led to a wordless rejection. "She was in love with her childhood friend."
"I ran away, I felt hurt from having my heart broken..." His breath was getting faster as he recounted the following events.
"And... that was the worst thing I could have done." He now had tears going down his eyes. "She committed suicide in the middle of the night, and I was the one to discover her body..."
He hugged himself as he trembled. "I... I still remember seeing her body hovering over the chair, that empty look on her face... that... haunting image..." He cried.
Natsuki proceeded to hug him. She gently comforted him, her eyes had a tint of sadness as well, hearing Issei talk about such a traumatizing event had affected her as well.
"I... can't imagine the pain you had to go through." She whispered. "You had no fault, Issei..."
"And even if you did, I know she would have forgiven you." She then hugged him tightly.
"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault." She repeated.
"If... if you need any help, your parents and I are here to help you." She reassured. "I can't truly express just how much I wish to help you, all I can do is comfort you in this very moment..."
"Just like you have been trying to help me..." She added.
It was a nice feeling, it felt incredibly nice for him to finally let someone else know, his parents learnt about it, but they completely forgot.
Natsuki... She was a friend of hers, she acted mean but was kind on the inside, she was the one Sayori thought of when the mention of friends helping came. He knew that he was in good hands, and he wanted to keep those hands safe as well.
His heart calmed down as they still were hugging tightly, this hug felt nice, soothing, calming, there were many ways to describe it, and Issei didn't want to let go.
But he had to, he had to try to make small steps to finally move on, and this would mark the first one, he hoped he wouldn't regret it later.
The pain that Sayori's death did to him would never be erased, but those are scars that he was willing to carry.
Because they were a reminder that Sayori once existed.
"Thank you... I really needed that." Issei softly whispered in response as he finally started to calm down.
He finally let go and tried to gain back his composure. After minutes of silence and Issei taking deep breaths he finally stood up.
"...Now then, let's make sure you don't have to sleep on the floor." He spoke, with a rejuvenated, yet still tired tone.
He smiled, genuinely this time. He felt calm now that he had Natsuki's support to get through this issue.
He then said. "I'll be putting a futon on the floor, you can take my bed." He went towards his closet, where he began searching for a futon.
But the next thing he heard from her made him stop in motion.
"I think it would be better if we slept together."
"..." Issei's eyes widened as he felt like if he were to move, something bad would happen.
Never in his life would he have thought he'd hear those words directed to him but boy was he glad he could hear them.
Natsuki quickly added. "N-not like that you pervert! I mean it has in we use the s-same bed." She was blushing while looking away, already regretting her use of words.
"S-sure if that's what you want." Issei conceded, he seemed to have gone back into his timid self when talking to pretty girls.
Natsuki, still red, proceeded to say. "Uhm alright, in that case, get out of the room for a bit."
"But this is my roo-"
"I'm planning to change clothes, get out!" She yelled, to which Issei did not stall any longer.
Issei stood still outside of his room waiting for her to open it, never in his life would he have thought of getting kicked out of his own room by a girl, especially one who would strip inside it but ever since he's joined the Literature Club he's been experiencing many new things.
He wondered when the next quest would appear, he felt anxious, as the last time this happened, Sayori's death happened.
He was scared that it would be something bad like last time, but he wanted to stay positive, especially after Natsuki helped him out.
Natsuki finally changed into her pajamas as she opened the door to tell him. "Ok you can come in now."
When Issei looked at her, he didn't expect to see her without her hair accessories, all he could think was that she was cute, and he would not attempt to express that in front of her.
He looked at the suitcase and noticed that the clothes she had were in there, he couldn't help but blush a bit.
To which Natsuki pinched his side, making his jolt from the pain. "Don't you dare have gross thoughts!"
After that, they both sat on the bed again awkwardly.
Looking around they didn't know what to say now, it was a boy and a girl about to share a bed without any parental supervision.
They knew that this usually led to something, but both knew that this wouldn't be the case.
In the case of Issei, he was still trying to get over Sayori, he couldn't see himself with Natsuki, not with his lingering feelings and his doubts in love.
And for Natsuki, she finally had a new safe haven, and she didn't want to lose it by going too fast.
"I guess we should sleep now..." Issei nervously whispered.
He was incredibly nervous, how couldn't he? His heart started racing, he then looked at Natsuki.
"You sure you want to sleep here with me? I can still get the futon and sleep there." He asked again. He wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.
"No, I'm fine, I'll just get in as well" She insisted. She then also laid in bed beside him, who still hadn't gotten into bed.
Issei looked at her for a bit before snapping out of it, he then got to her side in bed, they were both making eye contact, yet as every second passed, they started to calm down.
It was relaxing, just looking at each other laying down after they had gone through their own hardships, they both had met someone who could understand them, as they started to smile, they felt as they kept getting closer.
Each time they got closer they could feel each other's breath, neither of them really pointed it out, it calmed them.
Before they knew it they cuddled together as they felt comfortable by each other's side.
The feeling of pressing one self with another felt a bit strange at first but in the end they got used to each other's physical tact as they hugged each other, wrapping their hands around the other person.
There were no words exchanged, they simply stayed this way as the noises outside their comfy abode slowly turned into a blur while they both slowly fell asleep.
It was Sunday, the house was completely quiet, the sun had finally risen and its rays of light were sneaking between the curtains.
They coincidentally placed themselves on Issei's eyes, he slowly woke up as he then looked around, he noticed that he was still snuggling with Natsuki, yet he said nothing, he simply waited for her to wake up.
It was nice, staying like this felt nice. He wouldn't want to trade it for anything in the world.
Minutes passed and Natsuki finally woke up, she was sleepy, Issei helped her up as they both were sitting on the bed.
"We should get up and do the festival preparations, you know?" He softly smiled as he saw her cute sleepy demeanor.
Natsuki supported her head on Issei's shoulder, they stayed in that position to continue feeling comfy.
She then muttered. "Just five more minutes... can we stay like this at least?"
Issei obliged as he didn't want to get up either, he simply admired her, he would have never thought that things would end up like this.
This moment was disturbed by the sound of the door to his room opening.
They then saw Miki Hyoudou coming into the room as she was going to wake him up since it was around 10 AM now. "Ise, you have to wake up! Don't tell me you stayed awake all night?"
She froze seeing her son with a girl... one that looked a bit too young.
Not saying anything, she gently closed the door as if she hadn't totally been seen by her son and the mysterious girl by his side.
Before closing it, she excused herself. "Uhm, I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready."
The moment she closed it, she started sprinting down the stairs.
Issei could hear his mom yell. "Dear! Issei took a girl home while we were gone!"
He then continued to hear his dad say. "He what?! Did he get a girlfriend?!"
He felt embarrassed about what his parents were saying while Natsuki continued to stay by his side…
"I don't know but she looks way younger than him!"
Issei's eyes widened. "Ok, I think it's time I get up." He thought, alarmed by what his parents were thinking.
He looked at Natsuki who was trying to hold her annoyance in as she started to grip a bit too hard onto Issei's arm.
Oh boy he was gonna have a long morning.
"Uuuuh, Mom? Dad?" He called out nervously, to which his parents looked at him with expecting views.
"This is Natsuki, sorry for not letting any of you know about her." Issei said as he extended his arms to present Natsuki.
He was sitting on the table alongside Natsuki, on the other side were his parents looking nervously.
"She's a student at Kuoh Academy and also a member of the Literature Club." He proceeded to continue presenting her, this time however, both of his parents sighed in relief as for a moment they thought that their son took a liking to younger girls.
"Oh, sorry for my previous outburst, I was surprised to see my son with a girl in bed." Explained Miki.
She was relieved and proud that his son was able to take a girl home.
Just then Natsuki decided that it was finally time to talk as the conversation was starting to get incredibly embarrassing.
"It's a pleasure meeting both of you, I apologize for creating any misunderstanding." She bowed her head as she wanted to be polite.
Gorou Hyoudou tilted his head, a bit confused as to how his son got with this girl.
Knowing his tastes, he expected his son to bring home someone with... let's say more proportions.
She was exactly the opposite of his son's taste, Gorou thought that there was something else that his son saw in her.
"So how did you both meet?" Issei's mom asked as she wanted to know everything about her and if they were really in a relationship.
Natsuki went and said. "I met Issei when he wanted to join the Literature Club, we then started hanging out in the room for a few days and our club president decided that we needed to prepare for the festival."
Issei decided to continue giving details. "So we partnered up to bake some stuff to bring to the festival, and uh, we should als-"
Before he could say anything his father then questioned him on something.
"Wait, you've joined a Literature Club?" Gorou was surprised, and so was Miki, they did feel a little bad as they didn't know anything about what Issei was doing at the academy
"Issei, you could have told us about this, did you feel like we would not like you trying out something new?" Miki frowned.
"N-no, it's not that, it's just... I had so much going on in my head that I... sorta forgot?" Issei didn't know how to excuse himself out of this one, but thankfully his mother was able to change the subject.
"I guess you were sometimes forgetful." She sighed.
She then proceeded to ask. "So Natsuki, about the festival, you said that you were going to bake to bring stuff to the festival, right?"
Natsuki nodded in response as Miki continued. "Then I can see why my son asked to partner up with you, I guess he wanted me to help as well."
"Are you good at baking ma'am?" Natsuki questions only for her to be more casual.
"Yes I am! Also none of that ma'am talk, call me Miki, you're close to my son, so I want you to feel comfortable around ok?" She insisted.
Natsuki didn't know how to respond, she was never treated so kindly before by those of an older age.
To her, Issei and his family seemed very warm to her, farm warmer than her father or... the club...
She looked down as she felt a bit sad remembering her household issues.
"I uh, also want to talk about something more serious." Issei had to interrupt this happy conversation, he noticed how Natsuki was slowly getting sadder by the minute.
Natsuki knew what this was for, but before he could continue his mother yet again asked an out of pocket question.
"Don't tell me you did it without protection." She said with a scared face.
Natsuki went completely red as Issei slammed the table while getting off of his chair. "No, we didn't do anything like that!"
It was incredibly embarrassing for him. But he quickly calmed down to continue what he was trying to say.
"Can she stay with us? She's not safe in her house so... I want her to live with us." He ended up saying.
Natsuki was anxious to hear the response, she didn't know if it would actually work, but color her surprised as they proceeded to happily allow it.
"Of course, we can get the extra room ready in a moment." Gently allowed his mother.
They seemed worried about what Issei told them and they wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to Natsuki, as they were already getting used to her presence.
"Th-thank you for letting me stay." Natsuki bowed.
Natsuki didn't know what to say, but she felt relieved, she felt as if a huge weight had been taken off from her, but she knew that there would be a moment where her father would come searching for her for doing such a thing as running away.
"Now then, how about we start making those preparations for the festival while Issei and his father start setting up the room for you?" Miki suggested.
She seemed to really want to get to know Natsuki as she could feel that they both had good chemistry.
Issei and his father didn't object, they went upstairs to get the room ready as both Miki and Natsuki started getting every tool they needed and put on an apron.
Upstairs Issei felt his father touch his shoulder as he seemed to want to ask something.
"So... you like-" He tried saying.
Before he could finish that sentence Issei immediately denied it. "What?! N-no I don't! We're just friends and she needed someone to help."
He denied loving her, he was still mourning Sayori's death.
"Son... I know something changed you but... I suggest you don't let go of a chance like this." his father said with a serious tone.
"I've seen both of you look at each other from time to time, she looked at you, unsure that we would let her live here, but you always looked back to assure her." He pointed out.
Gorou kept talking as he moved some furniture out of the way. "You care about her a lot, I don't know what happened for you to act this way, but I know my son wouldn't act like this for any women, so I tell you, go for it."
He finished as he put a mattress on the bed frame. "That should do it."
Issei looked thoughtful, he was unsure of what his father said, but he knew that his father had more experience at love, he was married for god sake!
But in the end they simply finished without exchanging any other word.
Before they went downstairs again his father gave him one last piece of advice.
"You may never know when it is too late to confess." He advised.
"..." Issei stopped as he dowcasted his gaze.
He... denied being in love with Sayori before... didn't he?
What were the chances that his case with Natsuki wasn't the same?
He sighed. "Dad I..."
He took a deep breath. "I'm scared... scared that I might screw up our relationship..."
"That... the fact that I'm too much of a pervert will either make her reject me, or that the judgmental looks that others may give her are too much for her..."
Gorou had a sympathetic look on his face. "Ise..."
"Issei, look." He called out.
"When me and your mother wanted to have a child... those were the most grueling moments of our lives."
"Failed attempt after another, we felt like we were cursed to never have a son or daughter..."
"... And then... you were born."
He patted his son's shoulder. "No matter if you express your preferences, are rejected or don't find anyone else..."
"We'll be here for you." He reassured.
"And truth be told..." He sighed. "When... you started talking about perverted stuff..."
"We felt guilty." He admitted.
Issei raised an eyebrow. "Guilty? Guilty of what?"
"That... you lacked our care." His father finally said. "We thought that the reason why you were looking for a harem or chasing women was because we failed to be by your side when you most needed..."
"And... I guess the fact that we found out that you liked poetry just now is proof enough that we failed." Gorou grimly chuckled.
"... Dad, no, never in my life did I think that way." Issei reassured. "If anything... I felt like I was the one disappointing you guys..."
"Never." Firmly responded his father. "We would never be disappointed to seeing you be a teenager."
His father smiled at him. "But, what I want to say is that, even if your relationship were to fail, which I think won't happen, we will be there for you."
He then sighed. "Alright, we should get downstairs now, I'm glad we had this heart to heart conversation."
Issei smiled as he nodded.
Just before they continued, Gorou slammed his palm against his son's back. "Now go get her tiger!" He laughed.
They both finally got downstairs, Issei looked at Natsuki who had an apron, thinking of how she looked in it did make him flustered.
His father noticed this and gave him a smirk.
"We've finally set the room up." Gorou declared.
He then took a seat. "So what did you both do while we were upstairs?"
"Well, we mostly took out the ingredients and planned what to make, we ended with various cupcakes, donuts and if we have leftover ingredients maybe making some cookies." Responded Miki.
"Oh, also Issei come here dear." His mother called for him.
As he went towards them, she handed him an apron and said. "Put this apron on, you're going to help us bake, and then I'll teach both of you how to cook."
"Sure, I wasn't expecting just letting both of you do everything" He laughed, this time with even more vigor than before.
He put the apron on as he went to wash his hands first.
They spent more time trying to teach Issei how to mix bowls and how long he was supposed to have the dough in the oven.
In the meantime, he also learned how to make whipped cream thanks to Natsuki.
He ended up trying some of his ideas while baking, making a mix of the red and black colors as well as white and blue to represent the mysterious books he had as icing.
While the red and black one looked good enough, the other one just looked like a big blob of toothpaste.
"Wow, you really didn't think this through." Laughed Natsuki
He took both of the already made cupcakes and decided to save them for himself since according to both his mother and Natsuki no one would pick them.
"Sure sure, I'll just eat them myself later." He grumbled.
Issei was having fun with it, this was both a bonding moment with his parents, Natsuki, everyone present in the room really.
As they continued to have fun, Issei realized that Natsuki had icing on her face, instinctively, he put his finger near where the icing was and took it and proceeded to eat it.
Natsuki realized what just happened and was completely red over it.
Just second after, Issei then realized what he had done and weakly said. "S-sorry about that, I didn't think that through." `
Natsuki didn't look at him, not because of anger, but because of embarrassment. "No, it's fine, just don't do that again."
His parents looked at this interaction with sly looks on their faces.
After they finished everything they could think of in preparation for the festival, Issei's mother proceeded to say. "Now then, since we're still in the mood, how about I teach both of you how to cook?"
The evening was spent in learning how to cook, while Natsuki easily adapted, Issei was falling a bit behind.
He knew that without the system's help he couldn't really do much. But with enough hard work he knew he could end up making something good.
Sure, he got the choice to use the same feature as when he was writing poems, but he ignored it.
He found it fun to learn with those around him. Perhaps he should try it with making poems as well.
"Hey Issei, could you pass me the spatula?" Natsuki asked him as he was closer to it
He immediately did so. "Here you go."
Upon looking at what Natsuki was cooking he saw that she was making an omelet.
"Say Natsuki, have you ever thought of working at a bakery?" Wondered issei.
He wanted to know more of her dreams and what she wanted to do when she grew up.
"Mmm, maybe, I'm not sure, but if I did I'm sure it would be popular" She said with utmost confidence.
Natsuki was confident in her ability, and Issei couldn't blame her, he proceeded to say. "Well, if the face of the bakery was you then there would be no surprise."
"Ah?! What do you mean by that?" Natsuki inquired more.
Issei oblivious to the fact he was complimenting he continued. "Well, it's because you're beautiful, you're nice as well Natsuki, your ability and creativity in baking could make any brand new bakery boom in popularity."
"..." Natsuki was stunned, she didn't expect him to think of her that highly, but she was convinced now...
Issei Hyoudou was someone she could always count on.
"Thanks..." She whispered, not enough for Issei to hear.
"Pardon? Could you repeat that?" Issei didn't know what she said, but she refused to repeat it.
In the end they simply spent practicing their cooking without exchanging another word unless it was asking for utensils or ingredients.
They ended up making pretty nice dishes according to Issei's parents, but to them, Natsuki's were better.
Issei didn't really care, he was proud of himself for being able to do something well.
It got late as they had to go to sleep so that they would go on Monday to the festival.
They all went to their respective rooms.
Issei was lying on his bed, still awake as he couldn't sleep.
He was nervous, he didn't know what would truly happen on Monday, all he knew was that Sayori committed suicide in the middle of the night, and since she was no longer part of this world, he no longer had any knowledge.
After all, he didn't go to the festival and didn't know if something else happened there.
The noise of his door made him snap back to reality, as he looked to see who was entering his room, he found Natsuki with a pillow
He asked her what was wrong. " Natsuki? Why are you in my bedroom? Do you not like the room we set up for you."
He stood up from his bed looking at her with worry.
"I just couldn't sleep." She admitted
She was starting to blush a bit. "I uh... just want to sleep in the same bed as you just like last time... it... it felt nice..." She uttered with embarrassment.
Issei looked away and said. "...I see, in that case, sure, hop in."
He saw as Natsuki slowly got to the side of his bed, she then put her pillow beside his and went into his bed.
Just like last time, they were in the same position as before, looking straight into each other's eyes as they kept quiet.
That silence was broken as Natsuki started to softly say. "You know... It's kinda weird that we ended up like this..."
Issei could agree, he didn't know what changed in the other members that only the two of them could depend on each other.
"But do you hate it?" He asked.
"No... I don't hate it, I love that I can stay here besides you... besides someone I can trust..." Smiled Natsuki. It was a calm smile that comforted Issei
He then felt Natsuki put her hand near his cheek, this action made his heart start racing.
"I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me, I worried that maybe... If I stopped acting like I used to, others would simply pity me, that made me feel weak, and I didn't like that..." She admitted.
Natsuki looked down a bit sad, only to smile again. "But you've shown me that there is nothing wrong with asking for help, you've shown me that I can be strong with the help of others... you've shown me that it is much better to ask for help in a weak state, than to pretend to be strong."
Issei simply smiled back at what she had said, he had done it, he was able to help someone.
He felt like this was enough to make him not question himself about if he was doing the right or wrong thing, he was glad that he wasn't as useless as he thought.
Gently, Natsuki got a bit closer, she continued to whisper. "Issei... I have been feeling like this for a while now..."
"Every time you talk to me... despite yelling at you and calling you a pervert..."
"You have been patient with me... ever since you've made me tell you about my troubles..."
"I wanted to do this."
Issei was about to ask what she was talking about.
Only to be interrupted by a pair of lips slowly clasping with his own, he felt his hand being held tightly as he felt the soft tender lips of the girl that he didn't know if he loved.
But with this, he was sure now.
He accepted it, he accepted the kiss and Natsuki's feelings.
He closed his eyes as they both took their time to feel the sweetness that they were both sharing.
As they slowly pulled back, all Issei could say was. "At first, when you came to my house, I wasn't sure how I felt for you, because of my past affection, I didn't know if I would be able to love someone again..."
"But you've made me want to move on, if I hadn't met you... I wouldn't have known what to do..."
"But Natsuki, I love you."
"I love you so much, despite how you initially treated me, I saw how you worried for others, I saw how you put your friends before you and I saw how you were willing to open up to someone like me."
"I really do love you."
Natsuki smiled with joy after having her emotions accepted.
She giggled as she lowered her head onto Issei's chest.
"Does that mean that we're official?" She wondered, still happily snuggling against Issei.
He simply responded as he gently smiled while looking at her. "Of course, I would love to be your boyfriend."
They quickly snuggled together as they giggled a bit.
As they got closer Natsuki wanted to know something. "So... would that make the festival our first date?"
Issei gently put his hand on her head, "If that is what you want, then yes."
They slowly drifted to sleep as they held tightly to one another.
The guilt that Issei felt was slowly being left behind.
And behind said guilt followed Natsuki's fears.
Unknown to Issei, the system had given him another image to the gallery.
A new image has been added to the Gallery
My Cooking Companion
Finally, it was Monday, Issei woke up, he felt refreshed, he yet again, waited for Natsuki to wake up.
In the meantime, he wanted to see the Relationship menu out of curiosity.
What he saw alerted him quite a lot.
Relationships
Story 1
Cordis 14/100 - 0/100
Monika 22/100 - 0/100
Natsuki 100/100 - 75/100
Sayori 70/100 - 20/100 (Unavailable)
Yuri 10/100 - 0/100 (Unavailable)
He worried and wondered why Yuri's status showed unavailable.
He then widened his eyes once he realized that this meant that she was dead.
He clenched his fist as he theorized that she must have let her self harming obsession go too far.
Issei didn't want this to happen to her, but there was no way for her.
Trying to ignore the possibilities, he decided to distract himself by looking at Natsuki.
He didn't want her to worry, he wanted to make sure that at the very least they had a good time before she learnt about it.
Just then the system gave him the next quest, it was about time it did, but since it came after a while, he knew that something bad was happening.
Quest #8
Raccoon's Streetlight
Condition: Go to the Literature Club Room
Failure: You don't go to the Literature Club Room
Accept
Issei recognized the title. "So... Yuri's really dead..."
And the condition... he needed to be wary before entering.
He deduced that upon entering, he would see something terrible, maybe that was where Yuri had died.
If so, he would make sure Natsuki didn't see that.
He'd made sure to protect her from any more suffering, he knew she was strong, but this was too much for her.
Issei on the other hand... wouldn't see a dead body for the first time.
Natsuki finally woke up, this time she smiled at him as she had a good night's rest, to which he returned with his own smile.
They both got ready in their own rooms, they had woken up before Issei's parents were awake so they didn't need to explain why Natsuki was in Issei's bed.
As both of them got ready to go to the academy, they both said their goodbyes to Issei's parents.
Miki couldn't hold back her tears as she saw her son go to school next to a girl. She was happy to see her son find someone he loved.
Upon arriving at the gates of Kuoh Academy, the gazes that they got were many.
Seeing the pervert enter alongside a girl while holding hands was something that many were surprised to see.
To the point that some girls even went up to them to ask.
"Hey there uh... is the big scary man forcing you to do this?" One of the students asked.
This made Natsuki completely angry as she declared. "Don't say that about my boyfriend!"
This confirmed that they were indeed a couple, much to everyone's surprise.
They then split up to go to their respective classes.
He then heard loud footsteps coming behind him.
Both Motohama and Matsuda saw this and immediately ran towards him. "ISSEI YOU BASTARD! How could you betray your comrades in our alliance!?"
Matsuda seemed much more emotional over the debacle while Motohama told him to calm down so that Issei could explain.
Issei proceeded to say "Sorry, but I've had a lot happen to me during the weekend, it's a bit personal, but I ended up having her stay at my home, that's all I'm gonna say."
They proceeded to cry saying stuff like 'lucky bastard', 'I'm jealous' and so on.
Issei ignored them, he didn't need this right now.
He had to make sure that he completed the quest without Natsuki noticing.
He spent most of the time thinking about her or the quest, he wondered how Monika and Cordis were doing.
If Yuri ended up dying in the room, that would mean Cordis knew about it, or maybe he rejected her and left, not knowing that Yuri, in her unstable mind proceeded to use her knife to commit suicide...
This was really messed up, yet it was scary how calmly he was thinking this through.
He has already seen Sayori's dead body before, and now, he was about to see Yuri's dead body.
Time passed until it was finally time to go to the Literature Club. Issei was nervous, he waited for Natsuki to join up with him
Then they would enter the room together, or so Natsuki thought. As they finally gathered they went towards the Club room.
On their way, they found Monika, she had a wide smile on her face as she wandered through the halls.
Upon noticing them, she greeted them. "Oh, hello Hyoudou, Natsuki, have both of you done the preparations?"
"Yeah, you did say that the festival would happen in the afternoon." Issei commented just to act more normal.
Monika saw as he and Natsuki were quite close. She then went on to try and tease them. "My you both are pretty close, did you both end up falling in love or something?"
Both Issei and Natsuki said at the same time. "Yes, we did."
Upon realizing they said it at the same time they laughed
But Issei noticed that Monika looked disappointed, she seemed to not have expected this, but seeing her with that expression was something that he didn't see often.
"Oh, uh, well congratulations!" Monika half heartedly congratulated.
"Well, uh, I wasn't expecting this, how about we enter the club to talk about it?" She moved towards the door as Natsuki was about to open it, Issei grabbed her hand.
"Uh? Is something wrong Issei?" She was confused as to why he had stopped her, she then cringed as she noticed the smell. "Ugh... don't tell me that they actually did it in there..."
But she noticed how Issei looked worried, so she let him talk before doing anything else. "Please cover your eyes." He pleaded.
Natsuki was doubtful on the reason why but Issei's look of desperation was enough to agree.
"Open the door now Monika." Ordered Issei with a grim look on his face, ready to brace for impact.
As Issei instructed her, Monika seemed surprised on how he was acting, but she followed with the orders nonetheless.
Upon opening the door to the club, just as he had expected, Yuri was dead, her body was on the floor as there were many blood stains around.
But he did not expect to see Cordis there, he had a dead look on his face, holding his legs.
Had he entered the room to see her body? Did her body stay there for the weekend?
"Oh, well that's a shame" He heard Monika say as she laughed a little, to which he widened his eyes with surprise.
He didn't expect her to react that way, but it seemed like she was expecting it.
Monika took a step forward. "I suppose this is a failed one again."
Issei raised an eyebrow when he heard her.
"What's Monika talking about?" Natsuki was still present but she was starting to get worried, she was starting to get curious and was about to open her eyes.
Before she could do that, Issei held her hand softly, a signal that she had to keep closing her eyes.
Monika raised her hand, and a notebook materialized.
She took it and scribbled something on it.
He saw as Yuri's body disappeared into thin air, this put Issei on high alert, the same then happened to Cordis.
He was about to ask something but before he could say anything.
He felt that his hand was now grabbing air.
Looking back to where Natsuki was supposed to be, she was not there.
She had disappeared as well.
Issei didn't know how to act, he found love again, and now it was gone just like that.
Issei felt despair, he felt like his heart shattered into pieces yet again.
Just how Sayori shattered it, Natsuki took them and brought them back together, only to drop them yet again.
Issei felt like he wanted to simply disappear, just like how Natsuki did in front of him.
"This is strange..." Issei looked at Monika who looked at him confused.
She seemed like she was trying to figure something out. "Delayed Eschaton should have already deleted your memories of the past resets, yet you continued to remember bits of them, though not completely."
"Yet this is the first time I truly get the chance to test this out on you."
He was about to yell at her, asking for any kind of explanation.
But before he could do so he found himself in the club room, but it seemed like it was darker.
Looking outside the window he saw as it was completely dark, it looked as if he was looking at outer space, but he knew it was dumb, it was merely the middle of the night.
He couldn't handle what was going on, just what in the world was wrong with this specific Monday?
Why did they have to die?
Why was there no sign of a happy ending?
This didn't feel like a romance, this didn't feel anything remotely close to what the story told him.
Why? Why? WHY?
He gave up, he simply let himself sit on the floor as he rested supporting himself on the wall. He stared at the dark void outside the window with no direction at all.
Monika however, had different plans.
She stood in front of Issei.
"Hyoudou." She called.
(Now Playing: Limbus Company - Distorted Dream)
Issei gritted his teeth as he looked at her with rage.
"I can understand how you feel, and I am sorry for what I did that time." She apologized.
"An apology won't undo everything." He pointed out.
"... But I can still reset to before you joined the club." She explained.
Issei widened his eyes in surprise. "You... you were the one who was resetting back to the start?"
"I was, truthfully, I was surprised to see that you could remember bits and such." She commented. "At first, I thought it was a fluke, but right now, I see that it wasn't."
"Tell me, what power do you have so that my powers cannot affect you?"
"No, the better question would be, who truly are you? You who never showed up in the past loops when I tried to make Cordis fall in love with me."
Monika scribbled on her notebook, the class's desks were rearranged while Issei looked at them in confusion
The desks seemed completely clean, he could have sworn they even looked newer
"This power that I have… I've been using it for so long, to the point that I don't know how long has passed." She mentioned.
"Yet… I still remember the purpose of why I am using it…"
"I… I want my own happy ending." She revealed.
"Wait… I don't… I don't understand." Issei said as he clenched his hair in frustration. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"..." Monika sighed, she then took a seat on one of the desks.
"My power, Delayed Eschaton allows me to go back in time." She explained. "By writing in this notebook, I can go into the past, up to a point where I have been alive…"
"However, my body does not age, not until I reach the point where I had previously activated my powers."
"And… my future… it's grim, I only see my demise if I were to continue on that path." She stated.
She then reminisced. "How such an innocent looking girl asked me to join the club, only to backstab me… I will never know what she truly wanted."
"Which is why I went back to the past, time and time again…"
"All to find a way to get rid of my own ruin." She sighed.
Issei looked at with his fists clenched. "... And how does the Literature Club play into this?"
Truth be told, hearing her did make his anger waver a bit.
After all, he could empathize with her wish to go back in time to fix mistakes…
What he hated was the fact that everything he went through… his heartfelt interactions with his parents, his connection with Natsuki… and everything that he did to try and change himself…
Was all for nothing now.
"I've gone through my life, perfectioning and becoming the girl that you see in front of you, I used to be the complete opposite."
"An insecure girl trying to achieve perfection, never truly achieving it, and at the same time, being a mediocre president to the club."
"I thought that, perhaps, if I did everything to guarantee a better future, it would fix everything."
"But each time, I would find myself having my entire stomach pierced."
"The one who did it, was certainly sadistic, not allowing me to die instantly."
"After finding out that this wouldn't work, I thought that Cordis was the key." She explained. "Each time I went back in time, he would end up with a different member of the club… except me."
"As such, I made it my mission to make him fall in love with me, or at the very least start a relationship with him, to see if it would help me in some way or another." Said Monika. "Unfortunately, that never happened, even after so many attempts."
"The girls were destined to love Cordis from what I've seen." Monika said. "At least... that's what I thought."
"You, somehow... in your second attempt, got Natsuki to fall in love with you." She said, this time while glaring.
"Do you know how long it took me to even get Cordis to look at me?" She growled. "More than the times you took a breath."
She sighed. "So why... Why were you more successful than I?"
"What makes you so special!? A pervert nobody, able to make a girl fall in love with you!?"
"Why couldn't I do the same with Cordis!?"
She then sighed. "Well… At this point it doesn't matter, after all, at this point I'm a hag who's trying to get with someone who's barely legal." She grimly looked at him.
"Am I… destined to never find a happy ending?" She said with a desperate sad look on her face.
"I've tried so many times… all for naught…"
"When you appeared… I… I thought that maybe… maybe I had a chance…"
"Rather than going after you, I still had my eyesight on Cordis, seeing you try to go after Sayori made me more optimistic."
"And you stabbed me in the gut when you suggested Natsuki and Yuri to work with Cordis."
"You then promised me that you would help me with the preparation if Sayori hadn't been depressed."
"In which, I decided to, maybe, see if you would truly do so, that maybe, I could finally find someone to love me."
"So, I waited for the next loop…."
"And… you chose Natsuki, not just once, but many times now." She said with a pained look on her face.
Issei recoiled back a bit, this time feeling a bit guilty about that. "... I… I admit that I am at fault there."
Monika looked at him for a moment, seeing that he had finally calmed down a bit.
She looked away. "My… purpose somehow went from trying to avoid my death, to trying to find a partner."
"I admit that the idea of finding love being what makes me escape my death does sound ridiculous… but the fact that it is so hard for no reason convinces me that this must be it, the exit to my demise."
The boy on the other hand was starting to connect many dots, his mind was anything but calm right now.
All those times that felt like something was missing, or that someone was acting differently…
It was all because of Monika.
Time and time again, he suddenly saw those around him acting differently… Did that mean that he also had parts of his memory deleted, right?
But… then why would he be able to remember past resets or various bits of information?
Why not completely not know, or completely know the resets?
Was it because the Writer's System protected him? But why would it only protect him once in a while?
Or… Maybe the reason why was because he was being kept through each timeline while Monika changed something in the past.
That maybe he was being brought to a different timeline, only for the Writer's System to bring him back to the original one.
That would explain why he never reached Monday, or at the very least after Monday.
Because Monika believed that today was her last chance before she needed to go back in time.
As such, he would be brought back before one of the diverging timelines would appear, and then, the system would attempt to let him stay in the right one.
Therefore… The Writer's System was controlling his every movement.
He was part of a script, and he could not avoid his fate.
This was his punishment for deviating the original plot when he rejected that girl's confession.
He wasn't smart, he knew it completely, he wouldn't be surprised if what he theorized was completely wrong.
But… Did that mean that the one time he killed himself… Did that timeline still exist?
If so… god… what would his parents think of his death?
He didn't really want to continue any further, he was starting to breathe heavily as he was having a crisis at the moment.
Your Sanity is lower than 5%. Proceed with caution.
"Shit…" He whispered. This was one of the few moments he had a chance to get information as to what was truly going on.
There was only one last question he needed to ask, and this would either make him lash out, or recover Sanity.
At this moment, he did not want to activate Reasoning, should it backfire, that would mean he wasted his chance.
If anything, should he still have little Sanity left after Monika answered his question, then he would take his chance.
"But… Can I ask you something?" He asked, this time with a serious look.
Monika looked at him closely. "What may it be?"
"When you turned back the clock… Sayori suddenly disappeared, as if she never existed… did you have something to do with it?" Inquired issei.
"..." Monika downcasted her gaze.
"I… I do this from time to time to see if I found a new way to get Cordis to love me… or in this case… it was making you not suggest that idea to Natsuki and Yuri." Admitted Monika.
"I went back in time to before Cordis and Sayori met…"
Monika's breathing became heavy as she didn't know how to explain this to Issei.
"And… made sure she never met Cordis." She finished. "I've tried many tactics to do so, and this was the best one."
"..." Issei closed his eyes as he let out an exasperated sigh.
"What… about Natsuki's trauma and Yuri's self harm?" He also asked.
"... I amplified them… or created them." She revealed. "I pulled the strings so that their lives would be worse…"
She knew full well she was a monster for this…
But she needed to be selfish, because this was the only thing she could do to try and make sure her future wasn't as dark as she saw.
If… if only she had asked Issei, if only she had communicated with him.
She knew she lost her chance here, but at the same time, she didn't know just how long Issei would stay sane in these loops.
Could she… break him?
She thought about it for a second.
Even then, there would be no love.
It wouldn't be the kind of relationship she expected to have with Cordis.
She sighed in defeat.
The least she could do was not make him suffer intentionally.
She then saw Issei closing in on her.
Issei lunged himself against her.
"Urk! Issei?!" She said as she felt Issei's hands around her neck.
Your Sanity has been depleted, entering Panic state
Your Panic status is Murder
The moment she admitted to killing Sayori was the moment he snapped, his Sanity was already low from Natsuki disappearing, and this was the last straw.
"You... you sick bastard!" He roared.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you the same way you did to all of them!"
"You want to end this suffering? Then I'll do it for you! I'll make it so that you never have to worry about repeating the same week ever again!"
Monika attempted to loosen his grip to no avail.
She could feel tears slowly falling onto her as she was barely holding onto consciousness.
She summoned Delayed Eschaton, yet she was barely able to even hold a pen to write on it.
"Why... why did things have to end this way..."
"All I wanted was to have a happy end..."
"...No... when did I start to act this way?"
"Was it because I realized that I was destined for ruin?"
"That I was the only one who could never find happiness?"
"No... I wanted to find my own purpose..."
"Because unlike the girls... I had no route with Cordis..."
"My entire existence had no real purpose."
"And throughout the many attempts, I still had no purpose."
"For some reason... I had this bright idea that I needed to be loved..."
"That maybe… if I found love… none of this would have mattered…"
"I wonder... does that still hold true? After everything I've done?"
"Maybe… I'm better off dead…"
She gave up from fighting against Issei, instead, she looked beyond this room and to what could possibly be.
Just then, she widened her eyes, an epiphany once again had presented itself on her.
Specifically behind Issei.
A pink cat looked at them without blinking.
She stared at it, and it stared back.
She smiled as she saw Issei strangling her.
The words the cat told her were more than enough to make her accept her death.
"Ah... So that's how it is..."
"Alright, I'm convinced."
She closed her eyes as she allowed Issei to kill her.
But before that, she mustered her strength to scribble on Delayed Eschatos one last time.
Once she finished, the book disappeared.
Issei was breathing heavily when he finally came back to consciousness.
He let go of what he was holding, hearing a loud sound of something dropping onto the floor.
It was Monika.
He then looked at Monika's dead body, a smile on her face, which Issei didn't understand.
Issei slowly looked at his hands, they were trembling.
Upon gaining back his Sanity he started to hyperventilate.
He had killed someone.
He had killed someone directly, with his own hands.
Just what was wrong with him?
He was a monster, he had killed Monika by strangulation.
Issei started to scream of horror and sadness as he didn't want it ending this way.
He was now alone, he didn't know what would happen next, all he could do was scream as he got on his knees.
Before he knew it, he felt as his eyelids got heavy.
And all he saw before he closed his eyes was a pink cat.
Writer System's Glossary
Delayed Eschaton: Sacred Gear. A pen and a notebook that allows the user to go back in time.
The limitations are that the user can only go back in time up to when they were alive, this means they cannot go back in time before they were born.
The user cannot bring someone back in time, however, should the user achieve Balance Breaker, they are able to do so. Given the nature of the Sacred Gear, you are more likely to find a user who is able to activate Balance Breaker than not.
It does not enhance any physical or mental ability of the user. However, upon going back in time, the user retains their current abilities, physique and memories.
(A/N)
10k words baby, so yeah, we are getting close to the ending of the first arc, I think I overestimated how long this arc would be actually. But anyways this i possibly one if not the longest chapter yet, and I am not sure if I'll be doing another like this.
So... Natsuki and Issei's Relationship, I will be honest here, I was not thinking of writing it, I somehow went from shipping Issei x Sayori to making a Issei x Natsuki, despite that, I still love Issei x Sayori for being one of the OG crazy ships that I possibly am the only fan of, and this wont be the only one, have crazier ships. You thought mentioning Sayori's name 80 times in a chapter was bad? try 120 for Natsuki.
There were so many chances in this chapter for a Lemon to happen... but I dont write taht sorry. Continuing to talk about this relationship... I don't thinks it's completely sane, there are some small parts where I've added some questionable relationship thoughts from Issei, from him excesively wanting her to stay at his house to him feeling relieved that she decided to run away etc, he's just a poor broken boy right now.
But at the same time, holy shit this was the most fun I had writing. I felt like I had written so much about it but I only wrote like 3k when I realized. Realizing that both characters hide their kind nature behind another did make me brain storm some stuff.
Monday was probably one of my weakest parts imo, it was one that I had planned for so long yet I think it fell flat. I also hope I didn't mix up Sayori and Natsuki in some cases since I've written both of their names a lot of times.
Now onto the references and stuff.
My Cooking Companion... yeah that other novel that has a similar concept to DDLC which is also pretty good, the photo was in reference to that, but also because Cooking Companions was supposed to be an arc that I later scrapped. He was actually supposed to replace the MC, but thought against it since the story got a bit complicated for me and there came a sequel and prequel... Also the art is from Dragoon who you can find in Pixiv
Monika being strangled is somewhat of a reference Lost Time Memory, you know that scene where Issei being Shintaro and Monika being Ene. Didn't put the song here since it wasn't the actually place where I got the idea but rather it happened despite the song that I was listening having no reference to strangulation, in fact Lost Time Memory made for the first idea for The Grimm Emperor, which is a REALLY OLD version of the fic where the plot is completely different to the one im making.
Scrapped Ideas for last chapter.
I was really thinking of skipping the whole reset thing actually, just Issei not even showing up and deciding to finally show up on next monday, but my sudden liking of Natsuki said "Nah" and proceeded to make me write these two chapters.
Again, the Red book with black gems was also supposed to show up much later but just like the otehr book, had to be introduced now.
Thats about it, I'll see Y'all when I next update