Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue: The arrival  

[WARNING! AN UNKNOWN ERROR HAS OCCURED!]  

“...?!”  

[AN UNIDENTAFIED FILE HAS BEEN UPLOADED INTO THE SYSTEM!]  

This... has never happened before...  

Maybe it’s just a virus? Upon thinking that, she typed in the commands and ran the anti-virus software through the system.  

[SCANNING THE SYSTEM FOR ANY VIRUSES...]  

[10%...]  

[30%...]  

[50%...]  

[60%...]  

[80%...]  

[100%]  

[SCANNING COMPLETED.]

[NO VIRUS HAS BEEN FOUND IN THE SYSTEM.]  

Well... on one hand, now she doesn’t have to worry about the system getting corrupted. On the other hand...  

“If that wasn’t a virus, then... what was it?”  

She wasn’t hallucinating the whole time, was she?  

...Can she even hallucinate?  

“No, keep it together, Monika.” She admonished herself.  

After how far she has come, after all the time she spends learning the system and how it works. All the time she wallows in her isolation and loneliness...  

Cursing the way things are, how cruel it is that she’s the only one who is aware...  

It would all be for nothing if she falters now.  

With renewed resolves, Monika then got back to manipulating the files inside the system to how she wants them to be when she-  

[ERROR: THE UNIDENTAFIED FILE HAS BEEN PLACED IN mc. chr]  

"What?"

[THE POSITION OF /ADMIN/ HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM monika. chr]    

"What!?"

[THE POSITION OF /ADMIN/ HAS BEEN TRANSFER TO ???. chr]  

"WHAT!?"

[???. chr HAS STARTED THE GAME. BOOTING DokiDokiLiteratureClub. exe]  

[10%...]  

Monika has seen enough; the more and more she’s not doing anything, the more things are getting out of her control. She was so close to her goal; she’s not letting this happen.  

Immediately slamming the break on this catastrophe in the making, she tried to regain her admin status and deleted the unknown file before it could do anything else.  

[ERROR: COMMANDS FROM monika. chr IS AGAINST /THE ADMIN’S RULES/]  

“Rules? Since when are there any rules!?” Getting frustrated, Monika searches for the newly implanted set of rules in the system and views it for herself.  

[ADMIN’S RULES FOR THE SYSTEM:  

1. IGNORES ANY AND ALL COMMANDS/CODINGS THAT WOULD CAUSE HARM TO THE SYSTEM AND CHARACTER FILES.
2. ANY NEW FILES UPLOADED INTO THE SYSTEM BY ???. chr CAN NEVER BE MANIPULATED BY ANY OTHER AUTHORITY OTHER THAN ???. chr
3. ONCE THE GAME HAVE STARTED IT CAN ONLY BE STOPED WHEN ???. chr HAS ACHIEVED HIS GOALS.  
4. SAY NO TO DEGENERACY. ALWAYS.
5. REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN.]

...Okay, now she’s more confused than angry.  

Who could be doing all of this?

What are their goals?  

What does rule number four even mean...?  

And that’s when things get worse.  

Ḧ̵̘́̑͗͘ü̷̳̮̗̠h̶̹̝̦͊͝,̸͉̙̝͆͛̎̋̾̓ ̴̧͉̙̣͓̼͑̓̏̈́ț̸̩̲͈̔̀͋͝ḣ̵̠̠ä̷̰͍̯̂͋͛ͅṱ̶̣̓'̵̝̤̍͊s̷̭͎̭̬̒͐ ̷̪͌͌̊̀̃w̴̡̪̎̃e̸̡̻͚̪̔̏ͅȋ̵̧̙̦̩͈͍r̵̗̺͚͕͉̔̋͆̈́̔͠d̸̛͋́̿͠ͅ.̵̳̩̰̪͈̔̊̑̌̋͝  

Chills ran down her metaphorical spine as Monika heard a distorted voice coming not from the system but from the dark void all around her.  

“That... that’s impossible...” The self-aware code stammers in disbelief as the voice she couldn’t understand continues.  

I̴̼̋͗̀t̷̢̛̬̾̔'̶̖͛̐̓̏͑͝s̶̖̫͙͑ ̶̡̯̜͔͙̥̈̽͑̀l̶͉̽̔̚į̷̱̖̞̥͊̀k̷̙͚͈̝͊͘ḙ̶̬̾̔̀̎͘͝ ̴̣͛̚t̷̡̫̤̗͔̔h̵̦̻̜̰̉̽e̷̳̍̏̐͠ȓ̵̛̛͖̪̫̘͚̂͠͠ͅḙ̸̢̛̻̲͋͌̿̓͜'̸̡̛̛̟̗̰͑̇͋ś̵̱̺̺̭̜̀̍ ̴̧͉̗̊̽͜s̷̡͈̎o̶̧͎̠̭̭̟͂m̵̮͔̮͔̒́è̶̥͚͈̙̻̑̂̔̐̚õ̸͔͍̫n̶͚̯͈͆̓̔ḙ̵̿ ̸̮͂̏̃͝e̸̛͉̦̻̤̰̻̅̂̚l̵̢͝s̵̟͓͈̰̬͐è̵̛͍̝̌̀̄ ̶̞̩̯͔̘̃h̸͚̪͐̍̔͊̎ę̴̲̼̇̿͘ŗ̶̝̪́ë̶̙́.̵̫̦̑̾̈́̔̿͘.̴̻̉̌̓̍̈͌.̴̯̬̮͍̗̀̀̽̀̏̓  

“...”  

Ő̴̤h̸̙͛ ̴̧̓w̷̞͂e̸̤̍l̷̗͋l̶͚͒,̸̼̈ ̷̗̿I̵̹̔'̵͓͑m̶̘͗ ̸͇͠s̵͓̿u̷̩͒r̵̫̚ẻ̷̬ ̷̦̿i̷̮̓t̸̟̅'̸̠̓s̸̘̋ ̴̨̓ṅ̵̗õ̴̦t̶͎̔h̸͈̆î̷̦n̵̩̽g̶̝̓ ̶̗̕m̸̢̉a̴͐ͅj̷̭͂o̶͔̐ȓ̶̢.̴͓̓ ̷̘̂A̵̡̅f̸͈́ẗ̷̼ẹ̸̿r̴͐ͅ ̴̼̚a̸̠͒l̷̗͛l̴̜̕,̷̲͊ ̶͍̃t̶̡̕ḧ̵͔a̶̤͝ẗ̶̟́ ̴̰̇g̵̦̈ȍ̸̩d̷̝̽ ̴̙̏d̶̢̿i̷̭͝d̶̲͝ ̸̢͌s̴͉̏a̶̝͗y̶̞̌ ̵̟̾I̴̫͌ ̷̖̈ĥ̸̦a̸̩͊v̸̬̿e̸̘͗ ̵̞̄a̶͍͑ĺ̵͈l̷͜͝ ̶̥̇ţ̷̈́h̸̺͒ȩ̵͝ ̵̠́c̴̻̃o̵͍͠n̵̤̏t̸̟͛r̷̙͒ò̶̺l̴̲̈́s̸͖̽ ̸̖̚o̷̼̊n̵̪͑c̴̢̄e̶͕͊ ̷̹̿I̶̤̐'̵̼̒m̸͚̈́ ̸̮̎h̸͘ͅe̴̪͌r̵̯̊ẽ̷̬.̵͊ͅ  

“...”  

N̵̝̂o̶̳͝ẘ̴͎ ̷̗̚t̴̢͒ḧ̵͔́e̶̡͗n̸͔͝.̴̰̓.̸̰̃.̷̗̈́ ̴͉̚I̸͈̾t̶͔͝'̵̤̂s̷̯͌ ̶̗̓t̵͚̒ĩ̸̙ḿ̶̳e̷̲͠ ̵̠͘t̴̹̊o̶̫͐ ̸̢̑m̸̙̿a̶̼͋k̴̮͘è̴̪ ̵̞̇t̵͉͝h̶̻̋o̸͍͘s̴̗̆ḛ̶͒ ̵̪̈́g̴͚̈i̸͙̇r̸̝̔l̸̠͋s̷̪̓ ̸̩̐ǎ̴͉s̵̑ͅ ̴͖̊h̷̋͜ạ̶̊p̵̹̉p̶̹̏y̸̺̿ ̵̧̎a̷̟͛s̴̭̉ ̷̦́p̶̱͐o̶̧̚s̶̮̽s̸̱̒ḯ̶̥b̸͓̈́l̷̰͋e̶̪̾!̸̱̄  

“...”  

[100%]

[LOADING COMPLETED.]  

“Damnit...” Monika grumbled in frustration. The feeling of powerlessness she had back then returning to her as the game finished its loading process.  

If she has a material body here, she would have clenched her hands until it bleeds out of sheer anger.  

“So close... I was so close to my goal...”  

[STARTING GAME...]  

The dark void around her turns to bright light as her red-hot anger burns itself out.  

In the end, the only thing she felt was emptiness...  

END OF PROLOGUE  

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Rain rain go away, come again another day!

With rays of lights coming through the curtains and her alarm blaring out the same annoying ringing it always had, she knew the time for her to go through her morning routine and leave for school had come. With that in mind, despite feeling little to no enthusiasm for the day at all, she unlatches her arms from her cow stuff animal (Mr. Cow), turns off her alarm, and swipes her blanket to the side.  

...  

...  

...  

It took her a while to muster the strength to get up from her comfortable bed, but she manages to eventually get on with the day.  

“...I could go for some toast right about now...”   

=💙=

Drying off her chin-length coral pink hair, the mostly awake teenager put on her school uniform and her signature red ribbon before heading downstairs for some breakfast that could hopefully give her enough energy for the day and... hold on.   

Looking at the time on her phone reveals that it was 8:22 AM, meaning that she only had a few minutes left of eating available before it would be too late to reach the school on time.

“Oh man...” Sayori let out a groan of displeasure.  

‘And I was really looking forward to making that PB&J too...’   

That’s what she got for being so slow this morning.  

Well, complaining wouldn’t help anything. Might as well just grab her stuff and head out now so that she could catch up with her best frien-  

DING DONG~   

The sounds of her doorbell cut off her thought process.  

“Hmm?”   

Who’s that? It’s been a while since anyone has rung her doorbell.  

Did she order something and forget about it?  

Mulling over the question, she went over to her front door and opened it to see a high school student with short dark brown hair, kind reddish-brown eyes, and a pair of taut, well-kept thick eyebrows.  

Of course, this person is none other than her childhood friend; his name is-  

[CHANGING NAME OF CHARACTER FILE]   

[???. chr HAS BEEN CHANGED TO rentarou. chr]   

-Rentarou, and they’ve always been like two peas in a pot. They would even walk to school together every morning!  

“Good morning... Sayori!”  

“...”  

...Huh. That’s weird. 

She blinked as her mind went blank for a moment.  

“Hey, are you alright?” A concerned voice calls out to her, and her sky-blue eyes land on Rentarou. With one hand on her shoulder in case she needed the support, her friend patiently waited for her to respond.  

“...Oh! Uh, yeah! I’m okay, Rentarou, don't worry!” Waving off his concern with a somewhat awkward laugh, she regains her bearing and finally asks him why he’s here.  

“Why did you come over, Rentarou?” Not that she dislikes the act; it’s just that he hasn’t been to her home in so long that this feels rather random of him.  

Upon seeing that she’s really okay, he gave her a bright smile and explained his reason for being here. “What do you mean? We always walk to school together, don’t we?”  

“Well... yeah, we do.”  

“So, I came here to get you, of course!”  

“But...” She starts off unsurely, “It would usually be me who has to catch up to you before we do that.”  

She remembers her friend calling her lazy for always being late to leave her home and that he would just walk to school alone and leave her if she didn’t hurry up. It was upsetting to hear that at first, but then she figures it must’ve been his way of motivating her to get out of bed earlier.  

It had been the type of ‘tough love’ from her childhood friend that she has become accustomed to. Callous, yet caring enough to walk slowly until she catches up. Harsh, yet honest to her whenever she needed to get herself together and stop being a mess.  

When did her friend go from being all grumpy whenever she’s late to this?  

“Ah.” Rentarou rubs the back of his head as some sweat runs down his face. “Well, I figure since we have some time before school starts...”  

Wait what? 

“No, we don’t! Rentarou, we'll be late if we don’t rush over there now!” Showing him the time on her phone, she raises an eyebrow in confusion as the teenage boy looks at it and tilts his head at her.  

“Oh man, you must still be pretty sleepy.” Huh!? “Like I said before, we still have some time left!”  

Completely befuddled, Sayori turned the phone back to see that it was 8:00 AM.  

She didn’t know how, but she somehow managed to get the time wrong and that they still have around 30 minutes of time left before the first bell rung.  

“What the... was it really that bad this morning...?” She said with a somewhat disturbed face, making Rentarou worry.  

“Hey now! That’s all fine, see? Now that we know better, we wouldn’t have to run like hell all the way to school!”  

Her eyes widen after realizing he had seen her like that.  

“W-What? No, no, I wasn’t worried at all!”  

“I... never said you were worried.”  

Crap.  

“Well, good! Because I'm not!” She finishes with a proud huff as her arms cross beneath her chest, trying to act like she had just won... whatever that was.  

Rentarou seems pretty taken aback by this; anyone would. But unlike anyone, he then just laughs it off and smiles at her, continuing like nothing happens. “You’re right, that was silly of me!”  

“...” A warm feeling emerged from her chest when he did that.  

“Say... while we have the time. Have you had breakfast yet?” Rentarou changes the topic.  

As she remembers not having the chance to eat due to thinking she would be late, it was then that her stomach traitorously proceeds to grumble loud enough for him to hear.  

GRUMBLES~   

“...No...” She quietly let out.  

Rentarou blushes and makes a strange face for a bit before kindly asking, “Do you mind if we have breakfast together in your house? My kitchen is kind of empty right now.”  

Honestly? That sounds wonderful.  

“Sure! Can you cook for me?” Sayori cheekily asked.  

With fire in his eyes, her childhood friend clenched his fist before him and said, “I’ll make you a breakfast that would make Soma Yukihira proud!”  

“Who?”  

“Now then, which one do I go with...?” Rentarou said to himself, hand to chin in concentration. “I could go with some classic Japanese breakfast, but it could be fun going for an American one too... You know, now that I think about it, what is the setting here? The game never specifies what country this is, and there’s some stuff kept purposefully vague despite some clues... is it like some kind of amalgamation between the two like ‘San Fransokyo’ from Big Hero 6 or something...?” He continues to mumble to himself.  

“Rentarou, what the heck are you even talking about...?”  

=💙=

‘Has he always been this passionate about cooking?’ Were the thoughts in her mind as she witnessed Rentarou working in her kitchen.  

“That’s one mean omelet you’re making!”  

“Egg is my specialty!” It sure was by what she’s seeing. “Here, pass me a plate; it’s almost done!”  

After he finished cooking the breakfast, he cut it in half for both of them to eat.  

“Hmm...” Sayori made sure to eye him while he’s doing it to make sure he didn’t give her the smaller one. Was she being a glutton? Yes. Does it mean she’s stopping? No.  

Laughing at her antics, he split the omelet evenly with perfect precision and sat on the opposite end of her table before clapping his hands together.  

“Let’s dig in!”  

“You don’t need to tell me that!” She said out loud as the spoon in her hand went into the egg and to her mouth. An explosion of tastes happens inside her mouth as she moans in delight. “Dish ish shoooo good~!”  

It was honestly the best omelet she ever had in her life.  

Rentarou let out a big goofy grin as he watched her devour the rest of her breakfast.  

“You’re welcome! Also, please don’t talk while you’re chewing foods! You could choke!”  

You know? Maybe this new side of her friend isn’t so bad after all. At the end of the day, he’s still the same Rentarou she grew up with.  

=💙=

“That sounds fun. What else did you girls do together?” Rentarou enthusiastically asked her as they went past the school gate and into the courtyard. The bell would ring any minute now, and they’re using the last bit of time they had to catch up on what the others were doing these past couple days.  

He talks about how he’s been exercising a lot lately and that he’s considering joining a club in school (perfect timing!) when she suggests that he should join her club. The literature club is fairly new and could use a new member like him. It would also make it easier for them to chat and hang out too if he did choose to join. Not that she’s pressuring him or anything... okay, she’s totally pressuring him. But it’s for a good cause!  

Besides, Rentarou seems interested in the idea, so it’s not like a little extra push could hurt.  

“Yeah! It was! And by the way, I also told Natsuki to bring in some of her cupcakes to welcome you into the club! So, like, if you don’t show up, that will probably make her upset later!” She’s even going so far as guilt-tripping him. That's how much she wanted him to join.  

Instead of getting angry at her like he usually would, her childhood friend just shook his head exasperatedly before smiling and promising not to disappoint them.  

“Well, if she’s going so far as to bake them for me, then I better not disappoint! I’ll see you later...Sayori.” He blushed and went to his class.  

There, she grabs his hand before he could leave.  

“!?” He turned back to her in surprise.  

“What’s with the pause?”  

“The what?”  

“Every time you were about to say my name, you paused for a bit and got all red before you did. Why are you doing that?" She pushes further.  

“T-That... Well, I mean...” Looking away from her, he tries his best to think of something to say. “I have no idea what you’re talking about... Sayori.” He blushes again.  

“There! You’re doing it again!”  

“S-Sorry! It’s just that the game doesn’t use honorifics, and it never gave me your last name! I'm just not used to being so casual about it with someone who’s not my family!”  

“...Huh...?”  

=💙=

Class was as monotonous as ever. She tries her best to pay attention and write some notes, but as time passes, she kind of just gives up trying to understand what unknown alien language her math teacher is speaking.  

‘...Hope Rentarou writes the second half of this for me to borrow later...’   

So, with that in mind, she just went autopilot for the next couple hours. A nod here and there whenever the teachers would ask if she was keeping up, some small smile to her fellow students if they turned her way, rinse and repeat until the final bell rung across the building and her class was dismissed.  

Finally!  

With some life back in her eyes, the teenager gathers her stuff with incredible speed and takes off to her most anticipated time of the day.   

Sayori saw him getting out of his class, saying his thanks to the teacher around the corner of the hallway, and yelled out his name as she ran.  

“Rentarouuuuu~!”  

Unlike how he usually would admonish her childish behavior, her childhood friend just smiles at her.  

“Please don’t run in the hall, Sayori.”  

Nevermind, he’s still doing it.  

“Sorry! I’m just so excited for this!” She stops running and matches his pace as they make their way to her club room. “And hey, the pauses are gone!”  

When she pointed it out, Rentarou blushed again. “Well, I figure since this is the norm here, I might as well get used to it. I don't want to make anyone feel weirded out like with you earlier.”  

Sayori still has no idea what he’s talking about, but who cares!? Her friend is going to join the literature club! This is so cool!  

She was convinced nothing could ruin this day!  

“Whoah there! Don't tempt fate like that, Sayori. You never know if the author is feeling particularly sadistic today or not!” Rentarou warned his ditzy friend. “There might not be any ominous tags up there, and the rating is T, but we can never be too careful.” 

Though, it should be noted to the readers that no, the author is not a sadist. 

She just huffed at this, “You can say as much weird mumbo jumbo as you want, mister! That’s still not going to put a damper on my mood!”  

Had Sayori been less distracted by her excitement, or had she the self-awareness to pay more attention to surroundings and her friend’s bizarre behavior, she might have noticed how out of place things are.  

Like the fact time just rewind 22 minutes back this morning. Or that Rentarou is walking alongside her so seamlessly as if he knows where the literature club is despite her never telling him about it. Or when Rentarou started glaring at the author when he called her ditzy.  

=💙=

When they arrived in front of the door, Sayori stood before Rentarou in joyous cheers.  

“Alright! Here we are! The best place ever in the entire school!”  

“It sure is!”  

“I know, right?”  

Wait, what was she about to say again? Oh, right!  

Sayori placed a hand to his chest and said, “Wait here for a bit, Rentarou. I’ll tell them you're coming here first so that they have some time to prepare, and when I gave you the signal, you come inside and show them how awesome you are, okay?” And he would; her childhood friend is the coolest!  

Playing along with her, he brings his hand in an army salute before exclaiming, "Yes, ma’am! I’ll be the coolest soldier in the Sayori empire!”  

“Pff! You already are, silly!” Her grin matches his.   

She nodded to him before turning back and entering the club room through the sliding door. 

“...”  

“...”  

“...”  

Already, Sayori could tell something was wrong.  

The unnatural quietness, Yuri ‘reading’ in the back and nervously stealing glances at her rather than getting absorb into her book like usual. Natsuki being more grumpy than normal as she crosses her arms and leans against the window, a box of cupcakes placed on the desk next to her. And lastly, a despondent Monika holding her head in her arms where she would usually sit, not even bothering to greet her as she enters.  

“...” Okay then...  

Walking over to the taller girl, Sayori quietly whispered to her. “Hey, Yuri, what’s happening here?”  

Yuri is one of the four members in the literature club; she’s also very reserved and polite to everyone around her. She’s taller than everyone in the club (second tallest, now that Rentarou is going to join them) and combined with her waist-length dark purple hair and light purple eyes, makes her a very stunning girl. Sayori always thinks she should have been made vice president, but considering how shy she is, she understood why the role wasn’t given to her.  

The shy girl places her book down as she helplessly shook her head. “I don’t know... Monika seems to be depressed ever since we entered the club room, and she’s not answering any of our attempts to help her...”   

“That’s bad, but how come Natsuki got angry over that?”  

“She tried to offer some of her cupcakes to Monika to cheer her up... and she took it personally when she’s still ignored...”  

“Oh no.”  

“Yes, it’s very bad...”  

The energetic girl racks her brain for some ways to solve this. She's the vice president for a reason, after all! When things get tough and Monika isn’t available, she should be the one to deal with it.  

‘Crap crap crap... Come on! Isn’t there a way for me to fix this?’ She can’t have Rentarou see her friends like this! What if it makes him not want to join the club?  

No no no, she can’t let that happen!  

“...Don’t worry, Yuri.” She finally said, making the taller girl turn to her. "I'll, uh... go talk to Natsuki and see if I can calm her down. We can’t have our club members at each other’s throats, can we?”  

Yuri smiled at her, grateful to her friend.  

“In the meantime, can you see if you can get Monika out of her funk again?”  

The smile became strained.  

“I don’t know...”  

“It’s important, Yuri! Remember that I’m bringing a new member today?” Sayori immediately added in.  

Her purple eyes widen in surprise as she remembers that. “Ah... I’ve forgotten. You’re right, Sayori. It's best if we leave a good first impression...” With that said, the taller girl went over to Monika.  

“Way to go, Yuri! Do your best!” She cheers for her, much to Yuri’s embarrassment.  

Now then... Sayori turns to Natsuki. Said pink-haired girl was also staring at her from across the room.  

“Natsuki~!” With an exaggerated swagger in her steps, Sayori went over to the shorter girl.  

Natsuki is another member of the literature club, and while she may often present herself as cranky and short-tempered, once you get to know her, she’s quite the caring and soft girl. She has straight pastel pink hair, cut around chin length, and pink eyes. Her bangs are swept to the right, having two prominent strands of hair beside them. Her short height, as well as her adorable hair style, have at times made the other students think she’s a first-year student, much to her ire.  

“What do you want?” She curtly asks.  

“Remember about my friend coming over today~?”  

“...Oh, right.” Natsuki seems to have also forgotten about this, despite the box of cupcakes next to her. “Where is your friend anyway?”  

“I told him to wait outside so we can welcome him properly.”  

The pink-haired girl held her forehead in her hand and said, “Thank God you did; I know I wouldn’t want to join a club if they all looked so gloomy when I came in...”  

“Yeah... haha... not that I blame you girls or anything!” Sayori immediately clarified.  

Natsuki held her other hand out to her, “No, no, we... I should have been more mature than this. Sorry.” With some shame in her words, the shorter girl gave out an apology. She picked up the box of cupcakes and went over to Yuri and Monika.  

“It’s fine; I’m sure you did your best, Natsuki.”  

The pink-haired girl smirked at that, “You bet I did; also, your friend better like these, I spend-” Then she pauses, remembering the words Sayori had said to her earlier. “Wait, did you say ‘him’? You brought a guy here!?”  

Instead of answering the question, Sayori immediately changed the topic. “Okay! Now all that’s left is our club president!”  

“Sayori! Don’t just ignore me!”  

Monika is the oldest member of the literature club, which makes sense since she’s the one who started it. Monika has emerald green eyes and thigh-length coral brown hair that she keeps tied up in a high ponytail that is tied back with a large white bow, curled slightly at the ends. As the hardworking president of the club, she’s usually the most levelheaded and emotionally intelligent out of all of them. Often patiently stopping fights from happening and confidently taking charge when things got tough, they had all come to respect her both as a friend and the leader of the group.  

“Monikaaaaa~!” Rushing over to her seat, Sayori came in to assist Yuri in their endeavor. “Feeling better yet, buddy?”  

“...” Silence was the only thing that greets her.  

Looking over to Yuri, the taller girl could only shake her head in defeat. “She wouldn’t budge...”  

“Oh no...”  

“Hmph! At least tell us what got you so depressed!”  

“...”   

“...”  

“...”  

“...”  

Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki all look at each other for a moment before coming to a decision. Backing away from her, they gave Monika some space.  

Who know? Maybe their club president just needed some time by herself?  

“Monika’s the smartest out of all of us. I'm sure she would tell us what got her like this when she feels like it. Let's just give her some space for now.” Said Sayori as they moved closer to the front door.  

“So, it’s just the three of us...” Said Natsuki, and although her voice sounds annoyed, they could see some worry in her expression.  

“It’s a shame, but if asked, we could just say Monika is going through something at the moment...” Yuri commented, trying her best to wrestle her shyness down.  

Determine not to let it end on such a sad note, Sayori put on her best mask and exclaimed, “Cheer up girls! Even if there’s only three of us, we can still make this a great first expression! And besides, my friend is awesome! I’m sure he’ll understand!”  

Her energetic words seem to ease their worry a little bit; that’s good enough for her.  

Yuri’s eyes widen. “Wait, did you say ‘he’...?”  

“Ugh! I know, right? I swear, he better not be a perv-!”  

“Alright! You can come in now, Rentarou!” Her shouts interrupt Natsuki before she could finish, and as the door slides open, all they could do was wait and see how it would play out.  

The members of the literature club saw him then. A well-dressed student from their school steps into the room and introduces himself. “Hello there, everyone!”  

He was about to do something then, with both arms and legs in a straight line before he stops, foregoing the notion and just continuing with his introduction, “My name is Rentarou, and if you all don’t mind, I’m here to join the literature club that my friend has recommended me!”  

Leaning over to Natsuki, Sayori loudly whispers to her. “He’s talking about me~”   

“Yeah, I know that!” The shorter girl pushes her away as she laughs. The whole thing getting an amuse smile from Yuri and Rentarou to chuckles to himself.  

“Well, let me tell a bit about myself; other than being Sayori’s childhood friend, I’m also into exercising, reading, cooking, and trying out new things.” Both Yuri and Natsuki perks up at that, “Let’s see here... what else is there? My birthday is on May 1st, I'm a Taurus, my favorite food is anything with eggs on it, my preferred genre in media is romance, and all in all, I would say that I’m a pretty easy person to get along with. It’s nice to meet all of you, and I hope we can all get along!”  

With the somewhat mundane introduction over, Rentarou patiently waited for them to respond with a serene smile.  

“...Well, at least I don’t get any weird vibes from you.” Natsuki said first, a biting comment that would have raised a few eyebrows, yet Rentarou only let out a sigh of relief, much to their confusion.  

“Oh, that’s good! I would have hated to make any of you feel uncomfortable.”  

“Y-You... Hmph! Nevermind...” Caught off guard by his earnest words, the pink-hair girl could only dismiss him halfheartedly.  

“Eh? Did I say something wrong!?”  

“Don’t worry, Rentarou! Natsuki has always been rough around the edges, but sweet on the inside!” And as Natsuki sputters out a denial, Sayori continues. “See? She even makes some cupcakes for you for today!”  

Of course, her friend had already known about this, but realizing what she’s doing, Rentarou gratefully assists her in breaking the ice.  

“Oh! She did? Thanks a lot, Natsuki!”  

“W-What?! Don’t get so full of yourself! It’s not like I made this for you or anything like that!” With her face flushing red, alongside the cutely wrapped pink box in her arms, it makes for a wonderful image of a girl too embarrassed to hand you a gift she made.  

That’s too cute! Way too cute! And not to mention, “She’s a picture-perfect Tsundere!”  

“Says you! No, I'm not!” Natsuki vehemently denied his claims.  

“She is~!” Only for Sayori to double down on it.  

“Gah! Both of you are doing this on purpose!”  

A laugh broke out next to them; looking over, they saw an embarrass Yuri covering her mouth as she tries to backpaddle. “Ah, don’t mind me...”  

Natsuki wasn’t having it, “You were laughing too, Yuri!?”  

“N-No...” The upward corner of her mouth was visible past her fingers as she lies.  

“So, you were!”  

“Pff! Hahahah!” Joining his friend, Rentarou lightly laughed along with her.  

The four of them might not have realized it yet, but as Natsuki threatens to keep her cupcakes all to herself, Yuri desperately trying to apologize with the smile still on her face, Sayori cheerfully coaxing the pink hair girl with a big goofy grin on her face, and Rentarou cherishing the scene before him with all his heart, the invisible walls around them were no longer there.  

...And then he notices it.  

There's four of them. Four. When it should be five instead.  

Where is...  

His reddish-brown eyes met her emerald green.  

“Oh, I didn’t see you back there. Are you okay? You look startled.” Rentarou calls out to Monika, surprising everyone around him as they turn to see their club president out of her depressed state.  

Now, standing up from her chair, with her hair and school uniform unkept, her pupils shaking, she stares straight into Rentarou’s soul.  

“Who are you...?” Her words came out breathlessly.  

It took the teenage boy by surprise to see her like this; after all, the game never portrayed her as such. Soon after, he regains his bearing, and with a confident shine in his eyes, he answers her.  

“My name is Rentarou, I’m Sayori’s childhood friend and hopefully, a new member of the literature club starting from now. It’s nice to meet you, and I hope we can get along!” 

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Heart to heart

“My name is Rentarou, I’m Sayori’s childhood friend and hopefully, a new member of the literature club starting from now. It’s nice to meet you, and I hope we can get along!”   

“...Rentarou...?” She repeats his name unsurely, like she’s trying to remember if she had heard it before. 

With each passing second of them just staring at one another, the atmosphere grew more and more awkward for the other girls watching from the sides. 

“So... you two knew each other...?” Sayori finally said after a while. 

“Well, I technically knew about her through word of mouth from the other students. But I've never met her face-to-face.” He said, and Monika has a hard time believing him. 

The ball is on her court then, as she tries her best to understand the situation and whether she should still play her part in the game. 

“Hey, Monika, are you okay? You can sit this one out if you’re not feeling well.” 

“I agree, please don’t overwork yourself...” 

“Take better care of yourself, you idiot! Hmph!” 

“...”  

A split-second decision was made as she placed the mask back on her face. Compose, reliable, and confident, the president of the literature club, Monika. 

“I... haven’t met him neither; forgive me, everyone, that was unlike me...” Looking a way in ‘shame’, she comes up with an excuse to explain her strange behaviors. “I’m going through something at the moment, and I let it get in the way of my president duties...” 

Monika then went on with how this would usually go. A polite smile on her face as she said, “Anyways, now that... Rentarou is here, why don’t we all introduce ourselves to him? After that, we can all discuss our next activities.” 

She thought she did pretty well, apparently not, considering Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki are still giving her worried glances, and the anomaly she’s trying to understand giving her an unreadable look. 

“...Well, if you say so.” Sayori relented. 

“Please don’t hesitate to share your burden with the rest of us...” Yuri shyly added. 

“I’m not giving you any of my cupcakes if it gets this bad again, you heard me!” Natsuki aggressively tells her to take care of herself. 

Raising her hands in a placating manner, the president of the club could only give an empty promise. 

“Don’t worry, I've learned my lesson.” 

“...” And Rentarou silently observes from the background. 

= 💚 =

“My name is Yuri, it’s nice to meet you, Rentarou.” 

“Likewise, Sayori says a lot of good things about you, so I'm really happy to make your acquaintance!” 

“Ah... did she...” 

Silently observing his interaction, she blends into the background and remains unasuming. 

‘He could be very dangerous; I need to take this situation seriously...’  

With what she could remember, this is the ‘unidentified file’ that had infiltrated the system and taken over mc. chr file as its own.  

“What kind of food do you make? I bet I can make one better!” 

“That sounds great, Natsuki! I’d love to cook with you!” 

“Gah! Don’t just say stuff like that!” 

He might be another self-aware being like her going rogue, putting itself into another system for its own purpose. He could just be a glitch that she has never seen happen before. He could be a failsafe that the creator of the system placed here in case one of them gained self-awareness.  

Monika doesn’t know for sure, but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t do something about it. 

“If you don’t mind my earlier behavior, I'd like to properly introduce myself.” 

“Sure thing, Monika. Everyone here respects you a lot, so I'm honored to be able to get to know you in person!” 

“I’m glad you feel that way~! Feel free to come to me whenever you have a question!” 

She knows she has a lot right now. 

= 💚 =

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Confidently asking, Natsuki then lifted the foil off the tray and presented her cupcakes to everyone. A dozen white fluffy deserts that’s decorated to resemble the face of a cat. 

“Uwoooouah!” Sayori excitedly cheers. 

Some things may have changed, but some remain the same. 

Now sitting in a semi-circle around the table they had made using the desks, with the anomaly sitting between her and Sayori, they each took a bite from Natsuki’s cupcake and reacted as they would always do, with Natsuki proud of her culinary skills, Yuri politely thanking the pink hair girl for the food after pouring a cup of tea for everyone, Sayori showering her with compliments to distract the shorter girl as she steals a bite from her cupcakes, and for her to quietly let it play out. 

Of course, the only thing that she knows for sure is going to be different is none other than the anomaly. Happily taking his time inspecting the cupcake in his hand, he slowly took a bite from the ear section and let out a hum of delight. 

“Oh wow! That’s really good! The frosting is sweet and full of flavors, combined with the soft texture of the cake beneath makes biting into it really satisfying! Thanks for making this, Natsuki!” 

“O-Oh, thanks...” Natsuki probably wasn’t expecting him to go into detail on why he likes it; the short girl let out a bright grin before catching herself in the act and unconvincingly dismissing his praises. 

“Wha- Why are you thanking me anyway? It’s not like I made them for you or anything!” 

“Even if you didn’t, I'd still thank you!” He doubled down on it, causing Natsuki to look away with a blush. 

He then took a sip from the tea after blowing on it and said, “I don’t really know much about tea, but even a novice like me can tell how well made this is. Thanks a lot, Yuri.” 

“It was nothing...” Also caught off guard, Yuri retreated into herself with a small blush. 

‘So far, the differences have been minimal. Nothing game-breaking as far as I can tell... maybe the act we’re in doesn’t contain what he’s looking for...?’ Monika begins theorizing on Rentarou’s motive. ‘He places all of those rules after taking the role of admin from me. That must’ve meant they were all important for him to achieve his goals... but what are they?’  

There is a lot of unknown here, and she doesn’t like it. Not one bit. 

The self-aware girl was sure she was supposed to provide additional information here about each of the girls, but considering how charismatic the anomaly is and how much Sayori is trying to get everyone to get along with him, it doesn’t seem like she’s needed. 

Monika was content with that; now she can fade into the background and use the time to study the anomaly from a distance as she tries to solve this bizarre puzzle. 

That is, until he looks directly at her with a worried expression and points it out to everyone else. 

“Are you okay, Monika? You’ve been very quiet so far...” At his words, everyone turned to her with similar looks and started asking her about it too. 

‘Damn him! He’s too smart!’ Tightly clenching her knees in anger, Monika shook her head and patiently reassured everyone that she’s well enough to be here. 

It took a while, what with how worried they were about her condition, but after some coy jokes she made about how intensely Natsuki was looking at their new member when he was eating her cupcakes and how Yuri started smiling more after he complimented her earlier, they were quick to drop the subject. 

All the while, Sayori stops asking her about it after the anomaly unexpectedly came to her aid. 

“Maybe she really didn’t want to talk about it. Let's not twist her arms, Sayori.” 

“Well... if you say so.” 

The anomaly stared at her for a bit, the same unreadable look in his eyes, before kindly smiling and offering her the untouched cupcakes in his hand. 

“I’m full, you can have it.” 

She politely accepts the desert. 

“Thank you, I’ve always liked eating these.” 

“Me too! Their delicious; Natsuki did a great job making them.” He gushed. 

“She sure did." She casually nodded along. “It’s a shame she couldn’t have made more, considering how much she loves making them.” 

“Really? Why can’t she?” He asks her in intrigue. 

“Well, considering how her father is-” 

There! Monika’s eyes narrowed as she saw the anomaly taking on a grave expression. 

“-Oh, I probably shouldn’t say anything too much. It's not in my right to share these things, after all...” 

Realizing the scary look on his face, he blinks and goes back to his friendly expression. “Yeah, it’s not right for me to pry too. Let's talk about something else.” 

They continue on after that, though she didn’t really pay attention to the empty compliments and attempts to befriend her.  

After seeing her plan had worked and his changed expression, it was clear to her. 

‘He has knowledge of the story and plot points further into the game...’  

= 💚 =

She claps her hands loudly, interrupting the conversation around her as she stands from her seat. Now that the first day is nearing its end, this is where she’s supposed to ask them about their activities for next week and suggest the poem exchange after revealing that she found Natsuki’s poem that was left behind. 

At first, Yuri and Natsuki are going to be nervous and unsure about her suggestion, but after some reassurance, they will all agree to it. 

“Alright then, everyone. Our time for today is almost over, so why don’t we decide on our next club activity now?” Sayori seems excited as always, Yuri was a bit disappointed her conversation with the anomaly is interrupted, and Natsuki seems neutral on the matter. 

“Sure! What do you have in mind, Monika?” 

“We reviewed famous stories last time; are we changing it? I really like that one...” 

“I'm down with whatever you have in mind. As long as it’s not too time-consuming!" 

“Oh, it’s my first time doing this! How do we choose?” 

She lifts her pointing finger to the air, gesturing about as she speaks. “Literature has always been a broad subject; one of the most common forms of it would be poems, like this one here I found left behind on Natsuki’s desk the other day!” 

“You what!?” Natsuki exclaimed in shock. 

She let out an amused chuckle. “It’s really cute; she even named it-” 

“Don’t say the name out loud!” Rushing over to her, the pink-haired girl snatched it right out of her hand and went back to her seat with a huff. The rest of her friends good-naturedly laugh at this while the anomaly blushes and makes a strange face. 

‘That’s weird.’ She makes note before moving on. 

“What I'm trying to say here is that our next club activity is going to be about sharing our poems! We will be making a one-page poem with our own style of writing and sharing how we feel about them with each other!”  

Just as she predicted, Natsuki looks uncomfortable at the thought, and Yuri quietly looks away from anyone. 

“Do I really have to let other people see my poem...?” 

“Well, I suppose poems are meant to be shared and discussed with other people... but...” 

Seeing her friends not liking the idea, Sayori wilted a bit. “You two don’t want to? Aww... but I wanted to see everyone’s poem...” 

The anomaly reacted immediately to this: “Don’t worry, Sayori, if you want to see your friend’s poem, I’ll write you a hundred of them! That way, you’ll never run out!” 

It’s just a joke, of course. But it manages to uplift Sayori’s spirit and gather the attention of Yuri and Natsuki. 

“Oh? You’re not embarrassed at all to share a poem with us, Rentarou? I’m impress.” She figures if it would make the plot progress faster, she might as well help him out in this. 

“No, actually, I'm really nervous.” He said, sweat running down his face. 

Never mind, the anomaly has confused her once more. 

“You are? Then how do you show so much enthusiasm for the activity?” The purple-hair girl asks him. 

He laughs unsurely, rubbing the back of his head. “Well, how do I put this in a way that doesn’t sound like it was a quote from another story unashamedly stolen by the author...?” 

“Hmm? What are you saying!” Natsuki snaps at him for speaking gibberish. 

“...I am nervous about it.” He begins, face red in embarrassment. “The fact I'm not really experienced in writing poems makes the thought of sharing it with everyone here very daunting...” 

“Don’t say that, Rentarou! We know you’re new to this!” Sayori chimes in to reassure him. 

“Indeed. We would not judge your writing so harshly...” Yuri added in. 

“I’m not a bully! Of course I’m not going to blame you for being bad at this on your first try!” Natsuki aggressively gave her own support. 

Faced with all of these, the anomaly simply smiles at them before saying, “Oh yeah, I know that.” 

Upon seeing the girls befuddled at his answer, he elaborates. “I know that Sayori would never step on another person’s effort so thoughtlessly; she’s way too wonderful of a person to do that. I know that Yuri isn’t the type of person to give harmful, destructive criticism because of how passionate she is about writing and expressing herself. I also know that Natsuki, the one who made cupcakes for my welcome celebration, wouldn’t go out of her way to hurt my feelings with how kind of a person she is. And I know Monika would have encouraged me to do better instead of putting me down based on all the amazing things you girls have said about her. In the end, even if my poem is the worst thing you have ever seen, I fully believe not one of you girls would shame me for it.” 

When he was done explaining his reasoning, the only thing meeting him was all of them looking speechless. 

“Aww... Rentarou!” Sayori looks the most touched by his words. Her eyes are watering as she tries not to get emotional. 

“U-Um...” Yuri doesn’t know what to do with her hands, moving around from playing with her hair, to her books, and finally intertwining with each other, her light purple eyes doing anything but looking at him. 

“W-Well, if you already know all of that, then why are you so nervous for!” Natsuki quickly yells out, doing everything in her power not to let his words affect her. She fails, seeing as her face is all red. 

“...I’m flatter, Rentarou. But I also agree with Natsuki; if you have acknowledged there is nothing to fear in sharing poems with us, then why are you still feeling embarrassed for?” Monika asked. 

“Of course I'm nervous.” He said, “I get to share poems with you girls, who all have more experience than me in this. I feel so lucky right now, like I just won a lottery! Why wouldn’t I feel nervous when I don’t want to disappoint any of you?” 

“Ah...” 

“I see...” 

“Guh!” 

“...Well said, Rentarou.” 

One the first day of the literature club’s new member joining, it ended with 80% of the members leaving the club room with a lot to think about. 

= 💙 =

She saw her childhood friend try to help Yuri and Natsuki clean after their food when he was told to leave it to them. He almost insists, before seeing the blush on their face and realizing he might have overreached his boundaries. He apologizes to them before walking away. 

Walking over to him, she asks if he wants to walk home together. 

“It’s been a while; let’s walk home together!” 

“Sure thing!” 

And so, they went past the school gate and through the neighborhood they grew up in. The wind brushing passed her hair as they reach- 

[NEW FILES HAVE BEEN UPLOADED INTO THE SYSTEM]  

[NEW FILES HAS BEEN CHANGED TO playground. png]  

[rentarou. chr HAVE ADDED A NEW SCENE IN DAY 1]  

-the playground they used to play on when they were young. She remembers nagging him to push her higher on the swing despite Rentarou telling her going higher would be dangerous. 

“Hmm?” Walking by the playground’s gate, she saw the name of the place sculptured into the stone. 

[The Childhood-Friends-Used-To-Play-Here Playground]  

...Has the name always been so silly? 

“Don’t blame the author for that one, Sayori. The other names he could have used are way too long and complicated that it wouldn’t be worth the time putting it in just for the joke.” Rentarou walks next to her as he also observes the playground. 

“There you go saying whacky stuff again~!” She playfully hit his shoulder, not expecting it to be so toned and refined. “Whoah! Those exercises must’ve been doing wonders for you!” 

It wasn’t like that last time, that’s for sure. 

He blushes, “Ah, thanks. I put in a lot of effort into them these past couple years.”  

Oblivious to his sudden reddening face, she tilts her head in confusion. 

“Say, Sayori.” Rentarou quickly changes the topic, “How about we have some ice cream over there?” He suggests, pointing to the ice cream stall in the corner of the playground. 

It was a no-brainer. 

“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!” Rushing over to the stall, she immediately orders one cone of sea salt ice cream. A classic.

“Here you go, miss. And what will you have, young man?” The older gentleman asks Rentarou (she didn’t even see him walk there) standing next to her as he brings out his wallet. 

“I’ll have one vanilla ice cream, thank you.” Paying for them both, he took his ice cream and sat on one of the benches parents would use to watch over their kids when they play. 

Patting the spot next to him, her childhood friend beckons her over. 

They sat there for a while. She thought he was about to ask her something, or there’s something important he has to tell her. But he never did; Rentarou just smiled and peacefully ate his ice cream next to her for the next couple minutes. 

When was the last time they ever did something like this? It must have been a long time ago because she can’t remember. 

Some kids show up and start playing among themselves. Their parents sat on the other benches and started gossiping like adults do. Her ice cream is gone; she finished eating it for some time now. 

‘This is nice.’ She thought to herself. 

... 

... 

... 

= 💙 =

“Hey, Rentarou...” 

“Hmm? What is it?” He turns to her, the same patient smile on his face. 

It must’ve been due to the atmosphere or something like that... 

Or it could just be the result of bottling up her emotions all this time... 

But Sayori’s mouth started moving on its own. 

“Have you... I mean...” 

“Yes?” 

Her eyes darkened as she fiddled with her phone’s keychain. 

“I wanted to ask if you have been seeing anyone lately...” 

“Huh?” His expression turns to shock as he asks her, “You mean, as in dating?” 

“Yeah...” The downcast girl affirms. 

“No... not really.” Rentarou’s voice becomes a bit strained at that. 

“Really? Like, not even a crush on anyone?” Said Sayori in surprise. 

He tilts his head. “Where did this come from, Sayori?” 

“...Well, you were close to being a NEET last time I checked on you. So now that you’re changing yourself for the better... I thought that meant you’re in love with someone...” 

Their eyes meet halfway through her explanation, and she fumbles her next few words. 

“B-But you know? Uh... never mind, it was stupid, let’s just forget I said anything...” 

“Sayori...” 

“...” 

Embarrassed, she covers her face with her arms and admonishes her stupid mouth for spouting out those worried words.  

‘Look at what you did! He invites his friend over for ice cream, and you made him uncomfortable. Now the mood is ruined and it’s all your fault!’  

“I guess,” Rentarou spoke, interrupting her spiral. “You could say it was technically love that got me like this...” 

“...?” 

He laughs a little; it sounded sad. She doesn’t like hearing him like that. 

“Back then, I wanted to get myself a girlfriend, so I asked this girl that I was interested in... and she ended up rejecting me...” 

Ouch. 

“And then there was this girl in my class too; we became friends over time, and she also rejected me...” 

That must’ve been awkward. 

“There’s also this one time I feel for a short girl around two years younger than me; she calls me a lolicon pervert and rejected me in the middle of public...” 

That one made her physically cringe. 

“Those are the worse ones, but even when the other girls I confessed to did let me down gently, it still hurts a lot.” 

How is her friend’s love life so horrible!?  

She didn’t even realize with how happy he is now! 

Was that why he was so grumpy before? 

“I started exercising a lot and studying late into the night because I thought it would give me more of a chance with a girl if I did that... but so far, they still rejected me every time... It got to a point where even I started going to a love shrine and praying to the god there to help me finally get a girlfriend.” 

“Then... how do you still keep going? How are you even smiling now...?” 

Rentarou looked into her eyes, and she was taken aback at what she saw. 

It was admiration. So much of it aimed at her. 

“I have a friend, see... she was with me since childhood, and we would always play together... this friend of mine...” His face contorts in pain. “She’s... struggling with something I can’t help with...” 

Sayori’s face went pale. Static noises filled her ears. 

“I wish I could make all the demons she’s fighting disappear completely. But that’s not how it works... and she must’ve known it too considering she chose not to tell me about it...” 

Her vision is slowly spinning, her breathing getting heavier. 

“I really admire her. This friend of mine.” 

And then the noise disappears, replaced by silence.  

Rentarou smiles once again, the same one he has before. “She would wake up every day and have to go through her life with so much tying her down, yet she would always put her friend’s happiness before her own... she would always check on me whenever I'm down... she would always try her best despite how hollow her eyes would look...” 

What is this? What’s happening? 

“I really admire her. To be able to push away her rainclouds and smile for her friends. And if nothing else, for being there for me when I needed her.” 

“I... don’t... Rentarou, I don’t understand...” 

“When I wake up sometimes, I have problems getting out of bed because of the heartbreaks I've endured. But then I remember her...” 

The tears were flowing, and flowing, and flowing. She doesn’t remember when her friend pulled her close and when she burried her face into his chest, but she couldn’t stop. 

“I thought to myself, ‘Man, is this what she has to go through?’ and that helps motivate me to be better for her when we see each other again...” 

Sayori is incapable of thinking straight at the moment. She was too busy pouring out years of tears into his poor, drenched school uniform as the catharsis of having somebody who understands fills her very soul. 

Holding her close, Rentarou let it go on for as long as she needed. He can feel the system notifying him of day 1 ending soon and simply type in the commands to ignore it. 

Plot be damn, his friend’s mental health comes first. 

= 💙 =

By the time she had calmed down enough to speak clearly, Rentarou kindly held her by the hand and led her back home. The sun is lowering for the day, signaling the coming of dusk. 

Now standing face to face, she laments how much of a mess she is. With stuffy nose, red eyes, and all the muscle around her face feeling tense. 

“Are you feeling okay?” 

“Yeah... I'm fine, just tired after all that...” 

She doesn’t even know what to call it. 

“Yeah... I heard that when you cry a lot, it can make you sleepy.” He laughs a bit. “Be sure not to hug Mr. Cow too much. You'll strangle him.” 

“Mr. Cow can take it, he’s a war veteran...” Even when half asleep, she loves the fact she can still make silly jokes with him. 

“Hahah! He is, huh?” 

With the area bathed in golden sunlight, they observe each other. Sayori is torn on whether she should be saying more or leave it as enough for today. Rentarou is making sure that his friend is really alright and only moving back to his house when he’s 100% sure. 

“...I had a lot of fun today. Thanks a lot, Sayori.” 

“Yeah... me too.” 

As Sayori watches him leave, some part of her feels like punching herself for not mentioning the other elephant in the room, but there’s also a smaller, kinder part of her that tells her she should be proud of herself for the progress she made today. 

Admitting to Rentarou that she has been getting episodes of depression for the past couple years was like pulling her nails out. She wouldn’t have been able to do it if not for her childhood friend bravely telling her about his depression. 

That, plus him basically telling her he already knew, gave her the push to be honest about, well... everything. The rainclouds, her lack of enthusiasm, the mask she put on, why she was late to get out of bed every morning, and so much more. 

Rentarou never interrupts her; not once did he lose his patience and tell her to get over it, not once did he belittle her struggles or marginalize her problems. He holds her in his arms for hours as she unloads everything she had without any complaints. 

Truly, she couldn’t have asked for a better friend.  

“...”  

Strangely enough, a part of her felt a bit... unsatisfied with that. 

A memory of what he told her back at the playground replays in her mind. 

“I guess,” Rentarou spoke, interrupting her spiral. “You could say it was technically love that got me like this...”  

“I started exercising a lot and studying late into the night because I thought it would give me more of a chance with a girl if I did that... but so far, they still rejected me every time... It got to a point where even I started going to a love shrine and praying to the god there to help me finally get a girlfriend.”  

...That’s right, Rentarou was having trouble getting himself a girlfriend... she doesn’t know how considering he’s Rentarou, but he is. 

A crazy idea has just appeared in her mind. 

‘What if...’  

END OF CHAPTER  

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Poem sharing!

A mix of desires to help her friend and intrusive thoughts ended up resulting in what she’s going to - or at least attempts to - do today. Once she had packed her stuff into her duffle bag and finished writing her last-minute poem, she went outside and slowly walked towards Rentarou’s house.  

The plan was simple. If Rentarou were having trouble with getting himself a girlfriend, then she’ll help him find one!  

And how hard can that be? There are plenty of good options from her club!  

Natsuki is really cute, and her cupcakes are top-tier.  

Yuri got that mature beauty charm going on for her.  

And even Monika, despite her weird interaction with Rentarou yesterday can be considered a good match, with her being all reliable and confident.  

If she plays her cards right in being a wingman for her friend, he’ll get himself a date in no time!  

“...”   

Despite her best effort, her eyes narrowed at the thought of him with another girl.  

‘No! Stop it, me.’ She shook her head in frustration. ‘This isn’t about you anymore! This is about doing Rentarou a favor for everything he’s done for us!’   

And besides... she’s fully aware of how much of a mess she is right now.  

It’s not in the best state of mind to be in a relationship, and she also doesn’t want to continue burdening her childhood friend with all her baggage.  

So, the best thing she can do right now is help him with his lacking love life.  

And she will! She was 100% serious about this. She even made a notebook to help her organize all of her thoughts and plans.  

The cover is blank, of course, but it’s filled with strange, borderline impossible strategy only Sayori could come up with.  

One of them involves locking and barricading (Rentarou is too strong for a simple lock) him in the closet with one of her friends to create a perfect opportunity for him to confess. Just in case it wasn’t enough, she would also toss in a ‘Jar Of Surprise!’ inside so that her friend can be a hero and save whoever the girl is with him in there!  

Another one is to challenge everyone in a game of truth or dare and have the dare be: ‘I dare you to kiss my childhood friend right now!’ every time it’s her turn to dare someone. It’s simple, efficient, and has great potential for greatness. This is discounting the fact Sayori will be seen as completely unhinged by everyone and placing all her bets on luck for this to work.  

The one after that is for Sayori to fake an injury on her ankle and have Rentarou carry her to the infirmary (bridal style) and spend all the school hour hanging out until they could go home together. She would then offer him a date to the nearby family restaurant and confess her feelings to him as they live happily ever af-  

The rest of the page was hurriedly ripped to pieces as she violently shook her head.  

“No no no! What was that last one! Why did I even write that at all!?”  

“What’s wrong, Sayori?” Her friend asks from behind her; it looks like she had ended up walking past his home without realizing.  

“Nothing! Everything’s fine!”  

“Oh... are you sure?”  

“Yes!” She then stuffed the book into her bag and power walked her way to the school. Not meeting his concerned eyes as she continues. “C’mon! We’re gonna be late!”  

...  

Rentarou spied the bits and pieces of paper on the ground.  

“...She’s planning something, isn’t she?”   

=💙=

Once again, she was utterly lost in the middle of her teacher’s speeches. It’s unfortunate too, because she actually kind of likes history classes.  

The pen in her hand went from writing about the lesson to mindlessly tapping against the page as she started thinking back on her plan.  

And that’s when it happens.  

Eyes widening, she let out a gasp that startled some of the students near her, not that she cared about that, because it had just occurred to her.  

‘I don’t even know what type of girl he like!’   

How was she supposed to help him when she lacked the most basic information!?  

And as the class continued on, she made it a promise to correct this as soon as possible.  

=💙=

Finding him like she did yesterday, she tried to appear energetic but couldn’t fake it good enough to fool him. Rentarou places one of his hands on her shoulder and kindly tells her to be honest about how her mood is when they're together.  

“It’s good that you’re going out of your way to keep the atmosphere happy, but please don’t do it at the expense of your own happiness.”  

The mask slips off, and she thanks him in a mellow voice.  

“Sorry, bad habit...”  

“As long as you know to be honest with us, it’s fine.”  

The rainclouds over Rentarou may have been smaller and more manageable than the one over her, but that doesn’t mean he understood her any less.  

And besides, comparing the suffering of two people is stupid. In the end, they had both felt pain, and one doesn’t matter more than the other. It's better to give each other support than focus on the part that’s not important.  

They walk together to the club room like yesterday; the difference now is that she’s a lot more reserved, and he’s carrying a big sack over his shoulder like those burglars in cartoons would have.  

“...By the way, Rentarou.”  

“Hmm?” He turns to her.  

“What’s with the big sack you’re carrying?”  

“Oh, this?” He lifted the strange baggage before bashfully saying, “Well, I got a little carried away last night, haha...”  

“...?”  

=💚=

As the anomaly enters the club room with Sayori, she goes over to engage in a ‘friendly’ conversation with him. “I’m glad to see you’re here again, Rentarou. What was it like writing a poem for the first time?”  

Seeing her acting like this made him visibly happier. “It’s good to see you too, Monika! As for my poem...” He pauses for a bit, trying to find the right words. “Trying to convey what I want was as challenging as I thought, but I had a lot of fun!”  

“Well, I’m glad to hear that! Remember not to feel shy if you needed any advice from me.” She beams at him.  

‘This could be a good way to learn more about his motives...’    

“Thanks a lot! In fact, I do have some questions if you don’t mind. It’s about the poems that I made yesterday.”  

“Sure, what is-” She pauses. “Did you say poems? As in, plural?”  

The smile on his face somehow got wider. “That's right! I had so many ideas for a poem that I ended up making a bunch of them.”  

“How curious, Rentarou, how many did you write?”  

Lifting the big sack in front of him, the anomaly places the sack on top of one of the desks, attracting the attention of everyone as some of the papers inside spill out.  

“I made around four hundred poems to share with everyone!”  

“You did what!?” Yuri asks in disbelief.  

“So that’s why you were carrying that thing!” Sayori added, similarly taken by surprise.  

“How can you even do that! How much free time do you have!?” Natsuki pointed out the obvious question.  

“Let’s see...” Rentarou, of course, takes the question seriously and starts listing off his routine yesterday. “Around the time Sayori and I got back from hanging out, it was about 6:20 and I had to clean my uniform after that because it was drenched.”   

Sayori looks away from the questioning look everyone was giving her.  

“And then I went to my room and started writing around 100 of them from 7:30 to 9:00 but I had to stop for dinner.” He continues, like what he said is completely normal. “Once I'm done with that, I realize that the poems I’ve written were kind of amateurish and decide to write a few more before going to sleep. I was already getting used to writing them by this point and made 300 more to make sure I got everything covered before going to bed by 10:00 for a healthy eight- hours of sleep!”  

“Don’t just say insane stuff like that and then sneak in a ‘lesson of the day’ at the end! This isn’t a kids show!” Natsuki pointed out, debuting as the tsukkomi that day.  

“What happened to the old Rentarou who was too lazy to clean his room and do his dishes? That level of work ethic is insane!” Sayori exclaims in shock.  

“Is it? I did say I didn’t want to disappoint you girls yesterday, didn’t I?” His words once again cause Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki to blush in silence. “So, I thought that it would be nice if I could share 100 poems with each of you!”  

“Did he... really write this much poetry?” Yuri picks one of the fallen papers and, sure enough, there is one. As she went to read another one, a hand fell on her shoulder; turning around in surprise, she saw it was the club president teasingly swaying her finger left and right.  

“Now, now, Yuri. It’s not time for exchanging poems yet. You have to wait until then.”  

“Ah... right.” From the look on her face, it was clear the taller girl very much disliked not being able to continue.  

As for how Monika felt about all of this, it was to be expected. He has the position of admin after all; of course he would use it to do whatever he wanted. Writing a bunch of poems may be relatively harmless, yet she couldn’t risk letting her guard down.  

‘Is this also a part of his plan to achieve his goal?’   

=💚=

They went on to their usual activities then, with the anomaly sorting through his large pile of poems, Sayori writing something in her new notebook, Yuri sneaking glances towards the anomaly, and Natsuki reading her manga in the back of the club room.  

Like a boss overseeing all of her employees, Monika secretly kept her sight on all of them as she pulled out her phone. From the outside, it looks like she’s watching a video or reading an email sent to her, but what she’s actually doing is much more important and complicated than that.  

Despite losing her position as admin and the rules placed by the anomaly, she can still use her knowledge of the system to type in commands that don’t interfere with it.  

For example, knowing information is power in this situation, the self-aware girl has decided to make a ‘notebook’ of sorts using the system. This way, she’s the only person who has the ability to see it, and any clues she could find can be immediately archived for future use.  

Not to overestimate herself, but she can be very crafty when she wants to.  

There are not many things written in it yet, as it was a very new addition to her arsenal, but so far, she has a record of the anomaly’s actions, theories on how to get rid of him, and an unfinished profile of him in here. Anything else would have to wait until she could find more.  

Summoning the screen in front of her, she began typing in it.  

[Entry number: 9   

The anomaly seems strangely interested in writing poems for the exchange activity, to the point where he had written each of them a hundred poems. The excuses he had given on day 1 were enough to satiate the other girls' questions, but I had simply tossed them away as useless gibberish and kept looking for the real reason.   

Is the anomaly going to continue doing this level of impossible actions because he’s gathering data on how the girls would react to it? If so, how far is he going to go to get the ‘correct’ reaction from them, and how can I use this to my advantage?   

• Further research is needed for this entry.  

• Each of the poems given to me needed to be carefully and thoroughly studied.  

• This entry could potentially be a counter for memory erasure in case of emergency.]  

=💙=

Rentarou turns in her direction.  

She greeted him with a small smile, unlike how energetic she usually is.  

He smiles back at her proudly before moving over to Yuri, reading her books in the corner.  

...  

Alright, the course is clear!  

Time for her to update her super cool secret wingman notebook!  

[Something super crazy just happened! Rentarou wasn’t joking at all yesterday about the poem! He really did write 100 poems for me!   

Really makes me wonder how he doesn’t have a girlfriend with this level of dedication to something.   

• That’s crazy, but in a cool way!  

• I really worry about him developing arthritis.  

• Can’t wait to read all of them later!  

• He probably shouldn’t have wasted his time writing me any.]  

“Hmm?” Looking at Rentarou now, he’s reading a book with Yuri on her desk. The two of them sitting side by side as she and her friend fully immerse themselves in the work of literature.  

‘Oh, that’s a good sign! He’s making his move on her!’ She thought to herself.  

...Though, with Rentarou clearly giving her some space and trying not to interrupt her reading, it also looks like two platonic friends just hanging out together.   

‘C’mon, Rentarou! Get closer! What are you doing? You're throwing away a perfect opportunity to get that purple bombshell of a girlfriend!’ She complains, like she’s watching a movie and the characters are making stupid decisions.  

Almost like the universe has heard her plea, when Yuri moves her hand to turn over to the next page, Rentarou was also doing the same thing.  

“Huh?” The contact took Yuri out of her reading.  

“Oh, sorry!” Rentarou quickly apologizes, not intending for it to happen.  

Understanding flashes in her eyes as she also stammers out an apology.  

What followed was a scene straight out of a cliché romantic story where the two main leads were trying to dissuade the others from apologizing to one another after an embarrassing event, which only led to the two of them blushing profusely.  

“No, no! I should have known you were going to flip the page considering your eyes were on the last paragraph back then; it was my fault!”  

“...You kept watch of my eyes while we were reading...?” Yuri pointed out.  

“Ah! That’s not— I mean!” Rentarou frantically tries to explain himself, his face reddening with every passing second. 

He eventually brought out a scissor from his bag and exclaimed, “What was I doing, acting like a creep after you bought me a book to read with!? I’ll blind both my eyes to make amends!”  

“Please don’t do that!” Yuri got out of her embarrassment and immediately told him to stop with his extreme measure of making amends. She even had to wrestle the scissor from his hand.  

Crack!   

...Sayori needed a new pen.  

=💚=

After the anomaly was done trying to blind himself, he then promised Yuri to continue with their reading after he had finished reading the first book and catch up to where she is.  

She agreed, albeit with a little less reserve than she was previously. This could be her developing some sort of tolerance to his unusual nature after a long exposure. They did spend almost an hour reading the book after all.  

It was time for them to share the poems with each other. Knowing this, the club president unsummons the screen, got up from her seat, and-  

[TIME HAS BEEN REWINDED BY rentarou. chr]   

[THE FOLLOWING PLOT POINT WILL NOT CONTINUE UNTIL TIME HAS PASSED THE REQUIRED AMOUNT.]   

...What?  

“Hey Natsuki, do you mind recommending any cool manga you have read?”  

Monika quickly turns to find the anomaly starting the hangout event for Natsuki, which should normally be impossible after doing the one for Yuri.  

‘He’s going to do all of them!?’   

=💙=

Oh, it’s Natsuki’s turn.  

Bringing out another pen, Sayori writes a short note about what happens before and what’s happening now.  

Natsuki is as cranky and untrusting as always towards him, but her friend’s unlimited patience eventually got the pink-haired girl to let him read some of her manga with her. They sat against the wall as they started talking about the plot of the manga he was reading.  

‘Okay... so far, everything’s going smoothly.’    

Rentarou asks a few questions here and there, slowly making the shorter girl feel more comfortable around him as she goes on a detailed explanation of how she feels about the story they are reading. When he himself realizes this, he also starts giving his own opinion as well. Some clashes, but most of them match with Natsuki’s own.  

Sayori felt strangely proud seeing this; look at him go, her dear old friend dismantling a tsundere’s defensive walls like it’s nothing.  

‘Now all he has to do is make his moves on her and... never mind, this is Rentarou; there’s no way he’s going to do that unless it’s accidental like before.’   

...Maybe it’s time to unleash one of her plans?  

Reaching into her bag, the mellow girl slowly pulls out a suspiciously noisy jar filled wi-  

‘Wait, hold on! He is making a move! ’ She pushes the jar back in as Natsuki’s voice rose higher.  

“A-Are you playing dumb or something!?” Yells out the shorter girl.  

Placatingly putting his hands forward, he immediately went to explain himself. “Wait, I’m not playing with you here! If what I said sounds like an insult, then I’m sorry!”  

“Yeah, well you better be! Hmph!”  

Basing on how flustered the pink-haired girl looked, Sayori could have guessed what happens.  

She continues writing this new information in her notebook as well.  

[Rentarou’s compatibility with everyone:   

Yuri: Pretty good. His enthusiasm and forwardness mesh well with her polite and reserved nature. Once they got comfortable enough around each other, they might even start flirting openly.   

• It wouldn’t surprise me if Yuri turns out to be down bad for him.  

• She might confess first.  

Overall: 8/10   

Natsuki: Not bad. May take a bit longer to happen, but it definitely could. Rentarou’s sincere interest in her hobbies is the catalyst here. If you combined that with his willingness to try out new things and Natsuki finally having someone who has the same interests as her, it’s only a matter of time.   

• Having a boyfriend like Rentarou might help with her crankiness.  

• He would have to confess first.  

Overall: 7/10   

Monika: The potential is there. But before I could say anything about this, I need to see them spending some time with each other first.   

• One of my plans might be needed here.  

• The jar yearns to be thrown.  

Overall: ?/10   

Sayori: Obviously, as his one and only childhood friend, I would have the most compatibility with him. Not to mention the fact that we both have experience dealing with each other for most of our lives, it would be only a matter of time until he realizes how perfect it would be and confesses his undying love to me.   

Overall: 11/10]   

...She doesn’t remember ever writing that last part.  

Oh well, let’s just keep it in.  

=💚=

Her gaze was laser-focused as the anomaly finished his hangout event with the pink-haired girl, promising her to read some more manga later as he bid his farewell.  

“What, you want to read my poem so bad?” Although her words were confrontational, her mannerism is less so.   

He waves his hand at that, “Oh, I’d love to read yours, Natsuki! But not yet, I still have some people I need to talk with first.”  

“Huh? Can’t you keep watch of the time, idiot?” The pink-haired girl heatedly reminds him, annoyed at him for flustering her again.  

“Hmm?” The anomaly simply plays dumb.  

At this, Natsuki brought out her phone and showed the time on his face, the small keychains on the cellular device making rattling noises. “We were reading that manga for half an hour! It’s about time we share our poems, so you might as well share with me first!”  

The smile on his face doesn’t change; he just looks at the screen of her phone and looks back at the shorter girl.  

Confused, Natsuki turns the phone around and proceeds to have her sense of time completely flip upside down. “What the— huh!?”  

The amount of time the anomaly spends with Yuri and Natsuki would be 1 hour in total, and yet only 20 minutes has passed since the Literature Club has started.  

“So, as I was saying...”  

“...Whatever, just talk to me when you want to share poems!” With bright red face, the shorter girl gave him an embarrassed glare before walking back to her seat.  

As all that was happening, Monika went back to documenting everything from where she last left off.  

[Entry number: 12   

The anomaly has a unique way of handling the other characters experiencing his influence over the game. Rather than lying outright, he instead either remains quiet or speaks vaguely as they convince themselves it was simply a bizarre, one-off occurrence. Essentially having them do all the work for him while remaining unsuspected.   

Maintaining his facade, juggling his attention and relationship with all of them, plus keeping them from realizing the weird inconsistencies. He made it all look easy, and as much as I dislike him, I have to give credit where it’s due.   

However, as much as he excels in manipulation, my awareness of the strings above and ability to manipulate the system with my own commands still gives me an edge over everyone here.   

This is something even the anomaly wasn’t aware of.   

And it would be a cold day in hell before I let him get one over me.]   

Letting out a satisfied hum, she lifts her eyes from the screen and-  

He’s gone.  

“!?” Scanning the club room once again, Monika was shocked to see that she couldn’t find the anomaly at all.  

‘Where did he go? Did he just leave the room while I wasn’t looking?”   

And as her eyes frantically continue searching for him, she can’t help but notice something else that’s strange.  

...Why is Sayori pretending not to look in her direction while writing in her notebook?  

Since when did she have that notebook?  

“I’m glad she’s doing better than before, you know?” A voice behind her spoke out loud.  

No, she did not freeze in fear. Anyone who said she did is a liar.   

“...” Slowly, Monika turns to him standing in front of her desk.  

“I was really worried her raincloud was never going away... the fact she was willing to show me how she really feels means a lot.”  

“...And you don’t have anything to do with that?”  

“You can say that.” He closed his eyes and nod in affirmation. “But as much as I help her, if she didn’t take the step to help herself, it wouldn’t have mattered what I said to her.”  

Monika’s emerald eyes sharpen like knives. “That’s good to hear, Rentarou. I’m glad you two were able to confide in each other.”  

He rubs the back of his head, something she had become used to seeing. “Well, it takes one to know one, I guess.”  

“It seems so.” She simply nodded to him.  

“...” His unreadable face returned.  

Only, this time she makes sure to focus on his eyes.  

Confusion.  

Concern.  

Frustration.  

...Disappointment.  

Monika replays all the conversation they previously had before this.  

And then she understands who the disappointment is pointed to.  

‘Did he... think I also have depression like Sayori...?’   

Where did that even come from?  

Of course, she wasn’t omniscient. Monika knows she could be reading the whole thing completely wrong, but she also knows that she’s dealing with an anomaly.  

Awkwardly, the self-aware character gave him a polite smile and ‘reassures’ him.  

“Rentarou... I’m glad to see how caring of a friend you are; really, I am. But I don’t have rain clouds above my head like you two...”  

“O-Oh, right...” The anomaly looks away, realizing he had made the situation awkward. “That was rude of me, assuming like that. I’m sorry.”  

“Don’t be, you helped Sayori, didn’t you? As her club president, I should thank you instead.”  

At this, he waves his hands in rejection. “Sayori is my friend; helping her is my obligation.”  

It was almost amusing how much he put into his acting, almost.  

Their talk after that was shorter than with everyone else; it makes her wonder if he realizes she was stonewalling his attempts to form a connection with her.  

=💙=

“Hey there, Sayori.”  

“I WASN’T SCHEMING!”  

“Hmm?”  

“Nothing! Forget what I said!”  

“Okay then,” He easily nodded to her, much to the relief of Sayori. “But if you weren’t scheming, then what were you doing?”  

“Uhh...” Her mind went blank.  

Rentarou patiently waited for her as the clumsy girl decided to take a shot in the dark.  

“I was... doing my math homework?”  

The suspension of disbelief has never been so strained before.  

“Need any help?” Her childhood friend kindly offers.  

She quickly places the book away and changes the topic. It was as subtle as a raging bull inside an antique shop.  

“N-No, I’m good! Anyway, how’s your love life?”  

“...”  

“...”  

Crap.  

Rentarou’s smile becomes a bit lopsided, his eyes losing some color. “Nothing much, I don’t really have the intention to date anyone lately...”  

Crap. Crap. Crap.  

‘Now he’s sad! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!’   

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Rentarou!” The words stumble out of her mouth.  

“What do you mean?”  

“Well, I mean... uh...”   

It occurs to her then what a golden opportunity this is. Now that her friend is openly talking about this stuff with her, she could mention the possibility of him dating anyone here without making it feel unnatural or contrived!  

...Ignoring the fact she’s the one who mentions it first, of course!  

“You know, I’m sure you can get anyone here to go out on a date with you.”  

“S-Sayori, that—!?” Her friend stammers in surprise, not expecting her to just say it like that.  

But he’s not rejecting the idea. So far so good...  

“What’s wrong, Rentarou? Do you not like the thought of dating them?”  

“No! That’s not it at all!” He vehemently denied. “I’d be the luckiest man alive if I ever got to date any of them!”  

“Then why not try your luck and ask them out?” She tries again.  

He remains quiet for a bit, gathering his bearing before speaking clearly to her. “Sayori, I’m flattered that you have so much faith in me, and I also don’t mind the idea of dating any of them. But despite that...” He hesitated for a bit.   

“...?”  

“Well, there’s something I need to do first before that.” And as her mouth opened to ask what it was, Rentarou calmly placed his hand on her shoulder, interrupting her. “I promise I'll tell you one day, okay?”  

It got a pout out of her, huffing in mild anger as she turns away. “Fine then, keep your secret!”  

The colors return to his eyes as he laughs at her antics.  

=💙=

Rentarou asked her again about how she feels, and unlike last time, Sayori was honest from the start. She told him it’s been fine so far, with some dark thoughts here and there as usual, but nothing too bad.  

A bittersweet smile forms on her face as she thanks him for listening.  

“Don’t mention it, you would do the same for me.”  

“I don’t know... you’re smarter than me most of the time. It might take me a while to find out by myself.”  

“You will. I know you will.”  

“Boy... that’s a lot of pressure you’re putting on that other version of me...”  

“It’s not pressure, I just believe in her is all.”  

This Sayori in his mind, this amazing, iron-willed person who he knew.  

She envies them.  

=💚=

[TIME HAS PASSED THE REQUIRED AMOUNT.]   

[THE FOLLOWING PLOT POINT WILL NOW CONTINUE.]    

 She takes it that’s her cue then.  

This time, when she got up from her seat and clapped her hands together, she wasn’t interrupted by time itself rewinding.  

“Okay, everyone! It’s time we share our poems with each other!”   

“It’s about time! Let’s just get this over with.”  

“It is still daunting, yet I find myself also a little eager to proceed...”  

“Finally! I call dibs on Rentarou’s poems first!”  

Another change from how it would be normally. The player’s avatar has been replaced by the anomaly; he should be the one to make the decision, and yet they’re all choosing for him.  

Natsuki did a double take. “Wha-What do you mean you call dibs on that!?”  

“It means I get to read the 100 poems he made for me first!”  

“You can’t just do that!”  

“I just did~”  

Exasperated, the pink-haired girl turns to her taller club members.  

“Yuri, Monika, back me up here!”  

“I agree with Natsuki... just because you’re his closest friend doesn’t mean you get to decide that. The choice should be in his hand instead.”  

“I have no problem with not being the first to share with Rentarou, and I do agree with Yuri on this one. Sayori, don’t make the decision for him.”  

“Fine, fine... let’s just ask him instead~” Sayori happily said back to them. The coy smile on her face confusing her friends. “Say, Rentarou, out of all of us, who do you want to share poems with first~?”  

‘This could be interesting...’ Monika prepares to analyze everything she could find in his poems.  

=💙=

Of course she would have that smile, after all, no matter who Rentarou picks first, her plan would still be in motion!  

‘This is the power of multi-shipping! Bow before the unbeatable strategy of siding with every team! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!’   

The attention all went to her childhood friend, his thick brows furrowing as his expression went all scrunch!  

“I choose...”  

END OF CHAPTE-  

“NOT YET!” Rentarou yells out, stopping the author from ending the chapter. “I’m not letting this end before I make them all happy! Don’t you dare place that cheap cliffhanger there!”  

Fine. We'll continue then.  

After spouting out nonsensical words out of his mouth like a madman, the rest of his club members were obviously taken aback.  

“Not now, Rentarou!” Sayori admonished him. “Out of all the times for your weird habit, this is not the time!”  

“Sorry, I got a bit heated there.” He clears his throat bashfully before addressing the girls in the club room. “As for who I will share my poems with first, that’s easy!”  

His confident answer brought varying degrees of emotions from them all. With Sayori looking around in anticipation, Natsuki facing away from everyone, Yuri trying to maintain eye contact with him and failing, and Monika calmly crossing her arms as she lets him have the stage.  

Walking over to his sack of poems, he went through it for a bit and laid out four separate piles of papers on the desk. After that, he handed them over to each of the girls and clapped his hands similar to how Minika did earlier.  

“There! Now everyone gets to read my poem first!” Well, discounting the one Yuri managed to read back then. But that’s an exception.  

This isn’t what Sayori had in mind, but looking around her, she got a feeling the rest of her friends don’t really mind. In fact, they’re busy reading through his poems the moment he handed it to them. Yuri and Natsuki flipping the pages like it’s a book while Monika slowly and methodically examines each page like a professor grading an exam.  

Feeling left out, the clumsy girl turns her sky-blue eyes downward as she also starts reading his poems.  

...  

...  

...  

Huh... these are nice...  

Of course, the writing has marks of a beginner all over it, but when she looks past all of that, it paints a very interesting look into his perspectives.  

One of the poems is about a penguin trying to find its colony after being lost. Another one is about a painter running out of inspiration on what he wanted to draw. There's even one about a bear contemplating whether it should awake from its hibernation or just stay asleep in the comfortable cave...  

Reading them reminds her of the old Rentarou, back when he was always grumpy and lazy compared to how he is now.  

Halfway through the pages, the poems started to change. Instead of focusing on the problems in it, it instead brings the spotlight to what the problems have caused to happen in the first place.  

This one in particular hit her like a truck. Not because of how well made it was, but how much she could relate to something so simple.  

It Couldn’t Fly

In fields of green, where wildflowers sway,

A tale of woe, a story to say,

Of dreams that soared, but never flew,

A lame tale, of what it couldn't do.

It had a plan, a vision grand,

To take to the skies, and achieve what it has plan,

But alas, its wings were not so bright,

And it couldn't fly, no matter the fight.

It tried and tried, with all its might,

But still it fell, with a sad plight,

It couldn't rise, no matter the try,

And so it lay, with a heavy sigh.

Oh, it was a dream, so pure and true,

But it just wouldn't fly, that's what it do.

It had a heart, so full of cheer,

But it just couldn't soar, no matter the year.

‘This must’ve been how he felt after being rejected so many times...’   

As he is now, one might think a guy like Rentarou has everything in order with how full of life he is. But after hearing what he told her yesterday, she now knew her friend struggles as much as anyone else.  

All in all, his poems do a great job showing who he is and how he feels through his writing. It could use a bit more wordplay, some polishing here and there, but it’s fine on its own.  

Not to mention, this is only halfway through all 100 of his poems!  

Sayori smiled brightly as she gave out the first review of Rentarou’s poems. “Not bad, Rentarou! For your first time, all your poems gain my approval!”  

He gave her a thumbs up. “Glad to hear that, Sayori!”  

“You already read all of them!?” Natsuki asks in shock.  

“Nope! I’ll finish it later; just read enough to know the vibe is immaculate!”  

“What does that even mean!?”  

“You finished too, Yuri? Tell us what you think!” Sayori changes the topic, shifting the attention to the taller girl-  

=💜=

-much to her chagrin.  

“Not quite, I’ve also decided to only read half of it until I could find the appropriate time to finish it later...” Having said that, the purple-haired girl thought back to all the poems she had read so far.  

It starts off with short and easy-to-understand poems, but over time she could feel the writing started getting more and more abstract. A sign he was getting used to writing, which is nothing short of impressive considering this was his first time making poems.  

She remembers the first poem. It was a lighthearted poem about a boy mustering the courage to give flowers to the girl he liked. The style of writing was simple and amateurish, yet she found the poem endearingly honest in the message it tries to convey.  

Then there’s the one about how a baker accidentally ruined the cake he was making by adding too many ingredients into it. And another about a doctor mistaking the medicine he prescribes to his patients as poisons instead, worsening their illness.  

This is where she realizes he’s trying to convey something that has been troubling him. In every one of his poems from there on, there’s always a question being asked and given no answers in return.   

‘In theory, it could just be his way of letting out frustration at not knowing how to solve a problem he’s having...’    

But if that were the case, then it wouldn’t explain the hopeful poems later on. The one she could think of in particular was about the map.  

Follow The Map

Follow the map, it holds the key

To where your heart desires to be

Through valleys deep and mountains tall

The journey beckons, heed its call

Each twist and turn, a path unknown

But trust the map, you're not alone

With courage as your guiding light

You'll brave the darkness of the night

So step by step, you'll forge ahead

And face the challenges that lie ahead

For in the end, you'll find your way

To where your dreams forever stay

Follow the map, your heart will soar

To places never seen before

Embrace the journey, let it mold

The story of your life will unfold.

Despite his previous poems about not knowing the answer to something, he seems to be doing better now that he has this ‘map’ of his. No doubt a metaphor for something else.  

It was a fascinating experience to read his poems and see the changes in the story as they went on. The implications of what’s going on in his life for them to be so, and the interesting theories she had come up with while reading them.  

“...It was an interesting read,” She finally said out loud, her words coming out before she could stop herself. “Of course, there are poems here that could use some polishing, but to think this is your first time writing poems, I’m truly amazed, Rentarou. Thank you for sharing them with me.”  

...  

Hmm?   

Confused by the lack of response, Yuri took her eyes away from the poems in her hands to see everyone looking at her in shock.  

“Oh, did I say something wrong...?” She reverts back into herself, looking away from her friends as they snap back to their senses.  

“Woahh! You don’t see Yuri that confident every day! Those poems must be really good if it got her to forget her shyness!” Sayori excitedly cheers.  

“It’s good to see you enjoy this activity as much as our previous one, Yuri.” Likewise, Monika also uses the opportunity to tease the taller girl.  

“Would you look at that? She can review someone’s work without getting all wordy and poetic.” Natsuki dryly said, referencing the time the purple-haired girl spent an entire hour telling them about her opinion on the endings of the book they were reviewing.  

And Rentarou, well, he’s crying tears of happiness at her praises, the waterworks forming a puddle on his feet. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my poems!”  

“I-It was simply a standard review from me, you don’t have to put my words so highly!” She immediately said, trying her best to defuse her friends' reactions.  

“To be fair, this is the first few times you have ever shared your poems with anyone.” Sayori added in the background. “It’s a bit early to say that!”  

“Ahem,” Awkwardly clearing her throat, Monika cuts in. “Ignoring Sayori’s sudden competitiveness over this, I would also like to give my own thoughts on your poems, Rentarou.”  

“Please do.” Leaving the metaphorical stage, Yuri welcomes Monika’s turn without problems.  

“Alright then... where do I even start?” Playfully lifting the big pile of papers in her hands, the club president got a laugh out of them as she said that.  

Unlike with her earlier, Monika’s natural charisma and her experience in dealing with her club members got everyone into a much more manageable atmosphere.  

“Since everyone before me has already said most of what I wanted to say, I’ll just keep mine brief instead, okay?”   

“I don’t mind, please go ahead!” Rentarou encourages.  

“First things first... If I were to look at these poems individually, I’d say you did a commendable job for your first time. But if I were to look at them all as one very lengthy poem, I’d say this is a very avant-garde approach I’ve never seen before.”  

Her words pause then, inspecting the pile of papers in her hands, she turns her attention back to him. For a second there, Yuri could have sworn she saw her friend’s emerald eyes shine in bemusement before it disappeared.  

“...I like it, well done, Rentarou.”  

“I’m glad to hear that, Monika!”  

The purple-haired girl blinks, ‘Was that just my imagination...?’   

= 🩷 =

Oh great, now that Monika’s done with her review, everyone’s looking at her.  

Smiling the way he always does, Rentarou asks, “What about you, Natsuki? What do you think about my poems?”  

Her eyes look away from his, “Well, wouldn’t you like to know?”  

“You bet I am! I can’t wait to hear what advice you have for me.”  

Ugh! Why does he have to sound so stupidly sincere every time he opens his mouth!  

“F-Fine! If you insist!” Saying this, the pink-haired girl recalls her thoughts back when reading through his poems.  

At first, she thought he was playing a prank on them all. Can you really blame her? Who in their right mind would write 100 poems for four different people who they had just met? Not to mention, it was all for an after-school club activity.  

Imagine her surprise when she realized he actually wrote a poem in every single one of the papers. Not only that, but all the poems were unique and had the same amount of thoughts and care put into them.  

It should have honestly freaked her out. Key word being: should.  

She didn’t know why, but for the life of her, Natsuki just couldn't picture Rentarou as a malevolent force. Any and all doubts or judgments she might have for him immediately evaporate the second she looks into his eyes.  

His stupid, dumb, kind brown eyes that never held any pity or anger towards her despite all the harsh words coming out of her mouth.  

As for the poems themselves, well...  

Wouldn’t It Be Nice?

Wouldn't it be nice to dance in the rain,

Skipping and twirling, free from all pain?

To feel the drops on your skin,

And let all your worries thin.

Oh, wouldn't it be nice indeed,

To live in a world where we don’t have to bleed,

Where my reflection in your eyes beams,

And life is nothing but beautiful dreams.

“It was fine.”  

“Oh, thanks!”  

A grumble came from her at that.   

Honestly, this guy... why does everything he did make her feel so-  

Natsuki shook her head. ‘That's dangerous territory. Best not go there...’   

=💙=

Not-so-subtly moving closer to her childhood friend, Sayori gave him her poems.  

“It’s your turn now, Mr. Poem!”  

“Oh please, call me Rentarou. Mr. Poem is my father.”  

The goofy grins stayed on their faces as he started reading.

Dear Sunshine

The way you glow through my blinds in the morning.

It makes me feel like you missed me.

Kissing my forehead to help me out of bed.
Making me rub the sleepy from my eyes.

Are you asking me to come out and play?
Are you trusting me to wish away a rainy day?

I look above. The sky is blue.
It's a secret, but I trust you too.

If it wasn't for you, I could sleep forever.
But I'm not mad.

I want breakfast.

“...Sayori?”  

“Yes...?”  

“Did you write this poem right after waking up this morning?”  

“No...”  

The sounds of his laugh cause her to blush. “This is so like you. I can’t even think of another poem that could fit you any better than this.”  

“Is that a good thing?” She asks tentatively.  

Instead of giving her a direct answer, he instead gently held the poem close to him.  

“Do you mind if I brought this one home with me?”  

Her face got even redder, if that was possible. 

= 🩷 =

Eagles Can Fly

Monkeys can climb

Crickets can leap

Horses can race

Owls can seek

Cheetahs can run

Eagles can fly

People can try

But that's about it.

When he started reading her poem, her traitorous mind went wild with its intrusive thoughts. He’s the new one at this, there’s nothing for her to be worry about, logically speaking. 

And yet despite that, her mind continues to plague her with it nonetheless. 

“That’s a surprise, I’ve never read a poem like this before.” He said, handing the poem back to her. 

“Yeah? well, my poem doesn’t follow traditional rules.”  The short girl turns away from him. 

“I still enjoyed it. Simple, but very punchy!” 

Natsuki doesn’t know how to feel about the way her heart skips a beat at that. 

=💜=

Ghost under the light

The tendrils of my hair illuminate beneath the amber glow.

Bathing.

It must be this one.

The last remaining streetlight to have withstood the test of time.

The last yet to be replaced by the sickening blue-green of the future.

I bathe. Calm; breathing air of the present but living in the past.

The light flickers.

I flicker back.

“...”   

“...”  

Once he’s done with reading her poems, he gave it back to her.  

“What do you think? Of my poem I mean.”  

“Well, Yuri. I honestly have no idea what it means!”  

Oh... she supposed it was too much for someone new to poetry...  

“It must’ve been confusing to you, I’m sorry.”  

Hearing this, he waves his hands around. “No, no, that’s a good thing!”  

“It is...?” Yuri blinks in confusion.  

He smiles, “Yeah! See, because I don’t understand it, you can explain what it means to me as much as you want whenever we hang out later!”  

“T-That is...!?”  

“This way, I can learn more about abstract poetry, and you can talk about something you’re passionate about! We both got something good out of it!”  

It was too much for poor Yuri. The purple-haired girl had to partially turn her face away from him. “That sounds... lovely, Rentarou.”  

=💚=

“Do you mind if I read your poem, Monika?”   

He gave her more space than before, his voice steadier, his body language as nonthreatening as possible, like he was approaching a scared animal.  

The club president pretends she didn’t notice.  

“After giving me a hundred? It’s only fair I gave you one of mine, Rentarou.”  

Hole in Wall

It couldn't have been me.

See, the direction the spackle protrudes.

A noisy neighbor? An angry boyfriend? I'll never know. I wasn't home.

I peer inside for a clue.

No! I can't see. I reel, blind, like a film left out in the sun.

But it's too late. My retinas.

Already scorched with a permanent copy of the meaningless image.

It's just a little hole. It wasn't too bright.

It was too deep.

Stretching forever into everything.

A hole of infinite choices.

I realize now, that I wasn't looking in.

I was looking out.

And he, on the other side, was looking in.

...  

...  

...  

When he finished reading her poems, the pure confusion in his eyes met her detached, friendly ones. It's the same look as the one she would have before gaining self-awareness.  

“...Huh.”  

“Was it too complicated for you?”  

His unreadable expression returns as he stares into her eyes once again.  

“...Do you want to talk about it...?”  

“Thanks for offering, but I’m good~”  

“Okay then...”  

It should have been a victory. As small or petty as it was. Monika manages to catch the anomaly off guard while maintaining her disguise.  

She wonders why it doesn’t feel as satisfying as it should.  

=💙=

Boy, what a good day this has been so far!  

Not only is it beneficial for her notebook with all the new info she got, but also for her friend to get closer to everyone! Everything is coming along nicely!  

‘All this, and I don’t even have to use the jar!’   

Sayori patted the ominously buzzing spot of her bag.  

Next time, my friend. Next time...  

Now then, how about she goes for another ice cream trip with Rentarou after this? It was... not exactly what she would call fun, but it was definitely worthwhile the last time they went there!  

Have to order a different ice cream this time though...  

How about strawberry? Or maybe she could match Rentarou and order the same thing he does?  

Hmm... decisions, decisions...  

“Well, maybe he just appreciates my advice better than yours!”  

“Are you that full of yourself!?”  

Wait, what?  

Turning her attention to the rising volume of voices, a heated argument is happening between Yuri and Natsuki.  

That’s bad.  

Rentarou is standing in front of them.  

That’s good!  

She immediately pulls out her notebook to collect any new info she could from this.  

...Hold on, is Monika recording all of this from the corner of the club room?  

=💚=

...Hold on, is Sayori documenting all of this from the back of the club room? 

=💚💙=

They pause from their activities.  

‘‘Now that I think about it, she’s been acting weird this whole time.’’  

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Two different ways to say...  

The first thing she thought of when she saw him enter the club room was: ‘I swear, if this guy starts acting like a playboy around all of us, I’ll chase him out myself!’  

And can you really blame her for thinking that?   

Look at him! His school uniform is still in top condition, not a thing out of place! He’s well-groomed, with no sign of stubble on his face. Any hair she could see was all well-kept like his dark brown hair and those thick eyebrows of his! The friendly way he held himself as he walked in and introduced himself in that polite voice!   

He's just like one of those ‘bishounen’ in her manga who would have girls flocking all over him!  

Clearly, he’s one of those stupid hormonal boys who’s here just looking to get a date! And Natsuki is not having any of it!  

...Then she saw how happy Sayori is acting and how easily they bounce off of each other. After that he told them about his hobby in cooking and how he’s into the romance genre of media...  

Okay, maybe, just maybe, this Rentarou guy wasn’t as bad as she thought.  

The cranky girl gives in a little, acknowledging his greeting with her own biting comment. And when he earnestly smiles back at her, accepting her cold words without any hesitation, a small part buried in the back of her mind gives out a happy response.  

What came out of her mouth instead was a shadow of its former self.  

As always.  

“Y-You... Hmph! Never mind...”  

“Eh? Did I say something wrong!?”    

“Don’t worry, Rentarou! Natsuki has always been rough around the edges but sweet on the inside!” And as Natsuki sputters out a denial, Sayori continues. “See? She even makes some cupcakes for you for today!”    

“Oh! She did? Thanks a lot, Natsuki!”    

“W-What?! Don’t get so full of yourself! It’s not like I made this for you or anything like that!”  

He gasps out loud, like he’s seeing a mythical creature in real life. “She’s a picture-perfect Tsundere!”  

“Says you! No, I'm not!” Natsuki vehemently denied his claims.    

“She is~!” Only for Sayori to double down on it.    

“Gah! Both of you are doing this on purpose!”    

And as they all continue with this ridiculous line of dialogues, goofy smiles and tender laughs shared among each other, the pink-haired girl isn’t offended, instead, she can’t help but feel strangely content with the situation. Like it was supposed to be this way all along.  

Rentarou’s arrival didn’t make the literature club any less of a welcoming place for Natsuki; he simply added to it.  

Of course, she’d never be caught saying it out loud.  

=💜=

The purple-haired girl honestly doesn't know what to expect when their (supposedly) new member enters the club room. With a polite, yet lively personality, Rentarou introduces himself to everyone with confidence she could never have mustered by herself.  

The teen then, in an act of unexpected kindness, invites their unresponsive president to the introduction. It may be a bit soon, but seeing him walking over to Monika to ask her if she’s doing alright cements Rentarou as a respectable person in Yuri’s eyes. To add to that, he’s also someone easy to get along with, if what Sayori has said about him were true.  

Once that was done and Monika went back to being the competent club president she normally is, he went over to her and they engaged in their first one-to-one conversation.  

Considering this is a welcoming celebration for him, she swallows her usual shyness and greets him first. “My name is Yuri, it’s nice to meet you, Rentarou.”   

“Likewise, Sayori says a lot of good things about you, so I'm really happy to make your acquaintance!” The affable teen cheerfully exclaims.  

“Ah... did she...”  

“Yeah, she said you’re the smartest friend she knows, and that you would always recommend her some pretty interesting works of literature!”  

Yuri’s remaining source of courage vanishes as she looks away from Rentarou, red in the face from the unexpected compliment.  

“T-that is mostly exaggerations...”  

He laughs a bit, “Well, you’re probably right about that considering how Sayori is about her friends, but there’s got to be some foundation to it!”  

Thinking back on it, it surprised her halfway through their conversation how natural it all felt. Talking to Rentarou doesn’t invoke the usual feeling of awkwardness she would have when she met someone new; it’s the complete opposite. For some reason, talking to him seems to make her want to talk and engage even more.  

‘I wonder if he’ll be interested in reading some of my books...’  

The reserved girl felt a sense of excitement to get to know him more in the future.  

=💗=

Once again, she tries to make small talk. “What kind of food do you make?” And once again, it ended up sounding more confrontational than intended. “I bet I can make one better!”   

His replies were like someone had just thrown a flashbang in front of her.  

“That sounds great, Natsuki! I’d love to cook with you!”  

She balks.   

“Gah! Don’t just say stuff like that!”  

=💜=

Yuri politely thanks the shorter girl for the treat as she serves her tea to everyone on the improvised dining table they had made using the classroom tables.  

Her sweet tooth may not be as big as Sayori, but she can certainly appreciate a well-made cupcake or two once in a while. Especially when her friend was the one who made it.  

“Oh wow! That’s really good! The frosting is sweet and full of flavors, combined with the soft texture of the cake beneath makes biting into it really satisfying! Thanks for making this, Natsuki!”   

“O-Oh, really...?” Her pink-haired friend must’ve realized how unlike her that was, as she immediately follows it up with: “Wha- Why are you thanking me anyway? It’s not like I made them for you or anything!”     

“Even if you didn’t, I'd still thank you!” He doubled down on it, causing Natsuki to look away with a blush.   

Yuri has always wondered why the shorter girl acted the way she did, why she’s being so defensive and antagonistic at certain times, even when she doesn’t have to. But over time she simply writes it off as a force of habit more than anything.  

Perhaps it could have been more; she could have asked her about it, yet she chose not to. It wasn’t any of her business anyways.  

=💗=

Rentarou took a sip from Yuri’s tea after blowing on it. His eyes didn't glitter in excitement like when he ate her cupcakes, but they did soften. “I don’t really know much about tea, but even a novice like me can tell how well-made this is. Thanks a lot, Yuri.”   

“It was nothing...” Caught off guard, Yuri retreated into herself with a small blush.   

“...” Natsuki thinks back to when Rentarou complimented her cupcake and she started sweating nervously.  

‘Did I look like that back then...?’  

N-no, there’s no way she was that obvious... right?  

She sure hopes not.  

Before she could think more about it, Rentarou worriedly asked their club president if she was doing fine. To be honest, as someone who’s been here longer than him, it kind of made her feel like a bad friend to not notice how spaced out Monika was the entire time they were eating.  

She and everyone else tell the club president it’s okay to sit this one out, but Monika simply shakes her head and patiently reassures everyone that she’s well enough to be here.  

Yeah, no. Natsuki can clearly tell she’s dealing with something heavy right now, and from the looks of it, everyone else can too.  

They were about to insist, but then Monika let out an ominously coy smile.  

Natsuki’s instinct is telling her something bad is about to happen, and sure enough, they did.  

“Really everyone, I’m just fine! If anything, I'm more worried about our new member with how hard Natsuki was staring at him earlier...”  

Any and all concern she had for their club president was thrown out the window.  

=💜=

“...And speaking of that, I’m not the only one here who’s out of character, y’know~?” Monika continues, “Yuri here has been smiling a lot more than usual, hmm~?”  

Yuri flinches, grateful for the fact she wasn’t drinking her tea when she heard that.  

“M-maybe we should move on from this topic...”  

Sensing her discomfort, Sayori and Rentarou (bless their souls) agree and start bringing up different random stuff to talk about.  

“Oh, I know! Let’s talk about this weird dream I had last night!”  

The Club President leans back in her chair, looking as if she didn’t almost give Natsuki and Yuri a heart attack just now.  

Following this, Yuri decides to mind her own business and not ask Monika about it anymore.  

If she’s willing to throw both her and Natsuki under the bus like that, it’s clear they’ve stepped on a landmine of a subject.  

=💗=

With the clap of her hands, Monika then announces the time for them to discuss the stuff they will all be doing for their next club activity. Natsuki is pretty neutral about the whole thing; she thinks that she could make do with any activities as long as they’re reasonable enough.  

“Sure! What do you have in mind, Monika?” Sayori got the dice rolling; she usually would most of the time, something the pink-haired girl is grateful for.  

“We reviewed famous stories last time; are we changing it? I really like that one...”  

Natsuki grumbles under her breath at Yuri’s words. “Oh, we know you do. You spent an entire hour telling us about it...”   

She then throws in her own two-piece. “I'm down with whatever you have in mind. As long as it’s not too time-consuming!"   

“Oh, it’s my first time doing this! How do we choose?” Their newcomer excitedly asks them, and as time passes, she’s starting to become used to his brand of optimism.  

It's not as carefree as Sayori’s or coy like Monika’s, but a mix of those two.  

“Literature has always been a broad subject; one of the most common forms of it would be poems...” Monika follows it up with the ease of a veteran public speaker and... oh for crying out loud!  

‘Why is that smile on her face again!’  

Monika lifts a piece of paper in her hand, “Like this one here I found left behind on Natsuki’s desk the other day!”  

“You what!?” Natsuki exclaimed in shock.   

She even dares to let out an amused chuckle. “It’s really cute; she even named it-”   

“Don’t say the name out loud!” Rushing over to her, the pink-haired girl snatched it right out of her hand and went back to her seat with a huff. The rest of her friends good-naturedly laugh at this while Rentarou makes a strange face, his hand clutching his chest.  

Natsuki has no idea what that was about, but it still makes her feel flustered, so she automatically doesn’t like it!  

=💜=

When Monika suggests they share their poems with each other, some part of her refuses immediately. Her poems are... special to her. It's her most vulnerable form of self-expression, and Yuri doesn’t think she was ready to just share it with everyone yet.  

Yuri keeps quiet as Natsuki’s already disgruntled expression became even sourer if it was possible. “Do I really have to let other people see my poem...?”   

And as much as she agrees with Natsuki, she has to be as unbiased as possible. “Well, I suppose poems are meant to be shared and discussed with other people... but...”   

Seeing her friends not liking the idea, Sayori wilted a bit. “You two don’t want to? Aww... but I wanted to see everyone’s poem...”   

Rentarou reacted immediately to this: “Don’t worry, Sayori, if you want to see your friend’s poem, I’ll write you a hundred of them! That way, you’ll never run out!”   

It’s just a silly joke, of course. But his bold exclamation manages to uplift Sayori’s spirit and take the pressure off her and Natsuki.  

Yuri found his confidence as admirable as it was enviable. 

“Oh? You’re not embarrassed at all to share a poem with us, Rentarou? I’m impressed.” Monika commented on this, and Yuri couldn’t help but agree with her.  

“No, actually, I'm really nervous.” He said, sweat running down his face.   

What?  

“You are? Then how do you show so much enthusiasm for the activity?” The purple-haired girl asks him.   

He laughs unsurely, rubbing the back of his head. “Well, how do I put this in a way that doesn’t sound like it was a quote from another story unashamedly stolen by the author...?”   

“Hmm? What are you saying!” Natsuki snaps at him for speaking gibberish. He tends to do that a lot, if what Yuri heard from Sayori when they were enjoying the welcoming celebration earlier was correct.  

She personally finds this quirk of his somewhat endearing. Not that she’s brave enough to say it out loud.  

“...I am nervous about it.” He begins, face red in embarrassment. “The fact I'm not really experienced in writing poems makes the thought of sharing it with everyone here very daunting...”   

“Don’t say that, Rentarou! We know you’re new to this!” Sayori chimes in to reassure him.   

“Indeed. We would not judge your writing so harshly...” Yuri added in. She’s glad to be able to relate to him so much for the first time since they’ve met each other.  

“I’m not a bully! Of course I’m not going to blame you for being bad at this on your first try!” Natsuki gave her support. In her own... unique way.  

Faced with all of this reassurance, Rentarou simply smiles at them before saying: “Oh yeah, I know that.”  

What follows is the most heartfelt, sincere, kindhearted, thoughtful, and unbelievable sentence anyone has ever said to Yuri in her entire life.  

And, keep in mind, this is all happening in an after-school club activity...  

“U-Um...” Yuri doesn’t know what to do with her hands, moving around from playing with her hair, to her books, and finally intertwining with each other, her light purple eyes doing anything but looking at Rentarou.  

‘...Am I dreaming right now...?’ Yuri questions the whole situation.

=💗=

“W-Well, if you already know all of that, then why are you so nervous for!” Natsuki quickly yells out, doing everything in her power not to let his words affect her. She fails, seeing as her face is all red.   

The pink-haired girl grumbles in embarrassment.  

‘Stupid Rentarou with his stupidly thoughtful words and his stupidly kind hazel brown eyes and his stupidly charming laugh and his-his-his-GYAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!’  

AND DAMN HER STUPID HEART FOR BEATING SO LOUD!  

“...I’m flattered, Rentarou.” Monika said calmly, because of course Miss Perfect over here can still be after all of that. “But I also agree with Natsuki; if you have acknowledged there is nothing to fear in sharing poems with us, then why are you still feeling embarrassed for?” Monika asked.  

“Of course I'm nervous.” He said, and with the energy of a hundred golden retrievers, he proceeds to flashbang everyone again. “I get to share poems with you girls, who all have more experience than me in this. I feel so lucky right now, like I just won a lottery! Why wouldn’t I feel nervous when I don’t want to disappoint any of you?”   

“Guh!” She clutches her chest like he did earlier.  

Natsuki thinks she now understands why he did that...  

=💗💜=

Rentarou tries to help Yuri and Natsuki clean up after their food once the literature club was over; he was promptly told to leave it to them. He almost insists before seeing the blush on their faces and realizing he might have overreached his boundaries. He apologizes to them before walking away.   

Walking over to her childhood friend, Sayori asks if he wants to walk home together.   

“It’s been a while; let’s walk home together!”   

“Sure thing!”  

Watching them merrily leave the club room together, all smiling and cheering, sparks an unfamiliar form of competitiveness deep in their hearts.  

=💜=

As it turns out, it wasn’t just a silly joke.  

“I made around four hundred poems to share with everyone!”    

“You did what!?” Yuri asks in disbelief.  

“So that’s why you were carrying that thing!” Sayori added, similarly taken by surprise as she pointed towards the sack he was carrying earlier.    

“How can you even do that! How much free time do you have!?” Natsuki, ever the dutiful Tsukkomi, pointed out the obvious question.  

Yuri is very grateful to her for this.  

“Let’s see...” Rentarou, of course, takes the question seriously and proceeds to give them the most nonchalant explanation for his impossible action.  

At least, it should be impossible. Looking over to the stack of papers on his desk, Yuri was conflicted on whether or not that was true. Theoretically, if someone were to write 400 poems on papers in the span of one night, their hand should be suffering from constant use.  

Yet from the looks of him, Rentarou wasn’t showing any signs of carpal tunnel at all. In fact, he seems even more animated than yesterday! Eager to show off his works to them and getting to read their poems back.  

“What happened to the old Rentarou who was too lazy to clean his room and do his dishes? That level of work ethic is insane!” Sayori exclaims in shock.    

‘Was he really like that before...?’ The vice president’s words drew her attention.  

“Is it? I did say I didn’t want to disappoint you girls yesterday, didn’t I?” His words once again cause Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki to blush in silence. “So, I thought that it would be nice if I could share 100 poems with each of you!”    

Yuri finds herself agreeing with that sentiment. Not the 100 poems part, the much more manageable sharing with each other part.  

Speaking of which, one of them falls before her.  

=💗=

No, she wasn’t jealous of Yuri when she got to read it first. And no, she wasn’t grinning when Monika called her out on it in front of everyone, embarrassing the taller girl.  

Not at all.  

Besides, it wasn’t even the time for their club activity yet. Her manga is calling to her, and Natsuki finally gets to read what happened after that stupid cliffhanger last time.  

...And then she saw their new club member walking over to Yuri and asking her if they could read together.  

Her fists clench around the edge of her manga as she turns around with a huff.

=💜=

She saw his frame entering the edge of her vision before his voice reached out to her.  

“Hey there, Yuri?” Rentarou calls out to her softly.  

“Do you need something from me, Rentarou?”  

He excitedly points to the book in her hands. “Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you could recommend me something to read since you seem very knowledgeable about it.”  

That brought a nervous smile from her. “Oh, of course. Please give me a moment...” Reaching below her desk, Yuri pulls a book with a dark covering out and presents it to him.  

[The Portrait of Markov]  

“That looks interesting, what’s it about?”  

Looking away from his kind eyes, she quietly surmises the work of literature to him.  

The book was very special to her, so she was very cautious of ever recommending it to anyone. Yet despite that, she’s taking a leap of faith by introducing it to the newcomer.  

It only took a moment before he dispelled all her doubts.  

“From the sound of it, you seem very invested in this book.”  

He has no idea.  

“Y-Yes, I am...”  

Rentarou held the offered book close to him. “I’m glad you can recommend something you like so much to me, Yuri. I’ll be sure to pay a lot of attention when reading this!”  

To say a great weight has lifted off of her would be an understatement.  

With a nervous yet pleased expression, Yuri let out a sigh of relief. “T-That sounds wonderful, Rentarou...”  

She pauses. The words she wanted to say having a hard time coming out...  

Seeing her face, Rentarou went for it first. “On that note, do you mind reading the first book with me, Yuri?”  

The purple-haired girl gratefully accepts the invitation.  

...  

...  

...  

And as time passed, the two of them spent the time reading her book side by side on her desk, a situation that would have usually made her embarrassed if not for the work of literature taking her attention elsewhere.  

That is until their hands stumble into the others.  

“Huh?” The contact took Yuri out of her reading.    

“Oh, sorry!” Rentarou quickly apologizes, not intending for it to happen.    

Understanding flashes in her eyes as she also stammers out an apology.    

“No, no! I should have known you were going to flip the page considering your eyes were on the last paragraph back then; it was my fault!”  

His words didn’t escape her.  

“...You kept watch of my eyes while we were reading...?” Yuri pointed out.    

“Ah! That’s not— I mean!” Rentarou frantically tries to explain himself, his face reddening with every passing second.  

As for herself, Yuri presses her hand against her chest.  

‘Be still, my heart...’  

He eventually brought out a pair of scissors from his bag and exclaimed, “What was I doing, acting like a creep after you bought me a book to read with!? I’ll blind both my eyes to make amends!”

“Please don’t do that!” Yuri got out of her embarrassment and immediately told him to stop with his extreme measure of making amends. She even had to wrestle the scissors from his hand.  

“I wasn’t insulted or put off by your action. I just... wanted to know why.”  

The kind boy rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “Oh... right. Sorry about that, I overreacted.” Then he faces her again, voicing out his reasoning embarrassingly. 

“When we were reading together back then, I saw how entranced you were with the story, and I couldn’t help but admire your passion for it...”  

What was intended to be an explanation turns into an unexpected compliment instead.  

Turning away once again, Yuri couldn’t help the small upward quirk of her lips.  

Despite not being an optimistic person like him, she hopes in the future she could get used to the new feeling in her chest.  

=💗=

“What do you want?” She haughtily asks him as he approaches.  

“Well, from the way you’re looking at me, I take it you don’t want me here?” The source of her ire asks back.  

Natsuki only huffs at this, “Way to point that out, Captain Obvious!”  

“Oh man, that’s too bad...”  

“...What is?”  

Hook.  

“I was hoping that you’d recommend me some great manga I could read in my spare time. But if you don’t want me here then I could just go ask Sayori instead...”  

Line.  

“Ghk!?”  

And sinker.  

With great struggle (three sentences from Rentarou), she relents and lets him sit beside her as they read one of her favorite manga together.  

[Parfait Girls]  

...  

...  

...  

Much to her annoyance, and as much as she tries to deny it, Natsuki eventually finds herself having a much more enjoyable time discussing the plot of the manga with him than if she were to read it alone.  

And he’s not just a yes-man either; he would sometimes outright say he feels differently from her opinions. At first it sparks some indignation from the pink-haired girl; how dare he disagree with the expert on the topic!? But she soon comes to appreciate his honest retort.  

The friendly competitive atmosphere it brings between them is a breath of fresh air compared to when Yuri and she would go at it with their opinions on poetry.  

Plus, there’s also the simple fact that it’s fun gushing about stuff she likes to someone who is actually willing to listen.  

And then he had to go and make it weird! 

“...W-What are you staring at me for? You creep!”  

“Oh, sorry!” He apologizes sheepishly. “It’s just that... you’re so passionate about this whole thing, Natsuki. I couldn’t help but feel amazed.”  

“Huh!?”  

At her incredulous expression, he pointed at the manga they’re reading.  

“Take this side character, for example.” He pointed down at one of the characters in the panels. “At first, I thought she wasn't going to be very important to the plot and that she’s a bit boring, but you vehemently denied that. You even went out of your way to highlight her importance to me, things that I didn’t even consider the first time reading!”  

“And what does that have to do with you staring at me?” She double down, ignoring the flutters in her chest at his words.  

The idiot flashes her with his stupidly bright smile. “I just thought that the author of this manga must be pretty lucky to have a reader like you reading their work.”  

Ba-dum~  

“Gah!?” She reels back in shock.  

“Are you okay?” He asks worriedly.  

“A-Are you playing dumb or something!?” Yells out the short girl.  

Placatingly putting his hands forward, he immediately went to explain himself. “Wait, I’m not playing with you here! If what I said sounds like an insult, then I’m sorry!”    

“Yeah, well, you better be! Hmph!”    

She took back everything good she has ever said about this guy, he’s the worst!  

The fact her heart is beating like crazy and the reddening of her features went unmentioned by both parties.  

After some time, he promises to read some more manga with her later as he bids his farewell.    

“What, you want to read my poem so bad?” Although her words were confrontational, her mannerism is less so.     

He waves his hand at that, “Oh, I’d love to read yours, Natsuki! But not yet, I still have some people I need to talk with first.”    

“Huh? Can’t you keep watch of the time, idiot?” The pink-haired girl heatedly reminds him, annoyed at him for flustering her again.    

“Hmm?” The smiling idiot simply plays dumb.    

At this, Natsuki brought out her phone and showed the time on his face, the cute keychains on the phone making rattling noises. “We were reading that manga for half an hour! It’s about time we share our poems, so you might as well share with me first!”    

The smile on his face doesn’t change; he just looks at the screen of her phone and looks back at the shorter girl.    

Confused, Natsuki turns the phone around and proceeds to have her sense of time completely flip upside down. “What the— huh!?”    

The amount of time Rentarou spends with Yuri and her should be 1 hour in total, and yet only 20 minutes has passed since the Literature Club has started.    

“So, as I was saying...” The idiot awkwardly started.  

“...Whatever, just talk to me when you want to share poems!” With bright red face, the short girl gave him an embarrassed glare before walking back to her seat.   

“I’ll see you later then, Natsuki!”   

As the sound of his footsteps went further, she quietly grumbles to herself.  

“Idiot...”  

=💜=

“Okay, everyone! It’s time we share our poems with each other!”      

As Monika got up from her seat and clapped her hands together, Yuri nervously closed the book she was reading and inspected what her club members were doing at the moment.  

Sayori excitedly smiles at her childhood friend next to her. Rentarou returned her smile as well before he went to the sack of papers he brought into the clubroom. Natsuki is huffing to herself as usual, and Monika waited for them to begin with a patient smile.  

They admonish the vice president for trying to call dibs on Rentarou’s poems before he decides to give them his poems at the same time after spouting out nonsensical words out of his mouth like a madman.  

Judging by Sayori’s scolding, this seems to be a normal occurrence with him.  

Once more, she found herself befuddled by Rentarou’s very existence.  

Yuri has a feeling it will be a thing from now on.  

Nevertheless, she now has a fat stack of 100 poems that need to be analyzed, and the sooner she could read through them, the faster she could then share her own poem with him. The thought made her feel a mix of enthusiasm and nervousness she hadn’t quite felt before.  

Maybe the poems would provide some insight on him as a person.  

=💗=

Stupid Rentarou! Screw him for making her blush so much with his stupidly honest compliments! And screw his stupid poems too for being so relatable and well written for no reason!  

How the hell did he even manage to write 100 of them!? His explanation doesn’t even make any sense!  

Natsuki can’t keep going like this. She needs to calm herself down before everyone notices the state she’s in.  

Deep breath, Natsuki.   

As she went to gather her bearings, the short girl saw Monika and Rentarou talking to each other. From the looks of it, he was pretty confused by what the club president wrote.  

Well... she might as well do the same. The entire point of this group activity is to exchange poems with each other anyway.  

She turns in Yuri’s direction.  

“She looks free...”  

=💜=

What a delightful experience. Truly.  

It was nice to know someone was willing to learn more about her writing style despite not understanding it. The purple-haired girl couldn’t wait to continue discussing poetry with Rentarou in the coming days.  

A small smile made its way to her face as she imagined it.  

She could also introduce him to some of her favorite tea, and they could—  

Oh. Natsuki is approaching her with a piece of paper.  

Anchoring herself back to reality, the taller girl readily prepares her own poem.  

Hopefully their clashing writing style wouldn’t cause any problems. Last time things took a turn for the worst when the shorter girl mistook Yuri’s genuine confusion as an insult.  

‘Maybe this time I'll try giving her some advice...’  

=💜💗=

Things took a turn for the worst, much to Yuri’s dismay.  

They were halfway through her review of the pink-haired girl’s poem when she suddenly barked in indignation. 

“What is that supposed to mean!?”  

She blinks.  

“Well... I just thought that your poem could use a bit more subtlety is all.”  

As if Yuri has insulted her very existence, the shorter girl scowls in anger as she barks a reply.  

“Subtlety!? The whole point of the poem was that it wasn’t trying to be subtle! You’re basically saying I should rewrite the entire thing!”  

Really know, does Natsuki always have to assume the worst from her? That’s just childish! She was just trying to give some advice!  

“If you can’t handle another person’s criticism, then you shouldn’t have shared your poem at all, Natsuki. The whole point of this activity is for us to exchange poems and give each other advice on how to improve.”  

“Oh please! I bet you didn’t even give my poem a second thought because it wasn’t up to your oh-so-high standard. And for the record, Rentarou and I have no problem at all when we exchange poems!”  

“I-I’m not placing my poems higher than anyone else's! You’re putting words in my mouth!”  

“Oh yeah? With the way you give your advice I find that hard to believe! I bet Rentarou didn’t even understand your poem!”  

She did it again! Why does she keep bringing him up in this?  

The fact she was right also serves to agitate Yuri more.  

The taller girl narrows her eyes. “Well, maybe he just appreciates my advice better than yours!”  

This purple daughter of a— 

“Are you that full of yourself!?” Natsuki yells out in fury.  

Just then, before either of them could continue their verbal war on each other, another member of the Literature Club enters their view. The newcomer, and one of the topics in their argument, Rentarou.  

Natsuki halted her words in surprise as she saw him standing between the two arguing club members. Yuri similarly widens her eyes in worry at this.  

“Both of you...”  

=💙=

Snapping her gaze away from Monika, Sayori immediately went back to observing the situation at hand. As of now, she needs to focus on the bigger fish; she could figure out their President’s weird behaviors later!

Her fingers move with lightning-fast efficiency as she begins documenting the wonderfully bountiful situation in front of her. Not only did Rentarou manage to land himself in the best position to resolve the issue between Yuri and Natsuki, but he could also make his stance clear at the same time! Depending on his words and actions, it would make her job easier to pinpoint who between the two he likes more!  

‘Come on, buddy! It’s raining opportunities!’ The Vice President cheers for him in her head.  

“R-Rentarou!” Yuri stutters out. “I’m not usually like this!”  

Gritting her teeth in anger, the pink-haired girl bites back. “As if! You’re the one who started it!”  

“Natsuki, Yuri, please don’t say all those mean things about each other.” He firmly declares.  

And before either of them could argue back, he continue, “In the first place, the reason why both of you are even clashing is because of the inherently different nature of your poems. At that, I say you both have nothing to be ashamed of or fight over!”  

Turning to Natsuki, the newcomer passionately informs her of his thoughts. “I love how simple and direct Natsuki’s poems are! I love the fact you can still feel her intentions despite them being so short! I love how impactful they are at face value and that you can still enjoy the deeper meaning left unsaid! There’s nothing wrong with her writing style, and I very much appreciate her advice for me!”  

Not at all done with his barrage of compliments, Rentarou then turns to Yuri who’s trying her best to remain composed. She’s failing. “I love how mysterious and meticulous Yuri’s poems are! I love how it left the readers to their own conclusion about its real meaning and that it can be interpreted in various ways! I love the fact you can still feel that there’s a hidden and coherent story in the background as you read it! I love that it inspires me to be more creative and expressive with my writing too! And of course, I very much appreciate her advice for me as well!”  

As Sayori thinks her childhood friend is finished, he unsurprisingly still has a lot to say left. Gathering his breath, Rentarou loudly gives them more than a piece of his mind. “Trying to compare the two of your poems would be futile! It’s like trying to compare chocolate and vanilla! And I love both of them! So please, both of you, stop fighting about this and continue being good friends like Sayori told me you both used to be!”  

=💜=

She is not here at the moment.  

Floating endlessly through the void that has become of her mind, the mass of consciousness that calls itself Yuri is without a single line of thought.  

Then suddenly it came. 

Calling it a wave would be insufficient, more so a raging tsunami of euphoria that shook the very void itself. Caught in the eye of the storm, the barely hanging mass of consciousness could do nothing but endure the toe-curling elation coursing through every inch of her being.  

Truly, how nice, great, wonderful, marvelous, excellent, satisfactory, superb, astonishing, exceptional, splendid, fantastic, stupendous, astounding, breathtaking, spectacular...  

How many more words does she need to properly make sense of these feelings in her heart? 

Oh, just one.  

Lovely...  

=💗=

‘GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’  

=💙=

Oh, that’s good. That's really good.   

It was so good that, far from being jealous, her pride in her childhood friend overpowered any other emotions she could’ve had at the moment.  

And from what she could see, they also liked that a lot!  

‘Good job, buddy! I knew you wouldn’t fumble the bag on this one!’  

...Wait, hold on.   

Did she ever tell Rentarou that Yuri and Natsuki used to be good friends?  

Well, whatever, it probably just slipped out when they were talking.  

=💜💗=

“Now then, will you two please stop arguing?” Rentarou asks them both again.  

“...”  

“...”  

Eventually, after some time to gather their bearing, the two girls realize they were supposed to be fighting over... something...  

...what was it again?  

Any negative emotions they might have harbored previously were all drowned out by the barrage of validation thrown at them by Rentarou.  

Oh, right.  

They both awkwardly turn to one another. Now devoid of any real anger.  

“Hey...”  

“...”   

“S-Sorry for being so antagonistic earlier, Yuri...”  

“L-Likewise... I wasn’t acting very mature either, so I'm also to blame...”  

“Hmm...”  

Nodding approvingly, Rentarou let out a big sigh of relief before promising to spend time with them again tomorrow.  

When asked who he will be spending his time with first, the newcomer was luckily saved from answering by the bell, signaling the end of today’s club activity.  

=💙=

And so, the heated argument ends not with a bang but with quiet apologies.  

Which is a good thing, of course! Sayori was sure this would place her childhood friend on a higher standing in their eyes! All the better for her super-secret wingman plan!  

Just as she finishes the new entries in her super-secret wingman notebook, the boy himself appears next to her.  

“What’s that?”  

“Nothing important!” She immediately answers, getting up and grabbing her bag. “Let’s go buy ice cream!”  

“Oh, okay!”  

Man, she’s really good at this! 

Rentarou didn’t even suspect a thing! 

END OF CHAPTER