Work Text:
Monika never stood a chance.
Not against that cardboard cutout of a boy, against code, against the very code that held this world together.
Not a chance with that girl. The shy one who hid behind books and sheltered in quiet corners, only having a pen and a cup of Earl Grey for company. Breathtaking. The way she carried herself, her long violet hair that one could compare to the most gorgeous waterfall of all.
Monika loved Yuri from the day they met. But she would not get her happy ending. Not when who she loved was doomed to fall for a puppet, a placeholder, a blank slate with nothing in the brain. Smitten with a faceless being, Yuri was.
But Monika was no better.
She knew that Yuri, herself, had no thoughts of her own. Yuri had limited things to say, carried out actions only if criteria in code were met, and behind it all was a file in a game.
"How?" Monika would ask herself, "How does one fall for someone they know aren't real?"
The club president fell all the same. She fell foolishly. The tears would fill her green eyes and she would smile. She would wish it was her reading with Yuri and feeding her chocolates and relish in the way her heart ached.
Because if the girl she loved wasn't real, she could find solace in the pain, knowing her love for her was very, very real.