Chapter 30

(No, not our beautiful couple. But it still hurt a bit to write XD)

"Do you think your mom's still there, Sayo?" Monika asked, taking note of how late it was since they had been there for at least two hours.

"Huh? Oh, no. She shouldn't be." Sayori answered.

"Wait, you didn't tell me your ma was back in town!" Natsuki said, whipping her head to face the couple.

"Yeah... She just came this morning... Sorry..." Sayori said, pressing her index fingers together.

"It's cool. But I wanna know next time, okay? What about our tradition, man?" Natsuki said quietly as if it were a big secret.

"I know, but Moni's staying with me right now and with Dev gone I just can't go this time around." Sayori apologized, pulling out her puppy eyes as if they would magically save her from Natsuki's disappointment.

"I get it... But, Sayo... We've never skipped." Natsuki pressed, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"Sorry..." Sayori said, glancing down.

Shit, I made her sad on her birthday...

Fuck it, she made me upset, too!

"I'm just gonna go." Natsuki stood abruptly, saying a quick goodbye and thanks to Yuri and Monika before striding quickly out of the house.

Bye...

Not that she said goodbye...

"Sayo? Saaayo~?" Monika waved a hand in front of Sayori's face, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Huh? What? Yeah?" Sayori said quickly, blinking her gaze from the now shut front door.

"I asked of you're okay. But judging by that reaction I'm gonna say that's a no." Monika worriedly placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, gazing into her eyes as if doing so would reveal all of Sayori's inner battles.

"I'm fine." Sayori lied.

"No you're not. You're upset about what just happened between you and Natsuki. You've been staring at the door for five minutes without blinking." Monika deadpanned.

"I... We... We've just... Never fought before..." Sayori admitted softly.

"And I just made her upset." she buried her face in her hands with a groan.

"Why don't we go home and talk about this, okay?" Monika kissed her cheek, pulling Sayori to her feet.

"Thanks for having us, Ri." Monika said with a nod.

"Thanks for the book." Sayori added, not bothering to put up her fake smile because she knew she would only cry if she did.

"No problem. You're welcome anytime. That includes you, Sayori." Yuri said as if she were implying she should visit her alone some time.

Sayori offered a weak nod as Monika pulled her out of the house and into the car.

Monika sat down, stretching over to buckle the void Sayori and herself before heading back to Sayori's house.

~~~

Monika didn't even bother asking as she picked Sayori up into her arms and carried her to her bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Monika stroked the hair from her face.

Sayori sighed, nodding weakly.

(Cue flashback time)

"Nassuki? What's wrong?" little seven year old Sayori asked, kneeling beside her friend who was doubled over crying.

"P-Papa...." Natsuki whined ardently, curling tighter.

"D-Dont cry!" Sayori begged, shaking her shoulder slightly.

Natsuki turned, snuggling her face into Sayori's chest as her fists gripped the front of her shirt tightly.

Sayori hugged her tightly, beginning to cry as well.

She didn't understand why her friend was sad and it was scaring her.

"Papa... He bad..." Natsuki sounded scared.

"Is okay. My Ma is a meanie too." Sayori comforted, patting the girl's head.

"Mama..." Natsuki wailed, burying her face deeper.

Sayori cried, hugging her as tight as she could.

Mrs. Fields was just as much a mother to Sayori as to Natsuki, and both girls were devastated that she had passed last month.

"Is okay, Nat. We gots all the family we need right here." Sayori said suddenly, smiling as she pulled the girl away from her.

"Whaddo you mean?" Natsuki sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Look all we needs is a mommy and daddy, but you don't need any kidses!" Sayori explained.

"So?" Natsuki tilted her head.

"I can be the mommy, and yur the daddy!" Sayori said, clapping her hands.

"How's dat work?" Natsuki scratched her head, thinking.

"Cuz the daddy's all big and strong, like you! And a mommy's really nice like me." Sayori giggled.

"Oh. What do we do?" Natsuki asked.

"Well, we love each uver and keep each uver safe!" Sayori smiled.

"Dat sounds right." Natsuki agreed, nodding.

"So we're a little family now!" Sayori pumped her fists in the air, grinning.

"Yeah!" Natsuki squealed happily.

(Time skip four years)

"Hey, Nat!" Sayori opened her door to see her best friend standing there.

The eleven year old pinkette sniffed, allowing her face to fall before her friend.

"What's wrong?" Sayori stepped outside, closing the door so her mother wouldn't hear.

"Papa said... He said he's gonna kill me..." Natsuki whispered fearfully. "S-So I ran away..."

"Well, Hannah doesn't like you! S-She's not gonna let you stay!" Sayori explained.

"I know... But you don't like her either, right?" Natsuki started.

"Yeah..?" Sayori said slowly.

"So let's run away together! Somewhere they won't find us ever!" Natsuki grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Where would we go?" Sayori asked, liking the sound of this idea.

"Dunno. But we gotta go somewhere they won't look." Natsuki said, determination in her voice.

"What about Dev?" Sayori asked.

"Worth a shot." Natsuki said.

Without another word they slipped off into the night.

~~~

(End flashback)

"Dev told us that any time our parents were being dicks we could come over and stay the night. And she'd vouch that we were helping out at the restaurant so our parents couldn't say anything." Sayori finished.

"So that's what she meant when..." Monika trailed off.

"Yeah. I knew Dev a lot better than Nat, but she was important to both of us. And we agreed after she died that from now on we'd stay in a hotel instead." Sayori explained.

"So this is really important to her." Monika reasoned.

"I mean... It's important to me, too... Like, we're the only real family we have... And I hate to let her down...." Sayori said sadly.

Monika laid down beside her, taking Sayori into her arms.

"Monika...?" Sayori asked timidly.

"Yes, Sayo?" Monika replied softly.

"Do you think Nat's gonna be mad at me forever?" Sayori asked fearfully.

"No! No, I'm sure she won't." Monika assured her, rocking Sayori in her embrace.

"I hope you're right.." Sayori trailed off, falling asleep atop her.

Monika smiled softly, feeling envious of the relationship the two girls had.

Monika never had someone like that, unless you count Yuri. But Yuri didn't show herself to anyone, not even Monika.

Monika sighed as she drifted off with her princess in her arms.

~~~

(Ahhhhhhh my 4/5 favourite Doki ship ;-; {right after Natsuri, Sayonika, and poly Dokis} Not gonna lie this shit hurted)