Thunk

Something bumped in the night. It was enough to stir MC from his peaceful slumber. His eyes opened halfway, but he saw nothing, and heard no other subsequent noises, so he simply groaned and tried to go back to sleep.

THUNK

MC's eyes shot open. OK, that time he definitely heard something. Whatever it was, it was certainly big. Still, did it really concern him enough to get about of bed? After all, sleep was quite the precious resource to a teenager. Ultimately, MC decided that it did not, and tried once more to embrace dreamland.

THUNK

The tremor caused by that. . . thing, was equivalent to a small earthquake. MC yelped rather girlishly as he fell out of bed, his sheets halfway swallowing him. It looked like sleep lost the battle.

Once he had recovered from his rather embarrassing fall, MC hurried over to his bedroom window and pulled back the curtains. It was just before sunrise, and upon careful inspection, all seemed well within the neighborhood.

I mean, if you would consider a 15-foot-tall T-Rex to be well, that is. I certainly wouldn't, but if that's your thing, be my guest.

It certainly wasn't MC's thing, either. He made eye contact with the prehistoric beast, and it seemed to flash a grin equal parts devilish and predatory.

Before the great big lizard had a chance to charge at his prey's house, the door bell rang. Three guesses as to who it was, and the first two don't count.

"Monika!" MC exclaimed as he dashed out his room in only his boxers. He made it down the stairs in record time and opened the front door with almost enough force to yank the knob right off.

"Good morning, MC-" Monika started, then noticed that her crush was a little light on clothing. She couldn't help but blush. "O-oh, my. I came at a bad time, didn't I?"

MC wasn't having any of that, though. His concerns were much more urgent. "Monika, what the hell!?"

Miraculously, Monika stopped drooling long enough to respond. "What? Bad time?"

MC opened his mouth to respond, but then nodded. "Well, yeah, it's a little early. However, I'm more concerned ABOUT THE GIANT LIZARD OUTSIDE MY HOUSE!"

As if summoned by MC's shouting, the T-Rex in question stomped over. The ground trembled with every slight movement, and all of MC's attention was wrapped around this thing's ravenous gaze. Had it not been so, perhaps MC would have noticed the three velociraptors as they passed his house and continued down the street.

Monika turned to the dinosaur. She seemed neither frightened nor defensive at its presence.

Oh, you mean this rascal?" She gestured playfully. "Don't worry about him, he's just a big ol' softie."

As if to prove such a point, the t-rex bent down and rubbed its enormous head affectionally against Monika's upper body. She had to stifle a giggle. "S-stop, Rexie! It tickles."

"I'm sensing that this is another attempt to win me over, right?"

Monika didn't respond, as her gaze had once again fixated to his underwear.

"Eyes up here, Monika," MC stated, snapping his fingers to break her out of the trance.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry! It's just that you're so handsome."

"So, why the dinosaurs?"

Monika shrugged. "I thought all boys liked dinosaurs, didn't they? I get the t-rex, you realize your suppressed feelings for me, bada-bing, bada-boom."

MC buried his face in his hands. "Yeah, boys like dinosaurs. When they're five."

"Oooooohhhhhhh. "

MC turned to face the Cretaceous carnivore. "Sorry buddy, looks like you were just a pawn in all of this."

The t-rex whined, then gave Monika a disappointed frown. It was funny how sad such a vicious predator could look.

"You might want to get rid of him before the police find out about this," MC suggested. "Nothing personal, Rex," he added to the mournful.

Monika gave a defeated sigh as a grayish translucent window popped up in between her and MC.

delete "t-rex. chr "

T-Rex deleted successfully!

And just like that, the beast was gone faster than you could say do dinosaurs have existential crises? Who mods dinosaurs into visual novel dating sims, anyway?

"You know," Monika began, giving MC a sad smile. "You're a tough one, MC, I'll give you that."

Such a pitiful expression was enough to make MC feel like a total ass. Here was this girl that would (and quite literally could, given the modding tools) hang the moon itself just for him. Still, he felt nothing for her.

"FUCKING MONIKAMMMMMMMMMMM!"

The raptor trio from before had returned, and in the mouth of the leader was poor little Natsuki. For the brief second that MC made eye contact with her, there was a look in her eye that was nothing short of murderous.

By now, Monika had snapped out of her sad demeanor. "Huh, I guess I forgot about those guys."

"We need to save her!" MC exclaimed as he started to run out.

Monika grabbed him by the shoulder, now smiling slyly. "Not so fast, naked guy. I'm not about to share this eye candy with the rest of the neighborhood. Go put on some pants. I'll handle this."

"But I-"

"I'll just try again tomorrow, my love," she assured as she pushed him back inside. "Hopefully, with something a little less dangerous," she added under her breath.

"Monika, I-"

"NATSUKI, I'M COMING!" She exclaimed. Then, with one last wink to MC, she slammed the door right in his face.

MC sighed, resigning himself to just sit this one out.

"What am I going to do about that girl?"