S a  y   o    r     i

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Monika

You're so silly, ahaha!!

I don't know why this keeps happening, but I promise, everything is fine. Kinda like you ;)

I'm so sorry if this chapter is worrying. I swear, this isn't anything serious. Just know that I love you, so, so much, no matter what, okay? And this– I don't know, I suppose you just enjoy angst or something, hehe!!

Hey, if you want an Act III chapter, I don't know if I can do that. But just keep an eye out for more of my chapters, okay? I'll be doing what I can ;D

Help me

It should have been fine. It should have been normal. It was a normal day. It was a perfectly fine day.

It wasn't really a club meeting unless Natsuki dragged you off to the corner to read manga together, and today was no exception. She'd enthusiastically pulled you to the closet, excitedly talking about the newest volume of Parfait Girls and how she'd been lucky enough to get it from a friend.

"I don't mean to be insensitive, but, um, do you not just get them yourself?" you had asked as she started to pull out a few volumes of the manga. "We could always go to a bookstore together or something, if you wanted that."

"No, no, it's okay," she had replied, smiling at you thankfully. But that expression immediately vanished when she continued, "My dad would beat the shit out of me if he ever found any of this."

And then she'd just handed you a copy of Parfait Girls, sat down on the floor in her usual spot, and opened the manga to the most recent chapter.

Your blood felt like it had been left in a freezer in Antarctica with how cold you suddenly felt. Natsuki didn't act like she'd said anything. Not a single twitch in expression, retraction of words, nothing. It was like nothing had happened.

But you knew what you had heard.

You weren't an idiot (not all the time, anyway). You'd been growing more and more concerned for Natsuki over the past few weeks. After all, it was easy for you to catch sight of the bruises she'd try to cover, or how she'd been showing up to the club more and more hungry each day. Monika looked like she'd noticed, considering how she always brought something for Natsuki to eat, but you didn't know if she'd brought it up.

Maybe it was scary because it confirmed something you'd been afraid of for months. Maybe it was scary because you couldn't stand the thought of someone you loved getting abused like that. Or maybe it was because of the way her eyes didn't look like eyes when she'd let that slip. It was like reality had temporarily glitched out when Natsuki had spoken, her face distorting in a way that you couldn't just brush off as a trick of the light.

It could be any one of those. It could be all of them.

All you knew is that you were absolutely terrified for Natsuki.

iruY

You could feel Yuri'seYEsSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSbSbbSSbSburning into the back of your neck.

It had been like this for days. You could feel the odd fixation she had on you. Almost exclusively talking to you, always acting off, and you'd noticed her being just a little too close to you and your belongings as of late.

In all honestly, you were getting worried, and you could tell that Natsuki was too. Strangely, Monika didn't seem to notice anything, and MC had been off ever since he joined the club, like he was missing a part of something. You didn't know what it was, but at least he was completely normal in comparison to whatever the shit was happening with Yuri.

Now, you couldn't even share tea without her falling into a fit of flustered giggles because your fingers happened to touch while grabbing the kettle.

You didn't even know how to bring up that your belongings had started to vanish. Maybe some of them could be chalked up to "oh, I dropped them and lost them during the day," but there were multiple instances where you entered the club, positive you had something, before checking later and realizing it was gone.

Of course, only one club member spends an abnormal amount of time near your things.

You had liked Yuri. You really had. But whatever has been happening recently? It didn't seem normal. It didn't seem like Yuri. This wasn't right.

And you didn't know if you could confidently say you liked it anymore.

(Player Name)

"Hey— um, Y/N?"

You paused your writing, immediately noting the concern in MC's voice. "Hey, MC. Is everything okay?"

He exhaled slowly and glanced around the club room like he was worried of being overheard. After a second, he quickly pulled out the seat next to you.

"I, um, I might... I might sound a little crazy," he mumbled, absentmindedly twirling his fingers. "But I need your opinion on something."

"Are you sure you're okay?" You frowned in concern, gently placing a hand on his arm. "You look more confused than I am."

"I am," MC exclaimed. "I... ugh, okay, I'll just say it— are we missing a member today?"

Oh. Is that all this was? Somewhat relieved, you took a moment to glance around the room. Monika was helping Natsuki grab her manga out of the closet as the shorter girl berated her for putting the manga on the higher shelf, and Yuri was in her usual spot, her reading being as focused as ever. And of course, MC was right in front of you.

"I.. I don't think so," you said. "Everyone's here. Is that really why you're so freaked out?"

"I don't know. I don't think so." He smiled nervously. His stressed fidgeting didn't slow down, though; it got more fast if anything. "Maybe I just had a really bad nightmare or something, but I just— I— I can't shake the feeling that someone is gone."

You were unsure of how to respond to that, and the best you could come up with was, "Have you been sleeping okay lately?"

"I have," he insisted. "And I've been getting up and walking to school just fine too. But... in the mornings, I feel like I should be waiting for someone. It's just– like– I've never walked to school with anyone and so I shouldn't be thinking like that. I don't know what it is. And it's like there's something right on the tip of my tongue all the time. Some kind of question. Or... answer..?" He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Oh, hell if I know. It's like– there's a name. I feel like I'm forgetting a name."

"Oh." As confused as you were, you wanted to help him work this out. "Okay... do you think you know what the first letter is?"

MC's anxious fidgeting only sped up as his brow furrowed in concentration. "It's... it's, uhh... S. I think. Yeah."

"Cool, okay– um, what about the number of syllables?"

He hesitated for a few seconds before uncertainly saying, "Three?"

"Okay, good! You're, like, 60 percent of the way there."

MC fell into silence again, his expression tensed into a stressed frown. "It's weirdly hard for me to focus on. Like– I've been thinking about this all day, but if I think about it too much at a time, it starts to make my head hurt, and it's– ugh."

"Don't explain," you shot back. "Just throw out a name. Right now. Whatever you've been thinking of all day."

"Gah, okay!!" MC took a deep breath and laced his fingers together. "Okay, okay, okay. Does... does the name s a y o r i mean anything to you...?

Sayo

S

Sa

...

Huh?

"No?" You pursed your lips, trying to remember any students who went by that name. "I don't think so. It doesn't sound familiar."

"Oh. Okay." MC sighed quietly, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "In that case... I'm sorry for bothering you, Y/N. Never mind."