Lately, Monika had been inviting you to the music room more often than usual. You weren't about to complain, though— you loved listening to her rehearse. You swore you'd heard her working on singing as well, though you couldn't be sure since she never did it in front of you.

You found it touching that she was comfortable enough with you to openly practice with you in the room. While you didn't do much except work on writing and occationally encouraging Monika after a longer run of the song, those moments in the music room with her had become one of your favorite parts of the week.

However, one particular day, she didn't invite you there after school, instead opting for you to both go to the Literature Club right away.

"I'm afraid the other members might kill me if I'm late again, ahaha!!!" she'd giggled when you asked. "I'm pretty sure they think I have a secret boyfriend or something."

The club was as Literature Club-like as ever. You'd been up late last night trying to write a poem and finish it on time, so you knew your writing probably wasn't very comprehensible. Maybe you could just call it abstract or something, but you were a little embarrassed about sharing it.

Yuri actually liked your poem a lot. Natsuki made fun of you for writing too much like Yuri. MC lowkey made fun of you as well by saying that he was glad he wasn't the only bad poet in the club. Sayori was as supportive as ever, and Monika's comments were as helpful as they always were, though she didn't spend too much time discussing the writing with you.

That was a little weird. You'd often spend at least five minutes or more going over each other's poems, and you were offput ever so slightly by Monika's hasty analysis.

Not thinking too much of it, you shook it off and moved on.

You spent a lot of the club talking with Yuri and MC. Yuri had found a book that she thought you would both enjoy, and the three of you spent a large part of the club's runtime going over the chapters you'd read. 

Sometimes Sayori would swing by to talk with everyone, and sometimes Monika would check in to make sure everyone was staying on task. Maybe you were just being a paranoid overanalytical flustered mess of a human, but you felt like she was looking at you more than usual. Her gaze would stay on you for a little longer than everyone else.

But you know what? Maybe you were just so hopelessly infatuated that you were coming up with absurd situations to cope with the fact that Monika was still way out of your league.

It didn't feel like any time had passed at all, but before you knew it, Natsuki was reminding everyone that it was time to leave. You'd gathered up your materials and picked up your backpack, waiting for Sayori and MC, when Monika approached you and gently placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Y/N, can you stay here for a little bit, please?"

"Uh—?" You swallowed nervously, suddenly very self-conscious. "Y- yeah, sure thing."

You gestured for Sayori to leave without you. She seemed to get that Monika wanted to talk with you, since she grabbed MC's arm and heaved him out the door after shouting to Natsuki and Yuri to have a good afternoon. The other two club members left the room soon after that.

And then it was just you and Monika.

Yuri had closed the door behind her, which made the room simultaneously more comforting and more terrifyingly enclosed. Monika could literally do anything and no one would see. 

She must have caught sight of how stressed you looked, because she laughed and lightly brushed her hand against your arm. "Gosh, it's okay, Y/N, I'm not going to kick you out of the club or anything!! You look petrified!!"

"Ah, sorry," you said bashfully, trying to avoid making eye contact with her. "I just, uh— I didn't expect— any of this, um..."

"It's alright!! I get why you might be a little scared, ahaha..." Monika gave you a genuine smile. "But it's nothing serious, so please don't worry. Come on, let's sit down."

She led you to a desk near the window, illuminated by the fading afternoon sun. You sat down cautiously, trying to run through any possible scenarios in your mind and coming up with potential answers that she might be okay with. 

Your internal monologue of fear was abruptly cut off when Monika placed her hand over yours, glancing at you with a mix of concern and amusement. "I can see you stressing, you know."

"Oh— well, uh— I don't know, I just—" you stammered, trying very hard to ignore the fact that she was basically holding your hand. "I was just caught off guard, um— it's fine, I'm fine. W- what did you want to say to me?"

Monika took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, though she didn't move her hand from yours. You just sat there panicking silently before she spoke up again.

"Y/N, I'm going to be completely honest with you," she finally said, her grip tightening ever so slightly. "You're one of my favorite people in the Literature Club."

You blushed and looked away. "Thank you."

She smiled at you again before continuing. "But recently, er... I've been paying more attention to both myself and to you. And how I feel about you. And I think I've realized that I care about you more than the other members. It's not that I'm not good friends with everyone else, but with you..? I'm pretty sure my feelings are deeper than just friendship."

At this point, your brain basically stopped functioning. You just stared at Monika, completely and utterly shocked.

"I'm sorry if I've been acting differently lately, and I'm sorry if I made you worry about me. I just needed some time to really think through my feelings, and how I wanted to tell you. Honestly, I..." Monika hesitated, looking rather embarassed. "I'm not used to anything romantic. I've never accepted anyone's confessions to me before, because I knew that I wouldn't give them what they wanted. They liked who they thought I am, not who I actually am. So I've kept the idea of any relationship at the back of my mind. But when Sayori brought you here... you were different. I don't know how to explain it. It's almost like you can see me for me, not who you wanted me to be."

She paused again before blushing and adding, "Also, you were really cute."

You broke out laughing, painfully aware of how flustered you sounded. But you didn't say anything, letting her finish.

"Now, I'm not all that good with speeches, so I'll wrap this up. But basically?" The sweet, hopeful look on Monika's face was more than enough to make your heart completely melt. "Would you be willing to give me a chance as your girlfriend, Y/N?"

And that was the point when your jaw hit the floor.

DID MONIKA JUST ASK ME OUT???

(yes she did catch up Y/N)

 Monika broke into a fit of giggles at your completely perplexed reaction. "Wow, I didn't mean to break you, ahaha!!!"

"No, no, it's okay!! You're okay!! It's nothing!!" you jabbered, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. "I just— I— I never would have thought that you of all people would like me, you know?? I never thought you'd even feel anything remotely similar to how I felt about you, so— uh— I'm just a little shocked right now."

"It's okay, take your time," she said soothingly, gently running her thumb over your knuckles. That did literally nothing to help you, but whatever. 

"Uh— so— yes," you finally managed to get out. "I'd love to go out with you, Monika. Th- thank you for telling me all that, it was— it was really amazing. Wow."

"Do you need a second to reboot?" she joked. 

"Maybe..."

"Well, you're going to have to do that at your house, because I'm pretty sure we've stayed past the time limit." Monika chuckled before standing up and pulling you to your feet. "It would be quite a shame if security decided to come here of all places. Let's just get off campus for now, okay?"

You nodded, very tempted to pinch yourself to make sure this wasn't just a figment of your imagination. "Right, right, haha..."

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, it's okay, I still need to pack a few things. Um— thank you, though."

"No need to thank me," Monika insisted as grabbed her materials off the front desk before making her way to the door. "It's the least I can do as your girlfriend, ahaha!!"

If you blushed any harder, you were fairly certain you could catch on fire.