The ringing of my phone breaks the silence of an average Thursday afternoon. My teachers have decided to give us all some much-needed reprieve for once, so I sit browsing the internet without having a real goal in mind. I almost want to let it ring, but nothing's interesting me anyway. I look at my phone. It's from Sayori. I pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi! So... that really big test is coming up soon. And... well, I..." I can almost hear her twiddling her thumbs together in embarrassment. "I don't think I'm going to do very well on it."

"Sayori... what did I say to you about taking the time to study when a test's coming up?"

"D-Don't blame me! I just... had a lot of really important things to do, that's all!"

"Yeah, sure... really important things like going to that one café with me three times just because you wanted to try out all of the different flavors of their new drink?"

"Ehehe..." I'd have a harder time believing her if I didn't know that this was just how she was.

I sigh at length, expressing an incredible amount of exasperation through a single sound. "Fine... what do you want me to do about it?"

"Could you just... come over? At least with you here, I'd feel a little bit better about it all. It's too late for me to do any real studying anyway." Her tone is pleading, almost pitiful. It instantly washes away any annoyance I have with her.

"Alright. I'll see you soon. Love you."

"You too!"

I grab my jacket and keys and exit through the front door. I consider taking my backpack over, just so I could maybe help her to study a little, but deep down I understand that what she needs the most right now is for me to be with her. That's what she wants, and I'll be the one to give it to her.

After a short and brisk walk, I reach her house. She's expecting me, so the door's already unlocked. I travel the same route I always have and gently open the door.

"Sayori?" No response. She's sitting on her bed facing the wall, so I can't see her face, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it. She turns around after a long moment. Tears are running down her face from her reddened eyes.

"I-I'm really not going to pass the class..." Every sentence is punctuated with an emphatic sob. "Why can't I be like Yuri? Or Monika? Or even Natsuki? They never seem to have any problems with their schoolwork. They make it look so easy. Why can't I just be like everyone else?"

From my time, this sort of reaction is to be expected. She's always been like a fragile leaf in the wind when left to face this sort of situation, without direction and easily crushed. I can't do a lot of things, but I know that I can talk to her and be there for her in her most difficult times.

"Sayori, please don't think of yourself like that. You're a perfectly capable individual. I know that. You won't get anywhere by comparing the worst parts of you to the best parts of everyone else."

"B-But I'm just s-so useless! I can't even do anything right. That one time, when I almost burned down my house... it sounds funny, but after you left I cried into my pillow for half an hour."

"Okay, so you're not perfect. But none of us are. I won't let you feel down just because you think that you can't do anything right." Like usual, my tone becomes firm yet calm and reassuring. "Sayori, you know that this has happened so many times before. But you need to keep your head up and keep going. If the rainclouds aren't going away, I'll be here to hold an umbrella for you." I'm pleading with her. "I promise."

She calms down visibly, but is still a little shaken. "O-Okay. But..." She pauses for what feels like an eternity, wiping away her tears gently. "Could you do something for me?"

"Of course, Sayori. Anything." These words come from my heart. I wouldn't doubt them for a second.

"Could you come closer? Just to... cuddle?"

She really didn't have to ask. I'd give her that willingly no matter what the situation. I lie down on the bed next to her, with her on the inside and my arms reaching over her. I begin to run my hands through her hair. It's as messy as always, but it perfectly fits her personality. Her body warmth is reassuring, and I move a little closer to her. It's at moments like this that I feel like I could do this forever and I would never get tired of it.

She stretches her hands towards me, going in gentle lines along my shoulder. I shiver a little at the sensation, but it's an enjoyable one. She knows exactly what I want and is capable of providing it. I smile fondly, savoring her mere presence. My clothes have gotten a bit of her tears on them, but she seems to have calmed down now.

She shifts her position slightly. Maybe she has something on her mind... I don't know what it could be, though, and I don't think that asking would help matters. But she's getting touchier and touchier. Her hands are almost... moving down towards my waist? Her breaths are... am I overthinking things...? But I think they're at least a little more intense than they were earlier.

Suddenly, she sits up, apparently trying to look for something in a drawer. I have no idea what, but I'm becoming increasingly concerned. Facing away from me in a gesture that I'm almost certain is intentional, she retrieves whatever it was she was looking for and puts it in her pocket. She's not exactly giving me a lot of faith in her... But that's just how she is sometimes.

She looks at me, her expression still giving me the distinct feeling she's hiding something. "Well... uh..." Why is she being so reticent now, of all times? I get that even telling me about her depression was one of the hardest decisions she's ever made, but it wouldn't hurt her to just say it.

────────

"So... you know... I read an article the other day... a-about how sex can help improve mood." Really? That's what she wanted to ask me about? "So... what I wanted to ask you was... doyouwanttohavesexwithme?" She emits a hurried torrent of words, clearly embarrassed about it all. Her face is turning redder by the second. I'm left without words, but regather my composure quickly.

"Oh... uh, sure, I guess." Well, that was incredibly unsuave of me, but at least it got the message through, right?

"Then you should... probably take this." She hands me a foil-wrapped square. "This was from one of those presentations they do about safe sex."

"So, a condom?" I think I can get behind what she has in mind. I watch intently as she takes off her pajamas, leaving only her bra and panties on. She's quite cute, and I haven't taken the time to savor it for too long. I'm interrupted by my mind falling back to reality and remembering that I'm supposed to take off my clothes too, so I do just that.

I give a quizzical look to Sayori, clueless as to what I should be doing next, but she returns the look with an equally questioning expression in her eyes. She unclasps her bra strap and lets her breasts spill out, then as she takes off her panties I remember that I should finish undressing. Now, where did I put that condom—? I locate it after a quick search and I tear open its wrapper, then slide it down as I—wait, don't I have to be—?

"Wait, how do you put one of these things on again?"

"Uh... I don't really know... I think you have to be erect?" She comes over to me and somewhat hesitatingly uses one finger to give a gentle stroke. She's doing it right, somehow, and so I unroll and extend the condom over, readying myself for what's next.

We lie down next to each other on her bed in the same way as before, with neither of us having a good grasp as to what we should be doing. I fondle her breasts a little, putting a little more attention into her nipples, and she reacts positively to that, breathing deeper than before. Seriously, I'm acting by instinct more than anything else. I continue the motion as a high-pitched squeak comes out of her lips. And, well, now's as good of a time as any, right...?

I reposition myself so that I'm better aligned and, carefully—I insert myself. I encounter a slight bit of resistance, but brush it off as being expected in this situation. She feels a bit sticky, almost, but hot and grasping closely. I move in a rhythm that I don't think I knew about before, sliding in and out methodically. My own breaths hasten their rhythm as Sayori cries out more and more in what might be agony to an uninformed observer but which I ascribe to a pleasure that she had never felt before this moment.

I continue at this pace, doing my best to change as little as possible of what I'm doing, but she's starting to look more ready for it to end. I seem to be doing the same. Almost without wanting to, I speed myself up, in and out, in and out, in and out until I'm nearly at my limit. Looking at Sayori, she's about made it there too. With one last motion, it all collapses in one final outburst, and I find my moment of release.

We lie on the bed next to each other, catching our breaths together. I'm the first to break the silence.

"So... did you have a good time?"

"I sure did!"

"You're... really not making this sound any less weird than it is, Sayori." I sit myself back up, lifting the aftermath with my thumb and index finger and tossing it casually into a trash can.

We dress ourselves in relative silence, being that that last interaction with her kind of put me off of coming up with any sort of response.

I open the door to her room and retrace my steps with her following me.

I reach her front door. "Is there anything else that you need from me?"

"No, I really enjoyed myself and I think I'll definitely be able to pass that test now!"

I dismiss her weird logic and try not to let my bewilderment show. "Okay... well, if you need me, you can always just text me. I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

I step out of the door with the sense that my existence will never be quite the same.