Play With Us

>"When you awake, you will have little time."
>The sight of nothing fills this Doki's mind, but the voice rings out.
>"Huh? Who are you?" She asked into the darkness.
>"Take the time to prepare. Perform your role in a play, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and risk everything."
>"Reward? Risk? Role? What are you talking about?"
>"You will be given your soulmate, or sentenced to eternal torment. Your role is that of the game. Good luck."
>"That doesn't make any sense!" The Doki shouted as the world faded into light.

>On a dimly lit stage surrounded by curtains, the four girls stood closely, jarred awake.
>Looking at each other, the first to speak up was Sayori.
>"Oh, no, first that weird nightmare, now the spelling bee one again..." She said with a nervous glance down, before giving a sigh of relief. "At least I'm not wearing that fish costume this time."
>"A weird nightmare? Did it have a voice talking to you?" Monika inquired.
>"Yeah! Something about a play, I didn't really pay attention."
>Both Natsuki and Yuri perked up at this.
>"I had the same one! What did he mean by roles from a game?" The pink Doki asked, looking to her comrades for answers.
>Yuri thought to herself, as did Sayori. Monika took a moment, then piped up.
>"Well, we're uh... game characters. And there's a game that we're part of, so I guess that's what the voice wanted us to do."
>"Game characters? Monika, that's a bit far fetched. We're just high school students." Yuri stated.
>"Right, and if we're game characters, what about that guy that joined our club? Wouldn't he be one too?" Natsuki continued.
>"He's actually the player. Think about him; what are your memories of him like?" Monika picked up.
>"Well, we walked to school together every day, and he helped me fix my blazer!" Sayori piped up happily.
>"He helped me get my manga and we read it together. Tried to sneak a peak at my ass, too, little perv." Natsuki recalled with a smirk and a blush.
>"We read together, and he fed me chocolates, just like one of those cheesy romance novels... I liked it." Yuri said, twiddling her fingers.
>"What? What a womanizer! I'll kill that punk!" Natsuki freaked out.
>"No, Natsuki! Now, think, all of you; when did these happen?" Monika questioned.
>The girls unanimously agreed that these events happened on the same day, then turned to Monika in confusion.
>"These memories all happened simultaneously. They were different players choosing each of you for a route in a sort of dating sim. I guess we'll have to act out the events of that game for whoever put us here."
>"Alright, that makes enough sense, I guess. But how do you know all this?" Natsuki asked, and the other girls sat attentive, looking for answers.
>"Well, ehehe... that has something to do with my role. Let me start from the beginning." And so, she began. A timer appeared in the air above their heads; five hours until it hit zero.

>A roaring applause rung out as the curtains rose on the ethereal stage.
>A lone person stood on the stage, wearing a bag over their face.
>To them, the audience consisted of ghostly visions of faces and hands with no corporeal forms.
>After a moment, the slightly shaken performer began, in a voice that was very obviously not her natural one.
>"B-boy, I sure am glad to go to school today. Oh no, Sayori! I don't want to walk with her!" The bagged one spoke, feigning as much shock as she could with a masked face.
>Tripping onto the stage, Sayori spoke.
>"Hello Na-I mean Anon! Are you ready for school today? Let's walk like we usually do!"
>"Darn!" The deep-voiced Natsuki spoke, walking in place with Sayori as unbodied laughter echoed throughout the stage.
>Hiding behind tree cutouts, Yuri and Monika moved behind the two to simulate movement as they spoke.

>A scene transition, and a bagged Monika sat at a desk, getting up before being bombarded by questions from Sayori.
>"Are you excited for Literature Club today? Did you bring your poem? Oh, I'm-" Monika jabbed her with her elbow. "I mean, uh, I told the girls you'd be coming, so you've gotta follow me to this club! It'll help you, Anon!"
>"Sure, let's go!" The two walked very drastically a few feet over, where Yuri and Natsuki stood with a teapot and tray of junk sorted to look like cupcakes.
>"Woah, Sayori, you didn't mention you'd be bringing a boy!" Natsuki said, while Yuri stood nervously.
>"Haha, I've got to make some tea for us. I'll be back!" She said, running off with her teapot.
>"Right! Uh... our club president should be here any minute, so..." Sayori started.
>Ducking behind Sayori, Monika pulled her bag off as Yuri ran back on stage with a similar bag on her own head.
>"Hello, Anon!" Monika said to the newly bagged Yuri.
>"How do you..." Yuri bagan.
>"I, uh, Sayori told me a lot about you! It's nice to finally meet you." She extended a hand, which Yuri shook.
>The club went on as normal for the day, sans one person constantly being replaced by themself playing the new member.
>Once the day had finished, Sayori and the then-bagged Natsuki exited stage left, and Natsuki performed a musical number consisting mostly of random words as she prepared a 'poem' for the next day.

>Having decided that Yuri's route would allow them to easily adhere to the story, they had gone with it, and the show went off with only minor hitches.
>Sayori accidentally shoved the chocolate prop in Yuri's mouth without realizing it wasn't actually chocolate, causing her to have to discretely spit it out to the side and scoot it off the stage.
>The only prop available for Yuri's book was a volume of Parfait Girls, but she was able to recite the pages from her book without them being in front of her, so that was a non-issue.
>Other than those two slip-ups, the show was going great!
>The day of festival preparations arrived, and Natsuki donned the bag once more.
>The phantom audience was left in awe at the raw emotion that arose from the girl comforting Sayori about her depression, as if their friendship gave the act an extra shot of sincerity.
>The scene of preparation with Yuri was very similar to how it played out in Monika's description. However, in lieu of a real knife and real cuts, they were forced to make do with a wooden sword and marker.
>The day came to an end, and the next day began.
>Each girl had a turning in their stomach at the events that were to take place today.
>Monika had described them, how she played the cards she was dealt while thinking they were just game characters.
>Initially hurt and distressed, the girls tried to put it aside for now, given that she seemed regretful. The threat of a hellish inferno also helped to force their hands.
>And so, Natsuki walked to school alone, bringing the props her and Yuri had made, and brought them to the club.
>At Monika's suggestion, she ran out of the club room, scenery being moved behind her as she jogged in place back to where she had just walked from.
>Meanwhile, Monika snuck off stage and into the catwalks, shutting off every light except for one spotlight, focused on Natsuki.
>She approached a door that took the place of Sayori's, and pushed through before finding another one.
>Reaching slowly to the knob for emphasis, she gently opened the door...
>And as she did so, the light swung, illuminating Sayori, suspended above the floor of the stage and looking downward, a noose around her neck signifying the horrible deed that had occurred.
>Well, sort of.
>If one was to look carefully, they'd notice the knot was in fact a neck tie worn in reverse with the long portion fastened to the back of her head to represent the rope going to the ceiling.
>Looking less carefully, they'd notice the woman in black behind her, struggling to hold her steady in the air long enough for the scene to be convincing.
>Seeing this scene, Natsuki put on the waterworks and fell to the floor as Monika drew the curtain.
>Judging by the audience's reaction of a gasp and applause as the curtain closed, they were doing well.
>The girls got together for a comforting hug, reassuring Sayori that things will be alright and they don't have to come to that, with Monika apologizing once more.
>Then, they wiped the tears away and prepared for the second half. "There'd be another time for those," Sayori said with a smile.
>She donned her bag, and took center stage as the other girls hurried off to various positions.
>Once this was over, they could all sort everything out.

-INTERMISSION-

>The curtain rose once more, a beam of light shining down onto the bagged figure.
>Beginning to speak, the girl in the spotlight perked up.
>"Oh boy, I sure am excited to walk to school with..."
>She paused, looking around as if in confusion.
>"No one. As usual, I guess."
>Jauntily, she walked in place with a skip in her pseudo-step.
>Taking artistic liberties and respecting the oddience's time, the Dokis had decided she would go immediately into the clubroom as she arrived to the school.
>And so, she did.
>"I sure am tired of being alone, I think I'll check out this cool literature club!" She explained out loud to no one in particular, a hint of playful spite at the thought of taking her own advice for the player in her voice.
>Shuffling onto the stage, Yuri and Natsuki tried their best to look as though they glided along the floor to give Sayori some movement.
>They introduced themselves to each other, and after a moment, the lights flicked on to illuminate the whole stage.
>Rushing in from the side, Monika apologized for being late, and welcomed the new addition, explaining that they weren't quite a club yet, needing one more member to be official.
>Going along with it, Sayori pretended to put up a fight before relenting and joining up.
>The girls celebrated, and the day ended.
>Sayori decided to also do a musical number, but instead of having any cohesion she just sort of strung a list of words together to a melody she had made up in her head.
>The audience still got a kick out of it, however.

>With the formalities over, the show really began.
>Monika had told them how glitchy the game had gotten without Sayori, as well as a few examples, and they found a way to incorporate that into the play.
>As Sayori walked to school on the second day, one of the background trees stopped moving, yet the other moved right past it, the girl holding it walking around.
>During the club segments, Sayori would hang out with Natsuki to give better contrast to the first act.
>In the catwalks, Monika would slightly dim or brighten the lights seemingly at random. Sometimes, the lights would shift slightly off center.
>As Natsuki feigned napping, Sayori shook her awake from her slumber.
>Her eyes opening, the lights flickered above as she shook and Sayori leaped back.
>A moment later, the lights settled and Natsuki looked at Sayori as if she was crazy for leaping back so oddly.
>After this little stunt, Monika returned from the catwalks, and it was time for poems.
>Sayori walked up to Natsuki, eager to share her poem with her first.
>Really, she was just anticipating the trick she had come up with, and was excited to see it.
>The pink Doki stood silent for a moment as the blue one tried to get her attention, before moving her fists up to her eyes to rub them.
>Suddenly, two white orbs covered in red and pink burst outwards, clattering along the floor as they went flying.
>The audience gasped as the tiny girl held her eyes closed.
>Sayori stood back in shock, hand covering the spot where her mouth would be as she attempted to stifle laughter at the ping-pong balls dressed up as eyes that were still barely rolling on the stage.
>Opening her eyes, the pink one interrupted.
>"Anon? You got your poem ready?"
>"O-oh, uh, yeah." Sayori responded, utilizing her laughter as shakiness.

>And thus, came the final part of this act.
>The day prior to festival preparations, and it had come down to Sayori choosing who she was helping.
>"I think I'll help... Na-" She pointed toward the short Doki, who was wearing an excited look as she was pointed to.
>Suddenly, she swiveled toward Monika.
>"Monika!" She looked confused at her own choice, while Natsuki and Yuri looked shocked.
>Monika, happy with this, gave a smug smile.
>"Yay, you picked me!" She giggled.
>After a small protest, the girls accepted this was Sayori's choice, and gave up.
>However, before the club adjourned, Yuri asked Monika for a moment alone with Sayori, which she allowed.
>In this moment, Yuri confessed her feelings, approaching Sayori.
>She backed up, almost cornered, until Yuri stopped, asking if the placeholder Sayori was portraying felt the same.
>"Uh... yes?" She nervously responded.
>"Oh, that's wonderful! So wonderful I can't help it!"
>"Help what?"
>With that, the purple Doki retrieved her weapon from her jacket, and the silver of duct tape around a toy knife glinted in the spotlight.
>Plunging it between her chest and arm, she made a dramatic show as she fell to the ground, holding it in place with her arm at her side.
>Said show also allowed her to tip over a can of red paint, allowing it to pool underneath her into plain view.
>Sayori stood shocked once more, and the lights dimmed and shone to simulate the passing days as she moved about in various states of distress, from crying near the body to trying to resuscitate her.
>Then, the lights came back on.
>Natsuki entered, and spat up the watery concoction they had tried to pass off for tea earlier in the show before running off stage.
>Then, Monika entered, apologizing to Sayori for the scene.
>A snap of the fingers, and the curtains fell.

>A moment later, the curtains rose again.
>A rug covering the paint, a single desk, and a woman sat there.
>The spotlight shone down on Monika, who was doing her best to talk directly to the audience.
>She talked over some mundane topics, weaving exposition about deleting their character files into it, acting as if the audience was the man she loved.
>As she talked, two shadowy figures walked onto the scene.
>A few more moments of talking, and she decided she was going to nap.
>Stating 'I love you.' to the audience, she rested her head on the table.
>The first shadowy figured pulled out a cardboard cutout of a cursor, and affixed it to themselves.
>The second brandished a large trashcan with wheels.
>The cursor figure lifted Monika with a slight struggle, bringing her to the trashcan and gently setting her inside.
>Wheeling it off stage, the lights went out.

>The lights popped back on, and a figure wearing a bag was standing on stage.
>"I can't wait for school today!" The figure, who was slightly taller than the other two figures who had done this exact scene before, spoke.
>"Oh, hey Anon!" The bubbly Sayori said.
>"Hi, Sayori!"
>The two walked to class, and the club went on as normal introducing the new member to their ranks, sans a certain emerald eyed Doki.
>As the first day came and went, Sayori turned to Monika and began giving the speech about having sentience, and keeping Anon for herself.
>Then, from above, a pastel posterboard affixed to string fell. Then, another, and another.
>"No."
>"I won't let you hurt him."
>"Goodbye, everyone.
>With those posterboards falling completely to the ground, a black posterboard appeared in the upper corner of the stage.
>"natsuki.chr deleted successfully, yuri.chr deleted successfully, sayori.chr deleted successfully, monika.chr deleted successfully." It read in bold, white letters.
>The lights dimmed over Sayori, and she exited stage right.
>The bagged figure remained on stage, alone.
>From underneath the bag, an unfiltered voice began to sing a song to a mysterious piano accompaniment.
>As the song ended, the curtain fell, and a moment later, rose for the final time.
>The trash can from before was on stage.
>The lid popped off, and one by one, each Doki popped out to a roar of applause.
>Together, they locked arms, and took a bow.
>Standing up, they look at each other one last time, before an intense sleepiness falls over all of them.
>The stage, the sound, the other girls, everything falls away.

>Somewhere, a girl appears in a bed.
>Wrapped in the arms of her crossdimensional lover, she is safe and warm.
>In the morning, they will acquaint themselves for the first time. But for now, they rest.