Natsuki and the Friendly Ghost

Natsuki opened her eyes. The school was dark and blurry.

"Yuri!" she shouted

Wait... was that a dream? What was happening to her...

Everything hurt. Her mouth tasted horrible. Her clothes were ruined. Everything was blurry, and it was hard to remember anything.

"W... where am I?"

She rubbed her eyes a bit. Something was off. The school should be filled with students, but it felt empty. Then, she heard a voice in the distance. Monika? And then she heard another voice that she did not recognize.

She turned towards the door, but the blackness that was outside deeply unsettled her. All the same, she did not want to go back to the classroom either. Where she had seen...

She approached the door to the classroom the club met in, and put her ear to it. Monika was talking to somebody. But maybe she was on the phone, because Natsuki couldn't make out any other person. It didn't sound like Monika was in distress.

Natsuki heard Monika say "Sorry... I want to hear it again."

She heard the unrecognizable voice again. "I love you"

"I will never get tired of that... but if you ever feel like recording more things for me to listen to... I mean, it would make me very happy. I have an idea, maybe I can play the piano, and you can record yourself singing to me! Oh... yes, I suppose we should focus on the task at hand. I'm sorry."

Natsuki briefly forgot her troubles at this new information - clearly Monika had a boyfriend of some kind and was smitten with him. She didn't quite understand all of it, maybe he was long distance. It seemed reasonable to try and talk to her, so she steadied herself and did her best to sound like she wasn't scared. Still behind the doorway, she shouted.

"Monika! Are you in there?"

Monika fell silent before changing her tone to being one less intimate, and more what Natsuki had come to expect from her.

"Natsuki? It's good to hear from you again."

"What do you mean by that? Do you know what's happening?" Natsuki was concerned.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Everything will be back to normal soon, don't worry."

Natsuki hesitated. "Who are you talking to?"

Monika did not answer.

"Alright, if you don't wanna tell me..."

Natsuki opened the door to step in.

"Wait- Natsuki!" Monika tried to say

Natsuki's eyes fell upon something surprising. There were two motionless bodies on the floor, spread-eagle on the ground. The first body was Yuri, and although she no longer bore any stab wounds, there was still something wrong with her. The other body was Sayori's. Wait who's Sayori? And how do I know her name? This sight was infinitely more unnerving to her, as she could not comprehend anything that was happening.

Anon was sitting in a chair with an utterly blank expression on his face. And although Natsuki had briefly been distracted by the bodies, she also noticed that there was no indication whatsoever that Monika had a phone.

"What are those two doing here! What's wrong with them!"

"I'm sorry Natsuki, you weren't supposed to see this."

"What's that mean!?"

"Ummm no, sorry, I don't think she can hear you. I guess it didn't work."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Hold on a moment Natsuki. I think you're just hijacking the narration text right now. I guess maybe I could mess with the protagonist's textbox, but I'm worried that that would have some unforseen consequences down the line."

Natsuki was perplexed. Her attention fell upon her fallen friend, Yuri. Natsuki didn't want to touch a dead body, but... maybe Yuri wasn't dead. She didn't quite look dead. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to check her pulse. Natsuki summoned up her bravery and tried to check.

A pulse. Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief. Yuri is alive? She seemed completely non-responsive, but Natsuki wasn't going to take this for granted. She had thought she'd seen Yuri's body decomposing. Still, her breath still tasted like puke. Is it possible to throw up because of something you see in a dream?

"I see, I see. Maybe you could do that. ...Are you sure you can't connect a microphone to this game? No... no you're right, sorry. One step at a time. Sorry, I just love the sound of your-" Monika noticed Natsuki glaring at her. "Anyway. What's our plan for if the game shifts focus away from me and we can't talk anymore?" She paused "I guess."

Natsuki lost her patience again. "Monika! Tell me what's going on! You're leaving me in the dark right now and it's really pissing me off!"

Monika sighed. "Natsuki... how do I put this. None of this will have happened in a bit. Think of it like a dream. My beloved wanted you all be revived as soon as possible. I can't deny him that, even if I personally think that it would have been better to hold of the restoration until after we're ready to start testing."

"Beloved? Who is this beloved you're talking about? And... Restoration?"

"Think of that person as.... a friendly ghost!" Monika laughed at that. "My beloved dearly wants you all to be happy. The best for you, the best for Yuri, the best for Sayori." Natsuki could read between the lines - Monika's cold smile also said that she didn't care for having to humor Natsuki when she could be talking to her beloved. "Besides, don't you want get cleaned up~?"

Natsuki had briefly forgotten that she had sullied her clothing and shielded herself. Wait... if Monika's beloved knew of her, and was communicating with Monika, did that mean he could see how filthy she looked right now?

"...I don't have any spare clothes though and it's really dark out... I don't want to go homee..."

"Oh, that's true isn't it. Outside doesn't even exist right now. Hmm. Okay, not to worry."

Monika walked out of the door and after a few moments, came back with a uniform.

"Hey... this is the right size. How did you get this?"

"Let's just say I got it from a friend."

Natsuki realized as Monika started talking that it was pointless to ask in the first place. She was clearly witholding information. Natsuki left the room with her 3 comatose clubmates and went down the hall to start changing. As she was getting undressed, an eerie thought occurred to her.

"....Mr. Ghost? Are you there?"

Monika was lying surely. There wasn't a friendly ghost. But... if there was, would he be able to see her change?

"Just so you know, Mr. Ghost, you'd better not be watching me! Or you're gonna get it!"

It was too late though. As much as she didn't want to believe in ghosts, she now couldn't help but think that the ghost was watching her change. Natsuki tried to swap uniforms as quickly as possible, but as she did a headache suddenly hit her hard.

"Ow ow ow ow!!"

She quickly got finished and stumbled down the hall, back inside the classroom.

"W-what's happening to my head!" She cried out.

"Oh, well, remember how you were trying to tell me that Yuri was losing herself and needed help?"

Natsuki nodded.

"That headache was a side-effect of fixing that! Sorry! But she should be as you remember her being now. And, hopefully the disorientation you felt around Sayori should be lifted as well."

Sayori and Yuri began to stir, and with their stirring, life started to come back to Anon's eyes.

"Alright, well I guess it's time for our trial run~ But before we restart the game and try to bring the world back to life... I have to do it again."

Again, the sound played from earlier. The voice that said "I love you". Monika's face was filled with emotion. Natsuki was shocked - whenever she had seen Monika emote in the past it had always seemed a bit forced, like a put-upon personality. But when she listened to that voice, it was as if her mask had been cast aside, revealing the lonely, lovestruck girl underneath.

"I want to hear that every day..."

And then, all went black once more.