Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Empty Reminders

The day before, he walked down the third year hallway and noticed Monika patiently standing next to the club room door.

"What are you doing out here, Monika?" Shujinkou asked.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," Monika replied.

She pulled a small slip of paper out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Shujinkou.

"This is something I got for my work during the school festival," Monika explained.

Shujinkou's eyes lit up as he read through the contents of the slip.

"A free limited edition parfait for two?" Shujinkou read aloud. While on the outside he retained a calm, yet surprised attitude, on the inside Shujinkou was very excited. He loved eating sweets and the thought of getting a parfait that is usually out of his price range was almost enough to make him show his excitement on the outside too. But his initial excitement quickly turned into confusion, prompting him to thoroughly read through all the lines again."For two... You mean the two of us?"

"Mm-hmm," Monika nodded. "It's a special couples' coupon."

"B-But..." Shujinkou stammered.

He was so flustered that he couldn't finish his sentence. Was Monika possibly asking him out on a date?

"I know we're not a couple," Monika said. "But we wouldn't want it to go to waste, would we? It expires soon."

"But why me?" Shujinkou asked. He really wasn't sure why Monika would want to go with him of all people. Surely there a lot of other people she could have asked.

"Well..." Monika went quiet for a moment before finishing her sentence. "I just thought it would be fun to do something together as fellow club members."

...

Shujinkou opened his eyes. Instead of walking into the old clubroom, he found himself lying in his bed. With a large yawn, He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"The couples' coupon..."

That was one of the first times he ever spent time with Monika alone. It was a happy memory, yet it also a memory that started to upset him.

Must be more Jamias Vu... I think...

Thinking about it made him confused and feel a little empty.

Shaking his head, Shujinkou jumped out of bed and walked out into the hallway. He noticed one of the doors open; it was Hiroko's. Taking a peek inside, he found his sister typing away on her laptop.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Hm?" Hiroko glanced up. They met eyes for a brief moment before she turned her gaze back to her laptop. "Oh, I'm just working on something for Fuyu. Everything's stagnant on the journalist front, so I have some time to do my VP work."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Besides his sister, he's never heard of any vice president being able to address their job as a side project.

Only Fuyu could let someone get away with that.

"Annnnnnnnnnd... Done," Hiroko gently closed her laptop and stretched her arms.

"Already?" Shujinkou marveled.

"I've been up since 6," she yawned.

"Wow... That's... Wow..."

Shujinkou solemnly scratched his right cheek. The emptiness he felt earlier slowly grew.