Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Shujinkou's Desperate Struggle

"Yuri?"

Sayori worriedly waved her hand in front of her distant friend's face. The young maiden had been acting like she was back when they were in the warehouse basement: quiet and unresponsive. She had been that way ever since they rushed Shujinkou to the hospital after he collapsed.

With the amount of blood he was rapidly losing from his reopened wound, Shujinkou was rushed to surgery, leaving the others to wait in the food court for the results.

Sayori was sure that was what caused Yuri to regress to this state. What was worse was the clear amount of guilt the young maiden had on her face.

"Yuri...?"

Sayori continued to try and get her friend's attention until Yuri suddenly stood up.

"Sorry, but I need some time to myself..."

With those parting words, Yuri disappeared into the surrounding crowd.

"Should we be letting her go like that?" Sayori asked aloud.

"As long as she stays in the hospital, she should be fine," Monika replied.

Sayori shook her head.

"Not that. I mean, she looks so... so..."

A sorrowful look crossed the usually cheerful Sayori. The way Yuri looked and acted was very familiar to her.

"...She looks like Shiko did back then... Back when he shut himself away from the world..."

Hearing that reminded Monika of the dream she had back at the warehouse which in turn reminded her of how little she knew about Shujinkou.

But even so... I wasn't wrong to be worried about him... right?

Like before, Monika couldn't tell if she had any right to question any of Shujinkou's recent behavior when he had been trying his hardest to solve their recent dilemmas.

All she could do was look on as Sayori's gaze shifted to Natsuki. Her eyes had been glued to her phone ever since the staff had discovered them on Shujinkou's person.

Like Yuri, Natsuki had not said a word since then and the conflicted look on her face was just as worrying.

"What're you looking at, Natsuki?" Sayori queried.

"Huh?" Natsuki quickly stuffed her phone in her pocket. "N-Nothing. I was just checking on some stuff."

"Like what?"

Natsuki quickly averted her gaze. "Just... stuff."

Before Sayori could say another word, Natsuki suddenly stood up as well.

"I'm going to go stretch my legs," she said before walking off.

Faced with a third friend abruptly leaving mid-conversation, Sayori could only mutter, "Why is everyone leaving...?"

As soon as she was sure she was out of sight, Natsuki pulled her phone out of her pocket and sighed.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Startled by the sudden question, Natsuki hastily shoved her phone back in her pocket and looked up at the inquisitor. Standing in front of her was Mali, sporting her usual innocent smile.

"You look really upset," she said with a giggle.

"Really?" Natsuki replied, unamused by Mali's teasing tone. "I was kidnapped and held hostage for days while being threatened to b forced into human trafficking. Not to mention it happened to my friends too while it was clear that Akui was going to kill Shujinkou just because he has a petty grudge against his dad and even though he essentially beat everyone up, he still had to get treatment from the gunshot wound in his stomach and I have no idea how that's going!