Waiting For Ribbons In The Void

Face

Natsuki still remembered yesterday’s scene in the glitched classroom clearly - the scene where Sayori bravely faced the Void as she tried to save Monika.

The sights, the sounds and the feeling of unearthly winds blowing against Natsuki’s face were burned into her memory like a lucid dream.

Even though Natsuki was already awake, that dream lingered in the eye of her mind. Her frightened heart was beating hard against her chest too.

She still wished that things didn’t have to turn out that way.

Dawn was already starting to break that Friday morning, but Natsuki only barely got a few winks of sleep. Her unkempt, untied pink hair was strewn about on her pillow where she laid.

Her heart was racing and her mind was swamped by her ever-growing to-do-list to save the Literature Club.

Just like Sayori, Natsuki was preparing to dive into her own Void. She too didn’t know if she was going to succeed.

Thinking about Sayori, Natsuki sat upright on her bed and then reached under her pillow. There, she found the former president’s final gift to her - the administrative notebook.

Natsuki opened the notebook in the dim light of her room then skimmed through the pages. There was a litany of code and commands that were written in Monika’s handwriting with just a handful of notes from Sayori here and there, translating the first club president’s Python jargon.

Reading through those notes made Natsuki wonder if Sayori was just as inexperienced as her when she chose to become the club president. If that was true, then that didn’t stop Sayori from doing what she felt was right.

Moved by that thought, Natsuki closed the notebook and then laid it against her forehead. She closed her eyes too as she tried to gather her courage as she repeatedly chanted to herself,

“You’re President Natsuki. President Natsuki. President Natsuki!”

As she did so, she imagined Sayori doing the exact same thing in the mornings when she was still the club president. That thought brought a small smile to Natsuki’s lips, so she decided,

“I’ll have to do my best too.”

Spurred by her motivation, Natsuki hopped off of her bed and was about to start getting ready for school when she noticed something strange.

There was a shifting silhouette on her bedroom curtains.

It was in the shape of a person standing outside her window!

Natsuki tensed up as she held her breath and crept towards her curtains. All the while, she held her administrative notebook firmly in one hand.

The pink-haired president didn’t have a clue about how to use the notebook, but she had to at least act like she did.

Once Natsuki reached for the curtains, she parted them wide open and confronted the person behind the window. The cupcake baker then gasped,

“Yuri!?”

Natsuki’s vice president was standing outside in a curious state, holding onto her copy of the Portrait of Markov. She was panting heavily. Her long, purple hair was disheveled and there were beads of sweat on her brow.

She looked like someone who had just sprinted a mile.

Natsuki promptly opened her bedroom window and remarked with disbelief,

“What the heck are you doing here? You look like a stalker!”

The winded Yuri was taken aback by Natsuki’s comparison, so she furiously denied,