Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Catching Up

"Shiko! Shiko!" No matter how much Sayori yelled his name and shook him, she could not garner a response from Shujinkou. "Did he fall into another coma!?"

"Actually, Sayori, I think he just temporarily retreated into his head," Kiyoko calmly pointed out. "The shock was probably too much for him."

"But why? Didn't he already hear about this throughout the day?"

"To be fair, the whole hero thing was getting to him."

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure any of us would react the same way if we were in his shoes," Natsuki added.

"Uuoo... Still, we can't just leave him like this," Sayori lightly shook Shujinkou's body again. Like before, she received no response.

"Oh, Shin'yū-san, that's no way to wake up Senpai," Mali joyfully pointed out.

"Do you have an idea, Mali?" Monika questioned.

"Of course, Senpai's Kōhai knows just how to snap him out his trance."

Mali casually approached Shujinkou's body and sat next to him. Her hands clamped down on his shoulders and she pulled herself closer, bringing her parted lips to his right ear.

"Senpai..."

She took a deep breath and blew a steady stream of air into Shujinkou's ear. Shujinkou immediately sat up, his face as red as a beet.

"What happened?" he breathlessly asked.

"You were sent into a state of shock when you realized your perilous situation, Senpai," Mali reminded him.

"Oh, right..." Hearing that made Shujinkou want to retreat back into his head. "I can't believe I woke up just before the exams... This can't be happening...!"

"Yep. A pretty mean-spirted surprise for our local hero."

Fuyu cleared her throat. "The thing is Shujinkou... You're not exactly taking the exams next week,"

"Really?" Shujinkou's eyes lit up with surprise.

"Due to your circumstances, all your teachers agreed that it would best to take your exams during the retake period."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. The extra time given to him would surely increase his chances of passing his exams.

However, he knew taking them would also result in him missing what came after – something he had been looking forward to doing now that he had friends this year.

"...Fuyu, is there a way I can take the exams with everyone else?" he requested.

His question was met with surprised stares from everyone.

"...Are you sure that's really something you want to do, Shujinkou?" Fuyu questioned.

Shujinkou nodded his head. "I have to."

"...The thing is Shujinkou, that's not exactly your call to make. All your teachers agreed that you should take the exam at a later time, and I doubt you'll convince them all otherwise. The only way for you to take the exams with the rest of us would be to ask our Kōchō-sensei."

"Principal Taiki?" Shujinkou cringed.

"What's wrong, Shujinkou? You seem like you have some grievances with our principal," Yuri noted.

Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek, "I don't have anything against him, it's just... I kinda met him last year and well... I don't think I was that respectful to him."

"Shujinkou, you're the most respectful guy I know," Natsuki pointed out. "You mentally double check to make sure you didn't say anything hurtful sometimes. What could you have done that would have been bad?"