Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Stranger's Offer

A small yawn broke through the entrapment that was Sayori's lips as she awoke from her deep slumber. Forcing her drowsy eyes open, the half-awake girl noticed that the TV in front of her was still on.

"Oh, right," Sayori yawned once more. "Movie time with Shujinkou..."

Her eyes scanned the room through half closed eyelids, eventually noticing that her friend was not anywhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?" she wondered aloud.

The curious girl soon found her answer to that question as she felt something brush up against her thighs. Wondering what it could have been, she looked down and caught glimpse of a sight that would wake her up completely: her childhood friend resting on her lap.

"Eh???" that was all Sayori could muster up the strength to say as she tried to wrap her head around the situation she found herself in. All she could do was look down at him with bright red cheeks. "Hey, Shujinkou..."

The sleeping teen continued to toss and turn about until finally finding a position he felt comfortable in. Though finding the entire situation strange and unbelievable at first, Sayori quickly felt the awkward atmosphere vanish as she continued to watch Shujinkou slumber peacefully. Seeing her friend sleep with such an innocent expression on his face had a strange effect on her, leading her to start stroking his head out of pure instinct.

"And he says I don't have any sense of personal space," she giggled as her fingers continued to slowly course through the strands of hair that rested on her friend's head over and over again.

This act continued on for several minutes, until Sayori noticed Shujinkou beginning to come to. Her hands quickly dropped to her side as she watched him slowly sit up and open his eyes.

"Morning..." Shujinkou yawned.

"Morning, Shujinkou," Sayori cheerfully waved.

But despite her cheery hello, a worried expression formed on Shujinkou's face.

"Are you okay, Sayori?" he suddenly asked.

"Yeah," Sayori nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Because your cheeks are really red," Shujinkou answered.

"Eh? No! I'm feeling really good! Seriously, nothing's wrong!" Sayori frantically assured him.

"If you say so..." Shujinkou shrugged, deciding not to press any further. After all, he was pretty sure that if anything serious was bothering her, she would let him know.

Later that day, the two walked into lobby.

"So, what should we do today?" Sayori asked.

"I don't know," Shujinkou replied. "But whatever it is, we should make sure that it's really good since we have to head back home tomorrow. Maybe we could..."

Shujinkou's train of thought immediately flew off its track as his eyes were immediately drawn towards his father. He silently watched Jomei read a page of the local newspaper as he took another sip from his coffee cup.

"What do you want to do, Shujinkou?" Sayori asked, sporting a curious expression.

"Uhm..." Shujinkou wondered that very thing himself. He did want to talk to his father, but he wasn't sure that his father wanted to talk to him or even want to be in the same room together. After deliberating what action he should take, he finally reached a course of action he decided was best. "Let's head to the city."

"Okay," Sayori nodded.

The two casually start to make their way towards the front entrance. Once they get past that threshold, they could head into the city and find something to do. Perhaps they could visit the local ice cream shop and stuff themselves full of sweets or maybe...

"Hold it right there, Shujinkou," Jomei said, his eyes still glued to the paper.

A single sentence was all it took for Shujinkou and Sayori to freeze in place.

"How do fathers do that?" Shujinkou mumbled.

Despite his instincts telling him otherwise, Shujinkou nervously turned around and met eyes with his father. Like it was so long ago, he felt like he was looking into the eyes of a stranger.

"Hey there, son" Jomei waved, an action Shujinkou found hard to believe was happening.

"Hey, father..." Shujinkou awkwardly waved back.

He wasn't sure what else to say after that. Because of yesterday, the entire moment felt completely awkward.

"Hey, Shujinkou's father!" Sayori happily waved.

The two watched the enigmatic man place his cup on a nearby coaster, fold his newspaper and slowly make his way to the two. Each step he took filled Shujinkou with curiosity and fear.

"Hmm..." Jomei looked his son and then at Sayori. "You two have gotten taller."

"Well, you haven't seen us in a while so you're bound to say that," Shujinkou awkwardly chuckled, trying to alleviate the daunting atmosphere.

"Well, you got me there," Jomei agreed. "Anyway, are you busy today?"

"Why do you ask?" Shujinkou asked.

The confused boy wondered why his father wanted to know whether he was busy or not. He had an idea of what the reason could be, but immediately dismissed it as ludicrous.

"You leave tomorrow right? Let's hang out before you have to head back," Jomei suggested.

Shujinkou and Sayori simply stared at Jomei in disbelief. They could not believe what they just heard.

"What's wrong?" Jomei asked.

"It's just that..." Shujinkou didn't want to say that would be the last thing he expected his father to say to him, even though that exactly what he thought. Suddenly, he felt a wealth of repressed emotions break through the dam he created years ago. He couldn't believe such a simple proposal could elicit such a reaction from him. "I was kinda thinking that, um..."

The conflicted teen continued to stumble over his words as he tried to figure out what to say.

"You should hang out with him," Sayori suddenly said in a cheerful manner.

"You think?" Shujinkou was surprised that his friend would say that. "But what about doing something fun together while here?"

"We just did something fun together last night," Sayori pointed out. "Besides you know that you want to take your father up on his offer."

Shujinkou couldn't argue with that fact. He knew in fact that deep down; he did want to go with his father. 5 minutes of internal debating later, Shujinkou decided to accept his father's offer and followed him out of the spa resort.

"Are you sure it was good for him to go with his father?"

Sayori curiously turned around and was surprised to find Yuri sitting beside her.

"Why would you ask that?" Sayori asked.

"Well..." Yuri closed her eyes and thought back to the father and son's brief encounter from the day before. "I'm just worried that things may not turn out the way he wants it to. I know what it's like for that to happen and it's unpleasant to say the least."

"I think you're worrying too much," Sayori insisted. "But, still..."

Suddenly stopping mid-sentence, Sayori remained silent with a blank expression on her face until she heard the loud roar of her hungry stomach.

"Time for lunch!" she happily announced.