Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

A bit too formal

2 days later, a giant yawn plowed through Shujinkou's lips as he dragged his legs through the halls of his school.

"I finally got it done," he yawned once more and stretched his drowsy arms. To say the past 3 nights were not easy would be an understatement, but what he achieved in such notice provided him with some comfort. As he continued to his passage to class, Shujinkou noticed Rei watching a bag of chips fall to the opening a vending machine and approached her. "Good morning, Rei."

Rei turned towards Shujinkou and silently stared at him. Despite still finding her eerie silence a little weird, he was beginning to get used to it. The awkward silence was swiftly broken as Rei presented the snack to him.

"No, thanks," Shujinkou responded.

She quickly lowered the snack as she continued to stare at him.

"Well, I got somewhere to be. So..." a small smile snuck up on the unaware Shujinkou's face as he scratched his right cheek. "I'll see you later."

The young man watched Rei leave before leaving himself.

"Huh." That was all he could say to express the surprise of Rei's sudden action. But he had no time to let surprise hold him as the Liaison still had a delivery to make. He continued his journey until he finally found Monika looking out a nearby window.

"Monika," Shujinkou called out as he approached the local school idol.

She turned around and eagerly waved at him. The optimistic smile on her face could light up an entire room. "Morning Shujinkou."

"I finally finished them," He said as he reached into his bag. The young student gently pulled out three pieces of paper neatly tucked in sheet protectors and handed it to Monika.

"Thanks, Shujinkou," a look of genuine appreciation appeared on her face. "I really appreciate you doing this."

"It's no big deal," Shujinkou yawned. "Though if fall asleep during the club today, could you please make sure that Natsuki doesn't hit me on the head with a rolled-up poster?"

"It's a deal," Monika giggled.

Later that day, Shujinkou vigorously helped Natsuki look through her collection of manga.

"So let me get this straight... You're telling me that in non-canon Dragon Ball Z Movie Number Eight, the main villain of the movie hates Goku because he cried a lot as a baby?" Natsuki looked up and gave Shujinkou a skeptical look.

"Yep," he casually nodded.

"Broly hates Goku because he cried a lot as a baby... Even though he shouldn't remember such a thing..." she sighed before rolling her eyes at the fact.

"It's kind of a subconscious hatred."

"It sounds like a lousy reason to hate someone. Especially since it sounds like baby Broly never even seen baby Goku before and I doubt Goku would cry as an adult, so I don't see how Goku being around him can trigger him."

"That's what a lot of people said about the original Broly. Whether you love him or hate him, he has a very laughable motivation."

The two continued to search through the plethora of literary works until Natsuki's face suddenly lit up with joy.

"Found it!" she gently pulled out the second volume of the story she once lent Shujinkou and proudly presented it to him. "Hadi Girl Vol. 2! Though I have to admit, I'm kinda surprised that it took you this long to ask for it."

"Well..." a nervous sweat crawled down the back of his neck as the rookie club member scratched his right cheek. He did want to ask for it right away, but he was always afraid of Natsuki reminding him that he once got her into a series that was never completed.

"Then again, I'm not sure I should lend it to you considering that you got me into Crash Bandicoot without telling me that the manga was never finished," she pointed out.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized. "What do I have to make it up to you?"

Natsuki silently stared at Shujinkou. The solemn look in her eyes as she approached him caused his mind to begin to theorize what the pink-haired girl might say. But no words were said as she handed the book to him.

"I'm just messing with you," she said. "Unlike you, I don't get people's interests up for nothing."

"Thanks, Natsuki," an awkward smile crept up on him as he scratched his right cheek. Mixed feelings swirled inside him as he processed what just happened. But his thought process came to an immediate halt as Monika stepped into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late everybody," the club president said. "There was something I really needed to do before I got here."

"Did you have to save the school from another science experiment gone wrong?" Sayori inquired.

"Not really," Monika reached into her bag, pulled out three large envelopes and handed them to the other girls in the room.

"What's this?" Natsuki queried.

"Open it up and see," Monika answered.

The three opened their envelopes and were shocked to find hand drawn invitations inside. Each one featured a super deformed version of them surrounded by pillows and stylized hearts in front of pink clouds.

"'You are cordially invited to a slumber party tomorrow hosted by Literature Club President: Monika...'" Yuri read aloud.

Monika was immediately met with three confused stares.

"Um... I think that may have been a bit too formal, Shujinkou," Monika said as her cheeks grew red.

"Maybe..." he replied. "But in my defense, I presently have no idea how to invite anyone to slumber parties anymore."

"You're seriously inviting us to spend the night at your house?" a quizzical and disbelieving look crashed on Natsuki's face as she asked that.

"Mm-hmm," Monika smiled earnestly as she nodded. "I thought it would be fun if we could try it at least once. So what do you all say?"

As Shujinkou expected, Sayori's face immediately lit up.

"I'm in!" she beamed.

Monika turned her attention to Natsuki and Yuri, their faces making it clear that they weren't as enthused as Sayori was.

"I don't now... Slumber parties..." Natsuki hesitated. "Slumber parties aren't really my thing."

"I don't think I would be comfortable with all of the people there..." Yuri lamented.

"But there's not going to be a lot of people," Monika corrected. "It's just going to be the four of us."

"Eh?!" Surprise grabbed hold of the two girls as they heard that, a feeling Shujinkou understood too well.

"I assumed the same thing when she brought it up to me. Though I freaked out because I thought that meant I was going to have to hand draw a lot of invitations," he chuckled in relief once he finished reminiscing.

"So what do you two say?" Monika asked again.

"Say yes," Sayori encouraged. "Think of how fun it will be to hang out after school."

Noticing the hesitation that still struck the two, Sayori used a technique that Shujinkou was all too familiar with: she used her puppy-dog eyes.

"Well..." Yuri closed her eyes, remaining silent for an entire minute. "Alright. I'll come."

Soon all eyes were on Natsuki.

"Ur..." Natsuki diverted her gaze as an unsure expression formed on her face. "Alright. I'll go too."

"Alright!" the excited vice-president wrapped her arms around Natsuki and Yuri. "A Literature Club Slumber Party! This is going to be so fun!"

A/N: I just realized that it's almost been a year since I started writing this story. Wow, time flies by. Maybe I can celebrate it by releasing another Afterword; though I can't promise I'll be able do anything since I shall be really busy this week.