Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

Maiden's Guilt

A small, solemn sigh slipped through Yuri's lips as she sat on a bench outside of the convention.

"Yuri?" the young maiden's face slightly lit up as a familiar voice called her name.

She quickly looked around, but no matter where she looked, she couldn't find the person the voice belonged to among the sea of fans, "Shujinkou?"

"Over here," Yuri's eyes trailed down to the ground and landed on a cardboard box. Suddenly, the aforementioned individual rose through the top and stepped out of his ultimate stealth device. "Hey."

"...Why were you in a cardboard box?" Yuri asked.

"I was planning on making an entrance," he said, scratching his right cheek. His sheepish expression now replaced by one of curiosity, Shujinkou sat down on the bench and asked, "So... What are you doing out here, Yuri?"

"Ah... I..." The maiden fidgeted as she looked down at her hands. "Honestly, I felt really out of place at the convention..."

"How come?"

"Because I... I just felt like a fish out of water. I couldn't find anything to get into because I don't really understand anything there since..."

Yuri bit her lip as she started playing with her hair.

"Since... I never really had an interest in these sorts of things," she solemnly admitted.

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek and asked, "Why?"

"Huh?" Yuri replied with confused eyes.

"Why don't you have in interest in stuff like comics, manga, manwha, etc.?" Shujinkou questioned.

"Ah... Well... I..." Yuri's expression changed to one of worry. "I honestly feel like they're somewhat childish and never have complex stories or characters. It's just the overall format the stories are presented in..."

The young maiden immediately placed her head in her hands. "Ugh... You must hate me now."

"Yuri... I wouldn't hate you for expressing an opinion," Shujinkou gently assured her. "...Though I would advise against posting those exact words on the internet... "

"I already experienced a result similar to the one that would come from that course of action..." she then turned her gaze back to Shujinkou and asked, "You're not even mad that I called something you like childish?"

"Well, if you're asking me if I'm going to give you a 2-hour rant about how manga is, in fact, a form of literature that should be taken seriously and allowed to be used for book reports... I'm not going to do that."

"Ah... Your 2-hour lecture Sayori mentioned before..."

"It was a rant filled with padding," Shujinkou chuckled as he scratched his right cheek. "Anyway, with that in mind, you can tell that your view point isn't anything new to me. That said, there's more to that kind of stuff than meets the eye."

Suddenly, he imagined a light bulb light up over his head.

"Hey, why don't I show you what I mean?" Shujinkou proposed.

"Eh?" Yuri replied, surprised by his sudden proposal.

"We can go in and I'll try my best not to feel like a fish out of water."

"Ah..." Yuri's cheeks grew red as she played with her hair once more. "Just like at the Cultural Festival... But wouldn't it be a waste of time to try and do so?"

"I know it's not," Shujinkou shook his head. "Remember when we first had lunch together at school? You caught a glimpse of my drawing of Big Boss and gained an interest in his character after I explained some of his arc to you. You even did some research of a video game franchise you never heard of. So... you know, despite how you feel, you're not as close-minded as you believe."