Our Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!)

The First

Monika gently tapped the tip of her heart-shaped pen against the top of her desk. She had already finished her test and was just waiting for the next bell to ring.

I wonder what Claudette's doing right now... Several different scenarios of what her cousin could potentially be doing at this moment flashed in her head.

She could be visiting the Louvre, sky-diving in Australia, or perhaps enjoying a stay at the Kitsune Spa Resort. Any of the possibilities she came up with seemed possible.

The sound of the bell kept her from theorizing any further.

Monika watched her fellow classmates get up and turn their test in at the teacher's desk. They each wore various expressions on their faces, ranging from proud smiles to annoyance to something that made it clear their day was ruined.

Monika soon followed suit. The moment she placed her paper on the top of the pile, her teacher looked up at her and smiled.

"Do I sense another 'A' Monika?" he said.

"I hope. I put a lot of time into re-memorizing the periodic table."

Though she wore a calm smile on her face, Monika wondered whether her response sounded like bragging. She did just spend last night going over each element, taking note of every fact the table presented.

Even she found it an impressive feat, but she didn't want to brag about it.

"In the end, I tried my best," Monika said.

"Hm," her teacher's eyes narrowed as they looked past her. "Monika, can I ask you a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Could you inform your neighbor that class has ended?"

Though not too descriptive, Monika knew exactly who her teacher was referring too.

Right behind her desk was a young man. He was looking out of the window with vacant eyes, like his mind was somewhere else.

From what she has seen, he was almost always like that. The rest of the class considered him weird for daydreaming all of the time, but she never really did.

Monika approached the young man that sat behind her and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Shujinkou...?"

"Huh?" his eyes lit up and he turned towards her.

Unlike the listless face he had up until now, it was now full of life. He didn't say a word and looked like he had awoken from a trance.

Shujinkou was clearly confused until he lowered his eyes to the hand perched on his shoulder. Soon his cheeks faintly grew red.

"Monika...!" his eye then darted across the room as he scratched his right cheek.

"Shujinkou, it's time for the next class."

"R-Right..."

Shujinkou awkwardly gathered his things and placed his test on the teacher's desk. He then walked out of the room with Monika following shortly behind.

"Shujinkou," she called.

Without breaking his stride, the young man turned around with a confused look on his face.

"How do you think you did on the test?" Monika asked.

"Um..." Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. Monika could see it in his eyes that he was struggling to find an answer. "I don't really know... I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing."