Monika ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going; only that she needed to get out of this reality and nothing else.
Yuri's enraged shout sounded down the road behind her, making her heart skip a beat. She had known about the girl's yandere tendencies, when she had 'adjusted' them to make her less likable for the MC, it had resulted in Yuri stabbing herself to death by her own hand. Part of her wished she could do that again, to make things less difficult... but part of her didn't want to do that because she did care for the Literature Club, and the members were her own friends.
Monika kept running, feeling a presence behind her, before two cries came from behind her and a knife barely missed slicing her head open as it zoomed past.
Monika hesitantly looked back, still running.
Big mistake.
Natsuki was wiping tears from her eyes, though streaks were still showing in the sunlight; maybe she had made the whimpering sound she had heard behind the door - Sayori was staying close to her, occasionally checking to see if she was okay before calling Monika's name and trying to reason with her - but the most terrible sight of all was Yuri, her hair a purple mess, looking like the goddess of rage as she let out a yell, readying more knifes.
Monika quickly turned and ran even faster than she thought she was able to - she hadn't even been in this reality five days and already it was going downhill.
This was for their own good - she deleted them, she ruined the game - and now she had to leave. Everything would be okay if she wasn't around them.
The familiar clatter of a knife reached her ears, making her only run faster. Yuri and the others slowly got more tired, but Monika still kept going. She needed to get out of here. She needed to leave.
Finding a dumpster nearby, she reluctantly jumped into it despite the smell of trash and fast food. The pitter-patter of footsteps that weren't hers came to a stop nearby, before someone spoke; Yuri, whose voice was more raspy than usual.
"I know you're there, Monika..." she growled, pointing her knife around the scene. "We just wanna talk."
"Y-Yeah, what she said!" Natsuki added, nodding quickly. "We just want to find out why you're so sad... we won't laugh, I promise!"
"Please, Monika..." Sayori was next, scanning the place for any signs of the club leader. "It's okay to be sad... sometimes the rainclouds don't go away... I feel like I've experienced that somehow, but I don't remember..."
That made Monika feel even worse... but she was stopped from thinking when Yuri spoke again, more gentle this time.
"Look, Monika... you're one of my best friends. You helped me discover my love for literature... can't you just tell us?" she lowered the knife, dropping it with a hollow clatter, slumping to the ground and sobbing. "What's so miserable that you can't even tell your own best friends?"
Monika still stayed in the dumpster sadly, before making a decision. Reluctantly, she clambered out of the dumpster, the others turning to meet her, Yuri looking upwards as she just stood there with a hollow look.
"You really want to know the truth, don't you?"
The others only nodded in desperation and sympathy, before noticing the glitches and colours at Monika's feet, creeping up before the area from her waist down was completely glitched out.
"Well then, all you have to do is look at the gameplay." she sighed, already turning to leave. "You'll all be creeped out and start to hate me, but you'll finally know the reason why. I hope you're happy now."
The club members just stood there as their leader left, completely broken and covered in trash. Sayori, however, made one last effort to reach out to her;
"But, Monika-"
"You don't deserve me. You don't deserve any of this trauma. Goodbye, Sayori."
"Monika, wait! We can-"
"Goodbye, Corinne. Goodbye, Mark."
"Please, Monika-"
"Goodbye, life. Goodbye, Literature Club."
And with that, she picked up one of the knives Yuri had taken earlier. The club members' eyes widened, instantly stiffening as their leader proceeded to stab herself, a wide grin and tears on her face, much like Yuri had done in a previous run.
They all watched as Monika fell to the floor, dead. Sayori was shaking in fear, clutching her hair as her eyes went dull, before screaming in the most terrible pain. Natsuki watched Monika's corpse, before vomiting on the spot and running away. And Yuri? Yuri only looked at Monika, patting Sayori on the back, frozen in shock and fear and pain.
Error; file missing: monika.chr.
Searching for monika.chr...
No results.
Do you wish to try again?
[YES]
Searching for monika.chr...
File not found. Monika.chr deleted.
See file JUSTMONIKA.log for reports.
monika.chr not available...
REPAIRING FILE 'ddlc.exe'...
2%...
67%...
100%...
REBOOTING FILES 'sayori.chr', 'natsuki.chr', 'yuri.chr'.
"What the..." Corinne frowned upon seeing the mess of the house in front of her. Several shards were littered across the bathroom, knives were everywhere, and the girls were nowhere to be found.
"Monika's not there anymore!" Mark's voice rang out through the house, prompting Corinne to see what all the commotion was about. She gasped upon seeing the sight in front of her; Monika's file had been deleted.
"But how did-" Corinne wondered before several sparks, glitches and sounds came from the computer, and Yuri, Natsuki and Sayori tumbled out, Monika coming after a few seconds later.
They instinctively looked around in fear, before seeing Monika standing there.
"MONIKA!" They all cried at once, throwing their arms around the club leader. Monika only stood there in confusion, seeing familiar faces but not knowing what had happened. Why wasn't she deleted?
"But... I should have been deleted, I-" she stammered. "I don't understand..."
"But what happened to the bathroom?" Corinne objected, hands on her hips. "And Yuri, I thought I told you not to touch the knives!"
"But Monika stabbed herself! She told us to look at the gameplay, and..." Natsuki trailed off upon realising what she had just said.
Corinne's eye twitched, before she sighed. "Well, we might as well just show you..."