So...

Remember how I said the last chapter how awkward it was for me to just up and type out a new chapter because it had been 6 months since I had put up a new one?

Well, here we are, even worse than that; almost a full year since the last one.

To be honest? I'm pretty miffed at myself. Life got in the way at every turn, starting from financial instability, to a good job going straight to shit, to overworking myself between a full-time and part-time job with non-meshing hours... But all of those are excuses, and I hate giving excuses like this. The short and narrow is that I forgot about this fic for this entire time.

No more.

I have come up with a solution to this problem: make a Discord Server. That way, all of you guys, gals, non-binary, and non-commital alike can all yell at me with everything you've got to get my sorry ass in gear, now that I can actually make some free time.

Here's the link: discord. gg/QJMGMp

Remove those spaces and whack that bitch into your Discord, and there you go; easy access to me, along with as many resources that I can provide in said Discord. Betas, obligatory gaming stuff, information, tips that I've learned, etcetera.

Reviews:

Shadow: Yeah, it had been six months, but now it's even worse at a staggering eleven. I can't say I like that much. I'm glad that you felt everything was handled well; I'm making an attempt to have more genuine reactions, and as I am a male, it's hard for me to properly convey how a female would react to certain aspects of emotions, so thanks for the compliments!

sbg1218: I... I really am flattered that you said that you were just excited that the story updated, but it's still not really excusable... Well. The aspect of "helps others but doesn't want others to worry about him" as actually a genuine part of my character, so I felt it best to do that, rather than try to make a character that isn't that way and thus non-genuine to me. My sister might make a reappearance, haven't gotten that far yet. There aren't any actual arcs to this story, rather it's all about getting the girls integrated into a life where a script has no control over them, and assisting them with any issues they may have.

DaMastah101: Indeed she did; Sayori, despite being a little cinnamon roll, holds a darker side in this story, after having seen what Monika did. Natsuki and Yuri never questioned anything, having been too wrapped up in the new experiences in their lives, so it's maybe only a little over exaggeration to their responses.

chipmunkfanatic: I hope that story of yours is coming along well! I know it's been a while since it was mentioned, so maybe I'm a bit off on that? Eh, I still mean what I said.

Guest: I mean, that's just a reasonable thing to do. Monika did bad shit, so there are repercussions, at least in some way.

Eternal Violets: Things are going better now, after my life kinda degenerated over the course of the past year. Thanks for the praise, and I hope to continue delivering in this.

Happy Ending: I'm glad to see that you enjoyed the writing on this as much as you did! I've never fancied myself as a particularly great writer, but hopefully I can continue to provide for you! Yeah, Monika caught some flak, but that's far from the worst I could've done, trust me. Here I am to deliver, and I hope it satisfies!

Chapter 9: Only A Minor Mistake

After making it to my shift with only seconds to spare before being classified as late, even with factoring the five minute grace period that my managers offer, I can't help but relax just a little bit as I go about my business at my workplace.

If you read in between the lines, that means that I run around like a chicken with its head cut off for about four hours as the dinner rush kicks the teeth in of every employee there.

Needless to say, I'm an emotional and physically exhausted wreck at this point, only going through the motions of working. I've done this so much that I can autopilot the entire process anyway.

"Yo, Curt."

I hear this and turn to my co-worker and one of my best friends, Josh. Otherwise referred to by his friends as Axl, the man can be considered a mad genius in the things that he finds interest in, which generally ends up being video games, and sort of a dummy in other ways. Asperger's Syndrome is primarily to blame for this, though his ADHD doesn't help the matter. Even with those things working against him in his social life, I still managed to make friends with him by just being interested in the same things as he is with the same vigor, despite how exhausting it can get at times. But I digress.

"What up, Josh?" I ask, continuing with what I was doing, which in this case, is making the iced coffee mix.

"It's Friday and we both have the weekend off, you wanna hang out?" Josh asks, having taken the money at the drive-thru window and now waiting for the person on the expediting station to finish bagging up the order in question.

"Sure, I'm down for that. We can kill some monsters in World, it'll be a whale of a time." I reply, failing to consider the four individuals at my place that could throw a wrench in things.

"Awesome, you wanna go tonight or tomorrow?" Josh asks, asking for time frames because of my insistence at him doing so; he used to not do that at all until I drilled it into his ass that it's only polite.

"Tomorrow, definitely; it'll be a bit too late tonight when we're off shift." I reply, still not considering things correctly. I've just finished with the iced coffee mixes, and have moved on to prepping shake mixes.

"Sweet, can I leech a ride off of you? It's kinda cold out." Josh questions, now handing out the completed order to the person.

"No prob - did you get that person's Apple Pies?" I cut myself off, having taken the order in question.

"... Shit." Josh intones, but he has no chance to move; I'm already hauling ass down the front line, grabbing the Apple Pies, and running out the front door to try and catch the person before they're completely off the premises.

And so the day continues, and winds to a close. I take Josh back to his house, giving the ride I promised, before heading home myself...

And finally realize what I agreed to, slamming my head into the steering wheel.

"Fuck me. I'm an idiot." I grumble to myself, and continue to do so as I head into the apartment. "I'm home..." I mumble somewhat dejectedly.

"Welcome home!" Monika calls, popping her head out of the door to my room. Her hair's down, so it's possible that she was grooming it. I also note Yuri and Natsuki on the opposite side of my apartment, clearly as far from Monika as they can manage, whereas Sayori is simply sitting in a bean-bag, utterly engrossed in her reading. I can only hope that they work through this in a reasonable time, as it'll only cause tension. Monika quickly notices my look, and gains a frown herself, showing concern. "What's the matter?"

"It's just a case of me being an idiot, that's all." I reply with a sigh.

"Despite that not being a new thing," Natsuki states, bearing a grin to tell me she's only teasing, "this one has obviously got you bothered. What happened?" she asks.

"I was on complete autopilot at my job and basically told a co-worker that he can hang out here this weekend. Didn't even think about you guys all being here." I reply, my face contorting itself to an upset look.

"Oh, is that all?" Natsuki asks, and I snap my head to her.

"You make it sound like this isn't a big deal! How is it not?!" I question incredulously.

"You trust this guy, don't you?" Natsuki asks, idly fiddling with her pen that I gave her for writing purposes. She keeps it on her at all times, though I'm not sure why... a sign of friendship, maybe? "If you're willing to let him hang around you, then clearly he's an all right guy."

I stay silent for a bit, before chuckling lightly. "You're absolutely right, Natsuki. Look at you, being actually insightful. I'm proud." I tease back, my mood properly fixed.

"The hell does that mean?!" Natsuki asks sharply, rousing to the insinuation.

I can't help but laugh. In the end I manage to wave her off, much to her chagrin, before grabbing my Xbox controller. I pass the rest of the time I'm willing to stay awake in an only slightly tense silence, mostly between Monika and the Natsuki/Yuri pair, though it's much more subtle with Yuri. Whether that's due to her being bad at emotional expression or her actually trying to hide said emotions is up for debate. I then head to my room, where Monika is quietly reading one of the several books I have around my apartment. She notices my entry, smiles, and grabs a bookmark to mark her spot for later. "Heading to sleep?" Monika asks innocently, looking at me with a hooded gaze.

I swallow thickly, before nodding. "Yeah, If I'm gonna be hanging out with Josh tomorrow, then I want a good bit of rest. That man is hyperactive like you wouldn't believe."

"Oh." Monika intones, sounding vaguely depressed. "Then... you don't want to have a bit of... fun...?"

I find my heart rate ramping up as Monika gives me a pout, and messes with her shirt to add some extra emphasis to her bust. I shake my head and slap my cheeks with my hands. "That's a hard pass, Monika. I'm not ready for that, and I don't think that any of the other girls here are ready to hear that either."

"Mou~..." Monika huffs, before sighing. "Have it your way, dear. We'll work it out later..." Monika sings, sending a lecherous look in my direction that has me heated under the collar.

"Ah... A'ight..." I stutter, before I grab my night clothes and scuttle into the bathroom, quickly change, and lay in bed, with Monika hugging me as we fall asleep.

The next day, after going about with the normal morning routine with the girls, I go I pick up Josh. We make do with our normal conversation topics as I drive him to my place, having a few laughs along the way. When we finally arrive, I turn to Josh with a serious expression.

"Josh, bro, I need to tell you something important. What you see in my apartment? It stays between us, got it?" I ask.

"Uhh, oh... kay? Why?" Josh questions, legitimately baffled.

"Trust me, it'll make sense in about 30 seconds." I say as we grab his things from my car, and head inside. "Girls, I'm back!" I call.

"Wha-" Josh starts, before being cut off.

"Welcome back!" Monika cries, flinging herself at me as I open the door.

"Monika! Holding stuff, please stop!" I grunt out, doing my absolute best to not drop anything as Monika grabs me.

"Oh, sorry!" Monika replies, immediately letting go. She then turns to Josh and gives him an absolutely radiant smile. "Hi, I'm Monika! And you are?" She asks jovially, before noting Josh's face.

Specifically, that he looks outright baffled.

"Curt, why is there someone cosplaying as Monika in your apartment?" Josh asks, confused.

"Yeah, about that..." I reply, sheepish. "That's not a cosplay. That's the actual Monika. From DDLC." I state.

"Bullshit." Josh immediately replies.

"I'm dead serious, more so than a heart attack. My monitor exploded because of it as proof." I retort.

"... Even if you're telling the truth..." Josh replies, "I'm going to act like it's not her. You know how I feel on this matter."

"Indeed. Now get in here and say hi to Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki." I state, heading inside, with Monika on my tail.

Josh follows me in, before freezing at the sight of Yuri, Natsuki, and Sayori, a look of total disbelief coloring his features.

"Who's the guy with the weird 'stache?" Natsuki asks, her extremely pink eyebrow raised. I can't help but laugh at this. For context, Josh is about 5'8", or 172 cm, is a little bit on the larger side, weighs 180 lbs, or 81 kg. His most defining aspect? His shag head of hair, and a 'stache that would make Hitler himself proud. And no, this is not an exaggeration.

"Natsuki, Sayori, Yuri, I'd like to introduce my friend Josh. Josh, you already know these four girls from DDLC. And yes, they are the real deal characters." I explain. Josh is getting paler and paler, realizing that he might actually be standing next to the real Monika, and letting his fear get to him.

Did I mention he's scared of Monika? No? Shit, my bad.

Josh's fear of Monika stems from the fact that in the game, she basically was completely nonchalant about the horrors she committed in the game, siting that it is absolutely a tendency of an up and coming serial murderer.

And with him standing right next to the individual in question...

"Nope, nopenopenope SO much nope!" Josh proclaims, his voice shaking fiercely, as he drops his stuff and makes for the door. "Not dealing with this!" he exclaims, before I grab his arm with a non-too pleasant smirk.

"Now, now. No need to raise a ruckus, Josh." I state simply. "Monika isn't gonna hurt you. She greatly regrets what she's done, and has caught a fair amount of flak for it from the others here. So calm your shit, sit down, and chill for 5 seconds while I get what everything for tonight set up."

Josh only nods in defeat, sighing as I let him go. He proceeds to do exactly what I told him, which is sit down, happening to be right next to Natsuki.

Natsuki wrinkles her nose at Josh, scowling. "Who said that you could sit next to me?" she bites out.

I sigh. "Leave him be Natsuki. Hell, you two can start a club! the 'Afraid of Monika' club!" I state, snickering lightly.

Natsuki immediately levels a glare at me in rage. "The fuck you say?" she asks dangerously.

"You heard me." I reply with a smirk. I finally get a small TV for Josh to use with his Xbox set up, before I sit down with a sigh, the spot next to me being immediately taken by Monika, who grabs my arm in a tight embrace against her chest. "Now, enough of worrying. Let's play some games!" I state, booting my Xbox up and launching Monster Hunter World as Josh gets his set up.

And the day goes by, all of us being jovial with each other, and Josh opening up little by little to the girls. All in all, a good day's work.

A/N: That feels like a decent place to wrap up. Thanks to those who came back to this after such a long haitus, and remember, I now have a discord server set up!

I'll be seeing you all, hopefully sooner than this!

-Phaazite Dementor Sonix