The next morning I decide to wait for Sayori so we can walk to school together. She is late as usual so I walk over to her house. Since going inside and waking her up seems a bit much, I ring the bell and shout, "Wake up dummy! We're going to be late!"

I see a surprised face looking out of the kitchen window. At least she is already awake! Five minutes later Sayori comes running out of the door. There's a half eaten sandwich in her hand. Looks like I interrupted her breakfast.

"MC? What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Waiting for you, what else? Come on, we need to hurry!"

"But... you haven't waited for me in like forever."

"Well, you know~" I mumble. "I gotta admit, I kind of missed walking to school with you. And you always seemed to like it as well, so maybe it motivates you a little bit to get up on time."

I didn't lie. I really enjoy walking to school with Sayori. But of course that's not the only reason. I remember what Monika said on how to help depressed people: "And remind them that they always have something to look forward to." Maybe I can give that something to Sayori.

"Aww, you're so sweet." Sayori hugs me. "I promise I will try my best to get up on time."

"D- don't call me that!" I stammer, embarrassed. Sayori giggles.

We don't talk much on our way to school, mainly because Sayori is busy finishing her sandwich. But I can tell that me waiting for her made her happy. As happy as she can get, anyway...

I don't really pay attention to class. I'm only waiting for the school day to be over so I can spend time at the literature club. Aside from the fact that I want to be with Sayori I actually enjoy my time at the club. Who would have thought that I could ever get into literature? But writing poems and sharing them with everyone turns out to be a lot of fun.

As I walk into the club room Sayori greets me with a big smile.

"Hi MC~"

"Yo, Sayori. Looks like you're in a good mood today."

Sayori beams. "Of course I am! We walked to school together, we get to spend time in the club together~. Everything is so much fun!"

"Haha, I'm glad."

"Hey MC, I'm kinda hungry... Will you come with me to buy a snack?"

"Let me guess... you spent all your money and want me to buy you something?"

"Wha-?!" Sayori looks shocked. That totally took her by surprise. I almost feel a little bit bad. She looks away. "N-No!"

"Really? Then why don't we take a look at your purse?"

"Alright, I give up." Sayori starts pouting. "How did you know anyway?"

"I'll explain to you on the way."

"On the way? What do you~" Suddenly, her eyes light up. "Wait, you're gonna- you're still gonna buy me something?"

I grin. "Can't let my best friend starve to death, can I? Come on, let's go!"

"Aww, you're too nice to me!"

On the way to the nearest vending machine I explain to Sayori how I was able to tell she had no money. Of course I don't mention the game in my dream. But I'm pretty sure I would have been able to tell anyway.

"That's no fair." she complains. "You know me way too well."

I laugh. "I can read you like a book, Sayori."

"That still doesn't count as reading something for the literature club!" She sticks out her tongue at me. "But you know... It also works the other way round."

I look at her quizzically. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Sayori looks at me with a worried face. "MC... I know something is up with you. You can't hide it from me."

She looks down. "You have never been so nice to me before... I mean, it's not a bad thing. But it's not really you, you know? You've always liked to tease me about everything. Oversleeping, being hungry all the time..." Seeing my concerned face she quickly adds, "Don't worry, I know you don't mean it. But that's how I can tell that something is off. And it's not the only thing. I can tell something's on your mind."

Sayori turns towards me and looks into my eyes. "MC, I'm your best friend. Please tell me when something is bothering you. Your happiness is really important to me, you know?"

Crap. How do I get out of this? I can hardly tell her that I know she is depressed because I saw it in some dream. I need more clues, before I can confront her about that. Maybe I can tell her some half-truth. I don't really feel comfortable lying to her and she knows me well enough to be able to notice that anyway.

"Well, you know... the things I saw in my dream yesterday still kinda bum me out. But it made me realize how important you really are to me, Sayori. So I guess~ I just wanted to treat you like you deserve it."

"Aw, don't worry about me." Sayori smiles at me. "There are people who deserve it way more than me."

"No, Sayori. Not for me."

Sayori looks down, embarrassed. But I can also see a faint smile emerge on her face. I let out a relieved sigh. Looks like I'm not totally screwing up at making her day a little bit better.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. Once we are at the vending machine I buy Sayori a giant chocolate chip cookie. She immediately tears apart the wrapper and takes a big bite.

"Sho good... Thank you, MC!" Sayori hugs me. "Next time, I'm gonna buy you a cookie!"

As we make our way to the classroom Sayori is already back to her cheerful self. She laughs and skips along the hallway. At the classroom door we meet Natsuki who quickly hides something behind her back.

"Hey Sayori!" she says with a big grin. "I got something for you! Guess what!"

Sayori looks surprised. "Ummmm~ A cupcake?"

"Close!" Natsuki reveals a giant cookie, just like the one I bought Sayori. "Tadaa!"

"Oh my god, Natsuki! That's so nice of you. But... I actually just had a big cookie some minutes ago."

"Oh..." Natsuki looks a bit disappointed. "Eh, it's fine. I'm just gonna eat it myself."

Sayori smiles. "Still, I'm really happy that you wanted to share it with me. You're all... so nice to me..." Suddenly, Sayori starts sobbing. "I don't deserve this~"

Well, if I had any doubt that Sayori struggles with the same demons as in my dream, it's gone now. I put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Sayori, you're our friend. Of course you deserve it."

Natsuki looks embarrassed. "Jeez, what's gotten into you? It's just a cookie..."

She says that, but I realize what it means for Natsuki to share food. At this point I just assume that all the girls have the same problems as in my dream. And if Natsuki doesn't get enough food herself, her buying a cookie for Sayori suddenly means so much more. I know her bossy attitude is just a mask but she must be really kind at heart.

Sayori smiles through her tears. "Sorry... I'm just a little emotional lately. Don't worry about me, okay?"

Natsuki looks at me with a questioning expression, but I just shrug my shoulders. There's no way I can tell Natsuki what I know. Sayori doesn't even want me to know it.

"Alright, if you say so." Natsuki says. We walk inside.

"Eh? Monika is still not here?" Natsuki asks. "And I thought we were gonna be late. Yuri do you know where she is?"

Yuri looks up from the book she was reading. "No, I haven't seen her. I was wondering where she was myself. Have any of you heard anything about her being late today?"

"Not me..." Sayori answers.

"Yeah, I haven't either."

The conversation continues the same way as I have seen it a hundred times. But as the topic comes to her having a boyfriend, I take the chance to talk to the others about her poem.

"I'm actually not so sure she has a boyfriend. I kinda got a lonely vibe off her poem yesterday."

"Eeeh? You think so?" Sayori asks. "But she is so popular! How can someone as popular as her be lonely?"

"I know what you mean, MC." Yuri says. "I've seen it in her poem as well. And sometimes the most prominent people struggle the most to find company."

"You guys read too much into it." Natsuki retorts. "I think she's just pissed that people expect her to be perfect all the time."

We don't get to continue the discussion as Monika comes rushing through the classroom door.

"Sorry! I'm super sorry! I didn't mean to be late..."

Again, the conversation is the same as in my dream. But talking about Monika playing piano makes my stomach knot up a bit. She seems to notice and asks me, "Do you not like piano, MC?"

"No, it's not that." I respond. "I think piano sounds beautiful. There's just this one song I have to think about when talking about it... I'd rather not go into detail. Let's just say there is a lot of bad memories attached to that song."

"Alright..." Monika smiles at me. "I'll make sure not to play it."

Shortly after everyone has settled down Sayori asks me to come with her to get supplies. As we are on our way out Monika offers to go with me instead. But as Sayori loves exploring classroom she wants to go herself.

"Hey Monika, why don't you just come along?" I suggest. "Sayori makes everything we do a little adventure. It might be fun."

Monika hesitates for a moment but then agrees. The three of us make our way to the next empty classroom. Sayori hums and skips along the hallway. Monika giggles as she watches Sayori. "She really is a bundle of sunshine, isn't she?" she asks me.

"Yep." I answer. "Always has been."

I smile to myself. Of course, I am used to her being cheerful. But it still makes me happy to see her like that. It has been a while since I went adventuring with Sayori like that but it has always been fun. It's a pretty nostalgic feeling for me.

"Hey guys, this classroom over here is empty!" Sayori calls us. "Let's begin the mission!"

"The mission?" Monika asks with a confused smile.

I smile at her. "I told you Sayori makes everything an adventure."

As we enter the classroom, Sayori and I head straight to the closet. Meanwhile, Monika searches the desks for anything useful. Sayori finds the crayons and looks for her favorite color. Remembering what happened in the game I wait patiently so she doesn't get hurt. However, she still drops a crayon and bends down to pick it up. But this time I am faster.

"Ugghhhh!" My hand gets caught between Sayori's head and the edge of the shelf. A sharp pain shoots through my hand. But I'd rather have my hand hurt than Sayori's head.

"Oof..." Sayori slowly realizes what happened. "Thank you, MC. You really saved my-" Her expression breaks.

"AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaAAAAH!" Sayori starts screaming and pointing at my hand. I look down. My whole hand is covered in blood. Looks like the shelf did more damage than I anticipated.

Monika comes running over. "Oh my god, what happened?" she asks with a worried expression. Sayori points at my hand with tears in her face, unable to speak.

"I just saved Sayori's head from looking like my hand." I respond. "Do you know if they keep some bandages around here?"

"Yeah, they do." Monika answers. "Wait here, I'll fetch you some." She hurries out of the classroom.

"I'm- I'm so sorry, MC..." Sayori sobs.

"Don't worry about it." I comfort her. "It's better to have my hand injured rather than your head."

Sayori smiles at me. "Thank you, MC." I smile back at her and we sit in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"Hey, MC... This kind of reminds you of growing up, doesn't it...?" Sayori asks me.

"Eh? Well... I guess so." I respond. "You always had a habit of getting hurt, huh? Especially when we were playing outside."

"Yep." Sayori smiles. "And you'd always try to comfort me when I started crying. Like you'd think it was your fault that I got hurt. Even though it really wasn't..."

"Well... I guess it was in some kind of way. I never payed enough attention to you and you'd fall behind and get hurt because of that."

"MC... I don't think you realize it, but you're always thinking about other people. Even after all these years... You hurt your hand just to keep me from getting injured. You're really a sweetheart..."

"I think you're exaggerating a little bit, Sayori. Besides, you're not really any different, you know? You always care for the happiness of others. Even more than for your own. I think you're even more of a sweetheart than me."

Sayori blushes. "Well... helping others make friends and be happy is what makes me happy after all."

"I know... Still, please look out for yourself a little more. I'd hate for you to get hurt. Will you promise me that?"

"Alright, I promise." Sayori looks at me with a dreamy expression. "If it makes you happy, I'll promise you anything..."

After a short time, Monika comes back with an antiseptic and bandages. She kneels down in front of me and begins cleaning my wound. It burns, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

"See, Monika?" I say. "I didn't promise too much, did I?"

"Eh?" Monika looks at me confused.

"Doing stuff with Sayori always is an adventure!"

Sayori giggles. Monika looks at me with a smirk. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But maybe next time we can go on an adventure without one of us ending up bleeding."

"Don't worry." I joke. "There's about a 50% chance of no one getting seriously injured on our adventures." I show her a big grin. She starts laughing.

"See, you are having fun."

"Yeah..." she responds. "I guess I am. Asides from your injury it's really nice to do stuff with you guys."

"Well, if you'd like, we would be happy to take you along more often when we do stuff together." Sayori vigorously nods.

"I really would like that." Monika says with a smile. "Thank you, guys."

After Monika has finished applying my bandages, we get the rest of the supplies and make our way back to the classroom. I quietly smile to myself. Both of the girls look really joyful. I realize that in some way I am quite similar to Sayori. I really want everyone to be happy.