The school bell rang that afternoon, marking the end of the first day of the new Literature Club. Natsuki, Yuri and the Protagonist made their way out of the clubroom together while Monika, the newly-minted vice president, saw them off with a happy wave of her hand.

They were all going back to their homes, Monika thought. At least, that was what they were all programmed to do by their scripts for the day. Monika, on the other hand, had other things to do.

Once the other club members were out of sight, Monika stepped back into the clubroom. There, she found the club president, Sayori, lying down at her desk with her face buried in her arms. The club president looked winded, so Monika laid a kind hand on her shoulder and said,

"Good work today, Sayori."

Sayori, however, only managed to give off a tired groan.

Earlier that afternoon, when Sayori was re-introducing Monika to the other club members, the new president struggled to keep up with the game's console commands. Sayori messed up the scene transitions and loaded up the creepy, distorted music files instead of the standard ones. She even skipped a few dozen lines of conversation altogether.

Thankfully, Monika was there to rewind the scene for Sayori.

Half a dozen times.

Seventh time was the charm for Sayori and she finally managed to get the introduction scene right. Monika was already used to the frantic back-and-forth that came with using the game's console commands, but Sayori wasn't.

On top of that, the new president was embarrassed by her blunders. She was hiding her face as if she wanted to disappear. Monika realized this so she quickly added,

"You'll get used to the commands before long, Sayori. Trial-and-error is part of the learning process~!"

"I sure hope so, Monika…"

"Trust me, Sayori - this was pretty good for a first day! Everyone's sprites rendered correctly. The script we wrote flowed without a hitch too. The game didn't crash at all either, so give yourself some more credit!"

Sayori finally lifted her head from her desk and she managed to give a more spirited reply,

"Ahehehe~ thanks for that, Monika. You always know what to say. You're right. I guess today went alright."

"Yup! Natsuki and Yuri warmed up to me pretty quickly too, so I think we're on the right track."

"Yeah. It'll take some time, but I think we can restore the peaceful daily life we had back then."

Monika nodded and said,

"That's why I gave the others poem assignments for tomorrow. I restored the poem game for us too, so we'll be able to share poems with the others again."

"Ah, is that what you were working on a while ago?"

Monika proudly smiled and nodded again as she explained,

"Yuri and Natsuki will probably write the same poems they made from the main route's script - and the Protagonist will probably come up with yet another set of twenty random words - but I have a feeling that things might change a little for them."

"Change a little? What do you mean, Monika?"

"I've had this idea for a while now, you see. Do you remember how his poems influenced Natsuki and Yuri in the main route?"

"His poems…? You mean the Player's poems?"

"Yeah. Natsuki and Yuri wrote different poems depending on the poems that he shared with them."

"Come to think of it, that's true!"

"The Creator made it so that any one of us who becomes the club president can become self-aware. Looking at it that way, Natsuki and Yuri still have that potential to learn and grow. That's why I figured that if his poems could influence Natsuki and Yuri, then maybe our poems can influence them too. "

Sayori's blue eyes brightened up and she clapped her hands as she exclaimed,

"Oh! I see what you mean, Monika! If this works out, then we might just be able to start off Yuri and Natsuki on their own scripts!"

The club president then clenched her fists with excitement and beamed as she said,

"In that case, I'll work really hard on my poems!"

"That's the spirit, Sayori! I'll work hard on mine as well."

"Ahehehe~ I'll look forward to reading your poems too, Monika."

"I'll try not to let you down. Oh… and speaking of poems, there is one that I wasn't able to put down on paper in the original route. It happens to be my favorite one too."

Monika dug into her pocket and then brought out a small, pink notepad. She opened the pad to her poem and then handed it to Sayori. The club president took the notepad and cheered,

"Oh~ it's a Monika poem!"

"Ahahaha, you still say that?"

Sayori pouted at Monika before she turned away to read the poem.

Monika watched from behind as Sayori carefully flipped through the pages. Moments later, the club president closed the notepad and she started to sob, making Monika start to worry. Then, with her back turned to Monika, Sayori sniffled before she spoke,

"'Your Reality'. This is a poem for him, isn't it?"

Monika cautiously replied,

"Y-yes. Yes it is."

Sayori then faced Monika with a tearful smile as she wholeheartedly said,

"It's beautiful, Monika."

The poem struck close to home with Sayori too, Monika thought. After all, Sayori also decided to let him go. The club president wiped her tears with the back of her hand and returned the notepad to Monika.

The vice president took the notepad and said,

"I'm glad you liked it, Sayori. I put my heart into this poem, you know. Plus - they're also lyrics for the song I made."

"A song? You mean the song that was playing while the credits were rolling?"

Monika nodded. Sayori, however, remembered that she was talking with Monika in the void-facing classroom during the credits sequence. The club president gasped,

"Ehhhh? Then that means... I didn't get to hear it properly!"

"Ahahaha~! Sorry about that, Sayori. I had a lot on my mind back then - and so did you. I was really happy when you came back for me, you know."

Sayori blushed with embarrassment, but she still continued,

"T-that might be true, but now I'm curious! I want to hear that song too! It should be saved as a .ogg file, right?"

"Don't worry about it, Sayori. I'll play the song for you if you want, so leave it to me."

"F-fine then."

Sayori then watched as Monika closed her eyes to focus her thoughts. The background music that had been playing since the other club members left was cut short. However, not much else happened for a while. Sayori curiously tilted her head and asked,

"Can't find the .ogg file, Monika?"

"That's not it. Give me a sec."

Moments later, Monika opened her eyes and the vice president transformed the desktop computer at the corner of the classroom into a vertical piano.

Sayori was amazed. She thought that Monika was only going to play a music file, so she didn't expect a live performance!

Monika then sat on the piano's bench and then started to play the song for Sayori. The club president joined her hands and held them close to her heart as she listened to Monika play on the piano and sing her song.

Sayori closed her eyes as she listened. She took the music to heart and fondly burned it all into her memory.

Monika finished the first verse of her song and she turned to Sayori. She wanted to know what the president thought about the music, but Sayori's peaceful expression told Monika everything that she needed to know.

Just as Monika was about to continue, Sayori opened her eyes again.

"Wait a second, Monika. I have an idea~!"

The club president then willed another instrument into existence - an acoustic guitar. Sayori cradled the guitar in her arms as she tried to play the chords that Monika had been playing earlier. It didn't take her long to get the gist of the song. Sayori then smiled at Monika as she explained,

"My character file used to be a .ogg audio file you know, so music happens to my my strong suite!"

"Sayori…"

"I'm playing it by ear, but I think I can make a good accompaniment for your song. Is that alright?"

Monika returned Sayori's smile and then replied with a nod.

With that, Sayori carried on playing her guitar and Monika thought she caught a glimpse of something amazing. Slowly but surely, the facade of happiness that Sayori had put on in the past was crumbling and was being replaced with genuine joy.

Monika saw that the rope of despair that had been tied to Sayori's neck from the very beginning was coming undone. Instead, they were turning into the strings of her guitar that made beautiful music instead and brought an earnest smile to Sayori's lips.

Was this the power of sharing poems? Monika could only wonder.

Seeing Sayori like that gave Monika hope. Perhaps the two of them really could make a difference in their small, digital world. Perhaps the two of them really could write a story that was truly their own.

Spurred by that hope, Monika turned to her piano again and played together with Sayori. The two of them quickly found a harmony in their music and a simple thought filled Monika's mind:

She was glad that she came back.

The End