Opposing Perspectives Chapter 7 – Alternating View

(Disclaimer: I do not own Doki Doki Literature Club or any of its characters. The OCs featured here, however, are mine.)

For a long while, Monika remained still and silent—hands neatly folded atop her lap as she observed and listened to the man just sitting across from her. The sounds of his guitar filled the room, seemingly surrounding them both with music.

A flash of nostalgia gripped her, the odd, warm feeling blossoming in her chest. When she was younger, piano was a simple concept—a single press would produce a sound. But with guitar, that was different. She had always admired the way the musician's fingers would move across the instrument's surface—almost as if dancing along to the music it produced.

She listened to Sai play various pieces; some of them fast and intense, noticeably causing his brow to furrow and his expression to tighten as he tried to make sure he played it correctly. Some, on the other hand, were soft and slow, almost soothing to the ears—so different from what she thought he would play.

All of them shared one thing in common, though. He didn't seem to play any classical, aside from his earlier rendition of the Flea Waltz.

Monika watched as he stopped to rub the tips of his fingers; almost as if fiddling with something.

"You don't play a lot of classical, do you, Karasu-kun?" She asked, keeping her voice polite. Sai tensed a little at her question, shoulders bunching a little.

"No." Came his quick, curt reply. Monika nodded a little absently, lips pursed a little in thought. This wasn't the first time she'd encountered someone who didn't quite share the same interests as her, but this was one of the rare times she was dealing someone with an almost hair-trigger temper.

"Nothing wrong with that," She quickly clarified. "I just thought that a lot of the songs you played sounded...pretty modern?"

"That's because they are," Sai seemed to settle a little, his tensed frame slackening as he relaxed. "Why, did anything stand out to you in particular?"

"I recognized one. I think it was called Burn?" Monika pursed her lips in thought, trying to recall the band name...to no avail. "I don't really remember who made it, though."

"Six Cycles Below." Sai answered, raising an eyebrow. "You've heard them before?"

"Yeah, I think." Bringing the tips of her fingers to her lips, the brunette recalled where she had heard the song.

"It was...during an event at Shibuya, I think. My father took me there since he wasn't comfortable with the idea of me being stuck all alone at home for a week while both he and my mother were on trips for work."

"How old were you then?" Sai raised an eyebrow.

"Fifteen." She responded honestly. The blond gave a satisfied nod, before motioning for her to continue.

"Anyway, my father wrapped up his meeting for the day pretty early, so he asked if I wanted to go anywhere. Since I didn't have any particular place I wanted to head to, we just resorted to exploring."

"Ribbons, you were in Shibuya, and you didn't have anywhere in mind to visit?" Sai chuckled, his tone teasing. "Isn't that place practically dripping in landmarks and tourist spots?"

"I know it is!" Monika giggled. "That's what made it hard to pick in the first place, Karasu-kun."

"Point taken." The blond shrugged, still amused as he leaned back in his seat. "So, how did that exploration go?"

"It went fine. We ended up heading to Harajuku, it being the center of youth culture and all...we stopped by a pretty trendy café for some evening coffee before we headed back to our hotel, and found out that it allowed bands to perform. That's where I heard the song, I think."

Sai nodded, listening intently to her recollection of the trip. "I see...who would've thought that they were performing at Harajuku?"

"Did you ever see them live, Karasu-kun?" Now it was her turn to ask questions.

Sai shook his head in response. "Unless you count recorded versions of their live shows, never. Yanagi had, though. She was the one that introduced me to their music."

"Yanagi?" Monika tilted her head. The blond nodded, leaning down to rifle through the front pocket of his guitar case.

"Yeah. Through this."

He pulled out...a cassette tape. On the front, in Yanagi's handwriting and in all caps, were the words: "UPRISING: VOL. 3"

Monika allowed some of the surprise at seeing such an old device to wear off a little before she finally spoke. "A mixtape?"

"Yeah." Sai deadpanned, though his expression softened as he fiddled with the tape in his hands- putting a damper on his sharp features.

"Yanagi's always been pretty old fashioned." He remarked. "She could just make a playlist on some music app, or something. Instead, she insists on using cassette tapes." He shook his head, though a soft smile played on his lips. "Says it makes it more personal. Whatever makes her happy, I guess."

As soon as she saw the smile come up, it disappeared. Sai cleared his throat, gripping the tape in one hand. "Anyway, the Uprising tapes usually contain all the songs we need to get into a working mood. We'd listen to it all day whenever we worked on Anthem."

"I see..." Monika smiled softly. "You and Yanagi are pretty close, huh, Karasu-kun?"

The words came out without her proper thought, and the brunette found herself caught off guard. It was nice knowing that Sai had it in him to be fond, and that expression on his face had been such a far cry from his usual, rough facades that it...made Monika want to see it again. And yet...

"I might be a little jealous."

Sai's eyebrows lifted in surprise as she spoke. For a moment, she was concerned they would disappear into his hairline- though not as concerned as she was about her sudden, reckless words.

That was so unexpected of her. She was usually the kind of person who thought before she spoke. Saying things so carelessly wasn't like her. With the feeling of concern putting an unpleasant weight in her chest, she found herself unable to meet the blond's gaze.

"Ahaha...did I speak too soon?"

Sai was silent for a moment. Then, his rough tone cut through the silence.

"Not at all."

Monika looked up at him again, but found that he was averting his eyes.

"I mean," He coughed a little, "you and Yanagi are already getting along well, and all. And if all goes well, we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other at the publication office anyway, and since you're my contributor, I kind of have to know you and-" He groaned loudly, seemingly noticing his endless string of rambling and cutting it short.

"Y-You know what I mean. You and me, Ribbons," He managed a grin over at her. "I feel we can get something good going. You feel me?"

For some reason, that awkward grin and those rushed words caused a deep warmth to blossom in the brunette's chest.

She thought back to the draft she had written down. That wasn't going to be enough, she decided. The inspiration she had for that poem was nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling she had taken the brunt of, just seeing that expression.

She couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I feel the same, Karasu-kun."

For a while, they found themselves holding each other's gaze, until the bell finally rang.

The walk back to class was spent in comfortable silence—which settled Monika's nerves more than she had expected.

She always took comfortable silence as something good. It meant everyone involved was comfortable enough with each other without having to start any small talk or conversations. She initially thought it was just a side effect of being friends with someone for long enough; but she'd only known the blond beside her for a few days.

Without really thinking about it, she found her gaze being drawn to him as he strode alongside her, gaze fixed stiffly forward. She hadn't really had the opportunity to get a closer, better look at Sai now that she thought about it. On the few occasions she had caught him alone, her mind was always in another place.

What immediately stood out to her was how strikingly different he seemed from the other three in his group. The three looked, in a way, friendly and open- so Sai almost immediately stood out from their crowd, with his narrowed eyes and constant scowl.

He walked with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched a little. It was hard to tell his build, with him so covered up- though his rigid posture and tight-lipped frown certainly gave off the aura that he was always an inch away from getting into a fight.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was lost on Monika. What she did know, however, was that he radiated a strange sort of security that put her at ease- a lingering feeling that as long as she was with him, no harm would come to her.

She caught his eye in her inspection, watching him as he tensed further. Their steps slowed to a stop in front of their classroom door.

"Something wrong, Ribbons?" Though his words were meant for her, his eyes made a quick sweep around, as if looking for something.

"Nothing," She smiled, and he gave a stiff nod as he snapped his gaze away, already reaching for the doorknob.

The moment he opened the door, a blast of cold air and sound washed over them both.

Monika spotted Ran reclining in his seat just near the corner, Yuri already buried in a book just beside him. She could hear the purple haired girl's voice, amidst all the noise- it seemed like she was already busy discussing the book she was reading to the redhead.

Ran's gaze briefly slipped over to them at the doorway. A long smile played on his lips, and he gave a lazy wave over to them. Monika waved back, and in the corner of her vision she saw Sai give a quick nod back.

"Ran? Are you still-?" As the brunette sat down, she heard Yuri call to her seatmate.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm listening."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm rambling again, aren't I...? Uuu..."

"Ah-?! No, hey! I'm listening! It's not bad at all!"

She saw Mikami roll his eyes a little from where he sat, not even bothering to hide the amusement in his face. Taiga shook his head in mock sympathy, chuckling softly.

Beside her, Yanagi leaned over, eyes shifting worriedly to where Ran was trying to calm down Yuri.

"Does this happen often with Ishida-san?" Yanagi asked with a small, sympathetic smile and concern lacing her tone.

Monika let out a little laugh.

"More often than you think, unfortunately."

The sun was already starting to set when classes ended for the day, dyeing the sky a deep shade of orange.

"We'd better start assigning cleaning groups next week," Mikami spoke, frowning a little as he looked around the classroom. Spare pieces of paper and scattered school supplies littered the floor, which the bespectacled man knelt down to collect.

"Really aiming to be class rep this year, huh, Kami?" Taiga was quick to approach him, a broom and dustpan in his hands. "Though, I agree. It'd be pretty bad if we just left all the cleaning to the janitors."

A groan resounded from the back of the room, where Ran folded his arms behind his head and rocked back in his seat. "You really think we can make cleaning groups out of 20 students, Kami? Let's just leave it until the student council bugs us about it."

"Sure we can." Sai spoke up, leaning over and tiredly shoving his textbooks back into his bag. Mikami nodded in agreement.

"Four students each day. Provided some people don't skimp out on their duties, it should be enough to ensure this place is clean." Mikami shot Ran a playful glare, adjusting his glasses. The redhead raised his hands in mock surrender.

"That being said, it'll at least save us the trouble of being bugged by the snobs up top." Sai rolled his shoulders back, casting an idle glare towards the direction of the student council room.

"Brownie points with the teachers, too." Taiga grinned, providing a more positive alternative to the blond's idea. He stretched as he hoisted up his book bag over his shoulders, glancing around at everyone.

"So, you guys heading out soon, too?"

"I'm gonna stay for a while," Ran chuckled, golden eyes briefly darting over to where Sai stood. "I'm gonna go see if I can fit in a few minutes at the music room."

Sai quirked an eyebrow, but Taiga simply nodded and turned to Mikami. "What about you, Kami?"

"I can only wish I'd be heading home now." Mikami sighed, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, I have to wait for Koizumi today. She's practicing something for class."

"Practicing this early?" Sai frowned.

"In their class's defense, they're under Mr. Ito, Sai." Ran grinned. "You and I both know how that guy teaches all of his classes."

"By having us demonstrate the lesson while he sits back and just watches us try to do it without having any idea of what we're doing?" The blond smirked a little.

"Exactly." The redhead finally pushed off his chair, picking up his book bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Anyway, I'd better get going to the music room. You wanna tag along, Kami?"

Mikami shrugged. "I guess I can wait for Koizumi there. Alright."

"So, it's just me and Boss then, huh?" Taiga was already heading for the doorway, taking a glance back at the other three.

"Why, you don't appreciate my company?" Sai grinned, playfully slugging the blue-haired man in the shoulder as he approached. Taiga grimaced briefly at the hit before grinning, shoving back a little with his elbow.

"It means whatever you think it means, Boss."

With the setting sun casting its orange glow over the entire city, Rokurou's campus lacked its usual cheeriness.

At the sight of the other students leaving the school, exhaustion practically seemed to seep into Sai's bones. It hung like a heavy weight on his shoulders, slowing his steps; though he strove to keep stride with Taiga. His blue-haired friend was talking on and on about a recent horror game he had discovered—either that, or he was talking about the latest episode of Blazing Red, which Sai had to remind himself to watch.

Nevertheless, his mind was in a dozen different places. He found himself spacing out, absently nodding along to Taiga's words and managing a quip or two in response every now and then. He suddenly found himself not being able to think of anything but getting home.

To try and distract himself, Sai allowed his gaze to wander around the campus grounds. He figured at this time the faculty would still be in the building, doing whatever it was teachers did—he really didn't care enough to know. Yanagi would, with her massive workload and equally as large work ethic.

"Huh. Yanagi." That was a thought. He hadn't seen her leave; maybe she slipped past him while he was tossing away his coffee can. Probably off to some after school activities, as always. "Maybe I should hang out with her this weekend..."

That brought to mind yet another thought, though. The last of the caffeine had worn off by the time of the second to last class. Maybe that was why he was so exhausted. He needed to get another one on the train ride home or he'd pass out and Aniki would chew him out over drinking more than two cans-

He quickly cut the train of thought, shaking his head a little. Home. He just had to get home, and maybe he could stop. He was most likely going to plan to sleep, remember the chores for the day, and end up not getting any sleep.

The thought made him scowl further. "Like a vicious cycle I just can't escape..."

An incessant tapping on his shoulder managed to shake him out of it, and he turned to face the source; eyes already narrowed and brows knotted deeply. He calmed a little as he saw Taiga's concerned expression instead.

"You okay, Boss?" The athlete questioned, frowning softly.

"It's nothing." He dismissed, shaking his head. "Just a lingering headache."

He tensed a little when he saw the slight skepticism in Taiga's face—though to his relief, the man's green eyes immediately shifted to a group at a safe distance from them. As his expression almost immediately lit up, Sai tiredly followed his gaze.

"Looks like Fujiwara-san and her friends are heading home, too." Taiga smiled as he saw the four just ahead of them.

Sai hummed lowly in response. Having the four new students was a breath of fresh air, but it also felt like they were practically all the class could talk about.

"Well...I can see why, at least." He found himself unconsciously watching the four as they walked. Fujiwara was practically skipping ahead of the three, hands held behind her back. She would occasionally turn around, walking backwards and giggling whenever Miyamoto would stomp and tell her to turn back around.

Ishida looked significantly more relaxed around the other girls than she did in their class, no longer walking as if she were scared of her own shadow. At first glance, she seemed the most mature out of everyone, but she was a shrinking violet. Something Sai didn't know why he was so surprised by.

Finally, his gaze landed on the last member, and lingered there without him even realizing it.

"Ribbons." Like the others, she was attractive. Sai certainly wouldn't deny that.

However, she was attractive in a... softer way, for lack of a better term, than her friends. Her—almost impossibly—long, brown hair framed her features, her lips curved into a perpetual, demure smile. He wanted to say that she had as much of an open expression as Taiga—one that was easy to read, the kind of expression someone who wore their heart on their sleeve would bear.

But he just had the lingering feeling that her expression didn't always quite meet her eyes. Despite being a bright emerald, they always seemed to be hiding some other thought, just buried underneath the gentle smile and elegant aura.

He couldn't help but notice how she seemed to be slowing her steps in order to keep pace with the other three. He figured if she weren't, she'd have probably been at the gate by now.

An odd calm washed over him during his observation. How could he not? That girl seemed to radiate some sort of weird aura that made people want to relax and open up. The thought of it made him a little suspicious—after all, even he found it hard not to talk when she was around.

He wasn't talkative. He had always found it hard not to just respond with one or two quick sentences. And yet...

Realizing what he was doing, Sai snapped his focus away, frowning. Even he was starting to find it odd that she'd held his attention for so long.

Still...that didn't necessarily mean he found it unpleasant.

"Hey, Boss," Taiga's voice snapped him out of it again. "What do you think of them so far?"

"The new students?" Sai asked, clearly distracted.

"Yeah, who else would I be talking about?" Taiga quirked an eyebrow.

"Makes sense." Sai shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets again. "Well...they're interesting, so far."

"Interesting?"

"Yeah. Though, it might be just because they're the only new students we've gotten in a while."

Taiga gave a light chuckle at that, patting the blond on the shoulder. "Aw, come on, Boss. You have to admit they're growing on you."

"Like a tumor, you mean?" Sai turned, a small smirk on his face. Taiga seemed a bit surprised at it, but quickly realized that the blond was just joking.

"Well, I, for one, like having them around." Taiga grinned. "You have to at least admit that they're bringing some much-needed fun to the class."

"Yeah, I guess they are." Sai conceded with another nonchalant shrug, gaze falling onto the sight of a white ribbon just ahead. "Ribbons even signed up for Anthem, so that's something to look forward to."

"Oh?" Taiga seemed confused for a moment before following his gaze. As he noticed where Sai was looking, his grin immediately grew into a teasing smirk.

"On a nickname basis already, Boss?"

Sai rolled his eyes, groaning and shoving his hands deeper into his pockets, shoulders bunching up in mild frustration.

"Shut it, Taiga."

The train ride home was a blur for all Sai was concerned. At least the train today didn't seem too packed, which allowed him enough space to put his earbuds in.

The sun had already set, the sky already a dark shade of gray when he finally reached the old, worn down building where he lived. The streetlights were only starting to switch on behind him—though there were only a precious few in the district he lived in.

The blond approached the rusted red gates of the building, reaching just under his jacket and feeling for a pocket within to fish out his keys. The gate swung open with an undignified creak as he opened it, the sound ringing out through the hollow corridor leading in.

Some of the windows to the other apartments in the building were lit up—though darkness quickly reclaimed the corridors the moment he shut the gate. He could make out the faint sounds of conversation, the sound of someone's washing machine running on the second floor. Probably the nice, next door neighbor who liked hanging up her clothes to dry in front of his door.

His steps finally took him to the first door on the second floor—a heavy, wooden one, a rusted padlock hanging on the upper right. It was just a precaution his parents had enforced on him when he first moved into the apartment, not that the area he lived in was dangerous.

"Then again," Sai thought, thinning his lips in thought. "Someone apparently stole a pair of shoes from here once."

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small group of girls. He recognized them as the ones that liked hanging around the second floor, just playing and chatting. They fell quiet when they saw him, gazes shifting away with almost sheepish expressions. "Probably not quiet out of awe, then." Not that he'd expected them to. He was the resident, "perpetually exhausted pigeon" as he liked to call it.

He glanced down at his key ring again. "Small key for the padlock. Square one for the doorknob."

The heavy door finally creaked open, and he stepped inside—right hand immediately fumbling for the light switch. As the lights of his house came on, so did the light just outside the door.

To his amusement, he heard the girls outside whisper to one another. "Looks like we have light now..."

For a moment, he felt the urge to turn the lights back off. After a quick moment's thought, though, he opted to just head back in and shut the door.

The moment Sai collapsed into his desktop chair, he felt the tension in his shoulders finally release. He took in a deep breath, letting it filter out slowly as he relaxed; body slackening in the chair as his arms fell limp at his sides.

For a good minute or two, he sat there, eyes closed and breathing steady—feeling the soreness in his legs alleviate from the walk back home from the train station. His jacket lay draped over the back of the chair, shoes kicked off somewhere near the door. His school bag lay sprawled on the floor—in direct contrast to the careful placement of his guitar case hanging on the wall.

Tiredly, he lifted his head and took a glance around the small space that made up his apartment.

It had housed him since his first year at Rokurou, and it wasn't as if he was a stranger to living in small houses. It had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a wide enough space for everything else. That was enough for him—even if it could get a little cramped at times, and the once green walls were fading and were in sore need of a new paint job. One he couldn't bring himself to get around to.

"Not that I can complain about cramped spaces…" He remembered Mikami's room with a wince. That man's room practically felt like a jail cell with how small the space was, combined with the sheer amount of furniture, books and whatever merchandise his bespectacled friend had decorated it with. It was a miracle all four of them could fit in that room.

His living room was nothing too unusual. His father had insisted on letting him have a massive, multi-purpose shelf they had lying around at home. In hindsight, it helped…even though he really didn't have that much to store. A largely unused TV sat squarely in the center, its remote lying somewhere atop the shelf—probably right in front of the DVD player and speakers.

Textbooks, both new and old, mingled on the other shelves—while a certain section of it was stacked, almost to the maximum, with various robot figures. Some were in various action poses, some just standing stiffly. Sai relaxed a little at the sight of them.

It might have been childish of him to still have toys—considering they were already in high school, and college already felt like it was looming just ahead. Whatever the case, it was a hobby—his own hobby, and he wasn't about to let go of it anytime soon.

He heaved himself up from the chair, approaching the sofas in the middle of the living room. He had two, for the occasional visitor. Not that he never had any visitors aside from the guys and Yanagi, anyway—the latter even having slept over at his a few times.

Maybe that was why one of the couches still had a pillow and blanket draped over it.

And almost as if on cue, his phone buzzed. Digging it out of his pocket, he squinted at the name displayed on the screen. "Chief."

He accepted the call, and almost immediately Yanagi's voice came over the other end.

"Hey, Sai!"

"Yanagi." It was all he could manage in response, turning on his heel to head into the kitchen. He heard the girl groan on the other end.

"Come on, you could at least try to sound a little more enthusiastic!" Sai could practically see her pouting expression just from her voice alone. He offered a wry chuckle, glancing around his kitchen.

Almost out of rice, he glumly noted. "This is my most enthusiastic voice." He deadpanned, pulling open the fridge. Almost out of coffee, too.

"So, what's up?" He leaned back against the kitchen counter a little. "Something happened with Anthem?"

"Hey, it's not like every single thing I talk to you about has to relate to Anthem." Yanagi offered a small giggle with her words this time. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend."

"This weekend?" Sai hummed, drumming his fingers on the countertop. He didn't have much on his agenda, recently. Aside from that poem Ribbons was going to submit, anyway.

"Yeah, this weekend. Saturday, Sunday, whichever works for you." There was a slight pause. "Well, unless you're busy, that is."

"Not really, no." Sai shook his head. "Not like I have much to do this week. Only thing I'm waiting on is Ribbons' contribution to the Literary Section."

"Ribbons…?" Yanagi seemed to realize it. "Oh, you mean Monika?"

"Yeah. She said she writes poetry, plans on bringing the whole genre back to the section. I'm not complaining. People are more likely to read poems written by a cute girl than short stories written by some scary guy."

Yanagi laughed a bit. "Sounds like you're already planning on accepting her into the section, Sai."

"Sort of. I can't say anything for sure until I see her writing." Sai chuckled. "There ain't no bigger insult to a writer than just casually dismissing their work without actually reading it."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Sorta." Sai shrugged, relaxing somewhat. At least he could still talk to Yanagi about Ribbons without being teased about it. Taiga and Ran seemed to have already gotten into their heads that he was interested in her in that way just because of the nickname…

He grimaced as he remembered his unconscious and yet undivided focus on the brunette earlier. Fuck, am I in denial?

In an effort to shake off that damn brunette and her big white ribbon from his head, he quickly changed the topic. "Anyway, I should be free on Saturday. What are we gonna be up to?"

"I was thinking we could go try to set some bars at the Galactica Arcade downtown. You know—since Taiga's been bragging about his and Kami's shiny new high score on Highway to Hell 2?"

"A chance to show my student how the boss does it?" Sai chuckled. "Sounds fun. I'm in."

"Great! So, how about we meet up around 10 AM in front of Golden Bird Bookstore?"

"You don't want to just go straight to the arcade?"

"I'm just making sure you're not gonna get started without me." Yanagi laughed, although her voice quickly grew into a softer, more genuine one. "After all, we're a team, right?"

Sai couldn't help but smile a little at her earnest tone.

"Yeah," He gave a sure nod along with his words.

"We're a team."

Author's Note: Chapter 7 done! I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't sure how to tackle this one exactly. I had the idea of the continuation of the music scene down in my head, but everything else after that was a little blurry to me.

Then, I figured- hey, I've spent a few chapters already writing in Monika's perspective. So, I decided to show off Sai's perspective on things this time! It was pretty fun writing as him, personally. He tends to be a lot more disjointed and a lot more "gray" in general when it comes to observing things. I'm definitely going to experiment a lot more with writing from certain character perspectives the more this series goes on!

Anyway, apologies for the delay in the updates. Just had to sort some things out with my university, and admittedly, aside from not knowing how to tackle this chapter, I may or may not have gotten immersed into a few games. Rest assured though that I'll still be updating this fic. I've put too much thought and work into it to stop now!

That being said, if you like the story so far, feel free to leave a review, and thank you for supporting the continued writing of Opposing Perspectives!