September 28th 2017

"Papa hasn't got changed...", Natsuki muttered to herself after coming out of her room ready to go to school and find her father still in pajamas grabbing a can of beer from the fridge. "G-Good morning, Papa, aren't you going to go to work?", Natsuki asked nervous but trying to sound nice.

However, what she received first was a death glare from the skinny pink haired man who looked at her like he was looking at a pile of shit and then replied, "that's none of your damn business you useless piece of trash".

"That wasn't necessary...", Natsuki thought as she lowered her head feeling bitterness going up her throat. "You good for nothing brat mind your own business, I won't go to work if I don't fucking want to! You're just like your mother you gold digger bitch!", the skinny man began rambling with his loud raspy angry voice almost hurting Natsuki's ears but certainly hurting her heart.

"I-I'll be going now", Natsuki still head low in shame turned to the entrance and began walking while holding back the best she could those tears she had shredded many times now. "Yeah go away! Don't come back! You're a burden! Good for nothing! Your mother and I lied about your cupcakes, they suck! Hahaha!", the pink haired man laughed mockingly as she yelled and threw the empty can at her daughter a bit too late as it just hit the door she closed behind her as she went out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, no, but hear me out, my mom got her can of soda and as soon as she opened and I heard the tsss sound I got those Vietnam flashbacks and I was like "run!!" and my mom was like "there are no creepers here Sayori is just my soda!", the red bow girl happily narrated earning yet another good laugh from her group of friends while they all eat lunch together as usual.

"She does scream a lot when creepers appear", Ryona added. "Yup! Ry says I've earraped her so many times I should be in jail now", Sayori added getting yet another louder laugh.

"Everyone do look happy, even if it's just my silly stories it does seem I somehow make them happy, maybe I'm not that bad after all?", Sayori thought with a smile from ear to ear as she glanced at the smiley faces of her friends and remembered the words the tough girl had said about her the previous day.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink from the vending machine, I've been talking too much today hehe", Sayori said as she stood up due to her dry throat. "I'll go with you", Ryona said but Sayori gently placed her hands on her shoulders.

"You stay here and finish your lunch, it'll get cold", Sayori said as she tenderly brushed some of Ryona's long bangs off her left eye. "This doesn't get cold... It's fish", Ryona replied covering her left eye again.

"My mom says when you sit down to eat you shouldn't stand up until you're done", Sayori said pinching Ryona's immediately hard blushing cheek playfully. "O-Okay, okay", Ryona sighed.

"Anyone want something?", Sayori asked but they all just thanked her for the offer since they got everything they needed for now to then finally head out of the classroom.

...

"Let's see... Apple juice!", the red bow girl traced a line with her finger along the different options for juices quickly making her choice as she tapped the button for the apple one to then insert the coins successfully this time.

"Hello again", what shouldn't be a voice that familiar and yet it was, caught Sayori's attention as she turned around after grabbing her juice from the hole. "Oh hey!", Sayori said with her usual bright smile to the boy that couldn't be described other than average.

"How's it going? I see you were able to get your juice this time", the average looking boy said. "Ah yeah hehe... My coins didn't jump off my hand this time!", Sayori still in the mood for jokes and hoping to bring more smiles to the world replied.

"Ah sure sure...", but the dark brown haired boy didn't laugh, chuckle, giggle nor even did he smile. "I-I thought it'd be funny...", Sayori mumbled to herself while joining the tip of her index fingers.

"Don't worry about it, not all of us can be funny", he shrugged with a smile. "I-I guess so... But my friends say I'm funny at least!", Sayori replied with a smile that she refused to give up on.

"Are you sure they aren't lying to you?", the average looking boy asked in a lower voice. "E-Eh?", Sayori replied with a feeling of anxiety starting to appear in her head.

"Ah no, nothing, I said nothing. It was nice talking to you but I gotta go now, see you", the average looking one simply turned around and walked away.

"T-They... She didn't lie to me, did she?", the self doubts then began invading her troubled mind. "She wouldn't do that... She said I make people happy... I saw it...".

They just laugh out of pity

You're so pathetic, that's the only fun thing about you

No one is happy when a bother like you is around

"No, no, no! She said I'm good at making people happy! I-I saw them smiling!", Sayori thought as she gripped the juice bottle alone in that corridor, her only companion being the buzzing sound of the vending machine behind her.

You're not good at anything

You only mess up

Everyone would be better without you

Sayori then ran back to her classroom before the rain clouds in her mind got worse, hoping to get some distraction from those thoughts that had started haunting her again.

After that however, she didn't tell another story nor another joke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kanae what are we gonna do for the festival?", the beanie hat girl asked while both did the initial stretching routine. "The festival? Emmm I don't know, I wasn't really planning on participating...", The bow hairband girl replied nervous.

"Why not?", Jasmine asked. "We're just us two here, w-what could we even do? Besides, I know you're busy outside school so I wouldn't really want to put more pressure on you taking more of your time to prepare something", Kanae explained smiling awkwardly.

"Come on, you know I don't mind! Plus it'd be a great way to bring more members don't you think?", Jasmine asked with her characteristic grin. "I-I suppose you're right... But I doubt anyone would join", Kanae looked to the ground sorrowfully.

"Why wouldn't they? I'm sure we could convince a few people if we like have an exhibition match and show them what we're all about!", Jasmine exclaimed enthusiastically. "It's complicated...", Kanae replied shy.

"You said that when I joined but you haven't told me about it", Jasmine twitched her mouth and put her hands on her hips. "A-Ah b-because...", Kanae lowered her head hesitating to continue.

"Because I don't want to! Now push up position, give me 50!", Kanae then lifted her head with no signs of that nervous girl anymore. "Alright, alright", Jasmine sighed as she obeyed.

"Hold it! ...there, now start!", Kanae commanded to then sit in the lotus position on the beanie hat girl's back with crossed arms. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-", Kanae counted while Jasmine effortlessly did the push ups, suddenly talking and interrupting her.

"I'll come and do an exhibition during the festival, I'll even bring my Gi, it'd be great if you join me", Jasmine said. "Quiet! Now you have to start over, 1, 2, 3...", Kanae exclaimed and the beanie hat girl simply sighed while thinking of a way to convince this girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah! Keep her away from me!!", the messy ponytail girl shouted as Haru arrived at the club later than usual, hiding herself behind Monika already sitting at the teacher's desk. "Oh shush, you know we have something special~", Haru winked at her and blew a kiss at her but Emerson quickly pulled out a rolled newspaper and smacked it to the floor.

"Then? What do you have for me, Haru?", Monika asked putting that aside. "Erika and Ryuko went to Omiko's house to help her bring some of the bookshelves she mentioned so they don't have to bring everything on Monday, Sayori and Ryou went to Ryona's house to start working on their graphic novel and Natsuki and Yuri are probably kissing in the library right now, err I mean working on their drama!", Haru smiled mischievously.

"So no one is slacking off, good, thanks for your help", Monika sighed satisfied, leaning back on her chair. "So what are we gonna do today?", Emerson asked smiley as ever.

"Work on our one shot as you call it but before that, I have something to talk to you about", Monika said serious and as she did, the sound of the door being locked by the blond gyaru quickly got the messy ponytail girl disturbed.

"Okay... I'll use the window!", Emerson exclaimed and tried to jump off the window but Monika grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to the floor. "Relax, nothing bad is gonna happen to you, I just have a few questions about Mayu", Monika giggled.

"Mayu? What about her?", Emerson asked tilting her head curious. "She said you're an old friend of her so I guess you know her better than anyone... Please tell me how do I do to get her to talk to me", Monika leaned forward on the desk with pleading emerald green eyes.

"Oh I see, so she's still mad at you... Well no surprise, that gal is as stubborn as it gets haha...", Emerson awkwardly smiled. "Umm did she tell you exactly why she's mad at me?", Monika doubted a bit but still asked.

"Mmm let's see... She said you treated her like trash, that you made a mockery of her good intentions, that you ignored her the whole time, that you weren't even trying to have fun with her, that you don't smell that good anyway...", Emerson began listing with her fingers as she recalled. "Okay, okay! I regret asking", Monika buried her face on the desk ashamed.

"She tends to take things to heart so be careful next time dude...", Emerson patted her back to comfort her. "Emy, as her friend, do you know if there's a way to like... Break that tension between them?", Haru asked.

"Mmmm the only thing I can think of right now is... Make her laugh!", Emerson exclaimed. "Laugh?", Monika lifted her head a bit confused.

"Yep! Sometimes when she'd get mad at me for not doing my vice president stuff right I'd quickly pull out a few jokes to make her laugh and forget about it, or at least make her be less severe with me haha", Emerson replied.

"I see... But...", Monika tried to think but Emerson read her mind as she asked, "what works to make a grumpy girl like her laugh? Bet you're wondering that", Emerson replied grinning.

"I'm asking myself the same question", Haru said as she sighed. "C-Could you tell me what?", Monika asked pleadingly.

"Well I owe you at least that much for saving my innocence from that horny monster these last couple of days...", Emerson replied pointing at a now pouty Haru. "Okay! The answer is... Drum roll please", Emerson said and Haru played along using her long nails tapping the desk.

"Wrestling references!", Emerson exclaimed. "Wrestling... References?", Monika tilted her head confused.

"Mayu's humor is based on wrestling stuff, she's a big fan of the sport but she rarely lets it be seen much less she tells anyone about it and there's a lot of gags and funny catchphrases in wrestling she always laughs about, although I'm the only who's seen that haha... That's a bit lonely now that I think about it", Emerson awkwardly scratched her cheek.

"W-Where should I start to understand those?", Monika asked determined. "Oh wow! Much determination there! Well worry not my dude! Pull out your notebook and a pen, I'll make you a list of the ones that always work and how they work!", Emerson said and Monika quickly complied, ready to spend the rest of the hour learning about wrestling gags.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A-Any luck so far?", Yuri asked after checking the fourth book of a large pile she and her pink friend gathered from the drama section of the library, hoping to find something short and of their interest to perform, but Natsuki absently denied with her head.

Yuri had noticed already that her pink friend had been oddly quiet that day. When they gathered with their friends and Sayori was making jokes and telling funny stories, Natsuki would only limit herself to smile at those even though other times she'd say anything to playfully mock Sayori or add a funny story of her own to make her look silly like those about her getting stuck in places, but that day none of that came but that strange smile.

The time they got for the two of them when she picked her up at her classroom for lunch and to come to the library minutes ago she'd usually talk about anything or complain about how boring school was but that day, she barely said anything other than hi, come on or answered questions with yes or no.

The purple girl would describe her actions almost as robotic if it wasn't because robots have no feelings and those magenta eyes certainly were trying to hide feelings behind that serious facade.

However, Yuri didn't know what to do.

Asking her if something was wrong didn't sound like a good idea to her and her shy nature certainly couldn't think of a conversation topic to bring whatever was bothering her up.

Yuri continued to scan the books for any piece they could play together for the festival hoping that at least could bring Natsuki to take that pained look off her face.

"I can't find anything interesting...", Natsuki sighed after a few more minutes of doing the same and pushed the last book away. "W-What should we do now?", Yuri asked.

"Let's just put these back in their place and bring more", Natsuki replied to then be followed by her taller friend, both carrying a pile of books the same height back to the drama section.

The books they borrowed belonged mostly to the low and middle section of the shelves so it was easy for them to put them back, however, the books they had yet to check out were on the highest part of it now.

"Well, let's get these", Natsuki said and got on her tip toes trying to reach for some on one shelf while Yuri easily grabbed a few from the one next to it thanks to her superior height, simply reaching for them extending her arm a bit.

"God damnit!", Natsuki cursed under her breath as she kept trying to reach at least one to the point she jumped and grabbed from the wooden plank that held the highest row but she immediately let go as she felt the bookshelf shaking from it a bit.

"Natsuki! Are you alright?!", Yuri asked after instinctively put her hands up to stop the shelf that she thought would fall. "Yeah I'm fine", Natsuki twitched her mouth upset and went at it again.

"L-Let me help you...", Yuri said and tried to reach the book the pink girl tried to get. "No!", but Natsuki pushed her hand away and looked at her even more upset.

"I-I'm sorry...", Yuri said nervous as she began furiously fidgeting with her hair while Natsuki continued to stretch herself as much as possible to reach the book. "L-Let me get you a step...", Yuri nervously said and began to turn around but Natsuki whispered mad her discontent.

"No! I can do this! I-I'm not useless!", Natsuki's voice began to sound shaky which made the purple girl stop and look at her. "I'm not useless, I'm not useless, I'm not useless...", she then finally heard Natsuki mumbling under her breath in a barely audible shaky voice those words over and over again.

Yuri stayed there for a few moments and finally saw the magenta orbs of her friend now watery as tears of frustration began rolling down her face. "Natsuki...", Yuri muttered to herself, finally understanding what was going on with her smaller friend.

While Yuri still didn't know the exact reason why, she could intuit something had happened to her friend that made her feel frustrated with herself, a feeling she knew very well.

The purple girl then calmly moved closer to her, gently grabbed the wrist of the arm she untiringly extended to reach the top shelf and pulled her a bit to make her look at her.

The sight before made her feel like her heart was being ripped into shreds as the tears running down Natsuki's usually smiley and adorable face had changed it into one that kept pouring countless emotions she had yet to understand.

Yuri didn't say anything and pulled her in for the most gentle and caring hug she could manage, tenderly caressing her pink short hair with her hand while the shorter girl buried her face on her chest sobbing quietly as she hugged her back.

The purple girl once again could smell that sweet strawberry scent from Natsuki's hair so close to her, letting herself lost in it while she waited for her friend's heart to find some peace.

"Yuri... I'm not useless, am I?", Natsuki asked after a while finally lifting her head to look at her friend, both still embracing each other in that quiet and lonely corner of the library.

"You're not! Y-You really are not...", Yuri exclaimed but she was still aware of the place they were at so she lowered her voice afterwards as both pulled away from each other a bit nervous of being found out.

"Y-You are amazing at baking, y-you always bring people together, i-if it weren't for you we probably wouldn't have got those many members, y-you brought us all together and even pulled an outcast like me in s-so I would fit in too... Y-You also always are the life of the party, always making the club more enjoyable... Y-You are also very bold and never hesitate to speak your mind which I think is very admirable...", Yuri began rambling shyly while looking at the floor, running her fingers through a strand of purple hair as a smile little by little formed on her face.

"G-Geez okay, okay, I get it, you can stop...", Natsuki wiped the remaining tears of her face with her sleeve and smiled the happiest she had been in a while, yet she made sure to keep her tsundere act as she crossed arms and looked away blushing hard.

"I-It is also not wrong to ask for help every now and then...", Yuri said as she reached for the book the pink girl was trying to get and put in her small hands. "If you don't like that then just consider it a way for me to thank you for all the times you've helped me out", Yuri said with her hands behind her back and a sweet angelic smile.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Get the rest of the books and give them to me! I'll carry them to our table", Natsuki said proud. "O-Okay", Yuri smiled and continued to do so.

"A-Are you sure you're good there?", Yuri asked a bit nervous as the pile of books had begun to block Natsuki's face. "Yeah, this ain't nothing really", Natsuki said in all honesty as she felt compared to what her beanie hat trainer made her lift, this was like a walk in the park.

"Y-You are quite strong", Yuri mumbled shyly as she put another book on top of the pile. "Yeah, you better not underestimate me", Natsuki was like a peacock now showing off her beautiful feathers in the form of the strength she had been working hard to get.

"I think that's about it... It's twice the height of mine though, y-you sure about it?", Yuri asked concerned as Natsuki turned around carrying a pile of books that went way above her head while hers barely reached her chin.

"Yeah, just do me a favor and watch out in case I may stumble against anything, it's hard to see", Natsuki said which made Yuri giggle as she followed after her and made sure her pink friend got to their table safely.

=================

"Aaaand seems like we got nothing...", Natsuki sighed in defeat as they closed the last book with no drama of their interest to perform. "They're all either too long or too...", Yuri hesitated a bit.

"Say it, too dense and boring", Natsuki said while leaning back on her chair resting her head on her arms. "I wouldn't go that far but I couldn't find anything horror themed so nothing didn't really pick my interest", Yuri awkwardly smiled.

"Of course you wanted creepy stuff...", Natsuki chuckled. "Y-Yeah...", Yuri replied knowing very well that was a lie as she was looking for a short romance that didn't include anything too intense.

"I guess we'll have to write our own...", Natsuki sighed. "T-That may be the case...", Yuri replied and then a brief yet not at all uncomfortable silence fell between the two as them both boarded their train of thought.

While Yuri reflected on letting her inner desires get the best of her when they had to recur to write their own drama, Natsuki simply took a moment to think about the things Yuri told her minutes ago and remembered how warm and gentle her hug was.

Natsuki found herself amused at how much this girl could change her perception of herself with just a few words, now feeling as if the world was for her to take.

The pink girl stole a glance at her purple haired crush, quickly finding herself hypnotized by the beauty she radiated as the gentle afternoon sunlight entering through the window before them shone on her face and almost made her hair look as if it was dripped in tiny shining diamonds that blinked at her.

"She's so pretty...", both outside and inside was what Natsuki meant as she smiled and felt her heart pounding faster and faster inside her chest until she finally decided what she needed to do.

Natsuki quietly got closer to her and in a surprising move, she closed her eyes and planted a quick yet soft kiss on Yuri's cheek, a sensation neither her lips nor Yuri's skin would ever forget afterwards.

"N-N-Natsuki?!", Yuri turned deep red in one millisecond as she moved her hand to the cheek Natsuki's lips just caressed briefly and looked at her not knowing what face to make.

"Pfft... You should see your face", Natsuki quietly chuckled as she was well prepared to make this look like a silly and innocent joke to hide the fact she had been dying to do that.

Eventually, Yuri couldn't help but join her in that quiet laugh as both just tried to make the most of that moment for their friendship and secret love to continue its development.

While Yuri tried to control her racing heart behind that innocent smile, she finally had the revelation she needed as the adorable image of Natsuki's smile and that tingly sensation on her cheek reminded her of something she couldn't believe they hadn't thought about.

"Natsuki! I-I think I have it!", Yuri said excited as she gently tugged on Natsuki's sleeve to make her stop her laughing. "What do you have?", Natsuki asked wiping a tear off her face from that much joy.

"What we should perform for the festival! L-Listen up", Yuri then cleared her throat a bit and proceeded with the following words.

"Once I have known her, I must die".

"Oh my gosh... Yuri, you're a fucking genius!!", Natsuki immediately reacted with a huge excited smile. "W-Well, I just think it would be a good idea...", Yuri blushed lightly as she happily fidgeted with her hair.

"It's the best idea! Okay, okay, okay... Now how should we proceed with this...", Natsuki began to think. "I-If you're okay with it, what about if you lend me that manga tomorrow and I'll take care of adapting it to a short performance?", Yuri suggested.

"I see, well no one better than you when it comes to fancy writing", Natsuki grinned happy making Yuri blush profusely as she realized such compliment meant so much to her.

"But wait... I gotta help you somehow...", Natsuki said deep in thought. "H-How about you come t-to my house this weekend and help me out revising everything i-is well adapted?", Yuri asked nervously but not willing to miss this chance.

"Ah! Good idea! That way we could take care of the banners and cupcakes we mentioned too! We could also practice our dialogues and stuff when we're done!", Natsuki like a kid talking about his superheroes, excitedly replied.

"S-Sounds great to me!", Yuri exclaimed happy. "Alright! We have a plan then!", Natsuki replied and just as she finished, the final bell rang and told them it was time.

"Shut, time to go, let's get these back to their shelves, shall we?", Natsuki asked with a cute smile as she stood up and began piling up the books again. "A-Alright", Yuri smiled back and did her part now that they didn't need any of them as their choice was something that meant much more to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bye bye, Ryou-chan!", the dark blue haired woman said waving her hand at the red wine haired boy who did the same after a polite reverence and thanked her for her hospitality. "You continue to impress me with these new friends of yours Ryona, thanks Sayori-chan for being such a good influence to this problematic child", Michiko said as she smacked Ryona's arm.

"Shut up already", Ryona sighed annoyed. "Okay, okay, I'll leave you two alone~", Michiko smirked at her and went back to her room upstairs.

"Well, now what?", Ryona asked her red bow friend. "I don't know... Ryou luckily was able to help us coming up with some good plot ideas for our story but now that he left I feel useless again hehe...", Sayori said. "Well me too... I have never come up with a story before much less drawing it...", Ryona sighed.

"We still have time", Sayori said. "Yeah, wanna do something else?", Ryona asked a bit nervous.

"Sure! What should we do?", Sayori replied quick, as she knew well if she went to her house, being by herself the rain clouds would strike again. "M-Minecraft?", Ryona asked.

"Yas!", Sayori jumped excited, or at least she tried. "Well let me turn on that thing...", Ryona said and got up from the couch, crouching in front of the TV to set everything up.

While Sayori waited she almost knocked one the glasses off the small table before her where she had been given some juice, something maybe meaningless but thay would certainly trigger those bad thoughts that had been haunting her since lunch.

Clumsy idiot

You have to mess everything up always

If you had knocked that and broke it, she'd see how stupid you really are

She's probably begging for you to leave

Go away, everyone think the same

"Sayori?", the red bow girl's absent look quickly lit back up as she heard her friend's voice. "Y-Yeah?", Sayori asked still trying to collect herself.

"Are you okay? You look a bit... Worried I think?", Ryona asked unsure of what that expression on her dearest friend was but that certainly bothered her a lot. "It's nothing! You're imagining things silly", Sayori faked her best smile.

"Alright... Here", Ryona still didn't buy it but decided not to insist if Sayori didn't want to talk about it, to then hand her the controller. "I forgot you have just one controller! You should go first", Sayori tried to hand it back to her.

"You play first, you're better than me in this anyway", Ryona replied with half a smile. "We switch everytime we die then", Sayori smiled.

As Ryona sat next to her again, Sayori almost drop the controller and even if the height wouldn't do much or really any damage to it, she couldn't help but feel more and more nervous and scared of messing up, the bad thoughts appearing in her head again.

However, as she was too absorbed on keep trying to push those away, she didn't realize she picked the wrong option and deleted one of Ryona's worlds until seeing the screen displaying the letters "deleting world" knowing it was too late.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry I-I don't know w-what I was thinking... I-I!!", Sayori began shaking, terrified of what the dark blue haired girl would say but as she did, she accidentally knocked one of the glasses off the table with her shaky leg, the sound of glass shattering enough to startle her and make her drop the controller.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't... I...", not able to take it anymore, Sayori began crying. "Sayori-", Ryona tried to speak but the bubbly girl was quick to cut her off as she said between sobs.

"Please don't hate me, please don't hate me, please don't hate me", over and over again she said those words with a trembling voice and body. "What happened?!", the dark blue haired woman rushed downstairs but the dark blue haired girl turned her head to her and indicated her to go back to her room with a simple gesture.

Ryona knew anything she could say may not help right now so instead, she chose to listen to the old saying of actions speak louder than words.

The tough girl then shyly began running her hand through Sayori's peach soft hair something the red bow girl soon felt as she stopped repeating the words and slowly turned to her friend still a bit afraid.

Ryona was looking to the side with a mad blush on her face but still she continued to tenderly pet her bubbly friend who looked at her with watery blue eyes that little by little, like her heart, began to calm down.

Sayori didn't know if it was correct but what her heart begged her to do was just one simple thing. The red bow girl then shyly opened her arms and nervously waited for a reply.

Ryona caught her actions by the corner of her eye which practically forced her to look at her as the heart breaking sight of Sayori asking for a hug with those watery blue eyes still beaming with tears was too much for her heart to ignore.

The dark blue haired girl then shyly and gently grabbed Sayori's arms and let her wrap them around her body as she too did the same, immediately feeling her warmth embracing her with a gentle force that silently asked her to not let go.

For the tough girl this was the first time something like this happened to her so the best she could do was follow her common sense and the honest desire in her heart of seeing Sayori's happy smile again, letting her cry on her shoulder quietly while she rubbed circles on her back with her hand and tried to control her own fast throbbing heart.

"Please don't hate me", Sayori again mumbled those words still having her face buried on her tough friend's shoulder, gripping her shirt harder as she spoke. "Why would I hate you?", Ryona asked sincerely.

"I'm clumsy, I'm stupid... I always mess up...", Sayori mumbled between sobs which was enough for Ryona to know it was time to stop her right there. "No", she said.

"You're not any of that, you're amazing", Ryona spoke firmly as an upsetting feeling started to get to her, making her ask herself who or what would make her always happy and cheery friend to think that about herself.

"I'm not", Sayori replied. "You are!", Ryona replied upset.

"I'm not", Sayori insisted. "You are!", Ryona did too.

"I'm not", Sayori said again. "You are, you are, you are!", Ryona was feeling more and more upset and mad everytime to the point she pulled both away from the hug to make Sayori look at her in the eye.

Then, what the bubbly girl saw was a dark blue haired girl clenching her teeth and frowning while tears started coming out of those intense dark brown eyes that looked at her.

"W-Why are you crying?", Sayori, still with puffy eyes and a few tears, couldn't help but ask. "I-I am?", Ryona asked caught by surprise as she let go of one of the shoulders of the red bow girl she was holding and touched her face to confirm that she was right.

"I-I don't understand...", Ryona mumbled confused as she kept wiping the tears off her face that didn't cease to pour out as without knowing, the heart breaking sight before her wouldn't allow her to do so just yet.

"Ry...", Sayori said as she saw her tough friend in a state she wouldn't even have imagined would be possible. "There's nothing wrong with you... Everything about you is great...", Ryona said lowering her gaze as she kept trying to stop the tears from a heart that hurt from seeing the pain of the one she loved and yet she didn't know it just yet.

"Stop crying... Just smile like you always do...", Ryona said gathering herself to look at Sayori in the eye with pleading eyes of her own. "Did you really mean it? About what you said yesterday...", Sayori asked as she helped Ryona wiping the tears off her face with her finger.

"Eh?", Ryona asked a bit confused. "Do you really think I'm good at making people happy?", Sayori asked.

"Yeah! I do! Everything I said is true!", Ryona remembered and reaffirmed her words. "Then I'll hold onto those words", Sayori felt her heart at ease again as she used Ryona's words as sunshine to push the rain clouds away.