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Sayori hanged herself.

I remember the day of the festival like it was yesterday. Waiting for Sayori, getting fed up and heading to the school, only to realize something was wrong and head back. By the time I got there, she had been... gone for a while.

She had told me the day before that she had had depression her whole life. Still, I never expected anything to happen so soon. Guess you don't know how fleeting every moment is until it's gone.

Natsuki... well, she suffered arguably the worst.

Sure, nothing much seemed to happen to her at school, but her home life was terrible. From what I gathered talking to others, her dad ranged from extremely strict at the best to downright physically abusive at the worst. His habit of heavy drinking didn't help things either. Obviously, he couldn't give her lunch money or any food, seeing as how he drank his paycheck each week (not that his paycheck was anything to shake a stick at).

When she didn't show up to school for a few days, we called for a welfare check. Sure enough, she was gone too.

Yuri... poor Yuri.

It wasn't enough for her heart to have Sayori die, but then Natsuki too? She started to withdraw and close up again, and there was nothing Monika or I could do about it. We tried our best, though.

But, eventually, she stopped showing up to school, and a welfare check revealed what we both feared: she was gone, too.

It was down to just Monika and I.

She asked me to meet her on the roof of the school. When I got there, she was sitting on the railing, so I joined her.

She lightly shook her head. "Some shitshow this has been, huh?"

"You can say that again." I sighed. "I just wish things could have ended differently. If only I had known ahead of time..."

This seemed to give Monika an idea, but she quickly regained her composure. "Yeah, if only. You ever just get the feeling that you should have done something differently? Like, when you clearly did the wrong thing and want to try again?"

"All the time." I paused again; this was an odd question. "Why do you ask?"

I saw a glint in her eye. "It's time to be a fucking hero. Both of us." She grabbed me by the arm and flung us off of the railing.

Before we hit the ground, everything went black.

I'm brought back from my reminiscing by a hand on my shoulder. I blink the last bits of the memory from my eyes as I look around. Sayori's right beside me. "Ryan, are you okay? You kinda zoned out for a minute there."

Wait a minute.

Sayori's here?

But... didn't she die?

And... didn't I die? I remember Monika jumping off the balcony with me in tow. I look at her; she simply beams a knowing smile back to me.

I guess, sometimes, you can get a second chance.

Time to be a fucking hero indeed.