Benevolent

Quarrel

Chapter 30

(No, not our beautiful couple. But it still hurt a bit to write XD)

"Do you think your mom's still there, Sayo?" Monika asked, taking note of how late it was since they had been there for at least two hours.

"Huh? Oh, no. She shouldn't be." Sayori answered.

"Wait, you didn't tell me your ma was back in town!" Natsuki said, whipping her head to face the couple.

"Yeah... She just came this morning... Sorry..." Sayori said, pressing her index fingers together.

"It's cool. But I wanna know next time, okay? What about our tradition, man?" Natsuki said quietly as if it were a big secret.

"I know, but Moni's staying with me right now and with Dev gone I just can't go this time around." Sayori apologized, pulling out her puppy eyes as if they would magically save her from Natsuki's disappointment.

"I get it... But, Sayo... We've never skipped." Natsuki pressed, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"Sorry..." Sayori said, glancing down.

Shit, I made her sad on her birthday...

Fuck it, she made me upset, too!

"I'm just gonna go." Natsuki stood abruptly, saying a quick goodbye and thanks to Yuri and Monika before striding quickly out of the house.

Bye...

Not that she said goodbye...

"Sayo? Saaayo~?" Monika waved a hand in front of Sayori's face, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Huh? What? Yeah?" Sayori said quickly, blinking her gaze from the now shut front door.

"I asked of you're okay. But judging by that reaction I'm gonna say that's a no." Monika worriedly placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, gazing into her eyes as if doing so would reveal all of Sayori's inner battles.

"I'm fine." Sayori lied.

"No you're not. You're upset about what just happened between you and Natsuki. You've been staring at the door for five minutes without blinking." Monika deadpanned.

"I... We... We've just... Never fought before..." Sayori admitted softly.

"And I just made her upset." she buried her face in her hands with a groan.

"Why don't we go home and talk about this, okay?" Monika kissed her cheek, pulling Sayori to her feet.

"Thanks for having us, Ri." Monika said with a nod.

"Thanks for the book." Sayori added, not bothering to put up her fake smile because she knew she would only cry if she did.

"No problem. You're welcome anytime. That includes you, Sayori." Yuri said as if she were implying she should visit her alone some time.

Sayori offered a weak nod as Monika pulled her out of the house and into the car.

Monika sat down, stretching over to buckle the void Sayori and herself before heading back to Sayori's house.