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Unfiltered Noise

—Yuri's POV—

Natsuki leans into me when she wins the first round.

Not a dramatic lean. Just a nudge. A press of shoulder against shoulder. She's grinning, smug and bright, but I know her well enough to feel the undercurrent.

She's testing the water. Seeing if the group still holds.

I nudge her back. She snorts.

Across the screen, Sayori's character trips and falls into a cartoon pit. She screams like it's real and Monika breaks into laughter, trying to keep her drink from spilling.

This moment shouldn't feel so big.

But it does.

I look around the room, at all of us scattered across couches and floor cushions. No mics. No overlays. No chat scrolling by.

Just us.

I don't say much. I never do.

But in my chest, something unwinds.

—Natsuki's POV—

I forgot what this felt like.

I've streamed with Yuri a hundred times this month. We have great chemistry. It works. But it's different with all five of us. More chaotic. More unfiltered.

More... real.

Sayori's bouncing between rounds, hyped up on sugar and nostalgia. Monika's relaxed in a way I haven't seen since before everything got complicated. Even MC looks like he's actually having fun instead of trying to keep us from combusting.

And me?

I'm not waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That's new.

I lose the next three minigames in a row. I don't care. I'm too busy laughing.

Yuri presses her knee against mine under the blanket we're sharing. I don't move away.

Maybe we're not just a brand anymore.

Maybe we're still a group.

—MC's POV—

I can feel it before I even hear it.

The quiet shift. The breath between old tension and new possibility.

I've seen these faces through so many seasons. The club. The videos. The breakdowns. The distance.

This? This is different.

They're not forcing it. Not pretending for the camera. No one's scripting a comeback. They're just... being.

I pause the game after a round ends.

"Bathroom break," I announce, and stand up before anyone can argue.

But as I walk down the hall, I pause just out of sight.

I hear them talking. Not loudly. Not performative. Just voices, threading together the way they used to.

Sayori's teasing Natsuki about her pizza opinions again. Monika's asking Yuri what books she's been reading. Yuri's recommending something obscure, and Natsuki's already rolling her eyes.

I smile.

Yeah. We're okay.

—Monika's POV—

We stay up way too late.

At some point, Sayori starts nodding off mid sentence. MC drapes a blanket over her and she barely notices, just shifts and murmurs something about marshmallows.

Yuri's still curled up in the armchair, eyes heavy behind her glasses. Natsuki's lying on the floor, one arm thrown over her face like she's shielding herself from feelings.

I'm the last one fully awake.

I should get up. Clean something. Make a plan.

Instead, I just... sit.

The screen's gone black. The controllers are scattered. The remnants of snacks are everywhere. But I don't mind.

This mess? It's ours.

Tomorrow will come with its own problems. More decisions. More noise. But tonight?

Tonight feels like home.

—Sayori's POV—

I wake up with a crick in my neck and the vague taste of cookie crumbs in my mouth.

The living room is a battlefield. Blankets. Empty cans. Someone's sock on the lamp.

But my heart's full.

Monika's curled on the couch, face soft in sleep. Yuri and Natsuki are tangled together in a way they'd both deny. MC's passed out with a controller still in his lap.

I pull out my phone. Not to post. Not to capture.

Just to remember.

I snap a single photo.

Then I set the phone down and curl back into the blanket.

Sometimes, the most important moments aren't the ones we share with the world.

They're the ones we keep for ourselves.

—Yuri's POV—

Later, when we've all woken up and started collecting ourselves, I find the photo on Sayori's phone.

She shows it to me without fanfare. Just holds it out, eyes sleepy but bright.

We're all in it. Candid. Undignified. Real.

I ask her to send it to me.

She does.

I don't post it. I don't even save it to the cloud.

I just look at it. Again and again.

Because this, this moment is proof.

Proof that not everything that breaks has to stay broken.

—Natsuki's POV—

Monika suggests we do a group stream next week.

No pressure. Just a maybe.

She says it casually, like it's just another idea. But we all hear the hope underneath.

We all pause.

Then Sayori shrugs and says, "Why not?"

MC nods.

Yuri smiles.

I roll my eyes, but I'm already mentally planning the overlays.

Maybe we will.

Not to fix anything.

Just to show we're still here.

Still us.

Still worth tuning into.

—Monika's POV—

The next morning, I draft the group DM:

Monika:
thinking we try a soft return stream
nothing big
just us
no branding
no expectations

Sayori reacts with a heart. Natsuki with a thumbs down, then immediately follows up with "jk." Yuri sends a cherry blossom emoji. MC types "I'll handle setup."

No one says "finally."

No one says "about time."

But the silence that follows feels different.

Lighter.

Hopeful.

Like maybe, this time, we're writing a new story, together.