Mary Sue's melancholy

Monika and Erika watched as Yamane exited the school gates. 

"She looks and acts normal, at least from this distance," Erika noted. 

"Easy for an actor to pull off. The real test will come when we start talking," Monika scowled as she began approaching Yamane. "Sup, Yam! Recognize me!?" 

"Y- Yam? You call her "Yam"!?" Erika angrily thought. 

Yamane stared blankly at Monika for a bit before gasping. "M- Mona Lisa!? Y- You shaved your head!?" 

"What the hell is with these nicknames!?" Erika thought as she continued to watch. 

"Yup. Pure act of rebellion against my boss. Lousy shithead wanted me to torture my feet in heels, so when I came to work in sneakers, he flipped out, and I decided to double down in my protest with a little makeover. So how about you? Any big changes with you?" Monika asked. 

Yamane smiled and shook her head, confirming no such thing was the case.

"That so? I heard you got infused with magic after the goblin attack. Got any magic powers now?"

"Not in the slightest. I don't remember anything much about the attack, but I do know I was healed by Ikebukuro." 

"Ikebukuro... That's a pretty odd name for an elf that's never laid eyes on Japanese civilization before, don't ya think?" 

"How so? In Japanese, there are many words that mean other things in different languages. Perhaps that's the case with the elves." 

"The other one's named Bisento, right? I could see things in her case, but "Ikebukuro" just stands out a bit too much. Plus both are wearing modern clothes, yet appear to have primitive technological knowledge." 

"That's an assumption. We've never been to their village, so we don't know." 

"But I got source material to go off on. See, a source of mine let me in on the fact that a meeting was held at a hotel restaurant the other... Ugh, the day cycles are so difficult to adjust to... Point is, it was last sunny night! There, a supposed elf envoy from a town up north revealed that Ikebukuro was from a primitive elf tribe. And by comparison, this elf from the most advanced tribe looked to barely have any technological know-how." 

"Mona Lisa, you're going to need to clarify a bit more-" 

"And then there was magic. That elf clearly stated Ikebukuro had no idea magic was a thing, yet she healed you with magic?" 

"I told you- No, I didn't really specify, my apologies. Ahem, Ikebukuro healed me, but the method she used didn't involve magic from what I was told." 

"What did the goblins do to you?" 

"I... don't remember." 

"What happened just before the goblins attacked you." 

Yamane went silent. 

"You DO remember!" 

"I... don't want to talk about it." 

"Well I do. Rumors are going wild about you," Monika grinned as she squeezed Yamane's cheek. 

"I... I guess they would be. My mother always likes to make a spectacle of the littlest things I do... To be honest... I don't like it. Mona Lisa, what are your thoughts on Mary Sues in literature?" 

"What's the issue? OP girl kicks ass. Wish I was one every day." 

Yamane meekly smiled. "I see. I don't mind be looked up to, or having high expectations to be a model human. But there are times I hear people whisper about my title as the "living Mary Sue" saying how they hate that I'm a perfect super human. Mona Lisa... I'm far from perfect... I try to help everyone, but there are some I just can't save..." 

Letting loose a heavy sigh, Yamane stared back towards the school. "Right before the goblins appeared, there was a man atop the school. He was trying to kill himself, so naturally I tried to catch him before he hit the ground. I wasn't going to make it, but then his fall suddenly slowed, and he gently floated to the ground unharmed. But then, the goblins came and ate him alive. That was just too cruel." 

"Then what?" 

"I was attacked... And I blacked out." 

"How badly?" 

"I don't remember." 

"Think you died?" 

Yamane stared in disbelief, unsure of how to process the question. 

"Thing is, some people say you died, and that you're just a body double." 

"Oh, Mona Lisa, that's a bit too far. I'm alive and well as you can see," Yamane awkwardly smiled. 

"Muki thinks you're dead. Even showed me your "corpse". Any idea what that's about?" 

Yamane's eyes widened slowly as her mouth began to hang open. In private, Muki had been keeping her distance from her ever since the incident, making the revelation as to why that was a complete gut punch. 

"M- Muki thinks I'm dead... Why? She's always cared for me... Why?"

"Hey, I'm the one trying to find the answers too, but that microchip maniac only softens up when you ask her shit. That means I gotta piece together shit on my own. You clearly feel alive, and I don't think you really died, but to say you're perfectly fine after the incident... something's off. Your family's breaking our economy all for this little isekai shit... Yam, tell me what's going on!" 

Yamane slowly began to retreat. "Y- You think everything is fake?" 

"Why wouldn't I? Money can do anything, even create a goblin attack, elves out of nothing, but money doesn't always equal smarts. Yam, your family's trapped us all in some isekai simulator." 

From her hiding place, Erika facepalmed at Monika's sheer lunacy. Yamane continued to back away, smiling politely, but clearly uncomfortable. 

"I'm going to head home now," Yamane calmly stated. 

"Sure, sure. And ask Muki about EVERYTHING!" Monika smiled as she walked up to Yamane and gave her three mighty pats on her back. 

"I... will." 

Once Yamane had left the vicinity, Erika left her hiding place and stormed up to Monika, angrily slapping her on both sides of her face. 

"The hell's that for!?" Monika fumed. 

"You're disgusting. I always knew you were missing a screw and a moral compass, but I didn't know it was to this extent. Was that any way to treat the one person that still considers you a friend!?" Erika roared. 

"What's your deal? You gotta play hardball to get the secrets to spill. Yamane's clearly-" 

"There! You refer to her as "Yamane" with me, but to her face, you call her "Yam" and have her call you "Mona Lisa"!" 

"Are you serious? That's just nickname stuff. And you say I'm a conspiracy theorist. We always have good times like this, and each time, Yamane smiles and sticks by me like a true friend." 

"No, she's just being nice to a filthy selfish leech like you. Never contact me for anything ever again. I hate you and never want to interact with you ever again." 

And with that, Erika angrily stormed away, leaving Monika to scoff at her so-called "pettiness" as she turned and began going her own way. "Guess you were the Fuukuro's biggest suck up. No mercy for you when I namedrop you in the conspirator's list for this whole isekai coverup," she thought.