Blame me, scorn me, maim me, for this chapter has but taken the crown for "most time procrastinated on". But seriously, the none-edited version seriously didn't look very good and I've been busy with college.

Need a new Beta Reader now, private message me if you would like to volunteer please.

Yōkai Academy – School Rooftop

Akuha and Tsukune stood alone on the rooftop, just over a large courtyard below. Akuha was leaning backwards against the railing. Tsukune stood across from her, staring in disbelief after what he just heard from her.

"A picnic?" Tsukune asked.

"That's right," Akuha said, "I'm inviting you to one."

Tsukune didn't look convinced. "What's this really about, Akuha?"

"It's exactly as it seems, Tsuk." The wind picked up and pushed one of Akuha's pigtails to the side. "No lies; no deceit. It's just a picnic."

"Yeah but…" Tsukune scratched his head. "Asking me to go on a picnic doesn't really seem like you…"

Akuha grinned and her faced flushed. She was trying to follow advice from someone that clearly knew more about talking to boys. It was not only Kurumu's advice that she took to heart, but a bit of Talia's as well.

"You are a vampire, a killer, an assassin," Talia had told her, "but don't forget that you're still a woman. Try to act more feminine."

It felt weird taking advice from someone she considered a mortal enemy, but she wouldn't have deemed Talia a threat if she didn't think she was also smart. She acted very feminine, a quality that Akuha completely lacked.

"You should at least give it a try." Talia once said.

"Just thought I should give it a try." Akuha said to Tsukune. "A try at acting 'normal', I mean."

"That's great, Akuha." Tsukune no longer seemed confused, and held a pleased look. "It's nice to see you're trying to be more social."

"Haven't I always been social with you?"

"Yeah, but only with me and the others." Tsukune walked over to the railings next to her and looked out into the courtyard. "I've heard that you've avoided just about everyone else at this school. It got me a little worried that you would be lonely."

"I guess I can't help that I'm anti-social." Akuha chuckled.

"Can't help?" Tsukune looked curiously at her. "But isn't that what you're trying to do by having this picnic? To adjust to the quieter kind of life here."

"Huh? So I can fit in better?" Akuha had to admit she was still unfamiliar to the civilian life. Even when living in the Shuzen Household, she regularly had to stay on edge. "Yeah… it's to… loosen up I guess." She sighed. "Right…"

"Alrighty then," Tsukune clicked one of his fingers, "anything for a friend."

Akuha moved away from the railing and stood up straight. "It'll be just the two of us. Meet me in the courtyard below us at eleven in the morning tomorrow, okay?"

"Just the two of us?" Tsukune said, completely oblivious, "But wouldn't it help if we brought more-"

"We can start small, Tsuk." Akuha groaned, "Please can we just start small?"

Tsukune shrugged. "Fine, I'll tell the others not to come."

"No!" Akuha said with her hand outstretched. "I mean…" She pulled her hand back. "I think it's best that we keep it between ourselves."

"Why?"

Akuha knew the other girls would interfere if they knew, whether they were invited or not. "Because I…" Akuha paused to think of what to say next. She figured she couldn't just wing it and make it up as she went. At least she was learning.

"If you can't cook enough food for all of us, we could have Kurumu-"

"Just the two of us!" Akuha yelled.

Tsukune took a step back in fright. "Okay, okay! You don't need to get so worked up over it."

Akuha frowned timidly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you."

Tsukune smiled and dismissed the outburst. He knew Akuha had a temper, but it didn't mean she was a bad person. "It's all good, you said you were sorry." He turned and walked towards the door that led back into the building. "So, tomorrow morning at eleven?" He said looking back at her. He walked in through the door.

Akuha smiled back. "Yup, I'll see you then." As Tsukune closed the door behind him, Akuha back-flipped and landed perfectly onto the railing. She slowly tipped over and fell off the side of the building, kicking off the wall halfway down and hitting the ground quietly and softly. She stood up and walked away.

"Did you see that?" Said a nearby student.

XXX

"Tsuk, Moka, Kokoa, Kurumu, Yukari…" Akuha wondered how they've been spending their time each day. Ever since coming here, all Akuha had been doing was beating up pranksters and delinquents. She had been staying here for four days, and yet she scarcely saw any of them. She had only seen Kokoa once and never came across her again. There however was one exception.

"Honestly…" Akuha said as she stopped next to a bush, "you need to find yourself a new hobby." She turned and looked at the bush. "I know you're there Mizore."

Mizore's head plopped out from the top of the bush. "Vampire senses sure are sharp." She brushed the leaves aside and walked out into the open. "But how'd you know it was me?"

"How did I know?" Akuha grumbled, "Are you serious? How did I know?" She hung over with a groan. "Why is it that you're always spying on people? Behind a bush, in a garbage can, in the ventilation system…" She looked like she was about to explode. "Seriously! I find you doing this every single day!"

"Why should it bother you? I've always stalked Tsukune like this."

"Because Mikogami… I mean the headmaster…" Akuha paused. She was not to inform the students of Fairy Tale, nor of the possibility that they could infiltrate the school. They could be hiding anywhere at anytime, hence why Akuha was told to investigate any suspicious figures or activities, no matter what the circumstance.

"The headmaster…" Mizore tilted her head, "what?"

Akuha pulled out the handbook. "It says in here that I have to investigate any signs of suspicious surveillance." She was making the rule up as a cover-up.

"It's not allowed?"

Akuha decided not to impose anything she made up. Mizore had been getting away with stalking for a very long time anyways. "It's allowed, but just as long as it's harmless. Like I said, I still have to make sure that it is harmless, but it just turns out to be you stalking Tsukune every time."

Mizore stood like a statue. Only her lollipop bobbed up and down. "So what would you have me do? Stalk Tsukune in the open?"

Akuha snickered. "That would work actually. Or better yet, how about you give up stalking him and just talk to him face-to-face? He already considers you to be a friend."

Mizore finally made a hint of emotion. "Well what do I say to him?" she said shyly.

"Well… I don't know." Akuha shrugged. It seemed they had the same problem. Both of them had poor social skills. "All I can say is to try anything until something works."

"And if I screw up?"

"If you screw up, you screw up. It's how we learn." Akuha made a hand motion over her own shoulder, signaling to Mizore that she still had a few leaves on her. "I don't know what possible blunder you could make that's weirder than what you're already doing."

Mizore buried her hands into her sweatshirt's frontal pockets. "Makes sense…"

Akuha stared at Mizore for a moment. "While we're on the subject, why do you stalk him in the first place?"

"Because I love him. He's the only one that understands me."

"But do you believe he'll return those feelings?"

Mizore's shy face turned to a sad one.

"You know that he only sees you as a friend, why then are you still trying so hard to get his attention?"

"I told you before, my race is slowly dieing out, and I won't be fertile for very-"

"And I asked you before," Akuha interrupted her, "why can it only be Tsukune? You didn't answer me last time."

Mizore didn't say anything back. It was no different from when the two of them exchanged words for the first time.

"If having a baby is so important, why can't you just find another guy?" Akuha asked, "I've seen plenty of boys fawning over you. Trying to win Tsukune over despite this is contradictory to-"

"I just love him, okay!" Mizore yelled with her arms out. She no longer seemed stoic, and instead looked angry. "I'll say it one last time, I love Tsukune, and that's why I still follow him wherever he goes." She calmed down and put her hands back in her frontal pockets. "No matter whom he's chosen, I'll always follow him." She said calmly.

Akuha's expression darkened. "Even if that means you'll never have a child?"

Mizore hesitated. "If it comes to that, yes."

Akuha suddenly made a friendly smile. "Well…" She patted Mizore on the shoulder. "That certainly takes commitment," Akuha said kindly, "there's no question that you truly love him." She decided to leave it at that and began to walk away.

"Huh?" Mizore felt confused. She had been left on a very mixed note. As Akuha disappeared around the hedge, Mizore stared back at the bush she had hid in earlier. "Hmm… talk to Tsukune face-to-face? Try anything until something works?" She looked from the bush to the sky above. "Very well, no more stalking… for now. I'll try being more open with Tsukune."

Akuha walked along the side of one of the many school buildings. She brought her hands up and stared at her palms. "They were shaking the whole time," she said to herself, "it seems we have a lot in-common, Mizore."

"You know that he only sees you as a friend, why then are you still trying so hard to get his attention?"

Those were Akuha's own words. In reality, they were the very words she had been asking herself. She didn't know how to answer them, and so she wanted to see what the other girls would say. "Plenty of boys have been fawning over me as well," Akuha muttered, "yet I planned a picnic with Tsuk despite this?" She chuckled at her own contradiction. "I am such a hypocrite…"

XXX

The Next Morning

Akuha stood alone in the cooking classroom. It was Sunday, and so the room was completely deprived of any students. While humming a song merrily, she took a small piece of beef from one of the many pans on the stove and tasted it. "Mmm," Akuha smiled to herself, "not bad, not bad." In front of her were three pans, one pot, and one steamer. She was simultaneously cooking rice, beef, shrimp, noodles, and shumai all at once. With the speed and reflexes of a vampire, it wasn't difficult to prepare them all at once. Any vampire could as long as he or she didn't suck at cooking.

"You seem to be in a very good mood today." Ruby said as she walked in.

Akuha's cheerful look instantly faded. "Huh! Ruby?" she said in alarm, "Wha… what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were borrowing this classroom for private use, and I just had to see it for myself." Ruby took a moment breathe in the smell of what was cooking. "Wow," she said with her hands clasped, "That smells delicious! I had no idea you were such a good cook."

"I've cooked quite a few times before. I used to do a lot of traveling on my own." Akuha blushed in embarrassment. "You're not going to run off and tell anyone right?"

Ruby smirked. "My lips are sealed. I won't let anyone know that you're really a softy."

"A softy?" Akuha placed her attention back on what she was cooking. "Guess I am…" she said sarcastically.

"Apparently so." Ruby walked right next to Akuha and looked down at the stove. "You should take over as the new cooking teacher!" she said gladly, "It would take quite a load off my shoulders. I've had to sub for this class so many times now."

Akuha shook her head. "Sorry, but this is just for once." She stirred the beef around to keep them from burning. "Besides, these are the only recipes I know how to prepare. I can cook them well because I've made them so many times."

Ruby looked closely at the food. "You're making quite a lot there." She turned her head towards Akuha. "It looks like there's just enough for two."

Akuha knew what Ruby was trying to imply, but tried to ignore her. Before long, Akuha finished cooking the food and packed it away in a picnic basket. She quickly left the room by leaping out the window and onto the rooftops, intending to let no one else see her.

Ruby hugged herself and blushed. "Oh, it's such a joy to be in love."

XXX

Akuha found Tsukune exactly where they planned on meeting. Right away, the two of them left school grounds and began to walk out into the forest. After about twenty minutes of walking, they found a large grassy opening.

"Woa," Tsukune pointed at the small grassy plain, "I never knew this was here."

"I sometimes roam around and explore outside campus." Akuha said as they stopped in the middle of the grass. She knelt and set a long white blanket down. "It's a fun pastime, and I don't have much to do while you and the others are in class." What she said was partially true. She had also been encouraged by the headmaster to watch for anyone hiding out in the forest.

"It's too bad the grass doesn't expand beyond this place. It would be nice if the school grounds seemed more alive." Tsukune looked up at the sky. "It sure is a nice day out. The sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in sight."

Akuha set down the basket on the side of the blanket. "Just like the day we first met." The both of them sat down on the blanket, side-by-side.

"Heh, the way we're sitting here, we kind of look like a couple."

"Who said we had to pretend?" Akuha said mischievously as she opened the basket. She brought out a few plastic containers. "Here, I cooked all of it myself."

"Wow, that's…" Tsukune's cheerful smile slowly faded. "You cooked all of this… yourself?" He remembered how bad of a cook Moka was.

"Yeah, is something the matter?" Akuha asked curiously.

Tsukune suddenly didn't feel very hungry anymore. "Well…"

"Here." Akuha held a piece of beef with chopsticks towards him. "Say 'ah'."

Tsukune placed a hand up, making a 'no' motion. "I had a filling breakfast."

Akuha held the beef closer. "'Ahhhhh'…" she repeated.

Tsukune stood up. "Sorry, I'm not sure if I'm really-"

Akuha grappled Tsukune's ankles with her legs, tripping him over and holding him with a submission lock. Akuha had put a lot of effort into preparing this lunch, and wasn't about to let Tsukune pass it up. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" She said angrily, holding the beef in front of Tsukune's mouth.

Figuring that Akuha wasn't giving in, Tsukune opened his mouth. He ate the piece of beef, and it tasted surprisingly good. "Woa…" Tsukune said with his eyes lit up.

Akuha's harsh expression changed to a pleasant one. "Now was that so hard?"

Tsukune laughed a little. "Sorry, you see…" He hesitated. "You didn't hear this from me, but Moka is not a good cook."

"You were afraid I'd be the same?" Akuha chuckled. "I remember as if it were yesterday, when Moka tried to make a batch of cookies."

"How'd they taste?" Tsukune said as he helped himself to some rice and shumai.

"The image of gym socks came to mind," Akuha said with a grin, "or was it leathery burnt bacon?" They laughed a little bit. "Yeah," Akuha said, "that's always been her shortcoming."

"Her only shortcoming." Tsukune corrected. "I don't mind it really." He scratched the back of his head. "We shouldn't be laughing, but I guess it can't be helped." He took a good long look at Akuha. "I never really noticed it before, but I think Moka is a bit taller than you."

"Vampires stop aging at a certain point, Tsuk." Akuha swallowed a bit of noodles. "It came a bit early for me. It usually happens around the late-teens for female vampires."

Tsukune nodded. "Well it's just, I know you're the older sister but…"

Akuha's eyes flicked his direction. "I don't look it?" She was sure they had discussed this before.

"It's not that, I just never see Inner Moka laugh or smile. Like the way you are now."

"So that makes her more mature than me?" Akuha lay down on her elbow with her hand on her cheek. "I don't know if you've seen it yet, but Moka most certainly has a soft side to her as well. She just puts a lot more work into hiding it."

"Why?"

Akuha smirked. "Isn't it obvious? Pride, and lots of it. Me, I don't really care about that sort of thing."

"But vampires are a very prideful race." Tsukune cocked an eyebrow. "I'm curious, what made you so different?"

Akuha shrugged. "Vampires aren't just prideful, we're also individualistic. I've learned to take pride in myself and live by my own standards." She chewed on a mouthful of food and gulped it down. "I guess what sets me apart from Moka is experience."

"Experience? I'm guessing something bad happened years ago."

"Sort of…" Akuha took another bite of food. She started to doze off. "I hate gorillas…" she mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Tsukune wasn't sure he heard that right.

"Never mind that last bit." Akuha pointed a chopstick in Tsukune's direction. "Think of it like this Tsuk," she said with her mouth half full, "Moka's constantly been faced with opponents far weaker than her, while I've been faced with opponents that are just as tough as me." She swallowed again. "Being strong is not what makes us prideful, it's being stronger than everyone else."

"So it's because of they way you've grown as a fighter?"

"That's right. We're shaped by our experiences; it's what makes us who we are." Akuha lobbed a piece of beef up in the air with her chopstick and caught it with her mouth. "Pretty much all vampires grow up being faced with lower beings. Goblins, lizardmen, and other weak beings are as common as blades of grass. Vampires are at the top of the food chain, and so they can afford to be prideful." Akuha sat up with her legs in a criss-crossed position. "It's been this way for centuries, and so it's practically hardwired to us."

"So let me guess," Tsukune said as he ate a bit of beef, "when you were younger, you met someone strong, strong like a vampire."

"Way stronger than most vampires."

Tsukune made a nervous, sarcastic nod. "Yikes, that must have been scary."

"It was…" Akuha nodded. "Despite how powerful I am, I'll be the one to admit that there are others out there capable of beating me, easily in fact. There's few of them, but they most certainly exist." She brought her palm up and looked down at it. "Dumb armored ape somehow knew black arts, and was strong as hell, but he taught me an important lesson that day." She grasped her hand into a fist. "Those held back by pride die off and are forgotten, those willing to do anything to win live on and write history."

Tsukune frowned. "Akuha, that's…"

"That's how he worded it to me anyways." Akuha put a hand over the back of her head and laughed. "I'm sorry, I've been doing all the talking."

"It's okay, I don't usually like to think about fighting. I haven't much to say about it."

XXX

Time flew by as they continued eating their lunch. A calm, cool breeze moved over the grass, below the orange blazing sun and blue sky. While the day was working in her favor, Akuha didn't like where their conversation had gone. She wanted to end their picnic on a much lighter note. Maybe she could try talking about something less serious?

"Tsuk," Akuha said, breaking the silence, "do you think my… temper is a little…"

"Not at all Akuha," Tsukune said kindly, "you don't get angry if you're not given a reason to." He finished off his rice. "If you're thinking about your frequent outbursts at Ginei, you should know that the other girls get angry at him too, probably even more often."

Akuha snickered. "I'll bet." She noted how Tsukune had much more to say about social topics. "So, how are you enjoying the picnic?"

"It's great." Tsukune lay on his back and looked up at the sky again. "You know, eating outside like this is just the best. It's a real treat to do this once in a while. Enjoying delicious food while taking in the beautiful day. It's moments like this that help me truly feel the pleasures of living."

Akuha smiled and nodded. "Well said." Her smile faded when she reflected on the phrase 'pleasures of living'. She sighed.

"Akuha?" Tsukune said curiously.

Akuha had never really thought about it until now, about how many people had she killed in the past. How many moments like this would they never feel now that they're gone? "How many picnics will never happen because I…" She sighed in frustration at her own melodrama. She had never felt sensitive about it until only recently.

Tsukune sat up and put his hand on her shoulder. He had an idea of what she was talking about. "Everyone's makes mistakes Akuha, they never go away, but it's how we learn right?" Tsukune extended his other arm out towards the blanket they sat on. "That's what you're trying to do by having this picnic right? You're adding one to the world; a fresh start."

Akuha's cheeks turned red. She took lives; that's always been her place. "But what you do… that's truly special," Akuha whispered, "You help others feel the pleasures of living." She leaned over and rested her cheek on Tsukune's shoulder.

"Uh, Akuha?" Tsukune said puzzled, "What are you doing?"

XXX

Later That Day – Former Dungeon Building

It was evening time, and the sun had already set. Three treacherous looking thugs had snuck onto the campus, using the school grounds as a hiding place to escape from their pursuers. The building they took residence in had been abandoned for decades. Originally, it was a dungeon used to contain violent students, seldom guilty of murder. The building wasn't used anymore, and so it was the perfect place to hide in.

A minotaur, a tsuchigumo, and a doppelganger sat around the former prison cell, eating stolen food for their dinner. Tomorrow morning they would take a look around, and maybe even kill a few students for a thrill.

"Enjoying your meals?" said a voice down the hall.

The three thugs sprang up and moved into the hall, finding a number of student police force members looking at them. "Looks like we traded one group of pursuers for another." Said the doppelganger.

The one likely to be their leader motioned the others to stay put. "On the contrary, we're not here to fight." He began to walk forward. "My name is Kuyou, and I've had my eye on the three of you since you arrived on school grounds."

The doppelganger frowned repulsively. "So the school already knows we're here?"

Kuyou shook his head. "Normally you would already have been detected by now, but I've pulled some strings in your favor."

The doppelganger looked intrigued. "What do you hope to gain by helping a group of serial killers?" He motioned his two thugs to stand down. "Sounds to me like you want to make some sort of deal."

"I do, doppelganger." Kuyou smiled. "You see, I can use a man of your abilities." He put his hands behind his back and began to slowly pace from side to side. "About a year ago, I and the student police force practically ruled this school with an iron fist. We bullied the student body of its money, imposed our vision of law on the school, and no one would dare cross us." He stopped in the middle of the hall. "But all that changed when a small group of students rebelled."

The doppelganger could pretty well guess how the story ended. "They took you out of business?"

"It pains me to say it, but yes." Kuyou looked pissed. "Three of them happen to be quite powerful."

"Alright, I think I know where you're going with this." The doppelganger let out a long puff of smoke with his cigarette. "But what makes you think I'll help you if you just ask? A place to hide isn't a good enough payment on its own."

"This entire school was once bent to my will. Once it's under my heel again, the real question is…" Kuyou spread his arms out. "What do you want?"

XXX

To be continued in next chapter.

Extra Scene

MrDrProfessor4 sat with the face of his helmet flat on his desk, snoring quietly with his hands resting on a pile of papers. A deafening crash suddenly erupted from the desk, causing him to spring up.

"Hey!" A shady figure stood there with his fist on the desk. It was the NCR Ranger from the Fallout One-shot fic. "What the hell are you doing?" he said in a deep masculine voice, "You're MrDrProfessor… number 4! You can't slack off like this!"

"Sorry man, but I'm just not into writing right now. I think I need a short break."

The Ranger pointed his revolver against MrDrProfessor4's forehead. "No one's taking any breaks until you've finished season two."

MrDrProfessor4 groaned. "But we've got a long way to go before it's done. If I had to guess, the events I planned out will go all the way to chapter 28 or 29. Even then, I got a much longer 'season three' to worry about." He grasped his helmet, as if trying to pull his hair. "By the way things are looking, this story may be over at chapter 50!"

"Tough love kid, tough love." The Ranger cocked his gun. "Deal with it."

MrDrProfessor4 looked down the barrel of the gun nervously. "The thing is, I'm the 'take-my-time' kind of guy. If I can't do it right, I put it off until I'm in a better mood for it. Otherwise, I'll end up making a half-assed chapter." He rested his chin on his desk. "Maybe it's just me, but a few parts in this chapter feel a little half-assed."

The Ranger pulled his revolver back. "You know kid, I've been wondering… How long does it take for you to finish a chapter?" He pulled out a couple of stapled papers and looked at them. "Looks like a few of your readers would like to know too." He read one of the more recent comments. "Said by Awesomeness:"

A lot of people are getting impatient but they just need to wait I mean you have a life too.

"True, I'm busy with college and I prefer not to release a chapter until it's fully cooked. Can't say I blame the readers for getting aggressive though."

The Ranger shook his head at the writer. "You should have kept in mind how lazy you can be before starting this fic." He looked down at his paper. "Legend96 said:"

Just wondering, how often do you work on these chapters each day?

MrDrProfessor4 tapped on his helmet, trying to get himself woken up. "It varies from time to time," he said, "like I said before, I procrastinate a lot as if constantly exposed to writers-block. How creative I can think just goes up and down depending on how good of a mood I'm in. Sometimes it's 3 to 4 days before I resume writing, but when I do, I spend between 3 to 5 hours on it. The total hours per each chapter have been all over the place."

"What's the longest it's taken you to write a chapter? What's the shortest?"

"Uh… Chapter 1 took 15 minutes, Chapter 13 took 5 hours within a single day, and I think Chapter 17 took at least a total of 40 hours over the course of nearly two weeks." MrDrProfessor4 leaned back on his chair. "I wish I could always stay at the top of my game, then I could produce chapters far quicker, but I am in fact human."

The Ranger stared at him for a moment. "What an overly-descriptive answer…"

MrDrProfessor4 raised his index finger. "Hey I got it! Let's respond to a bit of mail from the readers! We've already gotten started."

"Whatever…" The Ranger handed over the piece of paper.

"Alrighty!" MrDrProfessor4 looked at the paper. "This first one is fairly old, submitted during season one." He began to privately read it to himself.

I just can't take made up Monstors I can take made up breeds of real monsters but I can't take, it. I always explain how it works with a scientifit porspective, If I find it can't be done even by the exteant of the supernatural I can't take it and demand a reasonable expanation Or a story spinoff with more reason.

MrDrProfessor4 just stared at the paper. "I… think I understand what he's saying. Still, I already made a fair amount of explanations for the made-up monsters. Other users have told me that the explanation for Alistair's powers sounds like something out of a science textbook." He scratched the top of his helmet. "I don't understand is where he's coming from though. How plausible does a make-believe fan-fiction that's based on a fantasy story have to be anyways?" He looked at the next question. "An unsigned review said…"

Please don't mention the anime anymore.

"To respond to that statement, references to the anime were made to make fun of it. I dislike it too, and like to take pot shots at it from time to time. Also, keep in mind that the tug-of-love also happens a lot in the manga. I just wanted to end chapter 12 with something readers would be familiar with." MrDrProfessor4 held a laugh. "At first, I thought opinions on the anime were split, but day after day I'm starting to see that disapproval for it is almost universal." He looked back at the paper. "Next message is an email from Cabbit32."

what motivated you to write your fan fiction?

MrDrProfessor4 made a terrified look at the paper. "Uh oh…"

The Ranger put his palm on the front of his helmet. "Hmp, here we go…"

"I hoped no one would ask me that, it's kind of embarrassing, but I feel inclined to explain now that this fic has gotten more attention." MrDrProfessor4 put the paper down. "I actually started writing this story because I lost a bet… you heard me. It was a private 4 vs 4 slayer game on Halo Reach, which my team lost 48 to 50. Because I commonly talked about stories and literature, my friend dared me to write a shipping fic between two characters that you could never imagine together, probably cause of how challenging it would be. The bet was off after chapter 4, as the fic had to be a minimum of 10,000 words long. It came as a surprise to me when I found that people were really enjoying it, and so I continued on and took it more seriously."

Also said by Cabbit32: its almost laughable how much better written these newer chapters are than your first two.

"I did sort of goof off on the first 4 chapters…" MrDrProfessor4 said with a guilty look.

"For the love of god, take a breath!" Said the Ranger.

"I know, I know… I talk to much." MrDrProfessor4 muttered, "Anyways, with the exception of one crazy troll, I thank you all for taking the time to read and comment on this story, you guys are the best."

"And by all means, feel free to kick his ass back on track if he's slacking again." The Ranger turned and began to walk away. "When this slacker needs it, he needs it."