AN: Heya everyone. This chapter is around 4.9k words, significantly shorter than the last few chapters. A bit of an explanation after the chapter.
Also, please tell me what did you think of this chapter. I feel like this chapter is a bit off due and I'm somewhat not confident in it but I'm still proud of it.
Anyways enjoy the chapter. Again, constructive criticism is always welcome.
Text- Regular text.
"Text"- Dialogue.
'Text'- Inner thoughts.
The lonely hallways of the third floor were dyed with the colors of the afternoon skies coming through from the windows aside; a dark blue color mixed in with crimson orange stretched across the skies as the sun slowly started to set.
Though it may have looked like night started to fall early at this time, the crowds of students dispersing from the front entrance said otherwise as the final bell for school instructions had already rung only a few minutes ago. The sounds of my footsteps blended in with the yelling at the soccer field where practice was being held at.
As I looked outside the window, I couldn't help but feel envious of the students walking out of the school as they talked amongst each other. It was my wish to become apart of the normal crowd due to my chuunibyou filled past. I wanted to have normal friends; the ones who didn't know about my adventures of my delusional journey starting at the age of eleven or twelve. But now I have to spend my afternoon with four particularly cute girls who both reminded and acted of my ghost of the past.
Speaking of which, one of the delusional girls in the club of literature lingered in my mind due to today's certain incident.
And that girl was the model student of Dokisai, Monika Tachibana who was also the club president. The brunette with clear emerald eyes who donned her iconic white bow all the time was voted the most beautiful, the most intelligent, and even the most athletic by the student body.
Yet due to many misunderstandings, people started to believe that I was dating her somehow. Who knew being alone with the most popular girl in the school can cause a misunderstanding like that in only a day?
But not only that she made the situation even worse by saying our relationship is a "secret". In a sense, she's kind of right because due to her blackmailing me, I'm her "personal swordsman".
In other words, I'm basically her slave. And the thought of that makes me want to end myself since I have no way out of it.
Even though I only started to get to know her for the past few days, she is much more different than what the student body thinks. Not only is she infected with this chuunibyou "disease", but she also has a dark and threatening side. Yesterday after the club meeting, I could literally feel the anger radiate when I tried getting away from her!
Oh and the thing about her being perfect at almost everything that everyone keeps thinking?
That's false. Her cooking is horrible.
If I were to describe it, it would be just the word "blackness" if that made any sense. Or in other words, hard, bitter and basically just burnt. It was like she never tasted it before giving it to me! Much to my own guilt, I had to throw away the rest of the inedible meat after that first bite.
Even now, I can still taste the lingering bitterness of the food in my mouth. So that's why I'm going to take a small detour before heading into that classroom.
Pulling out my wallet, I inserted a coin into the school vending machine which had an assortment of drinks ranging from sodas to tea and even a few snacks. But even with all the options of drinks, I still opted for my usual drink; a can of peach nectar mix. I pressed the button of the vending machine that dispenses my drink as I watched it drop down, making a bang sound as it lands.
I pulled the push tab of my drink and drank the sweet taste of peach; all evidence of that foul taste of food had finally left.
Thank god. Note to self: NEVER eat one of Monika's homemade foods. Now that that's settled…
I couldn't help but think about what she meant by "thanking me for everything" as I walk down the corridors. I mean, it's only been two days since I been made into her slave; have I really done anything?
Though, at this point, I think it's just me overthinking it at this point. I suppose it's just her way of thanking me for cleaning up yesterday…
"Huh," I say to myself in realization as I walked towards the nearest garbage can, throwing the now empty can away. Maybe that's the reason why. Then again she did say "everything"...
"Bah. I really do need to stop overthinking things…"
The sounds of apparent chattering and laughter started to fill the air as I approached the classroom filled with four girls doing what God only knows.
A gut-wrenching feeling had come over me as I stared at the handle. At this moment, me standing outside of this door was the calm before the storm; for some reason, I felt like today's absurdity with the girls is going to be on another level...
I could literally feel my hand shaking as I looked at the door handle. But with enough willpower, I gave it a grip and faced my fears, bracing myself for whatever there is to come from this meeting and-
"Huh?" I tried to slide the door open, yet it didn't budge, "Why is it locked?"
"Eeeep!" yelped a familiar voice from the other side of the room followed by a loud thud and the crashing sound of a desk falling over. "Owieeee…"
'Sayori, are you that clumsy…?'
"Aw crap! The Wicked Eye didn't foresee this coming! It must be those damn Hall Moni- I mean, Overseers of the cursed halls of knowledge! Argh! If it wasn't a sacred taboo in the laws of...errr… um… H-he would have been blown up by my crimson magic already!"
'Ah. It's that pink hair shortie that's speaking with the stupid eyepatch…But did she really give up on making up a name?'
"Uuuuuu… M-my parents will certainly be disappointed in me again if I get in trouble again…"
'That sounded like Yuri… Wait what did she mean by again?'
"I'd hate to ask but... Aurora Sunshine, if you may!" Yuri continued.
"O-oh! Okay…" The cautious footsteps of my childhood friend were able to be heard from the other side of the door until it abruptly stopped, "W-who is it?" She timidly asked.
"Sayori, open up please." I sighed.
In response, a gasp quickly turned into a relieved sigh that escaped her lips, "Argh! Mm-my powers in my head are reacting wildly to the powerful presence inserting-!
"Exerting." I corrected.
"Exerting from the other side! Stand back, everyone!"
"Sayori can you please just-"
"By the powers bestowed onto me of eternal sunshine shining its bright lights, I call upon thee to get out of my head and aid me! Analysis!"
A couple of silent moments pass by as no one said a word from both sides of the door. You could almost hear the sound of tumbleweed moving along the floor if you had listened very closely.
"Oh! It's Bahamut guys, no need to worry!"
I rested my forehead on the door, "Please someone end me already…" I silently cursed to myself.
"Ah well if it's just the blockhead… Wait no don't open it just yet!" A certain petite protested, "If that's really him, then ask him what's the passcode!"
"What-?"
My childhood friend let out a gasp of realization, "You're right Natsuki! He could be a shape-shifting monster! What's the passcode you shape-shifting scum?!"
"Sayori, I'm going to kill you." I coldly answered back.
"E-eep! Um… err, A-aurora Sunshine doesn't get scared that easily! Tell us the passcode or begone!"
"Ah. Well if you insist, I'll see you tomorrow-"
The door unlocks and slides open with force as I turned around, "Hey, don't go you meanie!" Sayori pleaded as she yanked my arm back into the classroom.
As I was forced into the classroom, The eye patch wearing girl named Natsuki, took a battle ready stance as she held a yardstick with both hands. Right next to her was the tallest girl out of the four who held her hands by her chest nervously right before letting out a relieved sigh.
"Oh, so it really is the blockhead." Said Natsuki as she let her guard down, "Too bad it wasn't really wasn't a shape-shifting monster," she gives the yardstick a couple of swings, "I think I'm getting a bit rusty."
I shook my head in annoyance, "Right… So why do we have a passcode again?"
The pink hair girl crossed her arms as she placed the yardstick right behind her, "So we won't get ambushed of course!" She then starts to cover her face with her left hand, only revealing her right eye while her right hand rested on her left elbow, "I called upon my servants of the deep crimson red depths of hell to form this magic lock! It's only unlockable through our Lady's passcode, which YOU need to know." She said with sass.
"Good to know shortie…"
The pink hair girl scrunched her eyebrows in anger, "HUH? WHAT DID YOU SAY? I HAVE YOU KNOW I TOOK DOWN ARMIES WITH MY WICKED EYE ALONE!"
"That sounds pretty cool Natsuki." I sarcastically said as I placed my belongings onto an open seat.
She crosses her arms and pouts before sitting straight back down on her seat, "You better believe it's cool!" said as she stuck her tongue out at me, "The Crimson Red Demons are supposed to be the coolest- I mean… the most powerful clan of them all!"
Disregarding the nonsense she spewed out her mouth, I quickly noticed Yuri elegantly walking towards me….
With her eyes closed as she showed off her "Third Eye" on her forehead.
"Good afternoon, Bahamut." She said with a smile, "And welcome back, to the stronghold of literature. I assume all is well for you?"
..
..
..
"Yuri. Can you please face me and stop talking to the wall?" I said a deadpan look.
Her eyes widen in shock as she realizes her awkward position. Quickly turning around to face me, Yuri's face burned a deep red as she frantically flailed her hands in embarrassment, "Ah! W-well m-my Third Eye c-can um… errr..." She panicked as she stumbled upon her words as if she were a mere child getting caught up in a lie.
"Ahem! I see you're finally here my swordsman!" Said a familiar voice from all the way back of the classroom.
Yuri had let out a relieved sigh as I faced Monika who… was wearing a black robe white stripe going down the middle? Her waist was tied by the robe rope as she wore fingerless gloves, in one hand she gripped a yardstick. The only thing that really popped out of her unusual appearance was her white and pink school slippers.
"Monika… what are you wearing?"
She gives me a smile as she pulls off her hood, letting her long silky coral brown hair flow down gracefully, her iconic white bow was nowhere to be found.
Then, a smug look soon replaces it as she covers the left side of her face with one of her hands as she gives off an ominous chuckle, "I'm glad you asked Bahamut!" She then points her yardstick at me, "Behold! My maxed out Robes of the Ancient High Elves I scavenged at the Drama Clu- I mean... at the Dungeon of the Thespian Arts! This gives me maxed out defense and magicka at the same-"
"Wait, wait, wait..." I cut her off from spewing any more nonsense, "So why did you take this from the Drama Club? I think they usually use that costume for every performance-"
I was immediately stopped by her cold and dark smile as I felt a cold chill run down my spine. How come her smiles are always this deadly?!
Note to self: Stop cutting her off when she talks about her delusions.
"As I was saying my fellow swordsman, this gives me maxed out defense and magicka at the same time as it also lets me use a variety of spells! But to answer your question, we are using it for our first club activity for the day."
My gut feeling was telling me that something about to happen if I asked. Yet I still did as I raised an eyebrow at her response, "Which is?"
"Creating the perfect advertisement for wandering adventures to join the stronghold of literature!"
'Please someone just strike me down already…'
I shook my head in response, "And how are you going to do that by wearing that?"
"By making flyers of course."
"...And how does dressing up correlate to making flyers?"
"I'm glad you asked Bahamut~!" Monika answered with a wink, "Aurora Sunshine, if you may."
"Got it!" Replied my childhood friend. She runs over to her school shoulder bag, rummaging through the contents right before grabbing a crumpled piece of papers, "Ehehe… give me a second…" Sayori timidly said right before straightening it out. After smoothing the paper out with her hands a couple more times, she practically shoves it into my face, "Behold your eyes, Bahamut!"
Grabbing the paper out of her hands to analyze it, I can obviously tell it was all drawn out by Sayori. The stick figure drawings and handwriting allude to it, "So who is this exactly?" I asked, pointing towards the stick figure in the middle.
"That's me of course~!" Monika responded.
"Okay… Anyways what is this paper for exactly?"
The pink hair girl sitting behind me sighs in annoyance, grabbing my attention as a condescending look appears on her face, "Yare yare... how slow can you be blockhead?" She scoffed as she laid her cheek on her hand, "This is obviously the blueprint for our flyers."
"I don't know how is this an advertisement…" I responded, ignoring her rude comment. My eyes widen in realization, "Wait a minute, was that a Jojo refer-"
"Ahem. Let me explain it to you then Bahamut." The club president cuts me off as she walks towards me. She points out the stick figure on the paper, "Okay, so this is me of course~! I'm going to display my aura which shows off my strength!" Monika then moves her finger along the paper, pointing towards the words that didn't even look like actual words. It looked more like drawings than actual words.
"And this right here is the language of the Ancient High Elves! Of course, only those who added their skill points into language mastery will be able to understand it."
'No one, in general, is going to understand it…They better change it to something we can actually understand...'
She starts to dive into the "history" of the Ancient High Elves and how they apparently came from someplace called "Summerset Isles". At this point, my head started to have a migraine from what I'm hearing. Despite the pain and annoyance I felt, I nodded in response, allowing her to continue with her explanations. I was just too interested to see how far this is going to go.
Hmm. Would I be considered as a masochist for being intrigued despite the pain of this headache she's giving me?
She then drags her finger once more to some… swirling drawings, tapping on it. You know, the type of swirls where you just make multiple circles with your pencil with. "And right here is where we use our magic for the special effects. And that's the blueprint!"
"Uhhuh… I see." I responded in a monotone voice.
Someone please pinch me and tell me that this is all some sort of a bad dream. This is so out of character for someone who is supposed to be a model student…
But seriously. I definitely shouldn't have come to today's club meeting.
"I'm glad you understand! Now then, let's get back to business. Sayori, if you may."
"I'm on it!" She responded as she grabs her smartphone and brings out the camera and points it straight at Monika, "Now then my Lady, strike a pose like your putting fear into your enemies!"
The delusional club president does this by putting her hood back on and uses her right hand to cover a majority of her face, and her left hand to point the yardstick at the camera. Sayori takes a couple of pictures right before pulling up the photos app to look at them. All of us gathered around her to see the end product.
My childhood friend was the first to speak, "Oooooh! Look, guys, it's so cool!"
"I must agree." Yuri added on, "It is quite the image, as it shows your ferocity, my Lady. Surely adventurers from all over will definitely take a look at it!"
"Eh, almost as cool as the Red Crimson Demons." The short, eye patch wearing, girl expressed, "But I guess this gets a pass from me."
I started to scratch the back of my head, "I guess it's cool… actually no I'm lying sorry."
Ignoring what I said, Monika analyzes the picture, stroking her chin in thought, "Hmm. How about we try this again by zooming from waist up?" She suggested as she went back into her position, "Okay now, let's try again!"
And like so Sayori zooms in and follows the club president's command as she takes the photo. This time, Monika scrunched her eyebrows to achieve that serious look as she continued to point at the camera with her yardstick.
"Better?" Asked my childhood friend after showing the picture off.
"Perfect! Just like that. Though… something seems missing..." Said the club president. Monika starts to ponder a bit before realizing the answer to her thoughts, "Oh, I know!"
Rummaging through her bag, she pulls out the most unexpected thing ever: a damn kitsune mask.
'OKAY, WHY THE HELL DOES SHE HAVE THAT IN HER BAG?'
She puts it on under her hood right before Sayori takes the picture. And like before, all of us gather around my childhood friend's phone.
"Now this is much better! It's sooooo cool!" Sayori chirped as her sapphire eyes start to glimmer in amazement.
Yuri's purple galaxy eyes also starts to glimmer in amazement, "As expected from The Lady who Knows Everything! Truly this is the most eye-catching of them all. Without a doubt that perhaps this is the one!"
Natsuki crosses her arms as she gives out an approving smile, nodding her head as she said nothing.
"I'm going to regret asking why you have that in your bag..."
Monika starts to giggle, "I'm glad you guys think so! Well then, it's time for the effects- I mean, magic! Natsuki, it's time for you to shine! We only have a few shots at this before you have to regain your mana!"
And like so, Natsuki expression starts to bright up before running into the closet, scavenging for something.
My eyes started to follow her, "Huh? What is she getting out?"
"Excuse me, if I may Bahamut…" Yuri says as she lightly pulls on the sleeve of my blazer to catch my attention, "You may want to step back for a bit."
My stomach started to have a bad feeling about whatever is about to happen. I don't know what these chuunibyou infected girls are capable of and I'm afraid to know.
I soon followed Yuri who was standing by the front of the classroom, hands in front. I noticed that she started to fidget by moving her shoulders as I got closer, the blush on her face started to grow.
"Ready when you are!" Natsuki announced all the way from the closet.
"Alright then, at the count of 3!" The club president said as she went back to her pose, "3!"
In an instant, Yuri hid behind me, placing her hands on my shoulder as she peaked from it. "S-sorry..." She whispered, leaving me both embarrassed and confused.
"2!" Sayori slightly moves back towards the wall behind her, covering her mouth with one hand.
"1! Now Natsuki!" I felt Yuri's grip tighten on my shoulders as she ducked behind me.
"Wicked Eye Enhancement!" Natsuki said as she quickly ran out the closet, holding a…
"WAIT IS THAT BAG OF FLOUR!?"
"DRAGON'S SMOG!" Yelled the petite as she slammed the bag of flour onto the floor, creating a cloud of dust and spilling the contents all over.
'ARE THESE GIRLS INSANE?!'
"HEY, WHAT THE HELL?!" I coughed, dusting off the flour on my blazer.
Pulling down her hood, she leaves her mask on the side of her head, "Aurora Sunshine! Show me it!" She asked, coughing slightly.
Covering her mouth with one hand as she coughed, my childhood friend hands Monika her smartphone.
"This… this is it!" She raises the phone in the air, "It's a masterpiece!"
Everyone gathered around her to see the picture displayed. Like before, the picture depicts Monika in her robes and mask, posing as she pointed her yardstick at the camera. Only this time, a cloud of dust was behind her.
"So tell me why did you decide to use flour for this picture…?" I angrily asked, pinching the bridge of my nose.
"You mean Dragon's Smog, blockhead." Corrected the pink hair petite as she dusted the flour off her skirt.
"To make the scenario look like an aftermath of a powerful spell I casted of course. See? It looks like an explosion cloud!" She answered as she showed me once more, ignoring my obvious disappointment, "Now then, Aurora Sunshine the Third, we shall do this once more!"
"No, we shouldn't." I retorted.
"Nonsense Bahamut!" The club president opens Sayori's smartphone to her lock screen (her wallpaper was a picture of a puppy sleeping on a couch by the way) and slides it to the right, "Here you go- Ah."
The screen of the smartphone turns black as a small white loading ring appears in the middle. Everyone including I looks at Sayori with a deadpan stare.
"Sayori." I started, "Did you forget to charge your phone, or did you use it all day?"
In response, she tries to escape all of our gazes by darting her eyes away as she blushes, "Umm…"
A few silent moments go by before she lightly hits her head, winks and sticks her tongue out, "Ehehe… silly me~!" She says, still not looking at us directly in the eyes.
Monika sighs before giving back my childhood friend phone back, "Well we can always try tomorrow, am I right?" She reassured her with a smile.
"No we're not. But I can tell you that mess needs to be cleaned up." I said as I pointed towards the bag of flour spilled all over the floor.
In response Monika titters to herself quietly, "That's right~!" Her smile disappears as an expressionless look appears on her face. "Now go clean it up Bahamut." She said with a monotone voice as she pats my shoulder.
..
..
..
"Huh?"
Sweeping the dust off the floor, I swept it all on to the dustpan, "I should've just went home today…" I grumbled as I threw it away, "What a waste too…"
Before all four girls had left the room, leaving me all alone, Monika made the point that she needed help to take off her "armor" in the bathroom. So she took the rest of the girls to help her out. The girls also (besides Yuri) had to clean themselves up from what I am now going to call "the flour incident" since they were the most affected.
I tried to argue back of course, but however, she did know how to pick my weak spots.
And by weak spots, I mean threatening to blackmail me once more. "Oh my Bahamut, it seems that some of your information might get leaked! I wonder what would happen?" I quietly imitated Monika's voice, doing it femininity as possible, "Could of at least helped me out just a bit…"
Still, I had to give her props. Even if this incident was just a big pain in the neck, it was still creative. Using flour to mimic an explosion cloud? My twelve-year-old self would have been proud.
"Excuse me… Ryota." A quiet voice said as I jolted up. I turned around to the owner of the voice which belonged to Yuri holding something behind her back. I didn't even notice her coming in! "Oh! I'm sorry…! I-I didn't mean to startle you like that…" She stammered as she starts to play with her hands by twiddling her thumbs. But the poor girl forgets that she was holding something as it fell right behind her.
"Eep! S-sorry!" She squeaked, as she quickly picks it back up.
I felt a small blush form on my face, 'C-cute!' I shook my head from these thoughts, remembering her true chuunibyou personality, "N-no that's fine, Yuri. Anyways did you need something?"
She starts to avoid eye contact with me as she was more interested in her school slippers instead, "Ah well…" Slowly and reluctantly, Yuri shows me the object that she hid behind her back. She held a brown wooden broom in her hands, "W-would you like some assistance?"
I felt myself smile from hearing her offer. She might just be the kindest out of the four! "I would like that a lot Yuri, thank you." In response, she lets out a sigh as if the whole world had lifted off her shoulder as she joins me sweeping up the mess.
We both said nothing as we swept the floor in silence, forming a small routine; she would gather the dust from one area and I would come in and sweep it towards the dustpan and throw it away.
Feeling awkward due to the silence I decided to break it, "So… do you guys do stuff like this often?"
"Of course!" Yuri confidently said surprising me, "Everyday we must allow ourselves to manifest our magic to help us achieve greatness!"
"Of course you guys do… I muttered low enough so she wouldn't hear. "Even if the mess turns out something like this…?"
Yuri pauses for a moment and looks away, "...W-why of course!" She said with a hint of hesitation in her voice. The lavender lass looks at the mess before continuing, "Even if the aftermath of such a powerful spell turns out to be something like this…"
I let a sigh escape my mouth and continued sweeping the last remnants of the flour.
"But still…" Turning back to Yuri, she had a small but noticeable smile on her face as she continues sweeping and finishes her sentence, "I think that this experience is fun for all of us to enjoy..."
I stopped for a moment to look at her for a moment. It was obvious that these girls are pretending just like how I used to back in middle school. They're all smart enough to know that it's not real of course, them attending this prestigious school is enough proof.
Yet the one and only question that lingers in my head keeps popping up in my head since yesterday: Why do they pretend? It such a mystery to me and I just wanted to know why.
Yuri notices me staring at her as her face starts to grow a bright red. I notice that she tenses up by gripping her broom harder as she averts her eyes, "D-did I do something wrong?" She said with worry in her tone.
"Oh! No, no, sorry Yuri. I was just kinda… lost in thought."
"I-I see… Well then…" She closes her eyes and quickly takes a breath in and exhales out. An anxious look appears on her face as she finishes her sentence, "May I request one thing after we're done?"
"Ask away."
Her blush grows as she averts her gaze of me once more, "D-do you mind if we could…" The tall and elegant girl pauses for a moment, turning away.
Suddenly she turns back around, looking at me directly in the eyes with confidence in her face, "The darkness is calling us back to explore and understand the teachings of Elyssa Libitina! Will you accompany me to be engulfed in the rich teachings once more?"
Silence fills the classroom as we both stare at each other. Her confident gaze starts to break under my deadpan look I gave her as she starts to panic.
"Um… I-I mean do you want to… N-no, wait! I mean m-my T-Third Eye is telling me too-!"
I sigh before cutting her off, "Yuri. If you're asking me to continue reading, you should've just ask without all that extra details…"
A downcast expression appears on her face as she looks down at her feet, "I-I apologize for being a nuisance… Y-you can forget about my-"
"I'll be more than happy to continue reading with you then Yuri."
Her eyes widen in surprise and look at me, "Really? You don't mind?"
"Yeah, I guess I don't. Besides, you asked me this yesterday I think. So let's just finish this up first, okay?"
"I see…" She pauses as a happy expression appears on her face. I could see a grin stretched on her face as a light red blush appears on it. "Of course."
AN: Okay, let me explain first. This chapter was supposed to be much more larger, I'd say around 11 or 12k words. But the second half isn't finished yet and in my opinion, I need to do some heavy editing on it. Plus I think it's better to drop shorter chapters than dropping big ones to be honest.
But since I'm almost done with the second half (which is probably going to be chapter 6) I can say that it will be released either before or after New Years. But no promises. Life can get crazy and I know that first hand.
Also, I do plan on editing the past chapters and include one more scene to chapter 1. Nothing crazy but it's just going to show how everyone including Ryota perceives Monika before he gets forced into the club.
Anyways, here's some responses from the reviews.
Randomidiot1816: Ah yes, that's what I'm trying to achieve between Monika and Ryota for the start of their relationship. And yes this story is about how poor Ryota is going to get screw over all the time. Thanks for the review!
ZombieSlayers: Thanks! And thanks for the review man.
Enigma- Oh boy thanks for the big review my dude. Let's get right into it!
So yeah my girl Monika has a different last which is Tachibana, I tried to find one that matches her personality or references to the game but I couldn't find one. So I chose Marika's last name from Nisekoi since I could kinda relate to them. Her and someone else in this story have last names from Nisekoi, and the other two just describes their personality.
AYO ARE YOU TALKIN ABOUT MISS KOMI-SAN CANT COMMUNICATE?! I PICKED THAT SERIES UP A WEEK BACK AND I BINGED THE HELL OUT OF IT ITS SO GOOD. Thinking about it now, Yuri could fit that category if we used that trope on her.
Hmm then I might edit it a bit more since I'm deciding to edit some of the past chapters. Also Jalkyrie Vones and Sonika (oh god I just imagined something cursed) Malvato is the best ship change my mind
I'm gonna make Monika's fan club be more of a problem for Ryota this arc, just gonna try and figure out how
Thanks for the review my dude, seriously appreciate it a lot!
Anyways, thanks to all who reviewed and followed last chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed this one and had a great holiday! See y'all in the next.