-17:53 HRS. Room 1-1, Day 77-

Alex filled Houki's cup with Iced tea as they began talking. While they were at it, he pulled something out of one of his pouches, to reveal an earpiece. He was tapping something on it after putting it on. Charlotte takes notices of this and asks him.

"Alex, what are you doing?" She asks.

"Just linking this thing on my ear to the interface..." Alex muttered as he looks at the screen on the interface mounted on his wrist.

"LINKING..."

"COMM UNIT LINKED... CAMERA LINKED... RECORDING START..."

"All right, it's recording." He muttered further as he confirms the message on his interface.

"What's recording?" Rin asked.

"If We're gonna do this, Pretty much the boys back home will ask me to file in my report. Still have to prove to the brass that I'm not slacking around. I... sure hope it won't make it more uncomfortable for you guys." Alex started.

"N-No... Alex. We understand. It's your duties." Houki calmed through.

"All right. Look, the tournament's in a few months. I know that some of you at class are hoping for me to join. I mean sure, I can compete but... it's hardly gonna happen. I've already been told that there were previous attacks at the IS academy. Is this true?"

Houki was the one to speak up. "Y-Yes, Alex. It's true."

"When was the first one?"

"Seven months ago. It was a class-league tournament." She spoke, leaving the officer to acknowledge.

"Search: Secuity Camera and Observation feeds, All arenas, dated seven months ago." Alex commanded through the PC. With the help of his IS on standby and with Chifuyu's files provided, he was able to search through security camera feeds from before. With the computer recognizing the voice command, The screen started to scroll through the video files. A few seconds later, the scrolling stopped to see a gallery of security videos- All recorded seven months ago.

"All right... There." Alex said as he pointed out a panel that showed an Unknown IS- the one that they first encountered, playing a portion of it. Initially, It showed Ichika and Rin engaging the said IS.

"Fields... how were you able to access these files through the main screen?" Laura asked, surprised that he was able to access security feeds through the main screen of the classroom. Normally, teachers and instructors were able to access the main screen for lessons.

Alex raised his left arm for the girls to show the Desert-clad wrist mounted interface. "You see this wrist mount here? It's my IS when it's on standby." The girls could only stare in awe at the capabilities of his IS. Not a single unit can take note of such.

"...How?"

"This IS here's not just for show when it's on standby. It kinda acts as an interface so that I can check what's up. And with the files that Chifuyu provided me, I was able to access through these things." Alex answered, showing the wrist panel.

"All right, Houki... Remember this?"

Houki looked up the screen to recognize the IS. She gulped for a bit as she nodded. "Yes... that thing attacked the three of us during one of the competitions here." She spoke.

"Three of you?" He asked.

"I... I was one of the people who first encountered this IS, Alex." Rin spoke up.

"Who else?"

"...Ichika." Cecilia spoke up next.

"What about you, Cecilia?" he asked.

"I-I was locked in with Orimura-sensei and Yamada-sensei when it happened. I wasn't able to do anything for a while." She answered.

"For a while?"

"I managed to follow Houki out of the observation area." Cecilia answered.

"How did she- Ah, to hell with it. Let's just start from the beginning." Alex sputtered out. "All right, you guys. Tell me what happened."

"It all started during that competition. Class-leagues. The ones who fought first were Ichika and Rin. Everything was all right at first, but it all went down when that thing pierced the arena's deflection shield. After that, everyone was evacuated out of the area, and the whole thing was on Lockdown." Houki started.

"And everything hits the fan afterwards." Alex summarised.

"Something like that. Almost..." Houki spoke further.

"How was it hit?"

"What was hit, Alex?" She asked.

"...The deflection shield, Houki."

"I... I don't know how. All we knew is that every time that the arenas are used, the Deflection shields are always at Optimal capacity."

"So that the damn thing cannot be damaged inside and out?"

"Yes, Alex. Even an IS couldn't be able to penetrate that in one strike!" She answered.

"Even an IS, huh?" He muttered and looked at the footage as it plays. As he looked at the the scene on how did it barge into the arena, something clicked inside his mind. The beam struck first before the Unidentified IS showed up.

"Hold on... Rewind Footage, Twelve seconds." Alex commanded through the screen, rewinding the same scene again and again.

"Decrease Speed to 0.50... Increase Details at 1080p..."

"Fields, where are you getting at?" Laura asked.

Alex studied the footage carefully to confirm his findings. "Houki, you told me that the deflector shields are at optimal capacity, right?" He asked.

"Yes... Why?"

"Has anyone struck the Deflector shields before?"

"I... I did once. I think." Cecilia spoke up.

"When?"

"I think it was during that time when I fought Ichika for the title of class representative. But he was moving fast during the time!"

"Specifics, Cecilia. When was this?" He asked furthermore.

"A-About Eight months ago!" She stammered.

"Thanks. Search: Security Camera and Observation Feeds, Dated Eight months from today, ID Recognition: Cecilia Alcott..." Alex commanded as he sets aside the first footage for the next one and found what he sought. It was Cecilia fighting against Ichika. The latter at what they call as the second shift of the IS. Cecilia, on the other hand, fights back and aims her beam rifle at Ichika, only to miss and hit the Deflector shields.

"There." Alex pointed out that very scene and turned to Cecilia. "Cecilia, that beam rifle of yours... was that at Maximum power during the time?" He asked.

"I-I think so. But why did you ask about the time when I fought Ichika for the Class representative? I don't think it makes much sense." Cecilia spoke out.

"Cecilia, the reason why I asked for that very moment from you is because I want to see how the shields were impacted. Houki told us that even an IS couldn't have penetrated that damn thing." He answered. She went silent afterwards.

Alex could only watch and observe the impacts of the projectiles at the deflector shields. Cecilia's shots did not even damage the thing, only to disperse and scatter the shots, but the other hand pierced through like a hot knife through butter.

"Well... whatever stuff that IS Ichika and Rin fought, they're off the charts." He muttered.

"What do you mean?" Houki and Rin asked.

"If Alcott- Heck, if any of you guys fired at Maximum power, Whatever restrictions that damn treaty enforce would stop an IS from leveling an area into a warzone. To further strain that statement, Those stuff that the IS those two fought... It's way off the treaty."

Laura's blood froze as she knew what Alex meant. "Fields... you don't mean...?"

"It's all black market. I've seen this before with those Sons-of-Bitches that I've arrested back home." He grimaced. Everyone went silent when he switched to the footage of the unknown IS, Zooming in on its armaments. After his previous encounters with IS units back in LA, he was able to recognize the arsenal.

"Remember that thing that happened on the Port of LA? What we've found were similar to those things. At first, I Didn't know what were those things were. But after filling us in by Natasha Fairs, We've later found out that those were Black Market Material being sold. Same goes for the ones we've discovered during an arrest when I was called back." Alex explained.

"Did any of you caught a bead on who it was?"

Houki and Rin's expressions turned sour when they heard the question, with Rin remembering something off it.

"Rin! Don't you think that thing acts more machine-like?" Ichika asked.

"What the heck do you mean? They are machines!" Rin tersed back.

"No! What I meant was it acts as a machine!"

"No..."

"How come? Did the pilot make an escape or something? Surely that's impossible considering the security of that place! How were you able to take it out?"

"Call it stupid, Alex. But Ichika told me to fire my Dragon Cannons at him." Rin snorted.

"And?"

"He charged at the IS with the Cannons behind his back. And took down the IS with it. Or so we thought. It gave one hell of a fight before coming down." She continued.

"But when you analyzed the movements and saw the remains after it..."

"Alex... there was no pilot when we encountered it." Rin answered, surprising the officer.

"...How?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Alex. We don't know either. We thought it was even impossible." Houki added, causing more silence among the room.

"...Do you think that there will be more of them?" Charlotte asked him.

"...God knows... It'll be a total shit-storm if it happens... If it does, we need to do what we can before it gets out of hand." He grimaced before turning back to the girls.

"There was one more incident like that that we have encountered, Alex." Houki brought up.

"That would be...?"

"The Silver Gospel." She spoke the last phrase as sour as she could make it up to be. She gritted her teeth as she remembers the incident.

"What happened?"

"It was four months ago... We were just having fun on Seaside beach. Until my sister came along and gave me the Akatsubaki." She started out.

"...Okay..." Alex pressed on for her to continue forward.

"Afterwards, we've received word about a 3rd-generation IS that went loose from its test facilities. All I knew is that it was developed by America and Israel and it went haywire somewhere in the pacific. Turned out that it was that IS." Houki narrated.

"How did the academy respond to this?"

"The higher-ups thought that it would be best to send us to contain the threat." Charlotte spoke this time. Alex wasn't surprised about the matter, considering the obvious. One, the responding team consisted of Personal IS users.

Two, is that they are actually near the Area.

"All right, what happened afterwards?"

Houki slightly trembled. "That IS was confirmed a light bombardment unit. Moving too fast... It wasn't easy, but it was taken down in the end. We were told just to disable the thing, but not to destroy it." Alex could only nod in understanding, but he noticed that she was trembling more as she lowered her head.

"...We could've lost a life or two..." She spoke, gritting her teeth.

"...Who?"

"Ichika..."

"Why? What happened?"

"While we were encountering that damn IS, A poaching vessel was in the area. Ichika wanted to rescue them but I said otherwise..." She spoke.

Alex became silent as he hears her story. "Throughout our quarreling, the IS targeted me and fired... And Ichika shielded me from the fire... We had to get him out of there..." She finished...

As she finishes her story, Alex noticed what was going on with her. She was trembling and on the verge of tearing up. He has what he needs to hear. The wise thing to do was to Stop the recording. He nodded as his interface lets out a message:

"RECORDING FINISHED... FILE SAVED..."

Afterwards, He walked closer to Houki to console and comfort, looking that she really was tearing up. "It was because of me... If only we hadn't quarrelled... Ichika could never have been sho-"

"That's enough, Houki... That's enough... What mattered there is that you've saved Ichika out there... and Ichika is still with us, Alive and breathing." He comforted as he patted her on the back.

"I... I did?" She asks him as she wipes her tears as she looks at him.

"Yeah... Don't worry, Houki... Trust me. You did. I know a lifesaver when I see one." He assured as he grabs the bottle and pours her another cup.

"Come on, Houki... You could use a drink, real bad."

She nodded as she drinks another one. "Thank you, Alex... I really needed that."

While the scene unfolds, Charlotte could only watch as Alex comforts Houki. She couldn't help but smile at the sheer dedication on his duties and his own sense of humanity. Laura joined in as well.

"Fields is... something, is he?" Laura asked her.

"Oui... He sure is... It's admirable..." Charlotte swooned at the moment. The longer she looked at him, she sensed something different. As he conversed with Houki, she looks at his eyes. While concern and comfort for the other person showed, she couldn't help as well but to sense something else. She could sense some guilt and regret in the process. It was not as much, but the look in his eyes say such. She couldn't help but feel concern as her smile faded away.

"Laura..."

"What is it?"

"How do you... comfort someone who went through so much pain?" She asks. Leaving Laura in surprise.

The German representative wasn't expecting her friend to ask such question, but when she looks at her, Though she may be wrong, but there is a small understanding when Charlotte looked at Alex.

She could only sigh as she tries to give an answer. "I don't know, mein freund. But I can say this. It's never going to be easy..."

Charlotte was disheartened by the answer but at some point, Laura was right... It was not going to be easy for her to help Alex.

"I see..."

"Why did you ask?"

"It's... It's nothing."

Alex was finished and taps a few buttons at his interface. "All right girls, this is what I need. Thanks... Let's call it a day. Get some rest and see you guys tomorrow.

The girls nodded and left the room. Alex was the last to leave, making sure that there were no mess left on the room and left the latter before he came in.

-20:00 HRS. Dormitories-

Ichika was on his way to his room or it seems like such. While he was at it, Something lingered on his mind as he walked through the halls.

-Several Weeks Ago-

Ichika was out and about outside the academy, taking a stroll when a small girl blocked her way.

"Who are you?" He asked.

The girl responded with a sinister smile. "You can call me... Madoka Orimura!"

"What are you doing here? What do you want from me?"

"I want you... to DIE!"

-Present-

That moment never left his mind. And thankfully, Alex and Laura were there to stop the girl from killing him. But one thing that lingered on his mind. Madoka Orimura. A sister? He never knew he had another sister besides Chifuyu.

But why did she come after him? Why he didn't know about her? Is she even his sister? Was there even on to begin with?

All of those questions ran into his mind and wanted to speak to Chifuyu about it. And speak of the devil, she walked into the hall. It was his time to ask.

"Chifuyu-Nee."

She stopped for a bit to scold him. "How many times do I have to say it? It's Orimura-Sensei." She scolded.

"There's something I need to ask you... It's about our family." He started. Without turning around, she went silent and listened to him.

"Chifuyu-Nee, Do you think there's something more than our family than just the two of us?" He asked. She turned her head slightly as she listens to it.

"...Like a little sister or something?"

She turns around to speak. "Ichika, you're my only family. No one more, No one else..." She deadpanned before walking away. He was getting more confused by it the moment she answered.

Little did they know, Someone was eavesdropping.

-21:00 HRS, Room 1027, Alex's Dorm-

Alex was finishing his report and making the video transcript of the conversation that they had. He decides to take a break for a moment and get himself some coffee. He sighed in relief as the warmth and taste of the latter coursed through him.

"Chifuyu-Nee, Do you think there's something more than our family than just the two of us?"

"...Like a little sister or something?"

"Ichika, you're my only family. No one more, No one else..."

"Have some skeletons in your closet, Chifuyu?" He contemplated on what he heard from them.

He pulls out his phone and calls the one person that helped him out since this started.

"Alex? What's wrong?" Natasha asked.

"I'm fine, Natasha. Just needed help with something." Alex assured.

"Hit me with it."

"Can you find me any records of Autumn?" He asked.

"That's it?"

"...and Madoka Orimura?"

"Um... Sure. It'll try to find some through LAPD's Records. and ours as well. You know it'll take some time." She reminded.

"I know. How long do you think it would take?"

"Usually, it's a Day or two. Probably less if we're lucky."

"I'll take that chance. Thanks."

"Alex, I'll still need that report of yours." She reminded further.

"Yeah, I got it. I'm almost done. And... Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Still no leads?" Alex asked.

"Sorry, Alex... No leads." Natasha sighed, leaving Alex dead silent.

"Alex... I know that this means a lot to you, but it's been five years already. Your dad's killer could be anywhere by now."

Alex was still silent on the other side.

"We'll find him, Alex. I promise. And when we do..."

"I'm gonna make that son of a bitch pay for what he did." Alex finished her sentence.

"And I'll make sure you get to do it personally."

"Right... I'll uh... finish and send in that report." He understood before ending the call. As if it was right on schedule, someone was knocking on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Ichika, Alex."

"Come on in. Door's Open." He called in, the other opening the door and the teen coming in to the room.

"So... how can I help at this time of night?" Alex asked him.

"Alex... when you were on duty, do you look at security feeds from time to time?" He asked.

Alex was aware of what's going to be asked, and pretended to be curious when Ichika asks what he does at the force. "Only when the situation calls for it, yeah. Gathering evidence, Hostage situations, you name it. Why?"

"Did you say gathering evidence?"

"Yup."

Ichika felt a sense of relief on the last part and decides to muster up and ask one more question.

"Is it okay to ask something?"

Alex drops the act and gets straight to the point. "It's about what happened several weeks ago, is it?" He deadpanned, surprising Ichika.

"H-How did you know that?"

"Pure coincidence that I've heard your talk with your sister, boy. I've got ears, you know." He deadpanned.

"...I want to see that footage. The one before you and Laura saved me." Ichika demanded. Looking at him, he was really serious. Alex got up from his seat and approached him.

"What made you so Gung-Ho look at that night? And why now?" He asked.

"I just wanted to see... and it could help the both of us out." Ichika reasoned, making Alex contemplate. He looks at his laptop and phone and was in deep thought.

"We might go nowhere if I don't take this..." He thought to himself.

"All right, Ichika. I'll bite. Wait for me outside. I just need to grab a couple of things." Alex commanded. Ichika nodded as he went outside. All that Alex needed for now is his comm unit, his gun and equipment. A few minutes later, he went outside to meet up with Ichika, only donning a grey T-shirt, blue slacks, and a kevlar vest.

"Why the vest, Alex?" Ichika asked, confused and at the same time, unnerved with the vest that Alex wore.

"It's better this way. You'll never know. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time." Alex reasoned out.

Ichika gulped at the last part. "R-Right... Anyway, I want to see that footage again."

"If you say so."

-21:24 HRS. Room 1-1-

"I don't know what made you so jumped up about this... but if you think it'll help the two of us, fine." Alex said as he starts up the screen on the front of the classroom. He pressed several buttons on his wrist interface to link up with the screen and to record whatever's coming next.

"Search: Security camera database, Dated Six weeks ago." He commanded and scrolled through the videos, finding the ones that they need.

"After hearing you two, I've took the freedom of asking any records of her name on LAPD's records, heck even on Interpol if needed to." Alex started out.

"You did all that?" Ichika asked him.

"She might pull out records from God knows where, but it's worth a shot. Though it's gonna take a while, we need whatever things to support the search. Tell me, were you able to get a good look at the person?"

Ichika started out. "I did, Alex... I thought I was dreaming at first."

"Until she fires a gun at you." Alex shrugged.

"That aside, I couldn't believe it at first. She looks just like Chifuyu-nee, but much... smaller." Ichika described. Alex could only blink for a few moments while searching through the footages.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure of it, Alex. I know what I've seen." Ichika defended.

He continues to scroll until they found what they have been looking for. "There!" He pointed out, prompting Alex to stop. It was one row of the footages during that night. He pointed at one footage to play that showed most of the incident unfolding. The moment Alex saw the girl, it was at that moment that he was convinced.

"Stop Footage." He commanded, making sure that the image is on record. He did it with the rest of the footage that they have found, making sure that every image showed the girl's appearance. The resemblance between Chifuyu and her was disturbingly similar.

"Ichika... Are you sure this is her?" Alex asked him.

"She calls herself as Madoka Orimura... So yeah... It's her." Ichika answered. Alex has enough intel to support. He looks at the footage showing the girl one more time as if it was drawn to him. In a moment's notice after he ends the recording, sharp pain pierced his mind and his ears started ringing.

"Aaagh!"

It was a flashback... Faint sounds of gunfire lingered all over. He was reaching out to save someone injured... a soldier. All of the sudden, a girl's silhouette kicked him and and fired a shot at him, killing her victim. He was seeing himself screaming in anger, cursing at the girl while he was being restrained. Behind her were three more silhouettes, smiling, mocking him.

The next flashback showed several corpses of soldiers, killed by the four that stood in front of him. The first silhouette showed an evil smirk on her face and approached Alex, while the other three stood watch. The last thing that the flashback showed in his mind was the girl pointing her gun at him.

"Aaahhh!" The pain in his mind was sharp enough it causes him to groan and collapse to his knees. He grasped his temple to make the pain go away but it didn't leave. It became worse as if there was a blade slowly piercing his brain.

"Alex!"

Ichika yelled as he hurried and shut the screen down, turning it off. He came to Alex's aid after collapsing to his knees. "Alex, what happened?!"

"I'm fine... Just... Just shut the damn thing off and get me out of here..." He growled. He felt that he was losing himself after seeing the girl's image, and he was trying to fight it as he tries to stand up. The only thing that Ichika could do to help was support-carry him to the dorm.

"Alex... what did you saw?" Ichika asked whily carrying him out.

-22:00 HRS. Dormitories-

*Knocking*

"Ichika? Are you there? Ichika?" Charlotte asked. The door opened only to see Houki in her yukata.

"Charlotte?"

"Ah, Houki. Have you seen Ichika around?" She asked. Houki just shook her head.

"No. I haven't seen him in a while. He was here an hour and a half ago, last time I checked."

"Eh? Where could've he gone off to this time of night? I was going to ask if he wants to join us for dinner." Charlotte wondered.

"Oh? Who's joining in?"

"Rin and Cecilia. Laura slept in early, I'm afraid."

"Well... I suppose I can join in for a while." Houki sighed out before looking at the hallway to see the two boys.

"Wait... Is that Ichika? And Alex?!" Houki spotted out, alarmed at the scene as she sees Ichika carrying Alex while the latter still clutching his head. Charlotte turned around to see them and rushed to the scene. Houki followed suit.

"What happened?!" Houki asked Ichika.

"I don't know! I was telling Alex who I saw the night I was almost shot. When he saw what happened during that night, he just collapsed!" Ichika explained. Charlotte helped him support Alex as they carry him back to the dorm. When she caught a glimpse of his face, something disturbed her deeply.

The look on his eyes tell her that he saw something more horrendous and he was beginning to lose it. His face twisted into a pained sneer that made her blood froze, even Houki saw this and she was deeply disturbed by it.

"A-Alex?"

"I'm... fine... Just a bad headache, is all." He gutted out, trying to calm the situation down as he fixes himself up. The pain still lingered but it wasn't as much as before.

"Are... Are you sure, Alex?" Houki asked.

"We can get you something to eat!" Charlotte pleaded.

"Guys... I'm all right. Don't worry. It's just a bad migraine." Alex assured her. "Look. Ichika just helped me with something regarding about that night. If she's after him, we needed to ID her."

"Oh... I see." Houki understood. "Well that's no excuse on pushing yourself too hard, Alex! There is always another day!" She scolded. "And you! Was it your idea to drag Alex to work again?!" She snapped at Ichika.

"Wa-Wait! It wasn't me! Alex spoke to me first!" He defended.

"Ah shut it, Ichika. We've got class tomorrow. Just get your butts back to your rooms before curfew." Alex shrugged off.

"All right. We can still get dinner. You can join us if you want." Houki offered.

"I think I'll pass. I'm just gonna turn in for the night." Alex declined.

"If you say so. I think you needed the rest this time." Houki reprimanded before going back to her room. Ichika followed suit. Alex staggered towards his room before Charlotte stopped him. She was pouting at him.

"Same goes for you, Charlotte." He retorted while trying to get around her.

"No."

"I said I'm fine." He persisted, so did she.

"And I said no."

"Come on... Don't give me that, Charlotte..." Alex groaned.

"You really are a stubborn person, are you?" She muttered. Still looking at him while staggering to the room, she decided to help him to his room, support-carrying him.

"What- Wait! What are you- Hey! Ow! Hey!" Alex stammered as she carries and helps him to his room.

"Stop making a fuss! How is staggering to your room considered as fine?!" She pouted.

"Y-You tugging me a bit too hard, don't you think?"

"N-No I'm not! Alex, you pervert!"

-22:10 HRS. Room 1027, Alex's Room-

He removed every piece of equipment attached to his person and took some painkillers to numb the pain. A few moments later, he felt relief as the pain went away. He turns to her to see her sitting down on his bed, fidgeting as she looked down.

"Alex, please... I don't like it when I see you like this. Are you really okay?" She asks, mustering the courage, standing up to look at him.

Alex was still stunned that someone would be so concerned at him. It sparked some questions in his mind. No one was this concerned about him. He sighed as he lowers his head.

"I'm all right... It's just a migraine, that's all. Nothing bad... I promise."

"...You sure?"

"Yeah... I'm sure. Sorry if I made a scene."

Charlotte could only sigh as he assures her. "You won't be so stubborn?"

He rolls his eyes as she asks her that. "Fine, I'll admit. I can't promise you that."

"I knew it..."

"You know I can't lie to you, Charlotte." He smirked.

"H-Huh?" She stammered, blushing.

"Charlotte... I can't lie to you. I know that you'll see me as a stubborn person. But I have to do these things. I... I just hope you understand that." Alex reasoned out.

"I do, Alex... It's just scary seeing you like that. What did you see?" She asked. He felt that it was right to tell her what he found.

"It's that... girl that we stopped from killing Ichika... Something about her... It... It doesn't feel right. It felt as if something went awfully wrong, and I can't remember it." He sputtered out.

"You mean... the girl that we fought in the festival?"

"And after it, yeah... Something didn't feel right. It had just... struck me unlike before. But Why now?"

Charlotte needed to steer him out of that memory and remembered what he did earlier when he consoled Houki.

"Those things you said about Houki... Is it true?" She asked.

"About what?"

"Her being a Lifesaver. Did you mean all of that?"

Alex understood what she meant afterwards and replied with a nod. "Yeah... Yeah, Charlotte. I meant that."

"Why did you say it?" She asked sincerely. A long pause lingered between them as she asked the question, leaving him to widen his eyes. He closes them for a moment and sighed as he walked towards her. Charlotte looks at him, only to see the same look in his eye again-Dedication but at the same time, Sorrow and Guilt.

"Charlotte... One of the most relieving moments is to save someone you'd care about the most. I saw that in Houki. She cares for Ichika as much as you would... Or anyone for that matter. And the fact that you were unable to do that... It was unbearable beyond measure... You couldn't describe the pain it strikes you when it happens." He reasoned.

Charlotte's eyes widen as she realized what he meant. And as much as it hurts her, she remembers a memory of that feeling.

"...Mama..."

It was the day that her mother died.

"Pardon?"

"...It was just like what happened to my mother. She was gravely ill. I couldn't help her. I couldn't save her. I still remember how it felt." She sniffled as she fights back the tears.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom... I know how it feels to lose a parent." He comforted her as he wipes a tear off. She was surprised by the gesture, only for him to look away blushing.

"Have you?"

"Lost both of them. Mom died of sickness when I was young, but Dad got killed on duty before I got out of High school... It's been five years but... Been hunting his killer ever since." Alex opened up.

"Is it why you signed up?" She asked. He paused for a moment and responded with a nod without looking.

"It was my personal reason the moment I was able to sign up, yeah."

"But... If that happened, what will you do after?"

Alex went silent afterwards... He never really gave it a thought. It was going to be a question that he'll ask himself sooner or later but no one asked him that outright. He could only provide an unsure answer.

"I don't know..." He lowered his head. "I... should file in my report for the night." He resumed, only to be grabbed by the arm.

"Can't it wait? You've worked hard enough for one day." She asked.

"Charlotte, come on."

"Just this night, please?" She pleaded. Knowing her for quite some time, she won't stop. The only thing he could do is to follow.

"All right. Just for tonight." He admitted, feeling woozy. "Come to think of it... I am Kinda... tired..." He slurred out, giving into exhaustion. She gently catches him before he hits face first to the ground.

"It's okay... I got you..." She whispered as she helps him to rest his head on her lap.

He slowly opens his eyes to see her blushing face above his. He looked away as he returns the blush. "You didn't need to do that, y'know..." He slurred.

"I-It's only for tonight... Now get some rest."

"...right."

Exhaustion takes over him as he closes his eyes and sleeps. For once, comfort took over for him. Whatever reason Charlotte had in mind to do this, he did not know. But it had been a while since he had a good night's sleep. Nonetheless, exhaustion and comfort took over him as he close his eyes.

Charlotte could only smile as a peaceful sleep was given to him, and became flustered as she realizes what she was doing. She had Officer Alex Fields, resting on her lap.

"I can't stop blushing... Wh-Why am I blushing about this?" She thought to herself.

-04:00 HRS. Room 2017, Alex's Room, Day 78-

Four in the Morning. Alex slowly opened his eyes as he hears his alarm beeping on his phone. He looked around to see that Charlotte must have left during the night. Since a long time, He felt as if every knots at his back were straightened out, coming from a well-earned rest last night. For him it was quite peaceful.

He prepares his morning coffee. Extra-strong, just like he used to take back home. While doing the latter, he sees a small bento on the countertop with a note on it. He opens it to see the message.

"We had some to spare. Please eat up when you see this."

A small smile formed on his face as he appreciated the gesture. "Thanks guys."

As he takes his breakfast, he opens up his laptop and finishes his report, Updating recent info. It took him half an hour to finish and update. The written reports were done. All he waited for is the records to upload on his laptop.

"This'll take some time."

Once he finishes breakfast, he washes the bento box and placed it at the side to dry and goes to the bathroom to freshen up. He dons another uniform and checks his equipment to see that everything is in place. Phone's charged, Radio's good, Gun's loaded and on safe. He takes one look at the mirror to see little signs of exhaustion this time.

"No nightmares that night, huh?" He said to his own reflection as he sighed in relief. "Time for a morning patrol, I suppose."

Before he goes out the room, he checks his laptop one more time to see an message popped up on its screen.

"REPORT UPDATED AND SAVED. SEND?"

He dragged the cursor to the yes option and clicked the button before leaving the room. He made sure that after the report is sent, the laptop was set to shutdown fifteen minutes after being unused.

"SENDING..."

"REPORT SENT."