END GAME

Chapter 18: Terrors in the Night

The police station was quiet on the twenty-fourth, with tense silence filling the air. Every sound seemed too loud when it broke the fragile silence. It seemed like everyone was glancing over their shoulders, wary despite the fact that they were inside and surrounded by other armed officers.

They must have thought that Mina and Nac just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. With Nanaba dead, the situation suddenly came into focus. Someone carried a vendetta against the police force. Jean would not be showing up in the station, certainly not today, and probably not for the next week.

Eren sat at Levi's desk, next to owner of the desk, who was leaning back in his chair, scanning papers with his green eyes. I should probably be doing something. The papers were sitting in front of him, waiting to be read. The only problem was that he just couldn't bring himself to pick the papers up, to read the words printed on the pages.

Instead he stared numbly at the pages in his hands, wondering why he had even bothered to show up today if he wasn't going to do anything. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was simply that he couldn't. He was numb. It was similar to how it was when his mother had died, but not quite as crippling. He hadn't cried since the day prior, when Levi had let him cry on his shoulder till he could finally stop.

Eren crinkled the edge of the top page, his brown eyes fixed blankly on the top of the page. I need to read. Brown eyes slowly inched downwards on the page towards the information typed out. Name: Vivian Rogers. The kidnapping reports. A small flame of warmth flickered to life in Eren's chest, warming him a bit. Levi must have taken the papers on Marco and Nanaba knowing that Eren probably wouldn't have been able to handle reading those at the current time.

He flipped a page back and began to skim through the contents of the papers that contained information on Vivian Rogers and Stephan Johnson, ages nine and six respectively. The report was exactly like the others concerning the kidnapped children. The children went missing sometime during the night or day when the parents were either out of the house or everyone was asleep. No one saw anything and no one heard anything.

Any cameras that might have caught footage of the kidnappers had been disconnected, wiped, or had its batteries discreetly replaced within hours or minutes of the crime. The typical red slash was on the wall of each child's room. Signs of struggle at both of the scenes were just as minimal as the rest: one vase knocked onto the carpeted floor in Vivian's room and a pile of books scattered about in Stephan's.

The chances of most of these kids willingly going with the kidnappers is slim. Could they be drugging the kids? Chloroform would be the most likely option. Using hospital anesthetics would be noticed sooner or later, not to mention the side effects some of the kids could have had to them. But then that raises the question of the escape vehicle. Not to mention how the bloody hell they get the kids out of a locked house from the second floor with only a window to escape from.

Half the time those windows don't even have trees nearby. It's almost like… it's almost like they jump straight out the window. But how could they do that with an unconscious child? But if that's the case, they would also need a way to get in the room. None of the doors ever appear to have been opened and none of the alarm systems have ever been tripped.

The gears of his mind kept turning, making their way to a thought that chilled Eren to his bones. They could be climbing the roofs at night. That or they're entering by climbing trees in another room. The parents' bedroom, a sibling's room even. And no one ever notices. Eren glanced up at Levi, who was staring thoughtfully at the documents in his hands. "Levi." The man glanced over at him, his steel gray eyes questioning. "Have you considered the possibility that the kidnappers are going over roofs or through other rooms in the house?"

"… No. I hadn't considered that." Levi sighed and brought a hand up to massage his temples, his brow clenching in thought. "We could send a team to search the roofs but I doubt we'd find anything. Even if the most we get is a shoe print, we still have no suspects to match the print with. Considering no prints have been left at the scenes, I doubt the kidnappers are going without gloves."

Eren shrugged and tapped the papers idly, his fingers finding a rhythm after a few moments. "It was just a thought. Oh… the other day you were asking Petra for maps. Why?"

Levi glanced up and set the papers on his legs. "Hanji found some dirt on Nac's body. When analyzed she found that it contained sediments consistent with Adam's River. I was going to see if the locations formed a sort of overlap or empty space where the Titan's headquarters might be located. I had just started yesterday when we were called out."

Eren picked at the edges of the papers he was holding, tearing the edges slightly. "Ah, that makes sense now. I was wondering why you needed more maps." Levi nodded and then sat upright, tossing the papers onto the desk. A sigh escaped his lips, exasperated and tired. "I've compiled a list of churches that contain depictions of weeping angels. There's a list for each division, although we'll probably only need the one for Maria Division. If you're done with those papers we can start narrowing the search down."

No further encouragement was needed for Eren to drop the papers onto Levi's desk and stand. "Let's get started." The corners of Levi's mouth quirked upwards slightly as he passed Eren a marker and he shook his head at the emerald eyed boy. "You're going to finish those later." Eren scoffed and waved the words off as he pulled two more new and unused maps. They had gotten to the point where extra maps were stacked in a box beside Levi's desk so that time could be saved.

Tacks were pressed into the corners to pin it into place. The cap came off the marker with a pop and slid onto the other end with a soft, muted click. "Where shall we start first?"

"Give me a minute," Levi muttered, opening the drawer to his desk and rummaging about before he pulled a small stack of papers out. "We'll start with the Maria Division. First of all, we need to figure out a general idea of the things the location will be around. Obviously, we have weeping angels and churches to begin with."

Eren poked his chin thoughtfully with the end of the marker with the cap. He glanced at the top of the board, where a copy of the poem had been tacked up. "It says 'Listen now as Maria's church bells ring.' That should automatically rule out the other divisions and any churches without bells. It could just be centered on churches with the word 'Maria' in their name." He tapped the map, "There's one nearby. It's called The Light of Maria. I think it's a Presbyterian church."

"Narrowing it down with those two clues is good. Honestly, I think those are the only two left in the poem. 'Four' refers to the latest pattern they're on concerning the murders. As for the mention of a game… that's not their first time mentioning it. The chances of that being a concrete clue are slim to none." Levi flipped through the papers, "I'll have to go back through these and see which ones don't have bells, although most churches usually do."

"Most but not all," Eren said, "So do you want to start calling out locations for me?" Levi nodded and began to recite from the lists. Eren swapped back and forth between markers, red for the ones with Maria in them, blue for those without. Within two hours of surfing the web and outlining, they had narrowed down the range of locations from twenty-three possibilities to a mere five possible locations that fit all the three clues. The Light of Maria; the Catholic Church of Maria; Maria Presbyterian House of Worship; Maria's Guiding Light; the Baptist Church of the Maria Division. The first two were located in Shiganshina while the third, fourth, and fifth were located in the Tama, Sanford, and Bavaria Districts respectively.

Eren had also outlined any location that contained at least two of the clues, marking them with green borders. Altogether, that left them with eleven possible locations, five of which fit the three clues they had extracted. Eren dropped the marker onto the desk and stood back, examining the map. Levi had disappeared outside for a smoke break a couple of minutes ago, leaving Eren to mull over the facts for a few minutes.

A flash of orange caught his eye and he glanced to his right. Petra was walking towards him, Oluo trailing behind her, "Hey Eren!"

"Hey Petra, hey Oluo," Eren greeted in return as the ginger haired woman came to a stop next to him. Oluo stopped right behind her, a strange look on his face. The only way Eren could quite describe the look was that it was one of raw affection. The ash-haired man didn't bother to say hello, instead letting his gaze flicker back and forth between Petra and Eren. "How is the case coming along?" Petra inquired, glancing over at the map. "Have you guys found anything new?"

"Not really," Eren said, gazing at the map. "We have managed to narrow down the location to a maximum of eleven possible locations, with five out of those that fit the three hints we found in the poem. Apparently the Titans are going for churches as their murdering ground this time. Even so… we need patrols and officers to monitor these places, but we have to arrange it with the heads of the police departments in the other three districts. Levi's going to talk with him in a few moments about it."

Petra nodded and leaned back against the desk behind her, amber eyes fixed on the map, her thumbnail picking at her bottom lip as she thought. "Which ones are the five specified locations? Are they the ones in red?" Eren nodded and looked back at the map, trying to see what Petra was seeing.

She must have noticed his glances between her and the board because she smiled at Eren and shook her head. "Oh, no, I don't see anything. I was just making sure. Oluo, you wanna patrol one of those zones with me tonight?" Petra said it without turning around, so she missed Oluo's face lighting up. It was slight, but the excitement in his eyes was visible.

Oh, just tell her already. Wait… that's a little hypocritical considering I can't even do such a thing myself… Well damn. Petra stayed to chat for a few minutes longer before she left, Oluo trailing behind her, almost like they were connected by an invisible string.

His gaze was torn away from the duo when a buzzing started up behind him, startling him slightly. Eren glanced down at the desk and the phone vibrating incessantly on the edge for a few moments before it fell silent. It was his phone. 1 New Text From: Armin Arlert. Eren picked the phone up and opened Armin's text, scanning the contents to see what the blonde wanted.

From Armin Arlert:
Hey Eren, do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Annie and Mikasa are coming.
Received: 10:36 AM, October 24th, 2013

A small smile crossed his face. It would be nice to see Armin and Mikasa again, especially since the time that they had been able to see each other face to face had dropped considerably since the murders had begun. I'm glad he and Annie are doing well. Eren slid the phone open, exposing the keyboard. His fingers flew across the keys for a few seconds before he hit the Send button.

To Armin Arlert:
Sure. What time?
Sent: 10:38 AM, October 24th, 2013

From Armin Arlert:
8 o'clock. Bring some Chinese?
Received: 10:40 AM, October 24th, 2013

To Armin Arlert:
Alright, I'll bring some. See ya then
Sent: 10:43 AM, October 24th, 2013

Eren knocked on the door to Armin's apartment and stood back, waiting for the blonde to answer the door. He sifted the bag of Chinese food from one hand to the other, glancing around the hall. There was a fresh coat on beige paint on the walls but the scribbles on the dark brown edging along the floor were still visible. Some of it looked fresh. Eren would have bet anything that the scribbles were the product of a young child and a crayon or ten.

The door suddenly jerked open, revealing a red-faced Armin. His hair was damp, the wet, golden locks clinging to his face and neck. Even if it was wet it looked longer than usual. Armin opened the door wider and stepped back, smiling with embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't think you'd get here so soon."

Eren shrugged, "Its fine, its fine. At least you're dressed. Although… I'm sure Annie wouldn't mind." The last part was meant to be teasing but he could only muster up a half-hearted smile. Armin flushed anyways, his face resembling the deep crimson bricks that made his building on the outside. The blonde huffed in indignation at Eren, unable to form a response. Armin gave up on formulating a response for Eren, instead waving the brunette in and dashing back to the bathroom to dry his hair.

Eren shook his head as he watched his friend dart off, amusement pulling the corners of his lips up. He stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind him with a quiet click. The apartment was quiet aside from the sound of the hairdryer that Armin was currently utilizing. There was something different about the apartment, something Eren couldn't quite put his finger on. He shrugged the feeling off and went into the kitchen to deposit the food on whatever free space Armin's counters offered.

Instead, he nearly dropped the bag on the floor. The counters were clear. They were completely void of mechanical bits and pieces, clear of nuts and bolts, of wrenches and screwdrivers. It was the first time the kitchen had been completely cleared of the pieces since Armin had first started the 3-Dimensional Maneuvering Gear project nearly two years ago. Eren could hardly believe his eyes. What happened to all of it? Where is he keeping it now?

He set the bag on the counter, the plastic rustling as it settled into place. Surely his backers didn't bail on him… It was strange without the mechanical clutter filling Armin's apartment, especially his kitchen; it felt alien. Eren slowly backed out of the kitchen, determined to ask Armin what the hell was going on. The blonde was still drying his hair, which deterred conversation for a few moments longer. Eren slowly walked over to the couch and sat down, perching on the arm of the couch.

His eyes found the coffee table and examined the things that littered it. Books and even a few magazines littered the coffee table in front of it, messy but familiar. Alongside the National Geographic and astronomer magazines, there was a sports magazine. I'm just going to assume that belongs to Annie. Armin and sports mix about as well as cats and mice: it usually ends it bloodshed.

The hairdryer cut off and various thumps could be heard from the bathroom. The sounds ceased and Armin appeared moments later, his blonde hair completely dried and hanging down to his shoulders, a black hairband in his mouth. Armin stopped at the mouth of the hallway and started pulling his hair back, leaving a chunk of hair to frame each side of his face, the rest going back up into a short, low-hanging ponytail. Eren grinned at Armin, "What, don't you believe in cutting your hair anymore?"

Armin shrugged and stretched his arms out to either side, fingers curling in the air. "I do, but I figured it would be nice to let it grow out a bit." The words might have been smooth but the pink dusting Armin's cheeks gave him away.

"More like Annie thinks it would be nice to let it grow out a bit." The pink flush on Armin's cheeks darkened and the blonde stuck his tongue out at Eren in a childish gesture. Had it been anyone else, Eren would probably have received a middle finger. "Hey Armin… where's all of the stuff for the Maneuvering Gear?"

Armin looked at him in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "Oh, I've moved that back into the guest bedroom. I kind of ran out of room in the kitchen. Plus…" If it was possible, the blush on Armin's face darkened even further. He looked kind of like a tomato with his current coloring.

"Ah," Eren said cheekily, a sly grin on his face. "I take it that Annie managed to persuade you to move it?" Armin opted not to answer. The blonde turned away instead, pretending to fiddle with a potted plant in the corner, something that Mikasa had given him two years ago. Eren chuckled to himself, feeling some of the tension that had been building over the past week or two ease as he laughed.

Knocking on the door brought both of their heads up, their eyes focused on the door. Armin rushed over to open the door, fidgeting with his ponytail as he went. He greeted the people at the door and ushered them in, revealing Annie and Mikasa. Mikasa was by Eren's side in an instant, enveloping him in a hug. "I'm sorry about Marco," she murmured against his head before she pulled away.

Eren nodded but he couldn't seem to say anything. Mikasa sat down in the chair near the end of the couch Eren was at, her fingers absently rubbing the end of the crimson scarf. It's red, just like blood. Eren shuddered at the thought and glanced away.

"Hello Eren." He glanced up, meeting Annie's ice blue eyes. She was standing a few feet away, her hands jammed into the pocket of her white hoodie. Her expression was unreadable but there was something in his eyes. It was something he couldn't quite place, something he had never been able to place with her. He smiled up at her. It was a little forced, but she probably wouldn't notice. "Hello Annie. How have you been?"

Annie gave a slight shrug, "I've been okay. Armin has been showing me the things that I changed since I left." Eren's smile broadened a little and he nodded at Annie's words. She had never been one to flaunt her relationships, even back in college. Eren wasn't even sure if she had been in a relationship during college. It was hard to tell since she was always around Reiner and Bertholdt. "How have you been?"

Eren shook his hand from side to side in a so-so gesture. "Well, it depends on what day you ask me to be honest. With how this case has been going, I've been crazy more often than not." Not to mention depressed, disheartened, furious, horrified, and probably a little traumatized. He wouldn't say that though, not to Armin, not to Mikasa, not to Levi. There was no need to weigh them down with his problems. They had enough of their own.

"Come on guys," Armin called from the kitchen, "The food is going to get cold if you just sit out there and talk all night!"

Eren opened his eyes, his vision swimming and sliding in and out of focus several times before it finally settled for the most part. He was staring up at a ceiling made out of white panels, occasionally interrupted with lights. Most of the lights, that he could see, were burned out or shattered. The scent of dust hung heavily in the air, tickling at his nose and threatening to make him sneeze.

His body ached, like he had just been beaten up or had gone through one hell of a physical workout. Other parts of it felt numb, almost as if they were asleep or even missing. A pounding headache wracked his skull, like he had been hit there with something heavy. He slowly sat up, the muscles in his back and abdomen burning in protest. Something felt off but he couldn't quite place it.

Eren shook his head and glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Black walls, white tiled floor, no doors, and no windows. The room was vacant of furniture and life, excluding him. It was like a large box with no escape, no way out. Eren slowly rose to his feet, both of which felt stiff and uncooperative. He slowly hobbled over to one of the walls and pressed his hand up against the flat black surface.

It was smooth, almost like glass, but who would paint glass? Doing such a thing made no sense. He ran his fingers along it, as high up as he could go and all the way to the floor. There were no seams in the wall to indicate a hidden door. Keeping his hand on the wall he began to stumble forwards, the tips of his fingers grazing the wall.

He reached the corner without finding a single seam on the slick, black surface. He turned and started on the next wall, his eyes focused on the white tiles below his feet in an attempt to keep steady. Do I have a concussion? The thought was clearer than any of the ones that had crossed through his head thus far. The corner was coming closer and still he had yet to find a seam or any flaw at all.

"Eren…" He froze instantly, his body turning to ice at the sound of the voice. It was familiar. Its owner was namable. It should have been impossible because the owner of that voice was dead, wasn't she? "Eren…" Eren slowly turned around, his movements somehow even stiffer than before.

Warm brown eyes drew his green eyes in. Dark chestnut hair framed the woman's hair. Her hands absently smoothed the white sundress she was wearing. A smile was on her face. "Eren…"

Eren took a hesitant step forwards. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing; he didn't dare to believe, "Mom…?" The woman smiled and held out her arms for him. "Eren…" He took a step forward, his eyes fixed firmly upon her face, refusing to look away for fear she would vanish, proving him right. Something red began to trickle down her face, starting at her scalp as a single droplet, slowly slipping down her face.

Eren raised a hand to his mother's face and touched the droplet. The tips of his fingers came away red. It was blood. He looked back up in time to see his mother's eyes roll back in her head as she crumpled to the ground.

A stream of blood poured down from the edge of her hairline, gathering on the floor beneath her head. Blood stained the front of her dress, right along her stomach, turning it a deep, beautiful scarlet. Small lacerations began to blossom across her arms, legs, and face; tiny beads of blood collecting along them. Bruises slowly began to color her smooth, pretty skin. The injuries were the same as the ones she had suffered in the car wreck.

Eren stared at her body in horror, his body trembling uncontrollably. His legs were stiff and uncooperative, frozen to the ground he kneeled upon "Eren…"

He glanced up, looking around the formerly empty room. People stood in a semicircle around him, standing shoulder to shoulder, and all were staring straight at him. Every other person was small, a child. His eyes danced across their faces, recognition slowly filling his mind as he realized who they were: the kidnapped children and the victims from each one of the double homicides. Even Samuel Masters stood amongst them.

Their eyes stared at him, completely blank with something gray discoloring their eyes. They were all garbed in white, the style of their clothes caught somewhere between casual and elegant. "Eren…" No one opened their mouths, yet the word was still audible. He could hear each of their voices, distinct and different, yet he couldn't tell them apart at the same time. They continued to whisper, repeating his name over and over and over again, their lips remaining locked in place. The sound scoured his eardrums, burning its way into his mind and engraving itself there.

A dash of color appeared before him, orange, gold, and red dancing across most of the children. It took a few seconds for him to realize just what it was: fire. He watched, his mouth open in horror, as the flames enveloped the children, the snap of the flames and the sizzle of burning flesh assaulting his ears.

Their hair began to smoke and smolder, their skin began to blacken and char, and their clothes began to fall away in bits of burning white, gray fabric and ash. Skin and muscle sloughed off of them, leaving behind nothing, but skeletons still enveloped in their own personal infernos. Empty eye sockets stared at him, fully exposed mouths grinned at him, bones clacked together as the children swayed.

Some of them did not burn. The children who had never been found, the ones still missing, were still standing, free of the flames.

Red splotches appeared on the adults, covering them, going to specific spots on their bodies. The woman from the first case, Eliza Elliot, stood to his left, the electrical cord tied tight around her pale neck. A scarlet tide poured from Nac's throat, staining his shirt crimson as it spread. Half of Marco's face began to glow as orange flames danced across it, charring the flesh beneath.

They glared at him, their dead eyes blazing with accusation. "Why didn't you save us Eren...? Why...?" Eren tried to pull his foot back a step only to realize he had fallen to his knees. He scrambled backwards as best he could until his back was pressed up against the wall. There was nowhere to go, so he curled his knees up to his chest and hugged them with a tight, white-knuckled death grip.

The apparitions closed in around him, their faces contorted into anger and despair. "Stop..." Eren whispered. His voice was little more than a rasp. He couldn't close his eyes, couldn't cover his ears. It was his fault, his fault for losing the file, for not decrypting it sooner. His fault for not being smart enough…his fault. The apparitions froze. The ones just in front of him parted their ranks, revealing another apparition.

His black hair was matted to his head, a trickle of blood slipping down the side of his face, around his silver-gray and red-rimmed eyes, and down his porcelain face. There was a long, slender blade, a stiletto perhaps, buried hilt-deep into the area where his heart was located. A thick, slow stream of blood pulsed out from around the edges.

Levi stared up at Eren, his storm gray eyes filled with hatred. The scent of lemongrass and blood tickled Eren's nose, so real that it hurt. Levi's voice was a mere whisper, full of agony and disgust. "Why won't you save us Eren? Why…..why didn't you save me?

Eren jolted up into a sitting position, staring blindly into the darkness of his room. His heart pounded in his chest, threatening to beat straight through his ribcage. His breathes came in rapid gasps and his eyes burned with the sting of tears. Uncontrollable tremors wracked his body, induced from the ice-cold terror that filled his entire body. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. There was a freezing hollow point in him, wrapped thick with agony and confusion. His eyes… they were so cold.

He wanted to turn the light on but he didn't want to see the apparitions of the dead that still lingered, fresh on his mind. He gripped his sides and folded over, smashing his face into the blankets on his bed, trying desperately to calm down. Eren wasn't sure how long he sat there, folded over and shaking with tears rushing down his face, before he could finally breathe, before his heart stopped pounding, before the tremors finally passed. All he knew was that a long time passed before he felt calm enough to rise from the bed, his mind focused on two things, one more distinct than the other.

Stumbling and hesitant feet carried him to the kitchen, where he crouched down and reached into one of the cabinets. Bottles clinked together as he pulled one out. It was a bottle of vodka, a gift from someone, although he couldn't remember who. The bottle was small, very much so, but it was some expensive brand known for their high alcohol content. Maybe that would dull things a bit. He sat on the ground and pressed his back up against the cabinets behind him, still trembling slightly.

Fumbling fingers scrabbled at the paper wrapped around the top before one of his nails finally caught it and peeled it away. Shaking hands ripped the glass and wax stopper out, landing somewhere nearby with a quiet thunk. Eren raised the bottle to his lips and drank deep, or as deep as a person could from a small bottle, the clear liquid going down his throat, burning his throat as it went.

He set the bottle on the ground after a couple more small, controlled swallows. A little less than half of the bottle was gone already. It seemed to take eons for the buzz to hit, making everything foggier than before. It wasn't enough to forget. How could it come close to being enough to forgetting that? He could still see them, standing, their bodies pale and cold, and their eyes vacant voids that stared straight through him. He could still see their flesh burning, crumbling, tearing, and splitting. He could still see Levi standing before him. There had been so much hatred within those beautiful silver eyes.

Eren shuddered and picked up the bottle again. He took his time to finish the bottle, feeling the buzz infiltrate his brain and blur his thoughts. The alcohol burned on its way down but it had ceased to be anything but a pleasant burn, a distraction. When the bottle was empty Eren set it to the side and stared at the cabinet in front of him.

His head spun slightly, his thoughts no longer as clear as they should have been. They were still too clear, too sharp, for his taste. He could hear the crackle of flames, smell the thick, sharp scent of blood as it hung heavy in the air, and see those cold gray eyes boring into his own.

A small part of his brain, the rational part, screamed at him that it was just a dream, that it wasn't real. It insisted that Levi would never look at him like that, that Levi wasn't dead. That part of his mind couldn't compare to the irrational majority of his thoughts. The thoughts that insisted that Levi really did hate him and that Levi really was dead. I need to know.

Eren stood slowly, gripping the counter with one hand. He swayed slightly on his feet but he moved anyways. He had the presence of mind to let one hand skim the wall, guiding him through the dark apartment and providing something solid to lean on as he returned to his room. It was still dark, with only the dim light coming through the window and the red gleam of his clock providing light.

There was no point in reading the clock; the numbers kept sliding in and out of focus. He grabbed the first jacket he saw, his keys, and the two things Zoe had given him before he had left the morgue the other day. She had stopped him just before he walked out of the building and pressed a slip of paper and a key into his palms. "Just in case," she had whispered with a wink before shoving him in the direction of the doors that Levi was waiting behind. Eren had looked up the address; it was about ten minutes away on foot. He went to the door without taking another second to think about what he was doing, locking the door behind him.

It was a good thing he had neglected to change into pajamas before going to sleep otherwise it would have been a cold walk to Levi's apartment.

Chapter 18: End

Okay... this chaps a bit later than usual but I can explain. Late last night my computer crashed and gave me the scare of my life; fatal error, blue screen, etc, etc, etc. Couldn't get it started for an hour. Thankfully, it managed to repair whatever happened. Thankfully I keep my stories on a flash drive. Alright, I'm going to keep this short so I can go to bed before the 5th comes around. Thanks go to calleyrose, who looked over the dream scene for a necessary second opinion and some editing~

calleyrose: I live to be evil~ But you already know this. Bah, who needs a sweet ending? Kidding, kidding.
ichiruzuka: What do you mean by that?
TheOtaku2: Haha, that's why it's still good to be in high school! Thank you! I'm happy that you are enjoying it~ Also, calleyrose sends her thanks for Chapter 15.