October. Spooky season.

It was Halloween.

Two weeks prior, just after our midterms ended, Mikitaka and Alice contacted me saying they wanted my help to push Kou and Shouko closer to Nora.

I'm honestly surprised this love square has been going on for so long...

So, under their plan, the six of us went out camping on Halloween. I wish I could've skipped this and went to Shinomiya's place to watch scary movies with her instead, but it can't be helped.

We had just finished checking out an abandoned house that was rumoured to be haunted in Drachma Red.

"Wow, that sucked." Alice said, her hands behind her head.

"Man, I was hoping we would see a ghost." Mikitaka sighed.

"H-how did you guys go through that unfazed... t-that place was way too creepy!" Shouko cried, hugging her arms.

"I've seen worse." Alice shrugged.

Yeah, like Kouji falling off a balcony...

"Even Katsumi-san doesn't seem affected by it!"

Kou seemed completely fine, just like me, Mikitaka, and Alice.

"Huh, that's true. I thought she'd be scared, since she's a klutz." Alice said.

"I was unsettled, but even I know ghosts don't really exist." Kou shrugged. "Umm, Yuki-kun... we're out of the house now, you can let go."

Trailing behind Kou was Nora, who was holding onto her sleeve the entire time.

"O-oh... s-sorry."

Unlike Shouko, he was scared before we even entered inside. That's why he held onto Kou and went through the entire thing with his eyes closed.

"Ueeeeee, the worst part was the spiders! There were so many cobwebs!" Shouko said.

"I think I got some in my mouth at one point..." Kou stuck out her tongue with a grossed out expression.

"Ha ha, Zy would have a field day in there! He loves spiders." Mikitaka laughed.

"I swear that dude is a spidersexual." Shouko scoffed.

"Actually, he has a fear of having sex with spiders. Arachnogenophonia."

Is that really a real term or something he just made up on the spot?

"That's way too specific! And how do you even know that?!"

"The boy's chat gets funky. Ain't that right, Yuuto?"

"Huh...?"

Even though he asked me for confirmation, I haven't read the chat in three days. I put it on silent after Mitsuba started flooding it with eroge CGs to try and convince Yukimura to play one.

Actually, come to think of it, one of the CGs he sent had a girl that looked like my mom in it... what's the chance he wrote it, then?

"You guys are animals..." Shouko deadpanned.

"I agree." Alice nodded her head.

We arrived back at our campsite. Mikitaka took out a portable fridge from his bag and handed it to Nora, who was handling the barbecue.

"How much did that even cost...?"

I stared at the grill Shouko packed in awe.

"He he he, the secret is I didn't buy it." She said with her chest puffed out proudly.

"Someone let you borrow this...?"

"Mhm. Obama-kun really came in clutch!"

Oh, Albert owns it... this explains everything.

"It's good that he let us borrow that. I wouldn't trust meat cooked over an open fire..." Alice grimaced as she took out a cooler of drinks.

"It would probably turn to ash." Shouko laughed as she started chucking firewood in the pit.

"I-I'm not confident about my cooking skills over an open fire either..." Nora laughed nervously.

"How about on a grill?" Kou asked excitedly.

"Eh, umm... this is my first time, b-but I did a lot of research on how to grill for today! So... hopefully I won't burn or overcook anything."

"I'm sure it'll taste good either way if you're cooking it, Yuki-kun!"

Out of us six, Nora was the only person who could cook. That's why he was left in charge of grilling the meats.

"We got steaks, sausages, hamburgers... who brought the veggies?" Mikitaka asked as he was helping Nora prepare the cooking station.

"I did!" Kou raised her hand excitedly. "Tadokoro-san grew these, so they're going to taste amazing!"

She plonked down a plastic bag filled with onions, peppers, and corn on the cob. This is gonna be a good dinner.

"Awesome! I can't wait!" Alice grinned.

"Ehhh... can I have some help please?" Shouko asked as she was twiddling some sticks together.

"What're you trying to do?"

"Start this stupid campfire."

"Let me have a go."

Alice tagged in and started rubbing the sticks together. No fire was starting though.

"Huh... but it works like this in the movies..."

Movies aren't real life, unfortunately.

"Maybe we need some muscle. Kou-chan, Yuu-kun, can any of you two help me out?"

"Coming!"

Kou ran over and tagged in for Alice. She started rubbing the sticks together so hard, they snapped.

"Oh..."

"Our fire starter!" Shouko screamed.

"Geeeeeeee, I'm sorry!" Kou sniffled. "Maybe if we rub our hands together really fast, the heat will create fire!"

Alice and Shouko stared at her emptily.

"No...?"

"No."

I looked over to the cooking station.

"Hey, Nora-san." I said.

"Yeah, Takanori-kun?"

"Can I borrow those matches quickly?"

There were a set of matches laying next to the grill.

"Oh, sure."

Nora handed me them.

"Thanks."

I got up and crouched beside the fireplace.

"When in doubt, cheat to win."

"That sounds really morally dubious, but we don't have any other choice!" Kou exclaimed.

"Yuu-yuu's here to save the day!" Shouko cheered.

"Woah, where'd you get those matches from?" Alice asked.

"I'm a magician." I replied sarcastically and lit one of the matches on fire.

Then, I tossed it into the fireplace, letting the flames smoulder and burn on the wood to create a campfire.

"Ahhh! It's so warm!" Shouko stuck her hands near the fire to warm herself up.

"Finally, we don't have to use these piddly flashlights to see anymore." Alice put away her torch and sat down on a fallen log.

"I'm gonna stay away from the fire before I burn myself!" Kou took one large step back and tripped over the cooler. "Gakku!"

"Even when she tries to be cautious, she still ends up hurting herself..." Mikitaka looked down at Kou with pity. "You okay?"

"Uuuu... I think..." Kou groaned as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head.

"You took a pretty big tumble." Mikitaka extended his hand to help her up.

"I did? It didn't feel that big." Kou grabbed his hand and got up.

Then, her face went red with embarrassment as she realised what she just did: hold hands with Mikitaka.

"Ugeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Uge?"

Upon hearing her weird scream, Mikitaka mimicked it in confusion.

"Eh... ah... oh..."

Kou began panicking after what she had just done. Alice and Shouko were giggling in the background.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard on the way down? You're speaking gibberish."

"I-I'm fine! Toooooootally fine!"

Kou laughed it off and ran away behind Alice in a panic.

This girl could not get anymore obvious, and this boy could not get anymore oblivious...

"Weird."

Mikitaka shrugged and opened the cooler to grab a drink.

"Yo, you guys got alcohol? How?"

I peered inside the cooler. Certainly, there were cans of beer casually sitting next to the soft drinks.

"Fujimura-san has... connections." Alice laughed.

"The good thing about being a gyaru is no one will question me if I do something shady!" Shouko grinned. "Could ya chuck me a can too, Mikitaka-san?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

Mikitaka picked up two cans of beer and gave one to Shouko.

"I'll just stick with juice. I don't wanna wake up hungover." Alice went "bleh" and got a can of lemonade.

Shouko cracked open her beer and drank it.

"Pah! That hits the spot!"

"I know right?" Mikitaka agreed, chugging his beer.

These guys are gonna turn into alcoholics before they're 25...

I picked up a can of cream soda from the cooler and joined everyone else by the campfire.

"While we wait for Nora-chan to cook the food, how about we tell scary stories to each other?" Alice suggested.

"Eh? That sounds fun!" Kou exclaimed.

"Ooh, yes yes yes!" Shouko exclaimed.

"Ha, spooky stories eh? Well, I've got a good one." Mikitaka grinned.

"What is it?" Alice asked. "Do tell!"

"Well, it all happened back in the first semester..."

"The Gacha Curse"

......

It was June, during finals week.

Taiga's revision group was studying at Cafe Yuzu, trying to do last minute revision to prepare for their exams on the next day.

"Those D Class guys got us good... damn it! I think I failed the maths exam already!"

Yukimura tore out a page from his notebook and scrunched it up frustratedly. He then chucked it at Mitsuba, who was trying to do basic algebra.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"Shut up! These stupid circles are gonna do my head in! Whoever invented pi deserves the death penalty!"

"Yukimura-kun, calm down... people are looking at you weirdly."

Noticing that many of the patrons of the cafe were staring at their table, Taiga asked him to calm down.

"Tell them to shove their overpriced coffee up their asses."

Yukimura grunted and started doing math problems again.

"Haa... I wish these two were as good at maths as you were, Yumiko-chan."

In an ironic twist of events, it was Tadokoro who was actually leading today's study session. Due to being the best at math out of these four, Taiga asked if she would help teach them the material, since she was bad at maths too.

"Numbers come naturally to me... that's all."

Tadokoro tried to be humble about it, but she really was a natural genius at numbers. She probably honed this skill while farming, since a lot of complicated math is involved in the growing and yielding process.

"You think you're having a hard time with circles?! I'm over here dying to try and figure out what X is!"

"X is your mom!"

"Wha?! Screw you, Yukimura-san!"

"Make me, you—"

Yukimura was about to use a homophobic insult before stopping himself. Mitsuba began laughing at him.

"Oi, you're too afraid to call me that, aren't you?! Ha ha ha!"

"I'm tryna be mindful about who might actually be homo in this cafe!"

If it already wasn't clear that Yukimura was bad at math, 99% of the customers here were females.

"Don't you mean lesbian?"

"Same damn thing!"

"Pfffffft!"

Mitsuba may be dumb, but Yukimura was dumber.

"Ha? Stop laughing at me, asshole!"

"I'm sorry, but this is too funny! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Mitsuba was now dying in a laughing fit.

"Oi... didn't ya hear me, jackass?!"

Seeing Yukimura on the verge of an outburst, Taiga and Tadokoro quietly distanced themselves away from them.

"I did, I did... ha ha ha!"

"I'm gonna kill you, Mitsuba!"

Yukimura slammed the table, spilling his drink over his notebook. This made Mitsuba laugh even harder.

"Get cucked! A ha ha ha!"

"...son of a!"

Yukimura picked up his soaked book and growled.

In a fit of blind rage, he slapped Mitsuba with the wet book and grabbed him by the collar.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"That was for being a rude little prick and not stopping when I told you not to laugh! You think it's hilarious that I'm more stressed than I was in May, huh? Then it must be hilarious for you to slip on a banana peel, choke on a chopstick, and have Mikazuchi-senpai's yacht ram into you!"

Mitsuba went silent as Yukimura roared at him with the rage of an ogre.

"Yeah, not so funny now, huh?"

He let go of Mitsuba and packed up his stuff.

"I'm leaving. I can't deal with idiots who find joy outta someone else's misery."

Yukimura left. Mitsuba groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Ugh... I didn't know you could get headaches from someone shouting. I think he broke the decimal limit, that guy..."

"A-are you okay, Mitsuba-san...?" Taiga asked timidly.

"I think... I think I'm just gonna head home for today..."

After being abused by Yukimura, Mitsuba didn't want to stay in the cafe anymore.

"I see... take care then."

Mitsuba got up and quietly left the cafe.

Following him was an invisible entity.

As he was walking to the train station, a banana peel suddenly appeared in front of him.

Since Mitsuba was preoccupied scrolling through Leddit on his phone, he wasn't looking where he was going.

Taking one step forward, Mitsuba slipped on the banana peel and flipped forwards onto his back.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

Mitsuba looked behind him to see what he tripped on.

"...seriously? I thought this kind of thing only happened in cartoons."

He sighed and got up.

"Who leaves their rubbish on the floor anyways?! Dirty litterers!"

Getting past this unfortunate accident, Mitsuba headed home on the train.

When he left the train station, he went to their konbini to buy dinner for today.

"Uuu... I don't know what's getting thinner, my waistline or my bank account..."

Mitsuba only had 777 private points left.

......

"Stoooooop!" Kou exclaimed.

"What?" Mikitaka grunted.

"Mitsuba-kun has less points than that!"

Just how broke is this guy...?

"Hey, remember, this is back in June! We were all broke back then! Wait, did you say less—"

Mikitaka then realised what Kou actually said.

"Yes! Mitsuba-kun only has 420 points! He showed me the other day!"

"Wow, I knew that guy was reckless, but to think he's down that bad... not even I went down that far." Shouko grimaced.

"And after all the bonuses we got... how is he poorer than when he was in June?" Alice's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm starting to think this story isn't real." Kou crossed her arms.

Mikitaka looked at all three girls with a deadpan face.

"Girls... this is a made up story. Did you miss the part where I said an "invisible entity" was floating behind him? And how would I even know about this if I wasn't even in Taiga-chan's study group?!"

All three girls looked at each other. Then they looked at Mikitaka.

"You framed this as a real story!" They exclaimed together.

I could hear Nora giggling in the background. Mikitaka sighed.

"Fine, fine, let me clarify! This is based on a true story! There, ya happy now?!"

Annoyed by the girl's misassumptions, he slipped back into his delinquent speech momentarily.

"Yes. Please, continue!" Alice smiled.

"Guh..."

......

After purchasing a pre-made cold soba set, Mitsuba went back to his dorms to eat it.

Mitsuba took a pair of wooden chopsticks out and began to eat his dinner.

Suddenly, someone started knocking on his door.

"Eh? Who could it be at this hour...?"

He got up and went to see who it was.

As he did, the invisible entity quietly made a small incision in Mitsuba's chopsticks left lying on the table.

"H-huh...?"

Upon answering the door, Mitsuba pinched his hand multiple times.

"A... am I dreaming?"

He shook his head and stared dumbfounded by who had visited him.

"Nope~ I came to visit you today, Jun-kun!"

It was Yogen Emica from A Class.

"Oh, getting slapped by Yukimura-san today was so worth it... thank you Gacha Gods!"

Mitsuba was crying tears of joy.

"Could you wait just five minutes? I'm eating dinner right now."

"Oh, sure. Meet me by the docks, 'kay?" Emica smiled cutely at him.

"Aaaaaaah! Sure thing, sure thing!"

Mitsuba hurried to finish eating his soba.

As he slurped down on the noodles like an animal, something hard and woody got stuck in his throat.

"...ku!"

Mitsuba started choking.

Immediately, he spat out his food and slapped his chest multiple times to get the trapped food out.

On his plate was a mess of soba and saliva.

But in the middle of it all, stuck upright in the half chewed, half intact mix of noodles, was the broken end of a chopstick.

Mitsuba blinked.

He looked over to his chopsticks and saw a piece of the end missing.

"Oh... oh no."

Mitsuba covered his mouth in terror.

"I slipped on a banana peel... and choked on a chopstick..."

He realised Yukimura screamed these extremely unlikely scenarios at him during his rage.

And they were coming to life.

The invisible entity giggled, haunting Mitsuba.

"...next is Mikazuchi-senpai's yacht... wait!"

Mitsuba turned back to look at the doorway, where he had met Emica moments earlier.

"She told me to meet her by the docks..."

He began shaking.

"Oh, no... if I go, I'll..."

Despair began to fill his body.

"I'll die..."

......

Mikitaka clapped his hands.

"The end!"

"...eh? Seriously?!" Shouko exclaimed.

"What? You can't leave us on that cliffhanger! Does he go see Yogen-san or not?!" Alice exclaimed.

"If he did, does Mikazuchi-senpai really ram into him?!" Kou exclaimed.

"Your interpretation, ladies. Mitsuba-san has to choose between his life or love. That's the scary part of this story."

I feel like he was trying to put everyone into a romantic mood with his story, but it ended up doing the opposite.

"Knowing that horndog, he probably chose to go to her anyways." Shouko shrugged. "I don't understand what guys see in that bimbo anyways."

"Right? She's so goddamn annoying! She thinks she's better than us just because she's richer... ugh!" Alice huffed. "I don't understand how you can tolerate someone like her, Yuu-kun."

"I'm just used to her teasing. That's all."

I didn't know these two felt so strongly about Emica... this was getting awkward. As such, I changed the subject quickly.

"What even was this "invisible entity" anyways?"

"Oh, it was a ghost haunting Mitsuba-san."

"...I should've seen this coming." I sighed.

"What? I wanted to see ghosts, but I didn't, so instead I incorporated it into my story!"

I think the story would've worked with or without a ghost. Mitsuba's luck is normally that bad anyways.

"Does this ghost have a name at least?"

Mikitaka looked at me squarely in the eyes.

"Kazuraba-san's older brother."

Silence.

Mikitaka tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of his lips were twitching as he tried not to smile proudly at his own dark joke.

Then, Shouko started giggling under her breath. This caused Alice to start giggling too. Kou just sat there in complete shock, her mouth wide open.

"T-that... I shouldn't be laughing, b-but..."

Shouko was trying her best to hold back her laugh, but it was leaking out regardless.

"What does John-san say? "Dat one dere was a vio"? Yeah, that just happened."

Alice struggled even harder than Shouko and began laughing harder.

"M-Mikitaka-san..." Nora gently chided him.

"I'm sorry, brother. It was low hanging fruit, I know."

I don't even feel offended. I just felt bad for Yukina...

"A-anyways... whose next?"

Now that everyone had settled down, Alice asked who was going to tell the next scary story.

"Me, me, me!" Shouko raised her hand excitedly.

It seems she was tipsy, on the verge of getting drunk. Her cheeks were red and she seemed more relaxed than usual.

"Aight, go on. Let's hear it."

"Evil Fortune Teller"

......

On a certain summer day during the weekend, in Cafe Yuzu.

Shouko and Nora were sitting at a table enjoying a light lunch together.

"A fortune teller?"

"Yeah! There's one doing readings of the future on the third floor. It's a limited time event, so we have to go today!"

"But... Shouko-san, aren't those things... you know?"

"What?"

"Well... um... putting it bluntly... they're a scam."

"So? It's fun to get your fortune read."

"Is it...?"

"Sure it is."

"But no one can guess what will happen in the future... if you could, fortune telling would be more expensive than what it actually costs."

Shouko sighed.

"Yuki-chan, you're completely missing the point of going to a fortune teller. It's for entertainment."

"But what's entertaining about getting scammed...? We should spend our private points on better things... shouldn't we?"

"We could, but where's the fun in that? It's fine to spend your money on dumb things and laugh about it later."

"T-that's... I don't really understand..."

"Hmm... let's just go to their booth to check them out then. Maybe that'll help?"

"Umm... okay."

Together, Shouko and Nora took the elevators upstairs to the third floor, where the fortune teller was.

......

So far, Shouko's scary story just sounds like a fan fiction of her going on a date with Nora.

Yeah, she's definitely drunk.

I looked over to Nora, who was listening in to everyone telling their stories while cooking.

As expected, his face was red from embarrassment.

To be honest, I would probably be the same if Shinomiya did this to me.

......

"W-wow... there's a lot more people here than I expected... is fortune telling that popular...?"

Nora hid behind Shouko, peeking out to see a line of couples that stretched out endlessly.

"It's probably because it's a limited time event. Everyone came out to get their turn before the fortune teller up and disappears."

"I-I don't know if I can do this anymore..."

"Aww, it'll be fine. Besides, it'll just be me, you, and the fortune teller in the tent. There won't be all these other people."

"I know, but still... w-waiting in line when there's so many people..."

"Actually, why is everyone in pairs?"

Shouko noticed that everyone standing in line were a couple of some sort.

"There's Kana-san and Suna-san from 1-C. And Shigaisoshi-sama and Minamoto-san from 1-A too!"

"Huh... that is strange."

Looking further ahead, Nora noticed a sign standing outside the fortune teller's tent.

"Shouko-san, look!"

"Eh?"

Nora pointed at the sign. Shouko squinted her eyes to read it, before blinking twice in disbelief.

"Wait... wait, huuuuuuuuh?!"

It stated that you could only visit this fortune teller if you were a couple.

"T-technically speaking... we're not a couple..."

"But... we are two people..."

"...should we just pretend to be a couple?" They asked each other at the same time.

......

"Boo! Where's the scary story?! This is just a romance!" Alice shouted at Shouko before giving a thumbs down.

"I don't know, I think it's kind of scary that there's a fortune teller casually in the mall." Kou said.

Out of all the things wrong with the story, this is what she chose to focus on...?

Mikitaka stayed silent, probably because he didn't mind this outcome.

"Shut up and let me tell my story!"

A drunk Shouko chucked her empty beer can at Alice.

"I'm just giving the background information! You know, like, the context! You won't be able to enjoy it otherwise!"

"Then hurry it up to the scary bit! I'm sure poor Nora-chan is getting uncomfortable being used like this!"

I think Nora was secretly enjoying it judging by the poorly hidden smile on his face.

......

Under the guise of a couple, Nora and Shouko lined up. Despite how long it was, they actually got to the front very quickly.

Fortunately, fortune telling was a quick process, so the teller was able to get through a lot of people at once.

"Next."

Nora gulped. Shouko pat his back.

"It'll be fine! Come on, let's go."

"O-okay..."

Together, they paid the 500 Pr entry fee and entered the tent.

The booth looked like a stereotypical fortune telling set up, complete with tarot cards spread on the table and fake candles dimly lighting inside to give a mystical atmosphere.

Sitting behind the table was a man in purple robes and a cloak that cast a shadow over his face. He gestured to Shouko and Nora to sit down.

"Woah, this place is dimmer than I expected."

Shouko was admiring the design of the booth while Nora looked at the fortune teller dubiously.

"Why yes. Fortunes are easier read in low light, rather than in bright light."

The fortune teller went as far as using a voice changer to conceal their identity.

"Is that so?"

"How are you two, Fujimura-san, Nora-san?"

Despite not introducing themselves, the fortune teller knew their names already. Shouko was caught off-guard by this whereas Nora remained sceptical.

"Oh, wow! Yeah, I'm doing good. The wait was a bit boring though."

"Talking to your partner didn't entertain you?"

"What kinda question is that? Takayuki-chan might be more on the quiet side, but I always have fun talking to him."

"I see. Would you agree with that, Nora-san?"

"O-oh... umm, yes."

"Was that hesitancy just now?"

"N-no... I just... um..."

"He's not good at speaking to strangers. Takayuki-chan's quite shy."

"I see. Well, can you two hold out your hands for me? I'll be doing some palm reading to start us off."

"Oh, I can't wait!"

Shouko grinned and happily held out her hands. Nora placed his hands upright on the table.

One by one, the fortune teller ran his hands over the lines on each of their palms. After doing so, he stiffened up in surprise.

"...is something wrong?" Shouko asked, worried.

Nora simply raised an eyebrow.

"I see... so, that's how it is, huh?"

The fortune teller sighed.

"While I would normally be asking what you'd like to know about the future, it would be pointless."

"Wait, pointless? What do you mean?"

"Both of you will die today."

Shouko and Nora looked at each other with surprised eyes.

"W-what?! How?!" Shouko demanded for answers.

"Dehydration."

"Dehydration...?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't make any sense... how could that even happen?"

"You two will become trapped in an elevator."

"Huh?! What, I'm dying in an elevator?! No way, I refuse to believe that!"

"I'm sorry, but that is the fortune I read. You two die from dehydration together while waiting for help in a trapped elevator."

After hearing that incredulous death prediction, Shouko lost all faith in fortune tellers in that exact moment.

"...you were right, Takayuki-chan. I'm sorry for dragging you out here."

"I-it's okay... um, shall we leave then?"

"Please. I'm going to lose more brain cells if I keep listening to this whacko... can we get a refund?"

"No."

"...fortune telling really is a scam."

Shouko sighed, storming out of the tent. Nora quietly followed, bowing before leaving.

Watching the leave abruptly, the fortune teller simply shook his head.

"If only they'd need my warning and take it seriously. I've never been wrong once about telling the future..."

The fortune teller took off his hood, revealing his true identity as Yuuto.

......

"I'm sorry... why am I the fortune teller? I don't believe in this stuff either."

"Because... I don't know, I needed someone to be the fortune teller and you were the first person I saw."

"Is the identity of the fortune teller even important...?"

"Stop your whining and be glad you were part of my story!"

......

"I'm so embarrassed... after trying to convince you that fortune tellers were fun, we get that depressing muppet as our fortune teller."

Shouko sighed, entering the elevator to go back to the ground floor.

"It's okay, really. I kind of get the appeal now... I think? We can certainly laugh at this."

"He he, right? He was such a dumbass."

......

"Wait, making me the fortune teller is a way to insult me without doing it directly, isn't it?"

Shouko looked at me blankly.

"Uh... yeah, sure... let's go with that."

Okay, on second thought, maybe that wasn't her intention after all.

"Ha! Nice one, Shouko-san!" Mikitaka began laughing.

"Pfffff, poor Yuuto-kun." Kou giggled.

"Call him a momcon!" Alice cheered.

......

"I bet that fortune teller was a momcon." Shouko said.

"He does look like a momma's boy." Nora said.

......

"HA HA HA! SHE ACTUALLY DID IT!" Alice wheezed.

I think I just made myself the target of bullying by accident.

......

"Anyhow, where do you wanna go next?"

"Um... I was thinking of going home... I'm exhausted after today..."

When he said that, Nora fell forward and leaned against Shouko's arm, clutching onto her to stay upright.

Likewise, Shouko fell backwards and leaned against the wall, holding onto Nora for support.

As they toppled against each other, elevator made an unnaturally loud thunk sound.

"Eek!"

"Kya!"

Nora and Shouko held onto each other as the elevator came to a sudden stop.

"H-huh? Did... did the elevator just stop...?" Nora muttered.

"N-no way! I refuse to believe that! If it did, then it meant one of that fortune teller's stupid fortunes came true!"

"But... i-it doesn't feel like we're moving anymore..."

"The elevator will move again soon. I'm sure of it."

Five minutes passed. Nothing happened.

"...okay, maybe the elevator is broken."

"A-and that means we're trapped..."

"Ugh... let's press the emergency call button then."

Shouko pressed one of the buttons on the elevator menu, but it didn't seem to work.

"Eh? You're kidding me... the button's broken! Some dumbass vandalised this elevator and broke the emergency call button!"

Somewhere in the distance, the laugh of a D Class delinquent could be heard.

......

"Yo, ten bucks on that being Rokurou. That dude was crazy!" Mikitaka said.

Honestly, I could see Nakajima sabotaging an elevator to kill someone.

......

"W-what do we do now then...? We have to get help somehow..."

"Smartphone to the rescue!"

Shouko took out her phone that was on 2% and went to call Suzuki for help.

However, just as she began calling her, her phone ran out of battery and died.

"...eh? Ehhhhhhhhhh?! Oh, come on!"

"Oof... it's a good thing I charge my phone regularly."

Nora took out his phone and went to call Mikitaka for help.

However, he couldn't get any signal inside he elevator.

"T-this has to be some kind of cruel joke... how unlucky can we get...?"

"Oh my god, we're actually trapped! That stupid fortune teller's fortune is coming true!"

Shouko punched the wall out of anger. Nora flinched.

"Ow ow ow! O-okay, not doing that again..."

"A-are you okay...?"

"Eh... yeah." Shouko showed Nora her grazed knuckles. "I can't help but feel like Yukimura when I do something like that, though."

"He does punch the wall a lot... b-but you shouldn't be getting so angry over this..."

"I know... I'm just frustrated that ridiculous fortune is coming true. Me, dying today? In a place like an elevator? I can't think of a worse way to go."

Shouko paused.

"Actually... dying here without you by my side would be worse."

"Eh...? What does that mean...?"

"Ah, sorry if it sounded wrong. I don't mean dragging you to death with me. It's more like... I'm happy that you're here with me for my final moments. If these even are our final moments of course. Hopefully not, fingers crossed."

"Really...? Wouldn't you have preferred to be with someone else? Like... Mayuri-san, or even your older brother?"

"They're also important people in my life... but they're not as important to me as you, Yuki-chan."

Shouko hugged Nora.

"S-Shouko-san..."

"If... if we really are going to die here... I want to tell you something that I've kept in my heart for months now."

"What is it?"

"That, I..."

......

"And then they died... uuuu..."

Shouko choked through the rest of the story with tears in her eyes. She really is a different person when drunk, huh?

"I have no idea what I just listened to." Alice deadpanned.

"By the end of it, she started slurring her words and I didn't understand a thing." Mikitaka said.

"I think she needs to rest." Kou laughed.

"Nooo! I'm fine, I'm totally fine!" Shouko exclaimed.

"Yeah right. That was barely a scary story." Alice rolled her eyes.

"I'd like to see you do one better then."

"Bet. Let me show you guys what a real scary story is." Alice smirked.

"Sex, Cigs, and Detectives"

......

Welcome to the Eighth Republic, a country where all races come to congregate and mix together.

Founded by humans, it is a safe haven despised by the sun.

The skies are always dyed hues of black and blue.

It is constantly night time in this multiracial and multicultural country.

However, the citizens don't mind.

They all came here for the same reason: to support a mixed society where different species can live harmoniously together.

Even so, like in any country, there are criminals looking to cause trouble despite immigrating here under the same values.

It is up to the NPA, the National Police Agency, to capture and reprimand them.

Divided up into twelve official divisions, there is one unofficial division made for the misfits of the police force: the 13th Division.

Every member in this group are sent here for a specific reason—

They are, "defective".

Veteran detective Takanori Yuuto was sent to the 13th Division over a mistake he made five years ago.

Because of his failure to capture a terrorist within his grasp, millions of people died in a horrific bombing.

These days, he's a shell of his former self, and only takes easy cases where he can't fail.

After all, the trauma of the past still haunts him to this very day.

......

"Why am I the main character in this story...?" I asked.

"Because I think you'd suit the role of jaded old man protagonist." Alice smiled thinly.

"Oi, just how old am I in this...?"

"Eh, since you're working in the police force... probably, 27?"

"I guess that's not too bad."

Ignoring the fact Alice aged me up by eleven years.

"The 13th Division just sounds like E Class with attitude." Mikitaka said.

"I mean yeah, pretty much. Remember how angry and shocked we were when it got revealed we were the defects? That's the kind of riled up feeling I'm trying to convey."

"Who else is in the 13th, then?" Kou asked.

......

Yuuto took a long drag of his cigarette before heading inside for work.

It was 8am, a bit earlier than when he usually comes here.

The police and detectives he passed by gave him the stink eye.

Rumours floated in the air about how Yuuto let the terrorist kill millions and that he was a sympathiser.

Everyone essentially hated him for his failure.

He ignored them and strolled into the 13th's office casually, a cramped and dingy spare room inside the agency that could hold maybe up to eight people at once.

"Good morning, Takanori-san de gozaru!"

The head of the 13th, Chief Tanaka, jovially greeted him.

"Hey, chief. When am I getting that bonus?"

"Eh, bonus? What bonus, de gozaru?"

"You know, my bonus for solving four cases this month. It's higher than my record of two last month."

Due to how adverse he was to proper work, Yuuto's wallet had been looking thin for awhile now.

That's why, he recently picked up more cases to try and impress the chief to get a bonus.

However, Tanaka smiled thinly and gestured over to Nora, who was busy typing away at his computer.

"Detective Nora-san has got it I'm afraid, de gozaru."

"Huh? What?! What did he do that I didn't?!"

"Actually solve a case, probably."

A snarky reply came in the form of Yukimura, who merely laughed at Yuuto's situation.

"You've gotta be kidding me... but I solved four!"

"Yeah, but they were all piss easy. Do you really think hacking into a mainframe of a terrorist organisation is equal to saving a cat from a tree?"

"Nora-san... he did such a thing?"

Yuuto looked at Nora in complete shock.

"It wasn't that hard. Their security was pretty weak. These days, people use 3FA, but they were only using 2FA. I had one less wall to crack through."

Nora pushed up his glasses and continued to type up his report.

"How the hell did someone as brainy as him get sent here..."

"He's useless at field work. You can't be an officer without doing patrols. So, they shoved him in the dumps with us so he could sit at his computer all day and hack into criminal tech."

"That barely counts as being defective!"

"Yeah, kinda pisses me off too. I got sent here over killing a gang in a blind rage. Meanwhile you let millions get murdered. How the hell does that equate?"

Yuuto stared at Yukimura with a deadpan expression.

"Oi, murder is still murder, no matter who does it."

"I got less people killed."

"As if like that's something to brag about."

The tension between Yuuto and Yukimura was at an all time high. The chief cut in between them to calm the situation.

"Now, now. We're all rejects here. Let's not be mean to each other, de gozaru."

"Tch. Fine. By the way, chief?"

"Yes, de gozaru?"

"D'ya know where that bastard Ayano went? He took my damn case without consulting me and solved it before I could! That money should be mine!"

Much like Yuuto, Ayano was a solo detective who went off to solve crimes on his own.

In fact, being a lone wolf is what sent him here in the first place.

Usually, officers work in pairs, such as Yukimura and Nora, but Yuuto and Ayano refused to work with each other despite being put together.

As a result, the 13th had essentially three active groups working on cases. Chief Tanaka didn't really count, he just handled all the administrative stuff.

By the way, the reason Tanaka was in the 13th was because he was the laziest chief officer amongst the thirteen assigned by Superintendent Ryouta.

......

"Ehh, that A Class guy is the leader of the NPA?" Kou said.

"Well, he is the best student in our year, so I thought it'd be fitting he'd get such a grandiose role." Alice said.

"I also noticed that the 13th is a sausage party." Mikitaka snickered.

"Yeah, all the rejects have been boys so far!" Kou exclaimed.

Alice sure had low perceptions of us men. Was she misandrist or something?

"Hey, we'll get there when we get there. Also, I think Nora-chan should count as a girl."

I don't think that makes the situation any better.

"Ya hear that, my best friend? You're a girl now in Madame Alice's story!"

"Ah... is that so?" Nora laughed awkwardly.

It seems he wasn't really paying attention since he was grilling the steaks, so Alice's comment didn't really bother him that much.

Another person who was no longer paying attention was Shouko. After drinking so much alcohol, she was out for the count tonight.

......

"Unfortunately, I haven't seen Ayano-san all week de gozaru."

"Damn rat. When I see his stupid face, I'm beating the money out of him!"

Yukimura grumbled, walking away to work on another case he was doing.

Yuuto sighed and went to leave the 13th's office to have another smoke break.

"Wait, Takanori-san de gozaru."

"What is it now?"

He wasn't exactly happy that the chief was taking more of his time from him.

"I have a special request for you de gozaru."

"What is it? A homicide?"

Traditionally, Yuuto was a homicide detective.

"No, no, nothing of the sort. We have a new rookie joining our division."

"Oh, is that so?"

Yuuto didn't seem interested at all.

"Poor thing. Being relegated here on their first day of work... how badly did they screw up in the academy?"

"Since you wanted that bonus so badly, I'll cut you a deal."

"A deal, huh? Don't tell me..."

"I'd like you to take them under your wing. If you do that, I'll give you next month's bonus de gozaru."

While this should've been an easy decision to accept and secure the bonus, Yuuto knew Tanaka was a tricky man.

There was no certain guarantee that he would give him the bonus even if he did partner up with that rookie.

And besides, he could earn the bonus in other ways.

Sacrificing his unique advantage of being a detective without a partner didn't seem like a worthy trade off.

Plus, once the rookie partners up with him, it would be hard for Yuuto to simply discard them afterwards.

While in the short term he'd get the money, in the long term he'd be stuck with an annoying rookie.

That's why the choice was obvious for him.

"Damn it chief, no way. I'm not gonna babysit a dumbass who landed themselves in the 13th on their first day on the job. Go ask Ayano-san instead. He's a partnerless detective too, you know?"

"While that's true, I haven't been in contact with him at all recently de gozaru."

"Then give him a call and force his ass to come down to the office to take care of this rookie. He has more patience than I do."

"While he is certainly a patient man, he'd end up putting the rookie through the wringer with the cases he works on. Meanwhile, since you do fairly easy cases, it would be a good entry point for the rookie to learn the ropes de gozaru."

"You're kidding me... my laziness has come and bit me in the ass, huh?"

"I'm afraid so, Takanori-san de gozaru."

Tanaka smiled evilly at Yuuto.

"...even so, I'm not doing it. You can't force me!"

"It's an order from the chief. There, now you can't refuse."

"Why you little..."

"Oh, here she comes."

"Huh? Wait, she?"

Yuuto and Tanaka swivelled their heads to the office door, where a young female detective quietly entered the 13th Division.

"Umm... excuse me."

Stepping inside, an elf with light blonde hair and jade green eyes greets Yuuto and Tanaka with a salute.

"Good morning, Chief Tanaka! I am Sakigamiya Alice, a rookie reporting for the 13th!"

......

Oh my god, she has a self insert. Wait, why is she an elf?

Is she into pointy ears or something?

......

"What the... no way, it's actually a girl."

"This is certainly a first for the 13th de gozaru. Welcome."

Even Yukimura and Nora are surprised to see a female show up in their office.

"Yo, she's cute."

"Eh... not my type."

Chief Tanaka shook hands with Alice.

"We're glad to have you on board, detective Sakigamiya-san. What cases do you specialise in, de gozaru?"

"Theft and robbery, sir!"

"Oh, that's perfect de gozaru."

As Tanaka and Alice talked to each other, Yuuto slowly tried to slip away as to avoid partnering up with Alice.

While he did find her cute, he wasn't ready to have a green thumb like her drag him down any further than he already does himself.

If anything, she'd probably nag him to do work instead of lazing around the agency doing nothing.

"From today, you'll be working alongside detective Takanori Yuuto-san de gozaru."

However, Tanaka noticed Yuuto trying to run away, and forcibly dragged him into the conversation.

"Oh you son of a..."

Yuuto muttered, cursing under his breath. He turned around and stared daggers at the chief. Tanaka simply smiled.

"Ah... Takanori-senpai, please take care of me!" Alice bowed.

"That's way too formal... Yuuto's fine."

"Oh... um, Yuuto-senpai then."

"...I guess that's better. Wait, I said I wasn't agreeing to this chief!"

"Well, you're stuck with her now de gozaru. Be sure to treat her nicely, Takanori-san!"

Tanaka chuckled before walking away, leaving Yuuto and Alice alone together.

Yuuto sighed. He really didn't want to be doing this, but he didn't have a choice now.

He was going to have to take care of this elven rookie.

"Set up your stuff next to my desk, or something. I'm going to take a smoke break and get some coffee."

"Yes sir!"

Yuuto grumbled as Alice's formality annoyed him.

......

"Uwa, a detective story between Takanori-kun and Alice-chan! How exciting!" Kou clapped her hands together excitedly.

"This case better be spooky or else I'm asking for a refund." Mikitaka said.

"Oh, don't you worry. Horror is my favourite genre of novels. I know what I'm doing."

"Food's ready!" Nora called out.

"But first, dinner break!"

Alice, Kou, and Mikitaka all rushed to the grill to get a plate of food.

Since I didn't want to fight for the meat, I went over to Shouko who was sleeping on a log.

I gently shook her shoulder.

"Hey, wake up. Nora-san's finished cooking the food."

Shouko stirred in her sleep, mumbling something or the other.

"Shouko-san. Hey, Shouko-san."

Maybe Alice should've made her the rookie in the story. I definitely feel like some sort of senpai trying to wake this poor girl up.

"There's food. You have to get some before everyone takes all of it."

I was happy as long as I got some steak skewers.

"Ugh... mmm..."

Finally, Shouko started to wake up.

"Bleh... I feel so tired..."

Sitting herself up, Shouko reached out towards the cooler. Did she want another can of beer or something...?

"Water... can... can I have some water?"

"Oh."

Ah, so she wanted to sober up. How responsible of her.

I grabbed a bottle of water and gave it to her.

In under less than a minute, she had impressively managed to chug the entire thing.

"Ugh... I feel slightly better now. Thanks."

She rubbed her temples before looking up at the grill.

"Ah crap! The food!"

"Don't worry, there's still some for us."

While Alice, Kou, and Mikitaka were all enjoying their meals already, me, Shouko, and Nora only just began to pick ours.

"Ah, this looks delicious... you really outdone yourself, Takayuki-chan!"

"Thanks... it was harder than I thought, but I somehow managed to get through it."

Nora took some sausages and grilled corn while Shouko built herself a burger. Meanwhile, I snatched up the remaining two skewers for myself before anyone else could take them.

We all sat back down and listened to Alice continue her scary story.

......

Yuuto returned from his smoke break, coffee in hand, to the 13th Division's office.

"...huh."

When he looked down at his desk, it seemed more organised and clean than usual.

Then, he looked over to Alice, who was socialising with Yukimura.

"...did the rookie clean up my desk? What the hell? It took me five years to get it that messy!"

Yuuto was not happy that she put her hands on all of his personal stuff.

"Still though... cleaning my junk of a desk up in such a short amount of time... guess that's elves for you."

All elves are born with the ability to use wind magic.

This let them complete tasks quicker thanks to a spell in their arsenal that buffed their speed, making them one of the most efficient species in the modern era.

Alice probably used that enhanced speed to quickly clear up Yuuto's desk while setting up her own, since his things bled into her side of the workspace.

"This is why I hate rookies."

Yuuto took a sip of his coffee and put it down on the table.

Switching on his computer, he did something he usually never dos.

And that was looking through the open cases that hadn't been picked up by any detectives yet on the NPA network.

"I know how to get this rookie off my back..."

If he wanted to get a case, he'd usually sort by low risk to high risk.

But today, he did the opposite, and sorted it by high risk to low risk.

Sitting at the top was the highest risk case no one had picked up yet.

A homicide case simply titled: Bloodless Corpses.

Yuuto skimmed through the case file.

"...well, let's hope this works."

He claimed the case as his and got up to inform the rookie they were going to work.

"Alice."

"Yes, Yuuto-senpai?"

Yukimura, who was enjoying talking to Alice, glared at Yuuto for interrupting them. In response, Yuuto shrugged slightly with a smug face.

"We've got a case to solve. Let's go."

"Yes sir!"

Alice rushed over to Yuuto's side immediately.

"At least she's obedient..." He muttered.

Yukimura clicked his tongue.

"You're actually doing real work for once, Takanori?"

"Guess I am."

"Wow, this is new. Tryna make a good impression on the new rookie, eh?"

"Nope. I just want that bonus."

Yuuto rolled his eyes at Yukimura's lame provocation attempts.

"Ha! Yeah, you'll never get that in a million years. Not when you're the laziest stinking detective in this entire agency!"

Ignoring Yukimura's harsh but truthful words, Yuuto went to leave the office.

However, Alice was curious as to what he meant.

"Yuuto-senpai... has that sort of reputation?"

"Of course he does. I'm surprised he hasn't been fired yet. Everyone practically hates him."

"Eh...? But why?"

Due to being a rookie, Alice had no idea about the terrorist incident that Yuuto failed to stop.

"He's a lowlife asshole who doesn't do any real work as a detective. He's what they call the NPA's biggest salary thief."

"Eh?! Is that true, Yuuto-senpai?"

"Don't believe everything that ridiculous moron says. I do my fair share of work too. Someone has to take care of the smaller cases, right?"

"Shut up, that's child play. Don't act so cheeky when you've only solved one high risk case in the past four years!"

Slowly, Alice's image of Yuuto began to deteriorate.

"Well, I took a high risk case today. Soon it'll be two high risk cases in the past four years."

"Come back to me when that number's nine!"

"Ayano-san has more than you. He's on high risk case sixteen, that adrenaline junkie."

"Shut it! I would've had ten if he didn't snatch that homicide from me!"

"Keep complaining... come on, Alice. Let's go."

"Right..."

While she was enthusiastic before, Alice seemed hesitant now that Yukimura exposed Yuuto's true self to her so bluntly.

Noticing she was keeping her distance from him, Yuuto spoke up.

"If you're scared of partnering up with a guy like me, you're free to leave now."

If anything, Yukimura probably helped him make the rookie want to change partners.

"Oh, no. It's fine. The chief assigned me with you, I can't go against his orders."

"You can always request a partner change. Maybe a guy like Yukimura will be more your speed."

"While Yukimura-kun is funny, I don't think he's someone who'd I want to work with. I prefer the brain over muscle types."

"Is that so? You really did draw the short end of the stick."

"What, are you saying you're stupid?"

"Huh? Show some respect to your elders."

Yuuto turned around and whacked Alice in the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey, senpai! That's abuse!"

"Shut it. Or would you rather me pull on your ears instead?"

"No, not the ears!"

As Yuuto reached out to pinch Alice's elf ears, two officers passed by them whispering something to each other.

"Oh wow, Takanori is into hitting girls too?"

"It looks like he's trying to molest her, that freak. How is he an officer?"

Yuuto stopped and took a step back. He sighed.

"All I meant was it's unfortunate you ended up with me when Nora-san the smartest detective of the 13th."

"Senpai...?"

Noticing the shift in his behaviour, Alice raised an eyebrow. Then, more detectives passed by them, also whispering.

"Poor girl. Apparently she's been partnered up with that damned sympathiser, Takanori."

"Knowing that sicko, he's probably going to end up groping her ass or something."

Alice was shocked to hear all these harsh words about Yuuto buzz in the air around them.

Yuuto looked at Alice directly.

"Believe what you want to believe. Think what you want to think. All of it doesn't matter to me anyways."

His reputation has been less than dirt for five years now.

That's why it doesn't bother Yuuto anymore.

He killed his own heart to become immune to it all.

"Everyone's saying you're a horrible person... but I'm finding it hard to believe."

"Well, they're not exactly wrong. I am a pretty crappy partner."

The more he downplayed himself, the more likely Alice would leave him.

"I mean, sure, you give off the vibe of a dirty old pervert, but you can't be that bad right?"

The rookie had quite the cheeky mouth on her.

"If I'm a dirty old pervert, then you're a wrinkly old elf."

Yuuto rolled his eyes and headed for his police car.

"Huh?! Senpai, that's so mean of you! I'm only 24!"

"You're what?"

Yuuto looked at Alice up and down before sighing.

"And here I thought you were barely legal."

He stepped inside his car and started it up.

"I'm starting to think that rumour of you groping me might become true if you're thinking of me that way."

"What can I say? You're so young looking, I could've mistaken you for a 15 year old."

"Is that your type, senpai?"

"Hell no. I'm into MILFs. Now shut up and get in the car."

"Suddenly, I've lost more trust in you..."

Alice cringed and sat down.

"Good. Lose more of it please."

After buckling on their seatbelts, Yuuto began driving. Alice looked at him suspiciously.

"What case are we doing anyways, senpai? And where are we going exactly?"

"My home. I'm kidnapping you."

"Eh?! You're what?! Let me out of this car!"

"No."

"Yuuto-senpai, I swear to god I'll arrest you!"

"If you do that, the car will crash and you'll die too."

"Ugh!"

Immediately, Alice tried to unbuckle her seatbelt to leave the car, but before she could do that, Yuuto immediately swerved into a corner and tightly leaned into a drift to catch her off guard.

"Eek! Senpai, what are you dooooooing?!"

Alice screamed as Yuuto drifted into a main street. Flicking on his sirens, Yuuto used them precariously to speed past the traffic that had been congesting the area.

"Saving your life. If you unbuckled that seatbelt, your face would've smashed into the glovebox and I'd have to solve your death, which doesn't sound like a very appealing thing to do."

"The person who killed me would've been you! Also, it's illegal to turn on your sirens when there's no emergencies! What are you doing?!"

"Getting us through this damn traffic? It's fine, it's one of the perks of being an officer."

"But it's illegal!"

"No one has to know."

"I'm reporting this to chief Tanaka."

"While you're at it, tell him to get you a new partner."

Yuuto was really laying it on thick that he didn't want Alice to be his partner.

"I refuse."

"And here I thought you were starting to hate me..."

"If I ask for a partner change on the first day, it'll make me look bad as a rookie."

"Well, you are incompetent and stupid, so I understand."

"Aren't you describing yourself?"

"Shut it. I hate chicks with a cheeky tongue."

"Besides, you haven't even seen what I can do."

"Kid, I've been doing this job for over a decade. What makes you think you'd ever hold up to me?"

"Wow, you're older than I thought."

"I thought you girls were into silver foxes."

"We are, as long as they're not dirty old pervs like you."

"Jeez, you could've at least let me have that compliment."

"But wait, you're kidnapping me! What the hell?!"

"Calm down, I was only kidding."

"That's not a very funny joke, senpai!"

"I thought it was. Besides, there's no way I'd want to kidnap a girl as ugly as you."

"Says the smelly old man with bed hair."

"It's a new trend among youngsters to stop doing your hair in the morning. Aren't I relatable?"

"No. If anything, you're cringe."

"Your generation really is the worst..."

"You're part of it too!"

Yuuto sighed, parking in front of a small semi-detached house.

"Anyways, we're here. This is the scene of the crime we're investigating."

"Oh. Perhaps this place got robbed recently?"

Alice, innocently thinking Yuuto chose a case she specialised in, asked that excitedly.

"Are you kidding me? There's been a string of murders happening in the home over the past year."

"Eh? Wait, we're doing a homicide case?!"

"What did you expect? I'm a homicide detective first and foremost."

"I guess that makes sense... so what happened?"

"Three men were found dead in this house over the course of the last nine months. All died in the same way, apparently."

"That's strange. When was each death?"

"The first man died in February. The second man died in May. The third man died a week ago, which is what reopened the case."

"So it's quite recent, actually... what's the cause of death?"

"We have no idea. The only thing they had in common was their body was drained of blood."

"Drained of... blood?"

"As in, there was no blood whatsoever in their bodies."

"How is that even possible?!"

Yuuto shrugged nonchalantly at Alice's shock. He was used to insane scenarios like these now.

"I dunno. That's what we need to find out. Another important thing to note is all the guys that died were at some point renting out the place."

When one guy died, another one moved in. That's how the murders kept repeating.

"So this house has been a repeat target for some reason... I see."

"It really is weird considering there's no evidence of violence committed on the men's bodies, so there might not even be a murderer involved. Aside from that, they died from some unknown cause, but it probably has to do with the missing blood."

Yuuto took out a cigarette and was about to light it before Alice cut in.

"Outside."

"What?"

"Smoke outside, you idiot!"

"Ugh, I don't wanna get out of the car."

"Well I don't wanna breathe in your smelly cigarette fumes!"

"My car, my rules. If you hate it so much, you go stand outside."

"No way! If anything, you should be the one to stand outside!"

"Says who?"

"Says the law! Smoking in the car is illegal!"

"Only if you're driving. We're parked right now."

"Same thing!"

Yuuto ignored Alice and lit his cigarette. He started smoking, making her cough as she breathed in the smoke.

"Ewwww! Senpaaaaaaaai! You'll make me die quicker!"

"Elves have long ass lifespans, if anything I'm doing you a favour shaving off a couple years."

Yuuto took another puff.

"Why don't you stop being a wuss and try one? They're pretty good."

He offered her a cigarette.

"No way. I'd rather die than ruin my lungs with that trash."

"Suit yourself. You'd die either way."

Yuuto then turned the cigarette on her and started puffing in her face.

"Senpaaaaaaaaai!"

At this point, Alice lost it as she abruptly left the car to escape Yuuto's blatant abuse.

"Finally... some peace and quiet. That rookie was really driving my head in."

Yuuto sighed, puffing more smoke.

"...I probably should've chose an easier case. We can't solve this in just a day, so it seems I'll be stuck with her for awhile. Doing actual work is such a pain in the ass."

Putting out his cig, Yuuto rolled down his window and called for Alice to come back inside. However, when he looked at her, she was puking up in the house's neighbour's front lawn.

"Oh... ha, guess I overdid it."

Due to elves having heightened senses, Alice's sense of smell was extremely sensitive. After inhaling that much smoke, she began to throw up as a result.

Yuuto grabbed a bottle of water and got out of the car, heading towards Alice.

"Hey, rookie. Drink this while I go apologise to the poor sod that lives in this house over your mess."

Alice looked at Yuuto with angry eyes, but grudgingly accepted the water.

"You really are the worst..."

"I get told that on a daily basis, try a better insult."

"You suck!"

"I'd like to see you do that one night."

"That's sexual harassment!"

"And I don't care."

Yuuto shrugged Alice off and went to knock on the neighbour's door. After a few minutes, someone answered.

It was a pretty young woman with long pink hair, gentle green eyes, and a large bust. She was totally Yuuto's type.

"Oh hello beautiful." Yuuto wolf whistled at her.

"Umm... good morning." She demurely greeted him.

"How about you and me go drinking— wait, that's not what I'm here for."

Yuuto grumbled, thinking "damn rookie" as he blamed Alice for making him lose this chance of asking this beautiful older woman out.

"What are you here for, sir?"

"Ah, my partner just started throwing up on your lawn like a freak. I came over to say sorry on her behalf."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure nature will clean it up."

"Probably. There's a lot of bugs that will eat the most weird crap..."

"I must say though, you have quite the cute girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"You said she was your partner, didn't you?"

Yuuto immediately realised the young woman got the wrong idea and quickly corrected her.

"No, no, she's just my work partner. An incompetent, bumbling idiot. She can't do a single thing right."

"I can hear you trash talking me senpai!"

"See, she's using her sensitive elf hearing to eavesdrop on our conversation. How awful!"

"Senpai!"

"Anyways, I'm a single, free, and ready to mingle young man with a stable job and no kids."

"Umm... good for you!"

It seems the young woman was completely disinterested in Yuuto's big selling points.

"Anyways, my offer for drinks is still up. I clock out at 6."

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline unfortunately. I don't feel exactly elated to go out after my neighbour died..."

"Oh. Right."

Yuuto looked over to the house next to hers.

"Guess that makes sense."

It also reminded him that he had a case he needed to solve.

"Well, it was nice meeting you... uh..."

"Yukina. Yukina Kazuraba."

"Yukina? Woah, even your name is cute..."

Yukina smiled, laughing as Yuuto kept complimenting her.

"Senpai, stop simping for the MILF!"

"Listen here, you damn rookie! If you end up chatting to a stud, I wouldn't stop you either!"

Yuuto then turned back to Yukina.

"I'm sorry, forgive my rookie, she's a real dumbass."

"Senpai!"

"If you say senpai one more time, I swear to god—"

"Senpaaaaaaaaai!"

Yuuto and Alice drove back to the NPA in silence.

"...you really are a desperate man, senpai."

"I'm nearly 30 and still a virgin. That should say a lot."

"Y-you're a virgin...?"

"Well... yeah. Detective work eats a lot of your personal life, you know?"

"I can't believe my opinion of you has lowered even more... even I'm not a virgin..."

"Well good for you. It must be real easy for girls to lose theirs, huh?"

"Don't try to imply I'm some sort of slut, thank you very much."

"Woah, I never said such a thing. The fact you jumped to that conclusion says a lot about how you think most girls lose their virginity early on, eh?"

"I really hate you."

"The feeling's mutual, kid."

They returned to the 13th, where only Nora remained. He was taking a short break, eating biscuits and drinking some tea.

"Yo, Nora-san."

"Good afternoon, detective Takanori-kun. How has your day with detective Sakigamiya-san been?"

"Absolutely awful. She threw up on the first day of her job."

"What kind of macabre case did you choose to get her to quit?"

"Just a spree of murders, you know, the usual."

"Is it the infamous one where the bodies are drained of blood?"

"Yeah. Actually, could you help us out and look through security footage of the cameras set up in that neighbourhood around the time of the murders?"

"Sure, can do."

"Thanks. Me and the rookie here are gonna start looking at possible suspects."

Yuuto and Alice went to their desks and began to discuss plans of what to do.

"Wow senpai, you actually seemed reliable there for once."

"Not really. All I did was shove my work onto somebody else."

Alice looked at him bluntly.

"And here I thought maybe you weren't such a lousy guy..."

"What can I say? I'm a genius at being lazy."

"Let me guess, you'll shove looking through possible suspects on me too."

"Why, thanks for offering! You go ahead and do that while I take a smoke break."

"You just had one fifteen minutes ago! Are you trying to make your lungs filled with ash?!"

"Since when did you care about my health? Tch, typical nagging from girls."

"That's sexist. Not all girls are like that."

"Then it's unfortunate you ended up as one of them."

After piling the work on Alice, Yuuto went out to go smoke another cig.

"Seriously... where does that guy get his kicks from bullying me so much?"

Alice muttered to herself, looking through the NPA's extensive database of criminals to see if anyone matched.

By the time she was less than a quarter way through the list, Yuuto returned with a coffee in hand.

"If there's one thing I'm addicted to aside from nicotine and alcohol, it's caffeine. Man I'm gonna die before I'm 40."

Whistling happily to himself, Yuuto sat down next to Alice.

"How's the progress, rookie?"

"So far no matches."

"As expected. I don't think the police force has ever encountered a murder where all the blood has been drained until now."

"Why drain blood though? It's so random to me..."

"Blood loss is common within victims of murders. However, high levels of blood loss, especially in our case's situation, is extremely unusual. Have you tried looking at the ghoul classified monsters?"

Monsters were a catch all term for stereotypically evil species, such as werewolves and zombies.

"Ghoul? Like, the human type?"

"Yeah. They can blend into our society extremely well, so most of the time you won't even realise they're among us. Usually this includes races such as succubi and vampires. Vampires especially. Their fatal weakness is the light, but since the sun never shines down on this country, there's a scarily large population of them here."

"Maybe we should start carrying garlic around with us?"

"And risk making my hands smell like an Italian restaurant for a week straight? Hell no."

"Then, holy water?"

"Don't buy into the Bible crap. Holy water isn't real, it's just water blessed by some old dude."

"But that's what makes it holy..."

"And me blessing my poop makes it a holy crap. You see the flawed logic here, kid?"

"Why would you bless your poop, that's disgusting!"

"It's called an example, dumbass!"

"In any case, a vampire being involved does sound pretty likely. They do drink blood, and it would account for why there was none at the scene of the crime."

"But they don't drink that much blood. Do you know much of that crap is coursing through our bodies right now? It'd be like asking someone to eat a human's weight worth of food in one sitting. It's almost impossible unless you're obese and have a large stomach."

"I guess that's true... perhaps they're a binge eater?"

"Binging on blood... what kind of perverted freak is doing that?"

"Says the pervy old man."

"Shut it, you. If you won't be quiet, I'll shut you up with my dick instead."

"That's threat and sexual harassment, in the workplace no less! I can report you to the chief!"

"Oh, I'm so scared. What are they gonna do, send me to the 13th? Oh wait."

Yuuto snickered as Alice puffed her cheeks in anger.

"Then they can just fire you!"

"Unfortunately, they can't. I'm just too important of a detective, I'm afraid."

If everyone had their way, Yuuto would be out of the NPA years ago.

However, Ryouta took pity on him and let him stay, because Yuuto would most likely turn to crime himself if he didn't have a stable job.

"Anyways, I think the quickest way we'll solve this case is for me to go undercover."

"Oh, that's actually pretty smart senpai! If you did that, then the killer is likely to strike again since the situation fits their modus operandi."

"Yeah. It seems they've been targeting only single, male residents of that house and draining them of their blood. If I moved in as the new "renter", they'll likely come to kill me. When they do, we'll catch 'em in the act and arrest them."

"Right! What should I do then?"

"I dunno, sit back, relax, take a piss. You have the easy job here."

While ideally Yuuto would've stuck the job on Alice to make her hate working with him due to driving her around like a slave, this case required him to be the dummy due to all the victims being male.

"As long as you support me in capturing the criminal when the time comes, I don't really care what you do."

"Oh..."

Yuuto side glanced at Alice.

"You sound disappointed."

"I just thought I'd get to do more in solving the case... that's all."

"You should be glad your workload is so light."

"Yours is too. It's just living as a regular citizen and waiting for the killer to strike."

"Yeah, but I'm laying my life on the line here. And if you didn't notice, between the two of us, I'm the human here. I'm a sitting duck without my gun."

"Oh... right, I see why my role is important now. Regular citizens aren't allowed firearms, so in order to make yourself look legit, you won't be able to bring in any pistols."

"What are you talking about? I'm still bringing my gun. Like hell am I gonna go in there defenceless."

"Eh? But it's illegal—"

"Look at who you're talking to for a sec. Do you think I give a damn about the laws?"

"But you're a detective! Of course you should!"

"What a rookie way of thinking. When you grow older, you'll become more used to doing bad things to get your way."

Yuuto reached out and gave Alice a condescending head pat.

"You're awful, Yuuto-senpai!"

"I know, screw me for wanting to protect myself, amirite? Fine, I'll compromise and hide it under my pillow or something. No one has to know."

"One of these days, I'm going to have to arrest you for your poor behaviour..."

"It's always been my dream to get locked up and thrown in the slammer by a hot policewoman. So, if you are gonna have someone arrest me, please make it Chief Kurosaki from the traffic division, 'kay? I've been tryna hook up with that MILF for years now, but she hasn't given me the light of day, damn it!"

"That sounds like a you problem..."

"God damn if that ain't true."

Yuuto sighed and laid his head on the table.

"Wow, for once you finally agreed with me. The world must be ending."

"Shut up, I'm just too tired to keep bantering with a moron like you."

Noticing that Yuuto was genuinely exhausted, Alice let him be.

"Fine. I'll go write up a report and request for permission from the chief for this sting operation."

......

"It's like you took all of Yuu-yuu's worst points, ramped it up to eleven, then made him as vulgar as Mitsuba-san and dumb as Yukimura-san." Shouko commented succinctly on Alice's unjust presentation of me.

I had to agree with her judgment. What the hell was this blatant slander?

"His main character trait is basically "I wanna bang MILFs"!" Mikitaka laughed.

"It really is a strange mystery though. All the blood drained, huh?" Nora said.

"Maybe they kill them the halal way!" Kou said.

"I'm surprised you even know that way of killing meat." Alice said.

"I may be dumb, but I'm not that dumb."

"Actually, the way Alice-san sometimes presents herself in the story reminds me of Kou-san a little." Nora said.

"She does, now that you mention it! I can't imagine Alice-chan always acting that cute." Shouko said.

"Eh, I think it's pretty accurate. She insults Yuuto-san really well though." Mikitaka snickered.

"And there's more insults to come!" Alice exclaimed.

Oh great. I can't wait...

......

A week had passed since Yuuto moved in to pretend to be the new house renter.

"Did they figure out I'm an officer or something...?"

Nothing suspicious had happened at all during that time.

The footage Nora looked through yielded little results, except for one small detail.

Other than that, he was able to live a simply normal life with no troubles whatsoever.

"Ah whatever. The only good thing about this job is I can talk to that hot chick next door."

Recently, to pass the time, Yuuto had been visiting Yukina's house to talk to her.

"Good morning, Yuuto-san!"

"Yo, Yukina."

They casually greeted each other at the door.

"It seems the rookie's puke is finally out of your front lawn."

"Nature really is wonderful, isn't it?"

"Yeah... sure, let's go with that."

Yuuto in fact hated nature, especially the sun. That's why he loved the Eighth Republic, since the sun never shined here.

"How have you been doing recently?"

"Ah... I've been so-so, I guess."

"What's the matter? Something bad happened?"

Yukina was usually a cheery woman, but Yuuto noticed her dampened spirits today.

"Well..."

Yukina clutched her rumbling stomach. Yuuto's eyes widened.

"Wait, are you pregnant? That's wonderful news, congratulations!"

Yukina blinked. Then, she shook her head, realising how Yuuto misunderstood the situation.

"No, no, no! I'm not, I'm not!"

"Oh. Do you want me to make you pregnant?"

"You're really shooting your shot here..."

"I'm a 27 year old virgin, cut me some slack."

Sometimes people wondered if Yuuto tried ruining his own reputation on purpose or not.

"Ah, what I meant is... I'm just feeling hungry."

"Then eat some food. How about my nuts?"

"Yuuto-san!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'll stop."

Dirty and crude humour was Yuuto's speciality. Luckily for him, Yukina found such jokes funny.

"Well, to be honest..."

Her cheeks started to blush.

"I wouldn't mind... if you wanted me too, I mean."

Yuuto was about to speak, but his jaw went agape instead.

"H-ha...? I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm saying that... I'll do it with you."

......

"AND YOU CRITICISED ME FOR TELLING A ROMANCE STORY! THIS IS JUST YOUR CRACK SHIP LEMON FANFIC OF YUU-YUU AND YUKINA-SAN, DAMN IT!"

Shouko didn't hesitate to cut in Alice for her very questionable story telling.

"What's the scary part of this story again...?" Nora asked.

"That Yuuto-san is still a virgin when he's 27? Or maybe the fact he's gonna lose it?" Mikitaka said.

Oi, don't have such little faith in me.

"I can't imagine Takanori-kun like this at all though... he's not a pervert at all, and yet this detective version is like Mitsuba-san on steroids." Kou said.

"Trust me Kou-san, he's as much as a degenerate as the rest of them. The only pure boy here is Nora-chan, but that's because he's actually a girl."

Nora laughed awkwardly at Alice's straightforward response.

"Also, Fujimura-san, get off of me! I'm getting to the horror part, just wait!"

"This better be worth it then... because so far, nothing has been scary!"

......

Yuuto and Yukina were in bed, skin touching.

"Yuu... to..."

"Haa... haa... Yukina..."

Yukina pinned Yuuto down and looked at him with lustful eyes.

"I want... you..."

She slowly lowered herself down, bringing her body closer to his.

"Do it... I dare you."

Fangs sprouted out of her canine teeth as Yukina viciously bit into Yuuto's neck.

Yuuto gargled as she began to suck blood out of his veins like a needle.

At the same time, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a gun, pointing it at her head.

"I knew it... you were the killer... you stupidly sexy vampire bitch..."

Yukina stopped drinking his blood immediately, side eyeing his gun with her now blood red eyes. 

Yuuto gasped for air, smirking as he had now gained the upper hand.

"Keep on sucking... if you do, I'll shoot."

This time, he sternly warned her to back down.

Yukina slowly pulled her fangs out and stared at Yuuto with bloodstained lips.

"So you figured it out, huh...? Damn officer."

In an instant, Yukina used her superhuman speed to grab Yuuto's arm and point the gun away from her.

Yuuto knew vampires were physically dominant creatures, but he never expected Yukina to be this strong.

"I suspected it was you from the start. Must've been fun, leading on your victims before killing them, huh?"

"Be quiet. A human like you wouldn't understand my circumstances."

"Yeah, guess I can't relate to wanting to suck blood. Tell me though, did mine taste alright? I drank lots of pineapple juice before I came here."

"That's for making your sperm sweeter, not your blood sweeter."

"Who said you were just drinking my blood?"

Yukina raised an eyebrow. While she was distracted by Yuuto's dirty comment, he suddenly shouted for his partner.

"Alice, now!"

Kicking down the door was Alice, who pointed her gun at Yukina with a determined and angry face.

"Hands up and don't move!"

"Oh. It's that partner from before."

"I said, hands up and don't move! If you do anything, I'll shoot!"

Yuuto grumbled.

"Alice, who cares! Just shoot the damn vampire bitch already, I kinda can't right now myself!"

Alice gritted her teeth and prepared to press down on the trigger.

Yukina scoffed.

"She really is a rookie. While you hesitate, I'll enjoy my meal."

"What?"

Before Yuuto could say something cheeky back, Yukina plunged back into his neck, sucking out even more blood out than before.

Now that she knew she was in checkmate, she wanted to get her last fill of blood before her eventual arrest.

"Raghhhhhhhh!"

Yuuto screamed in pain as he felt his blood drain rapidly from his body.

"This... binge eating... bitch... you starve yourself... then drink tonnes in one setting... what kind of psychosexual deviant are you?!"

"...one that hates drinking from people."

Yuuto paused briefly as Yukina simply answered that, before she continued to suck even harder on him.

"Argh! Alice, help!"

Completely powerless due to his gun pointing in the wrong direction, Yuuto cried for Alice to shoot before Yukina could really kill him.

"S-senpai..."

Alice was beginning to hyperventilate as she held the pistol in both of her hands.

Her hands were shaking as she tried to line up a clean shot on Yukina, who was pressing her body tightly against Yuuto to try and mess Alice's aim up.

Sweat started to build up on Alice's forehead as she merely watched her own partner be killed slowly in front of her. Vomit slowly churned up to the back of her mouth.

She didn't particularly like Yuuto and found him to be a rather incompetent man who abused her daily due to her lower status.

However, she didn't want to see him die either.

Because for better or for worse, she was stuck with him as his partner.

And without Yuuto, Alice would have no place in the NPA.

"Senpaaaaaai!"

Alice screamed wildly, closing her eyes and pulling the trigger with a shaking finger.

The sound of a bullet rang out, but her shot missed widely, flying over Yukina's long pink hair with great margin.

However, that sound was enough to make Yukina hiccup in her drinking of Yuuto.

It was in that hiccup Yuuto found an opening to move his arm.

"Finally... you did something useful... Alice..."

And after complimenting her, Yuuto flicked his wrist to point the gun, not at Yukina, but at—

Alice.

Alice slowly opening her eyes, looking at the smoking gun in her hands in pure horror.

She really tried to shoot someone.

Guilt welled up in her heart immediately. Her legs trembled, almost on the verge of buckling under her.

This was the first time in her life she tried firing her gun at another living, breathing being.

As she looked up to see if she had hit her target and saved her senpai, she was met with the sight of inside Yuuto's barrel instead.

"H-huh...?"

She squeaked as Yuuto mercilessly fired.

The bullet rang out and landed in Alice's left shoulder, making her scream in pain as the hot lead melted her skin and pierced her flesh.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Blood squirted out of the wound immediately, trickling down her arm and free hand.

She clutched her gun tightly, slowly sliding to the floor as shock and confusion filled her system.

Yuuto had just shot her.

"H-haa... haa... s-senpai...? Y-Yuuto-senpai, s-shot me..."

Alice began muttering to herself repeatedly as her mind broke to try and rationalise Yuuto's seemingly unnecessary actions.

Clutching onto the hole in her body, Alice cried.

"Why...? Why, why, why...? Yuuto...!"

Yukina couldn't ignore this act of blatant violence.

The weak image of Yuuto she had moments ago vanished.

In her eyes, this mere human slowly morphed into a monster.

"You... shot at your own partner...?"

"She was being incompetent. She deserved it."

Yuuto broke free from Yukina's grasp and pointed the gun at her head.

Yukina hiccuped, staring at the gun with wide eyes.

"Here's how I see it. I don't care who my target is. I don't care what your circumstances are. As long as you get in my way, I'll shoot."

With hollow eyes, Yuuto prepared to pull the trigger.

"So this is how the police deal with criminals caught in the act, huh...?"

"You think I'm the police?"

Yuuto scoffed with a thin smile.

"Nah. I'm from the 13th. We're the outcasts, the scummiest division to ever exist."

And instead, he pointed the gun down and shot himself in the leg.

"H-huh?!"

Yukina was confused by what was going on.

"...senpai?"

Alice raised her head in shock.

"Ah... how I missed this sensation."

Yuuto didn't even flinch when the bullet went through him.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

In place of that, he grinned.

A thick puddle of blood began pooling underneath his leg.

Yukina scrambled up to get away from this insane detective.

"Fortunately for you, the person in my way the most is myself. That's why I'll show you something real special, my dear Yukina. Alice, are you watching?"

Yuuto tossed the gun he was holding over to Alice.

"Y-yes...? I think..."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, holding her breath in anticipation for what would happen next.

"Good. Because that bullet wound you received earlier is going to help us capture this criminal."

Yuuto sat up in bed and extended his hand towards Yukina, who was trying to run away by escaping through the window.

"...Red String of Fate."

Yuuto's eyes began glowing claret red as the blood splattered all over the room slowly began to come to life.

"Huh?!"

Even on Yukina too, the blood dripping down her chin was being manipulated as well.

"What... what is this power?!"

Alice was shocked as the blood from her bullet wound suddenly became thick threads of red string that led back to the extended palm of Yuuto's hand.

"Didn't you know? Humans can also learn magic, like you elves."

Yuuto used the string collected in his hand to whip around the room and tie up Yukina, restraining her from moving any further.

"Those that do are known as Magicians. I'm one of them."

As Yuuto calmly explained this, he dragged the tied up Yukina back into bed.

"Let go of me!"

Yukina cried as the strings made of blood started to thicken and congeal on her, sealing off her arms and legs.

"What... what kind of m-magic is this, senpai...?"

Alice was scared to broach the topic, but she asked out of pure curiously.

"Black magic. Blood manipulation. The more blood at my disposal, the more things I can form. Shooting you and myself were simply means to an end."

At first, she thought Yuuto shot her because he hated her.

Now Alice understood there was a clear strategy he had in mind when he did it.

"S-senpai... it hurts, you know... you're... y-you're going to pay for my medical bills...!"

"Oh shut your whining. I don't want to hear your lousy, annoying, squeaky voice when I'm trying to deal with this bitch."

Yukina's eyes widened as she heard that significant information about Yuuto.

"T-that means... I had no chance from the start..."

"That's right. My magic is super effective against vampires like you. And it just so happens the terrorist that got away from me five years ago was also a vampire..."

Pinning Yukina in bed, Yuuto looked down at her with a cold and ruthless expression.

"I really hate your race, you know? Back in the day, they used to call me the "Vampire Hunter" because I massacred so many of you bloodsuckers."

She trembled as he feverishly groped her chest.

"Though, in all of my twelve years of doing this job, I've never found such a sexually appealing vampire like you before. And to be honest, I want revenge against your race for the hell they've put me through in the past five years."

He shoved himself between her legs.

"That's why, you won't mind if I take it out on you, right?"

......

"...I-I'm going to sleep for the night..."

Nora, clearly traumatised by the ending of the story, got up and waddled to his tent.

"O-oh... that's... what you meant by... scary..."

Kou was also highly disturbed by Alice's story.

In fact, everyone here seemed uncomfortable as she detailed how I apparently dealt with Yukina in bed.

"My best friend, wait for me!"

Mikitaka got up, joining Nora in sleeping in the tent.

"Eh?! No fair, I wanna sleep with Takayuki-chan too!"

I couldn't tell whether it was the alcohol or Shouko talking there.

"Too bad, the tents are divided by gender. By the way, Yuuto-san."

"Yeah, Mikitaka-san?"

"You're not allowed in our tent."

Once Nora and Mikitaka were inside, they zipped up the front door and refused me entry.

"Do they think I'm a girl or something...?"

I muttered to myself, confused by what had happened.

"Eh, after hearing that, I'm not sure if I can even fall asleep..." Kou groaned.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. All she did was shock us with that despicable depiction of Yuu-yuu." Shouko said.

"Yeah, Alice-san made me look really awful..."

"Hey, I'm just making a statement." Alice said with her arms crossed.

"And that is...?"

"That the real villain is Yuu-kun! End of story."

Alice smiled innocently, but we all have her blunt stares.

Since the boys went to sleep, me and the girls continued telling stories while roasting marshmallows over the campfire.

Man, Halloween sure is weird.