Chapter 3: The Board

"Rin, you idiot. Is that really an...." Eren trailed off as he shook his head in disbelief. "Is that an ouija board? Are you crazy?" He quickly zip Rin's bag and push it away, unnerved at the sight. "Where the heck did you even get that?" He whispered.

"I bought it from a friend of mine. They've already done it many times. Now, I want to give it a shot." Rin said nonchalantly. He has that board for a while now. He had seen videos on how it is done and is aware of the possible consequences of the game, but since his friends seemed to be fine after they've done the board, he figured the same will happen to them. Absolutely nothing.

"Do you have any idea of the danger of playing with that thing?" Usami was dumbfounded as he never would have guessed that Rin would suggest this, let alone brought an actual ouija board. Sure, three of them are fans of the supernatural but none of them have opened up a topic of ever trying to do some game that involves the supernatural.

Rin tried to defend himself. "I know, I know. But aren't you ever curious about what it's like to contact the other side?" Rin put away his bag after taking out his lunch bag.

"Oh, we are definitely curious but we also know what that board could possibly do to people. When you try to contact the other side, you are also opening a door for both worlds to crossover. You should know better than to mess around with things you shouldn't be messing around with. By the end of the day, you better throw it away." Eren made it clear.

Rin only nodded his head in dismay. Eren doesn't usually get angry so easily. Most of the time, he is just calm and always has a smile on his face, always been the jolly one to crack a joke at the worst time, always been optimistic on things. So whenever Eren gets serious, they both need to take him seriously as they know he is no longer joking around. "Alright, fine. I'll throw it away later."

"Be sure that you do. What evenly possessed you to buy that thing any—"

"Still hanging out with kids instead of your own peers, I see." A voice cut Eren off.

When the trio look up, a co-worker of Eren is walking towards their table with a tray of food. "Mind if I join your little group?"

"Sure!" "Of course! Come sit here." Rin and Usami agreed in sync before Eren could say anything. Rin stood up from his seat and moved to sit beside Usami, offering his seat to the approaching teacher who humbly accepted.

Eren sweatdrop at the sudden reaction of the two. For some reason, they seem to be too comfortable to some of Eren's associates, two in particular. It had been a couple of years since Eren had introduced them, Rin and Usami grew fond of them, and would act weird whenever one or both were present. Like right now, they would have this colleague near or next to Eren, and they would have that annoying grin on their faces.

"Seems like a stray cat will be joining us today." Eren jest, "And ever the sourpuss, I clearly recall Nemuri had invited you to lunch with Hisaki, Syuu. Their table is just over there, you know." He pointed out, recognizing Nemuri's cheeky smile and Hisaki's toothy grin with thumbs up. Even they are acting weird.

Eren shook his head at the sight, sighing. They have been like that, going all goofy whenever this cat-lover colleague is with him.

"If I went to their table, I wouldn't enjoy my lunch with their nonsense. Hisaki will just keep his mouth going on and on about random things and Nemuri will, no doubt, talk about the latest fashion show. They're going to destroy my ears along with my appetite."

"If that's the case, then you won't be having any enjoyment in this table either. Throughout the whole lunch, we will be talking about anime which is something you're very not interested in, and we'll be very loud." Eren sweatdrop. He's actually glad his colleague found solace with him but there was no need to force himself.

"I don't mind if it's you. If anything, I find it quite brave of you. While everybody else is going with the flow of the standards or trends of the society, you remain true to yourself. You never conceal yourself behind some fancy clothes and fake smile or cake your face with temporary beauty; you're all natural. You don't care if others give you curious and strange looks. Like right now, I'm sure you've noticed other teachers have been eyeing you since you're always with these two students rather than with your own peers but you didn't give them your time of the day or lose your cool. And that's amazing. That's what I like about you."

Eren could only look at him with disbelief. Did this aloof, cat-lover person who doesn't seem to have any interest in anyone or anything but cats just complimented him? Well, sort of complimented him….? Eren feels his face heat up. When he looked at his friends with a flustered look, they just gave him teasing looks with smiles and wiggling brows.

"W-woah, Syuu, did you just say something nice to me?" Eren stutters, trying to keep his cool and looks at Syuu with blushy cheeks. "I'm kind of flattered you think of me that way."

Syuu looked at Eren, making him blush even more. He couldn't get enough. He always finds Eren's emerald eyes very enchanting. Every time Eren was out of sight, he would always search for him. Syuu can still remember the first time Eren worked with them for the institute. When he was first introduced to the faculty members and he was still a fresh graduate, at times, he would check on Eren if he was doing alright or if he needed help.

Syuu normally doesn't concern himself with others. But it was strange as to why he couldn't take his eyes off Eren and would be on the lookout for him.

Eren broke eye-contact when Usami faked a cough. His face blew off steam, still feeling Syuu's hot gaze on him.

"I hope the both of you haven't forgotten about us." Usami inserted, gesturing to Rin and himself. "You know, if you really like Eren so much, why don't you court him already? Better hurry up before a certain someone will steal him away from you, sensei."

Eren looked at Usami with an unbelievable look. How could he just say that with a straight face. "What on earth are you talking about! Quit messing around— "

"Usami's right, sensei." Rin butted in, wiggling his brows at Eren in a teasing manner which vexed Eren more. "Better act fast or else Take— "

"Is it okay if I sit with you guys?" Another voice intervened. They see another teacher approaching their table with a lunch box in hand. When Syuu looked at him, he could feel his blood boil and his eyes twitched.

Rin and Usami look at each other, exchanging knowing looks with each other as this is getting more interesting. They know the approaching teacher is smiling but they saw through him; they could clearly see jealousy in his eyes.

"Sure! Come and sit, Takeshi-sensei! The more the merrier, right!"

Usami thought for a bit before whacking Rin slightly on the shoulder, and returning his lunch back in his bag along with Rin's. "Actually, you know what...." Usami stood up. "I just remembered Rin and I needed to go somewhere." He sends Rin eye signals, relaying his message silently.

"Oh yeah. We do need to go somewhere." Rin also stood up, taking on his bag. "You both better keep Eren company. He gets lonely easily. We'll pick him up later as usual."

"What! We're supposed to—"

Not waiting for a reply from Eren, they both quickly leave and leave the cafeteria.

Usami wheezes, already picturing an image of a flustered and confused Eren getting all worked up. 

He is so oblivious.

"Perhaps this time, spending time with him, they might finally be able to tell Eren how they feel or at least, Eren would notice their efforts for his attention. That idiot can be so dense when it comes to romance. He's clearly clueless while everyone else around him quickly caught on with what's going on."

"Don't forget, there's another one. Too bad, he's not a teacher here so I guess that's a disadvantage for him."

"In my opinion, that's an advantage because he can meet up with Eren outside of school without any excuse."

They step out of the school and walk away. They actually didn't have a place in mind but since they were somewhere near a fast-food restaurant, they agreed to have lunch there.

"Now that Eren's not with us, Usami, we really should try the ouija board. Come on. I promise nothing bad will happen. Society is only paranoid because of those horror movies that people filled their minds with. Scientists even have proven that the board — "

"Regardless, if Eren says we're not doing it, we are not doing it."

~~~~~

"I think that was the most awkward time of my life." Eren whispered to himself with a sigh, his mind floating back to what happened at lunch. He really didn't think that Rin and Usami would just leave him like that. The moment he was left alone with his two colleagues, the atmosphere changed. It somehow got heavier and more intense. They became sort of competitive. Eren wasn't sure how to describe it. He tried to break the tension by opening a topic — low key, anime — which was something that the two never have any interest in. Much to his surprise, they were quite eager to have that conversation with him despite the lack of information and interest about it.

Eren sighed once again as he finished checking his students' test papers and now, all he needs to do is to record the scores on the computer. He suddenly felt light-headed, he wanted to close his eyes for a couple of hours.

Eventually, Eren crouched down and lay his head on his rested forearms on the table. His eyelids began to feel heavy as he soon succumbed to sleep.

[dream]

Where the heck am I? Everything is all dark.

I feel like I've been walking for hours now. Even if I want to stop, my body won't listen to me. But I thought I was in the faculty room. I remember feeling tired and....

Oh no, not again. Not this dream again.

I anxiously waited for the sudden change of scenery from nothingness to that garden but nothing happened, so I continued just walking straight in this endless darkness. I constantly keep looking on both sides and the back, expecting that dark stranger might appear.

"Eren." I heard a whisper from behind me, halting me.

It's him.

I felt arms snake around my waist and his chin rested on my shoulder. "Eren. My Eren." The way he pronounces my name gives me chills. The exciting type of chill, I don't know why. He moaned against my nape, rubbing his lips on my skin. I could feel how dry his lips are but I don't find it displeasing.

He sniffs. "You smell so good. You're so warm and so soft; the complete opposite of me." I almost give out a sound that would sound weird if I hadn't covered my mouth. He must be taller than me, I could feel him bending down to my level.

I yelped when I felt his lips placed a kiss on my nape, then licking me there. A strange sensation shot throughout my body, I could feel the hairs all over my body stood up. One hand travels up to cup my face, thumb caressing my cheek. "Use the board, Eren."

"Wh-what?" I barely whispered, the weird sensation slowly washed away as I tried to regain my composure.

"I want you to use the board, my darling." He repeated.

"Eren!" I looked up ahead of me as I heard someone call out my name. "Eren!" There it is again, it's a woman's voice this time. Both voices sound so familiar to me, giving me this nostalgic feeling. "Don't listen to that fiend! Don't open a portal for it!"

I heard the stranger click his tongue. He growled. "Such a nuisance." Irritation evident in his voice, "Always interrupting my time with my Eren." From the corner of my eye, I could see a scowl on his lips. I can't make out the upper part of his face.

"Eren!" I snapped my gaze towards the voice that seemed to come from, I saw my parents with a worried and scared look on their faces. "Eren, honey, get away from it!" Mother fret.

My body wanted to do what she told me to but the stranger firmed his hold around me, securing me in place. I went to grab his arm and tried to get out of his grip. Unfortunately, he didn't budge. "You're not going anywhere, little flame." He grasps my jaws and forcefully yet gentle, tilts my head to the side, exposing my neck more. He licked me there once more, then my earlobe.

His action forces a weird sound out of my mouth which he seems to take pleasure in. My legs are trembling, losing their strength slowly.

"You have questions lingering in that pretty head of yours, don't you." It was more a statement than a question, to which I could only nod my head, not trusting my voice at the moment. "Not even using your mouth to answer me, huh. Did I really make you feel that good?" He chuckles, "If you want answers, then use the board."

[end dream]

Eren slowly opened his eyes and straightened himself up. He is still in the faculty room, alone. He glances at the clock and sees it's only past 5. He still has time to finish where he left off on his work, then will wait for Rin and Usami.

While working, his mind keeps on drifting to the dream. The stranger in his dream directly talked to him, ordering him. "Yeah, no. I'm not doing it."

He shook his head. He can think of it later but right now, he needs to finish encoding the grades of his students.

After some time, he was finally done. Now, all he is doing is to wait for the two to fetch him. Speaking of those two.... Eren made a mental note to have a very long talk with them later. Eren winces at the thought, unintentionally, remembering what happened at lunch. He wanted to slam his head so hard that it would give him amnesia.

Eren heard the door open.

"I see you're still here, Eren."

Eren looks up to see his loud-mouthed co-worker entering the room. He offered a smile and nodded at acknowledgement. "Hey, Hisaki." Eren greeted, "You seem to be in a good mood. Not that you weren't always happy or anything, just that you seem extra happy. Did something happen?"

Hisaki chuckles, proceeding towards his table. "Well, it's thanks to you that I had a good show at lunch, and even if he's good at hiding it, you made Syuu happy."

Eren looked at him, confused. "What do you mean? I don't get it."

"Oh, Eren, ever innocent. Have you not realized that you have both of them wrapped around your fingers? Only when it comes to you, they get all riled up. Before you work with us, those two weren't always on terms with each other although they never fought. Their principles and ways with students oppose each other. Then, you came along. They started to kinda interact with one another in a way and have this rivalry between them."

Rivalry?

"I still don't see how I made Syuu somewhat less grumpy ." Eren was going to use the word happy but that doesn't seem like the correct word to use. "As far as I recall, I never once saw him smile."

"That's because—"

"Eren!" Rin casually walks in with Usami trailing behind. "Hey, Hisaki-sensei!"

"What's up, young listeners! Come to pick up Eren?"

"Yup, unless Syuu-sensei or Takeshi-sensei wants to take Eren out on a date." Rin gives a thumbs-up while Usami snickers at the half-joke.

With a red face, Eren abruptly stood up, grabbing his bag. "He's just kidding, Hisaki." He pushes the two out first. "We'll go on ahead. See you tomorrow."

When they are now in the parking lot, Eren shot a look at Rin. "Will you, please, stop with your jokes? It's no longer funny, geez." He put on his seatbelt once he got in the car. "And I'm guessing you still have the board, don't you?"

Rin tensed, quickly thinking of an excuse. "Yes, I do still have it but don't worry, I will throw it away. I just thought that just for a while, I'll just keep it. I swear, I have no plans on using it despite what I have said at lunch. I know that—"

"Let's do it." Eren cut off his rambling.

"What?" Rin and Usami ask simultaneously, unsure of what Eren meant.

Eren repeated, "Let's use the board."