"Look at this!" Eren shouted while pointing at a picture of a smiling teen in an orange and black jumpsuit with some kind of knife in his hand showing a peace sign.

I nodded, indicating to him that I saw what he was showing me and turned away, 'Feels like shopping with a child' I silently mused as I examined the convention 'This is not at all what I was expecting considering what scar told me' I thought as I scanned my surroundings

There were several people dressed in colorful costumes, 'they look like the Mages from when I was a whelp' I observed as they did several poses and some even shouted loudly for no rhyme or reason.

'It appears with the passing years their minds have somewhat addled' I thought as I stared passively at them floundering about. During my observation, I saw the familiar figure of the detective who questioned Eren and me back at the school.

Making a mental note to avoid her, I was about to walk away but paused when I saw Eren waving at her from across the room and calling her anything but her name, I sighed and watched the scenario play out expecting the detective to be stoic but was surprised to see she was being quite friendly with the lad.

Humming to myself and once again reminding myself that humans are unpredictable creatures I walked up and caught the tail end of their conversation.

"You too?! Finally a kindred spirit!" Eren said with palpable excitement "Yes it's been a couple years since I last came but it hasn't changed at all,  it's still as exciting and lively as I remember" the detective replied while trying to keep the smile off of her face but failing.

"You went before? Was it like this too? Ya know.....this big" He asked with a hint of trepidation in his voice "No" she said and smiled "This is the biggest turnout that I've seen in years"

Eren perked up and his jovial mood returned "It's good to see you again detective" I said interrupting the conversation "Didn't think I'd be seeing you here" her smile faltered for a minute but she quickly caught herself and replied "I didn't peg you for the type who enjoys watching anime either" she said with a forced smile.

"I'm not" I replied "It was his idea to come here" I said while pointing to Eren who was now looking at a man in a red coat, red broad rimmed hat with red shades and white gloves with pentagrams on and two fake guns in his hands.

"Your friend has good taste" she said, this time with a more genuine smile on her face, silence descended upon us as we soaked in the atmosphere listened to the chatter of the people surrounding us.

"How often does this take place?" I asked breaking the silence and simultaneously surprising the detective "Um, I think once a year" she said pensively, I opened my mouth to reply but Eren spoke up before a word left my mouth

"Great, maybe next year you and Nick can go together" the detective's heartbeat increased after Eren made the proposal, suddenly the scent of sweat wafted into my nostrils from the detective 'this proposal seems like it's cause for concern' I thought inwardly "I wouldn't want to bother the detective" I said "It wouldn't be any trouble at all, right Emily?" Eren answered for the detective causing her heartbeat to increase further.

"Eren you're making the lady nervous" I said trying to subtly tell him to drop the topic, apparently my message was ineffective as he just laughed and replied "Nah, it looks like she's just nervous about going on a date with such a handsome guy" he chortled.

"I-I'm not nervous about anything" she said defensively "It's just sudden is all" she explained, Eren smiled like he had just pulled off a successful operation and said "oooooh so you DO think he's handsome, I see I see"

He nodded in understanding as if he had solved a puzzle, the detective just shifted awkwardly in place while I stood in confusion as to what was going on. The awkward atmosphere was broken when Eren began loudly cackling drawing a few curious stares to himself "I'm kidding.....I'm kidding" he said between breaths "you wouldn't wanna date him, he's a grumpy guy, he'll just drive you insane"

I gasped and placed a hand on my chest while leaning back "Eren, you wound me" I said in faux shock "I feel betrayed" Eren laughed and shook his head "let's check out this place and stop wasting time just standing around"

And with that, we began walking around and observing the many sights of the convention.

-----Elsewhere-----

Sitting in a dimly lit room, was the lone figure of a female. Her long black hair and delicate facial features made her the object of attraction for many men but one aspect hindered her beauty: her face lacked emotion

The woman stared blankly at the door from behind her desk, had it not been for her shallow breathing one might think the woman was but a corpse.

Suddenly, the woman's phone rang breaking the serene atmosphere and yet her face retained its' bare tranquility. Still staring ahead, the lady put her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out the cellular device.

"Was your job not to simply observe him Ms. Shadow? Did I or did I not tell you not to interfere with Nicholas Lupine?"

Shadow casually listened as the man rambled on and on over the phone but she showed no indication of taking his words seriously.

"Did you at least make sure that there was no way he could ever make it back?" the man asked, hearing shadow's silence he sighed and said "Shadow, let us hope...for both our sakes, that that man does not make it back here" a slight tinge of fear made its way into his voice "There was a good reason the other families left him well enough alone, one example was enough" and with that the line went dead.

Shadow still held the phone to her ear as she silently contemplated, it was not until she heard a knock at her door did her previously emotionless face immediately break into a smile though if one looked closely enough then they could tell it was fake.

"Come in" shadow's cheerful voice echoed throughout the room, the door knob turned and opened revealing two fair skinned females standing in the doorway, the one to the left was fairly tall, standing at six feet, her hair was cut short and her chocolate brown eyes matched her skin and hair, the shorter one stood at only five feet and her golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes shone brilliantly like the morning sun.    

Their smiles as bright as the morning sun as they walked into shadow's office.

"What're you girls doing at school this early?" she asked the two to which the short one replied slightly confused "Professor Weekes, you asked if we could help you grade the test papers, are you feeling alright?" She asked as her green eyes worriedly looked at Shadow.

"I'm fine, really" Shadow said as she smiled and waved off her students' worries "more importantly, these papers aren't going to grade themselves" she said as she laughed out loud and pushed two stacks of papers towards them.

"Maybe you should take a break and let us handle the rest of the papers. We can handle it, right Tasha?" the taller of the two spoke for the first time, her high pitched voice always surprised Shadow.

Shadow smiled as she looked at the worried expressions on their faces "No No, I'm not going to leave the room for you two to tamper with the test results" she said with a smirk playing on her lips.

The expressions on the two girls' faces turned indignant as Natasha furiously shook her head while waving her hands "We would never do that Professor! We're not even in your class" she rapidly protested and gave excuses.

Shadow laughed cheerfully as she looked at the flustered expressions on their faces before she sighed and said: "I'll leave it to you then". The two girls, upon hearing Shadow and seeing her smile realized she was teasing them and breathed a sigh of relief "leave it to us" Natasha said with an amateur military salute.

Shadow smiled and walked out of the room, the cheerful expression on her face vanished without a trace as she pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang a few times as Shadow patiently waited for it to be picked up, a few moments of waiting later and the phone stopped ringing and a voice could be heard through the receiver

"If it isn't the old silent demon" the voice on the other end of the line sounded male, the depth and hoarseness in his voice suggested the speaker was a heavy smoker "What do you want?" he asked

"I have a job for you" Shadow said, keeping her voice level, not at all displaying the annoyance she felt towards the person on the phone

"A job you say?" the man said in surprise "Is the mighty Shadow begging for my help?" he asked in a voice laced in mockery and loathing, Shadow kept her face neutral and chose not to respond to his antagonizing, keeping the burning of her insides and the homicidal thoughts in check.

The man gave a long, mocking laugh "And how would accepting this job benefit me?" he asked, instead of answering the question, Shadow asked: "how soon can you get here, Reacher?"

"I'm already here you pest" the annoyed voice of Reacher came through the phone, Shadow's lips curled into a slight smile but quickly fell again "Just give me the location of the target and I'll get to work"

Reacher did not wait for Shadow to reply and quickly hung up the phone, she put the phone back into her pocket and began walking towards the stairs leading to the roof.

Upon arriving, Shadow closed her eyes and allowed the wind to flow through her hair causing it to freely flow behind her like a dark cape.

She walked to the railing on the roof and rested her elbows on the rails and stared out at the expansive city, the bustling of the city centered her, it gave her perspective in her own way.

The city, filled with life, served to remind her that despite how much other people told her how special she was or how talented she was still only a small person in the grand scheme of things and that made her happy.

Her beautiful almond shaped eyes moistened as she gazed at the city lovingly, though whether or not it was the city she loved was the real question.

Her head fell as she quietly sobbed, her tears fell off the side of the building.