~~For Love of Minecraftia: Chapter Eleven--The Bunker is Secure~~

I looked all around me. I was lying back in bed, Haruhi snuggled up next to me. Her short hair was covering her face, and her head was buried in my neck. I smiled, leaning over to kiss her softly. She woke up, her eyes dark and smiling a little. "Hey, beautiful…."

"Morning, sleepyhead. I'm glad you could stay here with me—I think…." I trailed off. I had been planning on telling her ever since James and I had had that fight, but how could I tell a girl I might never meet in real life that I was…that I loved her?

I kissed her forehead, no longer able to speak. Haruhi blinked up at me, biting her lip. She smiled a bit awkwardly at me, seeming to guess my words. I blushed, hoping she'd realize it, but of course she said: "You can tell me anything, Mitchie. I know you get scared sleeping alone in the dark, so I'm happy I stayed with you."

Of course she didn't figure it out….

I should have realized she wouldn't, knowing far too well she wasn't all that good at understanding people. I shrugged, deciding I might as well go with it and nodded, hugging the girl.

The girl snuggled up close to me, smiling happily up at me. "I don't want you to get hurt, or scared. You're a really nice friend."

Um.

That hurt more than getting stabbed in the side by the taco things. I wasn't happy at all, staring blankly up at the ceiling now. She had just friend-zoned me. Closing my eyes, I petted her hair softly, feeling her nuzzle closer to me again. If only I could get up the courage to kiss her…!

We lay like this for a while, until a knock sounded on the iron door. The voice of an aristocratic young boy sounded, calling out, "Can I come in?"

I yelled back, "Come in."

There was a push of a button, and the door swung open, revealing a boy in a nice blue suit. It was in Victorian style, and he looked like a very pretty boy dressing up in her twin brother's suit. I smiled at Ciel Phantomhive, his right eye covered with his familiar near-black eyepatch. He nodded at me calmly. "There was a disturbance during the night, Gifted. We had a break-in, but luckily we managed to stop it. It was Pedobear again. He wanted to find Haruhi again."

I nodded. "Tell your butler thank you for me."

He shook his head. "He was simply being my pawn, doing as he is ordered. He does not deserve thanks for doing his duty."

I shrugged at him, and with that he left, heading out of the room. I looked over at Haruhi, and held her tightly in my arms before she fell asleep on my chest. She was so warm and soft. I held her tightly, before once again I heard a knock. A rather high pitched male voice called out to me, and I told them to come in.

The next visitor was Grell of course, his familiar angled green eyes smiling at me. His sharply pointed teeth shone pure white, and he nodded at me. "Happy to see you, lovely ladies!"

I rolled my eyes, standing up and heading over to him. I hugged him tightly, feeling his arms hug me back tightly. Out of all of my defenders, he was my favorite. Not only because he had bright red hair and a love for red leather jackets. A weakness I also shared. I grinned up at him, and he started petting my hair happily. "You're no Sebby, but you are lovely little one."

I smiled happily, before letting him go and walking back a few steps. "What brings you here, Grell?"

"I felt like seeing you and taking both you and your cute little friend out for some tea. Would you mind?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. I can't believe we finally have tea here."

Grell nodded, before walking back with me and picking her up in his arms. Haruhi blinked awake, squirming in surprise. "Um….Hi, Grell."

He smiled down at her pleasantly, the Shinigami's teeth bared. I don't blame Haruhi at all for staring up at him, her cute eyes wide with fear. Not wanting to stop enjoying how cute she was, I followed behind Grell as he carried her over his shoulder, her hands bouncing off his lower back.

Rolling my eyes at their antics, we went to the large cafeteria, where the cooking bot was busily working. I still had no idea where the robot came from, but seeing as it was incredibly useful, I didn't care at all.

We went up there and talked to the robot, ordering teas and foods for us all. While we waited, we went and took a seat at the makeshift tables, chatting quietly.

I suppose right now would be a good time for me to talk about the kinds of people that have been showing up in our bunker over the past while. There's the Potter Puppet Pals, Legolas, Ciel Phantomhive, Alois Trancy, Sebastian Michaelis, Grell Sutcliffe, Claude Faustus, Haruhi Fugioka, Drizzt Do'Urden, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a handful of ghosts, and a few baby dragons. I am actually really pleased with the amount of things that have showed up around me. Hopefully they'll be a pretty good fighting force when the attack comes next week.

Spotting Drizzt sitting at a table all by himself, I told my companions I'd be right back and went over to him. Out of all of them, he was probably our best fighter, and I knew he'd be important to us when the time came. I also knew he didn't fit in at all, especially because Legolas couldn't stand the sight of him.

Sitting down across from him, I smiled and held out my hand. He took it, shaking it formally. I sat down beside him, eyeing his plate of vegetables and cheese. "You've definitely taking a liking to it, eh?" I say, indicating his meal. He nodded, smiling very faintly.

"The chef here is very good. I still do not understand this world—even though I like it, it's very…." He trailed off awkwardly.

"Blocky?"

He nodded, probably not wanting to offend me or anything. He said quietly. "I miss my old home, though….Do you think I will ever return home?"

I bit my lip, nodding. "I hope so. I mean….I think the scientists are still working on it."

He gives me a hopeful little smile. "I don't want to worry you, but I think all of the others will want to go home as well sometime….I think your Haruhi is the only one that doesn't mind staying here."

I nodded. "I understand. Wait, MY Haruhi?"

He grinned then, smirking at me. I looked into his violet eyes, the white of his teeth contrasting with his solid black skin, his white hair pulled into a ponytail behind his head. "I see how you look at her. I know you love her, and I know she might just love you back."

I stared at him. "How? How do you know that? Did she tell you? When? What did she say about me?"

Drizzt shook his head, and surprisingly, he hugged me tightly. "Oh, little one. You're so funny sometimes. She didn't say anything, but I could tell. I know people."

I blushed vividly. That figures. I broke the hug, pulling back awkwardly. "Um….Thanks for telling me. Would you like to go and eat with us?"

He shook his head. "No, thank you. I'd like to go and get some time on my own underground. I've taken to mining—I love the darkness…."

With that statement, he stood up and left the room, heading towards the mines. He was expanding the base by a lot, making more rooms for us to live in. I liked his work. He was probably a faster miner than me—his skill in the dark made him useful. I liked him a lot.

Smiling, I went back over to join Grell and Haruhi. They were talking happily, in Japanese. Not knowing the language at all, I sat there beside them, feeling very awkward. It took them a few minutes, but eventually they realized I was there. They smiled at me quietly, before going right back to talking in Japanese. Feeling miserable, I set about eating my food, which is about when I heard my name mentioned by Grell. He smiled at Haruhi, who paused glanced over at me, and nodded. Grell smiled back, and asked her something, his voice deeply curious. She blushed and nodded.

If only I could understand Japanese….

I knew they were talking about me, but I had no absolute idea what they were saying. They had to be doing something important, but I just bit my lip and went right on eating. It actually was really good—I knew you could make the plain old pork chops delicious if you added in mushroom cream sauce, whipped potato, carrots, and a lot of other things. I was busily devouring our food, trying not to hear that they kept right on mentioning my name. Every once in a while, I saw that Grell would be smiling wider and wider, and Haruhi would continue to be blushing deeply. I needed to know what he was saying to her!

Finally, I said, "I'm sorry to bug you and all, but…..What are you guys talking about?"

Grell looked over at me and said in a simple tone, "You, of course. Now go and get some sleep—you look pretty tired, actually."

I was tired?

I blinked, before standing up and leaving them to it, not wanting to break in on it at all. I waved to them awkwardly, heading out of the room. I lowered my head, and went to my room further down the hall.

Just as I was entering my room, I woke up back in bed in my room, Cloud having once again clawed my chest until I bled. I rolled my eyes at the cat. How annoying the little puffball was….I wouldn't be able to find out what Haruhi and Grell would be saying again until I went back to sleep.

I sighed, petting her quietly. Well, as long as she was cute, it was worth keeping her.

A few minutes pass, until I examine the rest of the room. it's empty, and I can see no change in the status of the salt. Well, looks like Slendy really had killed the creature.

Speaking of Slendy, where was he? He must have left sometime while I slept….

Grinning to myself, I stood up and looked around me, the little cat held in my arms. Deciding it was time to get both I and the cat some more food, I went down to the kitchen. There, I found Slenderman, cheerily frying bacon. Salivating at the smell of grease and the sound of sizzling bacon I went up behind him, hugging one of my best friends. He nodded in response to my touch, continuing to fry the bacon. He let go of the pan handle, gesturing with his now free hand back towards the living room, motioning for me to go and sit down.

Smiling, I did so, happily curling up with my little kitten while I waited. Eventually, I heard him coming back into the room. He nodded at me, bearing scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and a dish of cat milk for Cloud. He set it down on the table in front of me, and that's when something unbelievable happened.

He spoke to me, in a soft formal voice that echoed through my head: "You're surprising me more and more every day, Mitchie."

I blush, smiling at him. "Thank you, Slenderman. How am I surprising you?"

He gave me another nod. "You are not frightened of me, not at all. I find you nice to talk to. In fact, ever since I was created countless years ago, you are the only one I have interacted with so long who has not gone crazy."

I grinned at him, "Well, you see my friend, that's probably because I'm crazy. Considering all the things that have been happening since I started playing Minecraft, I'm not at all surprised I'm not frightened."

Slenderman shrugged again. "May I join you?"

I nodded, patting the couch beside me. He shortened to around six feet, so he could sit beside me more comfortably. He looked over at me, and I could sense how awkward he was feeling. In fact, I could feel it myself—it was like it was emanating from him. Eventually, he said a bit hesitatingly, "Do you like what I made you? I wasn't…..Sure how to make what you usually eat."

I grinned, starting to dig into the bacon. When I was finished a handful of bites, I said to him, "This might actually be the best bacon I have had in a long time. You're a really good cook. Thanks for this."

Was it me, or did the whiteness that made up his face blush ever so faintly? "You're welcome. Um…..H-How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thanks. And thank you for saving me all those times….I'm sorry you got hurt because of me."

Slenderman shook his head quickly, emphasizing the point he made: "No trouble at all. You're worth saving."

This time, it was my turn to blush. Okay, so Slenderman was being polite and nice to me. This is getting odd. Ever since James and I had gotten close, it was like I was becoming extremely loveable—and loving. I couldn't make sense of it, of course. There was nothing that changed about me.

"There was nothing that changed about you except how you interacted with people. You've started to open up a lot more, leaving your quiet self behind," Slenderman said.

I stared at him. "Um…..Were you just reading my thoughts?"

Slenderman "blushed" again, looking away a bit awkwardly. "I can't help it, sorry."

I face palmed. Of course he could read minds. Shaking my head, I suddenly thought of something, and asked out loud, "If you hugged me, do you think you would still kill me?"

Slenderman looked sharply over at me again, and I could feel his shock at my question, than the embarrassment as he realized I actually wanted to hug him. "Um….No, I doubt….I doubt I'd harm you."

I smiled widely up at him. "Then get your long arms over here and hug the hell out of me, big buddy."

"'Big buddy'?" he wondered, before I felt his long arms wrap around me, holding me tight against his narrow form. Smiling, I hugged him back tightly, feeling safer than I had ever felt in my life. He was so warm….And surprisingly he didn't feel bony at all, despite being so very skinny. In fact, I didn't even think he HAD bones. "I don't have bones—I'm a form of gelatinous mass, controlled by my own mind. It's how I can change my shape so much without experiencing any pain whatsoever."

I nodded, not wanting to let him go. He really was an incredible hugger…..

After a few minutes, he let me go, smiling at me again. "Thank you, Slendy…." I said awkwardly, blushing and looking down. God, how did he get me so shy? I never…..I never really felt this way before….

I saw him stiffen, and I could hear the startled worry in his voice, "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later—stay safe and enjoy your meal!"

I just stared at him as he teleported from the room, probably heading back to his now furnished room in the basement.

Feeling more confused than ever, I kept eating. When I was done, I heard my parents enter the room. They spotted the empty plate of food, and raised their eyebrows. "Cooking for yourself again, Mitchie?"

I shook my head. "No, Slenderman cooked for me. He's actually a better cook than you think."

My mom stared at me. "He….Cooks?"

"Apparently so. Hey, he has been alive for countless years. You're bound to pick it up some time, right?"

"I guess so," my mom said, shrugging. "He made bacon? I could see the dish of grease on the counter."

I nodded at her, before I went back to the kitchen so I could clean the dishes I had gotten dirty. My mom eyed my dad, and they started talking in low voices. Try as I might, I couldn't make out a single word they were saying. I looked back over at them when I was done washing up, and I saw them staring at me.

I nodded at them, and then they looked back at each other, going on talking.

Okay, I really needed to find people who WEREN'T hiding things from me. It was really getting annoying….

Deciding it was high time I went to my room and just cowered until I could find a way to fall asleep again and go to see Grell and the others. Especially Haruhi….God, even thinking her name gave me a little thrill!

It took me hours of trying for me to finally fall asleep. When I woke up, I was lying in bed alone, Haruhi not having stayed the night with me. I pouted, before sitting up in bed and going to see if I could find anyone.

When I got out of my room, I realized something incredibly disturbing….

It was completely and utterly silent.

There was none of the usual talking or sounds of heated discussion and fighting.

This did not sound good at all.

Swallowing, I ran to the cafeteria. The massive obsidian-walled room held nothing, and the huge amount of paintings had all fallen to the floor. There was nothing to explain it. I saw nothing, anywhere.

Biting my lip, I could think of nowhere to go but right down to the armoury, where I knew I could find weaponry. The longer the silence lasted, the further I ran. Trembling with fear, and not knowing what to expect, I sprinted down the hall, not bothering to be quiet about it. Whatever else was in here probably knew I was here, and it would come for me no matter what I did.

Finally, I managed to get into the armoury, pressing the button and bolting through the iron door. I entered the room, and pressed my back to the wall, staring at the empty room.

Even the chests were gone, and the torches had been replaced with glowstone blocks.

Okay.

This was getting way too freaky.

Weaponless scared, I opened the door, and stopped dead in my tracks.

I was staring into white eyes.

It was Herobrine.

I swallowed, and said the only thing I could actually think of saying: "Hi."

Herobrine smirked at me. "Hey there."

So here I was, talking to the creature who planned on destroying the world and causing all kinds of creatures to show up. And I was talking to him politely.

What the hell was going on?

Shaking my head, I said quietly, "What do you want from me?"

Herobrine smiled, before looking me up and down with an appreciative eye. Unlike all of the other people here, he remained pixelated. Everything was identical to the default Minecraft skin, except for the pure white eyes that now focused back on mine. I could feel a shiver running up my spine as he spoke, "Your hand in marriage."

NOTE: Okay, time for me to throw my opinion in again. This scene, no matter how many times I read it, is just way too egotistical. This has got to be fake. Slenderman is not supposed to be nice. And neither is Herobrine supposed to fall in love with anyone. I've given up all hope of this being true—despite having seen for myself the weird things in the world of Minecraft over the past few months. Well, back to the story. END OF NOTE.

I stared at him. "What the heck do you mean?" Okay, that is not actually what I said. But to copy every word I said, it would probably take way too long. I used a heck of a lot of swear words.

Herobrine smiled at me. "I've seen your creations, Mitchie. Its very impressive. Your work shows intense dedication—and when I saw your face after I blew up your house, I knew you were the one for me. Oh, and by the way," he leaned closer to me, causing me to cower against the door, "You look so beautiful in the clothes I chose for you….And even better naked."

I almost fainted.

He….

Had….

Seen…..

Me….

Naked….