(...Nope...)

I close my eyes and let out a sigh.

(...Nuh-uh...)

I open my eyes again...

(I can't, fall asleep again, no way...)

I sigh again as I try to move, the word being tried, since I had two people latched on to me right now...

Now, this was not really something 'that' new. Since I have slept with Saeko and Saya again. What 'was' new, was how it all ended up to this...

You see, after what happened in the garage, Saeko essentially refused to let go of me after we returned. To the point that, we 'might' have ended up taking that bath together. And Saya 'might' have got wind of it thanks to a certain sniper, and ended up bursting into the room, and joined the scene...

After that. Well, nobody really cares about that crap right? Let's just say that they are at least wearing underwear now...

(...Wonder how many death flags I triggered yesterday. Or does it count as today since it was so late at night?...)

Glancing to my right, over a sleeping pinkette and towards the rest of the room, I find it dimly lit.

The sky, which slightly visible from the windows over my head, showed that it was still dark outside, but not entirely, as I could actually see pretty well. In other words.

(It's going to be sunrise soon? Hmm, I am pretty sure we went to sleep at around twelve, so our shift should be at around six. So our shift should be just as the sun starts to rise...)

I take a deep breath before turning to look to my left, Saeko sleeping with a peaceful expression next to me ...

Thing is, even though I came to the conclusion that I could no longer sleep, I could also not get up. Not with how Saeko and Saya were leaning on me. Unless I woke them up that is...

So, I decided to try and just, stand still on the bed. And I did so, for like two minutes.

(...This is much harder than I thought...)

I grumble under my breath as 'everything' was slowly starting to bother me. How is it when your shoulder feels like something is squeezing it and stretching does not help, or when your nose is itchy but you can't scratch it. Well think that, but everywhere. So it didn't take too long...

"Hmuu..." Until I annoyed Saya enough for her to silently moan as she rubbed her face against me, slowly opening her eyes to stare at nothing.

She then blinked a couple of times before taking a deep breath, pulling herself away from me to stretch with an audible groan, before sprawling on the bed as she closed her eyes again, using her hand to tap around to the nightstand next to her. Until she found her target, that being her glasses, which she groggily placed on her face.

She then opened her eyes again to stare at the ceiling. Letting out another deep breath as she heaved. Until she finally turned to glance towards me, to find me staring at her. She then turned to look towards the ceiling again, before turning her whole body to lean on me again.

"Morning..." She mumbles as she nuzzles her face between the pillow and me. Closing her eyes with a slight sigh again.

(Huh...I figured she'd snap and start shou...)

"Gkhh!" And my thoughts got interrupted by a sudden jab to my sides, from Saya's side. Causing me to essentially bump on Saeko. Who let out a small groan as she leaned away and raised her upper body off the bed as she used her arm as leverage, opening her eyes to stare at what just bumped into her, aka, me.

"Oi, wh..." And another jab.

"...Everything below my waist hurts because of you, stupid idiot..." Saya mumbles right after.

"Uhhh..." I just glanced around.

"Stupid" She added as she thews another, albeit lighter jab.

"You were the one that tackled me to the ground though..." I respond.

"It was because you gave the most stupid response I've ever heard..." Saya lifts her head and frowns at me as she speaks.

"I just asked if you wanted to join. Which you, uhh, kinda did?..." I tilt my head as I arch an eyebrow.

"Humf, and you ended up biting off more than you could chew. You nearly dropped me afterward..." Saya turns to glance away with a slight blush on her face.

"How would I know that your legs would give in so quickly? You were the one who told me to 'Switch gears'..." I mumble...

"Nobody told me that Saeko would decide to gang up on me!" Saya frowns as she throws a quick jab to my sides again.

"You did not really look all that stable even before I joined though. And it looked so much fun, I could not hold myself.." Saeko, who was now with her eyes wide open and her head on my chest, responds with a small smirk.

"Fun, smun. I nearly passed out because of you two..." Saya whispers as she narrows her eyes.

"Uhh, actually, you 'did' pass out." I whisper.

"What..." Saya turns to look at me with a blank stare.

"...You don't remember waking up next to the bathtub? You even started complaining that I cheated and stole your turn." Saeko responds with a giggle. Saya then looks at Saeko, then back at me.

"I demand all the extra time she got!" She lifts her upper body up to 'glare' at me.

"Losers can not demand." Saeko responds as she tightens her arms around me with a smug smile.

"I'm not a loser!" Saya barks back.

"I was not the one that passed out." Saeko calmly responds.

"You did not get tagged teamed." Saya blurts out as she narrows her eyes.

"Not my fault you chickened out when you had the chance." Saeko shrugs.

" Ch, chickened out?! W, why youuu..." I could actually see Saya's eye twitch now...

"Ummm, are you three awake?" And a knock on the door, as a female voice spoke from the other side. Causing all three of us to turn towards the door.

"You were blaring like an alarm Saya, no point turning quiet now." I chuckle.

"S, shut up..." Saya mumbles.

"Asami does not want to bother you, but your shift is starting soon and umm..." Asami responds from the other side of the door.

"Yea, we'll be up in a bit." I respond, loud enough for Asami to hear.

"Hmm, guess we should get up" Saeko adds as she stretches, then casually pulls the covers off her and gets up to walk on the narrow path between the bed and the wall, heading to the wardrobe that was next to the bed's footboard to get her clothes.

"Well, guess we should be getting up.." I take a deep breath as I start to get up, only for Saya to push me down, and climb on top of me.

"I demand the time you owe me." She declares as she essentially sits on top of me.

"Uhh, I really don't think this is the..."

I didn't even manage to finish that though when I felt the bed move, Saeko popping behind Saya, wearing a set of black, unbuttoned pants, and a white, also unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt. Only one of the armguards loosely tried on her arm.

"Ohhh, you demand?" Saeko giggles as she sticks herself behind Saya. The pinkette let out a short yelp as she tries to move away, to no avail.

"Aaah. L, let me ghhaa!" Saya starts squirming as she tries to break off from a giggling Saeko, again, to no avail...

So, yea. Yesterday I kinda found out that Saeko sort of enjoys 'Co-Op'. Much to Saya's surprise, and dismay...

"Want to join in?" Saeko then asks with an almost casual smile.

"As much as I want to, we really don't have time. Also Saya seems about ready to start crying so, please let her go?" I ask as I keep staring at the event unfolding on top of me.

Saeko just giggles slightly and finally releases the poor pinkette, who quickly slides to the top part of the bed next to my head, staring at Saeko with a frown that was as pronounced as her blush.

"You're an even bigger pervert than him! How could yesterday be your first time! " She yelps as she tightens her arms around her chest.

"Hmm? You seemed to enjoy yourself even more than me yesterday though, considering it was your first time too." Saeko just tilts her head.

Saya just keeps glaring at Saeko.

"Though I do apologize if I went overboard. I might have let my excitement take a hold of me." Saeko then bows slightly at Saya, causing her to blankly stare at the purple-haired Samurai...

"Well, you two seem to be getting along, wonder when you'll decide to cut the middle man." I chuckle as I also sit on the bed.

"Humff, getting jealous?" Saya huffs while she keeps hugging herself.

"Ehh? You bounced back fast, considering how you were moaning a second ago." I respond as I lift an eyebrow.

"S, shut up. Perverts, the both of you." Saya mumbles as she throws a quick, weak punch to my shoulder, then turns to look away.

"Hmmm? If you do not like it, you can always leave us 'perverts' alone." Saeko adds as she smirks, while at the same time she starts buttoning up her shirt.

"No way I'm leaving him alone with you, you're dangerous." Saya responds as she starts to relax. Saeko just laughs through her nose as she gets off the bed again.

"I would never hurt him." She adds she picks the rest of her armor from the ground.

"I love him more than I love myself." She continues as she turns towards Saya. Who just kept staring at Saeko in silence.

(...De-ja-vu...)

"I will wait outside, do not take too long, Asami and Khota are probably very tired and we are denying their sleep time the longer we take." Saeko turns to walk towards the door as she speaks, before opening it and stopping by the door frame as she turns towards us again.

"Oh and. Good morning, and thank you. I had a wonderful time yesterday." She adds with a smile before exiting the room, closing the door behind her. Leaving me and Saya to just keep staring at the door.

"That's not fair..." Saya mumbles as she lowers her head slightly.

"How the hell am I supposed to compare to, that." Saya then points at the door with a frown as she turns to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"...You know very well what I mean. She's, she's much better than me..." Saya mumbles as she lowers her hand, a worried look on her face as she turned to look away.

"And? You were much cuter than her." I respond as I shrug. Saya turns to glance at me with a deep blush on her face.

"She still was b..."

Before Saya could start complaining again I decided to shut her up...

And a few seconds later I pull my head back. Saya stares at me with almost unfocused eyes as she tries to lean toward me.

"Now, don't get greedy, remember we need to get dressed before Khota and Asami fall asleep standing up." I chuckle as I stop her by putting my hand on her collarbone.

"...More..." Saya mumbled as she kept staring at me.

"Hmm. nope~" I respond as I give her side a squeeze, Saya letting out a whiny moan as she wiggles about.

"Come on, let's get up. The sooner we finish with the remaining tasks at hand, the sooner we can do something more, fun." I add as I also get off the bed, and head to pick up my clothes, which were neatly folded inside the open wardrobe.

-10 minutes later-

"Maybe it would have been better if you took the first shift, we could have just let you sleep late..." Khota mumbles apologetically.

"It's fine, I'll just skip the shovel work." I chuckle back.

"Now go get some sleep." I add as I pat his back, then turn to sit on the stairs first step, glancing at the floor below us. The desk now sitting right in front of the stairs on the bottom floor. Apernatly Rika figured it'd be better to see the corpses before they are u the stairs. No idea how we will bring the damn thing up again though.

"By the way, when should we wake everybody up?" Saya, who was wearing knee-length athletic tights under the green shorts she had from the mall, and the brown 'hq' shirt along with her usual pink shoes asks.

"In like, three hours from now should be good enough." Khota nods back before finally trotting away with Asami. Leaving me, Saeko, and Saya alone.

"What are the plans for today?" Saeko asks as she moves to sit next to me. Then slides closer to me, slightly leaning her shoulder on me.

"First and foremost, we need to check the dojo and warehouse, make sure nothing is still crawling in there. After that, get the corpse bodies outside. We will probably have to dig a place to throw them in and burn them. Normally, you'd need something to fuel the fire to cremate a person, but for some reason corpses are rather flammable, probably because they lost a lot of fluid by blood loss? Dono. Point is, if we dig a hole away from trees to contain the chance of a wildfire and then light it up, we could probably reduce total mass of the bodies. No idea about the bones though, don't think a normal fire will be enough." I sigh as I stretch

"It's not, not by a long shot." Saya responds as she leans on the outer railing of the stairs, bending over to look down the stairs.

"How deep should the hole be?" Saeko then asks again.

"Depends how many corpses we'll burn at a time and how tall the remaining mass will become, but we want the flames to not flail about wildly. So we'll have to make it deep enough to keep the flames bellow ground level and watch for the wind too." I put my elbow on my leg and lean my chin on my hand as I speak.

"And once all that is done?" Saya asks as she turns to look at me.

"Then the fun part begins." I chuckle as I close my eyes.

"We will need to check the secondary pumps for water, the generator, and where we can control the solar panels from. We will also need to return to town for some stuff. Books, the GPS, maybe some clothes. I know we also have a good water purifier in the Humvee, but having more won't hurt. Also, we could do with some stuff that could help with depression and boredom. Board games, a ball or something." I sigh as I open my eyes.

"Huh? Depression? What do you mean?" Saeko asks as she tilts her head.

"The moment the group will start to settle down and will have nothing to do but think, there's a good chance they'll really realize that they ain't getting their old lives back any time soon. At the airport we were still partly on edge, even before getting sent to the camps. And the human brain has a tendency to create problems out of thin air if you let it unattended. So yea, we will need some things that are not 'for survival' to pass the time." I answer with a small nod. Then turn to look at Saya.

"Now, back to the matter at hand, considering nobody knows how pumps or solar boards even work, the trip will probably have to take priority. Just hope we can find some books that can help. Because I'll be counting on you in learning how that stuff works." I continue. Saya just nods back.

"Do we even know where the bookstores are? Wandering aimlessly is not a very good idea." Saeko then asks.

"Maybe we won't have to." Saya shrugs.

"I figured we'll need to learn all that stuff, so I took whatever books I found in the airport, my bag is actually full of books." Saya continues.

"That, is good. But the stuff we need is a bit 'too' specialized. Did you find the exact stuff we need?" I ask back.

"No, but I don't need to, I can figure it out myself once I can get the basics down. I am a genius after all." Saya turns to me with a rather confident smirk.

(Just don't blow us sky-high genius, ehh?...)

"Worst case we can ask my father, via the radio. Though we need to start the generator for that first." Saeko responds.

"That should not be 'that' hard. These generators come with a manual that is still probably inside the premise if nobody threw it away like an idiot, maybe inside the storage next to the generator?" Saya asks back.

"Hmm, yea that could work too. So, in terms of books, what do you think we'll need?" I ask as I turn to Saya. She blinks at me for a few seconds, almost looking surprised that I asked her. She then closes her eyes and lowers her head to think

"Hmm, farming is a definite one. Maybe carpentry so we can patch up the lower floor. We could also use some for basic foraging and hunting or trapping. And knowing how to reinforce our clothes with extra layers without making them cumbersome to wear could be good too. We could also do with knowing how to maintain tools correctly. Saeko knows about swords and Khota about guns. But what about normal tools and electrical appliances? We'll have to be able to fix them ourselves if they break down from now on. I know some of the books I got fall in the categories I mentioned, but I need to recheck them to make sure. But honestly, anything related to outdoor survival and maintenance could be a goldmine for us right now. I mean, if the Humvee breaks down, can Rika fix it for sure? " Saya then lifts her head and turns to look at me again.

"Hmm, looks like asking where the nearest library is, is something we'll have to do once we get the radio operational. Something Khota can hopefully do." I lean back and put my hands behind my back.

"Why Khota?" Saya asks as she frowns slightly, questionably arching an eyebrow.

"Because it looked like something the military would use." I chuckle as I keep looking down the stairs.

"Oh, makes sense..." Saya lets out a small sigh through her nose as she smiles, turning to also look down.

"But yea, we will have our hands full. So for now, one step at a time. Let's make this place easier to sleep in to first. I'm pretty sure that once we have cleared and cleaned this place, it will be a good boost of morale for everybody. Having a place where you can just, sit. It will also be easier to sit and think about our next step if we don't have to constantly watch over our backs." I take a deep breath as I close my eyes.

"Hmmm, I agree. Though personally, yesterday was all the morale boost I needed~" Saeko giggles slightly as she wraps her arms around my arm, then places the side of her head on my shoulder...

I reflexively turn to glance at Saya to find her staring at me with a 'Why you little shit' expression.

She then leans away from the stair's railing, walks up next to me, and proceeds to sit, or more like crash on my leg, before leaning her back on me.

"Humf. Just so you know, he found me to be cuter than you." Saya adds with a pouty tone.

"Ohh, really?" Saeko asks as she giggles.

"Well, I never really tried to act cute. But, I guess I will just have to make up for my lack of cuteness, in another way." She continues as she finishes her sentence with an almost, provoking whisper.

"Hey! Stop trying to seduce him!" Saya blurts out as she turns to face Saeko.

"Oi, people are sleeping here." I make a 'silence' motion with my finger.

"Ah, crap." Saya's eyes go wide as she turns to look around.

"But she's being a pervert!" Saya then, whisper shouts, as she points at the giggling purple-haired Samurai.

"Hmm? And where is the problem with that?" Saeko asks back with a small smirk. Causing Saya to just stare with a blank expression, no comeback coming out of her mouth.

"The way I see it, an intimate relationship like that would just make the bond I have with him stronger." She continues as she tightens her arms around my arm. Saya just kept staring with a frown, and a deep blush on her face.

"W, well you're still a pervert." Saya folds her arms and turns to look away and a haughty 'hummf!'. Saeko just, giggled in response.

(...I don't know what's weirder, that Saeko just does not seem to care about being called a pervert. Or that she so casually stated that she thinks it might be good too. Something in the back of my head is telling me I'ma end up like a rookie adventurer in a monstergirl universe if I'm not careful...)

"...I'm hungry..." Saya then mumbles as she turns to look down the stairs.

"Didn't we bring some rations up with us yesterday?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"These taste like crap. I want normal food..." Saya grumbles.

"My, are you getting soft on me Saya." I chuckle as I poke her side, causing her to slightly bend her body away from my hand.

"We could get some canned food from the third floor actually. The room with the radio. Though I think it's better if we wait for everybody to wake up." I add as I turn to look behind me. In response, Saya's stomach just whines back for her.

"N, not my fault. I always used to eat after waking up..." Saya mumbles as she embarrassingly hugs her stomach.

"Really? You didn't seem to do so up until now." I respond as I turn towards the pinkette.

"In the airport I've always eaten after waking up." Saya flatly answers back.

"I'm actually quite hungry myself. But I agree with Naier, we should wait for everybody." Saeko adds with a calm voice. Saya just grumbled under her breath, accepting the fact that food was still, hours away...

"By the way, you managed to take the laptop with you?" I ask right after.

"Yea, I took off the battery and kept it separate just in case somebody tried to see if it worked. It should be in the Humvee." Saya nods.

"Goot, still need to see the thing's GPU, CPU, RAM and PSU" I nod back.

"Gamer nerd." Saya snickers as she keeps looking down the stairs.

"I'm going to mark a settlement on your map for that." I respond with a flat tone. Saya just turns to look at me with a confused expression, then turns to look at Saeko.

"See, gamer nerd." She shrugs, before turning to look back down the stairs.

"If I was a fairy I'd tell you to listen. But I'm not. So whatever." I shrug back.

"A jeep? A sheep? And a ram?..." Saeko whispers to herself as she looks away from me and Saya.

(...She can't be serious right now, can she?...)

Ignoring the pondering Saeko, I turn to look down the stairs again.

And so, time passed in silence. Me and the two girls essentially just talking about nothing.

-About an hour later-

Saya was now laying down, her head on my leg, lazily staring down the stairs. Saeko was with her head on my shoulder. The food boxes from the third floor down here with us, since we had nothing better to do we carried them down here, none em opened by the way. And I was actually impressed with how much self-control Saya had too. Not that that stopped her from being herself...

"How long until we can wake the rest up?" Saya asks as she keeps staring down the stairs.

"Uhh, about two hours." I respond as I check my watch.

"Ughh..." Saya just groans...

"I know you want that spaghetti and meatballs you saw. But you got to hold on." I chuckle. In response, Saya's stomach grumbles.

"Arghh! Don't talk about food you stupiiiiid!" Saya quickly turns to throw a quick bite at my thigh as she whines...

"Oi, no bitting." I throw a quick slap at her rear in retaliation as I speak, Saya letting out a short yelp as she lifts her head to glare at me, a slight blush on her face.

"Pervert." Saya mumbles as she rubs the spot I just slapped.

"Say's you." I chuckle back at her.

"W, what's that supposed to mean?!" Saya blurts out as she frowns at me.

"Considering yesterday you..."

"S, shut up." Saya cuts me off as she shoves her cheek on my leg again. Also turning to stare at the stairs.

(Heh, embarrassed of how, not you, you were huh?)

"Uhh, Saeko, you Ok? You've been awfully..." I turn to look towards our purple hair Samurai, to find that she has actually fallen asleep on my shoulder...

"Quiet..." I mumble as I turn to look down the stairs again.

"If a corpse pops up now, we'll be so underprepared..." I sigh as I start petting Saya's head.

"It's not like it'll be able to go past the desk before we get ready, so what's the problem?" Saya asks back.

"True." I answer I keep absentmindedly patting Saya's head.

And few minutes passed like that...

(I'm surprised she's not whining that she ain't a dog or something...)

I tilt my head to look at Saya, only to find out that she, much like Saeko, decided to sleep on the job...

(... I know I said we'll be able to relax, but this is just absurd...)

Nonetheless, I left the two sleeping beauties to their devices, after I took Saya's glasses off. Worst case, they will just have a rude awakening...

Though now the problem was that I was keeping guard by myself, and I could not really move about, or talk. Or do much of anything...

(Got to wonder if we'll be able to grow some food here when our total knowledge in farming as a group is sitting at an absolute zero...)

With that though I put my hand behind my back and start to lean on it.

(More importantly though, I really, really want to play some video games now. Since I know we have a laptop, and there is a good chance we'll have electricity, and I have some games in my bag, along with the two controllers. Guess Saya's right huh? Oh I regret nothing..)

And time passed in boring silence. But hey, better boring than corpses showing up at my stairs.

-30/ 40 minutes later-

So you can guess that with all that silence, when a door opened in the hallway on the other side of the building, I heard it loud and clear. Not that whoever opened that door tried to be quiet, as I could also hear their footsteps pretty clear too.

And sure enough, Rika lazily popped up from the end of the hallway straight ahead of me. Rubbing her eyes as she turned to look at me...

"Ahh, Morning Naier." She lifts her arm to wave at me as she lets out a big yawn, then starts to walk towards me. The thing was...

"Morning. Uhh, can I ask why you are running around topless?" I respond as I essentially keep staring. I mean give me a break here...

And yea. Rika was essential wearing her lower underwear and, a bandage on her thigh. That's about it...

"Uhhh?" Rika groggily turns to look at herself, then lets out an uninterested, 'oh'.

"Have you ever spelt with Shizuka? She's way too clingy, got too hot under those boobs." She responds as she shrugs, not even trying to cover herself as she stops to lean on the railway next to me, turning to glance at the two sleeping girls.

"Not that you should be surprised to see a pair of boobs now by now. Something tells me you got enough of 'em yesterday." She adds as she makes a one-sided smirk at me.

"...You should know huh? Wonder who let Saya know..." I 'ask' as I arch an eyebrow.

"I'm just doing my part." Rika chuckles as she leans away from the railway, then turns her back to me as she stretches.

"AAaaanyway, I should go before the sleeping beasts wake up. Something tells me they won't be too happy to see me like this next to their, prey." She adds as she waves at me, then starts to walk away.

"...Well, that was. Weird..." I blink a couple of times as Rika disappears to the next hallway on the far end as lazily as she appeared.

(Something tells me Rika won't be too popular with certain girls here if 'that' is how she will be strolling around in the mornings...)

Yet it didn't take more than five minutes until Rika popped up again, this time wearing a pair of cargo pants and a skin-tight, white crop top.

Joining the 'lookout' as by her words, it was too boring for her to sit by herself.

So, the moment she got comfortable leaning on the railing next to me.

"Alright commando, split it~" She smirks at me as she leans in towards my direction.

"Who lasted longer?" She asks right after.

"This is confidential federal information." I respond flatly.

"Ahh? Don't be a stick in the mud now. Or, could it be? It was you wasn't it?" Rika chuckles as she backs off dramatickly.

"Not that I blame you, going for two bombshells like that. Bit off more than you can chew at its finest." She adds as she laughs through her nose.

"Sure, yea, let's go with that." I shrug back.

"Oh come on, not even a little gloating? Kids your age would be waving a flag around for such an achievement." Rika sighs slightly as she shakes her head.

"These kids would also be long re-dead with their pants down their knees by now." I respond.

"Or really?" Rika chuckles slightly as she tilts her head.

"You tell me how far a teenager that thinks with his dick would get." I add.

"Touche." Rika lets out a small defeated sigh as lowers her head.

"Still, they're out cold." She then turns to look at the sleeping girls.

"While you woke up before the six-hour mark." I respond as I turn to look at her.

"I can't relax, we're not exactly safe if we have to keep guard on a damn staircase." Rika answers with a more serious tone as she turns to look down the stairs.

"Not going to deny that. Your wound is fine?" I ask right after.

"Awww, you're worried about me." And all seriousness goes out the window...

"But yea, it's all but healed to my eyes honestly, but I ain't the doctor of the house sooo..." Rika then adds as she saw that I was just staring at her.

"Good. Now let's hope today was the first and last day we had to keep guard on the stairs." I nod as I take a deep breath.

"Heh, I'd drink to that." Rika chuckles back.

"Something tells me you'd drink to anything right about now." I add as I smirk slightly.

"Oh how well you know me. But no. It's Shizuka that likes drinking her shocks off, not me. Which is funny, considering she really can't handle it." Rika answers as she casually shrugs...

"So, got any plans for today?" She then asks as she turns to me.

"We'll be cleaning, burning corpses, or mopping the blood off the ground." I answer with a small nod.

"I see, so we'll be digging holes after all." Rika sighs.

"Half of us, the other half will check the inside perimeter for any live corpses, we'll also have to break into the big warehouse. If not for checking for corpses, to see what they got in there." I take a deep breath before leaning slightly forward.

(Long day ahead. But hopefully, by the end of it, we will be able to call this place home.)

A thanks to ma supporters.