「Use The Healer Card?」

A finger hit the 'yes' button and typed feebly on the keyboard.

「Me. Now.」

He felt a force lift him up and the red fluid stopped flowing out of his body. Like a miracle, it surged inwards and gave him strength. The dots that filled his vision vanished very quickly too. It was as if he turned back time for a while.

He wished he had seen his attacker, but he didn't. He was prey. That was something he was aware of. Pushing himself off the ground, he got onto his bike and returned to the academy. He felt no pain. He felt no pleasure.

Today was a new day. It was past midnight after all. He got off his bike after parking it at the gates. Diving into the app, he hit the function that screamed "danger" to him. What could he do? It was purely entertainment.

It was just a game.

「Congrats! You have received 𝓡 𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓶: 𝓢𝓽𝓾𝓷 𝓖𝓾𝓷! Enjoy your gift!」

A black cylindrical object with a button at one end dropped out of nowhere and into his other hand. His Flame Boomerang was still in his pocket, confidence building within him. Had courage truly gone out of our race, he would have stilled instead of fighting back.

"Just you wait. Once I find you, I will make you pay."

If he were honest with himself, and if he didn't choose to run away from the truth, he'd know who to look for. If only he would stop running away, things would have been so much easier.

If only he sensed the shadow looming closer, he would have been more careful.

「」

Twilight flooded the island. Ria hovered over to the café in Foncrise City which was illuminated by red lanterns hanging loosely between poles. The man inside suppressed a yawn and lay his head on the countertop.

I'm hungry. Should I get some cup noodles? She beckoned for the two Shuppet to follow her. She caught sight of a grey bush of hair bobbing up and down and, with a soft clink, the coffee spilled over the white saucer. The patron was a familiar one, someone she knew from a long time ago. Of course, she didn't bother to greet him. He couldn't see her if she didn't let herself be seen.

"Kuri, stop being impatient," Ria told the Black Shuppet Doll when it butted the door. She wrapped her hands around the handle and pulled it. Why, she wasn't surprised that her fingers slid past it and she was holding air, for what seemed to be the seventh time.

"Shiri," the girl said as she turned to the White Shuppet Doll. "What do I do?"

She thought about floating into the café through the door, but her dolls did not possess the abilities of a ghost, ironically.

Ria didn't know if she made the right choice, but she hoped she was correct. She needed to get something to eat. She looked down to the blood-stained coins in her skirt pocket. It was enough for one meal.

"Let's go."

But she didn't have anywhere to go to.

With her dolls, she wasn't alone or lonely despite having no one to talk to her. She couldn't give them a voice of their own, though they did have a part of her each.

The man at the counter turned his head to the door and pushed it open. Ria took the opportunity to enter the café in a swift motion, her invisible dolls with her. In her peripheral vision, he twisted his neck left to right and shut the door. Goosebumps littered his body.

She headed to the student and watched him. His slender fingers encircled the hook of the cup. His breaths and heartbeats were synchronised. He wasn't just the embodiment of excessive pride; he was hubris.

"I've been looking for you." She mumbled, hands stretching out to caress his cheeks. "Please take good care of Ferro. Heed his advice."

The boy lifted his cup. It left his hand and fell to the checkered floor. "R-Ria."

The girl, appalled, stepped back and fell onto the chair. She didn't sink through it.

"So ghosts really can be seen and heard when visible. I guess I'm half-human, half-spirit then." Ria took in deep breaths until she found her cool. "Uh, hi."

"Why do I have to take care of some sixteen year-old?" He shook his head. No, this was a hallucination right? Everything was biting back at him.

Who is behind you now? The question popped up in his mind quite out of the blue. As for why it came up, he was uncertain. He turned around, slow as a Marcargo. No one was there. The man was not there. It was just him and the girl who just materialised before him.

No one. He thought. I'm the one who's left behind. It's my fault, isn't it?

"Pride can be troublesome," the girl said.

Was she all-seeing, all-knowing? That was something Clay didn't know.

"I'm the idiot." He gritted his teeth, grey eyes fixed on the girl. "But I am hubris. And I have power."

"You asked him a question." The girl gave him a steely gaze. The smell of chrysanthemums and white lilies rolled off her tongue. "The word 'if' can become 'when'. Maybe you should be asking yourself instead. When he dies, would you care?"

"Are you some omniscient narrator? Because if you are, then I must be some character in a thriller novel." The cyclist held the cup frantically. In his head, darkness blossomed. What would he do when Ferro died? How would he deal with it? Would he cry as well and tell himself that he was no longer worthy of being a man? Would these harsh ideals truly deem one to be masculine or not?

"No. I only know what I need to." Ria flicked her gaze to the saucer on the table. "Buy me a cup of hot chocolate and I'll tell you more."

The boy did as he was told and returned with the drink after clicking the buttons on the coffee dispenser and leaving coins on the counter.

"Now," the girl said before taking a sip. "Don't be alarmed. But, I think you should take note of your surroundings, especially the people around you."

"What?"

"You can prevent the tragedy by simply taking note of your surroundings and actions." She craned her neck and her face leant closer to the boy. "Right now, you're a pawn. Almost every student is, really."

She got up and tapped her feet on the nearest white tile. Shiri and Kuri landed onto it. She smiled, glad that she caught his attention.

"You can promote to a queen if you reach the other end of the chessboard. Queens go anywhere. Thing is, who are your allies, and who are your opponents?" She laughed. "Noryuku is  the setting for a game of chess. Some people are pawns, some are bishops, others knights and rooks. To be frank with you, you aren't an ordinary pawn. Sorry I lied." She rose into the air.

Grey eyes trailed her hand—her index finger—and went about in circles. "What am I?"

"The wimpiest piece, of course." She paused to look at the boy, surprised that he wasn't fuming, but processing her words calmly. "A pawn stuck in the delusions of being king. Isn't that description most fitting?"

Clay sucked in a breath as he dipped his head. Ria was right. He needed to change his ways. However, he needed some things figured out first.

"You said that Ferro might die soon?"

"Move wisely on this chessboard." She shifted Shiri to the black tile. "Or you will be claimed by the opposing queen."

"What's the current situation?" Clay got up and blinked at the ghost girl above him.

"The queen is nearing your brother at the moment. Will there be a sacrifice, dear pawn?" Ria smirked. "Worry not! You can deal with this queen with your feelings. Oh, the queen is making its move. What will the pawn do?"

Clay remained silent for a while before rushing to the door. "Thanks, Ria!" He held the door for her and her dolls to exit the café and they made their way back to Noryuku.

'Thanks'. For the first time, he actually could express gratitude. He could actually be polite. Ria shook her head.

"I'm getting a little apprehensive but..." Ria scooped her two Shuppet Dolls up into her hands as she glided through the streets, passing by the red lanterns. She waited for Clay to catch up to her. "Have you ever handled a yandere?"

The boy opened his mouth but nothing came out. What did he have to do with an obsessive, violent crush? He leapt over the thick roots of a tree. Above him, a stealthy, black mass flashed past, momentarily blocking the waning moon.

"OK," the ghost girl decided to change her question. "What do you think of your junior, Nigel?"

"Smart, fast, gentle, cute." The words tumbled out of the boy's mouth when he thought about the second-year.

"You're forgetting something." Ria gave out a short sigh. "Gay."

「」

Running for his dear life, Ferro found his legs wobbling as he decelerated.

Not now! Not now! Run! His head was full of screams. He should have known better. Fear choked him.

The albino sporting his orange-red helmet sliced the air, the sheen on the dagger resonating in Ferro's ears.

Damn it! If he uses his Singularity, I'm doomed! Ferro clutched his heart with his cold, clammy hands. Yellow eyes flickered to the stun gun he just received.

"I'm not afraid of ya. I don't know how you got the stun gun, but I'm not afraid." Pink eyes scrutinised the empty corridor.

Light Runner is going to be annoying. Ferro crouched behind a stack of boxes under the stairs at the ground floor of the girls' dormitory. His legs led him there. Panting, he clenched his fists to steady himself. If Nigel really used his Singularity and moved at the speed of light, Ferro would be terribly disadvantaged.

"I'll have you know that I killed Rain. Stupid roommate of Clay's can't even land a kick on me. Storm Kick can't paralyse or freeze me now that he's finished." A cackle echoed.

"Where's my Durant? Where—" He paused when the footsteps stopped. He left the Steel- and Bug-type Pokémon in his room. If he killed Rain, Titan would be hella upset.

"Come out, come out wherever you are. I will slice you, dice you and throw you into the sea to feed the Sharpedo!"

Screw this guy. Where did Titan go? Just where? Ferro couldn't call his roommate. His phone was in the state of low battery.

Boxes shifted. Ferro held his breath. He detected the smell of sweat. Footsteps thundered onto the ground, closer and closer to him.

Boxes fell.

If I die tonight, would you care?

The dagger hovered over his head.

A chuckle. "Don't worry. I'll make it fast. At the speed of li—"

Before Nigel finished speaking, Ferro struck the albino's leg with his stun gun, sparks of electricity surging through Nigel's body. Screaming, Ferro tackled the fallen boy and both of them barrelled over across the ground.

The dagger made a tiny cut on Ferro's neck. It pressed down on his flesh, right where his heart was.

It's fine. He told himself as he reached for his other weapon and let the flames lick both their blackening clothes. The blaze slashed Nigel just as the dagger dashed diagonally downward.

"I'm not going to run away anymore." A malicious glint was present in the boy's yellow eyes.

Warmth in his body, coldness in his gaze. It was calm yet chaotic at the same time.

Everything grew red.