Amity lied.

The thought revolved around Ciara's mind as she pushed herself past the crowd. The girl behind her followed closely. Ciara thought something was amiss about Amity since the previous day. How could this girl be so simple and pure? How was it that she'd think Yuzu was helping her—and not hurting her?

Right, Ciara concluded as she opened the door of the one and only cafeteria in Foncrise City. She can't detect lies. She's not like me.

She closed the door gingerly after the brown-haired girl entered the cafeteria. It was mostly brown and white with the tiles similar to a chessboard, black and white. The round tables stood in rows in front of the door. The man preparing coffee at the counter revealed his dimples when he saw them. Robotically, routinely, raffishly.

The uplifting smell of pancakes wafted into her nose from the kitchen. Tugging her friend's sleeves, Ciara asked, "Pancakes or waffles?"

"Pancakes with Oran Berries and a vanilla ice cream to top with." Amity rested her chin on a hand and watched as a car zoomed past.

Opposite the café, the red-roofed buildings looked her way. The pavement was already full of people at seven in the morning, all going for breakfast or heading out to work. Still, something felt off about these people. Not only did they not possess a Singularity, but they also shifted around with rigid movements. Their voices were all squeaky and she could hear the occasional hum. Some people acted the same as the students, but possessed no abilities as well.

"In deep thoughts?" The dark-skinned girl asked before heading to the man to order their breakfast. Returning to her seat, a white stool, she stared at her friend. "What's so interesting about that? It's no scenery."

"Most of them are weird. My second year here but I still can't get used to this. I've never asked this before, but what's with them?"

"They are androids. They look like us humans and that's all. Also, we are kind of the evolved form of humans, having abilities and all that. The other humans living on this island aren't like us."

"Oh." Amity sighed. "By the way, Yuzu wants me to help her film this Healer Killer thing."

"Alright." Ciara flipped her hair. "Amity scared?"

"No— Yes. It's going to be bloody."

"Why don't you kill—"

"No! It's an unforgivable sin! No!" Amity got up and pushed her stool away.

Shaking her head, Ciara took Amity's hand. "I mean, like, kill that fear of blood."

"That sounds so unnatural. I don't think that's a good idea." Amity paused, thinking back to the previous night, on her memories sweeping up a vortex in her. "Have you remembered?"

"It's not so difficult to forget everything. Whoever did that to us— You..."

"Yes," Amity mumbled. "Whoever did that to us will pay dearly."

"Hey," Ciara said, changing the subject as she pointed to a boy with a loosely-bandaged left hand walking past the café. He appeared not at all cautious and had no hidden weapons on him. "Isn't that senpai from the rock band?"

Amity nodded and walked over to the counter to take their breakfast. She came back with two plates of pancakes with Oran Berries and vanilla ice-cream. Then, despite the short distance, she sprinted to snatch two cups of piping hot mocha from the counter and place them on their table without spilling the drink.

"Let's eat fast. We may not be the paparazzi, but we might find out something about him." Ciara said between mouthfuls of ice cream.

Amity gobbled up her share. Before sipping her mocha, she muttered, "We're tailing him. That's not right."

"You know, filming a dead Pokémon isn't exactly right either."

"That's..."

"OK, chill!" Ciara hated how she herself always was awfully direct. It could hurt others. "Whatever. Today's lesson is battling and it starts at eight. Following him is a wise use of time."

Amity nodded and gulped her mocha down, scalding her tongue. Ciara laughed it off and fed the green-eyed girl an Oran Berry.

"Let's get going."

Amity didn't know why, but she felt she had to say it. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her mind was now flooded with thoughts of finding out a secret of the the four third-years. She just could not wait.

「」

Sage swore he saw two shadows shift behind him, too obvious that he didn't have to call upon Shadow Scar. He had decided to skip breakfast and stay cooped up in his room but Zayn offered a better option: find Jade, a girl who had something to tell him, which he hoped it would not be a confession. Trusting Zayn, he exited Noryuku and went into Foncrise City in search for her. Now, he was not exactly sure if it was a wise decision. While it did relieve him of his low mood a little, this brought a new wave of uneasiness and exasperation.

After walking past a crowd of androids and a flying murder of Murkrow, he thought he had succeeded in shaking the two people off. He turned and the adorable Gengar imprint on his black shirt shifted as well.

Fuck. Zayn only told me she has long brown hair. More than half of these people have long and dark brown hair. Couldn't he have sent a photo?

As much as Sage hated expletives and told himself countless times to use them minimally, he still used them in his thoughts. No one else would hear him anyway.

This moment made him feel weaker and more useless. He berated himself for being unable to find just one girl, though his roommate could have been more specific. Zayn just dumped him with that sole detail after saying he was in a rush to somewhere. And where did he go? Zayn left a clueless Sage wandering in the city while he, in a hurry, went to get a box of cereals from the mart which would only open two hours later. It made no sense.

As the boy turned round the bend and into an alley leading to the northern part of the city, he caught a glimpse of a lock of chestnut hair. The girl seemed to be looking around for someone or something too. Convinced she was Jade, he went up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"What?" The girl rolled her eyes at him.

"Are you... Jade?"

"No, but you're jaded. Go get some sleep." She turned on her heel and took a few steps to her left before retracing her steps. Facing the boy, she scanned him from head to toe and cocked her head sideways. "Sage from Emo-Senpai?"

"Damn it, second-year. I spent an hour looking for you and all I get is a glare?"

"If you're the one who killed the men last night, I would have given you a throat chop."

Silence bred between them.

About a stone's throw away from them, Amity and Ciara peeked from behind a green dumpster.

"Is that his girlfriend?" Amity poked her friend.

"No, it's Jade from the Writers' Guild. If they were dating, they didn't have to come to an alleyway." Ciara watched the two students and bit her lips. She thought of using her Singularity, but both seemed to be the honest type. A longer look at the boy made her hesitate. She craned her neck and watched his eyes, the sadness behind them. It was something she never noticed. The drummer always shone and beamed on stage after all.

"Mei... Her username is Sayo."

Jade's words were all Amity needed to hear. It meant that Yuzu was right. Yes, Yuzu would not lie to her. Yuzu was a nice senior. Yuzu never lied.

As if. Her anima fought back but her body had sprung into action.

Amity jumped out of her hiding spot and lunged herself at Jade.

"Where? Where is Mei? Kill her and we can end this game!" Amity hollered while clawing at the girl who was not doing a decent job at struggling. Amity felt out of character, out of control. Everything seemed like a wild daydream and she was dissociated from herself, peering through the eyes of an avatar modelled after her.

Jade's vision blurred. "Why would you want to do that to Mei-chan? She's nice."

It was then Ciara sensed that Yuzu had done something to Amity again. It dawned on her why the girl had been so jittery the entire time they were out, why she was so distracted and looking everywhere.

"Amity!" Ciara pulled the girl off the writer. "Are you even thinking clearly? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Are you even using your abi—"

"Whoever you are, never ever speak of that word in public. No one is supposed to know that," Sage interrupted and got over to help the brown-haired girl. He was about to take his handkerchief from his jeans pocket when the girl placed a hand on his right arm.

Rules are rules, huh, Shitshit? Sage shook the thought out of his head.

"It's fine. No one's here in this alley." Jade let go of him. She brought her hands together and separated them. A translucent ball of white light emerged and she brought it closer to the scratch wounds she received. They disappeared immediately as if nothing happened at all. Lifting her head, she faced the corybantic girl. "Amity, right? What did Mei even do to you for you to want her death so badly?"

Restore, of course. Sage blinked. Jade reminded him of an Audino; she was not only a good listener, but also a great healer. Why couldn't she heal Mei of her schizophrenia then? Maybe it didn't have any effect on her. Or her Singularity has limitations.

"Yuzu—" Amity hollered but Ciara gagged her mouth with her hand.

The black-haired girl bowed and apologised in place of Amity for her eccentric behaviour. Then, she added, "Your ability is healing, right?"

"Yeah," Jade said. Her eyes never left her assailant. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine. But I still don't understand. Isn't Yuzu your club's Director?"

Ciara nodded and let go of Amity. Whispering to the girl who gradually regained her composure, Ciara said, "Before attacking anyone, think about your fear of blood. I don't want to carry you back to Noryuku."

"I—"

Ciara interjected, "Yes, you. You could have analysed the situation first, as you always do."

Before Amity could say anything else, her friend pulled her away from the two students and towards the academy.

Sage could only stare at Jade as she filled him in on what Mei had done, which he already knew thanks to Zayn. He didn't get why he needed to hear the same thing twice.

Then, silence hung over them.

「」

One hour was enough for Loralei to get into action.

She had thought long and hard about it, and now, she gripped her penknife while waiting for the man to settle down. She had it all planned, starting with the tea.

"Why aren't you drinking, Lora?" The man raised the cup of cold tea and brought it to his lips.

"I don't feel like drinking." Because I poisoned the tea.

The man took a sip of the drink. He rocked back and forth, convulsing helplessly, his fingers trembling and his muscles contracting hard.

"Oh, Papa, are you OK?" She feigned concern. Oh, Papa, are you dead already?

Of course, she knew all too well he could not answer her question. From her back, she slid the penknife and stabbed his left eye, just above the dark circles. A choked scream burst across the living room barren of other furniture.

She could almost hear him plead as he mouthed words she pretended not to know. Why? Why, Loralei, why?

"This is for abusing me. You threw me at the main gates of Noryuku a year ago because I was so flat-chested you can't bear to lick."

Why do I have you as a father? Fucking abusive arsehole. Just because I don't meet your expectations of a stereotypical hourglass figure and all that crap. Be more ladylike? Don't kid me, I'm no longer a kid! Loralei brought the sharp object to his tongue and sliced it into half. I've had enough. I want revenge!

"My scars. Feast your eye at them."

She unzipped her dress and let it fall noiselessly onto the bleeding floor. Under the light, crimson strokes seemed to glow all over her body. The man tried to shift himself away from the girl whom he hurt so terribly, but she pierced his left hand. Blood oozed out from it rapidly. His remaining eye engaged in a wayward movement across the boundaries of his sclera, groping for a forgotten solace.

For once, she felt pure ecstasy.

Loralei slashed his body and cackled. Blood splattered onto her single purple braid. Her amber eyes shone with bloodlust. She was glad she found a place in Noryuku, far from the confines of a monster.

Do monsters create despair or does despair create monsters? Loralei licked the blood off her lips.

Tonight, she would control all the twenty-two other students of the academy during her concert. She would bring them all down with her. Yes, there was no meaning left to life after this. She would end everyone's misery. None of them would have to be subjected to living on this faraway island anymore.

"Living is suffering and I have spared you from this hellhole. Bitch."

Her phone lit up and she glanced at the screen.

"Healer Card? Oh, don't worry. I'll be the sole survivor of this game. No one heals nothing, like how time doesn't really heals wounds, just covers them up like make-up does. That's why I get my revenge."

It looked like any ordinary card-collecting game, with gachapons and a chat function for socialising, but it's truly a platform to free the inner beast from its rusted shackles. When I kill everyone else, none of them can use their cards. They will lose the game and their lives all at the same time.

「Welcome back, Karma」

Loralei pictured the many deaths she would witness hours later. She could only hope things would be much more gorier than this.

Unbeknownst to her, behind her back, slotted between the ajar door and the door frame, a video camera was rolling...