Oh, she′s sweet but a psycho
A little bit psycho
At night, she's screamin′
"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"
Oh, she′s hot but a psycho
So left but she's right, though
At night, she's screamin′
"I′m-ma-ma-ma out my mind"

The desk lamp flickered a little again, just as I was about to connect the two fine wires together.

Of all times.

I paused and waited a moment until the light had halfway stabilised again. The generator at the Beach was normally relatively reliable, but the power supply often fluctuated, especially in the evenings - no wonder, with all the music and party lights that kept the mains running at full blast every day. But apparently Hatter was happy to put up with this for his self-created utopia, as he kept calling it.

I shook my head imperceptibly and then focussed on my work again. The intertwined wires in my fingers reminded me a little of blood vessels. Every movement had to be precise, every move had to be right, just like a surgical procedure. Spread out in front of me were the remains of an old mobile phone and the broken walkie-talkie that I had tried in vain to repair. There was also a battery cell and a few other components that I had scavenged from smoke alarms and alarm systems in the hotel.

I carefully connected the wires of the mobile phone microphone to the circuit board of the walkie-talkie. A confident smile slipped across my lips as I surveyed my handiwork: a small, inconspicuous listening device - something I could place almost anywhere without being noticed. If it worked, maybe it would help me gather information and find out if the military was planning something behind Hatter's back. But honestly I was doing it less for Hatter than for myself. It didn't hurt to know what was going on at the Beach. And maybe I could even find out where Hatter kept the safe with the cards. All I'd have to do would be to build an extra bug and install it inconspicuously in Hatter's suite.

I was just about to stow the electronics in an empty chewing gum container when loud laughter came through the walls. I paused for a moment and listened. The voices - there seemed to be several of them - were clearly coming from Kuina's room. She had rarely had visitors so far. The last time it had been a bit louder next door, she had had a film night with Izumi. But that was nothing compared to the volume she produced today. I lifted my head as loud music suddenly started, accompanied by a weird, off-key melody.

Another silly giggle came through the wall. Izumi. I was pretty sure it was her laughing. But they didn't seem to be alone. It was too loud for that. My gaze wandered back to the small, unfinished bug in front of me, but my mind wandered. I saw her face in front of me, the moment she pulled the fabric out of the packaging and realised that it was the dress from the shop window. The dress she had stared at as if it symbolised everything she had ever wanted in her life.

Even though I knew my plan would work and she couldn't hide her surprise, her reaction to the dress had left me a little pensive. It wasn't just the expression of her joy, but something deeper and sincere that was reflected in her gaze. For a moment, it had seemed as if the dress was more than just a piece of fabric to her.

I couldn't say why this thought bothered me so much. After all, the dress had only been a step in my plan, a means to an end to gain her trust and bind her to me. Izumi had long since shown me that she was receptive to small attentions, especially when she wasn't expecting them. The more she believed that there was something gentle and good-natured behind my cold facade, the easier it would be to manipulate her. And yet...

Another loud laugh snapped me out of my thoughts. I snorted softly and returned to my work, reminding myself to concentrate, but the noises next door were hard to ignore. Instead, I felt a strange feeling coming over me. Was it curiosity? No, it was as if something inside me didn't want to calm down. But I couldn't say exactly what was causing it. Maybe it was just starting to annoy me, the shrill giggling and the tuneless singing.

I closed the gum container with a soft click and then leaned back into the cushion of the sofa. In about two hours, the electricity in the rooms would be cut anyway and Kuina's little karaoke session next door would come to an abrupt end.

Only a little later, I heard the familiar sound of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" starting up. My eyes fell back on the table where the improvised bug was lying. Maybe I should test it before using it. It certainly couldn't do any harm and perhaps Kuina's little party would even be the perfect occasion for it. Or maybe I just couldn't pass up the chance to see Izumi's red face when she realised I was watching her sing. It was a tantalising thought and certainly more entertaining than sitting here staring holes in the wallpaper.

I reached for the container of gum and slipped it into my trouser pocket before standing up and leaving the hotel suite behind me. Three steps later, I stood in front of Kuina's room and knocked vigorously on the door.

The giggling behind the door suddenly stopped and the music was turned down. Footsteps approached. Then the door was pulled open. Kuina stood in front of me and grinned broadly. When she saw me, she put on an astonished expression. Her eyes were slightly glassy from the alcohol, but I recognised how she narrowed her eyes minimally.

"Chishiya?" she asked in a leaden voice. She leaned against the doorframe almost provocatively and raised an eyebrow. "What gives us the honour?"

I glanced around the room, looking bored and saw that Izumi and Kiko were sprawled out on a couple of cushions in front of the TV, each armed with a microphone. The young woman with the blue hair was also there. Minsu, if I remember correctly. When Izumi met my gaze, her eyes widened briefly and her already flushed cheeks seemed to take on a little more colour. I watched her fingers play nervously with the microphone cord.

"I just wanted to make sure no cats were being tortured in here. You know, you guys are blaring half the floor with your whining."

Kuina rolled her eyes.

"So what? Have we disturbed your beauty sleep?" she replied in an unusually snide tone.

"More like caused acute tinnitus. A little longer and I could demand compensation."

Kuina snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes flashing defiantly.

"At least we know how to have fun," she claimed, jutting her chin a little.

I raised my eyebrow and glanced around the mess in the room: open bags of crisps, empty drinks cans and, for some unknown reason, a huge pile of clothes on Kuina's bed.

"If that's what you want to call it," I replied calmly.

My gaze slid back to Izumi, who was pulling herself up from the floor, swaying slightly and holding the microphone aloft, straight in my direction. To my surprise, this time she looked me straight in the eye with an almost defiant glint in it. Her cheeks were glowing, a sign that the alcohol had already done its work.

"Come on, Chishiya," she shouted exuberantly. "Sing with us! Let's see if you can do better than your smart-ass comments."

Despite her wobbly steps, she looked surprisingly confident as she held the microphone out to me with an outstretched hand. She seemed to forget for a moment that it was hanging on a cable. She stumbled backwards as she was abruptly pulled back again. Puzzled, she looked round.

"Oops," she said.

Kiko laughed at Izumi's mishap while she stared at the tangled cable as if she couldn't understand what had just happened. An amused smile stole onto my lips. Izumi raised her head again and grimaced indignantly.

"Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" she said with feigned indignation and put her hands on her hips. "You're just afraid of embarrassing yourself."

"I hardly think I can keep up with you," I said mockingly and leant back against the door frame.

Kuina, who was still standing in the doorway, looked sceptically back and forth between us.

"So Chishiya, if you don't want to sing along, then take off. Besides, this is a girls' night out. You're not wanted here."

She made a move to slam the door in my face, but I quickly put my foot between them. Kuina narrowed her eyes almost menacingly into slits. I knew why. She didn't want me to get too close to Izumi because she knew exactly what I was up to. She wanted to protect her from me. But maybe that's what motivated me to inflame the situation further. I didn't give in that easily.

I kept my foot firmly in place and met Kuina's scowl with a mocking smile.

"Not wanted?" My voice dripped with feigned regret. "That really hurts. I just wanted to see you ruin your vocal chords."

I looked demonstratively past Kuina into the room.

"Chishiya, we're serious," Kuina hissed and tried to close the door a little more forcefully, but I didn't budge.

"Oh, Kuina. Surely you have nothing to hide, do you?"

A barely noticeable wince crossed her face before she briefly glanced at Izumi, who was standing at a safe distance and watching us with a confused, slightly amused expression on her face.

Kuina curled her lips into a tense smile and took half a step back.

"You know very well that this is a girls' round, Chishiya," she said, her voice clearly lowered. "So why don't you just make it easy on yourself and leave? I don't think you're really interested in karaoke and girl talk."

"Maybe not karaoke," I returned calmly, casting a meaningful glance in Izumi's direction, "but who knows what else the evening has in store."

Kuina's hands clenched imperceptibly into fists, but before she could say anything back, Izumi stumbled forwards with a grin and pushed herself between us, staggering slightly.

"Let him go, Kuina!" she said with an enthusiastic grin. "Let him stay if he wants to. Who knows, maybe we'll get him to sing a song after all."

I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and gave Kuina a winning smile. She scowled at me, but that didn't stop me from pushing open the door and shoving past her without responding to her indignant "Hey!". She gave a frustrated snort and let the door close again. "Yeah, sure, make yourself at home."

I made my way through the chaos on the floor and relaxed into one of the armchairs by the window. As I watched the scene, half amused, half waiting, I noticed that Izumi's gaze was literally glued to me. She stood there, still swaying slightly, clutching the microphone tightly, and gave me a determined, if slightly misty, look.

"Come on, S-shishiyaah," she urged, her speech now slightly slurred. "Show us that you've got more to offer than just this cold, aloofed act."

I looked at her with a small, suppressed grin. Somehow this was giving me more pleasure than I had expected. As dazed as she was, I could probably get her to tell me every one of her little secrets today - without any effort at all.

I leant back in my chair, crossed my arms and let my gaze glide over her unimpressed.

"What's the point? I'll end up putting your singing, as you call it, in the shade."

Izumi pursed her lips.

"Oh, come on, you're just too much of a coward," she challenged me, straightening her back.

"Interesting theory," I replied and casually crossed my legs. "But actually, I just want to make sure I don't overwhelm you unnecessarily with my performance."

Izumi snorted softly.

"Coooowaaard," she teased me further and then turned back to Kiko. "Come on, we don't need that spoilsport! Let's sing that one."

She had reached for the console's old-fashioned controller and was running the relevant song in the preview. Kuina had meanwhile sat down cross-legged on her bed, where Minsu was also sitting and just watched the proceedings quietly, as if she was also not very keen on an embarrassing singing performance.

Izumi selected "that one" and the melody of the well-known pop song echoed loudly on the walls. The singing started almost at the same time. I watched in amusement as the two of them bawled into the microphone together, with Kiko's disastrous pronunciation giving the whole thing an unintentional humour. The walls seemed to vibrate as they performed the song loudly and, well, rather tunelessly in places. It was almost a miracle that the old microphones could withstand the shrill tones.

Kuina rolled her eyes, but grinned as Izumi clung to Kiko, laughing. Minsu watched the whole thing with a slightly amused, albeit distant, smile and seemed content to play the role of silent observer.

I leaned deeper into the armchair, resting my head on one hand, and simply took in the chaos before me. There was actually something entertaining about the absurd scene. Izumi's enthusiasm for this spectacle was almost infectious. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but grin slightly when the two of them got tangled up in the chorus and Kuina burst out laughing.

Oh, she's sweet but a psycho, a little bit psycho...

The lyrics seemed to be perfectly tailored for Izumi. Ironically, it wasn't so far-fetched to imagine her as a kind of "psycho" - at least when you consider the fact that she was standing here in front of me, slightly tipsy, unpredictable and somehow not of this world either, but still with that touch of innocent naivety.

Sweet but psycho.

I felt the corners of my mouth lift further as she got into it and closed her eyes almost as if in a trance. She was absolutely in her element, completely oblivious to what I was really up to - and that played into my hands. I took advantage of the moment when they were completely absorbed in the song and then pulled the small chewing gum tin out of my trouser pocket. Without taking my eyes off the scenery, I pressed the record button and stuck the bug, which I had previously prepared with adhesive film, to the bottom of the small side table next to me.

Izumi kept giving me a furtive sideways glance as I sang, but she didn't seem to have noticed my hand movement under the table thanks to the dim light in the room. She just grinned at me - with rosy cheeks - and then lost the thread of the song several times. It was hard to miss how distracted she was by my presence. A good sign - good for me. I already had her hooked. Not much longer and she would do everything I asked of her without questioning it.

Almost casually, I reached for the magazine lying on the table next to me - a fashion magazine - probably Kuina's, and flicked through it. In my head, I counted down from 60 seconds. It would probably take just as long for Izumi to find her way to me. My gaze seemed to fix itself intently on the pages.

...50, 49, 48...

I quickly skimmed the two-page colour type test. I held the magazine directly in front of my face and mentally went through every single question. I kept glancing at the clock and watching the second hand slowly move towards 12.

...13, 12, 11, 10...

A movement out of the corner of my eye made me look up briefly. Footsteps were approaching. I had been wrong. It had only been 56 seconds.

I lowered the magazine and saw that Izumi had dropped into the other armchair next to it, with only the side table between us. She was holding a champagne glass, her expression still serene as she scrutinised me.

"So, anything exciting?" she asked curiously, glancing at the journal in my hand.

I tilted my head to the side a little thoughtfully.

"Well, apparently I'm a winter type," I remarked dryly.

She gave a silly giggle, as if I'd cracked the joke of the evening.

"Winter then, huh?" She narrowed her eyes, put her fingers to her chin and looked at me with an exaggerated critical eye, almost as if she were analysing a sculpture for art history purposes. "Dull, cool colours... yes, that suits you."

I smirked and raised an eyebrow as I closed the magazine.

"Dull and cool, right? That sounds downright flattering."

Izumi grinned, sank back a little and raised the champagne glass to her lips as she let her gaze wander round the room. Kiko and Kuina were already singing the next song in the background, oblivious to our conversation.

"But, you know, I'd like to see you in something other than this sterile doctor's white," she said, giving me a teasing, almost charming smile.

Was she flirting with me?

Brave, I'll give her that, but the alcohol was certainly not entirely unconnected to it. I smiled slightly at her comment.

"Ah yes, and what do you have in mind?" I asked challengingly.

She leant back again and let her gaze wander slowly over my body. It was hard to believe that I actually let myself get carried away with this kind of conversation. But I had to admit to myself that it certainly had its appeal.

"Maybe... a suit," she said, stretching as if thinking aloud. "Something elegant... In grey or black. Yes, I think that would look good on you."

A suit, then. It was obvious what she was getting at. The ball. As I had already surmised, she wasn't quite so keen on me skipping it. She didn't broach the subject directly, but the thought seemed to haunt her mind. I leant back in my chair and scrutinised her, unable to resist a mocking smile.

"A suit, huh? Are you alluding to something specific?"

She bit her lower lip briefly and folded her hands nervously in her lap without letting go of the empty glass. She glanced inconspicuously over at me again.

"I thought it would be nice to see you there... At the ball," she murmured softly.

I raised my eyebrows slightly, but let her stew in her embarrassed silence for a moment longer before I finally replied with a smile.

"I didn't realise you cared so much about my company," I returned in my usual cynical tone. Her face regained some colour. "Unfortunately, an event like this isn't really my style."

She bowed her head.

"That's what I thought. But the dress... why did you give it to me if you didn't want to attend yourself? I don't understand it. It... doesn't suit you somehow."

She looked at me questioningly.

Of course. The dress. So that was what was really bothering her.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe I was just trying to confuse you. Looks like it worked."

She snorted and pushed her bottom lip forward a little, clearly dissatisfied with my vacuous answer.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" she growled. "Always these vague answers... you're only doing this because you... because you enjoy driving me crazy with it."

Her reaction amused me more than it should have.

"Maybe," I replied calmly. "Or maybe not. Who knows?"

Izumi stared at me, clearly frustrated by my words, but there was something else that flickered in her eyes, something she couldn't hide from me - a hint of curiosity. I had irrevocably captivated her where I wanted her to be. She may not have realised it yet, but the web I had spun around her was slowly closing - a web of finely spun lies and subtle manipulation. Everything went exactly according to plan.

Authors Note:
I've revised and updated the Introduction chapter a bit. I mainly added genres, tropes, triggers and some other info that might be relevant.

I'd love hearing from you more in forms of votes or comments. Sometimes I get the feeling most of those 400 readers this stories has are hiding somewhere 👀 You know that isn't some Hide and Seek game 😂