She stared as she left her sight and before long, she shook her head as she followed.

  Hitomi stepped down to the social room, rain was still pouring and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. Might as well waste some time.

  On her way there, the slippery floor dragged her down repeatedly, annoyed at the constant slips, she squeezed the railing tight before slowly walking towards the room.

  The door stared inches away, taunting her for having this much trouble as she walked in like the idiot she was as she turned the handle.

  In the vibrant room, she picked out a chair, putting it behind before sitting down with swiftness. But it wasn't the usual kind of swiftness, it was the pissed kind. Not everyone could guess but most knew it had something to do with the rain. Not that the information would be useful anyways.

  Taking a few deep breaths, she observed the surroundings.

  Windows, revealing the stromy night and mutiple seats landed across every corner of the room with the only exception being near the indoor stairways that led to the top floor’s bar, the pleasing smell of dessert treated everyone's nose, the chatty but annoying atmosphere filled the room as many people of many ages, gender, ethnicity and sizes chatted, clearly finding this place enjoyable. Only a few others didn't like this room, Hitomi included.

  She wasn't a social person, people like Travestita or Gino were well suited for that. Despite this, she could still get why they liked it. After all, not being social doesn't mean she doesn't like small talk.

  “May I sit?” A polite and gentle voice rang out beside her.

  Without any reason to decline, she accepted and even if she didn't want them to stay, they could still sit.

  “Very well.” They pulled out a chair before sitting down, revealing their emerald eyes shining brighter than the sun itself. However, Hitomi wasn't the type to be flattered by such a pretty face.

  “What shall we do?”

  “Hm.” Her fingers repeatedly tapped the table, thinking of all of the possibilities they could do at the current moment. Until she remembered the most basic and yet the most efficient one.

  “Talk.” An awkward pause before saying anything obvious would be quite embarrassing for anyone, but her cyborg mind, several times faster than a mundane human, saved her from that moment.

  He shook his head, clearly not impressed by the word. His face rested on his hands, smiling with one side of his head tilted slightly.

  “How about chess?”

  She paused for a second before replying.

  “Yeah sure.” She nodded as she quickly realized a problem.

  “Where's the board?” It clearly wasn't in his hand as they were on the table, he didn’t have a suitcase or any storage item to store the board.

  Confused, she gave him a slight glance before opening her mouth.

  “Don't worry, check the table's drawer.” Cutting her off without even giving a chance to speak, he pointed towards the drawer, knowing what she was going to ask beforehand.

  Hitomi wasn't fazed though, she reached down, pulled out a board before properly putting it.

  Asking him whatever he'll pick black or white, they eventually settled on rock paper scissors.

  Winning the first time, she moved her pieces first, playing an opening she had learned a while ago.

  Going back and forth, she repeatedly set up traps to no avail until he blundered a queen. Smirking like

  Hitomi devoured all of the pieces like a starved man until he was left with two pieces. The King and a bishop.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Her eyes shined, winning was satisfying as always even if her physical mind was superior to his, she set up an inescapable checkmate, clearly aiming for an immediate win.

  “Checkmate.” She gawked at him.

  The checkmate was supposed to be for him, why did he say that? Her previously bright eyes, replaced by a sense of despair. Her vision darted to the board, checking all of the available checks before rubbing her temples.

  A trap…A trap that lasted the entire game, from the moment he had blundered and from the moment she took it, the game was already settled. Slightly perturbed, she checked it again.

  A bishop, aiming at her king in a trapped position, every piece helpless in the presence of it.

  Was he playing with her the entire game? Probably. Could she have seen through it? Most likely not.

  The trap required a deep understanding of her ego and her mind as proved by a few moves where she played with him, which clearly wasn't something a normal person could easily do.

  Knowing that this wasn't something normal people could do, she gave a glance before resting her eyes. Well, she cheated a bit with her artificial enhanced mind, she didn't mind an Uncoiled playing with her. After all, it wasn't fair if she was the only one cheating.

  She glanced at him, his expression remained the same from the beginning of the match to the very end, smiling.

  Noticing her stare, his mouth spread even more and with his majestic eyelids closed, he asked.

  “Again?” Her eyes stared blankly, signaling that one was enough as he sighed.

  “Ok ok.” Looking disappointed, he rolled his eyes as she pressed against the table, stood up before heading towards the exit. She couldn't find Travestita here, and without her she didn't have a good reason to stay. Hitomi could've played more games but she really wasn't in the mood for another one.

  Before her smooth hand could land on the handle, it suddenly slammed against her face, launching her backwards. The pain cut through her body even with her hardened body.

  “A-Sorry!” Rubbing her forehead, she looked up upon the familiar face. Seemed like she had gotten lost on her way here.

  “No worries.” If the person in front were anyone else then they'll have something to worry about. Fortunately that was not the case.

  “I'm heading out. A bit tired.” Without elaborating any further, she left, cautiously holding onto the railing again as she stepped down to the bottom room which their room was present in.

  Her feet dragged across the unnecessary prestigious carpet, neatly arranged lights illuminated the hallway, leaving no spot for any shadow to form.

  ?!

  Hitomi’s throat struggled, her back kissing the freezing wall with her arms leaping out at the instant realization. Legs wiggling furiously, pieces of the wall flew out as Hitomi levitated off the ground. Before long, red spots manifested around on her neck, the feeling of lava pouring down her throat along with eyes threatening to fall out at any seconds as the force remained if not increasing.

  Her arms ceased the pointless struggles, energy crawled through each circuit, every safe switch instantly cut off, flaming hot at the very tip of her head as her mind withstand the pressure.

  And…

  The surrounding burnt bright, overwhelming every light source for a second, a charred smell forced the sweet scent out as her throat was immediately released from the force.

  Her legs burst, breaking the floor into a demolished mess as the set of stairs greeted her in a few seconds. No movement wasted was her main go go priority as her feet slammed against the floor, cracking it even more as she leaped straight into the deck.

  Without a single break in flow, she rushed to the social room, feet equiped with extreme gripping measure active as she almost smashed the door opened. Grabbing Travestita, and Lent, bored out of his mind before bolting out the towards the staircases as she carried them off to the top floor.

  “Woul-”

  “Private room, now.” Bashing the counter with cash in her freehand, they pointed towards the room in the far back. In a unusual hurry, they tilted their head slightly before returning to their original state.

  “What's going on?” Confused by the sudden situation, Lent asked. Well, Travestita would've asked too but she didn't quite get the words out of her mouth.

  “Disguise us.” Snapping her head at Travestita, Hitomi requested with panic visible on her face.

  Lent carefully examined her body as he recognized something. Something that brought dreadful memories as his eyes shot opened.

  “Your body…”

  Without both of them replying, he eventually reached to his own conclusion as Travestita hurriedly disguised her face alongside Lent. Hitomi’s mind blanked out for a few seconds before her eyes returned its vibrant colors.

  However, her expression were not as delightful.

  “For fuck sake.”

  ***

  I repeated the footage from the cameras on the day of the incident. Rain covering half of the camera’s view as I squinted my eyes, staring at a spot in front of the obliterated building.

  Afflictive memories of the people trapped under the rubble resurfaced before submerging into my subconscious. A few black spots appeared in front, barely visible due to the showering rain. They stood for a while before disappearing one by one and by the 30 minute mark only one person remained.

  And yet they persisted for around a hour.

  Pondering over which of the members they could be, I switched to another footage, this time the rain was clear. Although the sky was cloudy as always, I could clearly see the members albeit Stark was missing.

  They waited on a dock, the same one I used before getting into a ship.

  [The destination is Ashnafal.] Before I had the chance to be lazy and ask them, they replied instantly. Seemingly expecting my question.

  [It's next week too. At Friday.] A smile flashed on my face. Not a creepy one I gave to them but a genuine and sincere one.

  ‘Well I'll wait until then!’