Roselle began to move through the crowd of people in the arcade when she accidentally bumped into a group of guys who were engaged in discussion. The guys turned their attention to her with angry looks.

  Roselle stiffened. She could feel their eyes drilling into her like she’d just stepped on their prized game console.

  ‘This…isn’t…good.’

  “Uh—sorry,” Roselle said while raising her hands up in the air. “Didn’t mean to bump into you guys…”

  The guys looked at each other and then shook their head. One of them turned to face her and their face softened. "Be more careful next time or we’ll definitely eat you out, short stuff."

  The others slowly resumed their heated discussion about some high-score leaderboard nonsense.

  Roselle took that as her cue to leave. ‘Not looking for trouble today.’

  With a last glance at the group, she slipped back into the crowd and her focus went back to the real problem: Where the hell did Sarah go?

  As Roselle weaved through the crowd, her eyes fell upon a girl in front of a towering arcade machine. She wore a school uniform, but it had been altered—her shirt hung open revealing a big cleavage that was contained by a black bra. Her cat-eared headphones emitted a soft greenish glow that flickered in rhythm with the neon lights around her.

  Roselle found herself momentarily mesmerized at how the girl’s fingers danced across the controls with a speed and precision that almost didn’t seem human.Her eyes barely flickered away from the screen.

  The machine let out a triumphant ding! And the screen burst into bright, flashing letters:

  "NEW HIGH SCORE! 1,000,250 POINTS!"

  A small smirk played on the girl’s lips as the crowd around her let out impressed murmurs.

  Roselle's mouth opened on it's own.

  The girl’s sharp green eyes landed on Roselle almost instantly.

  “Hey!” she called out.

  Roselle flinched and looked away from the girl with heat creeping up her face.

  ‘Wait, why am I looking away?’ Roselle thought. It wasn’t like her to act so flustered over something so small. But as soon as she asked herself that, the memory hit.

  That ring of so-called “friends” from the other morning—the ones who had looked at her with nothing but thinly veiled hostility. This girl had been standing there amoung them.

  Roselle’s mouth set into a firm line. She turned back to the girl with a steady gaze. “Are you… Hashta?”

  The girl’s smirk faltered. Her fingers tapped against the machine’s controls before she crossed her arms. “Tch. Figured you’d come find me eventually.”

  Roselle raised a brow. “Eh?”

  Hashta let out a dry chuckle. “You’re still holding a grudge.”

  Roselle blinked. “What grudge?”

  Hashta’s face darkened just slightly. “Don’t play dumb. You saw me with the other girls right? Now you’re trying to pretend like we don’t know each other as an act of revenge! Y-You always do this when you’re mad!”

  Hashta noticed Roselle’s blank stare and let out a deep sigh before bringing her head and down to Roselle’s level.

  “Alright, fine. Hit me. I deserve it. Come on,” Hashta said with frustration.

  Roselle blinked. “Why would I hit you?”

  Hashta’s shoulders slumped. “For being an idiot, that’s why. I should’ve said something that day but instead I stood there with the others. I—I didn’t have your back, Roselle. I just let them talk immense amounts of shit about you. I didn’t say a damn thing. Not one thing. So yeah, I deserve it.”

  Roselle noticed the look in Hashta’s eyes. She waited a minute before suddenly smiling. “Alright, I’ll hit you, just not the way you think.”

  Hashta flinched. “W-Wait, huh?”

  Roselle stepped forward. Hashta braced herself.

  Instead of a punch, a small peck of Roselle’s lips landed on her cheek.

  Hashta’s entire body went rigid.

  Roselle pulled back with a smirk. “There. That’s your punishment.”

  Hashta’s face turned a deep shade of red. “Roselle! You can’t just…just do that in public!”

  Hashta grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the crowd.

  Roselle stumbled along in confusion. “What?! What’s the problem? It was just a little—”

  Hashta hissed through her teeth. “Shut up, shut up, shut up—”

  She stopped in a corner near a row of machines that had ‘out-of-order ‘signs on them.

  Roselle crossed her arms. “Okay. What was that about?”

  Hashta rubbed her cheek aggressively. “Why do you always gotta go and do the most unexpected thing in the universe?”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Roselle shrugged. “My mom always told me to expect the unexpected, so sometimes, I just… do whatever pops into my head.”

  Hashta gave her a deadpan stare. “That, was a rhetorical question.” She groaned afterwards and rubbed her forehead. “Alright, you don’t normally come to the Arcade. What are you here for?”

  Roselle’s face turned serious. “Answers. Why’d you send me that message?”

  Hashta shifted her weight against the broken arcade machine. “Because I know about the person who got you expelled.”

  Roselle’s stomach tightened. “Who?”

  Hashta glanced around. Then she whispered, “Someone from our circle of friends betrayed us.”

  Roselle’s brows furrowed. “Betrayed us?”

  Hashta nodded. “It could be Chloe, Tina, or Ayana.”

  Roselle frowned. The names were familiar, but their faces? Blurred.

  Hashta crossed her arms. “Sounds like an RPG plot, right?”

  Roselle exhaled. “…Yeah. It does.”

  Hashta grew serious. She leaned in closer to Roselle. "Roselle, I can't speak for the others, but I'll tell you what it was like for me... that day when we all surrounded you, it was like something came over me. I just couldn't recognize you ... After I heard what you 'supposedly' did to Sarah, and then I saw you again, I went to you and other's followed. I guess, we all wanted to actually make sense of it."

  Roselle listened attentively to Hashta's explanation. This was very baffling to her. So this is what was going on? They all saw her as something else over that one incident?

  Hashta’s face grew solemn. "After that event, things changed, Roselle. Ella and Aruka... they're different now. I've tried talking to them, but they act like we were never close."

  Roselle exhaled slowly. She knew exactly what Hashta meant. Tori had already warned her about Ella and Aruka acting differently. And her own confrontation with Ella… yeah. Something was wrong with them.

  Hashta shook her head.. “I hate to say it, but at this point… Michigo, Tori and I are probably the only real friends you’ve got left. Everyone else? Shit… they’re hiding stuff.”

  Roselle looked around the arcade and heard the laughter of strangers playing games, smelled the air which had the scent of buttered popcorn and took in the neon lights while thinking.

  Then she raised up one fist and said, “I’m gonna find out what my friends are hiding!”

  Hashta sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Just be careful, alright? Whoever set you up wanted you out of the picture. And if they know you’re digging… they might try something worse.”

  Roselle crossed her arms and went into deep thought. ‘The Detective’s Club needs more allies who can figure things out. Hashta… it looks like she’s already been trying to do just that. Maybe…’

  She glanced at her friend. “Hashta, I really appreciate you being straight with me. Honestly, your skills might be exactly what we need.”

  Hashta raised a brow. “Skills?”

  Roselle nodded. “Yeah! There’s someone I want you to meet with. His name’s Harty, and he goes to our school. He’s a detective-in-training and has special permission to use the chess club as a secret base for our investigation.”

  Hashta leaned back slightly. “Secret base, huh?”

  Roselle smiled. “I think you’ll get along well. And who knows? Your gaming prowess might actually come in handy.”

  Hashta narrowed her eyes. Then, she let out a sigh and crossed her arms. “Tch. You make it sound like I’m some kind of high-tech rpg player.”

  Roselle grinned. “Are you saying you aren’t?”

  Hashta snorted. “Fine, I’ll meet this Harty guy. But if he turns out to be some weirdo, I’m walking.”

  Roselle smirked. “Deal.”

  Hashta casually said, “Just call me when you set it up. It’s not like you deleted my number or anything, right?”

  Roselle chuckled. “Of course not. I should still have it.” She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her phone; however, when she scrolled through her contacts, Hashta’s name… wasn’t there.

  Roselle’s throat went dry.

  She quickly navigated to the deleted numbers. Her heart thudded a little faster. And then—

  Deleted.

  Yesterday.

  Her blood ran cold.

  A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “Uh… weird. That’s, um, really weird.”

  Hashta leaned over and her eyes flickered to the screen. She stared at the date for a moment before slowly looking back at Roselle.

  Her face darkened. “…Roselle.”

  Roselle swallowed.

  “…You really came all this way for revenge, didn’t you?”

  Her voice was quiet.

  Roselle’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

  Roselle saved Hashta’s number again—this time with a big, all-caps “DO NOT DELETE” note beside it.

  Hashta looked skeptical, but she exhaled and stretched her arms behind her head. “Whatever. Just don’t ghost me again, alright?”

  Roselle gave a half-smile. “Never again, I promise!”

  With that, Roselle walked off in a separate direction than Hashta. While doing so, she said with a wince, “That… could’ve gone worse.”

  But before she could relax, a realization hit her like a truck.

  —Sarah!

  Panic surged through Roselle. She frantically scanned the venue for any sign of the familiar face. She hurriedly weaved her way through the throngs of gamers."Sarah? Sarah, where are you? Please, answer me!"

  Despite her frantic efforts, there was no response.

  Roselle gritted her teeth and took out her phone once more. She tapped Sarah’s contact and pressed call.

  Ring… Ring…

  She listened for the familiar sound of a phone ringing nearby.

  Nothing.

  She tried again.

  Ring… Ring…

  Still nothing.

  Roselle made her way to the bathrooms and pushed open the door. “Sarah?”

  Silence.

  She checked under the stalls. Empty.

  Backing out, she rushed through every section of the arcade with her phone still pressed to her ear. It was ringing, but Sarah wasn’t answering.

  By the time she’d searched every possible corner, an unsettling realization settled into her gut.

  Sarah… was no longer in the arcade.

  Unbeknownst to Roselle, while she focused on her phone call, a person with striking blue hair walked right past her who were flanked by two others. The resemblance between the blue-haired figure and Roselle was uncanny; however, they were much taller and had a more serious demeanor.

  Once Roselle returned home, her mother, Mrs. Magenta saw her come in with this frown on her face. The woman gently placed her hand on Roselle’s shoulder and asked, “Did something happen today, sweetheart? You look troubled.”

  Roselle hesitated for a moment. She took deep breathe and decided to speak softly, "Mom, there's something really weird happening to me, I…. moments where things feel off, or like I’ve forgotten people I should know. Like—" She stopped and bit her lip. “Like, I just knew someone, but now I’m questioning if I ever did. And it’s... really frustrating.”

  Roselle was embarrassed by how strange it sounded to her own ears.

  ‘Did I really just ask her that? ‘Roselle thought to herself. ‘Should I even be talking about this to her?’

  Mrs. Magenta tilted her head slightly. “Roselle… have you had any future visions yet?”

  Roselle stiffened. “…Future visions?”

  A strange unease coiled in her chest. Her mother’s tone was too casual. But—visions of the future?

  Her mind reeled back to something else. Another life. Another existence.

  Project Mage.

  The flash of a sterile white room. The hum of machines. The weight of a purpose she never asked for.

  Her stomach twisted. ‘No, no, no, what am I thinking?’There’s no possible way. Mom wouldn’t know about that! No one can know.’

  She quickly shook her head and forced a small laugh. “I—I have no idea what you mean.”

  Mrs. Magenta’s face remained gentle, but there was something in her eyes… something knowing. “Did anything else happen today?” she asked softly. “Like… losing a friend at the arcade?”

  Roselle felt her breath hitch.

  Her hands tensed at her sides. “How…” Her voice came out small. “How do you know about Sarah?”

  Mrs. Magenta let out a quiet sigh. Then, a solem smile appeared on her face.

  “It’s time we talked,” she said, “about both of our powers.”

  Roselle took a step back. “P-Powers?” she stammered. “I don’t have any powers! I never did!”

  Mrs. Magenta’s face didn’t change. “That’s actually not true.”

  Roselle’s pulse quickened. “What?”