The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
Seri was, in many ways, a deeply unsettling person. Not that she was inherently bad. As her placement in Class 1-D suggested, she had caused her fair share of trouble in the past, but at her core, she was a good person. Her mischievous nature and extreme habit of marching to the beat of her own drum were downsides, sure, but she wasn't someone completely beyond help.
The real issue was her ability. In a way, it was similar to Regina's, and depending on your perspective, a Supernatural Ability even more threatening than Regina's. Hypnosis. A power that directly interfered with the mind. For someone like me with so many secrets to hide, it was an ability I couldn't help but guard against.
Honestly, Regina was much the same. If you were completely wasted on drugs, it wasn't much different from being hypnotized. Still, Regina occupied the "voice of reason" position in Class 1-D. She was definitely a delinquent, but because everyone around her was so utterly hopeless, she had been forced to sober up. You could say she became the sane one because she knew that if she lost her mind too, there would be no saving any of them. She regretted her past sins and actively tried to avoid repeating them, which made her relatively trustworthy.
But Seri... well, to be completely honest, she was a little devil who dragged trouble behind her wherever she went. The worst part was that she didn't even mean any harm. She was the classic case of someone whose well-intentioned actions spiraled out of control and created massive disasters. For instance, she would approach a girl hesitating to confess her feelings and hypnotize her into doing it, or hypnotize a timid kid to make them extroverted, or hypnotize a traumatized friend to make them forget their emotional scars. It was always done out of a desire to help, never malice.
The problem, of course, was that she did all of this without the other person's consent. You know the saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. There couldn't be a more fitting description for Seri. Even if it was a slight exaggeration.
"My ability can interfere with both the mind and the body. Clearing up withdrawal symptoms is a piece of cold cake!"
"Don't you mean a piece of regular cake?"
"Whatever, same difference."
Coolly ignoring Regina's jab, Seri half-closed her eyes. She clasped her hands together, rested her chin on them, and beamed. "So, what do you say, Lucia?"
Mmm... what should I do? Getting Seri's help would definitely clear up this nauseating withdrawal, but there were too many wildcards at play. Who knew what she might do to my brain? Of course, Seri wouldn't do anything malicious. If anything, I was worried about the exact opposite. I had a terrible feeling she'd pull some bizarre stunt in the name of "helping" me. What if she said, 'You don't like hurting, right? Then I'll make it so you can never feel pain again!'? That would be an absolute disaster for me! Ugh, just imagining it gave me goosebumps. No, absolutely not. I only had to endure this for a few days anyway; there was no reason to take such a massive risk. I felt bad that she had come all this way to see me, but I had to politely decline.
"Thank you for the offer. But I'll be fine."
"Ehh? But it doesn't even hurt! It'll only take a second."
"I've heard about your ability. It's hypnosis, right? I'm sorry to put it this way... but it makes me a little uncomfortable."
"Really? Oh, okay... Well, nothing to be done about that, then." Seri gave a coy, slightly sullen smile, as if she was entirely used to this reaction. Having a Supernatural Ability that could turn people into literal puppets meant she had faced her fair share of rejection. Speaking so bluntly pricked my conscience, but if I didn't draw a hard line right now, she would pester me until I gave in. Sometimes you just had to steel your heart. For all her mischief, Seri wasn't a bad kid; if you gave her a firm, flat refusal, she would accept it and back off. She nodded, seemingly convinced. Unclasping her hands, she stood up from her seat. Since I didn't need her help, she was probably getting ready to leave.
Even though I had turned her down, she had still come all this way for my sake, so I decided to at least see her out. I placed my hands on the table to support myself and put strength into my legs... Huh? My body suddenly slipped sideways. I didn't hit the floor, though. Regina had caught me just in time. That's weird. Why can't I put any strength into my arms? No... it wasn't just my arms. My entire body had gone completely limp.
"Huh? Wait..." As I blinked in utter confusion, Seri reached out. She grabbed my chin and forced my head up. A chilling, cold light lingered in her crimson eyes. My mind began to haze over. This is weird. Wait, something is really wrong. What is it? I don't know. But something is wrong. Seri's hypnosis? No, that couldn't be it. Her Supernatural Ability didn't work well on other ability users. Just as all Supernatural Ability users could resist the Mental Pollution of monsters, they could naturally resist Seri's hypnosis as well. So this... this was...? Why? What? Me? What? Ah? Ahhh? Hypnosis? Hy-hypnosis? Ah... ah, heh?
"Hey, Regina? What on earth did you use on her? She looks completely out of her mind."
"It'd be a pain if she tried to resist. Shut up and just hypnotize her already."
"Okey-dokey~ Leave it to me!"
What are they saying? I can't understand a single word. It was definitely a language I knew, sentences I should have been able to comprehend... but my thoughts refused to connect. Still, I knew something was terribly wrong. These two... who? Who were they again? Ah, right. Regina. Seri. Why were they suddenly... I have to resist. I have to fight back... But my body wouldn't move. Seri smiled and leaned over me. She cupped my face in both hands, forcing me to lock eyes with her. It felt like I was being sucked into her ruby-red pupils. My mind grew hazier by the second. A heavy, suffocating drowsiness washed over me, dragging me down like a deep sleep. I gasped out a few shallow breaths. The entire world stained a deep, bloody red. Seri's crimson eyes bled outward like wet paint, swallowing my vision. My brain felt like it was melting into a sticky sludge. My consciousness slipped away. Sound vanished. My senses were stripped from me. And then, the world went completely black.
Regina looked down at Lucia, whose eyes had completely lost focus. A thin trail of drool ran down her jawline. Regina pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it away, but before long, saliva began to seep past her lips once more. She had used an incredibly potent, highly concentrated drug this time. Even with Lucia's Super Regeneration, it wouldn't be easily purged from her system. Regina glanced at the white pill rolling on the table. It was the "antidote" the hospital had given Lucia. Except, it wasn't an antidote at all. It was actually another type of drug designed to amplify the narcotics already in her system. Under the original plan, Lucia should still have been lying in her hospital bed, completely stoned out of her mind, but she had already discharged herself. To think she had actually managed to detoxify the initial dose with her Super Regeneration. Regina had assumed all of Lucia's energy would have been spent healing the wounds inflicted by the high-ranking monster. Her recovery speed was truly absurd.
"I hate this."
"Hmm? What do you hate?"
"What we're doing right now." Regina scowled. She was only doing this because it was that child's "request," but it didn't sit well with her at all.
"Really? I like it. It's fun, isn't it?" Seri giggled. She picked up the cup Lucia had drunk from and walked over to the sink, dumping the remaining liquid down the drain and rinsing it thoroughly. She had mixed Regina's drug into the grape juice right before pouring it. They had to destroy any potential evidence to ensure nothing could be traced back to them.
"Still, I really don't get that child sometimes." Seri strolled back and plopped down next to Lucia. She tilted her head, watching Lucia's dilated pupils and the faint tremors running through her body. "Why did she specifically ask us to hypnotize this girl?"
"She probably wants to confirm whether the 'item' she's looking for is Lucia or not. We don't need to overthink it. That child knows what she's doing."
"Hehe, true." It was a "request," so they obeyed. That was all. There was no need to question the reasons behind it.
"By the way..." Seri poked Lucia's cheek. Her skin was soft and elastic. Grinning, she pinched and pulled at it, enjoying the squishy texture. Lucia'