"See you around, Ai."
A boy with short and messy dark brown hair and light blue eyes that look like a blue sky woke up.
"Ai!"
Then he looked up and saw a girl with red hair and red eyes like the roses nearby. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail.
"Ai, you're finally awake. I thought you were dead!"
Huh...? What happened... When did she look so young...?
"I'm fine, Rasera... just a bit groggy, that's all," Ai replied, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.
"Well, at least you're fine. Anyway, I was exaggerating. Look, the sun is setting. Which means, it's time to go home!" she pointed at the sky, like it was the most obvious thing ever, which it is.
"Sorry... must've had a really long dream, it's weird... I can't seem to remember what it is now," he sighed, then got himself up and brushed himself off.
"Let's go home then, Rasera."
Rasera nodded and started to skip away as Ai followed.
"So... how long was I out for?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"I think for about 4 hours...? Could be more, could be less. But it was a while," she replied, looking down at the ground.
"Stupid devil!"
"What was that?" Ai urgently said.
Then they looked at each other like they knew what they were about to do, and they both ran over to the scene.
"Hey! Get your filthy hands off Naiki!" Ai screamed as he ran over and threw a punch at an older kid in the nose; the nose started to bleed due to the impact.
"Shit! It's Ai and Rasera! Run!" the two older kids then ran off, and the one who got punched quickly got up and limped away.
"Naiki, you okay?" Ai asked, worried for his weaker friend.
Naiki then nodded and got himself up, "Yeah, thanks to you guys."
"What was that about anyway? Those jerks... when I see them again—"
"That's enough, Ai. They're gone."
Naiki sighed, "You know how people who don't believe in this 'Great One' get made fun of and called devils? This was one of the cases."
"Tch, how is that fair? Just because you don't believe in the GreatOne doesn't mean you should get bullied for it. I don't really believe in it either." Ai grumbled, kicking his foot on the gravel on the ground.
"I mean, there's no actual proof it's real, right? It's all just made-up in my opinion."
"Right! That's what I said!"
The bell for the next exile then rang. Alerting that another Phantom Ability user was about to be exiled outside the city.
"Oh, another exile? Let's go watch. I want to see it!" Ai exclaimed, grabbing Naiki and Rasera's hands, and led them to the heart of the city, Yuustu District.
Once they got there, they saw a man in his mid-twenties with black hair and green eyes trying to struggle from the Guard's grasp; he was crying and screaming.
"Stop! Please! I'm innocent!" He screamed.
"Shut it, Phantom scum!" a Guard said, pushing the man forward.
"I don't know why they kick people who have Phantom Abilities out. It seems unfair. That man would've had a family and a whole life here, right?" Ai pondered, looking at Rasera and Naiki.
"Yeah, you're right. It's unfair, but that's the truth of the world we live in. Our parents were right, we shouldn't go over here. We're only 10 after all." Rasera replied, looking terrified.
"Let's go home, Ai. Naiki, we'll take you home."
They then started to walk Naiki home when they heard an explosion.
"Huh, what's that...?" Ai asked.
They then walked up to where some people were and saw... something terrifying.