Noa didn’t pull away.
She didn’t step back in fear.
Instead, her eyes lit up with excitement.
“…That was amazing,” she said, almost breathless.
I blinked.
“…What?”
She leaned in closer, her gaze darting between the frozen street and the gun in my hand, like a child who had just discovered the entrance to a hidden world.
“How does it work?” she asked eagerly.
“Where did you even get something like that?
Is it some kind of technology?
Or—”
She suddenly paused, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
“Wait…”
“Can we use it during exams?”
She laughed.
“Just stop time, check all the answers, and then—”
“Noa,” I interrupted, staring at her in disbelief.
She giggled.
“I’m kidding.”
She paused for a moment before adding with a smile,
“…Mostly.”
I couldn’t help staring at her.
After everything that had just happened…
After seeing the entire city frozen in time…
She wasn’t afraid.
She wasn’t looking at me like I was a monster.
She wasn’t terrified of the impossible.
She was simply…
Looking at me.
The same way she always had.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, that simple fact eased the tightness in my chest.
“I don’t understand it all myself,” I admitted quietly.
“And…”
I glanced down at the gun.
“It’s not something I can use whenever I want.”
She nodded, her eyes still sparkling with curiosity.
“Even so…”
“I think it’s incredible.”
Before I could respond—
The world lurched.
Sound crashed back all at once.
Engines roared.
Footsteps echoed across the street.
The wind rushed past us as if it had been holding its breath.
The frozen car shot through the intersection.
Time…
Moved again.
I instinctively looked down at my hand.
The gun was gone.
As though it had never existed.
Only the familiar pen rested quietly in my pocket once more.
I suddenly became aware of where we were.
We both stumbled a step back onto the sidewalk.
Noa looked around, then at me, before letting out a soft laugh of disbelief.
“Okay,” she said.
“That part never gets old.”
My heart was still racing.
I took a slow breath and met her eyes.
“Noa.”
She looked at me immediately.
“Come to my house,” I said.
“I’ll explain.
At least…
part of it.”
She tilted her head, studying my face.
“But,” I added quickly, “please don’t panic.
And don’t be scared of me.”
Her smile softened.
“Mizuki,” she said gently, “you just saved my life.”
She reached over and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I’m not scared.
And I’m definitely not judging you.”
I swallowed.
“Just…
promise you’ll listen.
And promise you won’t tell anyone.”
Without hesitation, she nodded.
“I promise.”
For a moment, we simply stood there.
Traffic flowed past us again, the city carrying on as though nothing impossible had just happened.
Then Noa lightly bumped her shoulder against mine.
“Lead the way.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence.
Not an awkward silence—just the kind where neither of us quite knew how to process everything that had happened.
When we reached my house, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
Noa followed, looking around with open curiosity, as though she were seeing an ordinary place through completely different eyes.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I said.
She slipped off her shoes.
“Okay,” she replied with a grin.
“But you’re explaining everything.
No disappearing acts.”
A small laugh escaped me.
“I will.
Just…
give me a minute.”
I headed into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of snacks—chips and juice.
Nothing special.
Just the kind of things we usually ate after school.
Normal things.
Things that belonged to a normal day.
She immediately sat cross-legged on my bed, her hands resting on her knees, excitement shining in her eyes.
“You’re really doing this,” she said.
“You’re actually going to explain.”
I placed the snacks on my desk before sitting beside her.
Close enough to feel the warmth of her arm.
Close enough to remind myself she was real.
“I’m going to tell you,” I said quietly.
“Just…
not everything at once.”
She smiled.
“That’s okay.
Start wherever you want.”
For a few seconds, I simply looked at her.
At how alive she was.
How easily she smiled.
How natural it felt to sit here with her.
Then I took a slow breath.
“This power,” I began, “isn’t something I chose because it was amazing.”
Noa leaned forward slightly.
“It appeared when I was already standing at the edge of something I couldn’t come back from.
And once it did…”
I paused.
“…nothing was ever simple again.”
Her expression softened.
Not with fear.
Not with pity.
Just quiet understanding.
I glanced at the pen resting in my pocket before looking back at her.
“I’ll explain how it works,” I said.
“But first, you need to understand one thing.”
She nodded.
“I don’t use it to change the world.”
I looked down at my hands.
“I use it so I don’t lose the people I care about.”
The room fell silent.
Noa didn’t interrupt.
She simply listened.
And for the first time since everything had begun…
I wasn’t carrying the truth alone.
Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pen.
Noa’s eyes immediately followed it.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“The pen?”
I nodded.
Wrapping my fingers around it, I felt the familiar stillness settle over me.
Now.
Inside my mind, I reached out.
Come out.
The pen didn’t fall.
It didn’t transform.
It simply…
…vanished.
Noa blinked.
“Huh?”
The air beside me rippled.
Light folded inward, gathering into a familiar shape.
Clone One appeared first, sitting neatly on the edge of the bed with perfect posture, her hands folded politely in her lap.
A second ripple spread through the room.
Clone Two appeared beside Noa.
Then Clone Three.
The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder, exchanging a brief glance before turning toward Noa.
Silence.
A very long silence.
All three looked…
Embarrassed.
And surprisingly nervous.
Clone One cleared her throat.
“…Hi.”
Clone Two gave an awkward little wave.
“Um…
hello.”
Clone Three hesitated before giving a small nod.
“…Hi.”
Noa stared.
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
Then opened again.
“…Wow.”
Heat rushed to my face.
“This is…
the difficult part to explain.”
Clone One glanced at me uncertainly.
Clone Two fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve.
Clone Three remained perfectly still, quietly observing Noa.
Noa’s gaze moved from one clone to the next before returning to me.
“They’re…”
She searched for the right word.
“…you.”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
For a brief moment, I thought she might panic.
Instead…
Her eyes sparkled.
“So that’s how it works,” she whispered.
“You were never really alone.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until it escaped.
“Not anymore.”
The three clones visibly relaxed.
Clone One smiled faintly.
Clone Two’s shoulders eased.
Noa sat there, surrounded by four versions of the same person.
Instead of fear…
She smiled.
“Okay,” she said.
“You’re definitely explaining everything.”
I looked at the three of them before smiling back.
“…Yeah.”
“I figured.”
For the first time since this all began…
The truth was finally out in the open.
Awkward.
Impossible.
And completely real.
I drew in another slow breath before continuing.
Not because I didn’t know what to say…
But because saying it aloud made everything feel more real than ever.
“The gun,” I said, “isn’t a separate weapon.”
Noa glanced toward my pocket before looking back at me.
“It’s created from them,” I continued, gesturing toward the three clones.
“When they merge together…
that’s what it becomes.”
Clone One gave a small nod.
Clone Two lowered her gaze.
Clone Three remained silent.
“So you didn’t find it?” Noa asked.
“No.”
“It’s something I create.”
I rested my hands on my knees.
“With it, I can freeze time.”
Noa’s eyes widened.
“Not forever,” I continued.
“And not without limits.
Usually it’s only a small area—a street, a building, maybe a single room—and only for a few minutes.”
“But today…”
She hesitated.
“…today was different.”
I nodded.
“I used everything I had.”
Silence settled over the room.
“The gun also needs energy,” I continued.
“Not fuel.
Not electricity.”
“It absorbs things the world no longer needs.”
Noa blinked.
“Like what?”
“Plastic bottles lying in the street.
Trash.
Broken objects.
Things people have thrown away.”
I looked down.
“Once something is absorbed…”
“…it’s gone.”
“I can’t bring it back.”
Her expression slowly shifted from curiosity to realization.
“So every time you use it…”
“…something disappears.”
I nodded.
“That’s why I never use it unless I have no other choice.”
Clone Two spoke quietly.
“Every use leaves something missing.”
Noa swallowed.
“That’s…
terrifying.”
“It is.”
“And there’s one more ability.”
All eyes turned toward me.
“I can teleport people.”
“Not anywhere.”
“Only to places I know well enough to picture clearly.”
Noa let out a quiet, breathless laugh.
“You’re basically cheating reality.”
“Maybe.”
“But every shortcut has a price.”
The room grew quiet once more.
After a moment, Noa looked toward the clones.
“And them?”
I smiled faintly.
“They remember.”
“Different memories.”
“Different moments.”
“When we’re together…”
“…I never have to carry everything alone.”
Noa slowly leaned back against the bed.
“You’ve been living with all of this by yourself.”
I nodded.
She looked at me.
There was no fear in her eyes.
No excitement.
Only trust.
“Thank you for telling me.”
Her voice was soft.
“I won’t treat any of this like a joke.”
Something inside my chest quietly loosened.
The three clones relaxed as well.
And for the first time since this power entered my life…
It no longer felt like a burden I had to carry alone.
Now…
It was something we shared.
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