I hesitated.
“There’s…
one more power,” I said quietly.
Noa looked at me immediately.
“Another one?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“But this one is different.”
The room suddenly felt heavier.
“It’s terrifying,” I admitted.
“Even for me.”
Noa fell silent.
Not out of fear.
She was simply listening.
Then she gave a small nod.
“…Please tell me.”
I glanced at the three clones.
They were watching me closely now.
“Before I explain,” I said slowly, “let me ask you something.”
Noa tilted her head.
“Okay.”
“What do you think these clones are?” I asked.
“How do you think I formed them?”
She looked at them for a moment before turning back to me.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Copies?
A result of your power?”
I slowly shook my head.
“They’re not copies I create on purpose,” I said, my voice growing quieter.
“They’re the result of something I can’t control.”
I swallowed.
“Every time I die…”
I forced myself to say the words.
“…and return…”
“…a new clone is born.”
Noa’s breath caught.
“I don’t reset the world whenever I want,” I continued.
“I return to a specific moment—a small window in time.
A fixed point.”
I met her eyes.
“And when I come back…”
“I don’t replace myself.”
“I add myself.”
Silence filled the room.
“That’s why I knew,” I said quietly.
“That’s why I was so certain about you.”
Noa’s fingers tightened around the bedspread.
“In the first timeline,” I continued, “everything felt normal.”
“For first few days.”
“Then you stopped coming to school.”
I paused.
“Three days later…”
“…our teacher told us you had died in a traffic accident.”
The color slowly drained from Noa’s face.
“I couldn’t believe it,” I whispered.
“I refused to.”
“I went home that day feeling…”
I searched for the words.
“…empty.”
“Like something essential had been torn out of my life.”
Despite trying to stay calm, my voice trembled.
“And then…”
I looked down.
“…I died too.”
Noa’s eyes widened.
“Mizuki…”
“I was hit by a truck,” I said quietly.
“At a crossing.”
“Just like today.”
“When everything went dark…”
I closed my eyes.
“…I woke up again.”
“The same morning.”
The same morning I told you I had a dream.
“When I opened my eyes,” I continued, “I still remembered everything.”
“Your absence.”
“The announcement.”
“The accident.”
I looked back into her eyes.
“That’s why I hugged you.”
“That’s why I couldn’t let go of your hand.”
“That’s why I knew exactly when the danger would come.”
Noa stared at me in stunned silence.
“So that dream…”
she whispered.
“…wasn’t a dream.”
I slowly shook my head.
“It was a memory.”
Neither of us spoke for a long moment.
Then, very carefully, she reached out and took my hand.
“You died,” she whispered.
“And you came back…”
“…for me.”
I nodded.
“I never chose this power.”
“But now that I have it…”
“I won’t let it take you away again.”
The three clones remained silent.
They didn’t need to say anything.
Noa’s hand gently tightened around mine, grounding me in the present.
“I believe you,” she said softly.
When I looked at her—
Alive.
Real.
Here.
—I realized something had changed.
This time…
I wasn’t fighting fate alone.
I drew in another slow breath.
“There’s one more thing.”
Noa looked at me, her fingers still wrapped around my hand.
“There’s…
more?”
I nodded.
“Every time I return to the past,” I said carefully, choosing each word, “I don’t just come back with memories.”
The three clones shifted almost imperceptibly.
“I come back stronger.”
Noa frowned slightly. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Stronger…
how?”
“I don’t know where the limit is,” I admitted.
“But I can feel it.”
“My control improves.”
“My range expands.”
“Things that were impossible before become…”
I searched for the right word.
“…possible.”
My gaze drifted toward my hand as I remembered freezing the entire city.
“I couldn’t do that before,” I said quietly.
“Stopping everything like that.”
“It only happened because…”
“…this wasn’t my first return.”
Understanding slowly spread across Noa’s face.
“So every time you come back…”
“…you gain something.”
“Yes.”
“Power.”
“Precision.”
“Awareness.”
“And clones,” she said quietly.
I gave a small nod.
“And clones.”
The room fell silent again.
Noa looked at the three of them before turning back to me.
“That’s dangerous.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Not just for the world.”
“For you.”
“I know.”
She swallowed.
“If you keep dying…”
“…and coming back…”
“I might stop being able to return,” I finished.
“Or…”
“…I might stop caring.”
Silence settled over us.
Then Noa slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was firm this time.
“We’re not letting that happen.”
I looked up at her.
“You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”
“If becoming stronger costs you pieces of yourself…”
“…then someone has to stay beside you.”
“Someone has to stop you before you lose yourself.”
For a moment, I couldn’t find my voice.
“…That’s why I told you.”
She smiled.
Not playfully.
Not excitedly.
Just with quiet certainty.
“Good.”
“Then we’ll make sure…”
“…this is the last time you ever have to come back.”
I felt something deep inside me shift.
Not power.
Not fear.
Resolve.
For the first time since I learned what this ability truly meant…
Growing stronger no longer felt like a curse.
It felt like a responsibility—
One I didn’t have to carry alone.
I couldn’t stop myself.
I stood first and gently pulled Noa into my arms.
She stiffened for half a second.
Then she relaxed, resting her forehead against my shoulder.
Behind me, I felt movement.
Clone One stepped closer on my right.
Clone Two and Clone Three followed, hesitating only for a moment before joining us.
Their arms wrapped around us as well.
Careful.
Uncertain.
But sincere.
For a moment…
It felt awkward.
Then it didn’t.
We were simply there.
Breathing together.
Holding on.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice rough.
“For believing me.”
Clone One spoke next, her voice quiet.
“Thank you…
for not being afraid.”
Clone Two nodded, her voice trembling just a little.
“We never wanted to scare you.”
Clone Three looked at Noa with steady eyes.
“We only want to protect what matters.”
Noa didn’t pull away.
Instead, she tightened her arms around me…
Around all of us.
“I’m not scared,” she said softly.
“You’re still Mizuki.”
She looked at each of the clones in turn.
“All of you.”
Her words struck deeper than anything else she’d said that day.
My chest tightened.
Not with panic.
With relief.
“We won’t hurt you,” I said quietly.
“And we won’t hide from you anymore.”
Noa lifted her head and looked at each of the clones once again.
Then she smiled.
Not nervously.
Not out of obligation.
Just sincerely.
“Okay,” she said.
“I accept you.”
The room felt lighter after that.
Not because the danger had disappeared.
But because, for the first time…
None of us were alone anymore.
And that…
Was enough to keep moving forward.
A few minutes later, after the room had finally grown quiet again, I slowly pulled back and looked at Noa.
My hands were still warm from holding hers.
“…Please be careful,” I said softly.
She looked at me, completely serious now.
There wasn’t a trace of joking left in her expression.
“I don’t know what will happen next,” I continued.
“I don’t know if your fate has truly changed…”
“…or if it’s only been delayed.”
The words felt heavier once they were spoken aloud.
“I’ve already seen one ending,” I said quietly.
“But that doesn’t mean the world won’t try to reach it again.”
“In a different way.”
“At a different time.”
Noa remained silent, listening.
“That’s why I’m scared,” I admitted.
“Not because you know the truth.”
“But because…”
“I don’t know everything.”
I lowered my eyes for a moment before looking back at her.
“So please.”
“Until we understand this better…”
“Stay close.”
“Don’t take unnecessary risks.”
“And don’t assume you’re safe just because today ended differently.”
She stepped closer and nodded without hesitation.
“I will.”
“I promise.”
Then a gentle smile returned to her face.
“And you,” she said, “don’t carry this by yourself anymore.”
“If my fate is changing…”
“…then I want to face it knowing the truth.”
Something inside my chest quietly settled.
“…Thank you.”
The future was still uncertain.
Still dangerous.
But now…
We were standing on the same side of it.
Watching carefully.
Together.
I took a slow breath.
Then I used the power.
I felt it respond immediately.
Familiar.
Heavy.
Precise.
The clones didn’t resist.
Clone One gave a single nod.
Clone Two smiled faintly.
Clone Three met my eyes with calm acceptance.
I reached out—not with my hands, but with my will.
The power answered.
Their forms began to dissolve.
Not violently.
Not painfully.
They unraveled into streams of flowing light, their bodies breaking apart into pure energy.
The three presences converged toward a single point.
The room grew silent.
In a single moment…
They disappeared.
The energy compressed.
Folded inward.
Then slowly took shape.
The gun formed in my hands once more.
Solid.
Complete.
I wrapped my fingers around its grip.
Inside it…
I could still feel all of them.
Present.
Steady.
Together.
We’re here.
Their voices echoed as one within my mind.
I let out a slow breath.
Then I transformed it back into its harmless form.
The gun dissolved.
A heartbeat later, the familiar pen rested quietly in my hand.
I slipped it into my pocket.
Hidden.
Ordinary.
Unnoticed.
I looked at Noa.
She was still watching me.
Not with fear.
Not with shock.
Only quiet understanding.
For now…
The power was sealed once again.
And we were ready for whatever came next.
The moment my fingers settled around the pen…
I felt it.
Not weight.
Not warmth.
Pressure.
I froze.
Inside my mind, the three presences shifted.
Not merging.
Not resting as they usually did.
Rearranging.
Something deep within the power moved.
Like gears quietly turning for the first time.
Something new opened.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
Not with a sound.
It simply…
Unlocked.
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