A silent night.
Aozawa had gotten used to it and didn't toss and turn with insomnia like he did the previous two Sunday nights.
He slept soundly last night until he was woken by the alarm clock.
At the moment, pressure welled up in his chest, like someone awaiting news from the doctor in the waiting area about whether they had AIDS.
He silently prayed that it would be a good Superpower, and not a useless one.
Aozawa slowly opened his eyes.
Superpower: Time Suspension.
Seeing the words, Aozawa was overjoyed, and he quickly sat up.
The words slowly dissolved into the air.
A smile appeared on his face. Time Suspension, among Superpowers, this one could be said to be very strong.
Aozawa didn't hesitate to use his Superpower. "Time, stop!"
CLICK!
It sounded like a clock malfunctioning inside, as a gray filter rapidly applied itself over the room.
Aozawa hopped out of bed, silently counting the seconds. He walked to the door and opened it.
In this suspended time, Aozawa was able to open his room's door, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
If he couldn't open it, that would greatly reduce the fun.
The living room was also covered in a gray filter.
Morimoto Chiyoda was doing yoga.
It was a very difficult pose called the Yoga Sleep Pose, with two slender legs wrapped around the back of the head to serve as a pillow.
The thin yoga outfit clearly outlined her body's curves.
Aozawa glanced at her and strode towards the balcony.
In his view, streets, buildings, people—all were marked with a layer of gray-white filter.
The range of Time Suspension was so vast, and its duration also very long; it had already reached thirty-six seconds—a duration that a certain centenarian vampire could not attain.
Aozawa kept counting the seconds.
Before getting a handle on the precise duration of Time Suspension, he didn't want to recklessly leave home lest the effect came to an end, and he suddenly appeared in front of someone, causing panic.
After all, this Time Suspension wasn't always going to be as powerful as it was now—next week it would weaken.
He couldn't expose himself.
「...」
3,600 seconds.
That was Aozawa's limit for Time Suspension.
Before he reached this limit, he sensed something—the gray-white filter before his eyes began to fade.
Aozawa glanced at his still-ringing phone and slid his finger over it—the time on it was still six o'clock.
He tried to use Time Suspension again but found he couldn't.
Is there a cooldown?
He muttered to himself, not minding too much. An hour was enough time for three rounds of sex.
Aozawa stepped out of his bedroom in high spirits and greeted, "Good morning, Chitose."
"Mhm."
A nasal sound that made a man's blood boil rang out, its echo lingering in the living room for a long time.
Aozawa paid his customary respects to her and turned towards the washroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He was thinking about how to use the Time Suspension Ability.
Suspending time on a large scale was certainly cool, but what about small parts? Could he suspend time for just a part of someone or a creature's heart, for instance? What would happen to someone if their heart stopped beating for that moment? Would they die?
That was a project worth trying.
But first, he needed to see how much his X-ray Ability had weakened.
Aozawa lowered his head and attempted to use the X-ray Ability to see through the floor, but discovered he couldn't see through it.
He could only see halfway.
The X-ray Ability was significantly reduced compared to before. When he looked at his own body again, his clothes quickly disappeared, and his internal organs came into view. However, he could no longer see through his entire body as he could before.
However, being able to see the organs inside his body already allowed him to observe what consequences stopping time for a heart might cause within a human body.
「...」
After a simple breakfast, Aozawa stepped into the elevator and pressed for the first floor.
The descending elevator stopped at the fifth floor, the doors opened, and a young couple stepped in.
The woman, in her twenties, wore a ponytail. Her face was ordinary, her youthful skin slightly smooth.
Her white T-shirt was noticeably bulging.
There was a mole on her left chest.
If you asked Aozawa why he knew this, it was because he had seen images of the couple in passionate moments and was slightly familiar with her.
The elevator reached the first floor.
With a DING, the doors opened, and the couple stepped out ahead of Aozawa, who followed a step behind, attempting to use his Superpower: Time Suspension.
CLICK.
A grey filter once again covered his vision, and the couple, mid-step, froze in place.
Aozawa was surprised. He was just giving it a try and didn't expect the cooldown to have passed so quickly.
Acting on the principle of "since it was already stopped, why not?", he reached out and grasped the woman's ponytail. The texture was surprisingly good; no wonder the man beside her always liked to grab it. Then, he subconsciously wanted to touch her full chest.
His hand paused mid-air. Aozawa quickly suppressed the evil thoughts.
When he used to read manga, he despised plots that corrupted pure girls.
Aozawa had always been a warrior of purity.
He slowly withdrew his hand, returned to his original position, and ended this instance of Time Suspension.
The grey filter disappeared.
The woman walked out the door side by side with her boyfriend, laughing.
Following behind, Aozawa suddenly understood. So that's why there were so many series about Time Suspension in Japan.
In a world of Time Suspension, only he could move, and nobody would know whatever he did.
Controlling oneself from doing immoral things was truly difficult.
Even someone with as strong a moral baseline as him had nearly fallen into the Minotaur's abyss.
Aozawa was thankful. He had preserved his identity as a warrior of purity. He then hurried to school.
「...」
At lunchtime, in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the teaching building, Aozawa's lunch consisted of eel ramen.
On Mondays at lunch, he liked to start the week with eel ramen.
He sat with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Looking at the blonde girl opposite him, he couldn't help but tease, "You really do like sushi; eating all that raw fish, aren't you worried about parasites?"
"It's okay. Medical science is so advanced now. If there's a problem, it can be cured," replied Phoenix Academy Maggie nonchalantly.
The cafeteria sushi couldn't really be called delicious, at least not compared to what she ate at home, but it was the tastiest food in this cafeteria.
As she picked up a piece of salmon sushi, she seemed to casually ask, "How was your date with Ayatsuki on Saturday?"
Aozawa replied with a smile, "It was interesting."
Phoenix Academy Maggie's expression remained unchanged, but inside she felt unexpectedly uncomfortable.
Of course, she was clear that this was not a feeling like jealousy; it was more like the annoyance of a child whose toy has been taken by someone else.
Phoenix Academy Maggie didn't think she loved Aozawa.
The excitement in the warehouse was due to the suspension bridge effect, which had made her heart mistakenly race for a while.
The racing heartbeat when she was tackled at her front door was a natural bodily reaction.
Once she calmed down, that strong heartbeat would return to normal.
But Phoenix Academy Maggie could bluntly admit to herself that she did indeed like spending time with Aozawa.
If they really started dating, they wouldn't be able to maintain such a friendship.
"So, will you date her again?"