The classrooms were silent after sundown. The majority of the students were already home, the sound of their voices and footsteps dissolving into twilight, the halls golden with light and long shadows.
Arisa Kanzuki leaned against the rooftop door, her arms loosely draped across her blazer, looking out across the city view. The world from this height appeared serene, far from the separated time and constricting secrets that swirled about her like smoke.
Stepping behind her, Kaito entered the room, closing the door softly.
"You called?" he inquired lightly, attempting to sound nonchalant. He was becoming quite adept at not letting everyone see that he always got this rush with her now, particularly because she was asking for him and not dropping in.
She glanced back, her lips curving slightly. "It is not busy. I did not think we should speak with eavesdropping or fanfare."
"Great idea. But I'm sure the ghost of the art club is listening in."
She smiled nervously and gestured toward the bench across the back of the room.
He accompanied her, letting his bag thud softly against the ground.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The wind pulled Arisa's hair. She hadn't bothered to tie it back today—one of those odd departures from the tidy image that dominated her school day.
She appeared. soft tonight. Not fragile, but unguarded.
"I'm tired," she murmured, almost as softly as the wind.
Kaito blinked. "You? Queen Kanzuki?"
"I am not invincible, Kaito," she replied. "But very good at pretending."
He settled back against the railing of the bench, glancing sideways in her direction. "You're still scary when you choose to be."
"That's the goal."
He chuckled. Then his voice softened. "But seriously. You okay?"
She sighed. "Not really. Balancing time is like. holding a thousand threads with one hand.
Each pull triggers something else. Each rewind leaves a scar somewhere."
"Is that why you wear gloves every time you handle the earrings?"
She shook her head. "They reset me. Too many of those, and I lose my grip. I miss things. Details. Simple things. Nouns. Sentiment. Sometimes I feel like I am on the outside, looking in, while some version of me is smiling and bobbing my head, not me feeling anything."
Kaito's throat constricted. "That sounds.
"It is," she replied truthfully. "But it's the price I pay."
He scowled. "For what
"For maintaining order."
Turning her head to confront him, her eyes met his. "Do you think I want this part?"
I never gave it any consideration.
"I was chosen when I was twelve," she said softly. "My family has guarded the earrings from generation to generation. My mother first, and her father before her. Yet I am the first to power both."
"Why you?"
She hesitated. "Because I broke them. On purpose. I wanted to see what would happen."
Kaito blinked. "That's… wildly reckless."
"I was angry. And curious. A dangerous combination."
"And now you're stuck."
Arisa smiled. "Not stuck. Responsible."
Kaito studied her. "That's not the same as free."
They sat in silence again, the weight of her confession settling between them.
Then she looked at him with a flicker of emotion in her gaze—something softer, something human.
"I don't like dragging you into this," she said.
"I volunteered, remember?"
"You panicked. Then I bribed you."
"That too."
He smiled at her. "But I don't regret it."
Her expression shifted.
"You don't?" she asked quietly.
"No. I mean, sure, I get nosebleeds from stress now, and I have at least one recurring nightmare involving a talking earring that demands sacrifice… but you've shown me something real. Something no one else would believe."
She laughed, genuinely, head tilting back.
"And besides," he added, "you're kind of cool when you're not threatening janitors."
"Oh, I still plan to."
"I know."
The laughter faded, but the warmth lingered.
Their eyes met again, longer this time.
And for a moment, something hung between them. Not just a partnership. Not a duty.
Something quieter. Tentative.
His hand twitched where it rested on the bench. She noticed—but didn't pull away.
He wasn't sure if it was the wind or the way time seemed to still around her, but in that moment, he wondered what it would feel like to touch her hand. Not as her keeper. Not as her secret. But as something else.
She blinked, and the tension snapped like a thread pulled taut.
"I should go," she said quickly, standing.
Kaito did too, nodding a little too fast. "Yeah, of course. Same. Definitely."
She turned toward the stairwell—but froze just as she touched the door handle.
"What is it?" he asked.
Her eyes narrowed.
She pressed her fingers to the metal and whispered, "We're not alone."
Behind the door, crouched in the dark stairwell, Hikari Saito held her breath.
She hadn't meant to eavesdrop. Not at first.
She'd just… followed them.
It was curiosity. Suspicion. A need to know why Kaito had Arisa's attention when she, Hikari, had spent years building her place in the council's inner circle.
But the things she'd heard—
"Earrings."
"Resets."
"Keeping time balanced."
"Scar somewhere."
It didn't make sense, but it was real. Too specific, too solemn to be an act.
She pressed herself lower, heart racing.
Kanzuki has a secret. And Kaito's part of it.
But before she could slip away—
The door creaked open.
Arisa stepped through.
And looked directly at her.
Hikari froze, like a deer in headlights.
Kaito appeared behind Arisa, eyes widening.
"Oh no."
Arisa's gaze sharpened. Her voice dropped into something cold and distant. "Eavesdropping, Saito-san?"
"I—was just coming up to ask—"
"You were listening," Arisa interrupted. "How much did you hear?"
Hikari straightened, heart pounding. "Enough to know something's very wrong."
Arisa took a step forward. "If you're smart, you'll forget it."
"You can't threaten me, Kanzuki. I'm not afraid of you."
Kaito stepped forward, trying to ease the tension. "Hikari, please. This isn't what it seems."
She turned to him. "You're involved too? I knew it! I knew something was happening—"
Arisa raised her hand, but Kaito shook his head. "Don't. Don't reset."
Arisa paused, staring at him.
Kaito faced Hikari. "Look. If I told you the truth, it would sound insane. But I promise you—it's not what you think. No one's getting hurt. We're trying to prevent that."
Hikari glared. "Then prove it."
Arisa's lips thinned. "You're not ready."
"Then make me ready."
The three stood in tense silence.
And just then, a sound echoed up the stairwell.
A whisper.
Soft. Faint. Like a voice speaking backward.
Kaito turned slowly. "What… was that?"
Arisa's eyes widened.
She whispered, "Time's starting to leak."