Night pressed heavily against the windows of Haruto's room.
He sat at his desk, the dim glow of the watch cradled in his palm.
It hadn't responded since the encounter in the gym.
Silent.
Still.
Haruto gritted his teeth.
"He said I was a child playing with power I didn't understand..."
"But what even is this power?
Why me?
Why Airi?"
His fist clenched tightly around the watch.
Across the room, the ring Airi had left after treating his wound flickered — a soft silver glow pulsing in rhythm with the watch.
A pulse echoed through the air.
Haruto gasped.
Images flooded his mind — vague and dreamlike:
— A place outside time.
— Two glowing figures standing hand in hand.
— One falling.
— The other weeping.
— A golden thread severed across a darkened sky.
Haruto clutched his head, staggering back.
"Ngh—what... was that!?"
---
Airi's House — At the Same Moment
Airi stood before her mirror, touching the glowing ring around her finger.
The same pulse coursed through her veins, rushing warmth into her chest.
She placed her hand over her heart, eyes widening.
"That place...
Why does it feel so familiar?"
For a fleeting second — the reflection staring back at her wasn't her own.
It was someone older.
Regal.
Sorrowful.
Airi stumbled back, shaking.
"Who... am I?" she whispered.
---
The Next Day — School Rooftop
The sky was heavy with thick clouds, the air sharp and restless.
Haruto and Airi stood facing each other, both shaken, both silent.
"Last night..." Haruto began, voice low.
"Something happened."
Airi nodded.
"You saw it too," she said.
Their eyes locked — fear and uncertainty between them — but also something else.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
"We're connected," Haruto said seriously.
"Somehow.
More than just this watch... or your ring."
Airi stepped closer.
"Then we need to find out the truth," she said.
"Together."
They leaned in slightly — the distance between them fading—
BANG!
The rooftop door slammed open.
Kazuki stepped out.
His uniform was slightly torn.
His expression was calm — but cold.
"Well, how sweet," Kazuki said, voice dripping with mockery.
"Sharing secrets under the clouds?"
Both Haruto and Airi instinctively tensed.
Haruto narrowed his eyes.
"What do you want?"
Kazuki walked closer, hands stuffed casually into his pockets, his amber gaze sharp.
"You still don't get it," Kazuki said.
"That power you cling to — it isn't even yours."
He tilted his head slightly.
"It belongs to someone else.
Something ancient."
He paused.
"And if you keep playing with it... you'll burn yourselves alive."
A sudden gust of wind swept the rooftop.
Kazuki's body shimmered — time itself bending around him.
Airi and Haruto gasped.
He wasn't using the watch...
He was bending time naturally.
Kazuki smirked.
"I control time itself," he said.
"Without the need for toys."
He raised his hand.
Dark temporal energy crackled in the air — snapping and twisting reality itself.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A burst of protective light exploded outward.
The watch and the ring responded in perfect harmony — creating a dome-like shield around Haruto and Airi.
Kazuki flinched back.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"Impossible..." he muttered.
Then—
From behind Kazuki, a shadow moved.
A silhouette.
Silent. Watching.
Kazuki's face twisted in frustration.
He immediately stepped back.
"Tch... not yet," he hissed.
And with a burst of golden dust and swirling shadows, he vanished.
---
Beyond Time — The Realm of the Gods
In a place where even seconds dared not tread, the Time God knelt upon a crumbling platform.
His crumbling robes fluttered weakly around him.
Every breath was a struggle.
Beside him, the Time Maiden stood — ethereal and radiant — holding the fragile remnants of his fractured spirit.
"They're close..." she whispered.
"But the storm is nearing too."
The Time God's dim eyes gazed downward.
Toward Earth.
Toward Haruto and Airi.
"If they can remember..." he rasped.
"If they can awaken..."
He coughed — blood trailing from his lips like fading stardust.
"...Then maybe..." he whispered, barely audible.
"...we still have time."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…