Chapter 10: The World in Slow Motion

The next day, the school courtyard felt eerily still.

Clouds gathered overhead, dimming the sky with a heavy, leaden gray.

The usual chatter of students was muted, almost distant.

Haruto and Airi walked side by side, both tense, alert.

"Did you feel it too?" Haruto asked quietly, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Since that Reiji guy showed up... something's off."

Airi nodded nervously, gripping her arm.

"Yeah... it's like the air around him doesn't belong here," she whispered.

Haruto's gaze darkened.

"He gives me the same feeling I get... when time stops," he muttered.

Suddenly — the world stuttered.

The wind halted.

The leaves froze mid-air.

A strange, heavy pressure wrapped around them like an unseen hand squeezing the earth.

"Haruto... the air just—!" Airi started.

Before she could finish, a piercing sound rang through the courtyard — high and unnatural.

Everything around them began to slow.

Not stop — slow.

Students in the background dragged their feet through the air as if wading through invisible syrup.

A strange pale gray hue coated the atmosphere like a ghostly veil.

Haruto gritted his teeth.

"This... this isn't me," he growled.

"I didn't activate the watch!"

From behind a nearby tree, Reiji stepped calmly into view.

His hand was outstretched, a black shimmer pulsing and twisting between his fingers.

"Time's a funny thing, isn't it?" Reiji said, his voice calm and cruel.

"Everyone wants to control it. You... you barely understand what you're holding, Haruto."

Haruto's eyes widened.

"You—what are you?!" he shouted.

Reiji's lips curled into a wicked smile.

"Let's just say I'm here to return balance... by erasing mistakes from the past."

Before Haruto could react, Reiji dashed forward.

In this distorted, slowed time, he moved with terrifying speed — a black blur slicing through the frozen world.

Airi screamed.

Reiji's hand, crackling with dark energy, lunged straight toward Haruto's chest.

Haruto gritted his teeth and raised his arm instinctively.

"Damn it—MOVE!" he roared inwardly.

He forced his will toward the watch.

At first — nothing.

Then—

The watch flickered once.

A burst of golden light exploded outward, forming a barrier around him.

Reiji's strike slammed into it and recoiled.

Reiji staggered back, surprised.

"Hmph," he sneered. "So it's reacting to danger now?"

Before Haruto could recover, Airi stepped between them.

She spread her arms protectively in front of Haruto, standing tall despite her trembling legs.

"Leave him alone!" she shouted.

Reiji narrowed his eyes, preparing another strike.

But before he could move, Airi's ring — invisible to all but Haruto — glowed blindingly bright.

A wave of pure light erupted from her, pushing Reiji backward several meters across the courtyard.

Reiji caught himself, dusting off his jacket with a snarl.

"Tch. That ring again... You're more troublesome than expected, girl."

Without wasting a second, Haruto grabbed Airi's hand.

"Come on!" he shouted.

They sprinted across the frozen courtyard, slipping into the abandoned old gym building nearby.

Haruto leaned against the wall, breathing hard, trying to process what just happened.

"He's not human," Haruto said between gasps. "I don't know what he is... but he slowed time.

How is that even possible?"

Airi's body still shimmered faintly with the afterglow of the ring's power.

"Your watch protected you," she said quietly.

"And... my ring protected us both."

She looked down at her glowing hand, voice trembling.

"Haruto... what even are we?"

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To Be Continued...