A chill still lingered in the spring air, and the sky was overcast.
A fine drizzle fell in a steady whisper, gathering along the eaves before spilling to the ground in bright streams.
Hanadasaki Ame sat by the bedroom window, quietly gazing at the two cherry trees in the courtyard.
It was now late March. The blossoms had only just finished falling, leaving the ground carpeted in soft pink petals, tossed about by wind and rain in a sight that might have stirred anyone's sympathy.
But Hanadasaki Ame had no mind to appreciate it. He was focused instead on the strange power within him that had, at last, fully taken shape.
Ever since he was old enough to be aware of himself, he had felt it—something like a seed buried deep inside his body. As he grew, it had taken root and sprouted. Slender vines had spread through every inch of his flesh and blood, then slowly flowered, fruited, and finally, today, fully ripened.
As it grew, its invisible roots had extended beyond his body and captured all sorts of strange information, granting him insight and foresight far beyond that of his peers.
It had also let him know that there ought to exist in this world a mysterious power known as—
Magnetic Field Rotation!
Years of investigation had failed to uncover a single person in the world who possessed such a power, nor had he found any trace of the supernatural. But that was fine. He would simply research it himself.
Yet after carefully sensing the "fruit" that had finally matured within him, Hanadasaki Ame could not help feeling a little disappointed.
It wasn't Magnetic Field Rotation. It wasn't even the more basic Electric Current Propulsion. If only it had just given him that directly!
Then he could have gone and protected his world!
Whether or not he protected it wasn't really the important part. What mattered was his world.
Still, the ability that had taken so many years to form was not exactly useless. As he examined it closely, it seemed to be… precognition?
Something close to that. He could observe or extrapolate one possible future, though there were limitations. He could only observe things that had some degree of connection to him.
Thinking of that, Hanadasaki Ame turned and looked at the other person in the room—his childhood friend and next-door neighbor, Nibutani Shinka.
The girl had grown into a tall, graceful beauty. She had long brown hair that reached her waist, tied into a side ponytail, with her bangs clipped back by a pink hairpin, giving her a bright and fashionable air.
She was currently flipping through a fashion magazine with perfect seriousness, studying the latest trends to pass the time during vacation, her expression focused and intent.
Seeing her like that, Hanadasaki Ame could not help but smile in a rather subtle way.
Just a little over ten days ago, what she had been reading was not a fashion magazine at all, but her self-written Dark Scripture, a record of the countless delusional lines and fantasies from her chuunibyou phase.
"The fallen leaves bring tidings; the fairies of the forest gather fruits and sweet dew, brewing the first cask of spring wine, for Lady Mori—"
"Don't say it out loud!!!"
Nibutani Shinka instantly broke down. She hurled the magazine straight at him, then, not caring about the result, covered her face and flopped onto the floor, wriggling like a worm as muffled whimpers escaped her. Even her ears had turned bright red.
So embarrassing! I want to die!
Not long ago, when she had graduated from middle school, her severe case of chuunibyou had graduated with it. But just as she was preparing to erase all traces of that dark history and reinvent herself from scratch, she discovered a truly fatal problem.
There was one person who had witnessed her entire chuunibyou phase from beginning to end—and not only that, he had recorded all of her embarrassing lines. And now that she had finally outgrown it, he had started teasing her about it every few days!
Too cruel! This was practically bullying!
Worse still, not only were they neighbors, they had both gotten into the same prestigious high school. There would be no escape from him for the next three years!
Just thinking about it made her heart cramp.
Hanadasaki Ame casually caught the magazine and shook his head with a sigh.
"A person can never truly escape their past."
Looking at Nibutani Shinka, he began to use the ability he had just obtained.
The connection between them was more than enough for the power to activate smoothly.
His cherry-blossom-pink hair drifted upward without wind, each fine strand slicing apart the scene before his eyes. Between him and Nibutani Shinka, image after image took shape as a flood of information poured in all at once.
[During spring break, you confess to Nibutani Shinka, wanting to settle the matter of your future life partner as soon as possible.]
[After a little bashfulness, she happily accepts, and the two of you smoothly become a couple.]
[In your first year of high school, you teach yourself the university fundamentals and begin deep research into theoretical physics, electromagnetism, and neural engineering.]
[You establish a private research institute and gather several promising students as assistants. Perhaps because the proportion of pretty girls among them is a bit too high, Nibutani Shinka becomes somewhat dissatisfied and often comes by the lab to check on things.]
[You have no intention of wasting time on romance. Even after confirming your relationship, you remain wholly focused on study and research.]
[In your second year of high school, you begin publishing academic papers in several well-known scientific journals. A number of your research achievements and new hypotheses in the field of human bioelectricity attract the attention of many leading experts, who frequently contact you to discuss the possibility of humans controlling electric current.]
[In your third year of high school, your breakthrough research into the electromagnetic blocking of neural signals makes you famous worldwide, earning you numerous international awards. Ordinary people still do not realize what it all means, but scientists can already glimpse a future within your work.]
[Before graduating high school, you successfully develop a technology capable of precisely transmitting electromagnetic signals to interfere with the brain. Combined with your other research, the virtual reality once confined to fantasy begins to take shape.]
[However, Electric Current Propulsion still remains unrealized. Unmoved by the avalanche of praise from the outside world, you continue your painstaking research.]
[During university, you marry Nibutani Shinka. You realize she is hiding a secret from you, but you do not care and continue burying yourself in your work.]
[Before graduating university, the electronics manufacturer Angus pays you an enormous patent fee and uses part of your research成果 to develop virtual reality machines, which begin to be applied to virtual gaming. You pay it no mind.]
[Upon graduating university, a virtual game called Sword Art Online is released. You have no time to care, because you have been specially appointed as a professor at the University of Tokyo, and spend that year exchanging ideas with experts and scholars from many different fields.]
[At twenty-five, your child with Nibutani Shinka is born. Becoming parents for the first time fills you both with joy.]
[At thirty, with the aid of numerous devices, you succeed for the first time in crudely controlling the biomagnetic field within your body and manipulating electric current. But it is far too weak, and grants you no actual power.]
[At forty-nine, when you take the tiny new life from the hands of your son—now grown and married—you are overwhelmed with joy. Your blood runs in their veins. You have become a grandfather.]
[But at the same time, you become aware of your own decline. Your youth is gone. Repeated experiments on your own body have caused premature aging. Your hair is white, your skin slack, your old age plain to see.]
[At fifty, during a risky experiment to strengthen your current, your body exceeds its limits and your heart fails.]
[In your final haze, you recall that your wife's face has not changed in the slightest over the past thirty years. You let out a long sigh, and pass away.]
[Your research stood ahead of its era. Your intellect surpassed those who came before you. But in the end, you never reached the summit you longed for.]
…
"Mm…"
Hanadasaki Ame pressed a hand to his forehead, his expression pained.
The sudden flood of information had caught him off guard.
A lifetime of research, and he still had not achieved even Electric Current Propulsion. That did not surprise him, because… this thing had originally been an esper power, a completely illogical supernatural ability.
The same kind of thing as the future-observing method he had just used.
He had no idea how many obstacles he would have to overcome before he could finally master it.
And besides—
What secret, exactly, had Nibutani Shinka been hiding from him!?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 30
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 26
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