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"Mahiru, which sense did you lose this time?"
Blake leaned in close and whispered into her ear.
His warm breath brushed against her skin, making the "angel" shiver slightly before she lifted her face in confusion.
"…Mr. Blake, were you just talking?"
"Hm?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "You can't hear me?"
She watched his lips move, but no sound reached her. The train around them felt eerily silent too. It didn't take long for Mahiru Shiina to realize what had happened.
"…I can't hear anything. Looks like it's my hearing this time."
"So it's hearing." Blake quickly caught on, then muttered under his breath, "You know time-stop has nasty side effects, yet you still go around helping people. Seriously, you're too nice for your own good."
Thump.
Mahiru puffed up her cheeks and lightly punched his chest with her small fist.
"Wait, I thought you couldn't hear?" Blake clutched his chest in exaggerated shock.
Mahiru held up her phone.
"It's your eyes. They were clearly calling me an idiot."
…Girls' intuition is way too terrifying.
"We'll be at school in a few minutes. There's no time to purify your magic now. Let's do it after we get off?" Blake typed on his phone and showed her.
"Okay."
Mahiru nodded softly.
The commotion soon settled down.
Before long, the conductor made an announcement over the speakers. Apparently, a small animal had appeared on the tracks ahead, forcing the driver to make an emergency stop. The situation had already been reported, and they asked passengers to wait patiently while staff were on their way. A string of apologies followed.
"The announcement says there was an animal on the tracks…"
Blake quickly typed and showed Mahiru.
"An animal?" Mahiru frowned slightly. "But I looked earlier. There was nothing there."
Hey, don't say creepy stuff like that! Invisible ghosts? Weird magnetic freaks? Please, anything like that can stay far away.
A moment later, a more detailed update popped up on their phones.
Turns out, the "animal" was just a black turtle. The conductor had spotted it and stopped the train.
Blake: …
They stopped an entire train… for a turtle? Seriously?
If you care that much about animals, why did it take two months to rescue that old man who fell into a road pit?!
Anyway, once the turtle was safely removed by staff, the train finally started moving again. Thankfully, nothing else went wrong, and they arrived at the station smoothly.
"Mahiru, we're getting off."
Blake gently tugged her sleeve.
"Got it."
She nodded.
The two stepped off the train one after the other.
Blake glanced around, then spotted a convenience store nearby. He quickly sent her another message.
"Let's go purify your magic in the convenience store. If we do it at school and someone sees us, it might get troublesome."
"Okay…"
Holding her bag with both hands, Mahiru quietly followed him inside.
It was still early, so the store was nearly empty. No customers in sight—just a couple of clerks restocking shelves.
They headed to a secluded corner at the back.
Blake extended his right hand. "Mahiru, give me your hand."
"…Please."
Her cheeks tinged pink as she gently placed her soft hand into his.
That familiar warmth spread from his palm straight to her heart, making it beat a little faster.
It wasn't their first time holding hands, but her fair, delicate face still flushed faintly. She was obviously still shy.
Silence filled the space.
A subtle, almost awkward tension hung in the air.
"…Um, Mr. Blake… why were you able to speak during the time-stop earlier?"
Mahiru asked quietly, trying to distract herself.
"No idea." He shook his head.
There was no way he could reveal the secret of the game interface in his mind.
"We could try isolating variables and testing them. If we figure out the reason, you might be able to help next time I use time-stop…"
She pressed her lips together, thinking seriously.
Time-stop was powerful, but she was still just an ordinary person inside it. No Stand, no magnetic powers—moving even a single adult was difficult.
Back at the shopping street, when that billboard fell, just dragging one woman had left her out of breath. She really did want Blake's help.
"Before, you couldn't move during time-stop, but today you could… If we compare the variables between the two cases… huh?"
Mahiru's eyes suddenly widened in embarrassment.
(The only difference… was that I accidentally bumped into Mr. Blake because of inertia…)
(And also… he accidentally touched my—)
Her face flushed bright red in an instant. The thought of carefully analyzing the situation vanished completely.
A hug was already mortifying enough. Touching… absolutely not! That kind of thing should only be allowed after you're dating!
"Mahiru? Why did you stop talking?"
Blake asked softly.
She turned her face away sharply, even the tips of her ears turning crimson.
"…I don't feel like talking."
"…"
Time passed quietly.
Just as the purification was about to finish, footsteps suddenly approached.
"Don't worry. It's still early—probably just staff," Blake reassured in a low voice.
The next second—
A blue-haired girl carrying a school bag turned the corner.
Their eyes met.
All six of them.
The smile on Anna Yanami's face froze instantly. Her good mood from the morning vanished on the spot.
"You… what are you two doing behind my back?!"
"This is a convenience store! Why are you holding hands in public?!"
"…"
Looking at the gluttonous girl whose expression had gone from sunny to stormy, Blake twitched his lips and quickly said,
"Yanami, listen, I can explain—"
Before he could finish, another girl's voice called out from behind her.
"Yanami, why did you suddenly stop?"
"…Crap."
Blake tensed up.
If other girls saw him holding hands with the "angel," rumors would spread across the entire school before noon.
He didn't care much, but for Mahiru, suddenly becoming the center of gossip would definitely be troubling.
Just as he was about to let go, Yanami suddenly took a deep breath, bit her lower lip, and quickly turned around.
"Miss Rin, I suddenly don't feel like eating Pocky anymore. Let's just go to school."
"Huh? Why?"
"No appetite."
"Whoa, the apocalypse is here—Yanami actually has no appetite?!"
"Come on, let's go~"
"…"
Her voice gradually faded into the distance.
The boy she liked was secretly meeting another girl, and she had to cover for them.
It felt like those weak, useless wives in stories—bringing their cheating boss home just to keep their job, then standing guard outside their husband's bedroom so no one would interrupt…
Pathetic.
Standing guard like that… how could anyone still have the appetite to eat snacks?
"....."