Six days until the school’s destruction…

I couldn’t sleep tonight. The truth was, I’d glimpsed a future I never wanted to see. Glancing at the clock—1 a.m. I turned to the window. Thick clouds swallowed the stars and moon, leaving only an endless expanse of black cloth stretching across the sky. A deep unease coiled in my chest.

*Thud thud thud.*

A knock echoed at my door. Who’d visit at this hour? The door creaked open, revealing Nanami Hayashi in pink cat-patterned pajamas. “Um… I can’t sleep. Can I… talk with you?” I sat up. “Yeah.” For our club members, tonight would be sleepless.

Nanami settled on the edge of my bed. “Kanxi,” she murmured, then fell silent. I met her gaze. “Just say it. It’s only us here.” She took a shaky breath. “Before I met you… I thought this world was beautiful. That everyone was kind. That things always worked out.” Her voice dropped. “Guess that was just a sheltered girl’s naive dream.”

I offered a faint smile. “Maybe. But people like you? You’re kind. You’d never hurt anyone. Unlike me.” I’d killed—not in the ordinary sense. I’d plundered every last second of their time. They vanished completely, not even a trace of their existence remained. Sure, they’d all been evil. But that was just my excuse. Who was I to judge? This power had twisted me. Perhaps this was the price of manipulating time.

Nanami hugged her knees beside me. “When you said I’d already died… I was terrified.” Her eyes shone. “But thank you. Thank you for letting me stay this naive and childish. Because of you, I believe the world *is* beautiful!” I snorted. “Don’t make me out to be some saint.”

“No!” She stared fiercely at me. “Kanxi is a good person. Otherwise… I wouldn’t be alive now. And Dojima-san would still be suffering!”

Her cliché confession actually warmed me. Humans crave validation, after all. “Thanks.” Her words lifted my spirit. Suddenly, she leaned her head against my shoulder. “So I know you’ll protect our school.” *Let your words be true.* Her confession tonight had decided me: if there was no other way, I’d take *that* action—even if it cost my life.

I longed to skip these dull classes with Time Acceleration. But with less than six days of school life left… I let the thought go.

The “Save the Academy” club gathered in Classroom 103. “Any leads?” Yutangqian raised a hand. “I dug into the school’s history. Seven years ago, a girl jumped from the roof. Cause unknown.” Worth noting. Maybe a relative’s revenge? “What was her name?”

Rika Dojima answered, “Hakujin Ma.” *Hakujin* surname… “Check recent students or teachers named Hakujin. Even a hint needs investigating.”

Rika shrugged. “Three students. One teacher. But I can’t access their details yet.” Impressive—for a student. She’d gathered this while organizing files in the student council.

Mingzi Baishi cackled. “Students: Hakujin You in 1-6, Hakujin Kawa in 1-7, Hakujin Eirei in 2-2. The teacher? Biggest suspect. Hakujin Shinobu.”

I filed away Mingzi’s mysterious sources for later. “Track them all. But don’t fixate—time holds too many unknowns.” Today was better than yesterday. At least we had direction. No more flying blind.

Five days until the school’s destruction…

My near-zero Japanese meant leaving investigations to the others. *Damn it.* Now I understood the value of knowledge. If we survived this, I’d master Japanese.

Nanami and Rika were out gathering intel. Bored, I stared at the lush trees outside my window. Nearby, classmates chatted: “Seen *Breaking Bad*? It’s about a chemistry teacher making drugs and bombs. So messed up.”

*God doesn’t help directly—but He gives hints.* I didn’t know who said it, but it struck me like lightning. How would the academy be destroyed? Bombs. Simple. I’d heard of students bombing schools to erase exams. Our chemistry teacher was the prime suspect—and Hakujin Shinobu taught third-year chemistry. *Got you.* I called Nanami, pulse racing. “Nana! I’ve got a lead!”

After school, we reconvened in 103. I laid out my theory. Rika nodded firmly. “Understood. We’ll watch Hakujin Shinobu closely.”

It all fit. All made sense. If we stopped Hakujin Shinobu from triggering the bombs, the school would be saved. At least, that’s what I believed.

Four days until destruction. Today, I’d infiltrate Hakujin Shinobu’s dorm. As an out-of-town teacher, he lived in the faculty apartments.

“Time Acceleration!” Normal-time humans couldn’t see me. I strode boldly to Room 402. The lock was the problem. *Simple.* Accelerate its corrosion to dust, then reverse time to restore it. For the school’s survival, petty ethics didn’t matter.

The lock crumbled into rust under accelerated time. I pushed the door open. A desk. A computer. A wardrobe. A bed. Spartan. I started with the wardrobe—just spare clothes. The desk drawer held a book. I couldn’t read the text, but the diagrams of detonators and bombs were unmistakable. *Yes.* Hakujin Shinobu was the mastermind. Under his bed, I found detonators and plastic-wrapped packages leaking a pungent odor.

Now we just had to watch him. He’d likely planted the bombs already. Stop him the moment he moved—and the school would be saved.