Chapter 7: The Sister Begins to Move
1 —Side Kurono Shia—
This is a story from the past.
The one who trained the young Kurono Shia in her childhood was none other than her biological father, Toriwa.
“Shia, your ability is the strongest.”
“Fufu~n! Of course it is. After all, I’m Papa’s daughter!”
Kurono Shia, age seven at the time.
In a spacious indoor training area with a cold, bare concrete floor, father and daughter faced each other.
“But—”
“—!?”
Her time stop didn’t activate in time.
Before Shia could even take a single breath to trigger her ability, Toriwa closed the distance and landed a fist in her stomach, sending her crumpling to the ground.
“It’s not invincible. Do you understand why?”
“Ugh… uuu…”
The pain stole her breath, rendering her unable to activate her ability. Without mercy, her father stomped the ground mere millimeters from her face, his expression unchanging.
“In a real fight, you’d be dead right now. Do you know why?”
“I-I… don’t… know…”
“Because you had a gap.”
The man’s eyes, looking down at his daughter, held not a shred of warmth.
“Here’s why: you couldn’t preempt my movements and stop time. And in the moment I showed my killing intent, your reaction was just a fraction too slow. Yet you weren’t careless. Your pulse and breathing were in a state of moderate tension, perfectly calm and capable of handling the situation—and still, you failed. Why? Because there was a gap in your heart.”
His words carved themselves into her heart alongside the pain.
“Listen well and remember this: a gap is the same as ‘liking’ something.”
He continued as if it were something to be spat out in disgust.
“Because I’m your father, your family, that affection created a gap in your heart. It’s the same in real combat. If you feel sympathy for an enemy or let your guard down for any reason, it will inevitably create a gap in your heart. No matter how powerful your ability is, it’s still you—an individual—who wields it. Human weaknesses are something no ability can overcome.”
And so—
“Starting today, you are forbidden from ‘liking’ anything.”
That declaration was far too cruel.
“You must not like food or drinks. You must not like music, entertainment, or rest. And—you must not like family, strangers, or anyone at all. You cannot allow ‘liking’—a gap—to form in your heart… Do you think what I’m saying is harsh?”
Collapsed on the cold floor, the girl listened to her father’s voice, colder still.
“Shia, do you know why the world isn’t at peace?”
He went on.
“Even today, the world is full of evildoers. Nations, organizations, and individuals who use violence to subjugate others and secure their own profits never cease to exist. Why do you think that is? Because violence and evil produce profits.”
He continued, speaking of a duty far too heavy to call mere professional ethics.
“By threatening others and taking their possessions, you gain without effort. By forcibly eliminating those in your way, you achieve comfort. No matter how much we speak of laws or morality, this evil doesn’t disappear. Because even if it goes against laws and morals, the profits gained from doing so undeniably exist.
—That’s why our job is to utterly crush those profits.”
It was far too much for a young girl to bear.
“If defying laws and morals always results in being crushed by the ultimate, invincible force, then once that becomes ingrained in the minds of every villain in the world, surely it will become a more peaceful place.
With your ability, you can do it. Time stop can do it. That’s why, for the sake of world peace, you must become a flawless, ultimate, invincible weapon… If you understand, answer me, Shia.”
“…Yes…”
Clenching her teeth, the young Shia glared at her father.
“No way!”
“I see…”
Without anger, maintaining his expressionless demeanor, he spoke calmly.
“Then I’ll beat you until you can’t say ‘no’ anymore.”
After that, the young Shia was pummeled until she said “yes.”
She couldn’t resist her father’s violence. She had no choice but to obey his words.
Over time, the smile faded from the girl’s face, just like her father’s, and she became the ultimate, invincible weapon he desired—stopping time and eliminating enemies without hesitation.
Indeed, that moment was fast approaching.
When she entered high school—and until she came to know love.
—And now, in the present.
Shia sat seiza-style on the floor of her living room.
Across from her, also in seiza, was her father—Kurono Toriwa.
Two expressionless faces stared at each other. Needless to say, the atmosphere of this “family time” was frigid.
Shia knew it well. To her father, she wasn’t a daughter—just a weapon.
That’s why he let out another exaggerated sigh.
The weapon he had crafted with his own hands was, unbeknownst to him, beginning to fall short of the required standards.
His gaze shifted to a photo pinned to a corkboard on the wall.
It was a two-shot of Shia and Kai, taken during a recent outing when she’d stopped time to capture the moment.
“Shia, let me confirm: that boy in the photo with you—is he your boyfriend?”
“…No, he’s not.”
“Then, do you have a one-sided crush on him?”
“…No, that’s not it either.”
“Shia, do you think there’s any girl in this world who’d put up a two-shot with someone she doesn’t like in her room?”
“…It’s possible, statistically speaking.”
“I see. So you’re saying you have absolutely no romantic feelings for this boy?”
“Yes.”
Shia denied it with obvious force.
“I am an S-rank special ability agent of the International Police Organization. There’s no way I’d let myself get distracted by something like romance. S-so, I-I don’t like Kai-kun or anything!”
“Liar. You totally like him.”
Her excuse was, of course, seen through in an instant.
Her father sighed again.
“As I thought. Even though it was at the ethics committee’s request, I had a bad feeling the moment we let you enroll in a normal high school… but to think you’d soften up this much.”
“I-I haven’t softened up!”
Shia couldn’t help but let anger seep into her voice.
Ignoring her, her father continued with cold, logical reasoning.
“That photo—you took it while time was stopped, didn’t you? The boy’s eye line is unnatural. Shia, even if it’s a two-shot, that’s frankly a candid shot.”
“…Urk, guh…”
“Judging by your reaction, I bet photos aren’t enough for you anymore. What do you do to that boy when you stop time on a regular basis?”
“N-nothing!”
“Did you hold his hand?”
“…A little.”
“Did you hug him?”
“…J-just once, I think…”
“A kiss?”
“…K-k-k-kiss!? T-t-t-that’s impossible!!”
“I see. Good, your reaction tells me it hasn’t gone further than that. That’s a small mercy, at least. That aside, Shia, what you’re doing is blatant sexual harassment. Stop it right now.”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“…Yes…”
“Good,” he said, continuing.
“Now, back to the main point. You’ve grown weak. I could tell when we sparred earlier. There’s hesitation in you—a gap. So, you need to distance yourself from this boy and return to the field. Regain your combat instincts. I’ll handle the ethics committee that granted you the right and duty to attend school.”
Shia glared at her father in silence, her gaze filled with nothing but defiance.
“You don’t accept it?”
“No.”
“Then defeat me. If you do, I’ll consider it.”
In an instant, time stopped. Simultaneously—
Ignoring all physical strain on her body, Shia’s fist broke the sound barrier, aimed straight at her father’s face—only to be caught just before impact.
“…So that’s all you’ve got.”
Her father’s left eye glowed a brilliant blue, in stark contrast to Shia’s own.
It was proof he could perceive and adapt to the same world she did.
The same world of stopped time.
“Tch.”
Clicking her tongue, Shia realized the futility and released her ability.
“I’ll say it again, Shia. You’ve grown weak. It’s because you’ve come to like that boy, and a gap has formed in your heart.”
Her father was stronger than her. The gap between them was, as he’d said, likely the truth—Shia gritted her teeth. In other words, whether she had a gap, whether she “liked” something or not—
That human rationality was the direct difference in their strength.
“Shia, retraining you here and now would be simple.”
Her fist, still caught in his grip, was squeezed with terrifying strength.
Just a bit more pressure, and her fingers would surely break.
“But while it’d be easy with the young you, the you now has grown splendidly. You have a solid sense of self. So disciplining you with violence would only yield temporary results. A mind and heart that are still soft can be molded by force, but once they’ve hardened, doing the same only causes cracks.”
After a moment of thought, he spoke.
“Get rid of your gap with your own will. That’s the path with the least impact on your future.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a cultural festival this month, right?”
Finally, he released Shia’s fist. As she let her dominant arm fall limply, he said to her:
“I’ll let you keep attending school until then. So, cast aside your regrets.”
In other words—
“Say goodbye to this boy.”
2 —Side Kai Rou—
On a weekday morning, Kai opened his front door as usual, dressed in his school uniform with his bag in hand.
But the door to the neighboring room, which usually opened at the same time, stayed shut.
Kurono didn’t appear.
“Did something happen…?”
She wasn’t the type to catch a cold or get sick, so maybe it was an agent mission or something.
Not thinking much of it, Kai passed by her room—only to stop just before he did.
No, it was more like he had to stop. For some reason, his chest felt oddly restless.
“…”
For a few seconds, he hesitated in front of her door, debating whether to ring the intercom.
In the end, he did nothing and headed to school.
The walk there alone, for the first time in a while, felt strangely quiet. Time, never stopping once, seemed to stretch on endlessly.
And then, after school—
With less than a week until the cultural festival, club activities were canceled to focus on preparations.
In an empty classroom being turned into a café, Amafuro’s voice echoed.
“Set up the chairs and tables, replace the curtains, decorate those walls with some nice paintings, and burn some aroma on the day of—that’s it! Alright, everyone, let’s get to work!”
Kai silently climbed a borrowed stepladder, helping with the classroom makeover.
Beside him, Marusu tilted her head while holding a picture frame.
“Kai, where’d this painting come from?”
“Seems like Amafuro borrowed it from the art club’s personal works.”
“Got it. But will something like this Munch-style piece really spark anyone’s appetite?”
“This one’s more Beksiński-esque…”
Arranging apocalyptic-looking paintings, Marusu turned and called out.
“Hey, Amafuro! These are way too much, even for us. Gotta swap them out!”
“I think so too, but believe it or not, these were the tamest ones I could find.”
“Seriously? Has the art club been huffing too much oil paint thinner or what?”
Kai chimed in.
“Why not just skip the decorations entirely?”
“Sadly, that’s not an option,” Amafuro replied with a small sigh. “Every year, we display the art club’s paintings for promotion, and in return, they help out as waitstaff on the day.”
She added with another sigh, “Manpower shortages are rough. Ugh, I really need that cat robot right now… Oh, wait! How about we get them to paint a cute portrait of cute little me starting now? What do you think, Marusu? Genius, right!?”
“Nah, these paintings actually have some charm up close. Let’s keep them.”
“Hey, answer my question!”
Ignoring the two as they started their usual playful bickering, Kai kept working.
“…”
Kurono passed by him in silence.
She’d come to school after all, without missing a beat. She attended classes as usual… and now, she was quietly setting up the guest seating.
True, Kurono was the quiet type, but today something was clearly off. Because—
(She hasn’t stopped time once.)
In all of Kai’s memory, this was a first.
Maybe during their last outing—
(Did I do something to upset her…?)
But if that were the case, she’d have reacted right then and there. And in fact, up until yesterday, she’d been stopping time as usual… and doing all sorts of things.
Regardless, something was wrong with her today, and the reason was a mystery.
That’s why it bothered him. It bothered him so much he couldn’t help it.
And then, after stealing yet another subtle glance at her—
“—Eh?”
Kai froze involuntarily.
A single tear streaked down Kurono’s cheek.
Realizing it herself, she stopped time. In that frozen moment, the girl wiped her tears away.
As the world resumed, Kai instinctively called out to her.
“Hey, Kurono-san—”
3 —Side Kurono Shia—
By the time she noticed, it was already too late—the tear had already slid down her cheek.
The same heat she’d felt that day when she’d mistakenly thought Kai was transferring schools traced down her face and fell to the floor.
“…Ah.”
So, instinctively, Shia stopped time.
She wiped the tear away, erased its existence, and let time flow again.
She didn’t want him to see. It was embarrassing. And above all, Kai would surely worry about her.
If he showed her that kind of kindness, she wouldn’t be able to hold herself together anymore.
And so, she couldn’t help but realize it.
She really had grown weak. This wasn’t the ultimate or invincible her—it was like she was just an ordinary girl.
And she knew it. Feeling this way was the clearest proof of all.
Even though the weakened her could no longer stay by his side—
“Hey, Kurono-san… Are you okay?”
She’d been a little too slow to stop time. As expected, he spoke to her.
To Shia, that was unbearably comforting—and agonizing.
“Yes. It’s nothing. Just some dust in my eye, that’s all.”
“Oh, okay. If you’re fine, then… well, that’s good. But, uh, if something’s up, don’t hesitate to talk to me, alright?”
With a gentle smile, he added, “We’re friends, after all.”
Those words were the final blow. Her rationality shattered. Her emotions flooded out.
Shia stopped time again.
And like a storm, she clung to Kai’s chest.
To him, who couldn’t hear a thing, she poured out everything precisely because of that.
“I’m not okay…!”
In the stopped world, her unleashed emotions flowed without restraint.
Her father had suddenly appeared and was forcing her to quit school. That meant he’d deemed her weak, and so she’d been ordered to say goodbye to him.
Shia rattled it all off in one breath.
“I don’t want this…! We finally got to hang out together, and there’s still so much I want to talk about…!”
The tears she’d tried to stop spilled over again. Her unstoppable emotions left droplets in the frozen world.
How long did the girl cry against the boy’s chest?
Eventually, her sobs subsided, and in a dry, quiet voice, Shia murmured, “…But there’s no helping it. I’m the ultimate, invincible agent, after all… I have to be that, so… this is goodbye.”
Releasing the time stop, she called out to Amafuro.
“The tablecloths are done.”
“Thanks, Shia-chan! Alright, that’s today’s prep done! Let’s all hit up the usual family restaurant on the way back—”
“No.”
Shia bowed her head and said, “Sorry, I have plans today, so I’ll be excusing myself here.”
4 —Side Kai Rou—
Kai walked home alone along the usual route.
He’d turned down Amafuro’s invitation to the family restaurant, claiming he wasn’t feeling well.
Closing the unusually heavy front door behind him, he kicked off his shoes and tossed his bag to the floor.
Then he flopped face-down onto his bed.
His heavy head sank deep into the mattress.
“…”
He didn’t know how to process what had happened today.
Kurono had bid him farewell in stopped time.
But Kai couldn’t figure out his own feelings.
Was he sad? Lonely? The storm raging in his chest grew more chaotic with every passing moment, blending into a mess of colors he couldn’t even name.
All he knew was that he felt utterly miserable and irritated.
Rolling over to stare at the ceiling, he realized the room had grown dark—he’d forgotten to turn on the lights.
“Ugh, damn it…”
Today, everything felt pointless.
Just as he considered sleeping it all off—
“Onii-sama? If you’re back, at least say something.”
“Sotomichi…”
Emerging from the next room was his younger sister, as usual with bedhead and in loungewear.
“Didn’t you see?”
It was already common knowledge between them that Sotomichi watched Kai’s every move outside via a tiny camera and mic supposedly implanted in him during surgery.
So he’d assumed she’d already know about today, but—
“See what? Oh… if it’s something that happened while time was stopped, I wouldn’t know. The camera and mic stop too. So whatever happened in that time, only you and that girl could know.”
Sotomichi plopped down on the bedside next to Kai and said, “Something happened, didn’t it?”
Normally, she’d demand he spill it in her commanding tone. But today was different.
“Want to talk about it with me?”
—Kai ended up telling her everything.
What Kurono had told him. How her father showed up, how she had to quit school, and how she’d confessed it all to him in tears within stopped time. After he finished—
“I see,” Sotomichi said quietly.
Her curt response made Kai belatedly anxious.
“Hey… if Kurono’s gone, what’s gonna happen to us from now on?”
“I don’t know.”
Without looking at him, Sotomichi replied, “Your surgery, me—everything was for countermeasures against that girl. If we can’t contact her anymore, we lose our value. What the Organization does with us after that, I can’t say.”
But then, with a wry smile, she added, “Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
Brother and sister. In the unlit room, the façade of their little family act felt paper-thin.
“Hey, Onii-sama. How about we run away together?”
“Huh…?”
“Live somewhere far away, just the two of us… like a real family.”
Kai couldn’t answer.
He didn’t know how to answer.
Sensing his struggle, Sotomichi turned to him and said, “Just kidding.”
But that forced smile didn’t feel like a joke.
And so, impulsively, Kai blurted out what had likely been lurking in the back of his mind all along.
“Hey… how about we just quit everything?”
“What?”
Sotomichi blinked, a question mark practically floating above her head.
Undeterred, Kai pressed on.
“I’m thinking of coming clean to Kurono. Before she quits school. About the surgery, the Organization, us—everything.”
“…Are you sane?”
“We’d get arrested and face hell, right? But either way, the Organization isn’t gonna let us off easy. So I figure turning ourselves in to her side might be better—since Kurono’s there, I think I can trust her.”
And then—
“Maybe she’d save us. No—I’ll convince her to save us both. So let’s just end this.”
How long did the silence stretch after that?
“Fufu, fufu, haha.”
At first, Kai didn’t even recognize the dry sound echoing in the room as laughter.
Because it was far too—
“Onii-sama, what you’re saying is—”
Filled with anger.
“You just don’t want to lose Kurono Shia, don’t you?”
Kai bolted upright, choking on his breath. Not just at her words—
But at the sheer intensity of the emotion hurled at him.
“Save us? The only one getting saved would be you!”
“—!?”
As he turned, Sotomichi’s wide eyes glinted with a dark, menacing light. And then—
Kai knew that sensation.
Time—stopped.
But compared to Kurono, it was only for a fleeting moment.
“Gah!”
In that brief window, Sotomichi lunged forward, her fist slamming into Kai’s stomach with a force unimaginable from a younger girl.
Time resumed. Clutching his abdomen, Kai collapsed.
What? Why? His stunned mind looked up at Sotomichi towering over him.
“Let me enlighten you, Onii-sama. I’m just like you—an experimental subject for anti-time-stop surgery, the first one… but a failure. I didn’t gain the ability to move in stopped time; instead, I awoke to an incomplete time-stop ability. I can only stop time for about two seconds. And—”
Mid-sentence, Sotomichi broke into a coughing fit.
Her frail shoulders trembled a few times, and the small hand covering her mouth was stained red.
“…Every time I use it, it puts an insane strain on my body. Plus, the surgery’s side effects—unlike you, who only got off with hair issues, my brain took serious damage. My lifespan? I’ve got a few years left, at best. So even if I survive, there’s no future for me anyway.”
“…Wha…”
His breath caught. His stomach clenched. An invisible force gripped his spine, and cold sweat poured uncontrollably.
Kai had no idea what to say.
He was only certain of one thing: he had stepped into something irreparable about this girl, far beyond anything words could fix.
“Oh, right. I’ve decided, Onii-sama. From now on, I’m going to—utterly destroy you.”
That carefree expression was followed by a chilling tone.
“Because I can’t forgive it. I can’t forgive that you, another test subject of the same surgery as me, get to live carefree, survive, and be happy with the person you love. The Organization, the mission—I don’t care about any of it anymore. With the time I have left, I’ll kill you. I’ll crush you underfoot.”
“—”
“Don’t like it? Want me to stop? But it’s your fault, you know? If you’d just nodded earlier, if you’d said you’d stay with me, that would’ve been enough. That alone would’ve been fine.”
Because—
“Living with you, Onii-sama, was fun.”
Tears fell from her dark eyes.
Too late to wipe away, large droplets splashed onto the floor.
“…And yet, you’d bet on a future where you confess everything to that girl and get saved? How nice. If it works out, you’ll both be saved, right? But I’ll die soon after. Then what? You’ll just shrug it off like, ‘Oh well, it couldn’t be helped,’ forget about me, and live happily with her, won’t you? There’s no way I could forgive that.”
“So, listen, Onii-sama. The cultural festival would be perfect, don’t you think? Go ahead and confess to Kurono Shia, just like you wanted. When you do, I’ll kill you right in front of her. No matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do, I’ll kill you. Sure, my power doesn’t come close to hers, but if I strike in that one moment when she’s vulnerable—right after the boy she likes confesses to her—I’d have a good shot at killing you in front of her eyes. Hehe, just imagine it—her face. I’ll probably get killed by her a split second later, but if I could see that smug, expressionless mask of hers turn pale and twist in despair, don’t you think I could die feeling pretty satisfied?”
“…That kind of thing—”
“You’re about to say ‘I can’t do that,’ right?”
Sotomichi pressed her small foot onto the head of Kai, still crumpled on the floor.
“So here’s your other option. You can ignore my demands if you want. Or maybe you’ll go consult that girl about me? But if you do, I’ll kill your two innocent friends instead. That’d be even easier. Then I’ll kill you afterward. Don’t forget—your eyes, your ears, your every word and action, they’re all laid bare to me.”
Trampling Kai underfoot, Sotomichi’s voice twisted with delight.
“Let me break it down for you. Choose. Will you let your innocent friends die and then die yourself? Or will you confess your feelings to the girl you love and then die? Which option sounds less awful to you?”
“…Stop it, don’t screw with me!”
“I told you to choose.”
The weight lifted from his head—and in that instant, Kai’s face was kicked like a soccer ball.
Blood gushed from his nose as he fell onto his back.
“Well, considering you’re such a spineless Onii-sama who can’t even confess properly, I guess it can’t be helped. Just make sure you pick by the cultural festival, okay? —See you.”
Time stopped again.
In that brief gap, Sotomichi opened the window and leaped out.
And then—
In the unlit room, Kai was left alone.
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