Yes! Another person! I cried out internally. So I wasn’t the only one trapped in this world out of time after all. Relieved, I slowed my jog to a walk as I made my way over, and she heard my footsteps approaching before long. As she whirled around to face me, the pleats of her short skirt fluttered rhythmically in time.
The girl looked to be about the same age as me. She wore a hooded baseball jacket, and although her hair was dyed a golden hue, the roots had grown out so much by this point that a large patch around her scalp had fully resumed its natural shade of black. This lent her a rebellious, punkish vibe you never saw at a school like mine. The moment the girl noticed me, she immediately went on her guard, assuming a slightly lower posture while raising both arms defensively, as if bracing herself for something. I could sense this was her way of telling me not to come any closer, so I came to a stop a good three or four meters from where she stood.
“And just who the hell are you, kid?” the girl said in a threatening tone of voice.
Did this random stranger just call me “kid”? I shrank back at her coarse demeanor.
“Oh, uh… S-sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you. My name’s Kayato. Kayato Mugino.”
After I introduced myself, she sized me up suspiciously from top to bottom. There was an almost feral alertness to her gaze—her eyes wide open and quivering nervously, as though she were strung out from an all-nighter.
“You from around here?” she asked.
“No, I’m from Tokyo… Just here on a class trip.”
“Really, now?” The girl remained wary, but she finally allowed herself to take her eyes off of me and scanned the vicinity once more. “So what is this, anyway?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Why’d everything stop?”
“Don’t ask me… I’m as clueless as you are.”
“…Tch.”
She clicked her tongue as though my entire existence was a disappointment to her, and I winced. Not that I couldn’t understand being frustrated, given the circumstances, but it was still enough to make me wilt a bit. Suddenly feeling a lot more self-conscious, I was left with nothing to do but stare awkwardly at her as she looked restlessly around the open plaza.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that she was wearing a uniform under her baseball jacket, which I assumed was from one of the local high schools. It was a fairly standard button-up affair, minus the expected ribbon or necktie. And when she turned her head to the side, I saw multiple piercings high along the curve of one ear.
And just like that, I could feel my nerves standing on edge. I knew full well that a guy like me had no business interacting with a flashy, irreverent girl like her—especially if she was also some ill-mannered local delinquent. Something told me she probably felt the same aversion toward socially awkward losers like me. If we hadn’t gotten stuck together in this strange, time-stopping state of affairs, we likely never would have spoken a single word to one another.
Though I supposed that raised the question:
Why were we the only ones left in motion?
Or could there be others out there, but just not around here?
“Uh… You got a problem or something?” said the girl, glaring at me.
Whoops. Apparently, she’d caught me staring; I apologized in a fluster and quickly averted my gaze. But it seemed this reaction was peculiar enough to inspire a hint of curiosity in the girl, as this time she walked over to take a better look at me.
“Hey, kid,” she said. “How old are you?”
“S-seventeen,” I replied.
“Damn, same as me? No way… You look like you’re still in junior high.”
“I… Huh?”
This was as damning a dismissal as her previous click of the tongue. Did she just think I had a baby face, or was it because she could tell I had the backbone of a wet paper towel? Perhaps it was time to stop being so needlessly polite with her, especially now that I knew we were the same age. Not that I didn’t still find her intimidating, mind you—but there were some questions I wanted answers to as well.
“S-so listen, uh…”
“Yeah? Spit it out already,” she snapped, making no attempt to conceal her displeasure. Yeah, no. I can’t deal with people like this.
“Well, I was just wondering if maybe I could get your name too…?” I asked, immediately losing my nerve and going submissive all over again.
The girl showed just a moment’s hesitation before answering. “It’s Akira,” she said brusquely. “Akira Iguma.”
“Okay, great. So tell me, um…Iguma-san, are you from Hakodate?”
“Yeah, and what if I am?”
“Well, uh… I guess I was just wondering if this sort of thing happens a lot around here, or…”
“What sort of thing?”
“You know, like…time stopping and all that.”
Akira’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief, then slanted back down in anger. “You stupid or somethin’? We’re not talking about a five-minute train delay here. You really think people would just put up with this crap on a regular basis?”
“R-right, good point. Dumb question. My bad…”
“Don’t play games with me, kid. I’ll kick your ass.”
I bowed my head and apologized profusely. Man, this girl’s scary. I really didn’t get why she had to be so combative about everything—but I sure as heck wasn’t going to say that to her face. Meanwhile, Akira let out a heavy sigh and combed back her bangs.
“Ugh… This place is so damn quiet, it’s giving me a headache… So you’re tellin’ me you really don’t have a clue what’s goin’ on here, huh?”
“Afraid not, sorry… I was just walking down the street, and all of a sudden, everything froze in place… Wh-what about you? Any idea what might have caused this?”
“How the heck should I know?”
Despite the harsh and callous words she’d been spewing thus far, this last line of Akira’s sounded almost like a cry for help. I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps her menacing exterior was all just a bunch of bluster—a crude defense mechanism meant to cover up just how terrified she was on the inside.