The alley was silent. The burnt scraps of paper still rested in Haru's hands, the edges crumbling beneath her fingertips. She sifted through them again, hoping almost desperately that something else had survived. But there was nothing. Just ash, and a single stubborn line: Phase Two: Observation.
She let out a frustrated groan and tossed the scraps back onto the ground. "That's it? That's all I get?" Her voice echoed off the graffiti-stained walls. i pressed my palms against my face, trying to push down the rising panic. "I can't even learn more… not from this."
But i refused to stay defeated. my eyes hardened as i glanced at the small clock she had taken from her dorm earlier.
crouching down, focusing. I touched the desk clock again. Nothing at first. Then, just a slight elongation of the second hand's movement is barely noticeable. my breath caught.
"Okay… just a little more," I muttered. picking up a pebble from the alley floor, rolling it between fingers, and concentrated. Time slowed just a fraction, but it was there. A heartbeat that stretched longer than it should have. Her pulse quickened.
A falling leaf drifted past the alley entrance. I reached out, willing the air around it to slow. It dipped, stuttering mid-fall, then snapped back to normal speed. Small victories, fleeting as they were, lit a spark in my chest.
I sat back, jotting everything down in a small notebook. Every observation, every minor success or failure. Threshold… control… range… my mind raced as i sketched diagrams, connecting the reactions of objects to her focus, her hand movements, her emotions.
But the alley had its limits. There were only so many things to test pebbles, scraps of paper, the occasional bottle. She sighed, letting herself lean against the wall, frustrated. "I need more options."
The next day, Haru wandered the school facilities, eyes scanning the empty courtyards, hallways, and classrooms. Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, illuminating desks, chairs, and the polished floors, everything a potential test subject. She moved cautiously, careful not to attract attention, though most students were already in class.
I started with the simplest objects a paper cup, a rolling ball, and the drip of water from a leaking faucet. Sometimes I succeeded slowing the ball just slightly, making a droplet hang midair but often focus faltered. Time snapped back, objects jerking unnaturally. head throbbed, but she refused to give up.
I watched other students from a distance. High level espers moved with fluid precision, their control effortless. They manipulated objects and themselves sometimes controlled elements, all without breaking a sweat. My stomach tightened.
I forced myself to focus on my own attempts instead of comparing. But each failure gnawed at my confidence. Even the smallest success of a leaf hovering for a heartbeat longer than it should felt hollow when measured against the effortless demonstrations she had glimpsed earlier.
Inside one of the practice classrooms, she tried again. Ayanami Rei lectured from the front, holographic graphs of energy curves and control thresholds glowing above his desk. "Even the weakest esper has a range of influence," she said. "But strength without control is meaningless."
my fingers tightened around the pen. Scribbling notes not fully understanding what the instructor was talking about, but her mind wasn't focused on the diagrams. the coming days thats all i noticed ignoring the mystery of haru and just focusing on my abilities
A few days later, I had moved on to heavier objects: a chair, a small trash can, a metal broom handle. My attempts were clumsy, jerky, and often failed entirely. The chair would levitate slightly, then slam to the ground. Each failure left me with frustration.
I tried to analyze what went wrong each time. Was it focused? breathing? The angle of my hand? The speed of my thoughts? Nothing was consistent, and every fleeting success seemed random. I scribbled furiously in the notebook, diagrams layered over calculations, observations over speculation, until the pages were a tangle of notes she could barely decipher.
When the sun began to dip behind the school buildings, I moved to the wide open courtyard. focusing on a leaf drifting in the evening breeze. It stuttered, then slowed, then snapped back. A small spark of hope.
I repeated the attempt over and over. Each time the leaf reacted slightly differently. Sometimes it froze midair, sometimes it wavered and fell too quickly. My frustration boiled over. Sinking to the ground, pressing hands to my face. "Why is this so hard?!" my voice echoed across the empty courtyard.
I closed my eyes, but the feeling still lingered, gnawing at me. The idea of being weak, stuck at the bottom, was suffocating. I had the power but it refused to bend to my will.
Opening my eyes, I scanned the courtyard. The sunlight glinted off the edges of the nearby fountain, the shadows of trees swayed lazily, I saw the possibilities, the objects that could obey my control.
The night fell, leaving the courtyard bathed in the cold glow of the moon. Haru stayed there, defeated.
(I won't be posting chapters for two days)