I stopped walking.
The rooftop door was right there, the bell still echoing in the distance, but I didn't follow Jason down the stairs. I turned to him instead.
"Hey," I said, quieter now. "For what it's worth… you still have a loving grandma who cares about you. A mom who's there. And your dad—yeah, he's married to his work, but I can see it. The way he smiles when he talks about you? That's not fake."
Jason blinked, caught off guard.
"He takes care of you," I continued. "And your mom. No matter what. That counts."
He stared at me for a second, then laughed softly. "Damn… you're really easy to talk to, you know that?"
"Don't spread that rumor," I said. "I've got a reputation to maintain. I'm the girl-who's-into-girls stuck in a class that's one wardrobe malfunction away from becoming an ecchi disaster."
That did it.
We both laughed. Real laughter. The kind that doesn't come from coping, just from being human.
Then Jason looked at me differently. More serious.
"Lane," he said. "Can I ask you something?"
I already knew where this was going.
"Why does everyone call you the Walking Calamity?"
I didn't answer right away.
The wind brushed past us. My fingers tightened on the railing.
"…Is it because your mana and spiritual energy are insanely high?" he asked carefully.
I looked down.
Quiet.
"No," I said. "It's not that they're high."
He waited.
"They're irrelevant."
He frowned. "Irrelevant… how?"
I took a breath. A controlled one. The kind that doesn't erase causality by accident.
"It means they're not empty. Not zero. Not hidden," I said. "It means the system can't define them. Because I'm not inside it."
Jason stiffened.
"I'm outside the system," I continued. "Outside mana. Outside spiritual energy. Outside realms. Outside every framework that measures existence."
He laughed once, nervously. "Outside… as in?"
"As in every realm you learned about today?" I said calmly. "Mortal. Immortal. God. Transcendent. Paradox. Absolute."
I finally looked up at him.
"Even the Final Realm."
That was the moment his face broke.
Not fear exactly.
Not shock either.
It was like his brain hit a wall at full speed and forgot how to process reality.
"…That's not possible," he whispered.
"I know."
Silence.
I kept going anyway.
"I wasn't born like everyone else. I didn't cry. I didn't crawl. I didn't learn to see." I swallowed. "I got launched. Like a cannon. Almost blew half the hospital apart."
His mouth opened. No sound came out.
"When I woke up, I was already aware. Already learning. Reading my surroundings faster than numbers, faster than thought. Doctors panicked. Governments panicked. Councils panicked. Gods noticed."
I let out a tired sigh.
"They all reacted like you're reacting now."
I glanced at him. His eyes were wide. Empty. Like his soul had briefly disconnected.
"But my family?" I said softly. "They didn't care. They loved me anyway. Protected me. Even though I never needed it. They still did."
I smiled faintly. "That's why I'm called the Walking Calamity. Not because I'm dangerous. But because I can't be classified. And if my real nature got out?"
I shook my head.
"It would traumatize everyone. Even gods."
So they call me a calamity instead.
It's easier.
Cleaner.
Safer.
"I'm used to it now."
I looked at him.
"Uh… Jason?"
He snapped.
"WHAT?!?!"
He grabbed his head. "NO—NO—NO—YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT LIKE IT'S WEATHER!"
I blinked. "Say what?"
"THAT YOU'RE OUTSIDE REALITY?! THAT YOU'RE BEYOND THE FINAL REALM?! DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKED THAT IS?!"
He started pacing. "DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED TRYING TO REACH ONE REALM ABOVE GOD?! AND YOU'RE JUST—JUST—SITTING HERE TALKING ABOUT ANIME?!"
"…Yeah?" I said. "I still think they should make another season of No game, no life."
He stopped.
Stared at me.
"…You're insane."
"Probably."
"You're terrifying."
"Objectively."
"…But you're still Lane."
I nodded. "Yeah. That's the important part."
He exhaled hard, then laughed—half hysterical, half relieved. "Holy shit. I asked why they call you a calamity and got an existential crisis instead."
I smirked. "You wanted honesty."
Jason looked at me, really looked at me.
"…Thanks for telling me."
I blinked. "You're not scared?"
"Oh I'm absolutely scared," he said immediately. "Terrified. Mentally damaged. Spiritually bruised."
Then he smiled.
"But you trusted me with that. So… I guess I'll live."
We stood there for a moment.
Two idiots on a rooftop.
One normal guy with absurd lineage.
One unclassifiable existence beyond reality.
And somehow?
Still just friends.
The bell rang again, louder this time.
Jason straightened. "Come on, Walking Calamity. If we're late, I don't want to explain to the teacher that my friend exists outside causality."
I snorted. "Fair."
As we headed inside, I had a feeling.
Not dread.
Not danger.
Just certainty.
Telling him the truth?
That was going to change everything.