"Hey Minato, wake up! If you sleep any longer you'll be late." My eyes shot open in response to the voice of my older sister, Mai. A quick glance over to the clock sitting on the bedside table, showed that it was 7:30, a whole hour before school starts. Mai was right. If I slept any longer I probably would end up being late. Or I would have been, if I didn't have these powers. Letting out a small yawn, I freeze time, before sliding out of bed and going about my morning routine. Having practically all the time in the world, I slowly get ready and head downstairs into the kitchen.
My mom and two sisters were already at the kitchen table, frozen in place. Grabbing something to eat, I join my family before resuming time. "Morning." I say casually, biting into my food. My oldest sister, Yuki, was the first to be surprised by my sudden appearance. Shown quite clearly by her choking on her food.
"What the? Where the hell did you come from Minato!" I shrugged. Mom shot her a look that said 'Mind your language at the table', and she quickly calmed down. "Geez. I've lost count how many times this has happened." I shrugged once again. It used to be that I kept time frozen throughout the entirety of the morning. Then I learned of how fun it was to scare them every day.
"It's not my fault you never notice me." I started. "Regardless, I should probably get going soon." Quickly finishing off my meal, I stand up. "Is that my bento on the counter?" Mom nods. Picking it up, I place it into my bag and head towards the front door. Stopping time yet again, I slip on my shoes, open the door, and begin my leisurely walk to my new school.
Yokohama high. Undoubtedly the best school in the prefecture. Up until now, only the elite got accepted. Those who spent the majority of their youth studying in order to better themselves, to even have a chance of attending this school. Then there's me. Taking full advantage of my power, I constantly froze time to study. Because of this, I managed to improve my grades without wasting any of my time. Call it cheating if you wish, but to me it was the most efficient way of testing the limits of my powers. I killed two birds with one stone, or so they say.
As my school came into view, I noticed the amount of frozen students that were congregated around the entrance. "Guess they got here early for the entrance ceremony." I say to myself strolling into school. "Speaking of which, where's it being held anyway. I'd assume in the main hall, but with a school this large it'd take forever to find." Knowing that if I wandered around aimlessly, I'd waste more of my time unnecessarily, I unfreeze time in hopes of finding some help.
Luckily it didn't take long. As time resumed, I was immediately ran into by something rushing at high speed. Knocked onto the floor and dazed, I looked over to the side of me. A girl, with long curly black hair, was on the floor next to me. "Ow, ow, ow. Ah! I'm so sorry!" The girl gets to her feet, before offering a hand. I accept, getting to my feet as well. "I am really sorry. It's just that I didn't want to be late, and I really wasn't paying attention. Wait a minute! Are you a first year as well?" I nod. "That means you'll be going to the opening ceremony too! Hey, want to go together? I'm sure we'll find it faster."
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"Sure. I was actually lost myself, so it all works out. I'm Minato Katsuragi, by the way." The girl flashes a quick smile.
"I'm Makoto Kitagawa. Nice to meet you. Shall we get going?" With that, we start walking in the direction we assume the main hall is in. Around 5 minutes later, we make it and get seated. The opening ceremony was the usual stuff. The principal went over his expectations for us, and after another hour, it was finally over.
"My God, that was boring." I let out a small sigh. "How could someone that boring, go on for that long?" Makoto giggled. " It's not funny. Whatever. Classes start now, right?" We were told what classes we were in via a letter that was mailed to us a week ago. I was put in class F. "What class are you in, Makoto?"
"Oh. I'm in class F." We were put in the same class then. Telling her that, she looks happy. "Huh? We're in the same class? That's a relief. I was worried I wouldn't know anyone." Makoto starts walking, and I follow her.
We don't get very far however, before we're stopped by someone behind us. "Hey! Are you fucking deaf or something? I said you were in my way!" I felt the force of a rather powerful punch hit my back. It was so powerful in fact that I was sent flying.
"Son of a bitch!" One time stop later and I was back on my feet. "The hell!" Looking back at where I was previously standing, a pretty intimidating looking guy was there. Blonde hair and an angry expression on his face. The very definition of a delinquent. This must of been the guy I had heard those rumours about. How couldn't it be. Someone with strength like that could easily wipe out a few gangs.
At this point a small crowd had formed. The delinquent seemed pissed. "Why didn't that work? Wait a minute, you're one of them aren't ya. Well why didn't you say so? Now there's no reason for me to hold back!" Suddenly he rushed forwards, the skin on his fists turning a dark grey. A metallic colour to be more exact.
The world crawled to a halt as I activated my power. This guy had no idea what he was getting himself into. Power or not, he couldn't even land a hit on me if he tried. One blow to his abdomen was all it took. One thing I had learned about my power, was that it only took a small amount of force to damage something in a frozen space. Any more, and I could fatally wound someone without trying. A thrown pebble, could become a bullet. That sort of thing.
As such, upon resuming time, the delinquent keeled over. Not wanting to attract too much attention, I pulled my punch. Any stronger than he would have been sent flying. "Tch, serves the bastard right." Whispers started to circulate around the spectators. 'How'd be beat Ryuske?' 'Kid's tougher than he looks' Everyone was along those lines. Great. The one thing I didn't want. Attention.
Makoto immediately ran up to me. "Minato! Are you alright? That looked like it hurt." She seemed genuinely worried. "Though, I suppose with a power like yours, someone like Ryuske wouldn't be a problem."
Exactly. Wait what?