"What's this, suddenly so serious, I thought you were going to con..."
Yamada Elf gave a light snort, her tone disappointed, putting her hands on her hips and looking over:
"What does getting stronger mean?"
"Could it be that Servant has been losing hair a lot lately?"
Izumi Sora was expressionless: "Getting stronger has nothing to do with losing hair, right?"
"Of course it does." Elf spoke plausibly, "As the saying goes, baldness is the mark of the strong."
Hair loss is a crisis for middle-aged men, no high schooler would lose their hair!
"Getting stronger means exactly what it says." Izumi Sora looked at Elf and told the truth. "I have mastered Mahiru's Time Stop ability."
"Hah?"
Yamada Elf widened her eyes and looked over, clearly not believing it:
"Servant is lying, right?"
"I'm not lying."
"Then prove it to me, just saying it won't make anyone believe you."
"I was planning to."
Izumi Sora raised his right hand and gently snapped his fingers.
Snap.
With the sound, the entire world's pause button was abruptly pressed.
Elf, with her eyes widened and her pink lips slightly parted.
The frozen time on the phone.
A mosquito hovering in mid-air.
The corner of the curtain gently blown up by the evening breeze.
Everything was frozen in time.
"It's actually very useful for swatting mosquitoes... it just feels like too much of a waste."
Izumi Sora flicked the mosquito in mid-air away with a finger, scooped up Elf, tossed her face-down onto the bed, and then bent down to look under the desk.
Angel-sama had her pretty face tilted up, motionless, her expression quite adorkable, clearly also stopped in time.
"Mahiru, can you speak?"
Izumi Sora reached in, pulled Mahiru out, and asked in a low voice.
"..."
Shiina Mahiru remained silent, clearly unable to speak.
"Does Mahiru have consciousness during Time Stop?"
"Hugging doesn't seem to have any effect. Can a kiss make Mahiru move?"
"If Time Stop is activated again while already in a Time Stop state, what would happen?"
There were many questions that needed exploring.
Unfortunately, Izumi Sora could only stop time for one minute, so he couldn't verify them for the time being.
Carrying Mahiru out of the room, Izumi Sora quickly went downstairs, placed Mahiru on the sofa, and then swiftly returned to his room.
There were ten seconds left of the Time Stop.
"One minute really is too short..."
Izumi Sora sighed, gently snapped his fingers, and silently chanted in his heart:
"Cancel Time Stop."
The next second.
Elf's bewildered voice rang out:
"Strange... how did I end up on the bed?"
Izumi Sora looked over: "Of course it's because I threw you onto the bed during Time Stop."
Yamada Elf blinked, recalling the 'frame drop' memory from just now, and finally widened her eyes in shock:
"You're kidding, right? Servant can actually stop time?"
Izumi Sora remained composed: "I told you I got stronger."
Although one minute was very short and there was no way to rule the world with it, it had to be said that mastering Time Stop himself felt quite good.
"My knees hurt..." Yamada Elf scrunched up her small face. "Servant didn't do weird things to me during the Time Stop, did you?"
Izumi Sora was expressionless: "I did not."
"But it really is uncomfortable." Yamada Elf's small face quietly flushed red. She covered her skirt with her hands and stammered softly, "Servant, go buy that, okay?"
Izumi Sora didn't understand: "Buy what?"
Yamada Elf's small face was burning red, her voice shy:
"That kind of medicine... If Mom knew I was pregnant, she'd definitely be very angry, so we have to..."
So your sister!
Besides throwing you onto the bed, I didn't lay a single finger on you, alright!
Veins popped on Izumi Sora's forehead. He raised his right hand and tapped Elf on the head:
"It was a mere tens of seconds, stop being so paranoid."
"What?"
Yamada Elf widened her eyes and covered her pink lips in shock:
"Servant is actually that short?"
Short your sister! I told you to stop letting your imagination run wild!
Izumi Sora's face darkened. He grabbed Elf, picked her up, and reenacted the scene from earlier, quickly figuring out the truth behind Elf's pain:
"It's probably because when I threw you onto the bed earlier, your knees accidentally hit the edge of the bed... Besides your knees hurting, nowhere else hurts, right?"
"Servant really didn't do anything?"
Yamada Elf was half-believing and half-doubting.
"You'll know if you get down and take a few steps."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Yamada Elf jumped out of bed and curiously took a few steps:
"And then?"
Izumi Sora lowered his voice: "If I had done something to you, you wouldn't be able to walk right now."
"Hmph." Yamada Elf quickly understood the meaning of this sentence. She gave a light snort and turned her small face away. "A mere Servant, I'm not that fragile."
You get leg cramps from just a little bit of exercise, don't think you're that amazing!
Elf continued to take a few steps, and after confirming there was no other discomfort on her body, she quickly relaxed and put her hands on her hips:
"I'll temporarily believe that Servant didn't do anything weird... Anyway, you must hold onto your true heart and not mess around."
Izumi Sora returned to his desk and picked up his teacup to take a sip of water:
"I'm not that kind of person."
"Hmph, Mahiru isn't that kind of person, but Servant is a different story." Yamada Elf scrunched her cute nose, complaining softly. "They say boys' heads are full of lewd thoughts, and Servant is definitely no exception. If there's no one to restrain you, you'll definitely be slowly consumed by evil desires and eventually become a doujinshi protagonist."
"If... if Servant really can't hold it in..."
Yamada Elf's small face flushed red. She averted her gaze, stammering shyly:
"Then come at me, you can't go bully other girls..."
Actually willing to sacrifice yourself to the tiger, you're surprisingly noble!
Izumi Sora helplessly pressed his fingers against his brow:
"Stop talking. I can only stop time for one minute, I wouldn't have the chance even if I wanted to bully someone."
Elf looked over in surprise: "Servant is actually that short?"
The corner of Izumi Sora's mouth twitched slightly: "Other people can rule the world with nine seconds, one minute is already very long."
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips: "Mahiru can last half an hour."
Comparing duration length is the most infuriating thing!
"Speaking of which, what is the side effect of Sora's Time Stop?"
Yamada Elf looked over curiously:
"Do you have to purify yourself?"
Hearing Elf's question, Izumi Sora finally realized:
"There is no side effect."
"So amazing, it actually has no side effects, I want Time Stop too."
"Can't do it."
"..."
Even though it wasn't her first time witnessing Time Stop, Elf was inexplicably super excited, asking all sorts of questions non-stop:
"Why was Servant able to acquire Mahiru's ability?"
"Can you master my invisibility ability?"
"Let's do it again!"
Yamada Elf's voice was expectant, her small face full of excitement:
"Before at the zoo, I was super envious that you guys could move around during Time Stop. This lady also wants to try what it feels like."
Only through intimate contact can one gain the ability to move during Time Stop.
Yamada Elf's orientation was perfectly normal, and she didn't want to get intimate with Mahiru. But if the partner was Izumi Sora, naturally there would be no problem.
It's just a kiss, it's not like they hadn't kissed before.
"Not today." Izumi Sora shook his head. "I feel like my body has been hollowed out. It should be limited to one Time Stop per day."
Yamada Elf was instantly greatly disappointed:
"What's this, compared to Mahiru, Servant's Time Stop ability is super weak."
I'm truly sorry for being so weak!
Izumi Sora waved her away: "You have too many questions, hurry back and rest."
"Hmph~"
Yamada Elf scrunched her cute nose, turning and walking outward:
"By the way, should this be kept a secret?"
Izumi Sora pondered for two seconds:
"No need to keep it a secret."
Since he was able to acquire Mahiru's ability, the next step was to acquire Elf and Kuroneko's abilities.
Invisibility and the ability to communicate with animals were actually very useful. There was naturally no reason to miss out on them, so there was no need to hide it.
"Got it~"
Yamada Elf waved her hand, her short little legs running downstairs with a thump thump thump:
"I'm going to tell Mahiru right now."
Izumi Sora grabbed his phone and followed Elf downstairs.
"Sora-kun, are you done with your work?"
Shiina Mahiru sat on the sofa. Hearing the footsteps coming downstairs, she turned to look.
"Mahiru, I have something to tell you..."
Yamada Elf sprinted to Mahiru's side, chattering away with her gossip.
"Eh, Sora-kun actually mastered the Time Stop ability?" Angel-sama raised a hand to cover her pink lips. "That's amazing."
"I don't know what happened either, I just suddenly mastered it..."
Izumi Sora explained while looking at Mahiru.
Their eyes met.
Confirmed through their gaze.
Angel-sama's face had completely no expression of shock; she highly likely retained her memories during the Time Stop.
That was indeed the case.
While Elf and Mahiru were chatting, Izumi Sora took out his phone and secretly sent a message to Mahiru asking about the situation.
"I remember~"
Angel-sama replied quietly.
As the Witch of Time, she could indeed retain her memories during a Time Stop state.
The night deepened.
In the blink of an eye it was 9:00 PM, and Elf and Mahiru said their goodbyes and left together.
Izumi Sora was just about to go upstairs when Sagiri, wearing a white button-down shirt, happened to come down. Seeing the empty living room, she couldn't help but ask:
"Eh... where's Elf?"
Izumi Sora answered casually:
"She already went back."
"So early, I was planning to play a bit longer..."
Sagiri was a bit disappointed, her gaze falling on Izumi Sora:
"Does Nii-san want to play together?"
"Not playing anymore, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
As the two passed each other, Sagiri suddenly widened her eyes.
"Sniff sniff~"
The silver-haired loli transformed into a dog detective, sniffing all over Izumi Sora:
"Onii-chan smells so nice... why is it all Mahiru's scent?"
"I only went to the restroom for a bit, what did Onii-chan do behind my back!"
Faced with Sagiri's questioning, Izumi Sora remained composed and completely unpanicked:
"You smelled wrong."
"I definitely didn't smell wrong."
"Besides Mahiru's scent, I also have Elf's scent on me."
Sagiri: "..."
Thump!
Sagiri's cheeks puffed up high like a squirrel with its mouth full of chestnuts. She clenched her pink fists tightly, raised her leg, and stomped on Izumi Sora's instep:
"Onii-chan is an idiot! A blockhead!"
"..."
After kicking him, Sagiri turned and ran back to her room, huffing angrily.
Izumi Sora returned to his room and continued fixing game bugs.
In the blink of an eye, it was 10:00 PM.
Knock knock knock.
A knock on the door suddenly sounded.
The door was quickly pushed open quietly. Sagiri walked in hugging a body pillow, her small face slightly flushed, averting her gaze:
"I saw a really scary video while playing on my phone just now, so my room feels a bit frightening... It's totally not because I want to sleep with Onii-chan."
Izumi Sora looked over speechlessly: "Let me see how scary the video is."
"No." Sagiri quickly shook her head. "Mom said I can't show boys my private places."
Hey, hey, don't spout nonsense! I'm just looking at your phone, there aren't any unmentionable places on it, right!
"Anyway, there's a lot of privacy in my phone, Onii-chan isn't allowed to look at it casually." Sagiri shot him a glance from the corner of her eye. "Unless Onii-chan promises me one thing, then I'll let you see..."
Stop talking, the more you talk the weirder it gets!
Izumi Sora simply turned around: "I completely don't want to see it anymore."
"Idiot! Blockhead!"
"..."
The night passed without words.
The next day.
8:30 AM.
Not long after Izumi Sora woke up and finished preparing breakfast, the doorbell rang.
"Sora, good morning."
Opening the door, a blue-haired girl stood outside. The ahoge on her head swayed gently in the breeze, and her bright, radiant smile was completely pure, instantly brightening one's mood.
It was none other than Yanami Anna.
"Good morning." Izumi Sora looked at Yanami curiously, "Why are you here so early?"
"Today is the day to record voice acting for the game, of course I had to come early." Yanami Anna walked in naturally. Her voice was crisp and sweet, like a wind chime under the eaves. She handed over the gift in her hand. "Here, these are the mini cakes Mom baked last night."
"Thank you." Izumi Sora took the souvenir. "Voice acting is actually very simple, you don't need to be so nervous."
"Even if it's simple, I have to give it my all." Yanami Anna looked up. "The funny video I sent Sora last night, wasn't it interesting?"
That's right, the bad joke video Elf watched last night was actually mass-sent by Yanami; everyone received it.
Izumi Sora remained expressionless: "The video was very dangerous."
"Eh? Dangerous?"
"My heart was in my mouth (seven up, eight down), and almost jumped out of my throat."
"Did Sora laugh really happily?"
I didn't laugh, it was Mahiru hiding under the desk who almost laughed out loud.
Izumi Sora put down the souvenir: "Has Anna eaten yet?"
"Umm..."
Yanami Anna's gaze shifted and landed on the dining table. Looking at the golden fried rice, her eyes quickly lit up. She raised a hand to wipe the corner of her mouth, stating emphatically:
"I haven't eaten."
Izumi Sora didn't believe her at all. If she woke up early and didn't eat breakfast, Anna definitely wouldn't be this energetic; she would have been in a depressed state long ago.
"There was leftover rice from last night, so I made fried rice this morning... grab a bowl and serve yourself."
"Okay!"
Yanami Anna happily agreed, turning and heading straight for the kitchen.
"Mmm~ The aroma of the rice and the aroma of the eggs are perfectly blended together, plus the garnish of green onions and corn kernels, it's simply perfect!"
Finishing a bowl of fried rice in three minutes, Anna gave a thumbs-up and a perfect score review.
After saying that, Anna held the empty bowl with both hands, sitting perfectly straight like an elementary school student, looking over with eyes full of anticipation.
Having grown up together, Izumi Sora naturally understood what 'Inmate Eight' meant.
It wasn't that she wanted praise, but...
"Another bowl?"
"Okay!"
Anna quickly stood up:
"I'll serve myself!"