The silence didn't feel natural. Why was there a pause on knock?
It felt cut.
Like something had pressed pause on the world outside Room A-0174.
Haruka didn't move.
Didn't blink.
His gaze stayed locked on the door.
"…we've already been marked."
Saito let out a quiet breath.
"…Yeah, I'm not liking that sentence at all."
Yume didn't speak.
But her posture changed.
Subtle.
Her weight shifted slightly forward.
Ready.
Another knock.
This time—
Slower.
More deliberate.
Knock.
Knock.
"Room A-0174."
The voice came again.
Calm.
Controlled.
Too controlled.
"Open the door."
Saito glanced at Haruka.
"…We ignoring that or—?"
Haruka stood still for a second longer.
Then—
"…No."
A pause.
"If we don't open it…"
His right eye dimmed slightly.
"…they'll open it for us."
That was enough.
Saito clicked his tongue.
"Yeah. Hate that logic. Makes sense though."
He stepped forward.
Hand reaching for the handle.
For a split second—
Haruka's vision fractured again.
The door already open.
A hand grabbing Saito's collar.
A sharp sound—
Not loud.
But final.
Blood?
—Gone.
Back to now.
"Saito."
His voice came out sharper than intended.
Saito paused.
"…What?"
Haruka walked forward slowly.
Each step measured.
"…Move."
Saito raised a brow but didn't argue.
He stepped aside.
Yume watched carefully.
"…You saw something again."
Haruka didn't answer.
His hand reached the door.
Cold.
For a moment—
He hesitated.
Not out of fear.
But recognition.
This feeling—
He knew it.
The kind of moment that divides things.
Before.
And after.
His fingers tightened slightly.
Then—
He opened it.
The hallway light spilled in.
Dim.
Flickering slightly.
And someone was already standing there.
Tall.
Straight posture.
Wearing the academy uniform—
But cleaner.
Sharper.
Untouched.
A badge rested on their chest.
Not like a student's.
Different.
Their eyes immediately met Haruka's.
And they smiled.
Not warmly.
Not kindly.
But knowingly.
"…Took you long enough."
Saito leaned slightly to the side to peek.
"…Oh nah, this dude got NPC energy."
Yume didn't react.
But her eyes narrowed.
The person tilted their head slightly.
Observing.
Measuring.
Then—
They stepped forward.
Uninvited.
Haruka didn't stop them.
The moment they crossed the doorway—
Something shifted.
Like the room itself rejected them.
"…Interesting."
The stranger murmured.
Their gaze moved across the room.
The beds.
The spacing.
The three of them.
Then back to Haruka.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
Silence.
Haruka's expression didn't change.
"…Felt what."
The smile widened slightly.
"That you were being watched."
Saito exhaled.
"…Okay yeah I officially don't like this guy."
Yume stepped forward slightly.
Positioning herself just enough to shift the dynamic.
"…State your purpose."
The stranger looked at her.
Briefly.
Then back to Haruka.
"…You're the one."
That sentence landed heavier than it should have.
Saito blinked.
"…Bro said that like he's been searching for him or something."
Haruka's right eye flickered again... Chrono Split.
A flash—
This same person.
Standing closer.
Whispering something—
"Alastor, was it?"
—Gone.
Haruka's hand twitched slightly.
"…You shouldn't be here."
The stranger chuckled softly.
"Technically?"
A small step closer.
"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."
They reached into their pocket.
Saito tensed.
"…Aye—"
But they didn't pull a weapon.
They pulled out a card.
Black.
Minimal.
And held it up.
"IOD. Full form: Internal Oversight Division."
The air in the room dropped.
Saito's eyes sharpened instantly.
"…That unit doesn't interact with students."
The stranger smiled again.
"We don't."
A pause.
"Unless something… unusual appears."
Silence.
Haruka stared at the card.
Then at them.
"…And what did you find."
The smile faded slightly.
"…A distortion."
That word again.
It echoed deeper this time.
The stranger took another step forward.
Now fully inside the room.
"…Something that doesn't align with the system."
Haruka's right eye glowed faintly.
"…You're mistaken."
The stranger tilted their head.
"…Am I?"
A beat.
Then—
They leaned in slightly.
Close enough that only Haruka could hear.
"…Because from where I'm standing…"
A whisper.
"…you don't belong to this reality at all."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unmoving.
Saito blinked.
"…Okay yeah nah WHAT—"
Yume didn't speak.
Didn't move.
But her hand clenched slightly.
Haruka didn't react outwardly.
But inside—
Something cracked.
Not panic.
Recognition.
The stranger stepped back.
Normal distance again.
Like nothing happened.
"…Relax."
A faint smile returned.
"I'm not here to report you. Although I should."
That didn't help.
"…I'm here to see what you become."
A pause.
Their gaze moved between all three of them.
Then—
To their hands.
Still faintly close from earlier.
"…Alastor, was it?"
Haruka saw it coming.
All three froze.
The smile widened.
"…Careful."
They turned toward the door.
"Teams like that…"
A glance back.
"…don't stay hidden for long."
They stepped out.
Then stopped.
Without turning—
"…Next time we meet…"
A pause.
"…it will be me standing on your graves.
And also, my name's Zero... Zero the Void."
And then—
They left.
The hallway went quiet again.
The door remained open.
No footsteps.
No presence.
Gone.
Saito stared at the doorway.
"…Nah."
A beat.
"…nah what WAS that."
Yume exhaled slowly.
"…We just got fast-tracked."
Haruka didn't speak.
His right eye dimmed.
But his thoughts didn't.
"On your graves"
Haruka thought to himself:
"How did that motherfucker know?"
He was genuinely pissed about the whole situation.
Haruka slowly closed the door.
Click.
"…We don't have time anymore."
Saito looked at him.
"…For what exactly, huh??"
Haruka turned slightly.
For the first time—
There was no hesitation in his eyes.
"…to stay small. Cause nah, ain't no fucking way that dude came, and aura farmed just like that."
But sharply.
"…Good."
The room didn't feel like a dorm anymore.
Not even close.
It felt like the beginning of something that shouldn't exist.
Zero, while he was getting outside of the J-class mage venue, was talking to himself.
"Mission accomplished. I did just as Haruka told me to, and I managed not to create a paradox. Well, who could've guessed that you barely changed from past to future, eh? What once was a weirdo is still a weirdo."
He went and took a trolley bag almost his size and his weight.
He went outside the venue, near a graveyard.
He started to dig a grave.
"Ahh. Rest here past Zero, sorry, but I gotta fix something."
He opens the trolley and throws the body in the grave, burying it.