After the failed "electricity-copying" incident and Nora getting a mild electric shock, the house gradually returned to its usual routine. Breakfast was almost over. Airi was clearing the table. Lumina was reading the news on her phone. Shi stood by the window as usual.
Akari sat in the living room, observing the atmosphere with a slightly more focused expression than usual.
Arou stood while drinking some water.
Nora came out of the bathroom, her hair neat again, although she occasionally touched her fingertips.
"I'm still blaming you," she said flatly to Arou.
"It was just a small experiment," Arou replied defensively.
"A small experiment involving electricity is not small."
"Well, it failed."
"That's the point!"
Lumina sighed softly.
"You two are too noisy for this early in the morning."
Arou was about to reply when—
The living room lights flickered.
Once.
Everyone fell silent.
The lights stabilized again.
Nora immediately pointed at Arou.
"That."
"What about it?"
"That's the result of your stupidity."
"Hey, don't accuse me right away!"
The lights flickered again.
This time, they stayed off a little longer.
Shi turned from the window.
"The current is unstable."
Akari slowly stood.
"Something has changed," she said quietly.
Nora rolled her eyes.
"Obviously something changed. Some genius just tried to copy electricity."
Arou opened his mouth to defend himself—
And suddenly, the entire house went dark.
Click.
Every light went out.
The refrigerator stopped humming.
All electronic sounds disappeared.
Silence.
For the first few seconds, there was nothing but stillness.
Then voices could be heard from outside.
"Huh?!"
"The power's out!"
"Seriously?"
Arou quickly walked toward the window.
He pulled the curtain aside slightly.
The houses around them were dark too.
No lights.
No machines.
Nothing.
"Don't tell me…" Nora muttered.
Lumina stood up and looked outside as well.
The entire neighborhood was blacked out.
Airi came out of the kitchen, calm but serious.
"This isn't just our house."
Arou swallowed.
"Coincidence," he said quickly.
Nora slowly turned toward him.
"Coincidence?"
"Yeah. Maybe there's a city-wide power outage."
"And it just happened after you tried manipulating the electrical panel?"
"That's a different circuit!"
"Are you sure?!"
Arou raised his hands.
"There's no way a house panel could shut down an entire city!"
"In theory, you're right," Nora said coldly.
"In theory?" Arou repeated.
Nora crossed her arms.
"But you touched the system earlier without knowing its resonance effects."
"You were the one who touched it!"
"Because you told me to!"
"Because you're a genius!"
"Don't use compliments to cover up your mistake!"
Akari stepped between them.
"Stop."
Her voice was quiet.
But it was enough to make both of them fall silent.
"This isn't an ordinary blackout," Akari continued.
Arou turned toward her.
"You know something?"
Akari walked toward the window.
The sky remained clear. There were no dark clouds. No storm.
"The current hasn't disappeared," she said quietly.
Nora frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It's as if… it was stopped."
Silence.
Shi spoke softly.
"There's a pattern."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What pattern?" Lumina asked.
"The waves aren't damaged. They simply stopped."
Arou became even more confused.
"Don't get technical yet. What's the point?"
Akari answered briefly,
"This doesn't feel like a malfunction."
Nora looked at Arou again.
"You really didn't do anything besides touch the panel earlier?"
Arou raised his hand as if swearing an oath.
"I only came up with the idea. You were the one who touched it."
"Don't blame me again!"
Suddenly, someone knocked on the front gate.
Nora peeked outside.
A neighbor was standing there.
"The power's out across the whole city! You guys too?"
Airi answered politely.
"Yes, we are."
The neighbor sighed.
"They said even the city center is out."
Everyone exchanged glances.
The entire city.
Arou immediately pointed at Nora.
"See? It's not just the house."
Nora pointed back at him.
"That's exactly why I'm even more suspicious!"
Arou let out a frustrated sigh.
"There's no way I could shut down an entire city just because of a house panel!"
Nora stepped closer.
"You forgot that lately, every strange incident seems to happen around you."
Arou fell silent.
That was… difficult to argue against.
The lights had flickered.
The electrical panel had felt strange.
The current had seemed to be "held back."
Akari closed her eyes for a moment.
The atmosphere in the room felt different.
It wasn't the darkness that bothered her.
It was the pause.
As if the world itself had been paused.
"Arou," she said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"What were you thinking when you tried to copy the electricity?"
Arou blinked.
"What was I thinking?"
"Yes."
Arou tried to remember.
"I was just thinking… if I could duplicate the current, we wouldn't have to pay the bill anymore."
"And?" Akari asked.
"And… I really hoped it would work."
Silence.
Nora crossed her arms.
"That doesn't sound strange."
Akari opened her eyes.
"Sometimes, it isn't the action that changes something."
Everyone looked at her.
"But the intention."
Arou frowned.
"Don't start being mysterious again."
Suddenly—
The lights came back on.
Click.
The refrigerator started humming again.
Electronic devices came back to life.
Voices could be heard from outside.
"It's back!"
"Whoa!"
The house was bright again.
Everyone stood silently.
Arou stared at the lights.
"That's it?"
Nora rushed to the window.
The surrounding houses were lit again as well.
Only about three minutes.
Three minutes of darkness across the entire city.
Lumina spoke quietly.
"That was fast."
Shi added,
"Too fast for a major malfunction."
Arou turned toward Nora.
"Now you can't blame me."
Nora quickly turned around.
"That makes it even easier to blame you!"
"Why?!"
"Because it happened way too perfectly after what just happened!"
"Hey, don't accuse me without proof!"
"The panel flickered, you intended to manipulate the current, and then the entire city went dark!"
"That was a coincidence!"
"There's no such thing as coincidence when it comes to you!"
Arou protested,
"Why am I always blamed whenever something strange happens?!"
"Because you're at the center of it!"
"It's not me!"
Akari looked at them.
"Enough."
The two of them were still glaring at each other.
Akari continued,
"This isn't about who's at fault."
"Then what is it about?" Nora asked.
"The boundary."
Silence.
Arou slowly turned toward her.
"What boundary?"
"The boundary between possibility and reality."
Lumina sighed.
"I'm tired of those terms."
Akari walked over to the light switch.
She turned it off and then back on.
Click.
Everything worked normally.
"If this was caused by the panel," she said quietly, "there should be some damage."
Nora slowly nodded.
"That's true…"
"If it was caused by a city-wide malfunction, it shouldn't have stopped so quickly."
Shi added,
"It was as if something was testing it."
The room fell silent again.
Arou felt something uncomfortable in his chest.
He hadn't done anything.
He had only thought.
Only hoped to avoid paying a bill.
But—
What if the world really was adjusting itself?
What if his small intention had triggered something?
He quickly shook his head.
"No. That's going too far."
Nora still looked annoyed.
"I'm still blaming you."
"Why are you so stubborn?"
"Because I almost got electrocuted earlier!"
"It was barely anything!"
"It still hurt!"
Airi finally spoke, her voice calm but firm.
"That's enough."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
"We should be grateful the power is back. Nothing was damaged. No one was seriously hurt."
Nora muttered,
"Except my dignity."
Arou almost laughed again, but held it back.
Akari walked toward the window.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Something had indeed changed.
It couldn't be seen.
It couldn't be heard.
But it could be felt.
As if the world had truly stopped for a moment.
And then chosen to continue.
She turned toward Arou.
"You need to be careful what you wish for."
Arou frowned.
"It was just electricity."
Akari answered quietly,
"It's never just something."
The lights remained on.
The city returned to normal.
People went back to their daily activities.
As if those three minutes of darkness had never happened.
But inside that house—
Everyone knew.
It wasn't just an ordinary power outage.
And for the first time—
Nora wasn't entirely convinced that the electrical panel had nothing to do with it.
Arou stared at the light switch once more.
This time, he wasn't smiling.
"I think… I really should start paying my bills on time."
Nora immediately replied,
"That's the smartest decision you've made all day."
Outside, the sun continued to shine.
The city was alive again.
Yet behind the returning light—
One small question remained:
Had the world gone dark because of a technical failure…
or because someone had tried to alter a current that should never have been touched?
And if that was true—
How much impact could one careless intention have?
Arou didn't know.
But one thing was certain—
He would never casually say the words "copy electricity" again.