The Girl Who Knew Too Much
When the light disappeared, Kairo was still standing.
Which surprised him.
"Okay," he said slowly, patting himself. "Still here. Not erased. Not a chair."
"Unfortunately," came a voice beside him, "you're very much still a problem."
Kairo turned.
The girl was there again.
Same glowing jacket. Same intense eyes. Same expression like she had zero time for nonsense.
Around them, everything had changed.
They were no longer in the busy street. No flying machines. No people. No Time Warden.
Just an empty alley, quiet and dim, like the city had forgotten it existed.
Kairo blinked. "Did… we teleport?"
"Short answer: yes," she said.
"Long answer?"
"We don't have time."
"I feel like that's going to be a theme," Kairo muttered.
Mr. Tallow suddenly crashed into a pile of metal boxes behind them.
"I HATE TEMPORAL JUMPING!" he shouted, tangled in something that looked like a glowing hose.
The girl didn't even look at him.
Her eyes stayed locked on Kairo.
"You shouldn't be here," she said. "You weren't supposed to arrive for another six years."
Kairo frowned. "Six years? I'd be—"
"Older. Yes. That's usually how time works."
"Okay, wow, everyone in the future is rude."
"I'm not rude," she snapped. "I'm trying to stop reality from collapsing."
Kairo paused.
"…That sounds important."
"It is."
Mr. Tallow finally freed himself and stumbled over.
"Oh good," he said, out of breath. "Another child. That always makes things better."
"I'm not a child," the girl said. "And if you're from the Temporal Office, then you've already messed this up."
Mr. Tallow looked offended. "I will have you know I am a Senior Assistant Deputy—"
"Of making things worse?" she cut in.
"…That's not officially my title."
Kairo stepped between them.
"Okay, hold on. Can someone explain what's going on like I'm not… whatever is happening right now?"
The girl sighed, clearly annoyed—but she answered.
"My name is Lira," she said. "And you—" she pointed at him, "—are the reason the future is breaking."
Kairo blinked.
"…I just wanted to skip school."
"Yes, well," Lira said, "congratulations. You skipped into a disaster."
She paced as she spoke, her jacket glowing brighter with each step.
"Time isn't something you can just jump around in. It has order. Structure. Events that must happen when they're supposed to."
She stopped and looked straight at him.
"You weren't supposed to be here today."
Kairo swallowed.
"…And because I am?"
Lira hesitated.
"For starters," she said, "that thing chasing you? The Time Warden?"
"Yeah, the giant flying nightmare."
"It doesn't exist in your original timeline."
Kairo's stomach dropped.
"…I created that?"
"Not exactly," Mr. Tallow said. "More like… you triggered it."
Lira nodded. "The moment you arrived early, time tried to correct itself."
"And that's bad?" Kairo asked.
"It's very bad," she said. "Because time doesn't fix things gently."
As if on cue—
A deep, echoing BOOM shook the ground.
The alley walls flickered.
For a split second, they weren't walls anymore.
They were… something else.
Broken.
Twisted.
Gone.
Then everything snapped back.
Kairo stepped back. "You saw that too, right?"
Lira nodded.
"It's starting," she said quietly.
"WHAT is starting?" Kairo asked.
Lira looked up at the sky, even though they couldn't see it from the alley.
"The collapse."
Mr. Tallow went pale.
"Oh… that's not good. That's really not good."
Kairo crossed his arms.
"Okay, I'm officially concerned now."
Lira stepped closer to him.
"Listen carefully," she said. "When you came here early, you didn't just change one thing."
She pointed upward.
"You changed everything that leads to this moment."
Kairo frowned. "I don't get it."
"You will," she said. "Soon."
Another rumble hit—stronger this time.
A crack of light split across the ground, spreading like lightning.
From somewhere far above, the mechanical voice returned:
"TARGET RELOCATED."
Kairo groaned. "Oh come on, how does it keep finding me?!"
Lira grabbed his arm.
"Because now," she said, "you're the most important mistake in time."
Mr. Tallow adjusted his crooked glasses.
"And mistakes," he added nervously, "tend to get corrected."
A shadow passed over the alley.
Something large.
Something fast.
Kairo looked up.
"…Please tell me that's not—"
"It is," Lira said.
The Time Warden dropped into view.
Closer than ever.
Its glowing eye burned brighter.
"FINAL WARNING," it said.
Kairo took a deep breath.
Then he smiled.
"…Okay," he said. "Now this feels like an adventure."
Lira stared at him.
"You're enjoying this?!"
"A little!"
"We are about to be erased!"
"Yeah," Kairo said, cracking his knuckles, "but we're not going down boring."
The Time Warden's wings began to spin.
Energy built.
The ground trembled.
Lira tightened her grip on his arm.
"Then run," she said.
Kairo grinned.
"Gladly."