After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday - A Tear in Existence

April 3rd. It was a morning after the rain. The rain that had fallen steadily since the previous night finally let up at dawn, and the sky over the city of Minase remained blanketed in thick clouds, leaving the streets drenched. The campus of Minase Prefectural High School lay submerged in the quiet of spring break. The moment Hoshino Kazuki passed through the school gate, he was acutely aware of the heavy weight lodged in his chest. (Kokone is gone.) Kirino Kokone. A girl who was bright, meddlesome, and more devoted to her friends than anyone. Since she had vanished from the world, Kazuki's time had stood still. To be precise, it wasn't just the classroom clock that had stopped—the hands of Kazuki's own heart had been caught on something since that day, unable to move. The smartphone in his pocket felt heavy. Kokone's name was gone from his contacts list. No—even the awareness that it had been erased was hazy, and only in Kazuki's memory did her smile and voice remain. That fact constricted his chest all the more. (No one remembers. No one but me.) He changed into indoor shoes at the school entrance. A chill seemed to crawl up through the soles of his feet. Kazuki headed for the second-year Class 3 classroom, where he was to meet Oomine Daiya. The hallway was dim. The air, still carrying the remnants of rain, clung coldly to his skin. Outside the windows, the cherry blossoms in the schoolyard, battered by the rain, were shedding their petals. Petals past full bloom stuck to the wet asphalt, forming faint pink stains. (Something will become clear today.) Kazuki wanted to believe that. Daiya had said he would investigate the true nature of the "box's remnants." With that man's cold, calculating mind, he might be able to expose the mechanism behind this abnormal phenomenon. Even if what awaited beyond was despair, it was better than knowing nothing. He stood before the classroom door. Second-year Class 3. The class to which Kazuki, Kokone, Maria, and Daiya belonged. Once the new term began, Kokone would not be here. No—she had been made never to have existed at all. Kazuki put his hand on the doorknob. The coldness of the metal bit into his fingertips. "You're here." When he opened the door, Oomine Daiya stood in the center of the classroom, directly beneath the wall clock. His black hair was neatly parted in a precise three-to-seven ratio. His eyes were a cold, ash-blue. On the middle finger of his left hand gleamed an old ring engraved with the academy's crest. The pale light from the window outlined his tall frame—a full head taller than Kazuki—in silhouette. Daiya, as always, observed Kazuki from a position one step removed. "You're late, Hoshino. Three minutes past the agreed time." "Sorry. I had a bit of trouble getting out of the house." Kazuki answered briefly and walked toward the center of the classroom. "So, what are we doing?" Daiya didn't answer, only looked up at the wall clock. An ordinary round clock hung above the blackboard at the front of the classroom. White face, black numerals. Only the second hand was painted red. It currently pointed to 9:12 in the morning. "First, we take that down. Help me." "Take it down... are we allowed to just do that?" "Don't start with that now. You want to stop this phenomenon, don't you? Then you shouldn't have the luxury of choosing your methods." Daiya's voice was as dispassionate as ever. But threaded through his words was a coldness that seemed to see straight through Kazuki's impatience. Kazuki bit his lip and nodded. "Understood. What should I do?" "There's a step stool under the podium. Bring it." Kazuki went behind the podium and found a folding step stool. It was metal, a little too short for classroom use. He lifted it and carried it beneath the clock. Daiya traced the edge of the clock with his ringed left hand. "It's mounted on a hook. Push it up from below and it'll come off. You do it." "...Why me?" "I'll observe. Touching it is your role. If the remnant shows any kind of reaction, the observer can't afford to be caught up in it." Daiya wore a thin smile. "Or are you afraid?" Kazuki met those ash-blue eyes straight on. "...I'll do it." He climbed onto the step stool. It wobbled unsteadily. He reached both hands toward the clock and hooked his fingers on the edge. (Kokone.) He repeated her name in his mind. That bright voice revived deep in his ears. 'I've decided I'm going to cheer on you and Maria's romance, Kazuki!' (She was laughing. Right here, definitely.) Kazuki pushed the clock up from below. With a small click, the clock came off the wall. It was surprisingly heavy. The glass of the face pressed cold against his fingertips. "It's off." "Look at the back." Kazuki carefully turned the clock over. A black plastic back cover. A battery compartment in the center. And on the edge of that cover, he could see something stuck to it. "What is this..." It was an old scrap of paper. A small slip, yellowed and frayed at the edges. Hastily fastened with cellophane tape. On its surface were faded pencil marks. Kazuki held his breath and read them. 'I want to stop time.' That was all it said. "'I want to stop time,' is it." Daiya's voice echoed through the quiet classroom. "This is the true nature of the box's remnant." Kazuki clenched the scrap of paper. The rough texture of the old paper bit into his palm. "Because of this... Kokone disappeared?" His voice trembled. "Yes. The wish 'I want to stop time' imbued in this scrap remained as a remnant in the clock even after the box was destroyed. And the wish is being granted in a distorted form. Every time the clock stops, someone's existence is shaved from the world's record by the amount of time that stopped." Daiya explained dispassionately. "If it stops for thirty seconds, someone's existence vanishes from this world for thirty seconds. If it accumulates, eventually that existence is annihilated entirely. Kirino Kokone was the first sacrifice." The strength nearly drained from Kazuki's fingertips. (Thirty seconds' worth, gone.) Every time the clock stopped, bit by bit. Unnoticed by anyone, shaved away from the world. That was how Kokone had disappeared. That smile, that voice, that meddlesome kindness—all of it. "You've got to be kidding me...!" Kazuki slammed his fist, still clutching the scrap, against the wall. A dull thud echoed through the classroom. "Just thirty seconds! Someone disappears just because a clock stopped for thirty seconds?! How can something so absurd be allowed to happen?!" "Whether it's absurd or not is irrelevant. That is the nature of the box's remnant. Wishes are granted in the most distorted form, regardless of the owner's intent." Daiya took Kazuki's anger head-on without changing the temperature of his voice in the slightest. "Pounding the wall in anger won't change anything. What you should be doing isn't screaming." Kazuki slowly lowered the fist he'd pressed against the wall. His knuckles throbbed. The skin was scraped, and blood was faintly seeping through. "...Is there a way to get Kokone back?" Kazuki asked in a low voice. Daiya was silent for a moment. "No." That single word reached Kazuki's ears all too plainly, all too cruelly. "...What?" "Those whose existence has vanished are erased from the world's record. From memory, from records, from history. They are treated entirely as though they never existed from the start. There is no way to bring them back." Daiya's ash-blue eyes looked down at Kazuki coldly. "What could someone like you possibly do? No matter how much a powerless man like you screams here, the vanished existence won't return. I don't select people who act on emotion." Kazuki's vision went red for an instant. Before he knew it, he was lunging for Daiya's collar. "What do you know?! Kokone was definitely there! She was laughing! Right beside me!" "So what?" Daiya didn't change expression in the least. The next moment, Kazuki's body was slammed effortlessly onto the floor. His vision swam. The cold floor pressed against his back. Daiya had grabbed Kazuki's wrist, twisted his body, and thrown him. The difference in strength was obvious. "Look. This is reality. Your emotions, your anger, your sorrow—none of them hold any power before the world. No matter how much a powerless man like you struggles, you can't change a single thing." Daiya looked down at the fallen Kazuki and spoke coldly. "You don't seem to understand. That's why you'll always be one of the unselected." With that, Daiya turned his back on Kazuki. "Keep the scrap. I don't need it. You decide how to use it." His footsteps receded. The classroom door opened and closed. Kazuki lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. (A powerless man like you.) Daiya's words repeated in his head. (You can't change anything.) Kazuki slammed his fist against the floor. Pain shot through him. The same spot he'd struck against the wall. The skin split, and blood seeped out. "Damn it... damn it...!" His voice shook. Tears welled up. It was frustrating. His own helplessness was painfully clear. Daiya was right. I can't do anything. I can't protect Kokone, and I can't stop the phenomenon that erased her. (But I can't just give up.) Kazuki slowly got to his feet. The old scrap of paper was still clutched in his palm. 'I want to stop time.' Beyond his bloodstained fingertips, the words seemed to waver ominously. --- Night fell. The rain had started again from evening. Kazuki stood on the riverbed of the Minase River, which ran through the center of the city. The sound of rain striking the water's surface reached his ears without pause. He held no umbrella. The rain soaked coldly into his hair and shoulders. (If Sayaka's involved, she might know something.) Otonashi Sayaka. A mysterious girl who shared the same "Otonashi" surname as Maria. She had appeared before Kazuki only recently. Without a word, she had simply taken his hand. Her cold fingertips had felt strangely nostalgic. 'You don't have to fight alone. That's why I came.' Kazuki wanted to believe those words. By the old water gate on the riverbed. Sayaka was there. Her rain-soaked black hair was tied back in a single bundle. Her white skin seemed to float up out of the darkness. She stood quietly, without an umbrella. As Kazuki approached, Sayaka slowly turned around. "You came." Her voice was so small it might have been lost in the rain, yet it reached Kazuki's ears clearly. "...Yeah. There's something I want to talk about." Kazuki stood beside Sayaka. The river water had risen and turned murky. The smell of rain and the smell of the river mingled, filling his lungs with damp air. "I'm listening." Sayaka said only that. Kazuki recounted the day's events in order. That a scrap of paper had been stuck to the back of the classroom clock. That it read 'I want to stop time.' That every time the clock stopped, someone's existence was shaved away. That Kokone was the first sacrifice. That Daiya had told him there was no way to bring her back. Sayaka listened silently to the end. Rain poured down endlessly between them. "...My Hands of Silence can protect your memories." Sayaka spoke quietly. "But I don't have the power to bring back a vanished existence." Kazuki bit his lip. (So that's how it is, after all.) Somewhere inside, he'd known. That Sayaka wasn't omnipotent. That even she had things she couldn't do. "I see..." Kazuki hung his head. Rain ran through his bangs and slid down his cheeks. He couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears. (Am I going to lose Kokone just like this?) Despair spread blackly in the depths of his chest. "But there is a way." Sayaka's voice cut through the sound of rain. Kazuki raised his head. "There's... a way?" Sayaka's eyes caught him in the darkness. "If you destroy the clock's remnant and

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 4

Name: After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt