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"Mr. Blake, can you talk?"
"..."
Blake stayed silent.
He could hear the angel speaking, but he couldn't even blink—let alone open his mouth to respond.
"If that's the case… excuse me…"
Mahiru Shiina gently bit her soft lip. A blush spread across her delicate face as she took a deep breath, opened her arms, and carefully hugged Blake.
Thump. Thump.
In the dead, frozen world of stopped time, her frantic heartbeat stood out painfully clearly.
"D-don't beat so fast…"
Mahiru's face burned red as she silently prayed in her mind.
Please don't let him hear it…
If a boy heard her heart pounding like this, it would be way too embarrassing.
Unfortunately, prayers didn't help.
She couldn't control her heartbeat at all. All she could do was endure the shame and stay pressed against him, continuing the "close contact recharge."
After a while—
Blake suddenly felt air entering his nose again.
A faint, clean fragrance from the girl filled his senses, calm and soft.
Then, his eyes—previously frozen like glued glass—finally blinked.
And finally, his mouth could move again.
"Mahiru…"
Blake looked down at the girl in his arms.
"I think… I can talk again."
"..."
Mahiru flinched like she'd been shocked by electricity. She quickly pulled away from him and stepped back several paces. Only then did she stop, still flustered, turning her face aside as she whispered an apology.
"I-I'm sorry. After activating time stop, you couldn't talk at all… and I remembered what happened on the train that Monday, so… anyway, I'm really sorry."
"You don't need to apologize," Blake said flatly. "If the boys at school found out about this, they'd probably kill to switch places with me."
"Mm…"
Mahiru puffed her cheeks slightly.
If it were other boys, she definitely wouldn't hug them.
Seeing her clearly displeased, Blake quickly changed the topic.
"Give me your phone. Let's check if there's a hidden folder."
"O-okay…"
Mahiru took a deep breath, forcing down her embarrassment. Still red-faced, she stepped forward and held the phone up.
"Can you see it clearly, Mr. Blake?"
"Yeah. I can see fine, but my body still won't move," he tested, trying to shift but failing completely. "I'll guide you. You handle the phone."
"Got it," Mahiru nodded. "Let's begin."
"First, open the video app. Most apps keep a watch history…"
"Is this the one?"
"Yeah."
"History… hmm, there's nothing here."
"Nothing at all?" Blake said quietly. "That only means one thing."
"Huh?"
"It was deleted on purpose."
"Eh?"
"There's probably something he didn't want others to see. Otherwise, there'd be no reason to clear it."
"That… does make sense…"
...
After a while, under Blake's instructions, Mahiru finally managed—awkwardly—to uncover a hidden folder.
"There really is a hidden folder," she said, sounding a little surprised. "Should I play it?"
The next second—
A completely inappropriate sound suddenly echoed through the frozen, silent world.
"W-what is this…"
Mahiru stared blankly at the screen.
The disgusting scene unfolding on the phone made her face turn red at visible speed. Then, snapping back to reality, she flung the phone away as if it were something filthy she couldn't touch.
"Lewd!"
"This is way too lewd!"
When Yamada Elf cursed, she at least said "idiot" or "pervert." You only know how to say "lewd" over and over… you can't even insult properly!
"Calm down," Blake coughed. "A lot of guys have stuff like that on their phones. It's normal."
Mahiru frowned, biting her lip as she looked at him.
"Does Mr. Blake also have… those kinds of dirty videos?"
"I don't," Blake replied immediately, completely confident. "Feel free to check my phone. If I have anything like that, I'll eat my phone."
Their eyes met.
Seeing his calm, unwavering gaze, Mahiru slowly chose to believe him.
"So… what now?" she asked.
"Our goal is to find evidence of animal abuse videos," Blake said, clearing his throat. "So we still need to keep searching."
"No!"
Mahiru turned her face away immediately, refusing without hesitation.
She absolutely did not want to see that kind of filthy content again. It felt like she'd been contaminated just by looking at it once.
"Maybe there's another way," Blake said after thinking for two seconds. "Since you can restore my ability to speak by hugging me… if you keep holding me longer, maybe I'll regain full movement too?"
"Eh…"
"If I can move, I can check the phone myself."
"..."
Mahiru hesitated.
The idea tempted her more than she wanted to admit.
After a few seconds of internal struggle, she made her decision.
"…Then it has to be you, Mr. Blake."
Her face red, she stepped forward again, trying to convince herself.
"We already hugged anyway. One minute or three minutes doesn't really matter. Besides, this is to protect innocent lives…"
Psyching herself up, she bit her lip and hugged him again.
"Mahiru…"
"Don't talk. Stay quiet. If you can move, tell me immediately."
"Roger, roger."
...
She thought the second hug would be even more embarrassing.
But strangely enough, after a short while, her heartbeat instead began to calm down.
In the utterly silent stopped world, the two of them stood quietly embraced, as if everything else had faded away. Only the two of them existed in this empty universe.
"Mr. Blake's scent…"
She could clearly smell a faint trace of sweat, but oddly enough, she didn't dislike it.
There was also a subtle scent of sunshine and grass—strangely comforting, almost addictive.
Time quietly passed in her dazed state.
She didn't know how long had gone by before she finally spoke.
"Mr. Blake, can you move now?"
Blake's voice was perfectly serious.
"Mahiru, you can touch my chest to check."
"Eh?"
Her cheeks puffed up again as she glared at him, flustered.
"I mean the chest. Don't overthink it," he said without changing expression. "My brain works, I can speak, but my heart clearly isn't beating."
"Now that you mention it… I really don't hear a heartbeat…"
After hesitating for a moment, Mahiru reached out her right hand and gently pressed it against his chest.
Hey, hey… you actually touched it?
There goes the trust between people.
"....."