I lived up to my end of the bargain and paid for Ino's lunch: a mixed berry smoothie. She said that she had eaten a big breakfast when I offered to buy her more, but it was probably since she was very peculiar about her food. Since she made such incredible plates, she ended up spoiling herself and found it hard to enjoy "outing cooking" as she called it.

  I grabbed a yakisoba plate since I was nearly starving. I had forgotten how much teenagers needed to eat and sleep with all the changes going on in their bodies. Denki's plate dwarfed mine; it dwarfed everyone's, for that matter. The plate was surprising. Despite the heat, the warmth of it was pleasant, and the flavors blended perfectly. I had almost finished it before I realized it.

  Everyone seemed to like their own plates as well. Denki was all but shoveling his yakisoba into his mouth. Hiro took his time eating. Chika was finishing wiping her plate clean. I looked across the table to see Rito clearly torn between taking a drink of Ino's smoothie or a bite of Yamada's rice bun. They wore the same expressions which provoked the thought Yamada likely feels the same way Ino feels about Rito.

  He really does have it rough.

  "I'm pretty full, Ishigami. Do you want the rest?" Hojo said as she handed me her smoothie.

  "Um, sure, if you're really done with it," I responded.

  Ino and Hojo had gotten the same type of smoothie, a blend of summer fruits and cream. Perfectly chilled to counter the blazing day. Ino got the last one since they ran out of cream with the high demand. It was wasteful to throw it out despite how full I was realizing that I was. I went to take a drink.

  COUGH COUGH COUGH

  "Kazuma! COUGH Give! Please! COUGH"

  "Denki, you wouldn't need this if you weren't such a glutton," I reluctantly handed it over.

  So much for beating the heat.

  Denki inhaled the smoothie and went back to normal after I rubbed his back. He immediately finished gorging himself on the rest of his plate. He leaned back after finishing more food than anyone at the table, satisfied. We threw away our trash and headed for the Current Creek — a relaxing river where one just sits in their tube and is carried around a large loop.

  Denki and I led the group to keep a watch for any other trouble. As we walked through the park, I felt a stare or glare that was familiar. Without any indication, I froze time and got a good look around our group. Nina and her brother were nowhere to be seen, but randomly there would be a person staring directly at our group. I sized each one up but only found one meta. I pulled a cart further ahead of its path to block his view.

  When time resumed, I told Denki about what I had seen. He glanced over his shoulder but couldn't see the meta through the crowd. If they came back, it would be up to us to stop them. Rito and Hiro couldn't be dragged in since they either couldn't control their power or abhorred violence. I kept my eyes out for him. His features were pretty common, so he could easily blend into the crowd.

  We made it to the Creek without any further issues and with no sign of the other meta. One by one, we grabbed our tubes and climbed into the cool waters. Once caught by the current, we were carried down and around the loop.

  "This is a nice change of pace," Chika said as she bumped her tube into mine. "I can't help but want to tip yours over though, Kazu."

  "Do that, and I'll drag you down with me," I fired back.

  "You would really pull a young lady into the water and risk her drowning? Kazu, you're so cruel."

  "All of it can be avoided if you don't mess with my tube," I said as I felt myself dozing off.

  The mid-afternoon sun was still hot, but it was losing the battle against the coolness of the water and the flow of the river. I sat cozy in my tube with my butt, feet, and hands in the water. Even with everything that could happen or go wrong, I couldn't help but doze off. I had underestimated how much teenagers needed to eat and sleep with all the changes going on in their bodies.

  A slash of cool water woke me up, and I fell out of my tube. The river itself wasn't too deep: a meter and a quarter at the deepest points. I quickly stood up and looked around for who splashed me. All I could see was a young child trying to swim off into the river of people. My group was nowhere to be seen.

  Crap, I really fell asleep. How long was I out? Where is everyone?

  I grabbed my tube and pushed over to the edge of the river to wait and try to find someone else. After a few minutes and no familiar faces, I went to the next exit point. I left the Creek near the Splash Park with no idea of where anyone from my group was. I wandered the area watching as children played and parents kept watchful eyes. It reminded me of a time before when Chika and I had come here as kids.

  Her grandfather's company had done business with the park before he retired, so he was frequently given tickets to enjoy himself. One day, similar to today, he brought me along with them. The three of us played to our hearts' content for what seemed like forever. We had no idea that it would be his last time joining us that day. He rejoined his wife that winter.

  I started to remember more and more about that day. Chika and I spent the whole day together with her grandfather. We sprayed each other in the park, tried to tip each other in the creek, and went as deep as we could in...

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  The Wave Pools! That's where they'll be!

  The trip down memory lane gave me direction, and I took off towards the Wave Pools. It wasn't a long walk, but the crowd had gotten worse in the afternoon. As I pushed through, I almost missed an unremarkable person in it: the meta from before. I continued past him and went unnoticed in the sea of people. I looked back once to see him moving along with the crowd towards the exit.

  I finally made it to the pools and looked all around. As I got there, the chime went off to signal the waves "turning on." The countless faces seemed to blend together as the waves picked up. I spotted no one, and I started to panic.

  What happened to them? Did those two come back while I was out? Did the third one do something?

  "Kazu?" Chika's voice shattered my panic, and I turned around to see her nearly directly behind me.

  "Where did you go?" I asked, almost grabbing her shoulders.

  "Aww, were you worried about me? That's so sweet, Kazu." She was trying to tease me; I didn't care.

  "Yes, I was worried, idiot. One second you're annoying me, the next you're gone."

  Clearly caught off guard by my response, she sheepishly replied, "You're the one that left me, idiot."

  Huh?

  "What do you mean?"

  "After you said you'd drag me down, I turned to get a handful of water to splash you with. When I turned back, you were gone. I thought you did your..." she leaned in close and whispered, "super power thing. After I couldn't find you, I took Yamada to the bathroom and came back here to wait on you. Everyone else already came back and went to the pools."

  Something's wrong. My powers don't activate when I'm asleep, or at least they don't work nearly as well. She would have seen me floating off if it was me. Did I miss Nina and her brother? What about the third one? What's his power?

  "Kazu?" Her voice pulled me from my deep thoughts. "Do you want to go in now?"

  "Sure," I replied, pushing everything else aside.

  The pools would give me a chance to think about everything anyway. We went to grab a double tube like we had all those years ago when I heard a lifeguard’s whistle. I turned around to see someone frantically hitting other people’s tubes — it was Nina's brother, and Nina was nowhere to be seen. From afar, I confirmed my previous theory that he can only use his spatial manipulation on areas he can see.

  Freezing time and swimming would be a new level of difficulty. I doubt I could do it even now. I stood nearly paralyzed by my thoughts when I saw someone dive from his tube. When he came back up with a second person, though, he almost looked like he was pushed back down into the water.

  I quickly looked around and spotted the unremarkable meta from earlier. He had a phone to his ear and his hand out in front of him. He was the one pushing them down, and whoever on the other end of the line was his boss.

  Without an iota of hesitation, I halted time and ran over to the man. He had chosen death with his actions of hurting my friends and the innocent, and I knew just how to grant his wish. I grabbed a pool chair and hit him in the face with it like a bat. Like an awkwardly stiff mannequin, he flew back while perfectly still. I walked over and stood over him, my rage boiling.

  I took his phone and saw the caller ID "boss." I kept it as I stomped the meta's shoulders, chest, stomach, and knees. Anything more and he would die, but as hot as my blood was, I wasn't ready to take the mantle of killer again. I walked off and resumed the flow just to watch all of the injuries hit him at once. As they all did, he squealed in pain and was unable to move. I put the phone to my ear.

  "—and when you're done with her, finish Natsu off too. Make sure no one sees you, understood, Aoyama? Aoyama?"

  I went to hang up the phone, but he continued speaking in a new tone of voice.

  "So, you figured it all out this time, huh, kid? I have to say, not bad. Those brats will have to stay a thorn in my side for a while longer it seems. Don't worry, you'll be dealt with soon."

  I hung up after hearing his voice - one that sounded like sandpaper even now. Kawasaki Shu had ordered this Aoyama guy to kill Nina and her brother, Natsu. For what, I'm not sure. Even worse, he knew about me and probably my friends and family. It wouldn't be long before he made his move. But now that I know, I should make sure to turn him over to the police.

  I froze time again, walked back over to Aoyama, and took out my remaining anger on his face and gut. Each blow reverberating in my fists but showing nothing on his face. After I was done, I threw him into a corner and stood over him before resuming time again. Again, all the blows hit at once, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

  "Do yourself a favor; stay down," I said as he lost the battle and went limp.

  I then walked over to the barrier between the seating area he was in and the pools to see Denki resurfaced with Nina swimming back to the shallow end with Natsu close behind. Without any fight, Natsu fell to his knees beside his sister, and a lifeguard ran up to perform CPR. For a moment, they both turned to me and I motioned my head for Denki to come up. He was there in less than a minute.

  "We need to get law enforcement: this is the guy that tried to drown you and Nina." I pointed at Aoyama, who was still passed out in the corner.

  "I'll go find a phone and call them, thanks Kazuma. I don't know what would have happened without you."

  "We don't have to think about it, Denki. I'll stay here with him."

  Previously, I had never seen anything on the news about a couple of teenagers drowning at this park. The butterfly effect was taking a stronger hold with every action I took, it seemed.

  The day ended there, more or less. The police showed up, took Aoyama in, and left quickly. Interestingly enough, they had been looking for him already on charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder previously. Our group was a little shaken by it all, but we made it through unharmed which was good enough for me. As we walked out, Chika caught up to me.

  "Too bad we couldn't go into the Wave Pools together, huh?"

  "Yeah, and with this being the last time for the summer, you know what that means?"

  "What's that?"

  "We'll just have to come back next year. Either our whole group, or just the two of us like when your grandparents used to bring us."

  She paused and stared at me for a moment. The early evening sun radiated off her face and the warm light contrasted her cooling eyes. The expression on her face was that if someone was deeply confused, but before I could say anything, she responded.

  "It's a promise then," she grabbed my pinky and shook it.

  We stood outside of the park as Nina thanked Denki over and over again. Natsu watched the police car drive away. Afterwards we parted ways and got on the bus. Spirits were high again after talking about the day and plans to meet up once school started again. Everyone parted ways again at the end of the ride.

  As I walked back into my neighborhood with Chika and Hiro, the sun began to set. Hiro left us at his house, and Chika went into hers after teasing me about staying the night. I got home and went to take my jacket off when I fully realized something I had missed — Natsu had his hands in his pockets as he watched the police car drive away.