The light of dawn penetrated my room even through the thick curtains that had been pulled when I finally got to bed the night before. The events of the previous night still played over in my head: the true story of Natsu and Nina, her spouting off a list of things she hates about me, and her kiss before leaving a new myriad of unanswered questions.

  It had been a completely different experience from my first kiss with Chika, yet, somehow it was almost the same. I laid in bed staring at the ceiling pondering why she had done it. If, by some snowball in hell's chance, she was actually interested in me, why would she try to act like she hated me still? Was she like Chika and had trouble expressing how she felt? Was it all a ploy?

  If she's genuinely into me, then I'm going to feel bad. I may not know much, but I know that I'm in love with Chika and her alone.

  Maybe she already knows? Maybe that's what she meant by losing the race. Either way, I think things are going to be awkward for a while.

  I finally got out of bed and packed my things. I stared at my bag, the same bag that I had taken when I had tried to run away with Chika. Everything seemed like it had taken place far in the past. Slowly, my handful of items brought from home returned to their bag, and I slung it over my shoulder before heading up to the main entrance hall.

  "Well, you certainly took your time," Denki smirked as I walked out of the wing.

  "Overslept," I yawned. "Had trouble falling asleep."

  My yawn was echoed by Chika who emerged from their wing shortly after I had from mine. With her joining the group, everyone was present. I glanced over at Nina who returned my look but seemed almost completely un-phased. The chaperone that Kaori's Uncle Ko had sent would be back with the van in about half an hour.

  "Hey, hey," Kaori spoke up. "Let's get one more picture out on the deck."

  "You and your countless photos," Ino giggled.

  We dropped our bags in the living room and returned to the deck. The screaming of insects had long since passed away leaving only a faint sound of waves. As we all gathered into our group, Kaori held up her selfie stick once again. In the center was her, Ino to her left, Rito to hers, Chika and Nina close to Kaori's right, me to theirs, and Denki and Natsu behind her with arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. It was only when she showed us the numerous photos that the question popped up in my head.

  Why is the tide so low this morning?

  We piled into the van and set off down the road leaving the vacation home of one of my former tormentors behind us. As we passed by the ocean, I stared out across the water and racked my brain trying to come up with any explanation of what the Sundial Corporation was. Previously, they had not existed, at least they were not pronounced in any way. Eclipse had amassed power for years in the form of scientists, politicians, businessmen, and various obscure public figures.

  Is this Sundial Corporation trying to do the same? Or am I too early? Is Eclipse still coming?

  Why is the tide receding further?

  Oh... Oh shit...

  "Sir," I lean forward. "Has there been any seismic activity nearby recently?"

  "Not that I've heard of," he seemed to brush it off.

  I looked back at Nina who I was sure had noticed the same thing. She locked eyes with me and nodded. Without a word, she somehow clued in Rito, Natsu, and Denki.

  "Excuse me, sir?" Nina spoke up next. "Can we stop at this rest stop? I... I forgot to go before we left."

  I could see the humiliation on her face for even suggesting something of the sort, but we both knew that was probably the only reason the driver would stop. As we pulled into the parking lot, most of us poured out. I stopped time and went towards the shore. The water was fleeing deep into the horizon and quickly. I looked up and down the shore to see any that would be in immediate danger: there were plenty.

  "It's not good," I told Nina and Natsu after I resumed the flow of time. "That boardwalk we just passed is already full of life, seemingly popular beaches line the shore, and that's just on this side. There are multiple neighborhoods on the other side of the highway. We need to try to get as many out of the way of what's coming as we can."

  "Leave the beaches to me," Denki popped in. "Nina's faster than me, so she can get to the further areas a lot quicker. Even the delinquent can probably help." As he finished his sentence, he sped off towards the beaches.

  "What a punk," Natsu smirked. "All I know I can do is pull people or things across distances I can see. I'll try to get this small neighborhood behind us." With that, he ran off towards the road.

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  "What do you kids think you're doing?!" the driver was clearly upset by how long we were taking.

  "Look," Nina said in her usual standoffish tone. "Whether you're aware of it or not, there's a tidal wave coming, and if we don't do something, all these people are going to die."

  The driver looked out over the dry shores, and all color left his face. He picked up his phone and immediately started making all sorts of phone calls. Before he was finished with the second call, sirens began ringing out across the coastline signaling the coming watery grave.

  Nina nodded at me and sped off towards the boardwalk. I turned back and froze time again. Every use raised a certain level of anxiety in the back of my mind, but I pressed on all the same. I ran towards the park further up the road. Everyone had begun evacuating already, and chaos had gripped many. I pulled close to a dozen people back to a place where they could climb to higher ground. I turned back to the neighborhood across from the park and did the same.

  A cul-de-sac full of houses sat across the highway, and each house held anywhere between two and ten people. After seemingly forever, I managed to get everyone out and further up. The last obstacle in the area was a convenience store. Thankfully, there were fewer than six people inside. I got everyone out and returned to the rest stop before staggering and releasing my control. The backlash came almost immediately.

  A constant drawback, huh? Well, it has been a long day.

  Before I collapsed, I got everyone back into the van. I told the driver to wait on the three remaining before taking off. My ears began ringing, and the droning returned. I wanted to pass out and be free of the miserable sensation, but I forced myself to stay awake. Denki and Natsu returned shortly after; they were successful in clearing out the areas they had gone to. Nina, however, did not return, and after a couple of minutes, I struggled to get back out to go find her.

  My head felt like it would split down the middle, but I managed to freeze time again and set off for the boardwalk. Along the way, I passed numerous confused and scared people running toward higher ground, but I never saw Nina. It was only when I reached the massive wooden maze that I fully understood the gravity of what I had asked her to do. There were dozens upon dozens of shops and stands. People had turned to start running out, but there were so many more than she could ever carry.

  She was trying to save a young girl when I finally found her. Slowly but surely, I carried countless people from the boardwalk to the parking lot and nearby shelter. My vision grew hazy, and the droning became like a wail. I staggered and tripped more times than I could keep track of, and before I hit my limit, I landed on my back in the park and released my hold. The pain grew exponentially, but all I could feel was fury with myself, at my own weakness.

  I messed everything up again... I can only hope that someone saves me this time... there were still so many people there... I'm sorry...

  "See what happens when you try to save everyone, my stubborn child? And here I thought you had learned your lesson..."

  *  *  *  *  *

  "—he is!"

  What?

  "—gami!"

  Who is that?

  "Hu— he's—"

  Don't worry about me... save yourselves.

  "Kazu?"

  Chika?

  Air filled my lungs and light blinded me as I shot up like a rocket. Shapes and sounds bombarded me as I tried to bring everything into focus. I was seated on the side of the hill high above where I had collapsed. Everyone was around me, including two additional familiar faces: Onodera Mion and Yamato Toyoshima.

  "You just love passing out when we need you most, don't you?" Nina's voice filled my ears.

  "Cut him some slack. If not for him, a lot of people would have died on that boardwalk," Natsu replied.

  "I'm just glad we ran into her," Onodera chimed in. "Though, I am upset that our date was cut short." She smiled and pulled Yamato in.

  "Ishigami," he prodded. "Are you okay?"

  "W-What happened?"

  "With the help of these guys, we saved countless people, buddy." Denki smiled and threw his arms around Yamato and Natsu.

  "Huh?"

  Yamato and Onodera blushed as Denki and Natsu told the story of how a young couple on a summer date saved over six hundred people. The next person that Nina went to save at the boardwalk ended up being Onodera who had already figured out what was going on.

  The three of them quickly came up with an almost desperate plan: they were going to stop the wave. Nina would grab Natsu before continuing to evacuate people while Yamato and Onodera got into position. Once the wave came fully into sight, the three of them used their abilities to break up the wave into opposing forces – Natsu had ended up warping a whole segment out of one side causing an implosion while Yamato put enough holes in one segment to make it buckle under its own weight.

  The waves collided with each other and collapsed the deadly tidal wave into a record-breaking swell. Instead of washing away the countryside, only emptied portions of the boardwalk were damaged, even if the ferris wheel that Onodera wanted to ride fell into the sea. I was only found about twenty minutes after the conclusion.

  "I-I've never felt anything like this," Yamato said.

  "It's like we're superheroes," Onodera added.

  "I've got it!" Natsu blurted out. "Soundwave and Phasma!"

  "Those are ridiculous names," Nina instantly countered. "What is Phasma even supposed to be?"

  "I like it," Onodera laughed.

  "I don't mind it," Yamato chuckled.

  "We'll have to come up with names for ourselves later," Denki chimed in. "Hey, let me get your numbers so we can hang out without having to worry about our fighting for lives for once."

  I can’t believe it… they’ve all come so far.

  After the exchange, we all slowly made our way back to the van. We boarded and finally started back towards Hoenn City. Our driver said nothing as we passed what was set to be the watery grave for hundreds of people. During the ride, I fell asleep again, and in my dream, I felt as though I was being watched.