"I can't believe you're still here."

Hatsukoi had enjoyed his little friend's spectacle at first, but it grew boring rather quickly. At least it had finally come to an end.

There she lay now, twitching in quick bursts before finally going limp. Wait. Quick bursts?

"W-wait, what's going on?" he heard himself think out loud.

~ Five minutes earlier ~

It felt satisfying - the cold air rushing past his exposed skin. It was a sensation he'd nearly forgotten.

Hatsukoi was far too exhausted to open his eyes. Still, he could sense that something was drawing closer. But he had not the energy to care. If only it would come sooner.

The air whisked him around as if he were a mere rag doll. Eventually, it managed to flip him over so that he directly faced his impending doom. It rushed through his mouth and nose. Hatsukoi didn't feel so comfortable anymore.

I bet I look rather unflattering right about now. Hatsukoi imagined his facial features being continuously twisted and morphed as a result of the strong wind pounding on his face. Such things did happen the last time he had found himself in this situation.

He meekly chuckled as his eyelids were forced open by the wind that pried with all its might.

Then he saw it - his executioner: the dark, barren earth. Nothing like the lush, green land he was accustomed to.

It drew closer at an alarming rate, like an unexpected punch to the face. His stomach lurched; his body sensed the danger approaching.

Hatsukoi clenched his teeth before tightly shutting his eyes. This is it!

He waited for fate to claim him, for the ground to shatter his body like a glass ornament. He was still in his own world of darkness. His raspy breathes were the only thing he could hear.

One. Two. Three. Hatsukoi found himself counting his own heartbeats. Am I not dead yet? Is it safe to open my eyes?

He flinched at the blinding light, which flooded his vision for a mere moment before clearing away. "Huh?" His voice resonated as if he'd just screamed into a crevasse.

His surroundings gradually became clearer. Hatsukoi's jaw dropped. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Time had frozen. The grains of sand around him were suspended in midair. He could hear a faint humming, which was quickly drowned out by the sound of his heartbeat. Despite the gravity of the situation, he could feel his heart pump calmly. Every beat was slow and steady.

He took a deep breath. It resonated just as his exclamation of surprise had earlier. He turned his head left, surveying the landscape in that direction. At first, he only saw the ice capped mountains, far in the distance. Then something else caught his attention.

About a few hundred yards away were pair of objects that stuck out like sore thumbs. They each had distinctly humanoid features.

Are those people? Hatsukoi narrowed his eyes. One of them stood with their hands clasped over most of their face, hiding their expression. He could still catch a glimpse of their silky snow white hair and bright blue pupils. Their crystalline stare seemed to pierce his soul.

The other was crouched down, ducking for cover. They were curled into a ball, with their hands pressed tightly against their ears. Hatsukoi could not see their face at all. Just their hair, which was identical to the other's.

He was suddenly distracted by a single sand particle moving a mere fingernail's length from his face. It flew at an amazingly slow pace from the ground beneath him. That particle was moving? Does that mean-

It was only then that he realized how dangerously close the ground was. It seemed to wait patiently for him to snap out of this stasis. The only problem was that he wasn't in control.

Despite his conscience screaming at him to do otherwise, Hatsukoi reached out for the surface. Before he could make contact, a single spark erupted from his finger tip. It zapped a mound of sand, splintering it and sending bits flying. These ones moved ever so slightly faster than the one that had caught his attention earlier.

This means time isn't frozen. It just slowed down!

Hatsukoi's revelation still did little to help. Just because time had slowed didn't mean the force on his body colliding with a literal planet would be any less. In fact, the pain resulting would probably be longer lasting. But that spark...what was that?

He reached with his other hand. Another electrical pulse sparked from his fingertip. And then another. Before he had even another moment to think, his entire body erupted, sending electric strikes in all directions.

Hatsukoi felt no pain, only astonishment. Everything around him, whether it was sand, stones, or clumps of dirt, was expelled away. Nothing except for the blinding lightning remained within five feet of him.

The mountains and two mysterious figures disappeared from his view, behind a cloud of dust. He continued falling, only for the ground to part around him. Hatsukoi was now absolutely certain that he had broken past the surface.

~

Hatsukoi's fall continued for what had seemed like forever. By the end, it was almost as if time really did screech to a halt. In reality, however, his fall had slowed to the point that touching the ground would not have been fatal.

At that moment, the electricity flowing from him ceased. He plopped down face first, landing rather ungracefully. Hatsukoi let himself go limp before finally deciding to rise.

"At least I am not dead." he spat. His voice echoed, surprising him for a brief moment. After all that happened, he had nearly forgotten about that strange phenomenon.

His surroundings were still inundated by the dust cloud. Another day would pass before he could finally see the sky and the gigantic crater he had created.

I should be thankful that I've survived. But how did I?

Then another, more dreadful thought crossed his mind.

Am I destined to live like this forever?

The thought of living in a slow-motion world terrified Hatsukoi. For now, he could only wait and see if his fate would change. He knew he could remain calm, even in light of the peculiar situation.

~

By his estimation, a little under a week had passed. At least from his perspective.

Now the mysterious person who had watched him fall lay before him, moving at time's intended pace.

Well, moving being the relative term, he thought. The boy deduced that the individual was a female, but that was the extent of his findings.

Everything else around him had returned to normal as well. Hatsukoi could hear the chirping of birds as they flew overhead. Strangely enough, there was no wind to speak of. Besides the chirps and the sound of the girl's slow breathing, it was eerily silent.

It was by far, the strangest thing Hatsukoi had ever experienced. And it all began as his fall was to come to an end, a needle's distance from the gritty surface of the planet he now found himself stranded on.