The One Who Finds [Afternoon / Classroom]

Career survey.

Hara stared at the blank line for a long time, then wrote,

‘Something where I find people no one else can.’

He was about to erase it when a broadcasting club member saw.

(Broadcasting Club Member) : “Then want to test it?”

The student was holding a flyer for a missing cat.

Hara looked at Koharu.

He no longer had to hide his abilities from her.

(Koharu) : “Conditions. We stop the second you overdo it. And you don’t go alone.”

(Hara) : “Yes, ma’am.”

[Riverside Shopping Street]

Hara smelled the cat’s blanket.

But he didn’t simply follow the scent.

He waited for the traffic lights to stop the cars.

A brief quiet.

Scratch.

Click.

A collar tag striking wire mesh.

Hara moved to another point and compared the direction.

(Hara) : “Behind the vending machine.”

They found the cat crouched there, its collar caught in a wire fence.

Hara reached to tear the fence open with brute force, then stopped.

(Hara) : “If I pull it apart, I’ll scare it more. Koharu, can you get it to come forward?”

Koharu called softly.

The instant the collar loosened, she slipped it free.

The cat buried itself in Koharu’s arms.

All three of them exhaled at once.

The broadcasting club member smiled.

(Broadcasting Club Member) : “This suits you way more than fighting.”

At sunset by the river, Hara rewrote his answer.

‘Search and rescue.’

(Hara) : “I thought living normally meant never using this power.”

(Koharu) : “And now?”

(Hara) : “Turns out there are ways to use it without hurting people.”

Koharu smiled.

Hara looked at the words ‘search and rescue.’

For the first time, he thought maybe this strange power wasn’t entirely a curse.