Yuta sat on the school rooftop with Maki, staring at the setting sun. He had tried for hours to use his new Devil Fruit power to jump back to his own time, but it just wasn't working. It was like his MHA physique wasn't compatible with a Devil Fruit from One Piece.

It was almost strange—he could feel that it would be extremely easy to use this new Devil Fruit power if only he used ROFA power. However, that would just send him back in time again. Irritating to the boot.

"It's like trying to find a single grain of rice in an entire mountain," he muttered, leaning back against the wall.

Maki raised an eyebrow. "You mean… a needle in a haystack?"

"No, rice. I'm hungry," Yuta replied with a lazy grin.

She sighed. "So basically, you're useless for now."

"Excuse me, I just erased my kid self's memories perfectly and made history play out exactly the way it should. That's not useless."

"Hmm," she smirked, "you also spent the last hour falling on your face every time you tried time-jumping."

"That's because it's a real Devil Fruit, not..." Yuta paused, not completing the sentence. The real problem was that this was a power not given to him by his system, but a real Devil Fruit. That meant his Mangekyo power—not the skip-time one, but the other one, which was a passive ability letting him handle all his powers with mastery—couldn't be used on this Devil Fruit.

Meaning he had to learn it from scratch.

This Mangekyo eye of his was responsible for him being able to use the OFA power to buff himself while simultaneously using ROFA to debuff others. The eye's ability was basically a power manager. Without it, he would have a hard time handling all those powers together.

"Sigh, I need some time to get the hang of this power, okay..." Yuta muttered with irritation. Maki, however, just narrowed her eyes. She caught that he wasn't about to say something else but let it go. If he wished to say it, he would eventually.

"Well, I'm glad," Maki said, standing and stretching. "Watching you struggle is entertaining."

Yuta smirked, eyes glinting. "I knew you were a sadist."

"Only when it's deserved," she shot back, though her lips curved in a small smile.

They left the school grounds, walking side by side under the fading light. Yuta's thoughts drifted to earlier in the day—how exhausting it was dealing with his younger self. Still, he'd managed to keep the timeline intact. His grandma would remember nothing strange, and the accident would still happen just as it had before. Mission accomplished.

As for meeting his Grandma—

He honestly didn't have the heart. He wasn't the impulsive type, but he knew he was going to mess more things up if he went through that route. So he didn't.

"For today, I'm done," he muttered, stretching his arms over his head. "Tomorrow I'll try again."

"That's the spirit," Maki said sarcastically.

"You're supposed to say something supportive, you know," Yuta complained.

"I am supporting you. I'm keeping your ego in check."

"Keeping my ego in check? Sorry to point this out, Miss Zenin, but my ego is way beyond anything you can handle..." Yuta smirked.

"Don't call me that." Maki immediately chided and hit him on the back.

However, those words really did explain Yuta's character well. He never backed down. That ego was indeed hard to manage.

The whole time-travel mess had left them mentally drained, but at least nothing had gone horribly wrong. No curses rampaging, no paradox disasters, no alternate timelines collapsing. For once, his luck wasn't trying to kill him.

"Where to now?" Maki asked, hands on her hips.

Yuta scratched the back of his head. "Well… since I can't exactly go back to my own time yet, we might as well find a place to stay. I'm not planning to camp outside like some lost traveler."

Maki smirked. "A hotel, then?"

"A hotel," Yuta confirmed.

They found one not too far from the city—a tall, modern building with warm lights glowing from the windows. After checking in, they headed to their room. It was nothing luxurious, but the large bed, soft lighting, and quiet atmosphere were more than enough. For Yuta, it was a little piece of peace after all the chaos.

Maki dropped her bag onto the chair and stretched. "Finally, somewhere decent to sit down."

Yuta flopped on the bed dramatically, sighing like an exhausted actor. "I deserve this. After dealing with all that time shenanigans? Yeah, I deserve a vacation."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "I believe you mean we deserve it. And honestly, this was all your fault in a way. Who told you to eat that Devil Fruit?"

"Hey!" Yuta sat up, mock offended. "I didn't do it willingly. And honestly, I believe there was a reason why it happened the way it happened. No one could put a genjutsu like that from my world; however, I have been to another world where ninjas exist. Their genjutsu is common. I believe that the person who put the genjutsu was my future self. Does make sense why I could do it, seeing now I know that I'll die if I don't, right!"

She just shook her head and sighed. "My heavenly restriction doesn't give me an enhanced brain, you know."

"In short, time shenanigans," Yuta said again.

"Time shenanigans..." Maki nodded. Not arguing just for the sake of arguing, for once.

For a moment, the two sat in silence, the air strangely comfortable. Then Yuta leaned back on his elbows, watching Maki with a small smile. "You know, most of my dates usually end in disasters. Curses showing up, accidents, things exploding… it's like I'm cursed in love."

Maki tilted her head. "You had other dates?" Maki suddenly sounded very interested.

'Idiot...' Yuta wished he could kick himself.

"Not many, in fact only three. First time my other friends ended up going to the same place I decided to take the date. Then a villain attacked that place.

Second, I was being ghosted by a... well, ghost.

And third... well, let's not talk about the third." Yuta couldn't even remember the third.

"You have a wild life, Hiro Yuta..." Maki smiled with a look of disbelief.

"You can't even begin to imagine." Yuta snorted back.

"So, how has your fourth one been so far..." Maki leaned a little closer and tilted her head cutely, asking in a husky voice.

He shrugged, his smile widening. "So far, nothing's exploded. And you're still here. So I'd say it's not so bad."

Maki smirked, moving closer to sit beside him on the bed. "I guess I should feel honored. Breaking your streak of bad luck."

"You should," Yuta said with mock seriousness. "This is history in the making."

Their playful banter continued, lighthearted and teasing. Every joke pulled them a little closer, every glance lasted a little longer. Yuta's nerves buzzed, but for once, it wasn't from danger—it was from the girl beside him.

"So…" Maki said softly, her eyes meeting his, "what now, Mr. Cursed-in-Love?"

Yuta didn't even want to think whether that title held any weight, and if it did, then who cursed him...

Yuta leaned closer, his voice dropping. "Now… I think I finally get to kiss the girl."

The space between them shrank, breaths mingling. Yuta's heart raced, his hand brushing against hers. Maki didn't pull away—in fact, she leaned in too, her lips only inches from his.

'This time... this time for sure...' he gulped and braced himself.

And then—

Ding.

A glowing blue notification appeared right in front of Yuta's face, blocking the perfect moment.

Yuta groaned loudly. 'Are you kidding me, system? At least once, think about your host's feelings. Can't you wait 5 minutes?'

Yuta muttered internally and then swatted at the notification with his hand, not bothering to care about the blue screen of death in front of him.

Unfortunately, his careless swat clicked the button at the bottom of the notification. The words shifted instantly.

[Confirmed. Teleporting.]

Yuta's eyes widened. "Heh!"

Before he could even react properly, a bright light engulfed the room. Maki had just enough time to grab his arm as the floor vanished beneath them.

In the blink of an eye, the hotel, the bed, the peace—everything—disappeared.

The last thing Yuta saw before the light swallowed them completely was Maki's shocked expression, mirroring his own.

"FUCK YOU SYSTEM...."

xxx

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