Nao...

"Chirp... chirp..."

Crisp birdsong accompanied the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, spreading across the three people asleep with their heads on the low table.

Faint snores seemed to echo through the spacious living room.

"What time is it?!"

Suddenly, Chiba, who had been sleeping in the middle, jerked upright. There was a trace of alarm in his slightly dark-circled eyes, as though he had realized something urgent in his dreams and abruptly awoken.

"Hm? What's wrong, Chiba?"

The other two, awakened by Chiba's sudden cry, rubbed their eyes and sat up as well, looking at him blearily.

"What time is it? Where's the clock?"

At that moment, Chiba leaped to his feet and looked around for something, his expression distinctly anxious.

"Haah..."

Seeing Chiba like that, Hirohiko yawned and silently pointed overhead.

Up there?

Noticing where Hirohiko was pointing, Chiba's whole body stiffened. Then he raised his head and looked toward the ceiling.

There, he saw a clock embedded in the ceiling, its hands turning soundlessly.

7:20. That was the time displayed on the clock.

Why... why was the clock installed on the ceiling? After checking the time, Chiba did not panic over the fact that they had only forty minutes before leaving for the Kannabi Bridge mission, nor over Kushina's assembly order. Instead, he stared incomprehensibly at the ceiling clock, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"What time is it?"

At this point, Yukina asked, rubbing her eyes and covering her mouth as she yawned.

"It's seven twenty. We're short on time, so hurry up and wash up and get ready. Once we leave, we won't have time to come back."

Yukina's words clearly pulled Chiba back from his complaints. He hurriedly replied, already turning to run toward the washroom as he spoke.

However, after taking two