WebNovels

Chapter 15 - The Things That Fade

Day 75.

I woke up and didn't recognize my room.

Not the desk.Not the photos on the wall.Not even the person in the mirror.

I touched my face.Slowly. Cautiously.Like it might belong to someone else.

The notebook on my table had my name on it.

Sakuragi Aoi.

It felt like a stranger's handwriting.

I opened the first page.

"Day 100: You are forgetting. But it's okay.There's someone who remembers for you."

The words meant nothing.

But I kept reading.

Each day was written like a letter from someone I couldn't see—but who seemed to love me very, very much.

Then the doorbell rang.

I walked downstairs slowly.Opened it.

And there he was.

A boy.

Dark hair. Quiet eyes.Familiar but unfamiliar.

He smiled.

"Hey," he said. "You probably don't remember me today."

I didn't.

"That's okay. My name's Ren.I'm someone important to you."

He held out his hand, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Can I come in?"

I should've said no.

But something in my chest pulled me toward him.

I stepped aside.

He entered.

He looked around the room, at the walls, the sofa, the cup I hadn't touched.

"Do you want me to read your notebook to you?" he asked.

I nodded.

We sat.He opened the pages.

And with a soft, steady voice,he began reading who I wasback to me.

Day 74.

Still blank.

But I remembered a sound—

Laughter.

Not mine.His.

I told him that.

He smiled.

"Maybe that's the first thing you'll keep."

That night, in my notebook, a new entry appeared.Not in my handwriting.His.

"Day 75.She forgot everything today.But she let me in."

"I think that means something."

Day 74.

We walked to the park.

I asked him questions like a curious child:

"What's your favorite color?"

"How long have we known each other?"

"Have I always been like this?"

He answered all of themas if it wasn't the tenth, or twentieth, or hundredth time.

Like every first time was still worth it.

Later, I looked at him and asked:

"Will you stay until I remember you?"

He said—

"I'll stay even if you don't."

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