Day 96.
I couldn't sleep. Again.
The rain had stopped,but the sound of it still echoed inside my mind—like a memory that didn't know how to fade.
I sat at my desk, the lamp casting a lonely pool of light on my notebook.The pages were already filled with scattered thoughts, broken fragments, names I was afraid of forgetting.
But this one felt different.Heavier.
I opened to a fresh page.And this time…I didn't write like I was journaling.
I wrote like I was disappearing.
"To the girl who won't remember this...
You are Sakuragi Aoi.You are seventeen.You love the sea, the sound of rain, and the way spring smells just before the sakura blooms.
You used to smile more.You used to be braver.
You once loved someone.His name is Tachibana Ren.
He saved your life.You forgot him.
And maybe... you're going to forget yourself too.
But before that happens—remember this:You were loved.And you loved him, even when it hurt.
Don't be afraid of forgetting.Be afraid of not living while you still remember.
You have 96 days left.Make them mean something."_
I didn't sign it.
Because it wasn't just from me.It was from who I used to be.For the girl I would become.
The next morning, I left the notebook on my desk.Open.Exposed.
I shouldn't have.
Because later that day—when I returned from school,I found the notebook slightly moved.
The page… creased.As if someone had held it too tightly.
I turned slowly toward the door.
Ren was standing there.He had entered my house while I was gone—something he used to do when we were kids.
His eyes…They weren't empty anymore.
They were wet.
"…You remembered," he said quietly.
I didn't answer.
He stepped forward, holding the notebook in both hands.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. His voice trembled.
"I did," I said, "in a way."
He looked down.
"I don't deserve to be remembered."
The silence between us cracked like glass.
He whispered:
"If you forget everything…does that mean you'll forget the pain too?"
I looked him in the eyes and said:
"No.But maybe that's why I'm not afraid."