Night fell heavy over the city.
The day's laughter vanished like a dream fading at sunrise.
Aiyumi walked home alone — her footsteps echoing faintly on the empty street. The others had already gone; she said she had "something to finish."
She didn't tell them what.
Halfway home, the air turned strange.
Not cold — but still. Too still.
Even the streetlights flickered — one by one, like something unseen passing beneath them.
Aiyumi's phone buzzed.
An unknown number. No name.
Just one message:
"You shouldn't have forgotten."
Her breath caught.
She turned around.
No one.
Only silence.
And yet… she could feel something — like someone standing just behind her shoulder. Watching.
She started to walk faster. Her sketchbook was still in her hand, pressed tightly to her chest. But when she reached home and opened it—
The last page was gone.
The one she drew that afternoon.
In its place, there was a faint pencil mark.
A circle, drawn carefully…
and inside it — a single word written in small handwriting:
"Remember."
She froze.
It wasn't her handwriting.
Aiyumi's hands trembled. For a moment, her surroundings felt unreal — the quiet hum of the ceiling fan, the ticking clock, her parents' muffled voices — all fading into a dull blur.
Then she looked out of the window.
Across the street, through the thin curtains — she saw someone standing near the gate.
Not moving.
Just watching.
And before she could blink — they were gone.
💭 No one knows what's happening. Not her friends, not even Aiyumi herself. But something from her past is returning — silently