Chapter 2: People Forget Me When I Leave the Room
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🧠1 — Vanishing Act
Ren stared at the note in his hand until the ink began to blur.
> "Thank you for seeing me."
– Aika
He read it again.
And again.
And the strangest part wasn't the words.
It was the feeling.
Like they were written just for him, not just in the moment—but across timelines. Across something bigger. Like fate whispering through paper.
"Aika…" he murmured.
He sprinted to the stairwell, two steps at a time.
Gone.
No footsteps. No trace. Not even the scent of someone having passed through.
Just empty school air, full of that unnatural stillness again.
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🪞 2 — Memory Test
He rushed back to class. His homeroom teacher, Mr. Tanaka, was still packing up.
"Sensei," Ren asked, trying to sound calm, "Did we get a new student today? A girl named Aika?"
Tanaka blinked, confused.
"Aika? No. Class rosters haven't changed. Why?"
Ren hesitated, then tried again.
"She sits near the window. Long black hair. She wears the same uniform. Really quiet."
Tanaka chuckled.
"Maybe you've been watching too much anime, Arakawa. There's no one like that in this school."
Ren didn't laugh.
He looked at the classroom mirror behind the desk.
There were three students still sitting inside.
Only two of them had reflections.
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📷 3 — Kenta Doesn't Remember
That night, Ren messaged Kenta.
> Ren: "Do you remember the girl I asked about today? Aika?"
> Kenta: "Who?"
> Ren: "The one by the window."
> Kenta: "There is no one by the window, dude. Are you okay??"
> Kenta: "You feeling sick or something?"
He tried another friend. Same result.
Even his friend Hana—who never missed anything—replied with:
> "Are you playing some kind of ghost game or something? LOL"
It was like she had never been there.
But Ren remembered the weight of her gaze.
The chill in the stairwell.
The note.
And then he checked his phone gallery.
Where the photo had been, there was now just a blank hallway.
Not even the blur.
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📓 4 — The Second Note
The next day, he arrived early. Earlier than he'd ever been to school.
Still groggy from a sleepless night, he walked to the classroom and opened the door.
There she was.
Sitting by the window. Reading her book again.
Ren didn't hesitate this time.
"I remember you," he said, firm.
She didn't look up.
"You do," she whispered.
"That's… not normal, is it?"
She finally turned her eyes toward him.
"No. It's not."
He took a step closer. "Why does no one else see you?"
She closed the book.
There was no title on the cover. Just a blank surface.
"Because they're not supposed to."
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🕰️ 5 — The Rules
Ren sat across from her, pulling up a chair. No one stopped him.
"What are you?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"I don't know. I think… I used to be someone. But then something went wrong. And now…"
"Now?"
"Now, I only exist to those who choose to remember me. That's the rule."
He frowned. "But how can I choose to remember you if I don't know you exist?"
She smiled sadly.
"You're the first one who ever did. Without help."
Ren looked down at her book.
"What happens if I forget?"
She didn't answer.
But her silence felt like a funeral.
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🌙 6 — Erased Threads
Later that day, Ren opened his school notebook. The corners were frayed, as if someone had torn out a page.
One of his classmates bumped into him and muttered, "Sorry—wait… what's your name again?"
He stared at them.
It was happening.
He was starting to fade.
And she knew it.
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🕯️ End of Chapter 2
Next: Chapter 3 — "Your Name Is Disappearing"