The next day—
Haru didn't see her.
He looked for her in class.
Her seat by the window was there.
Empty.
"Hey," Haru asked the guy next to him, trying to sound casual. "Wasn't there a transfer student yesterday?"
The guy frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"…Nothing."
Haru turned back to the window.
The cherry blossoms were still falling.
But somehow—
They felt… distant.
After school, Haru went to the rooftop again.
He didn't know why.
Maybe he just wanted to prove to himself that yesterday had been real.
Or maybe—
He wanted it to be.
The door creaked open.
The wind greeted him first.
Then—
"You came."
Haru froze.
She was there.
Tachibana Yuki stood by the fence, her hair swaying gently in the evening light like nothing had changed.
"…You're real," he muttered.
She tilted her head. "That's a weird way to say hello."
"You weren't here today."
"I know."
"…No one remembers you."
"I know."
"…Why?"
She looked out at the sky instead of answering.
For a moment, Haru thought she wouldn't respond.
Then—
"Because this day doesn't belong to me."
Haru stepped closer. "What does that even mean?"
Yuki smiled faintly.
"Tell me, Haru… have you ever had a day you wished would just disappear?"
He paused.
Of course he had.
Boring days. Meaningless days. Days where nothing happened.
"…Yeah."
"That's where I live."
The wind picked up.
Petals danced between them like fragments of time.
"Your unused days," Yuki continued softly. "Moments you throw away… regrets you never think about again…"
She turned to him.
"That's where I exist."
Haru's chest tightened.
"So… you're saying… if I didn't waste those days…"
"Then I wouldn't exist."
Silence.
The kind that feels heavy.
Real.
"…That's messed up," Haru said.
Yuki laughed—soft, but fragile.
"I know."
They sat together on the rooftop floor.
No one came.
No one ever came.
"Do you disappear?" Haru asked suddenly.
Yuki hugged her knees slightly.
"…Yeah."
"When?"
"When the day ends."
"Then what?"
"…I don't know."
That answer scared him more than anything else.
"Then stay."
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Yuki blinked.
"…What?"
"Stay longer. Tomorrow too. And the day after that."
Haru clenched his fist.
"I'll stop wasting my time. I'll use every day properly. So you won't have to disappear."
For a moment—
She just looked at him.
Then she smiled.
But this time—
It hurt.
"That's the one thing you shouldn't do."
"…Why?"
Yuki stood up, her silhouette glowing in the sunset.
"Because the more you try to keep me—"
She placed a hand gently over her chest.
"—the faster I'll disappear."
Haru's heart skipped.
"What do you mean?"
Yuki took a step back.
The wind grew stronger.
Petals scattered wildly.
"I'm made from what you lose, Haru."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"So if you stop losing anything…"
She smiled again.
Soft.
Sad.
Beautiful.
"I won't have a place to exist anymore."
The sky darkened.
The light around her began to fade.
Haru stood up quickly.
"Wait—!"
But his hand passed through nothing.
She was already—
"…gone."
That night, Haru couldn't sleep.
He stared at the ceiling, replaying everything.
Every word.
Every smile.
Every moment.
"If I live properly… she disappears."
"If I waste my days… she exists."
"…What kind of choice is that?"
For the first time in his life—
Haru understood something.
His "ordinary days" weren't empty.
They had created someone.
Someone real.
Someone important.
And now—
He had to decide.
Live a meaningful life…
Or—
Stay with the girl who shouldn't exist.
End of Chapter 2.