Haruki didn't come to school the next day.
At first, Aoi thought he was just late. She kept glancing at the door, waiting for him to stroll in with his usual indifferent expression.
But he never did.
By lunchtime, a strange unease had settled in her chest. Haruki wasn't the type to skip school without reason. He never cared about attendance, but he always showed up.
Always.
She pulled out her phone, staring at their last conversation.
Aoi: See you tomorrow.
Haruki: Yeah. Tomorrow.
That was it. No warning. No sign. Just a quiet, simple promise—one he hadn't kept.
Something was wrong.
After school, she didn't hesitate. She ran straight to his apartment.
---
The evening sky was tinted with hues of deep blue and violet as she reached his building. She had been here before. She had sat in his room, watched the rain with him, listened to him speak in half-truths and silences.
But today, the air felt different.
Her stomach twisted as she knocked.
Once.
Twice.
No answer.
Aoi's breath hitched.
"Haruki?" she called, pressing her ear against the door. Silence.
Panic clawed at her chest. She turned the handle.
Unlocked.
It swung open with a slow, eerie creak.
She stepped inside.
---
The apartment was the same as before—bare, quiet, as if it had never truly been lived in. But this time, it felt emptier.
And then—she saw it.
Haruki's notebook.
Sitting open on the desk, as if waiting for someone to read it.
Her hands trembled as she picked it up.
The last page was written in his unmistakable handwriting.
And as she read it, the world seemed to stop.
---
Aoi,
I told you some things are better left unsaid. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe this is the only way you'll understand.
There are things I never told you. Things I never wanted you to know. I didn't want you to see the parts of me that weren't worth saving.
But you kept reaching for me anyway.
You were always too stubborn.
…Thank you for that.
But I think it's time I stop pretending.
You deserve someone who can stay.
And I was never meant to stay.
---
Aoi's vision blurred.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"
She bolted out of the apartment, her breath shallow, her chest tightening. She didn't know where she was going—she just ran.
Ran, hoping she wasn't too late.
Ran, hoping that this wasn't what she thought it was.
Ran, hoping that somewhere in the city, Haruki was still waiting for a tomorrow that hadn't come.
---