Hirasawa Middle School was just like any other—tedious classes, rowdy students, and instructors who lectured for hours on end. Souta Asano never listened to rumors, but there was one urban legend that had circulated through the corridors for years.
"The Forgotten Girl."
Nobody knew where the tale began, but it was whispered that once a girl vanished at school, deleted from every memory. Anyone who said her name would meet the same end.
Souta didn't believe in spirits.
So when a transfer student named Mizuki Hayashi joined their class, he didn't think much of it.
The girl was strangely silent, her black hair cascading over her white face. She sat at the rear of the class, taking the vacant seat, her existence hardly noticed.
Souta observed something unusual. Her name was never called by the teacher. The other students seemed not to notice her. Even when she passed by, nobody looked.
That night, as he was gathering his belongings, a whisper ran down the deserted hallway.
"Why… did you see me?"
He spun around.
Mizuki was at the end of the hall, her eyes fixed on him. Her lips didn't move, but her voice was in his ear.
The lights flashed.
And then—she vanished.