The sky was overcast that morning — not gray, not dark, just quiet. Like the world was waiting for something.
I stood at the sink brushing my teeth, staring at the mirror without seeing myself. My heart had been pounding since before the sun rose. Today was the day.
In class, I barely heard a word the teacher said. The chalk scraped the board, pages turned, pens scratched — but it all blurred together. None of it mattered. Just the ticking of time. Just the weight of the truth clawing at my throat.
Hikari was there, of course. She waved at me when I walked in — all brightness and ease, like the weekend hadn't left a bruise. Like I hadn't pulled away.
She smiled. I smiled back.
It was a lie.
---
At lunch, she caught me before I could disappear.
"Hey," she said, stepping in close. "Wanna go up to the rooftop?"
Her eyes were curious. Warm. Hopeful.
For a moment, I hesitated.
But I nodded. "Yeah."
She grinned. "Good. I brought some extra melon bread."
---
The wind greeted us again. The same rooftop. The same sky. But today, it didn't feel free. It felt heavy.
Hikari sat cross-legged on the bench and patted the space beside her. I sat down, my hands shaking in my lap.
She handed me a piece of bread. "Peace offering," she said, half-joking. "For dragging you out on Saturday. I didn't realize something was wrong."
I didn't answer right away.
She glanced sideways at me, her voice quieter. "Are you mad?"
"No," I said. "Just tired."
She nodded like she understood, though she couldn't. Not yet.
"I'm sorry," she said. "At the festival."
I looked at her. "You didn't notice I left."
Her eyes dropped. "Not right away. I'm really sorry."
Silence settled between us. The wind tugged at her hair, soft and slow.
I swallowed hard.
"Hikari," I said.
She turned to me.
"There's something I need to tell you. And it's going to sound… insane. But I need you to listen."
She sat up straighter, eyes alert now. Not scared — not yet. Just listening.
"I see numbers," I said. "Above people's heads. Like timers. A countdown."
She blinked. "What?"
"When I look at someone… there's a number. It ticks down every second. And when it hits zero—"
"Wait, Kazuki—"
"They die."
She stared at me.
"I didn't understand it at first. I tried to ignore it. Thought it was some glitch in my head. But I've seen it happen. People who got in accidents, or collapsed suddenly. I saw their numbers reach zero."
Her breath caught.
"And you," I said, voice cracking, "you had one too."
She was frozen now. The wind didn't touch her. The sky didn't move.
"Hikari," I whispered. "You have 87 days left."
She laughed — but it wasn't a real laugh. Just a sharp breath. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
"Come on," she said, standing up abruptly. "That's not funny, Kazuki. That's—what kind of thing is that to say?!"
"I didn't want to. I didn't want to ever say it."
"Then *why* did you?" Her voice cracked. "Why now?"
"Because I can't pretend anymore," I said, standing too. "Because I care about you so much it's *killing me*. And I know I'm ruining everything by saying this but you need to know. You deserve to know."
She stared at me like I was a stranger.
"And what?" she whispered. "You thought telling me would make me feel *better*?"
"No," I said, breath trembling. "I thought telling you would make me honest. I thought if I loved you and stayed silent, I'd regret it for the rest of my life."
Her eyes filled with something I couldn't name — not quite anger, not quite sorrow.
"Love?" she echoed.
I nodded, barely holding it together. "I love you. I think I have for a while."
Hikari didn't believe me, she believed that I saying all this to get back at her for what she did yesterday, so she kept silent for a while.
After a long silence, I finally spoke — this time with my voice low, so she could know I'm not joking.
"You ever think about how life is... cruel?" I asked. "It gives you people you don't want to lose, and one by one, it takes them away. It lets you laugh, only so one day you'll cry. No matter how hard you try to hold on... it doesn't care. Life doesn't care."
Hikari stood there, unsure of what to say, her teasing smile slowly fading as my words finally sunk into her chest.
"You could live your whole life building dreams, and death would still tear them down in a second. That's the truth. That's what life is."
The silence between us was heavy — the world seemed to shrink to just my voice, and the coldness in my eyes. I asked " Do you know " , she replied slowly " Know what ? "
Then with my expression void of any emotion.
"Hikari... you're going to die."
She blinked, taken aback. For a second, she thought I was seriously making a dark joke — but his face never changed.
"I'm not joking," he said, his voice steady and sharp like ice.
Her heart clenched, confusion and fear mixing into anger. She stepped back, hurt flashing in her eyes.
"What the hell kind of joke is that, Kazuki? Is this the 'something' you wanted to tell me? This stupid, messed-up crap?"
Before I could speak again, she slapped me. The sound of it echoed in the cold rooftop air. She turned away, swallowing her shock and the strange ache rising in her chest.
But just as she started walking, I reached out, grabbing her hand — my grip was weak, desperate.
"Hikari... I'm sorry. But believe me."
Her hand slipped from my fingers, and without another word, she walked away.
---
For the rest of the day, she avoided me. During lunch, in class, after school — not a glance, not a word. The cheerful glow that usually wrapped around her seemed dimmer, weighed down by something invisible.
Ren, a boy who had a crush on Hikari. He always hated me, because I was weird and his crush kept talking to me. He is sharp-eyed and always too observant, noticed immediately that I said something to Hikari that made her angry and sad.
When I passed him after school, heading toward the gate alone, Ren stepped in front of me — flanked by a few of his boys. Without even a word, the first punch landed.
"You made her sad, didn't you?" Ren muttered under his breath, grabbing my collar and slamming me against the wall. "Why would you hurt her ". He punched me hard on my stomach " Infact stay away from her. I don't care what your excuse is."
His boys landed a few more hits, sharp and unforgiving, before Ren stepped back, dusting his hands casually.
"Don't go near her again," Ren said coldly, turning to leave.
As the group walked away, I slumped against the wall, wiping the blood from my split lip. Slowly, I raised my head and removed one of my lenses to look at the countdown above Ren. With my voice barely above a whisper.
"85 years," I muttered. My eyes narrowed, bitter and hollow.
"Why does that have to be wasted on someone like you?"
A soft, hurried sound of footsteps broke the silence — Natsumi had seen it all. She rushed toward me, kneeling down with wide, worried eyes.
"Kazuki... are you okay?" she asked, tears threatening to fall as she reached for my bruised face.
I didn't answer. I simply closed my eyes so I won't see her timer, leaning my head back against the cold wall, as the pain in my chest spread deeper than the cuts on my skin.