The sky turned gray the next day.
Not stormy. Not dramatic.
Just… fading.
The kind of gray that feels like forgetting.
Yuki sat on the porch steps, watching the wind blow petals across the path. Ami sat beside him, knees hugged to her chest.
"I used to think dreams were where people went when they couldn't handle real life," he said.
"And now?"
"Now I think… maybe dreams are where life goes when it doesn't want to say goodbye."
Ami smiled faintly. "You're finally starting to sound like me."
They didn't speak for a long time. The cicadas were gone. Even the sea was quiet.
Then, out of nowhere, Ami stood up and said, "Come on."
"Where?"
"To finish number eleven."
---
She led him to the old train platform at the edge of town. The rails were broken, weeds growing between the ties. A single wooden bench stood under a crooked sign that read Summer's End.
They sat and waited.
"What now?" Yuki asked.
"I tell you something incredibly stupid," she said, "and hope you laugh."
He blinked.
She cleared her throat, and said—completely serious—"When I was younger, I thought bees were just spicy flies."
Yuki snorted.
"I also thought milk came from white grass."
He burst out laughing.
She grinned. "And I thought the moon was the Earth's egg, and one day it would hatch and destroy us all."
He doubled over, tears running down his cheeks.
It wasn't just what she said. It was her expression. Her timing. Her voice cracking mid-sentence. And maybe—just maybe—it was the ache in his chest that he couldn't name, trying to escape through laughter.
He laughed until it hurt.
And then he cried.
Ami watched, quiet and gentle.
"I guess that counts," she whispered.
---
Later, she handed him the notebook. The second-to-last box was checked.
Only one remained.
12. Wake up.
"I don't want to," Yuki said.
"I know," Ami replied. "But you have to."
He looked at her. "What happens if I stay?"
The wind picked up. The town flickered.
"You'll forget everything. Even me. And you won't be able to wake again."
He clutched the notebook. "Then what happens to you?"
She smiled, eyes glistening. "I was never meant to last past summer."
The clock tower bell rang in the distance.
Twelve soft chimes.