Chapter 35: Her Smile Was Too Gentle, Like It Knew Something I Didn't
Yumi met him on the rooftop the next morning.
Same steps. Same air.Same way the wind played with her hair like it remembered her better than he did.
She was smiling.Too much.
The kind of smile you wear when you're trying to pretend you're not vanishing.
Akiro leaned against the railing, eyes scanning the sky.
"You're quiet today."
She shrugged. "You always said you liked quiet."
"Not from you."
She laughed.
But it cracked a little.
He turned to her.
Something in his chest wouldn't settle.
"I had a dream," he said.
She raised an eyebrow.
"You don't dream."
"I did this time."
He swallowed.
"You weren't in it."
Her face faltered — just slightly.
"Was I gone?"
He nodded.
Pause.
Then he asked the question without asking:
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
She looked down.
Then smiled again.
But this one was hollow.
"I'm just tired."
He didn't believe her.
And that scared him.
Because the last time he didn't believe someone's silence…he found out too late what it meant.
Later that day, he walked her home.
She gripped his hand tighter than usual.
Paused outside her door.
Turned.
Then — without warning — kissed him.Hard. Deep. Real.
And when she pulled back, her breath trembled.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He frowned.
"For what?"
But she didn't answer.
She just stepped inside.
Closed the door.
And left him outside with the word "goodbye" echoing in a voice that hadn't said it.
That night, he couldn't sleep.
He flipped open the sketchbook she gave him weeks ago.
Found a folded page taped to the back cover.
Unmarked.
He opened it.
Inside, her handwriting.
One sentence:
"Don't mourn me before I'm gone."
His blood ran cold.