The weather forecast said sunny.
But it rained anyway.
Not the kind of rain that demands attention—not thunder, not storm,just a slow, persistent drizzlethat made everything feel like it was mourning something.
Like the sky knew.
Ren didn't come to school.
Not today.
Not yesterday either.
After he read my letter, he disappeared.
No calls.No messages.No knocks on my window like he used to do when we were little.
Just silence.
And rain.
I sat in the library with my notebook,watching words blur under faint tears I refused to let fall.
"Day 95.The worst part about losing memoriesisn't forgetting.It's remembering alone."
I went to the beach that afternoon.The one near the shrine.Where the waves whispered like lullabies for ghosts.
I used to come here with him.
I used to laugh here.
Now, I sat on the damp sand,pulling my knees to my chest,waiting for something I couldn't name.
"Why here?"
I turned.
It was him.
Ren.
Soaked from the rain.Umbrella in one hand.Eyes tired.Voice quiet.
I looked away.
"You read it."
He nodded.
"I did."
Silence.
Then—he walked toward me,and without a word, he sat beside me.Close enough to touch.But not touching.
"Why did you write it like a goodbye?" he asked.
"Because someday I'll forget how to say one."
His hand twitched, then clenched.
"I didn't want you to remember me like that."
"Like what?"
He didn't answer.Just stared out at the sea.
"Like the boy who couldn't save you properly."
There it was.
The guilt.The weight he'd been carrying alone.
"Ren," I whispered, "you did save me."
"No. I was too late.You were already unconscious when I found you.I dragged you out, but… the damage had already started."
He finally looked at me.
"I didn't know the fire would start. I just— I should've done something."
I shook my head.
"You were just a boy. So was I.No one blamed you.Except you."
His breath caught.He looked like he was trying not to cry.
"I didn't want to come back," he confessed."But then I saw you at school.And you looked at me like I was still worth remembering."
I reached out slowly and took his hand.
"You are."
The rain continued to fall.
Soft.Relentless.Like time.
"Day 94.He came back.Maybe not to fix things.But just to be here… while there's still time."