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No one could have seen this coming.
How could her mother—who'd been perfectly capable of emailing back and forth just a few days ago—suddenly become completely unable to see her once they met in person?
Even Sakurajima Mai, who prided herself on her calm, couldn't process it.
She hurried around to stand in front of her mother, waving her hand right in her face.
"You can't see me!?"
Her voice rose sharply. The emotion in it was raw—panic barely disguised as anger.
And who could blame her?
It was her own mother.
Moments ago, they'd been on the verge of a real, honest conversation, ready to reconnect. Yet now, just like that, she was invisible again.
Mai's heart twisted. She couldn't accept it.
But her mother didn't stop walking.
Watching her pass by without so much as a glance, Mai's arms dropped helplessly to her sides.
She already knew from past experience—no matter what she did now, it wouldn't make a difference. Her mother couldn't see her.
Not only that, she walked straight into Mai's shoulder. The sudden impact made Mai stumble backward.
Before she could fall, Jack—who had been standing nearly twenty meters away just seconds ago—flashed across the space and caught her.
He appeared beside her so fast that even Mai's mother didn't register it at first. When she finally turned her head and saw the boy who'd somehow appeared out of nowhere, her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Wasn't this the same boy who'd been standing way over there a moment ago?
"Hello. I'm Jack."
He steadied Mai with one arm, keeping her close behind him as he faced her mother.
Her mother frowned.
"So it's you, then?"
Her tone was clipped, cool—she looked so much like Mai that Jack couldn't help but notice it.
"Excuse me, what do you mean?" he asked evenly.
"You're the one who called me out here, right? What exactly are you trying to do? I don't even know you. You look like a high school student. Is this some kind of childish prank? Because if it is, I'll be calling your parents to set you straight."
She rattled off the words quickly, irritation written all over her face, then glanced at her watch as if to remind him that he was wasting her time.
It was obvious she valued every minute of her schedule—probably the kind of person with too much work and too little time.
"You've misunderstood," Jack said calmly. "Mai was the one who asked you to come."
He could feel the faint sweat in her palm as he held her hand tighter—a quiet signal not to worry.
Her mother narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him.
"Say that again. Who called me?"
"Mai."
She brushed a hand through her wind-tossed hair, frowning slightly.
"…Mai? Who's that?"
For a moment, even Jack froze.
He felt Mai's hand clench around his in shock.
His expression darkened. Something was very wrong.
Damn it—this wasn't just invisibility anymore, was it?
"Mai Sakurajima," he said carefully. "She's your daughter. You don't remember?"
Her mother looked annoyed now. "Stop joking around. I don't have a daughter."
The irritation in her tone sharpened. "You're Jack, right? What is this really about?"
Jack glanced at Mai—her face was pale, stricken.
Her eyes trembled with disbelief and confusion.
He steadied himself, speaking in a low voice. "Then what about the email that asked you to come here? You replied to it, didn't you? You must remember that."
"That's the strange part," she said.
She pulled out her phone and showed it to him. "The sender's unknown. I even marked the meeting in my calendar and cleared time for it, but I can't recall why or who it was with."
On the screen, the sender's name glowed plainly—Mai.
Both Mai and Jack felt a sharp sting just looking at it.
Her mother wasn't pretending. She wasn't ignoring her.
She truly didn't remember her own daughter.
The woman who had raised Mai for over a decade—the one whose inbox still displayed her name—had completely forgotten her existence.
Jack exhaled slowly.
He understood the situation now.
He bowed slightly, voice steady and sincere. "I'm sorry. I seem to have made a mistake. Thank you for your time."
"Huh? Oh, I… see…"
Her mother blinked in confusion, uneasy but unable to pinpoint why.
"Then… I'll be going?"
"Yes. I'm really sorry to have troubled you."
"…It's fine, I guess."
Still frowning faintly, she turned and walked away, her figure slowly shrinking into the distance.
"Jack…"
Mai's voice was barely a whisper.
He turned to her and met eyes filled with fear.
She'd realized it too—her situation had just gotten worse.
Jack's expression hardened. "That means the effect is spreading. We must have missed something."
If before her condition had merely interfered with perception—making people unable to see, hear, or touch her—
Then now… it was erasing her entirely.
Even their memories of Mai Sakurajima were disappearing.
Her unease deepened.
Back when she was invisible, at least people still remembered her. That had kept her grounded. But now… even that was fading.
Would she end up as nothing more than a living ghost?
No—something even lonelier than that.
"Hey," Jack said softly. "Calm down. I can still see you. I still remember you—clearly."
Even faced with something like this, his tone stayed calm, steady as a rock.
That steadiness kept her from falling apart. His presence alone was a kind of lifeline.
"Come on," he said suddenly, tugging her hand gently. "Let's go."
"Go where?"
"If we're wrong, that means we still haven't found the true source of your condition. We keep looking."
He spoke with quiet determination, but Mai didn't answer.
After a few steps, Jack noticed she wasn't following. He stopped and turned.
She stood there, head lowered, shoulders slumped.
"Mai?"
"…Let's stop for today. I'm going home."
Her voice was calm again, the panic gone—but in its place was quiet resignation.
She gently pulled her hand from his and started walking away.
Watching her lonely figure retreat, Jack let out a long sigh. How could he just leave her like this?
He caught up easily, slipped an arm around her from behind, and whispered:
"Don't give up so easily. If this world lost your smile… it'd be a much duller place."
Mai's body trembled ever so slightly at his words.
"..."
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