Arou arrived home when the sky was already dark.
He opened the door, then slowly closed it again. There was no sound to welcome him. No small footsteps, no conversations, no presence of anyone.
The house was too tidy.
Too empty.
Arou placed his bag in the corner, then sat on the sofa. He stared at the living room for quite a while, as if hoping something would simply appear.
But nothing did.
The night passed slowly. Arou ate whatever he could, took a shower, then lay down on his bed. The lights were turned off, but his eyes remained open.
His thoughts drifted to many things—to Akari, to the others, to the dream world that had collapsed.
And to Mei.
"Strange," he murmured softly.
"Why do I feel… calm when I talk to her?"
He closed his eyes, trying to sleep.
The next day, Arou went through school as usual. Akari was not there. Nothing had changed. The day passed without anything particularly memorable.
In the afternoon, without really planning to, Arou's footsteps took him back to the same park.
And on the same bench—
Mei was sitting there.
Arou stopped for a moment.
"You again," he finally said.
Mei turned and smiled faintly.
"You too."
"This isn't your usual habit, is it?" Arou asked as he sat down.
"Not necessarily," Mei replied. "Maybe it just became a habit."
They were silent for a moment.
"Funny," Mei continued softly, "we didn't even make plans to meet."
"Yeah," Arou answered. "But somehow… it doesn't feel strange."
Mei stared ahead.
"Have you been feeling like you're losing things lately?"
Arou fell silent.
"Yes."
"Losses that you can't explain?"
"…Yeah."
Mei smiled faintly, but there was something in her smile—something too calm.
"Then maybe we're alike."
Arou turned toward her.
"You too?"
Mei did not answer immediately. She only said,
"There are things that should not remain in one world for too long."
Arou's heartbeat quickened slightly.
"Mei," he said softly, "who are you… really?"
Mei turned toward him. For a moment, her eyes seemed unfamiliar—as if Arou were looking at someone standing between reality and unreality.
But then the expression disappeared.
"I'm just someone sitting in a park," Mei answered lightly.
"Just like you."
The sun began to set.
"Shall we go home?" Mei asked.
Arou nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
They stood and walked in opposite directions again.
But this time, Arou knew one thing for certain—
Their meeting was not a coincidence.
And Mei… might not be just a girl passing by one afternoon.
Since that afternoon, Arou's mind had never truly been at peace.
At school, he began noticing the little things. The attendance list. The bulletin board. The faces in the classroom.
Mei's name never appeared.
There was no new student. No announcement about a transfer.
During break, Arou asked several classmates.
"Do you know someone named Mei?"
They shook their heads.
"Which Mei?"
"I don't think there's anyone like that in the other classes."
"Your middle school friend?"
"No," Arou answered briefly.
He stopped asking.
That afternoon, Arou did not go to the park. He went straight home.
But that night, he did not sleep well.
In his dream, Arou stood in the same park.
The sky was not orange, but pale gray. The benches were empty. There was no wind. No sound.
Mei was sitting on that bench.
"Arou," she called softly.
Arou approached her.
"Who are you, really?"
Mei smiled, but her smile was not warm.
"You already know the answer."
"I didn't create you," Arou said firmly. "I know what that feels like."
Mei stood up. Her shadow stretched unnaturally long.
"That's right," she said.
"I am not part of the dream you created."
"Then?"
Mei stared directly at him.
"I am a remnant."
"A remnant… of what?"
Before she could answer, the park cracked like glass.
Arou woke up, breathing heavily.
The next morning, Arou went to school as usual.
When he entered the classroom, the homeroom teacher was already standing at the front.
"Today, there is a student who will be temporarily joining our class," the teacher said.
Arou froze.
The classroom door opened.
"Please come in."
Mei stepped inside.
Her uniform was neat. Her hair was tied simply. Her face was exactly the same as it had been in the park.
"Nice to meet you," she said calmly. "My name is Mei."
The class became slightly noisy, but not excessively so.
Mei turned—directly toward Arou.
Her eyes seemed to say: We meet again.
"Mei," Arou murmured, almost inaudibly.
The teacher pointed toward an empty seat.
"You can sit there."
That desk.
Akari's desk.
Mei walked over and sat down, then turned toward Arou with a faint smile.
"It seems," she said softly, only for Arou to hear,
"this time I didn't appear in the park."
Arou's heartbeat felt heavy.
He knew one thing now—
Mei was not a dream.
Not a hallucination.
And her appearance… should not have happened.
The lesson began as usual.
The teacher wrote on the board. The sound of chalk against the board and pages turning filled the room. Class continued normally, as if nothing strange had happened.
For Arou, everything felt different.
He sat upright, staring forward, trying to focus. Yet from the corner of his eye, he could see Mei sitting in the back—at the desk that had once always been occupied.
Mei took notes. She nodded when the teacher explained something. Occasionally, she asked questions politely.
There was nothing suspicious.
"That's… too normal," Arou thought.
When the teacher asked a question, Mei answered correctly. Several students turned and whispered quietly, impressed by how quickly the new student had adapted.
Arou clenched his hand beneath the desk.
Are you really real now? he thought.
The break bell rang.
The classroom immediately became noisy. Chairs shifted, and laughter filled the room. Several students approached Mei and introduced themselves.
Mei responded with the same smile she had shown at the park—calm, never excessive.
Arou remained in his seat.
Eventually, Mei stood up and walked toward him.
"Aren't you going to ask?" she said softly.
Arou stared straight ahead.
"Not here."
Mei nodded, as if she had expected that answer.
"Alright. Later."
She turned around and returned to her seat.
The next lesson passed more slowly for Arou.
Every second felt longer.
Every movement Mei made seemed too precise, too perfectly synchronized with this world.
As if she truly belonged there.
But Arou knew—
that desk had once been empty.
And that emptiness was supposed to remain.
When the dismissal bell rang, Arou stood up first.
Mei followed behind him.
"Arou," she said softly. "Let's talk after school."
Arou stopped for a moment, then nodded without turning around.
"Yeah," he answered briefly.
"At the park."
Mei smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Arou walked away with a heavy feeling in his chest.
He realized that whatever Mei was going to say later—
it would not be simple.
The park was quiet again that afternoon.
Arou and Mei sat on the same bench as before. There was no awkward distance between them, but there was no excessive warmth either.
Mei stared ahead for quite a while before finally speaking.
"Arou," she said softly, "may I ask you something?"
Arou nodded.
"Go ahead."
Mei turned toward him. Her gaze was serious, but not harsh.
"You often look like… you're talking to something that isn't there."
Arou froze for a moment.
"In class," Mei continued, "sometimes you space out for a long time. Sometimes you react as if you already know something that other people don't."
Arou lowered his head.
"So that's how it looks."
Mei took a breath.
"I don't mean to be rude."
She paused for a moment.
"But… have you ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia?"
The question fell naturally, without an accusing tone.
Arou remained silent for a long time.
"No," he finally answered. "I've never been diagnosed with anything."
Mei nodded slowly.
"Thank goodness."
"You're not afraid to ask something like that?" Arou asked.
"I am," Mei answered honestly. "But I'm more afraid of misunderstanding you and ending up distancing myself from you."
Arou smiled faintly.
"You're a strange person."
"They say strange people are interesting," Mei replied lightly.
Silence fell again.
"I have experienced things that were… unusual," Arou finally said.
"But they're over now."
"Over, but they still left a mark?" Mei asked.
"Yeah."
Mei looked down at her own hands.
"If one day you look like you're talking to yourself again… I'll call you out instead of avoiding you."
Arou turned toward her.
"Why?"
"Because if you really need help," Mei answered,
"you shouldn't have to be alone."
The words were simple.
Too simple.
And precisely because of that, Arou's chest felt tight.
"Thank you," he said softly.
Mei stood up.
"It's almost dark. Let's go home."
Arou stood as well.
As they walked away from the park, Arou realized—
Mei had not come to replace anyone.
She had not come from a dream.
She did not possess any special power.
She had only come with one thing that had always felt unfamiliar to Arou:
genuine concern.