Forget-Me-Not

Emma didn't come to school today too, it seems like her cold is a little stronger than normal so she has to skip school today too, when the teacher informed us of that Suzuki started trembling

she didn't tell me anything about what happened last time we visited..I wonder if I should stop by her house today as well, this time I'll go alone

school ended for today, literature club is active today but I don't want to go there since Suzuki and Hiragi-senpai are the only ones besides Makoto,it's just going to end in a war

I wore my shoes and left the school, it's been a while since I walked alone so why not enjoy the walk today

the weather is still cold enough for my breaths to be white clouds, I wonder when will it get warmer? it's pretty much the end of Winter and spring is coming soon...

"it's been almost a year now huh?"

I already got used to living here thanks to losing most of my memories but I still feel somewhat empty...as if I forgot things I shouldn't have forgotten

"huh?"

when I raised my head I saw a girl standing over the edge of a bridge, a wind blowing could be enough to drop her into the freezing water, tears dropped from her red eyes as she looked at the sky with a weird look on her face

nobody stopped to spare her a single gaze, even though the place wasn't empty not a single man stopped to ask her about what she's doing.

"what are you going to do?"

I had to talk to her, even if nobody cared about her she still has to live, I won't allow her to do something she's gonna regret

"Eh?"

she got shocked when I talked to her, she got used to people ignoring her so much that it shocked her when someone went out of his way to check on her

"I...I'm just... looking at this beautiful world"

"you don't have to go this high to enjoy it right?"

I extended my arm to her asking her to come down

"I'm not going to force you, but at least let me help you"

I thought that I didn't care about other people suffering, but if it's something as simple as this even I would like to help

"..."

she looked at my hand for a while and jumped down, if she jumped like this into the other side she wouldn't be able to survive even if she was lucky

"I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway but...thank you for caring"

"that's dangerous so don't do it again ok? even if you didn't plan to jump you could have fallen any moment"

"I'm sorry..."

she downed her head showing that she's apologizing sincerely, I can't keep being angry if she's like this...

"it's okay, I forgive you"

now that I look at her, she is very young, probably around Airi's age...no maybe she's even younger, she's still a kid so why does she give this mature vibe?

after apologizing she walked away from me hurriedly,

"why are you following me?"

of course I followed her.

"it's dangerous to leave you alone, I'll walk you home"

"is that a new way of stalking?"

following a girl to her house does seem like a stalker behavior but still...

"I can't pretend I didn't see you crying on the edge of a bridge just a moment ago, you might do something stupid once I leave you"

"Ugh.. that's fine"

even if she's complaining I can clearly see her smile

"it's still early to home so let's go on a date then!"

"I'll consider it when you are a little older okay?"

I tried to give her a headpat but she dodged my hand quickly and shouted

"I'm not a kid! I'm probably older than you!"

"is that so? how old are you then?"

when I asked her about it she got flustered and started strutting

"y-you know, it's not good to ask a woman about her age!"

"a woman my ass you're just a kid aren't you?"

"Ughhh"

she lowered her hand with a sad look on her face as if she had already given up on acting like a woman, I could've believed her if she dropped any random number but she isn't a good liar

"where do you want to go?"

I didn't expect to go out with a random girl I saw on the street when I woke up this morning, that's fascinating, everyday is so unpredictable that I started to enjoy every moment of it

"you look happy all of a sudden, you are a lolicon aren't you?"

"I might be, but you're admitting being a loli"

"..."

she frowned for a moment but quickly smiled again

"if you're gonna be happy I might even step on my pride and call you Onii-chan"

"do it"

I didn't hesitate a single second

"you are actually a lolicon...?"

"maybe"

don't get me wrong, any guy would be happy to be called Onii-chan especially if their little sister stopped saying it when she got older, but rejecting it hardly will just give the opposite effect

"I see..."

she mumbled something and then started walking faster

"you didn't say, where did you want to go?"

"I don't know~"

so we're just walking randomly huh? she looks very happy so I can't refuse

"Oh! Onii-chan come here!"

I can't believe she's actually calling me this, it's kinda embarrassing

"what's up?"

she suddenly kneeled and Pointed at a box that has a little black cat on it

"do you like cats?"

she asked me while admiring the little creature that seemed to be waiting for a new owner

"I don't like them particularly, I prefer dogs anyways"

"I see..can you touch it for me?"

"why don't you touch ut yourself?!"

what does she even mean by "for me" she won't feel it if I'm the one touching it!

"what if she attacked me? you go first so I canbe sure it's fine!"

"you're kidding me..."

this girl is crazy isn't she?

"pweaaaase Onii-chan"

she said it with a face that no human can say no to, it's a dirty trick but a damn effective one

I moved my hand to touch the cat, of course it didn't attack me, it's actually enjoying it

"Sawano?"

this voice is...

"Hoshino-san?"

"I told you to drop the "san", just call me Shin-senpai"

"it feels wrong to call someone older than you like this..."

"just do it"

she crouched beside me and asked

"you're not going to the club today?"

"Ah, I skipped it because Chi-senpai and Emma weren't there"

"that's no good, you have to take club activities seriously!"

"... yeah I guess you're right"

after scolding me a little Shin-senpai started playing with the cat with a big smile on her face

"I didn't know you liked cats too Sawano-Kun"

"I love them"

I answered instantly, even though I heard someone make a noise I just ignored it for now, I mean cats are the best aren't they?

"I love cats as well, but I prefer dogs"

"dogs are the best aren't they?"

"as expected of Sawano-Kun! you understand me very well"

I really would like to speak more with Shin-senpai but a certain girl doesn't look very happy about it

"I have to accompany her home so I have to go now..."

I pointed at the little girl who wasn't very happy right now, it hurts to leave but I made a promise,I can't go back on it now

"her?"

Shin-senpai tilted her head a little bit, she didn't notice her, I signaled to the girl hiding behind me to takk but she refused it with a "Humph"

"s-she's my little sister"

"oh I see, if that's the case I will talk to you later"

"wait!"

"hmm?"

I stopped Shin-senpai unconsciously but I don't know how to say it...

"can we go somewhere this weekend? we don't hang out together even though we play with each other a lot,oh it's okay if you're busy I'm not-"

"sure, I'll call you later to discuss it, you're in a hurry now right?"

"Ah yes, thank you"

I feel like I'm becoming Suzuki, maybe I should stop teasing her.

"no problem, see you later"

"yeah..."

when Shin-senpai got far enough I started jumping

"it's rude to show affection to another girl when you're already on a date with a cute lady"

"where's the cute lady?"

I looked around but I found none, Shin-senpai left after all, the little girl pouted with tears on her eyes

"I hate Onii-chan!"

"..."

that actually hurts...

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to tease you this much"

she just walked forward without paying attention to me

"I already apologized what do you want more?"

she stopped for moment, and looked at me

"I'll ask you for a favor then..."

***

"is this the place you want to go to? are you sure?"

she asked me to order a taxi so we can get here but...

"yes"

it was a highschool a little far than the one I go to

"It's already closed though..."

I didn't feel the time but it's already this late, we should go home already

"hey..."

when I wanted to talk to her about retreating she was already inside the school, how the hell did she climb the gate this fast?

"damn it..."

I jumped over the gate and followed the stubborn kid to make sure she won't cause any problems

"so this is how highschool look like huh?"

"you're a middle-schooler after all"

"..."

she was silent for a while and the took one of the seats in an empty classroom

"I stopped going to school two years ago"

"..."

this time I'm the one who's silent, I didn't expect her to say something like this all of a sudden

"there was this girl in the same class as me, her name was Nagisa..."

past tense huh?

"where's she now?"

I asked a sensitive question even though I knew the answer

"she died in an accident years ago, at first everyone was sad and they didn't stop talking about her, but after two months she was already forgotten...that scared me"

when you die, you'll be forgotten...it's scary to think about it like this, everything about you will vanish along with yourself

"If I'm going to be forgotten anyway, what's the meaning of continuing to live?"

the empty classroom was shaken by her shout, her tears didn't stop a single second, she cried and continued crying until her voice was about to dissappear

I wanted to hug her and tell her that everything is going to be okay, I won't forget you...but I'm I really able to say such things? I forgot everything dear to me, I don't even remember their faces so I'm I really worthy of saying such words?

I started crying too, I don't remember crying like this since I saw my mother again for the first time, I cried then I I cried my lungs out. I'm supposed to be the one who help her so why I'm I crying too?

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

I don't even know who I'm I apologizing to, but I still continued until my heart calmed down...

"Onii-chan is a crybaby huh?"

"shut up, it's your fault"

I wiped my tears quickly and tried to get my composure back

she had a smug on her face but it soon disappeared as she walked to the window

"do you know what's that?"

"it's a flower, no?"

I stood beside her and looked at the flower she was talking about, it was about a blue flower

"Forget Me Not, it's the flower's name"

I see, it's a beautiful name for a beautiful flower

"It's my favorite"

"I can see why"

to never be forgotten, I think it's a fascinating flower to give to someone

"thank you for being with me today Onii-chan"

"you're welcome"

"can we go to one last place?"

"yeah"

the sun has long since dissappeared and the moon has taken its place to be the light of the night

we walked in this cold weather that got even colder yet this girl didn't show any signs of feeling cold even though she's just wearing a black dress

I was going to offer her my scarf at least,but she stopped me quickly

"it's here"

we reached the last destination of today

"the hospital?"

it's not a place you go to on a date though...

"yes, can you take care of the talking?"

"sure..."

I asked one of the nurses about the room of a certain person while the little girl continued hiding behind my back

"he's in the room 106 but his state..."

he didn't have much time to live, normally they won't allow people to visit in this time but he was a special case, they gave us the permission to see him at least

I looked at the girl hiding behind me, but her face didn't change at all, she nodded to me confidentially

is that the reason she wanted to jumb before...?

we walked slowly to the room where the man she wanted to see was in, a very skinny man who might die if you touched him

the girl looked through the window of the room, her hands started trembling, she tried to avoid looking at him for a moment but quickly decided to focus her gaze on him

"this....he's Nagisa's brother, he got sick from the shock of losing his only family...and now here he is"

the man looked a lot older than your average big brother perhaps because of the sickness, he was suffering from pain I couldn't imagine

"can he open his eyes?"

I asked the nurse calmly after I decided what I'm going to do

"it's impossible, it's been months since the last time he woke up"

"I see, can you allow us to enter..?"

"you..?it's impossible sorry seeing him is something but entering the room is something else"

"it's fine Onii-chan,that's more than enough for me..."

enough my ass

I clenched my fist and prepared myself, I need to control the power of this hit to not kill this woman, all I need is to drop her unconscious

suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, I was too focused that I didn't notice someone getting close to me, I'm already prepared for trouble so it doesn't matter if someone saw me

"let him in"

the perfect man in a perfect time, when I turned to see the man I couldn't hide my smile

"Boss!"

"I don't know why or what are you going to do, but I will trust you"

the nurse started trembling when Boss approached her suddenly, people suddenly dissappear when they stand in his way so it's only natural for her to open the door obediently

"thank you boss!"

I entered the room as quickly as I could, the girl followed me with tears on her eyes

"Onii-chan!"

when she saw the man she started shouting to him, but obviously he didn't respond to her. I looked at the guy as I gathered all the mana I had in my hand

Healing Healing Healing Healing Healing Healing Hea-Fucking-ling. I regret not learning more about healing. I can heal injuries but curing sickness is much harder especially when it's already this bad, but I can't give up...what's the meaning of having this power if I can't help a little girl crying right before my eyes

"Na.."

he opened his eyes slowly, he's not conscious yet but he can talk

"I...sorry..."

"don't apologize! it's my fault I should've cane here sooner but I was scared...I didn't want to see you go away too..."

I should leave them I guess...I already did my part

"are you done already not gonna talk to him?"

the boss asked me while looking at the scene in front of him, he is smiling from ear to ear which is creepy if you know his personality

"It's only natural to give them their privacy I'm just an intruder after all"

"them..? you did more than a normal intruder do"

"I guess I am still a hero somehow"

he laughed and walked away waving his hand to me, I wanted to ask him why was he here but didn't have the chance to ask.

I walked away quietly until I couldn't her the cries anymore, I left the hospital exhaling white breaths, it started raining when I wasn't looking

"spring isn't coming soon huh?"

a weak voice coming from a girl who cried for twenty minutes now

"did you talk to him?"

"yes..."

"did he..."

"yes"

I see, all I could do was to make him a little better, I couldn't even give her enough time

"thank you for everything today...I won't forget it"

she calmly walked into the rain, I moved my hand to stop her before she get wet

"did you know?"

my hand went through her body as if it didn't touch anything

"once dead people are forgotten they lose their link to the living world"

rain continues pouring but not a single drop made contact with the girl standing there, her crimson eyes glowed brighter than the moon as she looked at me with a smile on her face

"Onii-chan passed away now...he was the last one to remember me"

her hand started disappearing but she didn't react to it at all

I tried my hardest to force words, I should've seen it earlier... it was so obvious but I didn't want to see it.

"I'm...am I going to see again?"

she gave me a surprised look as her eyes widen she opened her mouth a little

"if you continue to remember me...maybe the link between us would be enough for me to be back again"

even though I remember her clearly, it's not enough for a link to appear. even though her classmates didn't forget about her completely it wasn't enough. she continued to exist just by the memories of her brother

"I'm sorry...if I was a little better.."

I tried to grab her shoulders and hug her but all I was touching was myself

"you did more than enough Onii-chan, don't blame yourself..."

I know,I already know that but still...I wanted to help more

"can I ask you for one last thing? this time it's actually the last time"

"I'll do my best"

her body was almost transparent now, I already considered all of my options but I can't bring her back to life so at least...I want to fulfill her last wish

"Forget Me Not"

"..."

am I allowed to make such a promise? I....

"I promise you, I won't forget you ever"

she smiled, tears in her eyes as she waved her hands for one last goodbye

"goodbye Onii-chan"

her face started to dissappear until there was nothing left but a single boy under the rain

"Goodbye...Nagisa"

***

I walked under the rain not caring about getting wet, in this time I couldn't see any person...but a single girl crouching while holding an umbrella

"Shin-senpai.."

"Oh Sawano Hi"

she smiled cheerfully, I sat next to her to see what she's doing

"I just remembered this cat when it started raining and I couldn't leave it alone"

such a nice person, going out of her way to do this...

"hey Sawano....were you crying?"

"it's just rain"

she closed her eyes slowly and smiled to me as she put her hand on my wet hair

"you can always count on me if you need any help"

she didn't look at me even while talking to me like this, she's giving me a chance to cry without being seen, unfortunately I ran out of tears to shed today

"what are you doing with the cat?"

"my apartment doesn't allow us to have pets,but I can hide it today at least, you should come too!"

"don't worry about the cat, I'm taking it. I even have a name for it"

"really? what is it?"

she looked at me without hiding her joy, she was really worried about the cat wasn't she?

I raised the black cat at the sky making sure thattge umbrella still cover it, for a moment there I saw a red light in this animal's eyes...yes, that's perfect

"Nagisa..it's name is Nagisa"

like this, I won't forget about until we meet again