Chapter 2: Part I

And just like that... it's over.

...

Seriously?

Is this really how my life is meant to end? Just like that? Some vague, meaningless conclusion?

I don't know. And I honestly ask myself, why I am even complaining?

Looking at the last year, did I even really live once?

Or was I just a shadow, pretending to exist?

Sure, I was Yarikawa Kiitaharu, but was I really me?

I just wanted to be —

...

If she could hear my thoughts now, what would she say?

She'd probably giggle cutely and scold me in that soft, teasing voice:

"Oh, Kii, stop acting like some tragic poet! You're my sweetie, don't be so dramatic... Life isn't always that serious."

Yeah, that's exactly what she'd say. And I'd laugh, just a little, and the weight in my chest would instantly fade.

I would laugh...

...

But she's not here.

And I'm not Kii anymore.

I am nobody.

Nobody yesterday. Nobody today. Nobody tomorrow.

...

I don't know if I'll wake up in paradise or if I'll come back into hell again —

But if I could ask for one last thing...

I'd love to see the snow again

...

And so, I slowly feel myself returning, the void being cut by a voice. Distant, but growing clearer...

"Guys! He's awake! Kiitaharu Yarikawa is awake!"