The World Will Erase One of Us by Morning
Chapter 10: The World Will Erase One of Us by Morning
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🌌 1 — The Countdown Begins
12:00 AM.
Ren's phone turned on by itself.
A single notification pulsed on the screen:
> [ SYSTEM RESOLUTION IMMINENT ]
[ MEMORY ANCHOR BREACH: 99.8% ]
[ SELECT MEMORY TO RETAIN: ]
– Aika
– Self
Beneath it:
[ You may only keep one. ]
Ren's hands shook. He didn't press anything.
A voice came from the speaker.
His voice.
> "You made a mistake, Ren. You held on too long. Now the system wants balance."
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🧍♂️ 2 — Alone with Her (For Now)
Ren stood in the middle of the rooftop. The stars above blinked like they weren't sure if they existed.
Aika stood across from him, more real than ever—hair blowing in the breeze, eyes shimmering like they remembered every version of him.
"I heard the message," she said softly.
He nodded.
"They want me to choose."
"You or me," she whispered.
He looked at her. She looked at the edge.
"I remember your laugh," he said. "I remember the first time I saw you reading under the cherry tree. The day you walked through the rain barefoot. You brought color into this gray world."
"I was never supposed to be real," she said. "I'm sorry."
"Then let me do one thing right," Ren said, voice breaking.
She shook her head.
"No. I choose."
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🔁 3 — Memory Loop Fracture
The sky turned black.
Ren blinked—
And found himself back in his childhood home.
But something was wrong.
Everything repeated.
He was 8.
His mother smiled.
The birthday cake was whole again.
The front door opened—
And Aika walked in.
As if she had always been there.
Ren stood, confused.
Then:
A second Aika entered.
Then a third.
Each slightly different. One taller. One with a scar. One with different-colored eyes.
> "What's happening?" he whispered.
A glitch voice replied:
> "You remembered too many versions.
Now they're all trying to survive."
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⛓️ 4 — The Council of the Erased
Ren's living room no longer existed.
In its place: a circular, white void. A long table stretched across space. And seated around it:
Tsuki, hands folded neatly
A boy in a hospital gown, tubes flickering with static
A teacher with no mouth
The tall faceless shadow, silent and pulsing
Aika, the original
Aika, the jealous
Aika, the broken
Ren's reflection, cracked and watching
In the center: an empty seat. His.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
The reflection spoke.
> "To vote.
One stays.
One vanishes."
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🕯️ 5 — The Vote
The vote was silent.
One by one, hands raised.
For Aika.
For Ren.
For neither.
Ren looked at them all.
"I didn't ask to be this," he shouted. "I didn't want to remember you all. I just… didn't want to forget someone I loved."
The faceless teacher stood.
Raised a hand.
Wrote one line in the air:
> "Even love must follow rules."
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🌌 6 — Final Memory Sync Initiated
Suddenly—
Ren was back in his room.
Breathing hard.
3:03 AM on the clock.
And Aika was there. Sitting cross-legged.
No tricks. No flicker. Just her.
Her voice trembled.
"They made the choice for you."
Ren's mouth went dry. "Which choice?"
"I don't know yet," she said. "But I think… it's happening."
She walked over.
Touched his hand.
And a rush of memories returned:
Dancing in the rain
Watching anime together
The way she cried after failing a test
The warmth of her voice saying his name
And then—
Pain.
Like something was being peeled away.
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⚠️ 7 — One Must Fade
Ren fell to his knees.
Flashes surged through his mind:
> His name missing from school records
His mother talking to an empty chair
His reflection no longer reacting
Aika walking through crowds, unseen
The real world—glitching to reset
Aika knelt beside him.
She whispered:
> "I won't forget you. Even if the world does."
Then—
She pulled him into a kiss.
And as they kissed—
Everything shattered.
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🌄 8 — Morning Comes (But for Who?)*
The sun rose.
Birds chirped.
The world resumed.
A teacher stood at the front of Class 3-B.
"Attendance," she said. "Aika Himura?"
"Here."
The students murmured.
Aika sat by the window. Reading.
"Ren Arakawa?" the teacher asked.
Silence.
No one looked confused.
Not even Aika.
She paused.
Touched her chest.
As if something was missing.
Or someone.
Outside, the wind blew a piece of torn paper across the yard.
On it, scrawled in fading ink:
> "If remembering you means I disappear,
I'll vanish smiling."
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🕯️ End of Volume 1 – Chapter 10
Next: Volume 2, Chapter 11 — "The Girl Who Remembers the Boy the World Forgot"