It starts with a dream.
Kazuki, exhausted from days of stress, jealousy, and romantic warfare, falls asleep with one stray thought:
"What if I'd never t her?"
Simple.
Harmless.
But for soone like him...That's all it takes.
He wakes up in a different world.
Sa apartnt.
But—
Different air.
No lemon scent.
No slippers by the door.
No post-it notes that say things like:
"Don't forget lunch, human disaster ♥"
He checks his phone.
No ssages.
No saved number for Aya.
No shared photos.
No breakfast waiting.
No evidence she ever lived here.
He rushes to school.
Everything else is almost the sa.
Kokoro is there.
But colder.
She doesn't sit next to him.
Doesn't acknowledge him.
No dry quips.
No glances.
She acts like he's just another background character.
He finds Natsuki-sensei.
"Where's Aya?" he blurts.
Sensei blinks. "Who?"
"Aya. My... roommate. The annoying older girl with no respect for personal space and too much emotional power over ."
Sensei sips her drink.
"...Kazuki. You live alone. You've always lived alone."
He runs ho.
Finds his old notebook.
The one where he wrote everything.
It's empty.
Blank pages.
No records.
No powers.
No fanservice.
No story.
The panic sets in.
"Okay okay okay. Breathe. This is a dream. Or a curse. Or a really specific punishnt for being indecisive."
He slaps himself.
It hurts.
Too much.
Three Days in the Tiline Without Aya
The apartnt echoes.
His thoughts don't beco real anymore.
School is quieter.
The cody's gone.
He laughs, once, at a dumb joke in class.
No one else laughs.
It doesn't feel the sa.
He sees Kokoro again.
She's with soone.
A guy.
Kazuki doesn't recognize him.
But they look happy.
She even laughs like she ans it.
Day 4 – Alone in His Room
He whispers into the dark:
"Okay, Brain. I get it.I was selfish.I took her for granted.I didn't say it when it mattered."
He holds a slipper.
Just one.
The only thing that remained.
He closes his eyes.
"Let go back.I won't waste it this ti."
The world shifts.
A creak.
A breath.
A voice.
"You sleep-talked sothing awful just now," Aya says, standing in the doorway with a toothbrush in her mouth.
Kazuki blinks.
"...You're here."
Aya raises an eyebrow.
"Where else would I be? You looked like you had an existential breakdown in your sleep. Kicked the wall and muttered sothing about 'the unbearable void of bachelorhood.'"
He stares at her.
Then gets up.
Walks over.
And hugs her.
Tight.
No jokes.
Just relief.
Aya stands still.
Then quietly sets her toothbrush down.
"...You okay?"
"No."
"You back from whatever taphysical pity spiral you fell into?"
"Barely."
She sighs into his shoulder.
"...Did you just realize how aweso I am?"
He squeezes her tighter.
"Sothing like that."
Later That Night
Kazuki sits on the couch.
Aya curls up beside him with a blanket and her tablet.
He watches her scroll through so ridiculous manga with an evil villainess protagonist and too many sparkles.
He whispers:
"Don't leave."
She doesn't look up.
Just says:
"Not unless you kick out."
Pause.
Then she glances at him.
"...Are you gonna?"
Kazuki shakes his head.
"I think the universe just showed how much worse things are without you."
Aya smiles.
Then smirks.
Then says:
"Good. You'd be a disaster without ."
"Already was."
"Still is."
"Fair."
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