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Inahata-kun remembers Natsuki Subaru.
He remembers how he introduced himself on the first day of school.
He still gets second-hand embarrassment just thinking about it.
He remembers how Natsuki Subaru would introduce himself to the students in the hall, being loud attracting and everyone’s attention. Everyone found it annoying.
Every student would make an effort to avoid him. They would pretend like he didn’t exist. It was like that till their third year.
The only time he interacted with him was in their third year. He was tasked to hand out flyers for the school festival.
He found him sitting behind some stairs eating his lunch.
“Natsuki-san”
He remembers him flinching, the look of surprise written on his face.
“Yes…?”
He gave him a flyer.
He remembers the look of disappointment that he tried to hide.
“Thank you….?”
“Inahata”
“Thank you… Inahata-kun”
He walked away.
“See you later”
He took one last glance at him.
He looked happy.
They never talked after that.
He remembers seeing him waving at him. He never waved back.
He ignored him. Going back to ignoring his existence.
He remembers seeing his face. He looked hurt.
He remembers when he wasn’t present in school the next week. He knew that he skipped school from time to time but he was never gone for this long. He shrugged it off. Why should he care? They weren’t friends.
The weeks turned into two and the weeks turned into months. Three months later but he never came. He eventually forgot about him.
He remembers the moment the teacher stepped into the room. Something was different…
The teacher raised her head. She had a mournful look on her face.
He didn’t pay attention at first. Just scribbling away on his notebook.
What got his attention was the name the teacher mentioned “Natsuki Subaru-
is missing-”
He could hear the whispers forming around him. He was surprised. Questions started forming in his head.
What?
How?
Why?
Who?
It was on his mind the entire day.
On the walk home, he passed by the Natsuki Family’s home.
He remembers all the other times he walked by. Natsuki Kenichi’s voice would be heard bright and early in the morning.
He would sometimes see Natsuki Naoko opening the curtains. Sometimes she’d wave at him and he would wave back.
Sometimes he’d see Natsuki Subaru…
Things were different today. He didn’t notice it earlier.
The normally loud Natsuki Kenichi couldn’t be heard.
The curtains were closed. He couldn’t see Natsuki Naoko.
He already knew that there was no Natsuki Subaru.
The first thing he did when he entered his home was rush to his room then lay on his bed.
All he could do was think about Natsuki Subaru.
He remembers the only conversation they had ( if you can even call it that ).
He remembers the look on his face when they talked.
He remembers the look on his face when he said “see you later”
He remembers the look on his face when he didn’t wave back.
He remembers these very few things about Natsuki Subaru.
“Maybe we could’ve been friends”