Weeks passed. Kenji was forgetting. Small details first. Then bigger things.
He no longer remembered the color of Haru's eyes. Then he no longer remembered his voice. Then he began to forget the Violet World itself.
He wrote everything in a notebook. Read it every morning. But the words seemed strange. As if they belonged to someone else.
One day, he looked at the notebook. Read the first sentence: "My name is Kenji. I dreamed of Haru."
He stopped. Who was Haru? He closed his eyes. Tried to remember. Nothing.
He panicked. Ran to the store. Found Maru there.
"Maru! Who is Haru?"
Maru looked at him. Deep sadness in his eyes. "You don't remember him?"
Kenji shook his head.
Maru came closer. "He was your friend. He was... me."
Kenji didn't understand. But something in his heart felt it. A warm feeling. Strange. Familiar.
"I... don't remember," he whispered.
Maru smiled sadly. "It's okay."
That night, Kenji dreamed. He dreamed of the Violet World. But it was different. Calmer. And Haru stood before him.
"Are you okay?" Haru asked.
Kenji nodded. "But I'm forgetting."
Haru smiled sadly. "I know."
"What's happening to me?"
Haru looked at him. "Remember the law I told you when you first came here?"
Kenji remembered. "If the infected person forgets their imaginary character..."
"It disappears," Haru completed. "The character disappears. And the world disappears. But you can build a new world."
Kenji's eyes teared up. "I don't want to forget you."
Haru came closer. "You won't forget me. You'll feel me. Every time you laugh. Every time you love."
Kenji closed his eyes. When he opened them, Haru was gone. But he felt him. Inside.
He woke up. Sat on his bed. Cried. But he didn't know why.