Sakura woke up with a feeling she couldn't name.
Not fear.
Not sadness.
Something softer.
Like she had already lost something before the day even began.
---
"…Haruto…" she whispered automatically.
The name came easily.
Too easily.
---
She paused.
"…why did I say it like that…"
Her voice sounded uncertain now.
Like the word itself had less weight than it should have.
---
Sakura sat up slowly.
Her room looked normal.
Familiar.
Safe.
But her chest disagreed with all of it.
---
She reached for her phone.
No messages.
No unknown number.
Nothing.
---
"…he was just here…" she muttered.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the blanket.
"…wasn't he?"
---
A moment passed.
Then another.
The silence didn't answer.
But it felt heavier than yesterday.
---
Sakura stood up and walked to the window.
Outside, the world moved as usual.
Students.
Cars.
Life continuing like nothing had shifted.
---
But Sakura noticed something wrong immediately.
A small detail.
A gap where something should have been.
---
"…that café…" she whispered.
Across the street, there was a building.
But she couldn't remember what it was yesterday.
Or if it had always been there.
---
She blinked.
"…no… I went there with him…"
---
A pause.
Her breath slowed.
"…didn't I?"
---
The memory resisted.
Not violently.
Just slipping.
Like it was no longer anchored properly.
---
Sakura pressed her hand to her chest.
"…stop it…" she whispered.
"…don't take that too…"
---
A faint vibration came from her phone.
She grabbed it instantly.
---
No number.
No call.
Just a single line.
---
> **"ISLANDING COMPLETE: MEMORY SEGMENT SEVERED."**
---
Sakura stared at it.
"…what does that mean…"
---
Her head hurt slightly now.
Not sharp pain.
Just pressure.
Like something inside her was being quietly edited.
---
She closed her eyes.
"…Haruto…" she said again.
But this time—
something was missing from the word.
---
The warmth behind it.
The certainty.
It wasn't gone completely.
But it was fading.
Slowly.
Unfairly.
---
Sakura stepped out of her room quickly.
"…I need to see him," she said firmly.
"…I need to hear him again."
---
But as she walked, something strange happened.
People passed her in the hallway.
Normal.
Unbothered.
But one of them bumped her shoulder slightly and didn't apologize.
Not rudely.
Just… didn't notice.
---
Sakura stopped.
"…hey…" she called softly.
The person kept walking.
No reaction.
---
Her fingers curled slightly.
"…I'm right here…" she whispered.
---
Nothing.
---
A cold feeling crept into her chest.
Not fear.
Recognition.
---
She remembered something Haruto said.
"…people stop noticing me…"
---
Her eyes widened slightly.
"…no…"
---
She ran.
---
Down the stairs.
Through the exit.
Into the open street.
Breathing faster now.
---
"…Haruto!" she called.
No response.
---
People turned slightly at the sound.
But their eyes slid past her immediately after.
Like she was not worth keeping in focus.
---
Sakura stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
Her breath uneven.
"…I'm still here…" she said.
"…I'm still here, right?"
---
No one answered.
---
And then—
very faintly—
a voice.
Not from beside her.
Not from behind her.
But from somewhere she almost couldn't reach anymore.
---
"…Sakura…"
---
Her head snapped up.
"…Haruto!"
---
But the voice didn't continue.
It struggled.
Like it was underwater.
Like it was being pulled away.
---
"…don't… come…"
---
Her heart tightened.
"…what?" she whispered.
"…what do you mean don't come?"
---
The voice flickered again.
Weaker now.
---
"…you're… slipping into me…"
---
Silence.
---
And then nothing.
---
Sakura stood frozen.
The street continued around her.
Unaware.
Unchanged.
---
But she wasn't part of it anymore.
Not fully.
Not the same way.
---
And far beyond the world she could see—
the system marked the progression quietly.
---
> **"ANCHOR INTEGRITY: 61%"**
> **"SUBJECT FADING ACCELERATION: CONFIRMED"**
> **"NEXT PHASE: SOCIAL ERASURE IMMINENT"**
---
Sakura took one shaky breath.
"…Haruto…" she whispered again.
But this time—
even she wasn't sure if someone heard it.