—Naoaki's POV—
They say the soul remembers what the mind forgets.
So even when I forgot his name,
Even when I didn't know why my chest ached around him,
Why the world quieted whenever he looked at me—
My soul remembered.
And now, I do too.
We didn't tell anyone.
Not yet.
Some things… they were too tender to hand over to the world too quickly.
Some things had to bloom in quiet.
Ren and I began moving through life differently after that day on the rooftop.
His touches became slower, more intentional.
His gaze, softer.
But we still argued sometimes. He was sharp-edged and proud, and I was stubborn in ways he didn't expect.
But there was a difference now.
Every fight ended with one of us whispering: "Don't go."
Because we had lost each other before.
And we refused to do it again.
One evening, while walking home after cram school, I stopped him in the middle of an empty street.
"Ren," I said.
He turned, one brow raised, hair tousled by the breeze. He looked like something out of a movie—tall, refined, impossible.
"You remembered me for so long," I said. "All those lives. All that pain. And you never forced me to remember. Why?"
His expression flickered.
"Because I didn't want you to love me out of obligation," he murmured. "I wanted you to choose me. Even if it took forever."
I stepped closer and rested my forehead against his chest.
"I'm choosing you now."
He held me there, breathing deeply.
Like he was afraid I'd disappear.
Later, I found a notebook in his bag.
He tried to snatch it away, but I already saw the title.
"Lives with You."
It was full of drawings and scribbled stories.
Me in a hundred timelines.
Him watching from the corners.
Us… always finding our way back.
And in the last page, just a single line:
"If you never remember, I'll still love you. And if you do… I'll love you louder."
I hugged him tighter than I ever had before.
And as I whispered, "I love you too,"
he whispered back, "I know."
Because deep down…
he had always known.