This was something I had been writing for awhile but put off for awhile as well. Anyways...

Kirsch was nonchalantly making his way down the town when he caught his friend sitting on a yellow bench, idly swinging her legs back and forth as she stared vacantly into the sunset.

It was a surprising sight, to say the least.

"Hey," he began, "I usually never see you when I'm out." Grabbing the empty spot beside her, he sighed in content before looking into the distance. It really was nice out. "A bench near a cliff—you'd think that it'd be a safety hazard, but it isn't. Makes for a great view, doesn't it?" He laughed at himself, but the girl beside him made no attempt to join in.

"Yeah." the girl responded, flat and bland. Curious, Kirsch fixed his Pilot's Hat and removed his Aviator Shades, leaning in to stare at the tomboy's face.

Her brown eyes (similar in shape to that of his own) were glazed over, bandaged face dark from a shadow made by the brim of her Student Cap. Her short black hair was neatly tucked into it. She was wearing a coat made by a foreign designer—a bit fancy for her, but it still fit her style. Nothing seemed to be out of order except for her expression; it was just so depressing to look at. Kirsch had to avert his gaze, discomfort and concern settling in.

"You okay?" Was all he could manage, unsure of how to react.

There was a pause. A long one. Waiting for a few minutes, the mayor found his patience waning, almost opening his mouth to ask the girl again when she hushed him with her words.

—

Kirsch fixed his Pilot's Hat and recently acquired Aviator Shades. It was a look he rather liked and he, at that moment, decided to make it a regular thing. Making his way down the steps of his luxurious home, he commenced his day by checking his mail and there sat a single letter in his mailbox. Not recalling anyone who would send him a letter on this day, he opened the envelope and read the contents expecting just another letter from a vill...

Dear Kirsch,

I've lived here for awhile and I've been thinking of what little I've done here.

I think it's time.

What? A moving away letter? Kirsch tried to remember who was supposed to move on this day but he was absolutely sure none of the villagers had been planning to. At least, no one had warned him.

I'm sorry. This is goodbye.

Who could it have been? And why were they sorry? He'd never seen such a dramatic moving away letter before...

Forever.

Forever? He just couldn't understand...

From Drew

...Drew. He recalled the familiar name in his head.

Wait...?

...DREW?

He panicked, stuffing the letter messily into his pocket as he made his way over to the spot where Drew's house once stood.

It was empty; only a patch of dead grass lay where the large structure was once built.

Drew was gone.

Kirsch was about to curse when Lolly opened the door to exit her home. Her house was built right above Drew's. If anyone saw the human girl leave, it would have been Lolly! The brunet didn't even need to approach the cat girl—she was already running toward him.

"Oh! Mayor Kirsch, I just had a new idea for a public works pro-"

"Hold on, before you suggest something..." He looked at her sternly. "Where did Drew go?"

"...Who's Drew?" Lolly tilted her large feline head to the side, putting a paw on her chin. "Is that a new resident?"

Kirsch paled. This had to be some cruel joke.

"N...No, w-why are you saying that?" Grabbing her by the shoulders, he shook the grey cat. "You must have saw her leave! She lived right...Right there!" Kirsch pointed at the worn, vacant spot. His eyes bored into the cat girl, and he felt her shoulders quivering in his fists. "Please, Lolly...You used to say hi to her every morning."

"I'm s-sorry, mayor. I really...I don't know who you're talking about." She looked frightened, but her answer was genuine. "For as long as I can recall, no one has lived in front of me and the only person I say hi to every morning is Cream."

"You mean...The blonde girl?"

"Yes! Her brother, too. You know, the one with the red hair—Milk, I think his name was." Her usual smile returned. "They're nice people. But no Drew, sorry..." Titling her head once more, she looked at her mayor with some doubt. "Are you sure this person isn't just a friend from a different town?"

"N-no, Drew...She lived here. There were four humans."

The feline looked shocked. "What!? Now I'm sure you're confused." She shook her head. "There has, and always will be, three humans."

"B-but..."

"Um, Mayor? I have some errands I have to do right now but maybe we can talk later?"

"Oh, uh, sorry..."

He let her go.

—

Kirsch entered the Post Office gasping for air. He stumbled over to Pelly and began the process of flattening out the letter he had crumpled up earlier. The pelican jumped back, surprised by the frantic behaviour her mayor was exhibiting but ignored it when he folded the letter back into the pink envelope it came from, jabbing her in the wing with it.

"Preserve this. Keep this. Save this. Don't ever toss this." Quickly, Pelly grabbed the envelope, ignoring the standard procedure she would normally suggest.

"Is that all you'd like to save?" Kirsch nodded. "Can I help you with anything else?" He shook his head, thanking her and rushed out the door again. The white female pelican sighed, holding up the single envelope she was told to save. "Being mayor must be stressful for him..." It was then she noticed the name beside the standard from one would fill their name in.

Strange. She'd never seen this name before.

"Who...Who is Drew?"

—

He was standing outside the museum. There must be something here; she had donated. Her name must have been somewhere...

"Aha! Mantis donated by..." He paused, biting his lip. "...Anonymous?" That wasn't right. Drew had donated it. Kirsch was sure that her name had been there yesterday. Her name had been there multiple times yesterday, and as many times as it had been there it was here now; no longer did it say her name, however. Now, all her donations had been labelled as Anonymous. Donated by some unknown person. It was if...As if they didn't even know her, or that she even existed.

Kirsch paused.

"Blathers. I have to ask Blathers. Surely, as the one who handles these things...I have to ask him."

He burst into the entryway, locking his eyes onto the sleeping curator.

"BLATHERS!"

"EH WOT WOT!" The owl woke up with a start, looking around for the cause of his heart attack. "Oh! I was just resting my eyes...What can I do for you?"

"D...Do you remember who donated that mantis to you?"

"Goodness, a mantis!" The bird paled at the thought of recalling the donator of an insect. "I don't like to go into too many details when it comes to those crawling insects...Oh, they're just so horrible..." Kirsch watched him quickly trail off and just as quickly return to being on point. "But, yes; I can assist. If I may ask, what does the person in question look like?"

"Oh, well, she—" His mind was drawing a blank but he pinned that to being in shock. "Well, she's a human...And she looks like...Looks like..."

What had she looked like?

That's really odd. It was only yesterday, but he couldn't even remember the way her hair was cut.

—

"Would...Would you be sad if I left?" She asked, eyes still glued to the orange skies and falling sun behind the waters. Kirsch found the question to be a bit odd, as she had showed no indication of packing her items up—or leaving, for that matter—and if she was moving away, she hadn't told him. That in itself was worrisome. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the dark haired female suddenly turned her head, expecting an answer; the brunet could feel this and rushed to find his words.

"Of course," started Kirsch, upset but refusing to stare at the girl beside him, "you've been here for almost as long as I have." He looked down, watching both their legs swinging about purposelessly. He always hated that habit—especially now. It just made everything seem so...Happy. How Drew could just casually sway them back and forth when she was considering this in secret bothered him. Before he allowed her to turn away again, he looked directly into her eyes, making the frown on his face the most prominent feature on his head. "You were there when I was still just a Freshman Mayor—the first other human to move here...You're like a sister to me."

The tomboy raised an eyebrow. "A...Sister?" Kirsch forced himself to continue his frown even when she began to laugh suddenly. "Good thing you didn't say girlfriend. No offence."

He couldn't help a smirk. "None taken. Besides, you'd punch me."

"Yeah," the girl smiled, looking proud, "I would."

Both of them allowed for a brief peaceful passing of time but she found herself saddened—perhaps more so than before—very quickly soon after.

"I mean, would you miss me, though?" She looked serious, as if almost demanding him to do it.

"Well, I probably would, or I wouldn't be sad."

"You don't get it." It was low but he could still hear it. With a sigh, she continued. "What I'm asking is—would you remember me enough to miss me?"

He had thought that was a strange question. In fact, it was a strange thing to say in general. "I'll always remember you." Kirsch grin, exaggeratedly, for the both of them. "You gave me this awesome hat, after all. Something physical to remember you by, should you ever decide to move away." Coughing uncomfortably, he fixed his hat and looked at his legs. "Not saying you should, but just in case."

"Something physical..." The girl was looking pensively at the sun, as if it were involved with her thoughts. "Yeah, I can do that." She hopped off the bench, motioning Kirsch to follow with her arm. "We're going to my place. I'll give you stuff, so come on. You know, I'll give you a lot more—in fact, everything." She began walking towards her home, the home at the opposite direction of his own, legs moving with purpose. "...I won't be needing anything anymore."

"What do you mean...?" She was suddenly tearing down her home at an alarming rate, calmly handing her friend furniture and little accessories that she had collected over the past few months. These were precious things to her and Kirsch felt his stomach churn, knowing this yet not knowing why she was doing what she was doing.

"All I ask is that you take these...And remember me."

"I will remember you! I don't need all of this; you're just moving, right? Shouldn't you take these with you?" He felt insulted at her apparent lack of faith in him.

"No." She began disposing things in the trash haphazardly, knowing her friend couldn't possibly take it all. "I'm leaving. There's a difference."

"What are you saying-"

"Trust me, after awhile it'll...It'll feel like I never left..." She exhaled sharply, halting her actions. The room was bare, cleaned of all her possessions and wallpaper, carpet torn and pulled away from the floor. It looked abandoned. Now, she made her way to the boy, forcing a black hybrid rose into his hand.

Kirsch felt water droplets slide down his wrist.

She was crying.

"Please, if no one else does, then just you is fine."

Remember me.

—

He began the day as usual, checking his mail.

"Whoa, Milk sent me a rococo chair. Nice." The brunet chuckled at the cow paper covered in exclamation points. "Pft, cute letter. Probably should save this."

Envelope in hand, mayor Kirsch made his way to the Post Office where he was greeted by the ever so courteous pelican, who stretched out a wing, already ready to receive the letter.

But then he frowned. "I don't have any room...? Man, I really need to lay off the dumb letter saving..."

He figured that he'd just replace one...Let's see...

A letter from Drew...?

I...

I wonder who that is?

Huh, I can't recall...

"...Mayor? What would you like me to do with this letter?" Pelly picked up the last saved letter with the peculiar name on it from her files and briefly held it up to her mayor.

"Huh...! Um..." He waved his hand, dismissing the envelope. "Just toss it—I got this really weird letter from Milk..."

Nodding, the pelican disposed of the letter and took the new one from his hands.

Don't ever toss this.

—

"Good morning, Drew! Shall we get started?" Isabelle was as chipper as ever and Drew appreciated her cheeriness, all things considered, and gave the dog a sincere smile.

"Actually, I need help first..." Immediately, the smile changed as she spoke the next sentence.

The yellow canine gasped, horrified.

"...Wait—WHAT!? A-are you sure you want to do that...? E...Everything will be gone. You'll lose everything!"

"Don't worry, Isabelle. Do it."

Drew inhaled sharply, taking a last look down at herself; she knew that it would no longer be anything very soon.

"Erase me."

—

"Hey, did you know? Egbert's moving in right under Lolly. It'll be nice to finally have a house there..."

Kirsch smiled at Isabelle, who remained silent but returned the expression.

"...Because I always thought it looked empty."