"Hello there mister!"

Haruka bent down, not surprised to find that the girl was transparent. He was standing in a graveyard after all.

"Hi there,"He smiled at the young girl before him. "If you don't mind me asking, have you seen a boy named Shintarou around here? He has black hair and red eyes. Should be wearing a red jacket."

"Oh. Sometimes I see him by his gravestone at night. He's not really strong, so he can't appear during the day."

"Well, will you sit with me until he does show up? It's really important that I see him."

"Sure!"

They sat down on a nearby bench, Haruka removing his sketchbook from his bag and pulling his pencil from the spiral holding it together. The girl swung her legs back and forth next to him.

"Hey, what's you're name?"

"I'm Hiyori!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Haruka,"He turned to an empty page, then looked up at her. "Would you mind if I drew you, Hiyori?"

"Really? Go ahead!"She smiled, continuing to swing her legs.

"This'll be great for our video game,"He began sketching her face, mapping out her body before he gave any real detail to the picture.

"Game?"

"Yeah."He began drawing her eyes. "It's a sort of memorial to the people we've lost. Ayano's mom, Shintarou..."

He paused, adding detail to her iris. She leaned over to look at his drawing, eyes gleaming at the sight.

"Mister?"

"Yes?"

"Can I be part of the game too?"

"Oh..."He glanced up, the tip of his pencil breaking. "Of course, Hiyori."

They were silent for a moment, the sun settling on the horizon. Haruka finished his drawing just as the streetlight above them clicked on. Hiyori stood up and turned to face him, her dress spinning around her.

"Your friend should be here soon, mister. I've gotta get back to my grave and wait for my mommy."

"I guess I'll be seeing you then,"Haruka waved.

"Bye bye!"She waved and began running away.

He saw a few minutes later that she really had run to see her mom. Haruka knew very well that her mother couldn't see her, but by some miracle, maybe she could hear her daughter. He smiled and waved when the lady glanced over, then stood, putting his book back in his bag and making his way to Shintarou's grave.

Shintarou was there, just as Hiyori had said, sitting atop his own gravestone. He grinned, seeing Haruka approaching.

"Hey."

Haruka began digging through his bag before saying anything to Shintarou. Out came a bundle of letters, all in colorful envelopes and labled 'To Shintarou' in many different types of handwriting. Haruka handed them to Shintarou.

"These are from everyone. Read them, please."

"Oh,"He untied the string around them. "Okay."

For ten minutes, Haruka sat, his back against the gravestone, listening to the boy behind him make noises varying from sobs to laughs to thank yous.

"Wow."

"I found your suicide note that day,"Haruka spoke suddenly as Shintarou folded up the last letter. "Thank you."

"It was worth it,"Shintarou said, wiping his eyes. "Saving all of you, I mean."

"How'd you know it would work?"

"I didn't. When I was sitting there, I didn't know if my death would change anything or not. It was a hunch, and if it didn't do anything, it didn't."

"I'm just glad that hunch was right,"Haruka looked up. "You know we beat him, right?"

"Yeah, I got to watch that much,"Shintarou replied. "They were merciful enough."

"Not to us."

"Yeah. Not to you guys."

They sat in silence for a minute, before Shintarou handed the notes back to Haruka. The latter looked up, confused at his friend's gesture.

"I can't take them with me when I go."

"Why not?"

Shintarou laughed, glancing to the sky.

"It doesn't matter. What they said is enough. I don't think I could forget if I tried."

"You never forget anything."

"Good point."

They were drowned in silence once again. Hiyori's mother waved to Haruka again as she left the graveyard,closing the gate behind her with a small metallic clack.

"What happened in between me dying and the end?"

"A lot."

"We have at least six hours."

"It'll take that long."

"I'm up for it if you are."

So for five and a half hours, Haruka told Shintarou every excruciating detail of the time between his suicide and the end of their struggle with the snakes. Every detail, from the funny parts, like their visit to the amusement park, to the painful parts, like when Momo began crying about the suicide note that Haruka had finally given her.

"And then we went to the lab and...the rest, you're familiar with."

Shintarou was silent. Then he stood up, his ghostly form not fully pressed to the ground. The grass didn't bend under his feet.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I've got to,"Shintarou cursed under his breath. "Tell everyone I said hello and goodbye."

"I will."

"And do me a favor."

"Yeah?"

"Tell my girlfriend I love her."

Shintarou began walking away then, not waiting for Haruka's answer. Three gravestones away, his form faded, leaving nothing behind.

All Haruka could think was how he had to draw that moment, and keep it forever.