Do you remember when I wrote ‘I love you’ on your hand? We cried a river of tears that day and I told you to never forget me.

So why did you forget?

It was our middle school graduation. Perhaps we were being overdramatic, or maybe I really did think that I would never see you again. I was going to a different high school after all. Not far, but far enough to where I wouldn’t be able to see you everyday like always. The days of us watching anime together, you gushing about your favorite seasonal anime that you were watching, arguing about which Melee player was better, power scaling DBZ characters, and most importantly, the days of seeing you in-person. It’d all be gone wouldn’t it?

Funnily enough after our graduation, we kept doing a lot of that stuff. Covid revived our friendship, but I still wouldn’t be able to see you in-person. We watched so much stuff together and spent so much time together during Covid. The 12 hours of league, AMQ games where you would destroy me, the late night 6 am melee sessions. You were always better than me at everything, but I never cared. I enjoyed playing with you so much, much more than you would ever believe.

So sometimes, I just wonder to myself, why did you forget me? Because I still haven’t forgotten you. Are we really Mitsuha and Taki?

The bear keychain you gave me on my 14th birthday is still on my backpack to this day. I’ve taken him to Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, across the world.

He’s my red string, a reminder of you that will never leave me. Even if I can’t remember your face, he’ll always remind me that you were the most important person to enter and leave my life.

So… what was your name?