Chapter 18
The Last Memory.
The old station looked different when Aira returned.
It wasn't abandoned anymore.
It was silent.
Too silent.
No trains passed through.
No people walked along the platforms.
Even the wind seemed to avoid the place.
Aira stood beside Ren at the entrance.
“Do you remember this place?”
Ren nodded.
“More than I want to.”
Aira looked at him.
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
She smiled faintly.
“Me too.”
They walked inside.
The lights above them flickered as they passed.
Aira could hear something beneath the floor.
A faint sound.
Like someone whispering from very far away.
Ren stopped.
“Did you hear that?”
Aira nodded.
They followed the sound down the old staircase.
At the bottom, they found a door.
It wasn't there the last time.
Aira placed her hand on the handle.
The door opened by itself.
Beyond it was a long corridor.
Photographs covered both walls.
Hundreds of them.
Maybe thousands.
Aira stopped.
Every photograph showed someone who had disappeared.
Children.
Parents.
Friends.
People standing beside people who no longer remembered them.
Ren walked slowly beside her.
“How many?”
Aira couldn't answer.
Then she saw Yuto.
He was standing in one of the photographs.
He looked younger than she remembered.
Beside him was Haru.
Both boys were smiling.
Aira touched the photograph.
The image changed.
Yuto was no longer smiling.
He was looking directly at her.
Aira stepped back.
“Ren.”
“I saw it.”
Yuto's mouth moved.
Aira couldn't hear him.
Then the photograph cracked.
A voice came from behind them.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Aira turned.
The Keeper stood at the end of the corridor.
Aira walked toward her.
“Where is Haru?”
The Keeper looked at Ren.
“He remembers everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he remembers why he disappeared.”
Aira's heart tightened.
“Tell me.”
The Keeper shook her head.
“He has to tell you himself.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, you'll never believe it.”
Aira stared at her.
“Then take us to him.”
The Keeper stepped aside.
A door appeared behind her.
Aira and Ren walked through it.
They found themselves on an empty platform.
A boy was sitting at the edge.
He looked about the same age as Aira.
Dark hair.
Quiet eyes.
A familiar expression.
He turned around.
Aira stopped breathing.
She knew that face.
Not from a photograph.
Not from a memory.
From somewhere deeper.
“Haru?”
The boy stood.
“Yes.”
Aira looked at Ren.
Haru smiled sadly.
“You finally came.”
Aira stepped closer.
“Why did you disappear?”
Haru looked toward the tracks.
“Because I asked Yuto to help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“Remember.”
Aira frowned.
“I don't understand.”
Haru looked at her.
“Your family has been forgetting people for generations.”
Aira's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because someone made a promise long ago.”
“What promise?”
Haru pointed toward the darkness beyond the tracks.
“To never let the forgotten return.”
Aira stared at him.
“Who made it?”
Haru's eyes became sad.
“Your ancestor.”
Silence filled the platform.
Ren stepped forward.
“And Yuto?”
“He discovered the truth.”
“That's why he disappeared.”
Haru nodded.
“Yuto wanted to break the promise.”
Aira's eyes filled with tears.
“My sister knew?”
“She discovered the same thing.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
Haru looked at Aira.
“Because she knew the promise could only be broken by someone who remembered everything.”
Aira whispered,
“Me.”
Haru nodded.
“You are the first person in your family who can remember the forgotten without being erased yourself.”
Aira looked down at her hands.
All the strange memories suddenly made sense.
The photographs.
The train.
The seven days.
Her sister.
Yuto.
The Keeper.
They had all been leading here.
Ren took her hand.
Haru watched them.
“You brought him.”
“Yes.”
“Then you can do it.”
“Do what?”
Haru pointed toward the end of the platform.
A train was approaching.
But it wasn't the same train.
This one was filled with light.
Every window contained a face.
Every forgotten person.
Every lost memory.
Haru spoke softly.
“Open the door.”
Aira looked at the train.
“How?”
“Remember them.”
The train stopped.
Its doors opened.
Hundreds of voices whispered her name.
Aira felt overwhelmed.
She looked at Ren.
He squeezed her hand.
“You don't have to do it alone.”
Aira took a deep breath.
Then she stepped forward.
“I remember.”
The lights inside the train began to glow.
One by one, the faces became clearer.
People who had been forgotten.
People who had been loved.
People who had been waiting.
Aira spoke louder.
“I remember you.”
The station shook.
The photographs on the walls began changing.
Names appeared.
Faces returned.
And somewhere in the distance, someone began crying.
Aira knew that voice.
Her sister.
The train doors opened wider.
Then the Keeper appeared beside Aira.
She looked at the glowing train.
“You've broken the first seal.”
Aira turned.
“What happens now?”
The Keeper looked toward the darkness.
“Now the forgotten can come home.”
Aira smiled.
But the Keeper didn't.
“There is still one memory left.”
Aira's smile disappeared.
“Whose?”
The Keeper looked at Ren.
Aira slowly turned toward him.
Ren's expression had changed.
He looked frightened.
“Aira…”
She stepped closer.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“I remember now.”
“Remember what?”
Ren looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“I was there when Yuto disappeared.”
Aira froze.
“And I was the one who promised him I would bring him back.”