Chapter 22
The Seventh Platform.
The old station was quiet when Aira and Ren returned.
They stood beneath the entrance sign, looking at the empty platforms.
“There are only six,” Ren said.
Aira opened her sister's journal.
“Then the seventh one isn't supposed to be visible.”
They walked past the first platform.
Nothing.
The second.
Nothing.
The third.
Nothing.
By the sixth platform, Aira began to wonder if they had misunderstood the journal.
Then she noticed something beneath the station clock.
A narrow line ran across the wall.
She touched it.
The wall moved.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Ren stared at it.
“I officially hate this station.”
Aira smiled.
“You can stay here.”
“No.”
He followed her.
The staircase descended farther than either of them expected.
The air became colder.
The sounds of the city disappeared.
At the bottom was a long corridor.
There were seven doors.
Aira looked at the first.
A name was carved into it.
YUTO.
The second.
HARU.
The third contained another name.
Then another.
And another.
Each door belonged to someone who had disappeared.
Aira walked past them.
At the end was the seventh door.
There was no name.
Only the crescent symbol.
Ren looked at Aira.
“Your sister said not to open it.”
“I know.”
“Then maybe we shouldn't.”
Aira stared at the door.
For once, she didn't reach for the handle.
She remembered how many times they had followed clues without understanding where they were leading.
Maybe this time, waiting was the right choice.
Then they heard a voice behind them.
“You finally found it.”
Aira turned.
The mysterious man stood at the end of the corridor.
Ren stepped in front of her.
“You knew we'd come.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The man looked at the seventh door.
“Because your sister couldn't open it.”
Aira's heart tightened.
“Why not?”
“She wasn't the one chosen.”
Aira frowned.
“Chosen for what?”
The man looked directly at her.
“To remember the first memory.”
Ren took a step forward.
“You keep talking about memories. What exactly is the first one?”
The man was silent.
Then he said,
“The first time someone was forgotten.”
Aira looked at the seven doors.
“So the first disappearance created everything?”
“Yes.”
“Who disappeared?”
The man looked at the seventh door.
“No one knows.”
Aira stared at him.
“Then how can you know?”
“Because I was there.”
Silence.
Aira felt a chill.
“You?”
The man nodded.
“I was the first person who remembered.”
Ren's expression hardened.
“Then why did you let all those people disappear?”
The man's face changed.
“I didn't.”
He looked exhausted.
“I tried to stop it.”
“Then what happened?”
“I failed.”
Aira stepped closer.
“Who caused it?”
The man looked at her.
“You did.”
Aira froze.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“Not you.”
He pointed toward the seventh door.
“Someone in your family.”
Aira's heart sank.
“My ancestor?”
“Yes.”
Ren looked at the door.
“What did they do?”
The man answered quietly.
“They made a wish.”
Aira stared at him.
“What kind of wish?”
“To never lose anyone they loved.”
The corridor became completely silent.
Aira slowly understood.
The wish hadn't prevented loss.
It had created something much worse.
A world where people could be erased rather than truly lost.
The man looked at Aira.
“Your family has spent generations trying to undo that mistake.”
“My sister…”
“She came closer than anyone.”
Aira looked at the seventh door.
“What happens if I open it?”
The man didn't answer.
Ren took her hand.
“Aira.”
She looked at him.
“We don't have to do this today.”
Aira nodded.
For the first time, the mystery didn't feel like something chasing them.
It felt like something waiting.
She looked at the seventh door one last time.
“Then we leave it closed.”
The man looked surprised.
“You're not afraid?”
“I am.”
Aira squeezed Ren's hand.
“But I don't need to know everything today.”
They turned to leave.
Then the seventh door opened by itself.
Aira stopped.
A soft voice came from inside.
Her sister.
“Aira…”
Her heart broke.
She slowly turned around.
The darkness beyond the door seemed endless.
Then her sister spoke again.
“Come inside.”
Ren held Aira's hand tighter.
And this time, Aira didn't know whether the voice was truly calling her home…
or leading her somewhere she was never meant to return from.