5
The train to Haneda Airport was empty. There was maybe one group per long bench. It was past eight, so the rush had long since died down.
In that quiet car, Sakuta was using Ikumi’s phone to watch Touko Kirishima videos. One after another, with the volume all the way off.
With the intent of confirming Sara’s theory.
The first video had a Santa doll.
The second a Christmas Tree.
The third a snow globe.
Later videos had sleds pulled by reindeer, stockings stuffed with presents, heaps of ornaments… Like Sara had said, they all had something Christmassy in them. And Sakuta recognized every last piece.
They’d all been somewhere in Nene’s room.
The video he was on now had a toy block lodge with a chimney on top and Santa about to climb down it to deliver presents.
That was no coincidence.
There was a clear intent.
And with that confirmed, he was done watching videos.
“Thanks for the phone,” he said, handing it back. Ikumi was sitting next to him.
“Had enough?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.”
“You sure you wanna come, Akagi?”
Their train left Keikyu Kamata Station, already bound for the airport itself. Ikumi should have disembarked all the way back at Yokohama Station.
“If it’s related to messages from the other world, I wanna know.”
That’s why she’d offered to come along back at Kanazawa-hakkei Station.
“This isn’t on you, Akagi.”
“Sorry, I was born this way.”
“I know, and it’s not something to apologize for.”
“You prefer ‘Thank you,’ right?” Ikumi looked sheepish.
“Someone I know taught me that the best things to hear are ‘Nice work’ and ‘I love you.’”
“……”
Izumi caught what he meant, and her gaze fell. But then she managed, “Thank you for letting me invite myself along. That better?”
“Much better.”
The next stop was the end of the line—the domestic flights terminal.
The last flight that night to New Chitose Airport took Sakuta and Ikumi into the air at nine thirty.
It rose up through the night clouds.
The lights of the ground faded, and the night sky stretched out above.
At last they reached cruising altitude at thirty-three thousand feet, flying at five hundred miles an hour. The air pressure shift made his ears pop. When that eased, the seat belt light went off, but an announcement warned them to keep their belts on when seated.
Just as things settled down again, a cabin attendant started wheeling a cart around, offering drinks. Sakuta lowered his tray and took a hot onion soup. There was a bear’s face staring back from the side of the paper cup. Ikumi saw that and smiled.
“The bear’s not smiling.”
“I like to think it is.”
It was past ten, and the cabin was sleepily still.
The hum of the engines, the occasional turbulence.
Other passengers were watching movies on their phones or sleeping with blankets wrapped around them.
Sakuta kept one eye on the display showing the distance remaining and their flight speed, thinking.
About Touko Kirishima.
No, about Nene Iwamizawa.
A college junior. Majoring in international liberal arts.
From Hokkaido. Born March 30.
Played the piano, sang.
Started modeling back in high school, in Hokkaido.
Moved to Tokyo for college.
Landed a modeling agency, launched her career.
Crowned Miss Campus at a beauty contest in her sophomore year, becoming very recognizable. Her social media accounts picked up steam.
But then that spring, she stopped posting.
He imagined that’s when other people stopped perceiving her. If Rio was correct, she’d tried to stop being Nene Iwamizawa and become Touko Kirishima.
Perhaps her awareness of her original identity had already begun to fade.
Sakuta had met her last year, at the end of October.
Right after Uzuki dropped out of college.
She’d been dressed as a miniskirt Santa and introduced herself as Touko Kirishima.
“……”
That was about all Sakuta knew.
He didn’t know how she felt about the move to Tokyo.
What she’d dreamed of, how her life on campus had gone.
He could only speculate about why she’d started vanishing.
There was no use thinking about any of that.
He could well ponder it for hours, days, and not reach the right answer. He would only be Sakuta and could never be Nene Iwamizawa.
He knew that—yet could not stop the wheels in his brain turning.
The dim lights in the cabin led him there.
Sakuta’s thoughts were still going in circles when the captain warned them they’d be landing soon.
An hour and a half after takeoff.
Through the window, he could see Hokkaido at night.
“We look forward to serving you again.”
The flight attendants bowed the passengers off the plane, and Sakuta joined the flow, absently walking down the long corridors of the airport. Ikumi tagged along behind.
It was now past eleven, and the relatively empty airport was weirdly stressful.
They kept walking.
At last, they spied the arrivals lobby.
People waited outside the gates, scanning the crowds. Maybe thirty of them.
Mothers welcoming their sons with a smile, men looking relieved to see their girls back home.
And in that crowd, Sakuta found a man in an orange scarf.
Takumi.
He’d seen Sakuta, too, and raised a hand, smiling to welcome his friend. That smile soon gave way to surprise, his eyes shifting to one side—he’d spotted Ikumi.
His jaw was still hanging open when they reached the lobby.
“I didn’t think you’d actually come.”
The same sentiment, that same smile.
“I said I would.”
“Most people would be joking. And…” His gaze turned to Ikumi.
“Sorry to impose,” she said, bobbing her head.
“Oh, that’s totally fine. I just wondered why.”
As they continued talking, they moved to the side of the room, out of the flow of traffic.
“So what’s the plan? You got a place to stay?” Takumi asked, settling down on a bench.
“Hang on, I wanna touch base first.”
With that, Ikumi stepped away. Clearly giving them a chance to talk.
Best he got to the point, then. Sakuta was pressed for time.
He sat down next to Takumi, a comfortable gap between them. This made the head of the trophy pop out of his coat pocket, and both their eyes lit on it.
“What is that?”
“Here.”
Sakuta pulled the trophy out and showed it to Takumi.
A trophy proving that Nene had won the beauty contest.
“Seen this before?”
“……”
Takumi frowned. His expression was tense.
That reaction alone didn’t tell Sakuta much. Was that surprise? Bafflement? It could be read either way.
The only thing he was sure of—Takumi was looking at the trophy. Not taking his eyes off it.
He waited—and Takumi reached out, brushed his fingers against it, then took a firm hold on it.
Sakuta let go, and Takumi pulled the trophy to him, cradling it in his arms.
His fingers ran over the engraving.
Over the name Nene Iwamizawa.
Tenderly, again and again.
Takumi’s lips fluttered.
No words emerged.
He should know her name, but he did not say it. Perhaps he couldn’t.
“Azusagawa,” he said, at length.
“Fukuyama, relax. Remember.”
This trophy was clearly triggering something.
But Takumi shook his head.
Again and again, rejecting Sakuta’s words.
“No, Azusagawa,” he said, his voice shaking. Hoarse.
“…Fukuyama?”
“I mean, this is…,” Takumi croaked. “She was overjoyed.”
A burst of emotion.
“I’d never seen Nene happier than when she won this contest!”
At last, her name crossed his lips. Tears were in his eyes.
Big drops fell, landing on the trophy. Pooling in Nene’s name.
“How could I have forgotten that?!”
Takumi was staring at her name, a tender look in his eyes.
“Worth the trip to Hokkaido, then,” Sakuta said, patting Takumi on the back.
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