Why?
“Because I have to save Souta!”
“He doesn’t need your help.”
“Huh?”
“Souta will spend the next decades becoming a Keystone imbued with a god. We can no longer reach him in our realm.”
His words are like a verdict. A chill runs down my spine.
“You may not understand this, but it is an honor that most people can never hope for. Souta was a poor apprentice, but in the end, he seems to have demonstrated his dedication…”
Mr. Munakata squints as if the ceiling has suddenly grown too bright to look at.
“I can’t believe that…!” I blurt out, bending over. “There must be some way!”
“Would you disregard Souta’s feelings?” he asks slowly, like he wants to be sure I understand. His face is blank.
“Huh?”
“Who put in the Keystone?”
“Uh, well…”
“Was it you?”
“Um, but…”
“Answer me!” he suddenly shouts.
“Yes!” I say, the words forced out from me.
“I see. That’s good! If you hadn’t, a million people would have died last night. You prevented that. So keep your mouth shut, be proud of what you’ve done for the rest of your life, and…”
His voice is growing more insistent. The air quivers as he speaks.
“…go back to where you came from!”
His words overpower me like a strong wind. I step back, and he lets out a long, deep breath. As if exhausted from speaking, he closes his eyes, his face still turned toward the ceiling.
“…This matter does not concern people like you. You must forget everything.”
I stand rooted to the ground, my heart pounding. My cheeks are burning. I take a deep breath.
“…I can’t forget,” I choke out in a whisper. I’m furious. “…I’m going to reopen that underground door.” I turn toward the room’s exit.
The old man’s eyes are still closed. It was stupid of me to try to rely on anyone else. This is our battle—mine and Souta’s.
“What are you saying? Wait!” his grandfather shouts at my back. “What will you do after you open it?!”
“I’ll get inside, somehow.”
“Impossible. You can’t go in that way!”
I’m about to step out of the room, and I put my hand on the doorknob.
“You must not open the Gate!” he thunders at my back.
As soon as he finishes speaking, a coughing fit overtakes him. The phlegmy sound is awful, like he’s choking.
I look back in surprise and find that his body is convulsing painfully. Moving on instinct, I run to his side. But I don’t know what to do, and I freeze in front of the bed. His torso shakes violently as he pushes a button on the remote in his hand. With a low whir, the top half of the bed rises. His coughing dies down, and the hurried beeping of the monitor slows back down to its original tempo.
Still sitting up, he lets out a long, slow breath. Beads of sweat dot his face. His eyes are closed. That’s when I notice the way his hospital gown drapes from his right shoulder—his arm is missing.
“…Ever-After is beautiful, but it’s the land of the dead.”
His chest heaves like bellows as he speaks. A quiet dignity has returned to his voice. He opens his bloodshot eyes and stares at me.
“Aren’t you scared?”
The question reminds me of Souta. He asked me the same thing. Back then, in Ehime and Kobe, we were fighting side by side. I felt like we were invincible. We had done something important that only we could do, and we’d done it without anyone knowing. We’d even left a mark at the top of the sky.
“…Not at all,” I say, glaring at him. “Ever since I was little, I’ve thought that life and death were just up to fate. But—”
But now.
“I’m more afraid of a world without Souta!”
My eyes are hot. I think I’m going to start crying again. But I don’t want to, so I squeeze my eyes shut.
Just then, Souta’s grandfather coughs loudly. No—he’s laughing, a loud, deeply amused laugh. I’m surprised to hear something so loud gush from such a shriveled old body. I gape at him, wondering what’s so funny.
He chuckles for a long time until his voice dies down, like the laughter has worn him out. On his face, however, a smile lingers as he tells me, “There is only one Gate a person can go through in their life.”
“Um—”
“You saw the world inside, didn’t you? What did you see?”
“Um, I saw—”
I search for the memory, caught off guard by his question. The harder I try to recall it, the further it recedes, like a mirage. But… That meadow under the starry sky I’ve seen so many times… The person walking through the grass… The one I found there…
“I saw myself as a little girl…and my mother, who should be dead…”
The man gives a small nod.
“Ever-After looks different to each person. There are as many Ever-Afters as there are human souls, but at the same time, they are all one.”
He pauses, waiting for the words to sink in.
“Perhaps you strayed there once when you were young. Do you remember anything like that?”
A scene bursts into my mind. A snowy night—I’m walking alone through cold slush. A door stands among the snow-dusted rubble. My little hand pushes the knob. Inside is a sky full of blinding stars.
Souta’s grandfather searches my face, then says in a deep voice that reminds me of Souta’s, “That is the only Gate you can enter. You must search for that door.”
The old man closes his eyes and shuts his wrinkled mouth tight. Go now, he is saying without words. His mouth does not open again. But I think I see the corners of his lips turn up very slightly, no more than a few millimeters, into a smile.
I stand facing him, my back straight, and offer him a long, deep bow. Then I wordlessly leave his room.