“Recent events involving the surviving Kitagawa family (which reigned over the country of Solowari for over three centuries before the Enlightenment Revolution) have ended in tragedy. Ex-imperial prince Joel Kitagawa was found dead yesterday morning, after being pushed off a 1971 ft skyscraper by the Republic’s President of the Medical Expansion, Regulation, and Formulation Bureau, Kanata Takahashi, who fell from the force of pushing the prince, and perished as well. From the most recent information provided by the People’s Republic of Solowari, the incident was sparked by the recent murder of Eri Tanaka, a sixteen year old girl who up until that point, had been believed to be the missing heir to the Solowarian throne, Hoshiko Kitagawa. In other news, debate on qualifications for hosting the International Nomad Games is increasing in importance.”
There was a very sharp, cold wind as the ground came closer, and closer, and then there was a splat. The train slid smoothly into the station, and let out a whistle. The doors opened. Everyone walked out onto the platform, and Kanata followed suit, not particularly sure why, or how.
The station was warm, but breezy thanks to the lack of a wall on the opposite side of the track. It opened up to a water colored salt flat that seemed to stretch on forever, and shot the sunlight into the station like a perfect mirror.
The green, white, and yellow station was filled almost to the brim with people. There was a particularly large number of young men and women, which weaved through the traffic, repeating the same name out loud until they found who they were looking for.
When many of the passengers arrived, they seemed similar to Kanata, being completely befuddled by the situation, but they all seemed to find a familiar face, and the reunions that followed were nothing short of pure joy, and long pent up hopes.
As new trains continued through, with their charming, red and white bodies letting out hundreds every few minutes, a few strange faces arrived. There were a few small children, who wandered around the station, until they came across their guardian, as happy as could be. There was a rather shaken family of seven, a newborn and her mother, and a young man, who proposed to the girl he had left the train with almost immediately.
As Kanata wandered through the emotions, and the reunions, she began to anxiously wonder what she was supposed to do. She didn’t have any family, or friends left that could meet her. She was sure of that.
But being sure is a very flimsy thing. Just because you are positive that something was the reality, that certainly didn’t mean the rest of existence would follow along.
“Are you already worrying that you got forgotten? I mean- I didn’t expect you to come here so young but, I wouldn’t forget you, Pianoforte…” her older brother smiled, ruffling her hair like she was half her age.
“Seita! You awful jerk!” she wailed, jumping back, and almost stepping on a woman’s wedding uchikake.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again!”
Seita laughed as she grabbed his hand off her head, and pressed it over her eyes.
“You still smell like dad’s awful aftershave.” she complained, her voice cracking.
“Are you crying?” Seita asked in mock disbelief
“No-o.” she sniffed back.
“You want to talk about it? About all the crazy stuff you’ve done since I went away?”
The next chunk of time; one that felt like an hour, but really only lasted a few minutes, was devoted almost solely to Kanata’s hopeless rambling. She talked about the end to the war, and the revolution, and piano concerts, and college, and how much she hated opium poppy, and how crazy her ex boyfriend was, and how socialism seemed like such a good idea, and how the republic had gotten out of control, and how high heels were the worst thing to be invented other than smartphones, and how bad tv and tea farms were doing.
The entire time, Seita listened, until the one-sided dialogue came to a slow, and coherent speech became a possibility again.
“I just wish I had done better,” she said finally, pressing the palm of her hand against her skull.
“I tried to do good, and make you proud, but I just ended up ruining everything.”
Seita sighed, and ruffled her hair again.
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“No, it’s not. I made an awful, burning mess out of everything I touched. I couldn’t even die without taking someone else with me.” she replied bitterly, biting the inside of her cheek as another train came into the station.
“Kanata?”
Seita tilted her head to face the other side of the station. Her eyes fell on the face of an old friend, painted up in such a pleasant way, that she couldn’t help smiling as well. All the physical, and emotional battering he had suffered was gone. All the panic, hatred, fear, and downright misanthropy were nothing more than a bad dream as he hugged a stranger.
“It’s funny, isn’t it? How, no matter how much things burn, and break, your own applied damage will leave barely a scratch on the world.” Seita laughed, watching his little sister’s deathmate laugh, and kiss his once lost friend on the forehead.
“It’s comforting, I think,” Kanata heard herself say, unable to be jealous of the young woman. As Joel, and her moved around the station, holding hands, and talking cheerfully, she let their love warm up her exhausted soul, and she was grateful.
“It’s good when humans remember the kindnesses they received. It’s what makes the difference between a good life, and a bad one, isn’t it?” She added, biting her lip as she thought it all over.
After a moment, she made up her mind.
“I know where he is going,” Kanata said decisively, leaning against the comfort of her big brother.
“No matter what people made him do. What I made him do. He was a good, loving man.”
Seita smiled softly, and took her hand. It felt odd, so different from the little girl’s palm he had remembered.
“I think It’s time we go on.”
“I’m going to hell, aren’t I?” Kanata asked
Seita bit his lip, starting to walk towards the busy staircase. He squeezed his little sister’s hand. He knew she wasn’t afraid, but he needed comfort.
“Life really was strange!” He exclaimed, starting up the stairs
“Just a big jumble of choices flying past. In the end, all those little instants somehow form your story. And then that runs away, and the story passes away as well. I guess those small bits going by so fast give our lives meaning.”
“Moving past like a train,” Kanata smiled, squeezing Seita’s hand back.
Just as she stepped out into the unknown, she turned back, and for an instant, she, and Joel locked eyes.
He nodded softly, void of any sense of hatred. “Good luck,” he said wordlessly. Kanata waved, and took the last step. The current train’s whistle went off, and it slid away, back out of the station.