Chapter 34 Midnight Subway (3) Watanabe Mie enters the carriage...
The moment Watanabe Mie entered the carriage, she seemed to feel the chill from the platform disappear.
Inside the train car, Watanabe Emi had a strange feeling. The car was eerily quiet, almost inaudible, with no outside sounds or the vibrations of the subway.
Even stranger are those who take the subway.
The passengers were eerily silent. They sat scattered about, some standing near the connecting area between carriages, each in a different posture, all motionless. There was no conversation, no sound of phone buttons, no turning of pages, not even the rise and fall of their breaths.
Watanabe Emi instinctively took a step back, the eerie atmosphere gradually instilling fear in her.
Their clothes were also strange in many ways. Some people were even wearing suits from decades ago, and there were women with retro hairstyles and wearing kimonos. There were also a few people who looked like students, but the style of their schoolbags was outdated. All of their faces seemed to be covered by a thin mist, making them difficult to see clearly. Watashita Emi could only vaguely make out their outlines.
They were like wax figures displayed in a museum.
Mie Watanabe thought to herself.
Then, her gaze was drawn to a familiar figure, and her eyes were fixed on a seat in the carriage.
There was a little girl sitting there.
She was wearing a pale yellow sweater that Watanabe Mie knew all too well, faded from washing, and blue jeans, with a pair of red canvas shoes on her feet.
Miho Watanabe couldn't help but recall that Mika often dressed like this, except for the occasional skirt. She preferred comfortable and convenient clothes because they allowed for easy movement and free movement.
That was the US and Canada, Mie Watanabe was absolutely certain of that.
Not the emaciated, thinning-haired Mika lying in the hospital bed, gradually losing her vitality, but the Mika from my memory—healthy, lively, with rosy cheeks and full of life…
Mika tilted her head, her face bearing the sweet smile that Watanabe Mie had dreamed of and recalled countless times. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Watanabe Mie, seemingly overjoyed to see her as well.
"Mika... Mika." Watanabe Mie's voice trembled slightly, almost as if it were being squeezed out of her throat. Her nose tingled with emotion when she saw Mika.
She could hardly believe her eyes.
Miho Watashita staggered forward a few steps, then collapsed onto the back of the seat in front of Mika, gripping the cold armrest tightly, a smile that seemed to be both sad and joyful on her face.
If I were to describe that smile...
It's more about the joy of something lost and then found again.
"Sister! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you for so long~" Mika's voice was clear and melodious, full of energy, exactly as Watanabe Mie remembered, with a familiar touch of coquettishness: "Come and sit down, there are still empty seats here!"
Meijia patted the empty seat next to her, her expression so natural that it seemed as if they were just meeting up for an ordinary weekend.
A mixture of immense ecstasy and deeper fear assaulted Watanabe Mie's senses.
She even felt...
He had gone mad and was trapped in his own hallucination.
She trembled, almost collapsing in her legs, and sat down next to Meijia, her eyes never leaving her.
At such close range, she could clearly see Meijia's long eyelashes and smell her favorite perfume. The other person was so real beside her—not in the hospital with the smell of disinfectant and medicine.
“Mika…is it really you? Am I dreaming?” Watashita Mie reached out, wanting to touch her sister’s cheek, but was afraid that when she touched her, it would just be her own illusion and nothingness.
"It's me, sister." Mika gently squeezed Watanabe Mie's cold hand back, the warm touch almost bringing tears to Mika's eyes.
"This place is a little strange, but it really is me." Meijia smiled brightly.
Feeling the real touch and warmth, and hearing Mika's comforting words, Watanabe Mie, who had been holding back her tears, finally couldn't stop them and they fell onto Mika's hand that she was holding back.
She lowered her head, her forehead pressed against their clasped hands, her shoulders trembling violently. The grief, the four years of loneliness, and the hardships of life that she had suppressed for more than a year were released like a flood at this moment.
She seemed to have found a place to rest in her busy life, and her weary spirit was finally comforted.
"Mika...Mika...I miss you so much, I really miss you." Watanabe Mie kept murmuring, her words broken and fragmented by her sobs.
"Without you, every day is so hard to bear... The house feels so empty... Sometimes, I feel like I can't take it anymore..."
Mika listened quietly without interrupting, and gently patted Watanabe Mie's back with her other free hand, just like when Watanabe Mie comforted her when she had nightmares as a child.
Mika's eyes were filled with heartache for Watanabe Mie and understanding of her pain, but there was no sadness in them, only a calmness beyond her years.
“I know, sister. I know you’ve had a tough time all this time.” Meijia’s voice carried a hint of comfort: “I’ve been watching.”
Watanabe Mie looked up at her sister, her eyes blurry with tears: "You...you can see?"
"Um."
Meijia nodded, her smile still bright, but with a hint of sadness that was hard to detect: "I see my sister getting off work very late every day, I see you not eating or sleeping well, I see you secretly crying while looking at my photo... I saw it all."
This made Mie Watanabe feel embarrassed; she felt so pathetic for crying in front of her sister.
Mie Watanabe raised her hand to wipe away her tears, but Mika grabbed her wrist.
"You can cry."
Mika raised her eyes and looked at Watanabe Mie.
"Have a good cry, being an adult is too tiring for me..."
"I'm sorry, Meijia... I didn't take good care of you... If only..."
Words of self-blame slipped out of her mouth; this was the inner demon that had tormented her repeatedly over the past year.
"Don't say that." Meijia suddenly straightened her face, her tone carrying an undeniable seriousness: "Being sick is no one's fault! Your sister has done so much. You worked so hard to treat me, accompanied me through chemotherapy, and told me jokes—those days, although they were very painful, I felt very happy to have your sister by my side!"
Meijia's words were like a ray of sunshine, gradually melting the long-standing ice that had been building up deep within Meihui's silent and numb soul into soft ripples.
"But...without you, I..."
“Sister.” Mika interrupted her, gripping Watashita Mie’s hand tightly again, her eyes turning serious as she looked at her: “Time is running out, you can’t stay here.”
Mie Watanabe was taken aback: "Why? You're here. I can stay with you... stay with you, just like we used to." She forced a smile, as if she was about to cry.
This thought began to grow wildly the moment I heard Meijia's voice, and the desire to stay with Meijia was incredibly strong at that moment.
Meijia slowly shook her head. She looked around at the motionless passengers and lowered her voice, "Sister, look at them."
Following her gaze, Watanabe Mie looked over and saw that the blurry figures looked even more eerie in the dim light. They seemed to be in the same position forever, with no expression on their faces and empty eyes.
Like empty shells without souls.
“This is not a place for you, sister.” Meijia’s voice was very rational: “There is a rule in this carriage. Those who stay will slowly become like them, forgetting time, forgetting themselves, and in the end, only an empty shell remains. Staying together forever here is not what you want.”
Meijia turned her head and looked directly into her sister's eyes: "Sister, I'm so glad to see you again and to be able to talk to you here."
"Knowing that you miss me and think about me makes me really happy, but... your life isn't here."
"What meaning does my life have now?" Mie Watanabe murmured, looking down. The reality was suffocating her; she couldn't find her purpose, which filled her with despair.
"Yes!" Meijia said forcefully, "Sister, do you remember? You said you would take me to see Mount Fuji, learn to make the best cake in the world, and raise a kitten that's both you and me."
"These wishes still need to be fulfilled by you, sister."
Meijia's eyes sparkled with anticipation: "Sister's life continues, and many wonderful things will happen. You will meet new people, see new scenery, and gradually become happy."
"As long as my sister remembers me, I will always stay by her side and have never truly left. This is a million times better than staying in this cold, desolate place!"
Looking at her sister's eager and sincere face, Watanabe Mie was struggling with her own thoughts.
Staying means escaping the pain of reality.
Leaving means returning to a world filled with pain and loneliness, but it also means... possibilities?
This means that what the younger sister is hoping for is the possibility that there might still be a future.
The train continued its silent journey, and the view outside the window was no longer the familiar city, but an endless expanse of darkness.
"Sister, time is running out," Mika suddenly said, releasing her grip on Watanabe Mie's hand. She pointed ahead in the carriage: "Look, we're almost there."
Watanabe Mie looked up and saw a faint light at the end of the carriage, like the exit of a tunnel.
"Next stop, sister, you must get off." Meijia's tone became urgent and firm: "Promise me, sister, you must live well, and live happily for my sake too. That is the best way to remember me."
Watanabe Mie fell silent.
Get off the bus and return to that suffocating, boring, and lonely world?
Looking at the vibrant faces of the Americans and Canadians, feeling the joy and warmth of having regained what she had lost, she couldn't accept it again.
Accept losing the US and Canada again.
She listened to her sister's advice, but the huge emotional gap could not be easily bridged by a few rational words of advice.
The spot of light was rapidly expanding, and the train seemed to be slowly slowing down, as if a gentle force was urging her on.
"elder sister!"
"No..." Watashita Mie shook her head, retreating and pressing herself tightly against the seat.
"Meijia, I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you, please let me stay with you..."
Her eyes were filled with sadness and pleading.
Looking at her older sister's reaction, Meijia's face flashed with a hint of heartache and helplessness.
She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something more, but Mie Watashita had already closed her eyes and was gripping the edge of the chair tightly with both hands.
“Sister.” Meijia’s voice carried a hint of a sigh.
The train paused slightly, then seemed to have come to a complete stop.
A faint sound of the car door opening came from the direction of the door, and the pushing and urging force became stronger, but Watashita Mie gritted her teeth and tensed all her muscles to resist the force.
A few seconds later, the force gradually weakened.
Mie Watanabe cautiously opened her eyes. Mika was still sitting in front of her, looking at her with a complicated expression.
The view outside the train window was no longer the platform, but an endless darkness.
The train began to start silently again.
She... stayed.
Overwhelmed by a huge mix of guilt and relief, Watanabe Mie chose to escape reality, remaining in the illusion of only her sister.
"Sister, why are you doing this to yourself..." Mika said softly, reaching out and grasping Watashita Mie's trembling hand once more.
This time, she didn't urge the other person to leave quickly. She just stayed with her quietly. Under the lamplight, the two sisters' figures seemed to be frozen in time.
The atmosphere in the other carriage was completely different.
Zhu Yi's face was pinched harder and harder, and his wine-red eyes almost cried out from the physical pain. He looked at the person in front of him with a distorted expression.
Those iris-colored eyes churned with a complex and unreadable clarity, a mixture of mockery, inquiry, and a hint of... jealousy that he couldn't decipher.
“Ye…Ye Zang?” Zhu Yi repeated the name uncertainly. The stinging pain deep in his brain seemed to be relieved a little by the other person’s contact, but his memory was still confused.
The man named Ye Zang released his grip, then gently stroked Zhu Yi's reddened cheek with his fingers, the movement almost tender and pitying.
But what gave Zhu Yi goosebumps was the bubbling black mud on the other person's body and the intense, hidden malice towards him.
"Yes, it's me." This gentle gesture was completely different from her previous rough manner: "It seems that even if you're not thinking clearly, Takeichi still remembers my name."
Zhu instinctively shrank back and hugged 001 tightly in her arms.
The black cat didn't seem surprised by Yozo's presence. It lazily lifted its eyelids, made a soft purring sound, changed its position, and continued sleeping.
What exactly is our relationship?
"Is the system related to you?"
"Is my time travel related to you?"
Why do I have no memory of you?
Zhu Yi tried hard to organize his thoughts. He instinctively sensed that this man was very dangerous and that he had some kind of deep, unsettling connection with him.
"Is it just that you don't have my memories?" Ye Zang tilted his head and asked in return.
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