memshare: goodbye.

[squelching]

It takes a while for you to work up the courage to see him again.

It's not that you didn't know where they took him after the arrest and the trial. It's the first thing you looked into after you found out they had sentenced him to a mental institution. You've known where he is for weeks. It isn't what you wanted for him, when you offered to heal his agnosia so he could return to his normal — but you suppose things could have gone worse after the police got involved.

There were very little options left after they discovered the bodies in the house.

He must have heard you coming as you crawled your way down the hallway. Must have somehow known it was you, despite the fact that with his perception of the world back to normal, he can no longer mistake you for a human. You've barely made it to his door when he calls your name.

"Saya?"

You don't respond. You want to, but you can't.

"Why won't you let me hear your voice?" he asks, interpreting your silence correctly.

You type your response into the cellphone you brought along with you and slide it through the narrow peephole on his door.

My voice will sound strange to you.

On the other side of the door, Fuminori chuckles in a way that you recognize as fond. "I don't care about that at all," he says, sending the phone back through the bars. "I just want to hear you – see you."

Slowly, you type your response and slide the phone back into his room.

Please, let me stay the Saya you remember.

Even now, when you know you won't see him again, you're too scared to allow him to meet the real you.

"... Okay," he replies after a moment. "I tried to say something to you that day. Do you remember?"

When he slides the phone back to you, it doesn't take very long for you to write a response.

I was hoping you'd forgotten.

"How could I forget?" he asks, softly, but he doesn't pass the cellphone back to you just yet. Through the door, you hear him typing something on the phone. Three, three, three, two, three, three, two.

You read the message on the screen as soon as he hands you the phone—




And you start to cry.

"I was ready, you know," he says, too little too late.

With shaking hands, blinking the tears from your eyes, you type your response and slide the phone back to him.

I'm sorry. I was a coward.

"It's not your fault," he replies, passing the phone back. "If I hadn't hesitated, you would have found the courage."

I was afraid of you. Of how you were changing because of me.

"It's no one's fault."

It's an empty reassurance. You gave up the home you had carved out for yourself, and now neither of you could go back.

"... What will you do now, Saya?"

You type your response slowly this time, knowing there is really only one thing left for you to do now.

I'll keep searching for my dad. He'll know how to send me back to where I came from.

"I see," Fuminori replies after reading her message. "You do want to go home, do you?"

You type and delete your response several times. Yes. No. Yes. No. Home is a house you can never return to on the planet called Earth. Home needs to be a realm you do not remember seeing for yourself, but one that you know exists only because of what you father had told you.

Eventually, you talk yourself out of backspacing the word on the screen again and slide the phone back to Fuminori.

Yeah.

Fuminori is silent for a moment, before he slides the phone through the peephole. "Well, I hope you find your father."

I'll do my best.

"... If you change your mind, I'll always be here. You can come see me whenever you want."

You know you could. But part of you knows that you won't, even as you type your response.

I will. Thank you.
Goodbye, Fuminori.

He reads your message and, for the final time, he returns the phone to the other side.

"Goodbye, Saya."

And then you are gone.