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It was snowing.
“Snow, huh,” said Ryouta, surprised. “That’s pretty rare for Japan, even in winter.”
“It isn’t winter,” said Nageki. “It’s autumn.”
“It is? That’s weird… To have snow at this time…”
They were standing in the middle of a great frozen plateau, facing each other. The ice seemed to stretch out as far as Ryouta could see. Above them, a dazzling display of green and blue light danced across the night sky.
“Aurora borealis,” said Nageki, looking up. “The Northern lights.”
“They’re beautiful.” Ryouta looked up too, blinking as snowflakes fell upon his face. He sneezed.
“Gloriously incandescent!” shouted Hiyoko, sliding into Ryouta’s line of view. She had a pair of ice skates on, and was skating around and around them in wide, wobbly circles.
“But, hang on,” said Ryouta, thinking hard. “Nobirdie can see the Northern lights from Japan! Where are we?”
“Does it matter?” Hiyoko recklessly attempted an unsteady pirouette. “It’s a snow day. That means no school, or obligations, or anything! It’s an unscheduled holiday! Woohoo!”
“An unscheduled holiday of undetermined length,” added Nageki quietly. “We don’t know when the ice will melt. It may not be for a long time.”
“It’s alright, Nageki!” said Hiyoko with optimism. “We’re together, and that’s something, isn’t it? The time will go by faster than we think.”
A strange, unearthly whistle echoed across the ice, sending ripples of vibration under their feet. A frosty wind blew in their faces. Hiyoko stopped in her tracks and glided to a stop as she looked off into the distance.
“...What was that sound?” said Ryouta.
Nageki and Hiyoko exchanged a look. “It… sounded like a train,” said Nageki. “Maybe it’s coming to take us somewhere else.”
“Oh,” said Ryouta. “Well, that sounds alright. There’s not much to do here.” He shivered. “And I’m freezing.”
“I can try to help,” said Nageki. “I don’t know if it’ll work, but...” He rubbed his wings together, then cupped them. A small flame sprang up. He held it up between them.
Ryouta leaned forward, but the flame didn’t give off any warmth. Instead, memories began flooding his head, like heat spreading through his body.
“This isn’t real,” he said slowly. “It’s only a dream, isn’t it? We’re… we’re in the cryogenic storage section of Dr. Iwamine’s lab. The two of you are dead… and I’m frozen in time, waiting for someone to come back for me. I couldn’t let the Charon virus take any more lives.”
Hiyoko and Nageki watched him silently.
“They’ll find a cure,” said Ryouta with a certainty that surprised himself. “Sakuya promised me. And Dr. Iwamine… well, he still owes me a favor.” He looked at Hiyoko and saw her beaming at him. “I can’t get on that train just yet. I have to wait for them.”
“We’ll stay with you,” said Hiyoko, and Nageki nodded. “I want to see everybirdie again, too.”
Ryouta grinned. “Here’s to waiting, then. How should we pass the time?”
“Didn’t you want to hear the full story of how this all happened, Miss Tosaka?” asked Nageki. “Between the two of us, Mr. Kawara and I should be able to tell it pretty well.”
“Yes, please!” said Hiyoko, and began skating again, around and around and around. “Start from the beginning, Ryouta, and don’t skip any of the juicy details!”
Ryouta took a deep breath of the cold air.
“It all started with a promise...”