When the cosplay YouTuber Mizuba Suzumi's channel vanishes overnight, high school teacher Aoyama Souya can't shake a terrible feeling of déjà vu. Years ago, as a rookie homeroom teacher, he saved her from jumping off the school rooftop—and swore he'd never let her fall again. Now, on the same day the news breaks, a student casually mentions an urban legend that makes Souya's blood run cold: Kisaragi Station, the phantom stop said to swallow travelers into another world.
Souya has built a new li
Urban Legend Truth Record - Shibuya Reunion — The Erased Video and the Lying Memories
Saturday afternoon, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing was wrapped in its usual feverish energy. Aoyama Souya, jostled by the crowd, looked up at the giant screen. The flowing light of the advertisements reflected off the May sun, blindingly bright.
(What the hell am I doing?)
The self-mockery rose in his mind for what felt like the hundredth time.
Since that night, there was an image that wouldn't leave Souya's head. The thumbnail of Suzumi's video that should have been deleted. A rusted signboard. A desolate platform. The mouth of a dimly lit tunnel.
That scenery overlapped with a memory that definitely existed somewhere inside him. During middle school, he had stood in front of that same place. With whom, why, for what purpose—only that part was completely missing.
(Maybe it's just déjà vu. I'm just being influenced by urban legends.)
He tried telling himself that, but the unease in his chest wouldn't go away. So before he knew it, despite it being a day off, he'd come all the way out to Shibuya. His purpose was vague. To find someone who actually knew that scenery. But there was no way he'd find anyone in a crowd like this.
The signal at the crossing turned green. People moved all at once. Souya stepped forward with the flow.
That was when it happened.
On the other side of the crowd, there was a figure that stood out.
A long black skirt, a deep green robe. A pointed hat, and a small broom in hand. A witch cosplay. A compact camera hung from her neck, and she was waving at someone with a smile.
Souya stopped in his tracks.
(Mizuba... Suzumi...?)
His heart thumped hard.
The girl who had been his student until three years ago. She should be twenty now. Compared to her high school days, her hair was a little longer, and her makeup more mature. But that friendly way of laughing—that alone hadn't changed at all.
Suzumi seemed to be on her way back from an event, having just parted ways with some cosplayer friends. She bowed politely and waved goodbye. Just as her figure was about to disappear into the crowd, a voice escaped Souya's lips.
"...Suzumi."
It was so quiet it surprised even him. It was drowned out by the noise of the crowd.
But Suzumi's shoulders stopped dead.
She turned around. Her large eyes caught Souya. For an instant, her face stiffened.
(Oh no, did I creep her out by calling out to her so suddenly?)
The next moment, as Souya panicked—
" Teach!? It's been three years, hasn't it!?"
Suzumi's face broke into a full smile as she ran over, still clutching her broom. The hem of her robe fluttered. Passersby gave her curious looks, but Suzumi didn't seem to care at all.
" Wow, it's really you! What are you doing in a place like this!? Are you on a date!?"
" No, I'm not on a date. I was just..."
He faltered. There was no way he could say, "I had déjà vu from your video thumbnail, so I came looking for that scenery."
" Oh, was I mistaken? Sorry about that, silly me."
Suzumi gave an embarrassed laugh and adjusted the brim of her hat with a little tug. In that gesture, Souya saw the girl she'd been in high school. The quiet girl who used to read books in the corner of the classroom.
" You're not mistaken. Mizuba Suzumi, right? I'm glad to see you doing well."
" Yes! And you're as handsome as ever, Teach. You must be popular at school, right?"
" Come on, you can't call your former teacher handsome."
When Souya smiled wryly, Suzumi burst out laughing. Seeing that smile, something deep in his chest warmed.
(Thank goodness. She seems fine.)
He'd been worried when he heard her channel was deleted. That she might have gotten caught up in some kind of trouble. But seeing her laughing like this put him a little at ease.
" Hey, do you have some time? There's something I want to talk about."
Suzumi's smile clouded over for just a moment.
" ...I have something I want to talk to you about too, Teach. Want to go into that café over there?"
Where Suzumi pointed was a small café on the second floor of a mixed-use building.
The interior had a calm atmosphere, with jazz playing quietly. Souya ordered an iced coffee, and Suzumi a limited-edition matcha latte.
" Teach, you still put two gum syrups in your iced coffee, huh."
" You remember something like that?"
" Of course I do. I looked forward to your classes every time."
Suzumi stirred her latte with a straw, looking a little bashful.
" So, what you wanted to talk about... it's about the channel, right?"
Souya caught his breath. The smile had vanished from Suzumi's expression.
" Yeah. It was being talked about in the staff room. How it suddenly disappeared."
" Yes. There was no notice from the platform, it was just deleted out of nowhere. My channel had eight hundred thousand subscribers. My income, my entire livelihood depended on it."
Suzumi clasped her slender fingers tightly on the table.
" Do you have any idea why? Like a guideline violation?"
" ...Right before it was deleted, I got a strange email. The sender was a name called Nocturne Research Institute."
A chill ran down Souya's spine.
" Nocturne...?"
It was a name he'd never heard. But the moment he said it aloud, something creaked in the back of his mind.
" It's a company that claims to be an international private research organization. Apparently they have an office in Shinagawa. But the email content was strange. It said, 'Your broadcasts may undermine global stability. Cease immediately.'"
" Global stability? What is that, a threat?"
" I thought so too, so I ignored it. Then three days later, my channel was gone."
Suzumi looked down and bit her lip.
Souya turned the word "Nocturne" over in his mind. Global stability. Cease immediately. An organization that would send such grandiose words to a mere urban legend verification streamer.
(Something's wrong. Something is decisively wrong.)
" Teach, would you look at this?"
Suzumi pulled out her smartphone and held the screen toward Souya. What was displayed was data from a spreadsheet app.
" Even before my channel was deleted, I was looking into the rumors about Kisaragi Station. I kept getting posts from viewers saying 'My acquaintance went missing' or 'The last thing they talked about was Kisaragi Station.'"
" Missing persons..."
" So I tried gathering information on disappearances over the past five years. Just publicly available data. And out of twelve people, nine had talked about the Kisaragi Station rumor on social media or to someone right before they vanished."
Souya stared intently at the screen. Names, ages, last known movements, and whether there was "mention of Kisaragi Station." All nine of those rows had check marks.
" You investigated this all by yourself?"
" I thought it would make good content for a video. But when the numbers lined up that cleanly, it honestly started to scare me..."
Suzumi's voice was faintly trembling.
Souya looked at Suzumi anew. The girl who had been trembling on the rooftop three years ago. That figure, unable to bear the bullying, about to climb over the fence—it overlapped in the depths of his memory.
(She's always been the type to carry everything alone.)
(She's bad at asking for help.)
Souya thought that, conveniently ignoring the fact that he was the same.
" Suzumi, this is dangerous. If you're going to seriously investigate this, don't do it alone."
" Teach...?"
Suzumi raised her face. Her large eyes looked straight at Souya.
" This data you gathered—the only common thread among the nine missing people is the Kisaragi Station rumor. That's too neat. For a coincidence, the probability is far too low."
" You think so too, Teach?"
" Yeah. And that Nocturne organization. They sent you a warning email right before your channel was deleted, right? Your investigation touched something."
Souya's voice naturally grew lower.
" I'm scared. But if I stop here, I'll never know anything about the people who disappeared. And besides..."
Suzumi paused, and stirred her latte with the straw. The ice clinked.
" Teach, I have a favor to ask."
Suzumi straightened her back and looked Souya steadily in the eyes.
" I want you to chase this with me. Alone, I've already hit my limit. You're the only person I can rely on, Teach."
Suzumi bowed her head.
Deep in Souya's chest, two emotions clashed violently.
One was his sense of responsibility as a teacher. He couldn't drag a former student into danger. If anything, he should make her back off right now.
The other was that thumbnail scenery. The gap in his middle school memories. The clue to filling that blank might lie at the end of this investigation.
" ...Suzumi, to be honest, I'm seeing the same thing you are."
" Huh?"
" The thumbnail of your video. That abandoned station scenery. I've seen it before. Back in middle school, I actually went to that place."
Suzumi's eyes went wide.
" Really!?"
" Yeah. But I can't remember who I went with, or why. Only that part of my memory is missing."
Souya pressed his fingers to his temple. Trying to remember made the back of his head ache again.
" ...Teach, you saved me back in high school. This time, I want to help save your memories."
Suzumi's voice was much softer than before.
Her words struck Souya in the chest.
(This time, I want to help save your memories.)
The girl who had been his student now wore the face of an adult.
" All right. I'll help."
Souya nodded slowly.
" Really!? Yes!"
Suzumi's face lit up, and she pumped her fist discreetly. The reaction was so childlike that Souya couldn't help but laugh.
" You were all serious just a second ago—your switch flips way too fast."
" But I feel so reassured! With you by my side, Teach, I've got the strength of a hundred people!"
" Strength of a hundred people—I'm not that strong."
" But you said in class, 'Your teacher is a champion of justice.' I still remember that, you know."
" ...You really do remember everything."
Souya smiled wryly. Honestly, he didn't remember saying anything like that. But in Suzumi's memory, it had apparently stuck.
(Maybe my words supported something in her.)
Thinking that, he felt genuinely glad he had continued working as a teacher.
It was past four in the afternoon when they left the café. The western sun streamed through the gaps between buildings, dyeing the street orange.
" Teach, thank you so much for today. I'll be in touch."
" Yeah. Get home safe."
" I'll be fine, I'm an adult now."
Suzumi laughed and waved.
Then, Suzumi suddenly stopped.
" ...By the way, Teach, do you remember? In high school, after you stopped that other student on the rooftop, you told me too, 'It's okay now.'"
Souya's heart leaped.
" ...What?"
" Back then, you held my hand and said, 'It's all right, I'm here.' Those words made me want to live. I haven't forgotten."
Suzumi smiled brightly.
Souya stood frozen in place.
(I called out to Suzumi on the rooftop?)
(No. The person I called out to on the rooftop was a different student.)
In his memory, the one clinging to the rooftop fence was definitely a female student. But her face wasn't Suzumi's. Someone smaller, with shorter hair—a different student.
(I have no memory of saving Suzumi.)
(No, wait. I know that Suzumi tried to jump. But that was...)
Inside his head, the pieces of memory rattled and crumbled. He couldn't tell what was right and what was wrong.
" Teach? Is something wrong?"
Suzumi peered at Souya's face with concern.
" Oh, uh... no, it's nothing. Of course I remember."
Souya forced a smile.
(I lied.)
(I can't deny Suzumi's memory. But in my memory, the one on that rooftop was a different student.)
A cold unease spread through Souya's chest.
(Is my memory being rewritten somewhere?)
The same question he'd felt at home that night rose again.
" Well, I'll contact you later. Take care, Teach."
" Yeah, see you."
Suzumi waved and walked toward the station. Her witch's robe swayed in the sunset.
Watching her back, Souya felt his fingertips growing cold.
(I have no memory of
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