Dark.
That was the first thing he felt.
Not fear. Not pain.
Just the kind of dark that wraps around your chest and waits for you to breathe wrong.
Takeshi opened his eyes and saw something familiar—but distant.
A hospital hallway. White tiles. Pale lights.
A cold bench.
A boy sat there. Curled up. Head down.
It was him.
But younger.
---
> "I know this place," Takeshi whispered.
His voice didn't echo.
It was like he was underwater—watching a moment he had pushed deep.
The boy looked up.
Eyes red.
Face blank.
---
A door opened.
A nurse walked out.
Quiet shoes. Quiet face.
She knelt beside the boy.
> "You should go in," she said. "Say goodbye."
He didn't move.
Didn't cry.
Just stared.
---
Then another figure entered the hallway.
A man. Tall. Tired eyes. A duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
Takeshi flinched.
> "Dad…"
The man didn't kneel.
Didn't speak.
He just dropped the bag.
Turned.
And walked away.
---
The boy on the bench didn't even blink.
He just leaned back.
Closed his eyes.
And let the world shut off.
---
> "This was the first time," Asami's voice whispered through the dark.
"The first time you chose silence."
> "What do you mean…?"
> "You buried your pain. Covered it with smiles. You didn't want to be weak. So you made yourself forget."
Takeshi shook his head.
> "I'm not that kid anymore."
> "You are. And your Drift knows it."
---
The hallway began to fade.
The memory peeled away like smoke.
But not before a final flash:
The boy staring into a mirror.
His own eyes looking back.
And a line—just a faint, blue shimmer—running across the glass.
---
Takeshi snapped back to the Hollow, gasping.
Asami stood near, watching.
> "You saw it, didn't you?" she asked.
> "Yeah…"
> "That was your gate. Everyone's is different. Yours is tied to forgetting."
> "So what happens now?"
She looked toward the bone door.
> "Now you remember. Whether you want to or not."
---
End of Chapter 23.