Two and a half years later….
"Taiyo-kun! Taiyo-kun!" she cried.
"What is it, Princess? What's wrong?"
She rushed into his arms and burst into tears. "No—nothing's wrong," she sobbed. "It's just—it's—oh my God…."
She brokenly related to him how, that morning, she'd finally done what she'd long planned—to visit, comfort, and forgive the child involved in her sister's death. She had hugged the girl and given her a treasure: one of her sister's own childhood toys. "Not as a reminder of what happened," she explained through her tears, "but just because I know neesan would have wanted her to have it, since she couldn't get her balloon back. That's the kind of person she was." Her voice was full of pain and love, but without anger or bitterness.
"And then—and then—oh God, Taiyo-kun!" Her sobs came faster and nearly choked her now. Ikebukuro held her and caressed her soothingly. But she was too overcome to speak, and could only hold her cell phone out to him. He looked down at it, still embracing her securely, and saw a text message from—
—no, it couldn't be…
From: Mayu
Sub: Hot guys!
Hey Mina-chan! You won't believe this—I'm riding a train with a bunch of gorgeous guys! And they keep telling me they're train stations—no joke! I'll tell you all about it later…for now, just check them out!
Attached were photos of Shiodome, Shinjuku, Tsukishima, and Ryogoku.
"She found it," Minako whispered. "She found the Miracle Train. I'm so glad." Then she surrendered to her tears…not of sorrow, but of joy.
Author's note: In Episode 11, Roppongi didn't 'activate' Mayu's cell phone until after she texted her sister. So how did Minako get her text after all? I don't know…I guess it must have been a miracle. :)
