Conductor

Five months ago, in the safe house's basement. 

Only a couple of candles lit the room as Rin and Lena stood opposite each other.

"There's something I need you to do.", Rin said.

Lena said nothing back. She simply waited for him to continue.

"Your bathroom's cabinet. There's a paper bag inside."

"...What's in it?"

"Insurance."

Blinking twice, Lena turned her gaze towards the stairs Klein and Miles had just exited the basement through.

"Do they know about this?", she asked.

"No. And I need it to stay that way. If anything happens to me, I've left instructions for you to follow."

"What are you saying? What's going to happen?"

"Nothing is. Like I said... it's insurance."

***

*SCREECH*
The train sped down the tracks.

Lena's hands were icy cold, her eyes glazed over. She was fading fast. 

Rin held her close to him. Tears welled in his eyes as he endured all the harsh winds in his face. He heard a noise behind him.

"Rin! Are you-"

"Oh god. Is she-"

Klein and Miles were there. They gauged the state of the place and noticed the controls for the train were blown to smithereens. Klein shouted first. 

"We have to detach the front car from the rest of the train!"

The two made their way over to help move Lena's body. Klein grabbed Rin's shoulder.

"Rin! We need to move!"

Rin didn't acknowledge him. He knew it was his only chance for survival, but he didn't care. 

Klein knelt down next to him. 

"Sorry kid... I should've put a stop to this a long time ago."

Silence.

"But now's not the time for regrets."

He forced Rin to his feet and dragged him toward the other car. Miles picked up Lena delicately and yelled something at Klein. 

"There should be some sort of lever by the coupler!"

Klein knelt down to the floor of the train, spotting the coupler attaching the two cars to each other. Like Miles said, there was a small lever fixed to its side. 

He reached out for it while trying his hardest to maintain his balance. In his first couple of attempts, he failed to even grab it at all and even when he managed to, he had a hard time turning it.

The speed of the train in combination with how cold his hands were made it seem impossible. 

"Oh crap! I think we're about to turn!"

Much to Klein's horror, Miles was correct. The train was heading towards a curve at the edge of a cliff with rapid pace. As soon as he saw that, he went right back to what he was doing before.

"Hurry the hell up!"

"Shut up! I'm working on it!"

Klein grabbed hold of the lever one more time. The countless beads of sweat coming off his hands made it slippery. He gripped it as tightly as possible, made absolutely sure he wouldn't let go, and then pulled with all his might.

With his free hand, he held onto his extended arm to pull even harder and when he did, he was met with the most relieving feeling in the world. The lever came loose, and he fell backwards as the two cars decoupled. 

The couplers detached, revealing a single cord tying the cars together. All he needed to do now was wait for it to snap, but it was taking a while. Klein looked up again and saw the curve approaching. It had to snap now!

*BANG*
Miles raised his pistol and shot the cord, instantly breaking it.

Their car came to a screeching halt, causing everybody to collapse inside of it. The front car, or what was left of it at least, continued to move and then went careening off the side of the cliff. They only narrowly avoided death.

***

It was silent when Rin woke up. He grabbed his head to try and ease the pain. Looking around, he spotted Klein and Miles unconscious near Lena. 

Rin shot up, rushing over to her side in an instant. But it was too late.

She was gone.

He grabbed her hand, his mind racing as he tried to process everything that had happened. A deep panic stirred within him, denial of the reality lying there.

Klein and Miles roused from their slumber, but Rin paid them no mind.

He clenched his fist, then looked up slowly. His denial turned to anger as he turned his attention to one of the car's many windows. He wasn't looking out of it nor was he staring into space. He was staring at his own reflection. 

A deafening silence overtook him as he saw the last thing he wanted to.

A slight smile.

***

The day was New Year's Eve. The time was 11:30 and a multitude of people had gathered around a shrine. The area was filled with excited murmurs from all the families bunched together. 

All the while; Rin, Klein, and Miles were racing somewhere in a car they'd stolen. Weirdly enough though, it wasn't to chase after Eva. Their destination was actually Lena's house. And as soon as they arrived, Rin shot inside, stormed into the bathroom, and locked the door behind him. 

He kneeled down to start digging through the cabinets beneath the sink. He shoved through the various objects stored inside until he found what he was looking for at the back. It was a brown paper bag. 

"What are you doing?"

His own voice spoke, but it wasn't coming from him. He initially froze but then grabbed the paper bag and stood slowly to face his reflection.

"...You lied to me."

"I did."

A brief silence followed.

"I've done it before, and I'd do it again."

Rin could practically feel his blood boiling. Every second he spent in silence contributed to his irritation building.

But at some point, all of his emotions and frustration turned into a twisted satisfaction. Because in spite of everything, he knew he'd get the last laugh.

"You really thought I wouldn't do anything?"

Silence.

"I knew you'd lie to me again and I knew Eva would be there to screw everything up!"

Rin threw the bag down onto the outer layer of the sink and fished out the stasis bomb as well as two of its keys. Afterwards, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the third key. Laying everything out in front of the basin, he turned his attention back to the mirror.

"I handed her a bunch of decoys, while hiding away the real thing here."

No response.

"And can you guess what day it is? New Year's Eve. The day I end up inside that mirror with you, only I'm taking this bomb with me."

Rin stuck in the first key. 

"You thought you were safe in there, huh? That I couldn't do anything to you?"

Rin stuck in the second key.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed looking down on me, because now... it's over for you!"

Rin raised the final key above his head and was about to slam it down into its keyhole.

"Was it worth it?"

It was a simple question and yet it brought Rin to a halt immediately. He looked at the mirror, dumbfounded, his arm lingering in the air. 

"...Was her death worth it?"

Rin steadily lowered his arm. All the energy he had suddenly vanished.

***

The time was 11:50. The air outside the shrine was electric as everyone eagerly awaited the new year.

***

"You prioritized your victory over Lena's safety..."

Rin had no response. All he could do was let his arm finally drop to his side.

"Well, nothing you can do about it now. At least you're in the right position."

Confused, Rin looked up at his reflection again.

"If you send the bomb into the mirror, it can't be used to destroy the world."

"...That doesn't matter to me.", Rin said. 

"Maybe. But you got Lena killed for this, so you owe it to her at least."

No response. But it was hard to argue with that.

"Only problem is you can't bring any physical objects into the mirror. Only you can pass through."

"Then how am I supposed to get rid of this thing?"

"The thing your holding isn't the bomb itself. It's a capsule that houses a dangerous liquid in it. So, once you open it up with the final key, you'll have to drink what's inside."

The time was 11:59.

Rin inserted the final key and as he did, a blinding light filled the room. He knew it was bad news the moment he saw it, but before he could do anything, his reflection's arm reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

And with as much force as it could muster, it dragged Rin face first into the mirror.

The clock struck midnight. Fireworks lit the sky ablaze. 

And Rin had vanished from this world.