After Ahmed and Misaki took the photo of their success in front of the burning flames, the air was filled with the smell of smoke and gunpowder, yet a smile of victory was drawn on both their faces.
On the way back to the gang's headquarters, silence controlled them for a moment, before Ahmed broke it with a hesitant voice:
Ahmed: "Misaki... did you know me before?"
Misaki turned to him, and in her eyes was a mixture of reproach and longing:
Misaki: "Yes... we have many memories, and I will show you the many photos I've kept."
Ahmed's heartbeat quickened, and he asked her with curiosity and astonishment:
Ahmed: "How many of these photos are there?"
Misaki (with a light smile): "Around nine hundred photos."
Ahmed stopped in his place for a second, as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt. He felt that her words were like a punch from an iron fist that penetrated his chest. He said to himself bitterly:
"I... I don't even have one photo of us together... How can she remember everything while she carried all those memories alone?"
Then he said in a faint voice, closer to a confession:
Ahmed: "Honestly, Misaki... I didn't remember you. But when my father and Mr. Haruki showed me the photos, I started to recall my training with you... and my language lessons. I only... you were in my memory like a featureless black shadow."
Misaki stopped, her anger showing in her eyes, then she hit Ahmed hard on the shoulder:
Misaki: "I will make you remember me, no matter what it costs me!"
But inside, she smiled and said to herself:
"At least... he's starting to remember me."
---
### **Return to the Headquarters**
Ahmed and Misaki arrived at the gang's headquarters. They walked together to Mr. Haruki and handed him the camera. Haruki sat behind his large desk and began to watch the evidence of the police's corruption. Then his eyes fell on the photos that Ahmed had taken of himself with Misaki in front of the flames.
For the first time, Haruki smiled with clear joy, then he suddenly stood up and walked toward Ahmed, hugged him in front of all the gang members, and said in a voice filled with satisfaction:
Haruki: "Thank you, Ahmed... I haven't seen Misaki smile like this in a long time."
Then, out of overwhelming joy, he sent the photos directly to Ahmed's parents in Sana'a.
In front of everyone, Misaki extended her hand, and took Ahmed's hand shyly but firmly, then whispered to him:
Misaki: "Come with me... there's something I want to show you."
She led him to her private room. As soon as they closed the door, she opened a small closet and took out albums and files. She sat on the floor in front of him and began to open the photos one after another:
Photos of them as children playing in the garden.
Photos of them training together in the backyard.
Photos of Ahmed stammering in Japanese while she laughed next to him.
And even photos of them bathing together as children.
Ahmed stared at the photos in a daze, while Misaki watched his eyes, as if she were searching for the moment of truth... the moment he would say: "Yes... I remember."