2: The Train to Japan

“Next time we meet, let's be friends”.

Those last words pierced me hard, harder than a stone dropped on a toe. Her tears flowed down her eyes. That was all I could remember, from the last time we met.

Oh yes.

It was seven years ago when I was still in middle school as an exchange student in Japan. My family had an important business. Even though I stayed just for a year and a half, there was this girl that would be on my neck, over and over. 

A hand clasped my shoulders.

“Let's go Piero.”

“Do we have to?”

My mother knelt beside me saying “I am sure that you will meet again, very soon.”

And so we left. 

…

My mouth was on the floor, and it was freezing in there. My whole left body was numbed. The vehicle jiggled from side to side.

THUMP 

“Argh!” 

The thumping on my head was relentless, I adjusted my stance, rolling from side to side, my body hit the leg of the table.

A little flask fell on my head.

TAP

I exhaled in resignation.

Huh, Mom what did you mean by very soon.

I opened my eyes slowly. Around my body were several laces of rope that tied me up. Above me was a rugged  tapestry of floral motifs and several sword crossed roses. 

I moved. And slumped back down. Wrists burning at the touch and shoulders tightened.

Where am I?

No, my head wasn't able to stay firm in one place. Pictures of Johnny bleeding his fingers pointed behind me. 

The empty and neverending corridor kept spiraling in my head.

What was that thing?

A heavy rattle shook the place I was kept in. I forced myself up to my knees, my back went hard on the wall and I pulled myself up.  I was on my feet. In front of me is a window with some curtains.

My teeth grabbed them, when pull force knocked me beyond a door. I flew up in the air into a carriage, the passengers looking at me in shock 

A train, uh?

There was a train conductor behind me, his stare lazy and shadowiness nested just under the shadow cast of his hat.

I landed on a set of chairs crouching to maintain balance. A mother covered the eyes of her son, who obviously was still staring at me with curiosity, his mother however was dumbfounded.

The train conductor looked at me for a long moment. His fingers laced around a lever. My eyes grew bags, I gasped for breath. Sweating profusely.

CLICK

I jumped high. His eyes never left mine. 

TATUM

Everywhere seemed glitchy and all around him a shadow serpent aimed at my heels.

Oh my swirls. What the heck is that?

BANG

Cough!

 “Blea…”

My stomach had hit the railing, before me was another cart. As I steadied myself upward still, my eyes widened.

The snowy dunes filled the landscape sided  by high thick forest. Ahead was a large cast bed of sea. And vapor rose from my mouth. 

Where am I?

A lazy voice called out to me, “Ticket please…”

It was the controller who stood at the entrance of the other carriage. 

How did I get here?

I looked behind me, the carriage was empty, I squinted, the glasses were darkened and in a reflection the controller's foot was on my head.

My body racked the door open as I fell inside.

My foot stomped the ground and then up.

SNAP

The stamping scissors he held freed me. My hand grabbed his arm and slammed him on the floor.

“-!”

A little gap at my right.

A folding of hands at the corner of my head.

Lavrov sat there and said “Manners Piero, for children's sake."

My mouth gapped open. “Lavrov…”

He sat there with a cup of wine. He gestured for me to take a seat beside him. I sat still looking around, a well dressed lady came and served me some wine.

Lavrov gestured for the controller to go away. My eyes met his again, before he disappeared behind the darkened glasses.

 My hand still numb grabbed the glass in trembling strokes.

GULP.

I gestured for some more, Lavrov waved her off.

“Piero…too much wine isn't good “

I shook my head “Lavrov, it is so, so confusing, why am I here, where is Johnny, a–and why are you here, and who is this girl”

She looked at me, her silver eyes causing my head to bob forward. 

The girl burst out crying and rushed to my hands. “Uh?”.

Lavrov smiled, “You should be thankful to me that you are alive…”

“Eh? What do you mean.”

Lavrov played with his cup of wine, which was still being served. 

“You were ambushed by the Hourglass.”

My heart sank, teeth clenching to each other, “Hour-glass? you mean that criminal organisation?”

Lavrov nodded, “You were seconds away from actually getting kidnapped. Had it not been for my friend… Dan, I really don't know where you would have been by now”

“Who is Dan–” 

Lavrov pointed at the conductor. 

For real, this creepy guy.

Shortly after he left our carriage we heated some metal striding on the railway. 

Lavrov patted the hair of the girl, “Say Piero how do you feel now?”

I said nothing, the bloodied fingers of Johnny returned. I shot my head up massaging my temples hard.

“Wait, what about Johnny…he was with me, I called the ambulance also…”

Lavrov stopped patting the girl, his mouth trembled and looked down…

“I am sorry…”

“Lavrov!”

He stared at me straight in the eyes. I sat. My hand wrapped around my head. 

Johnny.

“No, no, noooo, n-!”

The little girl's hand patted my head in gentle strokes. My body trembled. Tears falling from my face.

I smiled giving her hug, she said “Daijoubu?”

“Eh, Japanese?”

I turned to Lavrov, “Who is this girl…”

Lavrov stretched forth a mission letter, signed with the organisation name Royal Guard only.

Lavrov said “We are being tasked to take this child back to Japan and hand her over to the Shirome Family.”

Shirome family?

But this girl really looked like her, yet I can't quite get the name of her family…was is it Kage or—l”

SPLASH

The windows turned blue. The doors shot from outside three times.

“Lavov where are we–”

He smiled “we should be undersea right now.”

“WHAT!!!?”

“Yea, approximately we should soon reach the rail link that will take us through the Tohoku Shinkansen network directly into Tokyo.”

My eyes widened

Tokyo? Japan, that means that I can find master Yunsuke to explain what happened during the mission. 

Yes, that's what I will do first when I arrive.

…

FEW HOURS LATER 

The girl was sleeping on my lap as the train applied the brakes. Tokyo was in view and the sunlight entered through the window. 

One after the other the passengers came down, on the platform.

Lavrov placed sunglasses on the girl and gave me a pair, with a cap to place on me. Dan looked around the platform before blowing the whistles jumping back in.

 People slammed into each other, students rushing to school and making way forcefully through the crowd. 

My hand held the little girl tightly, until my shoulders rocked backward. 

A huge shoulders man with deep wavy copper brown hair waved back narrowed his eyes at me. He was around his early forties.

Lavrov dragged the girl away from me, and walked ahead, disappearing in the crowd.

I was there with my shades still on. A voice called for the man.

“Liberty-sama, we should check the depository of the train first, they should be near.”

The one speaking to him carried a smug and a sword crossing his shoulders.

We stood there staring at each other for a while. The sound of a wind chime resounded through the air, it was attached to a ramen kiosk.

Liberty moved ahead. “Lets go Raiko…”

Liberty and Raiko, I am so sure I've heard those names before.

Nevertheless it wasn't worth it to remain there. I rushed out to the parking space, struggling to break out of the crowd. 

There Lavrov waved at me, cars lined up to receive us.

The time changed. But the Time knew it not.