Runaway Train

 “Take one more step forward and I’ll rip your head clean off your shoulders!”

“Wow Kazuki, I didn’t know you had it in you…”

Naomi who was glued to the screen gulped audibly, as the tension in the drama she was so visibly engrossed in rose.

On the other hand, Eiji who was sitting on a floor cushion just a few steps behind her, continued reading his book seemingly unfazed.

It was almost past midnight, yet the two students were far from having a good night’s rest. There was an episode of a very famous drama airing after all, and much to Eiji’s dismay, Naomi wouldn’t let that screen from her eyes no matter what.

“Oye…”

“Shhh, the good part’s starting…”

Naomi hissed slightly, without even turning her head towards the young man behind her.

“Haaah…” Eiji sighed briefly, probably thinking how his own apartment had been taken over by his underclassman so abruptly. It was a couple days after Eiji and Naomi had taken care of the incident involving that Obake, and it seemed the young man’s strategy had not only failed, but probably has had the opposite effect. Surely, telling Naomi there would be no exorcist duties to fulfill that night would have been enough for her to leave after all, right? Yet the young girl barged in all the same, and opened the TV of her own accord. It seemed she had no intention of leaving the young man alone. Be it exorcisms, school or daily life.

Deciding to just roll with it despite that, Eiji turned back to the book in his hands, titled “101 guide to exorcism.”

Yes, that indeed was the title of the book. And somehow the young man had no problem reading it even with the lights turned off, and only his small TV providing the sole source of illumination. Then again, it was possible he wasn’t reading at all.

“Senpai! Senpai!”

“What?” Eiji was the one to hiss back this time.

“Look! Look! It’s getting intense!” Naomi turned and pointed at the screen, bopping her head up and down all the while.

Having foreseen the future where he refused to comply, Eiji decided against it instantly, and despite a very monotonous glare, turned towards the screen.

During the scene Eiji had tuned into, there was some sort of fight going on between the characters, and it wasn’t long before one of them fell down through a long flight of stairs. There was a loud thud before a heavy resounding silence ensued.

One of the characters, a young girl rushed down the steps at once

“Guys… he’s… dead…”

And right after that declaration, the credits rolled.

“Whoo…” Naomi exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Didzu see that, senpai?!”

“I did…” Eiji replied, not looking all that amused.

“That was so well done, right?! They did such a great adaption on this part from the novel!”

“Uh-huh….”

“Have you read the novel, senpai? I’ve read it twice already!”

“Nope…” It was clear Eiji couldn’t keep up with her enthusiasm in the slightest when Naomi decided to tap into her fangirl tendencies.

“But what shall happen next, now that Sora has been killed?” Meh popped up out of thin air, posing a very serious question.

“Heh, glad you asked, Meh-chan! You see after that our friends….” Naomi smiled, before going off about her favorite show. At that point Eiji had already tuned out.

“Haah…” Eiji sighed, as Luna the cat, rested her head on his lap providing him the sole sense of comfort amidst those drama-crazed beings around him.

…

The next day at school, and during yet another lunch break, Hatsue briskly walked over to the usual person she was so used to pestering.

“Heyoz, Kanzaki!”

“…”

No reply from Eiji.

“So did you watch that drama last night?”

Eiji looked back at her, briefly rolling his eyes.

“Uh-huh.”

“Of course you didn’t! I didn’t expect you to… Wait!” Hatsue shook her head in disbelief as soon as Eiji’s reply had sunk in. “Did you just say uh-huh? As in yes? As in affirmative? As in I DID?!”

“Pipe down, already.” Eiji muttered, signaling to the weird stares Hatsue’s reaction had summoned.

“So you did?”

“I just said so.”

“Really, really?”

“Of course, senpai!” A very familiar voice sprouted from beside Hatsue as she asked, causing her to jump to the side almost by instinct.

“Wha?” The class rep muttered, puzzled. “Oh, it’s Mizuno-san… right?”

“Hello to you too, Shiratori-senpai.” Naomi bowed briefly. “Senpai and I did indeed watch that drama last night.”

“Oh, I see…” Hatsue nodded in understanding. “Wait? You two? Last night?” Despite her slow procession rate, it seemed her brain did indeed help her pick up on a very obvious hint.

“Yes!” Naomi beamed at that question, causing Hatsue’s brows to elevate on the spot, as if dragged by an unknown force.

“Kanzaki? Explanation? Why and how did you take advantage of a younger girl like that? Have you no shame? Huh?!”

“What? Pull your head out the gutter, for crying out loud.” Eiji sighed, while Naomi added with a straight face.

“Senpai was really gentle.”

“The fuck you mean gentle, OYE?!” Hatsue’s eyes suddenly burst into flames, as if she had reached her final form.

“Oye, what are you saying?”

“The truth! This time you opened it for me and everything, unlike last time when you slammed it in my face!”

Like a killer robot locking onto its next target, Hatsue’s laser-shooting eyes turned to Eiji in a mere instant.

“Kill. Exterminate. Eradicate. Destroy!”

“What the hell are you—“

“I’m talking about the door, of course.” Naomi smiled amidst the chaos she had created.

“Eh? The door?” Hatsue switched off her killer robot weapon arsenal, and cocked her head to the side.

“For fuck’s sake, we’re getting out of here.” Eiji sighed, very visibly exhausted before walking out the classroom.

“Oh, senpai, I forgot to tell you!” And of course, Naomi was quick to follow behind him, leaving the classroom behind her in complete shambles.

“Really, what the hell is with those two, huh?” Hatsue too, heaved a sigh before withdrawing back to her friends.

…

“Why am I here, again?”

Eiji crossed his arms over his chest, as he sat back in one of the many chairs in the room.

“That’s because you’re an official member of the club, senpai.” Naomi gave a proud smile, resting her hands on her hips.

After the commotion, the two of them had retreated to the occult club’s clubroom, in order to discuss something ‘specter related” according to Naomi herself.

The room wasn’t too spacious, yet it was quite enough for a small club to operate with ease, given the numerous seats, the vast table in the middle, as well as the closet lining one of the walls, and a portable board lining the other. For some reason unbeknownst to Eiji, there was also an old television much like his own standing atop a few cardboard boxes.

The walls were lined with various, weird chibi ghost stickers, horror movie posters, and some of the shelves held peculiar items such as a future-telling crystal ball, a famous “scream” mask, and a presumably “magical” toy staff.

“Never applied, never agreed…”

“Nevertheless, you are a legitimate member regardless!”

Holding back a disgruntled sigh, Eiji sat up from the back of his seat at once.

“So, why’d you call me here anyway?”

“Oh, yes! Senpai I found something that may interest you…” Naomi smirked, as she pulled out her phone and slid it across the table, on which she was very comfortably sitting on.

“The hell…?” Eiji furrowed his brows at the screen. “What the hell does this have anything to do with me?”

As he turned the screen back towards Naomi at once, the girl’s face suddenly burst into a rosy color.

“W-why’d you switch tabs, senpai?!” With a slight stutter, she quickly retrieved her phone back.

The screen showed a picture of her, a selfie, where she was wearing a weird, white getup.

“This is my karate uniform, senpai. I’m not into cosplay…” Naomi muttered, as she fidgeted with her phone. “…yet.”

“Karate?”

“Oh yeah, I decided to take up karate lessons! Didn’t I tell you, senpai?”

“Nope…” Eiji shook his head, while giving her a once over. She was rather lean, yet meaty where needed, and her face was rather round, yet she definitely didn’t seem like the athletic type to him.

“After a few more sessions, I’ll be able to assist you with taking down those specters even!”

“Definitely not.” Eiji scoffed.

“You’ll see!” Naomi scoffed back, her nose held high, as she handed over her phone once more.

“Here, and this time don’t switch between any tabs!”

“Hm…” Eiji furrowed his brows once more, yet this time he read on as his eyes scanned the article on the screen.

TRAIN GONE MISSING!

*BBZZZTT*

Yet, just as he was about to go past the bold outlined headline, a buzzing feeling from his pocket drew his attention away from his underclassman’s phone.

“Senpai?” Naomi looked on as Eiji rose from his seat and walked to the door.

“Hold that, I need to take this.” He spoke as he went out the door after a brief glance back.

“Eh?” Naomi uttered briefly, before the resounding sound of the school bell filled the room.

“EEEEEHH?!”

…

Eiji’s call was from his timid manager, who apparently needed him earlier than usual back at the store. He apparently needed to talk to the young man about something.

That was why, right after school was out for the day, Eiji made his way at his part time job earlier than the norm.

…

Standing across from his manager, who was sitting behind a large gray office, Eiji looked on in bewilderment at his dead serious expression.

Judging from his twitching brow though, it was pretty evident that the man was forcing himself.

“Eiji-kun…”

“Yes, sir?”

His manager gathered the courage within his next big breath, preparing himself. After a nod, he spoke.

“You’re fired.”

“I…” Eiji drew a breath himself looking at his almost flinching manager. With a sigh, he shrugged. “I see.”

Bewildered, the middle-aged man sat up from his chair, probably having expected more of a fight from the teenager before him.

“I’ll collect my things, then.” With a final nod, Eiji withdrew from the office at once. It seemed like his constant disobedience in accepting overtime work had cost him his place at the convenience store, after all. Eiji had an inkling the higher ups were pushing their employees too hard, judging from how his manager seemed to act on a daily basis, yet he didn’t think it would come to that.

Well, not that it mattered to him anyway. In fact, Eiji was thinking of quitting himself. Exorcist work required a lot more of his time lately, and he had made enough money to live a life free of worries, at least until summer came round.

After lighting a cigarette, and shooting a text, the young man made his way to Dream.

…

“Is this the place, senpai?” Naomi asked, as she stood beside her upperclassman.

“Yeah, just don’t say anything weird, okay?” Eiji replied, as he pushed in the door of the familiar bar.

“Well, well look who—A girl?!” Right as Hayato was about to casually greet and poke fun at his friend, the sudden appearance of a female student beside Eiji caused him to gasp despite himself.

“Oh, Eiji-kun brought over a girl, bravo…!” While Shig clapped with an absent-minded smile as per usual.

“Mi-Mimizuno Naomi, desu! I’m honored to make your acquaintance!” Stiffly, and very, very nervously. Naomi bowed to the two men tending to the bar at once.

“Did she say desu?” Hayato arched a brow, while Shig bowed slightly in response too.

“Nice to meet you too, Mimizuno Naomi-san.”

“Oh, no! It’s Mizuno! I was just I—Ah….”

With an exasperated gaze, Eiji opted to completely ignore the commotion as he took his usual seat.

“A juice. And you, sit down already.”

“Yesh!” Naomi fumbled yet again, as she eyed the stool next to Eiji. “Pardon the intrusion…” With feeble steps, she made her way to her seat.

“What intrusion? You’re in a bar…” Eiji mumbled to himself.

It seemed the new faces, and the new surroundings, had caused Naomi to revert back to her timid nature.

Seeing as to how the two had settled down, Hayato smirked. “So what will the girlfriend have?”

“G-G-G-G-G—“

“Oye! You know this isn’t like that…” Eiji glared at his friend who couldn’t help but chuckle. With a roll of his eyes, the young man probably regretted his decision of inviting Naomi to Dream slightly earlier than he thought he would.

He didn’t have any other choice though, since he hadn’t heard the story Naomi had picked up for him, and the fact he was heading to Dream anyway made it seem like he was killing two birds with one stone.

“I know, I know....” Hayato tried to wipe the smirk of his face, as he turned to Eiji’s companion. “So what will it be, ojou-chan?”

“Gi-Gi-Girl-Gir-Girlf-Girfl”

Naomi though, was still, a stuttering, blushing, out of commission, mess.

“Eiji-kun, I think your friend is broken.” Shig chimed in from the side, as he sat atop one of the tables without Hayato realizing.

“Oye, snap out of it.” The young man shook her shoulder briefly, to which she responded with a start.

“Eh? Senpai? Where am I?”

It seemed the girlfriend blow was so strong it put her brain to sleep.

“At a bar. Ordering.”

“Oh, right! I’ll have one glass of milk, please!” The girl smiled shyly.

“Milk… Juice…” Hayato grumbled as he got to work. “Will anyone ever order a normal drink for once…? This isn’t a primary school canteen, for crying out loud…”

“What brings both of you here, Eiji-kun?” Shig asked, overlooking Hayato muttering to himself over by the side.

“We have unfinished business…” Eiji replied, before turning back towards the girl beside him. “So, what was that thing back at school?”

“Oh, yes. Over here, senpai!” Naomi tapped into yet another mood swing of hers, as she pulled out the article once more.

Unlike last time, and much to Eiji’s approval, he had no one interrupt him as he read through the report.

The said article, spoke about how the last running train of last night, departing from a station near Shina, and following a route towards a rural city within Tokyo called Hachioji, had mysteriously disappeared without a trace along the way, and hasn’t been found yet. The driver, and all 30 passengers have been missing ever since last night.

The journalist himself, even described it as a…

“Ghost train…?” Eiji muttered, deep in thought.

“Could this be something related to you-know-what senpai?”

“It may be…”

“You’re talking about that ‘missing train’ thing?” Hayato inquired, as he served them their drinks.

“Have you heard it too, uhm…”

“It’s Hayato, and this is Shig.” The bartender pointed between the both of them, as he threw his towel over his shoulder.

“And yes, I have. My little sister, Yume, told me about it. There’s apparently quite an uproar on the internet about it…”

“And with good reason, Planes disappearing is one thing, but trains?” Naomi crossed her arms in contemplation.

“Could this be a job for you, Eiji-kun?” Shig asked, almost anticipating it.

Eiji though, stayed silent for a moment. The time in which it occurred, and the fact no evidence of it was left behind certainly did paint a picture only a specter could have brought along.

“Might be…” The young man muttered. Why didn’t Meh feel any change in malevolence though?

“You can’t be talking about spirits and all that stuff again, right?” Hayato though, narrowed his eyes. “You don’t believe in that stuff either, right, Naomi-chan?”

In his search to find a kindred spirit amongst two delusional people, Hayato gazed upon the young girl’s beaming smile. Suddenly, hope welled up within him.

“Of course I do, Hayato-san!”

“Haaaah…” With a sigh, and his hope evaporating, the man slumped onto the counter like melting ice cream. “Why is everyone bat-shit crazy in here?”

“I need to check this out...” Having made up his mind though, Eiji nodded to himself.

…

After finishing up their drinks and killing some time before the last train, the two teenagers made their way to the station where apparently everything took place.

“I told you to stop following me.”

“But I’m your psychic sidekick, senpai! Five eyes are better than three, after all.”

“Never said you were my… sidekick, or whatever.”

“Yet I’m the one who brought this information to you in the first place, aren’t I?”

“…”

There was a small silence between the two bickering teenagers, as they made their way to Eiji’s bike.

“Heh…” Naomi grinned to herself, after realizing her senpai had no come back nor any legitimate claim to not letting her tag along on his excursion.

“Do you believe we’ll find anything on the train station, senpai?” Naomi asked, as she hopped onto his bike.

“I can’t rule out the possibility.”

“Hm… If there is indeed something spirit related going on, how come Meh-chan never informed you about it?” Naturally. The girl’s intuition had lead her as well, to such an obvious question.

“That is peculiar, indeed!” Meh decided to answer that question himself. “Meh can’t deny he felt a certain bit of malevolence during that night, but that was only for a brief moment!”

“A brief moment, huh?” Eiji muttered, starting up his bike. “And how come you didn’t like… see it in those news of yours?”

“That’s because you changed Meh’s channel last night with Mizuno Naomi! By the time Meh figured out how to find the right one again, half the broadcast had already concluded…” Meh spoke somewhat begrudgingly, showcasing how much of a news enthusiast he was.

“Apologies for that, Meh-chan….” Naomi said, before the bike propelled forward.

After about half an hour on the road, it wasn’t long before they had reached the significantly deserted station. It seemed like the peculiar news of a train disappearance on that exact same line had had some impact on the general public.

The platform of the station wasn’t too spacious, despite the lack of people making it seem so, and its dark grey concrete hue was accentuated by the beaming single light of a lone street lamp directly above it.

What few passengers were waiting to board the train were either resting on the nearby benches or just standing around patiently.

“There’s indeed something rather odd about the tracks, Eiji-dono…” Meh observed. “I believe Eiji-dono should board the train to find out!”

“Board the train, huh?” Eiji looked at the long stretch of train tracks spreading before him.

“Sounds… good!” Naomi smirked. “Worst that could happen is that we discover nothing, and we get to go on a trip together, senpai!”

“Don’t hold your breath…” He replied dismissively as he went on ahead.

Soon, the two teenagers walked up the small steps to the side, and ascended towards the customer support office right next to it.

Within, a single woman was sat behind a computer, looking arguably even less enthusiastic than Eiji himself.

“Uhm…” Naomi tittered, after clearing her throat. “Miss?”

Not withdrawing her gaze from her screen, the woman behind the glass didn’t speak a word in response.

“Can we… uhm, ask a….”

In response to that, Naomi lowered her tone even more, despite herself and will to have her questions answered.

“Oye.” Not one to sit around and wait, Eiji tapped on the glass.

“…Yes?” Prompted by Eiji this time, the woman finally turned to look at what all the commotion was about.

“Are any trains running right now?”

“Just look at the schedule right at your left…” Albeit somewhat reluctantly, the worker had succeeded in her job of assisting potential customers.

Wasting no time this turn around, Naomi tottered up to said board.

“There is one last train… Just like yesterday.”

“Good.” Eiji voiced, placing a bill through the opening of the glass.

“Two tickets for… Hachioji.”

The woman within the office paused for a second, looking at the young man before her.

Ultimately though, she just shrugged.

“Here.”

With tickets in hand now, Eiji and Naomi walked back to the platform. The train that had disappeared the day before, was on the exact same timetable as the one they were about to board now. Yet there was no guarantee that the same thing would occur twice in such quick succession. Or if it would occur at all, for that matter either. It might have been a one-time thing, a disappearance that will forever remain a mystery.

What if they disappeared too?

Despite himself, Eiji couldn’t help but think. Would they be able to fight whatever caused it? Or would they just be going on a trip to God knows where, without any sort of chance to ever return?

Boarding the train sure posed quite the risk, yet Eiji trusted his Shikigami’s judgement more than he let on.

Probably thinking about the same thing, Naomi spoke.

“Senpai?”

“…Yeah?”

Could she have cracked the mystery? Or was she perhaps chickening out having realized the risks?

“Do you think maybe…” She gulped. “The train itself got ISEKAID?”

Eiji couldn’t help but rub his temples at the sound of that hypothesis. He even felt dumb for hearing her out with a straight face in the first place.

A few more moments passed, before the sound of metal screeching against the tracks could be heard in the distance.

In but a few minutes, the strong light in the distance edged closer to the platform, soon giving way to the red long body of the train behind it.

When it halted in front of the few passengers, the people awaiting its arrival for quite some time embarked after checking in with the staff about their tickets.

Eiji and Naomi were one of the first to enter the cart out the back, and the young girl was quick to trot all the way to the end of the cart were numerous seats were stacked next to each other.

“Senpai, there’s room over—“ Naomi halted her enthusiastic nature, as her eyes briefly locked with those of a girl slightly older than her. “Oh…”

“You can sit here, I don’t mind.” The girl smiled back at Naomi, much to her delight.

“Okay.” She gave a smile back.

Soon Eiji joined the picture as he sat next to Naomi, and at the farthest side from where the older girl was seated herself.

She had her long dark hair tied in a tail behind her head, a style which accentuated her big doe eyes and slim face even more. She indeed looked quite older than Naomi, and one could definitely call her a natural beauty with features like that.

A long silence stretched between them, as Naomi huddled closer to her senpai, dragging herself along the empty seats between them.

“The hell? You got more space than that, surely.”

“I was just a little… uhm, cold. That’s it.” Naomi muttered, looking out the window. Despite her enthusiastic, bright nature, it seemed she couldn’t get used to interacting with strangers just yet.

“Are you two college students?” The girl on the opposite side of the bank asked, trying to fill in the silence their almost empty cart had hanging above it.

“Oh no, nothing of the sort…” Naomi chuckled awkwardly. “We’re uh….”

“On vacation.” Eiji filled in the gaps in his underclassman’s idea of an excuse.

“Vacation? On a random… weekday? With no luggage?” The girl though couldn’t help but chuckle.

“We’re spontaneous.”

“I see…”

“Are you a college student, uhm…”

“It’s Hasumi… Just Hasumi.” The girl replied with a smile.

“Oh, then it’s eh nice to meet you, Hasumi-san. I’m Naomi.” Naomi tried to match her smile before turning to her upperclassman.

“Eiji.” The young man introduced himself as well, causing Hasumi’s smile to grow even wider.

“To answer your question, I am a college student, yes.”

“Eh? You did seem mature, so I guess that was why…” Naomi said shyly.

“Which university?” Eiji suddenly seemed rather intrigued.

“Eh?” Hasumi exclaimed, probably taken aback by the young man’s sudden interest. “Uhm… Kyorin.”

“I see…”

“What is it senpai? Are you planning on going to a university in Hachioji too?”

“Nope…” Eiji shook his head, almost as if withdrawing from the conversation.

“Hm.” Hasumi smirked, despite herself. “Are you two da—“

“No.”

“Eh? But I didn’t even ask yet!” The college student narrowed her eyes at Eiji’s rush to deny her words

“We’ve heard it once already, today.” The young man sighed, looking out the window as the train wheels screeched against the tracks, indicating its departure.

“We did?” Naomi cocked her head to the side, probably missing the point.

“Naomi-chan… wait, can I call you Naomi-chan?” Hasumi seemed to edge closer to the two of them as she asked.

“Uhm, sure.” Naomi nodded in reserve.

“How about you tell me the real reason you’re heading off to Hachioji?” The older girl smirked.

“Ehh-too…”

“Quit prying.” Eiji voiced, his brows furrowed.

“Ah-re? Is Eiji-kun always so mean?”

Naomi’s reply came quick, and without any sort of hesitation.

“Yes.”

“Oye…” Eiji exclaimed in protest.

“I see! I see! It all makes sense now!” Hasumi snickered “So, you like older guys, Naomi-chan?”

“L-L-L-Li…”

“Not again….” Eiji shook his head at the stuttering mess that used to be his underclassman just a second ago.

“Ah-re? Naomi-chan?” Hasumi cocked her head to the sight of Naomi acting like a malfunctioning bot.

“She gets like this, sometimes…” Eiji sighed, and shook Naomi’s shoulder slightly.

“Senpai? Where am I?”

“Hah, what’s with that?!” The college girl couldn’t help but chuckle.

The train was picking up quite some speed as the three of them continued chatting through the length of the trip. The ride to Hachioji was supposed to be a mere hour long, yet despite not having so much time yet past, the lack of scenery around them was quite baffling. Where had all the lights of the city disappeared to?

“Shouldn’t we be making stops?” Naomi asked, looking out the window.

“Ah, it gets like that sometimes.” Hasumi looked on, reassuringly.

“You’ve taken this route before, Hasumi-san?”

“Of course! I study at Hachioji after all, so I go back and forth to visit my parents quite frequently.”

“Must be nice, studying away from home, huh….” Naomi said in wonder.

“It is quite fun, I have to admit…” Hasumi smiled. “You two in high school?”

Naomi nodded at that question, causing Hasumi to snicker once more.

“You do call him, senpai, after all….”

“Senpai is… senpai!”

“The hell is that supposed to mean…?” Eiji commented briefly.

“But since you are still in high school…” The young girl looked on between the two of them, a slight spark crossing her eyes momentarily. “Makes this trip of yours even more suspicious…”

“Like I said, quit prying…” Eiji spoke, as he continued looking outside the darkness of the night.

It was getting significantly late, so maybe the lights were out because of that? Did they take a less crowded road? Or were they in a tunnel of some sort?

“Oh…” Hasumi exclaimed, at the sight of Naomi resting her head against Eiji’s arm. “She must be tired.”

Looking around him for the first time, Eiji realized the same could be said about the rest of the passengers as well, as their heads bopped slightly to the rocking of the train.

“It is quite late.” He pointed out, turning to look at the wide awake Hasumi beside them.

“Don’t you feel sleepy too, Eiji-kun?” Hasumi yawned. “I’m feeling drowsy myself…”

The young man though, didn’t really get the same urge, despite him feeling Naomi’s body resting against his shoulder. She was fast asleep too, as it seemed.

“Can’t say I do.”

“Heh, you must be quite the womanizer.” Hasumi smiled once more.

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“You’re not even bothered by a girl sleeping against you. And of course your looks, your attitude, it’s written all over you, really.”

“What are you… getting at?” Eiji said, his head feeling slightly heavy all of a sudden.

“I’m just saying…”

“I…” In one long second, his eyelids began to flutter. “…don’t…”

With his words growing longer, and his breathing softer, Eiji tried to fight the urge to sleep with all his might.

But it was futile.

His eyes, as if having suddenly grown weights attached to them, closed shut.

…

“Mhm…” Eiji stirred in his sleep, as he felt the weight on his shoulder disappear. His eyelids fluttered in the darkness around him, and focused on a face in the distance.

“Oh, you’re awake…” Hasumi, the girl he had met earlier, said in visible surprise.

“…senpai?” Soon, another voice surfaced from beside him, as a sleepy-eyed Naomi raised her head to look around.

“Where the hell…?” Visibly taken aback, Eiji’s eyes rested first on the sleeping passengers of the cart, and then at the sole source of light surfacing from the windows.

“We apparently made a stop here, but nobody has left the cart yet.”

“Where are we, though?” Naomi almost shoved her nose up the glass of the window, as she looked out into the night.

Sure enough, the train had come to a halt right next to the platform of a train station. A really narrow and worn platform stood alone in the middle of the darkness, illuminated by a sole lamppost up above, fluttering slightly as if it were a candle in the wind. Its light though, was so bright and strong from within the confines of the train, that it limited Naomi’s vision extremely. She really couldn’t see anything beyond that.

“I… have no clue.” Hasumi shrugged, before Eiji rose from his seat.

“I’m checking it out.” With those simple words, the young man ventured towards the wide open exit, while the two girls wordlessly followed closely behind.

Stepping outside the cart, a cold wind suddenly swept around them.

“Wha…” Naomi uttered, taking in her surroundings. Sure enough, everything beside the platform was bathed in black. A darkness so thick that it made one think it would swallow them whole were they to step into it.

Across the train, and across the station, laid nothing but the unknown. A land shrouded in complete and total darkness.

Beneath a lonely, fluttering lamp, a sign weary and old stood.

With words painted in black, bold letters, it read:

KISARAGI STATION

————————————————————

Note from the author: 

Hey guys, just wanted to inform ya’ll that I added a new visual of Eiji on the showcase, so feel free to check it out! :)