Just Another Day?

The alarm rang. The morning has come.

Another boring day was bound to begin. Tetsudo stood up and took a look around his room. It looked almost normal... Except for the girl still sleeping on the futon in his room.

"So it wasn't a dream..." he thought as he went to the bathroom for the usual routine. The sun was piercing the curtain and sneaking in to the room, glowing and shining away. As he went back to the room, Yai was already up.

"Jeez, you didn't wake me up!" she pouted.

"Put some clothes on!" Tetsudo yelled out embarrassed and threw her one of his T-shirts.

"Kya! What was that for?!"

"Do you actually plan to go to school with me?" Tetsu said with a sigh.

"Well, almost. We gotta make the impression we go to school, you know?"

"Ohhh, I didn't even think about that... But how are you gonna go out with your dirty and unrecognizable uniform? Mom will get suspicious..."

"Hmmm, maybe... I could go in your winter uniform!" Yai looked with sparkles in her eyes.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to boil alive?" Tetsu looked concerned.

"Then let's ask your mom for clothes!"

"Umm... That could work, but you're taller than my mom, I don't if they'll fit you..."

"It's worth the try! Go! Now!" Yai urged him.

"Okay, okay, I'll go ask her! Jeez..."

After a bit a of arguing, Tetsu's mom decided to give Yai one of her older shirts and a longer skirt. She was a nice lady, had glasses with a silver-looking plastic frame and brown and short hair. Her eyes were warm and trustful underneath the shadow by the sun hat she wore almost always. She was pushing 50, but she was still youthful, full of energy and even went on a few hikes this spring. Tetsu hated hikes, but his mom still made him go, always saying that they "live, surrounded by mountains" and "it would be a waste to not go out and walk around nature". He could never understand the reasons fully though, Tetsu thought that his mom just wants to be tired and sweaty.

Yai and Tetsu had breakfast, said goodbye to his mom and went out. The sun was setting ablaze all you could see and the mirage from a far caused Yai's head to spin.

"Tetsu, can I have some water?" Yai wimpered.

"Already? It's not even that hot..."

"Pleaseee, I'll die!"

"Ugh fine, I'll buy you from the vending machine around this corner."

Both of them got some cold water and stopped for a second under a tree's shade. For 8 AM it was pretty warm. Tetsu turned to Yai, who was downing her whole bottle in one go.

"Don't do that, your stomach will hurt."

"Haaah, that was refreshing!" said Yai, as she had already finished the bottle.

"I forgot to ask but... You can't actually go to my school, you know that?"

"Mhm."

"So what will you do?" 
Yai stopped and thought for a second. Then she turned away from Tetsudo and said:

"I'll wait for you, on the railway wire," she turned her face to Tetsudo and smiled. "So you'll come there immediately after you finish school and bring me home."

Tetsudo's face turned a bit red. Was it from the heat or from her, he couldn't tell...

"Fine. Just don't have a heat stroke or something. Wait under a shade."

"Okay! When do you finish school?"

"Around 4 PM."

"Then at 6 you can come and pick me up. We'll even stay on those rusted rails a bit, if you want..." Yai smiled.

"S-sure..." Tetsu got flustured again.

"Then see ya after school!" Yai waved at him and walked away.

"Wait, where wi-" Tetsudo tried to ask her, but she already went out of his view. Guess it's time for school then.

The flowers around Tetsu were still pretty. This time he noticed them, he noticed the apple trees above him and the smell of coffee that came from the cafes around him. The blue sky looked a bit prettier and stood out to him, unlike most days. For the first time he looked at the giant green mountains to his side - they were pretty... 

"Where will she go? She doesn't even have a phone, what if she gets lost?" Tetsudo sighed. "Guess I'll just have to trust her..." And with water finished, he proceeded to school.

School was uneventful as ever. Tetsu counted the seconds until the last bell of the week rang. Someone tried again to invite him somewhere, he didn't even hear where, but he still declined and started the journey home. Now the heat was really getting to Tetsudo. It was one thing at 8 AM and another at 4 PM. July really sucks. 

The cars pass him by, every building is with locked windows and doors, keeping their breeze inside. It felt like he was left alone in the middle of a desert. Is every afternoon supposed to be like this? Hot, lonely and unwelcoming? Keeping the guest out by locking everything and not letting him in seems kinda rude. "Those are some really fucking stupid thoughts that I'm having... I think the heat's getting to me...". Tetsudo hurried home.

He was finally home, alone. Cold, sweet home. "Just one more week of this stupid school and I'm done..." Tetsu was relieved for a while. He looked at the clock: 4:32. Still an hour and a half until the meeting between him and Yai. He was worried about her. In this heat, will she really be okay? He opened the fridge - nothing but yoghurt.

"Might as well refresh myself with that..." He ate for 20 minutes, while watching videos. His worry kept growing. He looked at the clock again: 4:56.

"I should go to her now... If she gets a heat stroke, it will be really bad." And so he set out to the railroad. The blazing golden sun in the sky wasn't setting for another 2-3 hours. There was no sounds outside, except the buzzing cicadas.

He went through the same way he always went. The bushes were even drier than normal. The poles were hotter to touch than normal. The rails were shinier than normal. Why did it seems like it all had changed? Had it really? 

Tetsudo walked along the rails until he reached the old station with the birds-eye view of the town. There was no sign of Yai.

"Was she just not here yet?"

He started looking around the station. The rundown station was small, with ivy and graffiti on its walls. The sign next to one of the broken benches said: "Iizuna Station".

"I've never seen this before... I guess this was the old station for Iizuna..."Tetsudo thought to himself. "I wonder why it was forgotten... Whatever, I'll never know anyway." 

There was still no sign of Yai. The rusted rails had a faint glow on them. Just a little shine, barely noticeable under the cruel sun. Tetsu kept looking around the station, but there was not much. Vines, graffitis, benches (some of which were broken) - that's all there was to it.

"Guess I'll just have to wait for her to show up..."

Tetsudo turned around and his heart stopped for a second. There was Yai, leaned against the wall of the station. There was no sound. She looked at him and smiled.