The Lonely Weeds

The loud clacking of a train going by woke Tetsudo up. He slowly opened his eyes and rose from his supine position. He looked at the sign on the other platform: "Iiyama Station."

"We made it to Iiyama, huh…." He glanced at the big clock next to it: 8:29 AM. "Guess I've slept enough…."

Tetsudo looked to his right and saw that Yai was still asleep; her soft and slow breaths added to her peaceful and innocent face. He sighed and got up. The station was empty – it was all quiet except for a train occasionally going by or stopping for a minute. The lazy glow emitting from the sun's curls lit up the station. They made the station a faint orange-yellow color, and the rails looked shinier than at home. Some of the concrete sleepers looked almost awake with how heated up they were, even if it was still morning.

Tetsudo looked around – despite it being a weekend, he still expected at least someone to be at the station. But there was no one. He was surprised that no guard came to wake them up throughout the night. Maybe the night shift guard fell asleep, but Tetsudo couldn't care. At least they weren't being scolded or anything.

The train station was big, so you'd expect it to have some stores open. But since it was Sunday, every store was closed until 9 AM. Tetsudo didn't have that kind of patience lying around. He wanted to start walking again, but Yai was still sleeping. And so, he thought he'd give her more sleep time.

"God, what am I to do with this girl…" Tetsudo wandered around the station a bit, far away from Yai. "I wonder, was it just curtesy that overwhelmed my judgment when I met her… Maybe I have hidden sympathies for her… Ugh, why do emotions have to be so complicated?"

As he walked around, his jangly walk slowly became stable again. The old and dirty white tiles beneath his feet were quietly creaking, so quiet that he couldn't hear anything if people were around. Tetsudo walked to the nearest map and started looking to figure out where they were supposed to go after Iiyama. The map confused him for approximately three minutes until he figured out the route – Yai and he had to follow the Chikuma River north up to Nagaoka, some 85 km from Iiyama.

"That's probably 2-3 days walking…." Tetsudo checked his wallet. He hadn't brought much money since his mom didn't leave him with much. So, they had to rely on their walking speed. "What a mess. Is this really what it takes not to have a boring life?" He glanced at the map again. There were a few smaller cities along the way. Maybe they could find someone there willing to shelter them for a night. The closest one was 30 km away. Meaning they should probably start walking toward it soon.

As Tetsudo was about to turn around and wake up Yai, two hands stretched out in front of his face and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" Yai's all too familiar voice rang out into his ears.

"Good morning, Yai," Tetsudo said in an annoyed tone.

"Correct~!" Yai sang as she leaped for joy. Tetsudo turned around and smiled.

"Let's go. We have much walking ahead of us."

"Yep, yep!" Yai started hopping around like a bunny; her hair jumped with excitement.

The two exited the station and started walking down a lonely street. They wanted to go back and walk on the railway, so they had to circle around and past the big station, and only when they got to a level crossing did they start walking on the railway again. But now they had to be wary of the trains passing since this station was a popular destination for most trains. People often switch trains to get to Tetsudo's town since most go straight to Nagano. That's what Yai had to do.

The black and yellow barriers were high in the air, the flashing red light – dusty and melting from the heat. The tall bushes around waved at the two teenagers walking along the rails, but they never got a response back. The teenagers didn't know a bush could be so friendly, so they would say that the wind was blowing on the bushes, and they were waving and dancing around.

Slowly but surely, Yai and Tetsudo exited this bush-covered railway, which transitioned to a field with the river to their right. The area was yellowish green, burnt by the scorching sun but revived by the recent rainfalls. Weeds would dance in the wind, some beneath shades of lonely trees and some alone in the blazing heat. The clacking of their shoes on rails, the little rustle the stones would make sometimes, and the quiet rumbling of a faraway train somewhere echoed across the empty and vast fields, only separated by a road here and there.

As the two kept walking, the sun slowly rose higher and higher, its blond hair stretched far into the beloved soil. The single houses that sometimes would pop up around the railway were quiet, often with closed windows; their large yards and the fences around them would reach the railway. There was a highway along the railway and river, where sometimes car roars would come from, loud, obnoxious, and sudden. It was time for lunch, and Tetsudo started to wonder where they'd eat.

"Yai?" He turned to her.

"Yeah?"

"You hungry?"

Yai put her pointer finger on her chin and stared down. "What is she thinking about so hard?" Tetsudo was confused.

"I'd say so," she answered and turned to him. "What do we have for lunch?"

"Prepared sandwiches I bought a day ago. Better question, where will we eat?"

Yai looked around for a bit. She then pointed to a lonely tree far ahead.

"How about there?"

"Hmm… I guess it works; let's go." Tetsudo had no better ideas, so he just went with the flow.

The two got to the tree in a few minutes and sat down. Tetsudo unzipped his backpack and pulled out the sandwiches. Yai was pleased with the ingredients: turkey slice, tomato, lettuce, and cheese; it was like a baguette but smaller. Both started eating under the shade. The tree was pretty dry; it looked like it wasn't absorbing much water. Its bark was jagged and sharpened; the top layer had fallen off in some spots. The leaves above were an ugly green that occurred when they would dry out and quietly rustle; they shielded Yai and Tetsudo from the sun's might.

Yai stood closer to Tetsudo than usual; their shoulders were almost touching. Her scent and hair were waving around his head, distracting him from all sides. He really couldn't just focus on eating. Yai's smile grew with every nibble she took from the sandwich. Although they both ate slowly, they finished in three or so minutes – impressive, but time was of the essence here.

After eating in silence, they got back up and started walking again. To them, it was customary to eat in silence, it's not like they didn't want to talk, but there was no need to. So, they kept walking on the railway, with every simmering glow from the wires sinking into their eyes. Tetsudo looked at his phone, which he had charged at the station: 2:49 PM. And they were still just 10 kilometers down.

"Seventy more to go…"

*

The sun was getting a lot more violent. The mirages in front of Yai and Tetsudo were vibrating and wiggling without a break. It made their eyes hurt. The sweat coming down their foreheads made their vision even blurrier. Every so often, a train would pass by, and it was getting hard for them to get on the railway and get off of it continuously. The fatigue, especially after lunch, was setting in. Time moved quickly, and they were almost at the first little town, but when Yai's legs started to buckle, they decided to stop for a while to regain strength.

They turned right and had to descend since the bank of the river, where they wanted to go and chill, was lower than the railway. But it wasn't too difficult, and soon they were at the river shore. Yai sat down on a stone underneath a tree shadow and removed her shoes – blisters could be seen on her heels. Tetsudo looked at his phone again: 3:55 PM. An hour later, they still weren't at the closest town where they could try and find shelter.

Tetsudo's eyes gazed at the water – playful and clean, it vibrated and glistened around the sunlight. The riverbed, however, looked like, in some places, it had dried up significantly since he could see some stones peeking out of the water. Small fishes were swimming with the river's flow, and the birds on the other side of the river were eyeing them from afar.

"How much still to go?" Yai asked him from behind.

"Five kilometers and we're at the closest town."

“Which is?”

“Ichiyama.”

Yai groaned in discomfort. Tetsudo turned to her.

"You sure you don't need bandages?"

Yai looked at him, unsure; she didn't want more money to be spent on her carelessly.

"Not for now…"

"Let's hope your foot is okay." Tetsudo sat next to her on the stone.

"It'll be fine. What matters now is this ride I'm on with you, not my leg or anything else."

Yai smiled; her eyes and words pierced again through Tetsudo's veil of repressed feelings. He smiled back - he was now used to her looking at the real him. However hot the sun was, her smile warmed him up the most, whether sly or wholehearted.