THE RUMBLE OF the train jostles him awake.

Kaede opens his bleary eyes and slowly drags himself upright. His arms ache and an earphone had fallen out while he'd slept. Tugging them both out and stopping the music, a shimmer of light suddenly pierces into the side of his vision, burning a panel of his face. He forces his gaze ahead, where the same passengers for the past hours sit tiresomely. Only this time, the sight makes him squint.

Because upon them, the light is casting shadows and silhouettes of structures he's only ever seen through a small screen.

Grasping the straps of his bags, Kaede stiffly twists around, breathing in sharply at the sight that greets him. Awe silencing him.

Because there, between the setting sun, lies a city.

A city of dreams. Said to harbour starless skies and undying commotion. A city with a heart that always beats, and veins that burst with life of colourful variety.

And somewhere within the unravelling network, a chance awaits.

And also, so, so much more than his little hands then, plastered upon the glass and seeming so much bigger than the towering skyscrapers themselves, can ever hold.

And these notions, for some reason, excite him more than they should.

As much as they scare him.

Less than they should.