“Wake up Mr. West! Good Mornin’ woohoohooohoohoohoohohohooo...”

Kanye’s “Good Morning”, alarm wakes Kichiro from his deep slumber. He emerges as if the alarm was actually a dog pissing on his face. The classic wipe of the eyes does nothing to wake him up. He stands and trudges towards his door.

Home alone. Yuichi must have stayed at one of his girlfriend's places. Good news for Kichiro. He swings open the kitchen cupboard in the search for some breakfast.

 “Choose your fighter! Toast – special ability of crunchiness along with easiness to make, a supreme choice for beginners. CAUTION – becomes weak if attacked by heat for too long!"

"Cereal- with a special ability of milk, this fighter a real hybrid of food and drink, making it the ultimate breakfast choice for all-rounders. CAUTION- when exposed for long periods of time to liquid, Cereal becomes soggy and weak!”

Kichiro ponders. He asks himself why he is like this.

He selects toast with chocolate spread. He burns it. Bad start to the day.

Kichiro reaches the platform. Again, it’s quiet and empty, apart from an old woman, a businessman with a fancy watch and a schoolgirl similar to Kichiro’s age.

It’s them again.

Kichiro looks at the girl. His eyes open slightly more than last time. It must be the same girl.

She is smaller than Kichiro, with square, brown glasses on this time. She has a frail body with a red infused-ginger ponytail accompanied by a large backpack and a big, sky blue winter jacket. Her black school skirt is long, reaching down to her white beat-up running shoes. Her feet point inwards with her back slightly hunched over. Her hands nestle in her warm jacket pockets, like two little eskimos taking shelter in an igloo. She was evidently cold.

Kichiro’s heart skipped a beat as he caught a glimpse of her face.

Waltzing around the girl's ankles was an animal. A cat. It was orange. And fat. And it looked at Kichiro.

Kichiro quickly pretended to go on his phone as he sensed the girl turning around. He scrolled along his contacts, acting as if he was messaging in a group chat.

He feels something by his feet. The cat had made its way over to Kichiro now. Kichiro braced himself as he knew what was coming next. He knew this was inevitably going to be his first conversation with the girl who, for some reason, he was intrigued by. His heart raced. Quicker and quicker it beat...until.

“Kanako! Come back here!”

The cat swivelled and hissed at the old woman, who was standing in front of Kichiro.

“Sorry young man, my cat always goes walkabouts and never listens to me. KANAKO!”

Kichiro, bewildered, watched the woman chase after Kanako the cat as he ran off down the platform. As he turned back around, he noticed something...

She’d gone.

A scream echoed from the other side of the platform, with groups of people hurrying towards the scream's origin. The noise of a train slamming on its breaks added tension to an already confusing situation. Something was up.

Kichiro quickly walked around to the other side of the platform to see what had happened.

He dropped his phone on the floor.

There, in the middle of the train track stood the girl.

…..................................................................................................................................................