Kichiro stands at the platform in silence. No cat, no old woman, no businessman and no girl today. Only a man in all black with his hood up and a backpack. Probably going to work or something, Kichiro assumes. Although that bag does look heavy...

The train pulls in gentley to the station, a nice change from its usual loud screeching and hard braking. He skips onto the train like usual and finds his seat. Ahh. Comfy. As he goes to plug in his earphones he notices a certain annoying yapping sound. A dog? No, it was a more complex sound. The train PA system? Nope, it was too clear to be that. He turns to his left.

Oh, so that’s it.

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Misha’s phone buzzes as she enters the relatively empty carriage. Great. It’s Lucie.

*Hi hunnybuns! I’m getting the same train as you! 😊 Try look out for me if you can! Xx L*

Misha sighs. Her train ride of peacefulness had just be ruined. She glances from left to right to see if she can spot Lucie’s trademark blue dyed hair and probably some disgruntled passengers that she had no doubt annoyed with her constant chit chats on the phone.

She takes a gamble and goes…. left.

As the doors slide open she is met by a boy coming out the opposite carriage. Wait, that’s her in there! Misha’s gamble paid off. She advanced towards the next carriage door-

THUD!

Misha looked up in a fury to see who this man was who knocked her to the ground. His face was hidden by his large, dark hood. She scurried up to her feet.

“Young...that...that is all I want…”, he mutters. A sinister smile creeps onto the mans rugged mouth.

“What was that? Anyway move I’m trying to get pas-“, Misha replied sassily, until the man put his arms firmly onto the yellows bars on each side of the carriages walkway, causing Misha to startle.

“What’s going on here?”, she quizzes as the man advances towards her, menacingly. His intensity increased with each thud of his black work boots and each ring of the metal bars as he planted his large, weathered hands on them. The unknown things in his slightly ripped backpack jingled faster and faster as he approached.

Misha backs off, now with fear mixed with confusion rushing through her body. Was she going to get raped? Maybe worse, killed? Panic began to set in as she opened her mouth to call out to Lucie.

The man stops suddenly. He reaches out sharply to cover her mouth. He holds… and holds… and holds. He feels her chest palpating rapidly, with each breath coming quicker than the previous one that she takes. He walks her to up against the door in which she entered the carriage from. He sees sweat appearing on her forehead. His smile remains.

“…Shhhhh.”

The carriage goes silent. The man has now locked eyes with Misha.

Dark green eyes pierce Misha’s shocked stare. She is calming. These eyes are… unusual. They have an eerie ability to set a cool atmosphere. She is no longer scared. She is in a trance.

Kichiro glances left at the loud American girl again, with the hope that she somehow will receive a telepathic message to shut up. She doesn’t. Kichiro stares at his blank phone. He wonders where Misha is. She’s usually on this train by now. As he scans the carriage he spots something through the carriage door. What is happening there? A boy and a girl are pressed up onto the door at the opposite end.

“Bit early for that kinda thing”, he whispers to himself. They must be boyfriend and girlfriend or something, although that "boy" is alot bigger... 

As he goes to look at his phone again, he notices the loud American has started to get angry. Her friend isn’t picking up her phone? Of course, someone like that would getting that mad over something like that.

The American girl gets up and starts marching towards the carriage door.

“Fine! Hide and seek it is then! Hmph!”, she exclaims as she leaves the carriage.  

Kichiro says a silent “thankyou” and puts his legs up. A whole carriage to himself! His dream had come true. As he begins to scroll through to find a perfect song for this exact situation, he hears a screech.

That was not the train’s screech.

That was a human.

 He darts up to look through the carriage window.

He gasps.