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“So… why do you keep making trains?” Sena asked, as the Kiramagers were all gathered for lunch.
There was a beat of silence.
“Juuru!” Sena half-shouted, making the boy jolt up and put his sketchbook down.
“Yes?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
“She wants to know why King Express and Zabyun are both trains.” Tametomo said.
“Perhaps he was inspired by my role in The Last Express.” Shigeru said.
“Wasn’t that just a bit part?” Sena asked, tilting her head. All the color drained from Shigeru’s face and he hung his head.
“I-It’s nothing like that! It’s… kind of embarrassing….”
“You can be embarrassed?” Tametomo asked, before Sayo hit his shoulder.
“It’s a story my cousin told me…”
“Oh, so Kiramental runs in the family? Wonderful!” Takamichi laughed.
“Well now you have my attention.” Shigeru said leaning forward.
“I know I’d love to hear what inspires you.” Sayo said smiling.
“This’ll be good.” Tametomo said, leaning forward.
“A-Alright well it all started when I was nine.”
“C’mon Juuru!” A young girl with long black pigtails and a pink coat, said, dragging a young boy to the park near her home.
“K-Kagura! Slow down!” Juuru squeaks, as a kid he was definitely as scrawny as he’d grow up to be.
“There’s something super cool you need to see!” Kagura said, smiling as they got to a tree where four other kids were.
“Kagura, you were almost late!” A girl in yellow said, puffing out her cheeks.
“Oh! Who’s this?!” Another boy in red asked, running up to Juuru.
“This is my cousin, Juuru! His parents came to visit Daiki! He’s a super good artist, and I wanted him to see that special thing today!” Kagura said, grinning.
“Hi Juuru, I’m Right!” The other boy in red grins. “These are Tokatti, Mio, and Hikari! We’re all Kagura’s friends.” He adds, gesturing to the other kids
“U-Umm… hello…” Juuru squeaks, slightly hiding behind Kagura.
“Oh. he’s a lot like Tokatti.” Hikari said.
“H-Hey! I’ve gotten better!” Tokatti huffs.
“K-Kagura said there was going to be something special happening today…” Juuru said, mustering up the courage to speak.
“Right! The trains!” Right smiles.
“Trains but… there isn’t a big line here… mama and papa would have had us take that instead of driving….” Juuru mutters.
“Do you think he can see it?” Mio whispered to the others.
“Of course! Juuru’s got even more imagination than I do!” Kagura said.
“That… doesn’t sound possible.” Hikari mutters.
“He does, all his pictures are… they shine, like a super duper mega bright shine!” Kagura said, holding her hands up.
“My drawings… shine…?” Juuru asked, tilting his head.
“Of course! They have tons and tons of sparkles! I know it!” Kagura nods.
Juuru smiles a bit, hugging his sketchbook as a low rumbling sound could be heard. He looks up, gasping when he sees a rainbow colored train drive by down near the beach.
The other kids all start yelling and waving as Juuru starts drawing what he saw.
As he looked up to get another glimpse of the train, he could swear for a split second the others all looked like grown-ups before he blinked and they looked normal again.
“K-Kirameiking!” The boy yells, holding his hand up as he starts working extra hard on the drawing.
“And that’s basically how it went… ever since… I’ve thought I wanted a train like that…”
“A rainbow train…?” Sena asks, covering her mouth. “You had a giant imagination even as a kid, Juuru!”
“Oh! Here!” Juuru goes through his school bag and takes out an old worn sketch book, opening it to a picture of a multi-colored train.
“Red, blue, yellow, green and pink… a wonderful set of colors” Takamich nods. “Though it’s missing a wondrous silver train!”
“Oh hey, are these your cousin and her friends?” Sena asked, pointing to the other kids near a tree in the picture.
“They are.” Juuru nods, before hearing what sounds like a train whistle.
“A train… there are none scheduled for now.” Shigeru said, looking around.
Juuru gasped, bolting up and running to a window. “Everyone! Come here!”
Everyone gathered around him.
“What is i- EHHHHHH?!” Tametomo gasped, seeing the same rainbow colored train Juuru had drawn drive by.
“Th-that story was real?!” Sena yelled.
“I told you guys! Why would I make up something like that?!” Juuru asked, looking at the other two, before turning back to the train and smiling. He still wondered how Kagura and her friends knew about it, but he figured he could ask next time he sees her. For now… he’d enjoy holding this over those two for a while.