Chapter Text
“Alright Tomou, you ready?” I ask, nervously.
It’s finally time to be introduced. We are travelling to visit Tomou's parents in a smaller town that goes by the name Akina. It’s about a 2-hour train journey from Hashiyara station along the Fukuchiyama line. It stops at a few stations like Takarazuka and Amagasaki, but it’s not a massive trade. We would have had to wait an extra 4 hours if we wanted to get a direct train, and we weren’t willing to wait that long.
I look over at my boyfriend and give him a small smile. A smile that has nothing but the best feelings behind it. He turns his head and gives a similar, nervous smile. He looks so damn scared, but also really cute. I love him to bits, and I wouldn’t have anyone else if I could.
“Not at all,” He replies, “Let’s do it Akira.”
I take hold of his paw and squeeze it tight. I, without words, am trying to reassure him that this will be ok. We won’t run into any problems, and we’ll be there before we know it. I think it’s working as well, because he seems to become less tense when I do so, even though he is still visibly nervous. In the back of our minds, we always have a fear of something going wrong. Our irrational side always runs a bit haywire in times of stress, and it’s our job to keep it in check.
About 30 seconds later, our train arrives. It is a set of 7000 series EMUs, which are the newest and safest trains to run the lines of JR. They are quiet, comfortable, and fitted with the latest rail accident prevention systems. Nothing can go with them.
The train rolls slowly to a stop in front of us, the brakes squealing. Even this sound seems to put Tomou on edge, so I wrap my arm around his waist and pull him closer. He’s surprised by the sudden contact, but places a kiss on the top of my head and pulls me closer too. Sure, we’re getting some stares from the herbivores in the coaches towards the front, but we don’t care. We love each other, and nothing will break us apart.
The doors open with a hydraulic sound and we climb aboard. This train is quite busy because it’s rush hour, but that’s a good thing. We can stay close to each other, and comfort each other while not needing an excuse. Sure, it can be embarrassing to have so many animals staring at you, but we will just mind our own business like we usually do, and not worry about what others think.
As the train sets off, we huddle close to each other and wait for our destination.
—-------------------
As we approach Takarazuka station, I notice that the train is going rather fast. It seems to be travelling at nearly 50 KM/H, and it looks like the front of the train has already approached the edge of the platform. We are in the second car, so it’s not too hard to judge the space between the front of the train and us.
Everyone on the train is thrown forward by the force of the train’s brakes slamming on. I end up being pushed further into Tomou by the motion to where I’m practically on his lap. However, neither of us care. It is yet another excuse to get closer to each other, and that makes us happy.
I turn my head and look out of the window, and I notice that our car has passed the edge of the platform, the front overshooting the platform by about, what… 30 metres? Maybe 40? Yikes, that isn’t brilliant.
It takes the train roughly 30 seconds to back up to the correct space. The train is now around 1 minute, 20 seconds late, and Tomou is starting to freak out. He is trembling and seems to be sweating. It’s really quite upsetting seeing him in this state, so I grab hold of his paw and intertwine my fingers with his. He immediately stops trembling, but it’s still quite evident that he’s worried about being late.
“Don’t worry babe,” I reassure him, “we’ll be fine if we’re a few minutes late. Trains are regularly an hour late back in the UK.”
“Akira, you don’t understand. All of these animals have to get to work to the second or else they could get serious punishments.”
I’m quite taken aback by Tomou’s snapping, but it makes sense. Japan is such an efficient country, and being late has almost no excuse. I learned that the hard way from attending college at Oakwood, the most prestigious engineering college in all of Gunma. Rex, I feel stupid now.
The train stops in the correct position and new passengers board. Among those passengers are a tall grey wolf, and a shorter labrador retriever. The two canines notice us and make their way to the 2 empty seats next to us.
"Jack! Legoshi! What are you doing here?" I ask. It feels strange seeing these two in a place like here, but that might be because we don't run into each other in public too often. It’s always nice to bump into friends when you’re in public, even at the worst possible times.
"We're heading to Amagasaki for a day out. It's been too long since we did anything like this with each other," Jack answers. What he said paired with his really cheery mood immediately puts a giant smile on my face.
"That sounds fantastic. Have fun when you're there," Tomou replies.
"Will do,” Legoshi says with a chuckle, “Where are you headed?"
“We’re off to visit this cutie’s,” I point behind me to Tomou, “parents. I’m just hoping they’ll accept us.”
“Well,” Jack begins, “I wish you guys the best of luck.”
I give Jack a small smile and a nod. The wordless thank you of the UK.
I turn back to look at the wolf behind me only to notice that he’s blushing, and quite a lot. I could tell he was trying to hide it, but nothing gets past the 20/20 visioned Akira. I playfully give my boyfriend a soft punch in the arm, which makes him giggle like a schoolgirl on the playground. I swear, I’m gonna explode from holding in “aww”s one of these days, because I can barely stand it.
“I told you not to call me cute in public. You know the rules, and so do I.”
Tomou gently places his paw on the side of my snout.
“You wouldn’t get this from any other guy,” is the only thing he whispers before planting a very long kiss directly on the side of my snout. The one place where I hate being kissed in public. It’s very much a thing that only we really see as truly romantic, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like a kid getting caught beating up their sibling or stealing candy. It’s so damn immature, but it’s fun.
I hold up my finger to Tomou’s mouth to shut him up.
“Did you just rickroll me through speaking?”
He looks away nervously.
“When we get off this train, you are getting absolutely battered for that,” I say with a chuckle. We all know I’m joking, but I am really quite annoyed that he managed to slip a rickroll in there of all places. It was so damn smooth.
I turn back to look at Jack and Legoshi, who are currently gazing into each other’s eyes. Into each other’s souls. Tomou and I always find ourselves doing that. For some cliche reason that I don’t know, it always happens in some of the most romantic places, whether it be a path covered by cherry blossom trees, or on top of a mountain, looking over the countryside.
I lean back slightly into my chair and pull out my phone. I plug my earbuds in and give one to the most handsome wolf on the train (feel free to disagree, but Tomou is stunning). He puts it in and we start scrolling through the songs I have saved on Zootify. There are a lot of genres, a lot of sub-genres, and a whole lotta songs. It takes a couple of minutes, but we both end up choosing the exact same album.
The Your Lie in April OST.
I remember watching this with Tomou when it first aired, and we were so stoked. It was a really happy anime about overcoming childhood trauma by playing music with the girl you love.
But that end. The end had us both cuddling with each other, crying into the other’s shirt. It is, to this date, the saddest piece of media I have ever taken in, and I’ve watched Titanic. I didn’t even cry at that for Rex's sake, but I cried at some random anime. Fuck, that seems wrong. Really wrong.
—-----------------
5 minutes have passed, and the train seems to be…shaking? It feels like the suspension is rocking from side to side incredibly quickly. Other animals seem to have caught on to it too, because they’re all starting to look around the cabin with worried or concerned expressions. It doesn’t feel exactly safe, but I’ve never ridden on this line before, so I don’t really know what the speed limit is, or maybe the tracks are a little behind on maintenance.
I turn to Jack, who looks incredibly nervous. He’s completely tensed up and is sweating buckets. He also looks like he’s either on the verge of crying or throwing up. Legoshi has his arm wrapped around his shoulder, but that’s only doing so much for the trembling labrador. Even his soft whispering isn’t doing anything, and even I know that it help soothe Jack’s nerves. Whatever is going on here, it must be bad.
I turn my whole body to Tomou, who is now ssat bolt upright. His eyes are darting all around the inside of the car, and his ears have lowered. That can only mean one thing.
He senses that we are in danger.
Looking out of the window, I note that we are probably moving at roughly 125KM/H. A lot of the cityscape around the train is a blur at this point, but I do notice a speed limit sign. I know it’s that, because it’s a number in a red ring.
Wait, did that number say 70? 70 KM/H? Fuck, we really are travelling nearly double the speed limit. This train is going to derail at some point on this trip if this driver doesn’t stop moving so damn quickly. We have to somehow stop or slow down this train before the tight corner ahead.
TIGHT CORNER!?
There’s nothing any of us can do as we feel the train start to tilt outwards, and all of the animals are thrown out of their seats and off their paws, barrelling towards our side of the train.
The cabin tilts more, and I am beginning to come out of my seat. I’m falling with my back to the glass, and I’m not a feline, meaning I can’t twist my body in mid air to break my fall. I just have to wait it out and hope that I don’t get brain damage from the fall.
Everything goes completely silent. The only thing I can hear is my heartbeat, and everything is in slow-motion. It’s such a strange experience, and one that I never expected to have in my entire life. Especially in Japan of all places.
Suddenly, everything speeds up, and the ear-splitting sound of metal on concrete fills the air.
I land on my back, but hit my head on the wall behind me.
Before I really process what’s happened, my vision goes completely dark, and I lose all sensory contact with the outside world.