The Three O'clock Passenger

Ch. 1: The Late Train

A silent huff of frustration left Jotaro's nose as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. The train was late. He had been waiting at the station for an hour now. He had gotten there thirty-minutes earlier just in case it was ahead of schedule and had been waiting for thirty-minutes more as it refused to show up. He checked his watch impatience that he realized was quite uncharacteristic of himself.

"What's taking so long?" Josuke said. Jotaro found the tone he spoke in particularly grating; he hated it when Josuke got whiny. "He was supposed to get here, like-- what time is it?"

"Three-thirty two," Koichi said.

"Thirty-two minutes ago!"

Jotaro didn't respond, he simply stared down the tracks with a look that was about as expressive as the brick under his shoes. Though no one would ever be able to tell just by looking at him, Jotaro was filled with a strange combination of giddy excitement and impatient frustration. It was physically affecting him, filling his mind until it was strong enough to be reflected in his body, so much so to the point where he had to stand up and pace around the station when he had spent the first thirty minutes there alone. It was quite an unusual concoction of emotions for him; he couldn't say he liked this feeling.

It had been with him for a while now-- three days to be exact. Ever since he received the conclusive phone call confirming that he would be joining Jotaro in Morioh, everything felt different. During the day, he found himself losing focus on things as the excitement grew stronger. At night, sleep evaded him; his mind couldn't allow him to rest when anticipation outranked slumber. After three days and nights of waiting, the time had finally come for Jotaro and the three o'clock passenger to meet again.

That is, they'd get to meet again if the train would ever arrive. The time for them to meet again had come and passed, leaving Jotaro with an intense feeling of dissatisfaction. Why couldn't things ever work out like he wanted them to?

"Who even is this guy?" Okuyasu grumbled.

"Someone I know," Jotaro said.

"You gotta tell us more than that!"

"He's someone important."

"Come on, something else!" Josuke chimed in.

Again, Jotaro didn't respond.

He wished the kids weren't there with him. The experience would have been much more enjoyable for him if they hadn't been invited. But, despite Jotaro's dissuasion, it had been specifically requested over the phone for them to be there. So there he was, begrudgingly swarmed by the chattering teens. He generally didn't mind their company. In fact, at many times, he even enjoyed being with them. They seemed to look up to him, to respect him, to even count him as part of their clique to a certain extent. But today was different. Today was a special occasion that Jotaro wanted to experience without them tagging along. Waiting at the train station had been nice for the first thirty minutes or so when he was in solitude. Sitting on the green metal bench, he could at least be alone in the ambience of the station's life with his hat pulled over his eyes. The buzz of people, the occasional announcements over speakers, the tapping of shoes against brick; they melded into a single sound that acted as the background of his thoughts. Though Jotaro had never been fond of people, he didn't mind being in crowds of them where no one cared who he was or had the time to talk to him. But ever since Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi showed up, the comfort of being just another person in a crowd had been thoughtlessly snatched away by the bunch of bored, impatient adolescents. They rambled aimlessly while Jotaro did his best to tune out what they were saying and internally pretend he wasn't affiliated with them.

"What do you think's keeping the train so long?" Koichi said to no one in particular.

"Maybe it crashed," Okuyasu suggested.