ᴀʟʟᴇɢᴇᴅʟʏ ☀︎︎ ɢᴇᴛᴏ s. x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ☀︎︎

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ

20 November 2005
Approximately 10:00 A.M.
Kobe, Japan

6 months later

The sun shone through the large expanse of windows, illuminating the inside of the train. The manga in your hands was easy to read because of the gracious amount of light, the textured feeling of the pages bringing a sense of warmth to you. The seats were plush, unlike the seats of the buses. You were glad the school decided to guy by train rather than bus.

You sat alone, legs extended over the seats, back pressed against the window. White wires connected to the f/c iPod laying in your lap, blasting your music through the buds, blocking out the other noises. Your bag was on the opposite seat, resting motionless from the smooth railing on the train.

The other students were rowdy, hence why you sat in the front rather than in the back. You could see them moving around in the corner of your eye, and if they got too excited, you could hear them through your earbuds.

A school trip. Your mother signed the paper, gave you money, and sent you off. And where to? A planetarium. Why you couldn’t just go to one in Tokyo was beyond you. You had to sit for 3 hours on a train, and then spend the night in a hotel. Thankfully, there was an odd number of students, so you were able to snag a room by yourself.

“Alright listen up!”

You pulled one earbud out of your ear, and looked up at the teacher. The other students took a moment to silence themselves, settling back into their seats with some murmurs.

“The train will be arriving at the station soon. When we get there, please wait on the platform in your assigned groups. We will take attendance, and then walk to our hotel. At three tomorrow, we will reconvene and head to the planetarium. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah, when are we getting food?”

Laughter washed over the car, and you replaced the bud back into your ear, a soft sigh passing over your lips. You hated public school.

No longer then fifteen minutes later, the train was easing to a stop, and everyone was jumping out of their seats. You placed the manga (a parting gift from Geto) back into your bag before slinging it over your shoulder. Uniforms weren’t required until the planetarium, so you opted for a red hoodie and black sweatpants rather than a skirt and button up shirt.

As you stood on the platform, off to the side from your group, but still loud enough to hear the teacher calling attendance, you couldn’t help but notice something. Or rather someone.

A tall, dark haired man was standing away from everyone else, leaning against the wall. Based on the height of the signs and other people, you concluded he was about 182 centimeters (6 foot) even. Mid-length, straight black hair that ended above his ears, and hung in front of his face. The black t-shirt he wore was tight fitting against his muscular body, and his hands were in the pockets of his cream-colored pants. He also had a small scar over the corner of his grinning lips.

Something was off about this man. He didn’t look like he was waiting for a train, and nobody was walking up to him as if he were waiting. He gave you an uneasy feeling, and your guard rose unconsciously. You couldn’t feel any kind of cursed energy, not even the amount someone normal would have.

“L/n?”

You snapped from your thoughts to reply. “Here,” When you turned back to where the man was standing, you were met by an empty space. You looked around with a soft frown. He was nowhere to be seen.

Who was that man? He looked oddly...familiar to you. You just couldn’t say where.

You brushed it off, shaking the image of his grinning face from your mind. It was probably just some creep lurking around the station.

The walk to the hotel was fairly short, only being about five blocks away. While most of the students around you complained about the walk, you found it easy and while it would have been nice on any other day, it was unpleasant today. You shouldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching you. You kept glancing behind you, making one of the nicer students turn around.

“Hey, L/n-chan, is everything alright?” She asked, brown curls shifting with the tilt of her head.

“Y-yeah,” You said, turning to face her with a plastered smile, hand on the back of your head. “Just nervous about the city!”

“I totally understand!” She said. “I’m always so nervous away from home!”

“Yeah…”

Except you were both nervous for different reasons.

“And, L/n, here’s the key to your room, and a list of our room numbers to call if anything happens,” You nodded and took the card and slip of paper from the teacher, before heading off to your room.

After settling in, you laid on the bed in your room, your phone resting on your chest as you explained what happened at the station.

“Do you think it could have been some type of curse user?” Geto asked once you had finished.

“I don’t know,” You sat up, catching your phone before it could fall. “It was just...weird.”

“Like you said, it could have just been some creep. Were there any distinguishing features he had? Like tattoos or something?” He asked.

“He had this scar on the corner of his lips, but that's about the only thing I could see,” You sighed. “I dunno. It was probably nothing. I’ve never been to Kobe before, so it’s probably just my nerves.”

“If you say so. But Y/n, if you feel like you’re in danger--”

“I brought my kusarigama with me,” You said. “I’ll be alright.”

“I’m more concerned about why you brought it to go to a planetarium,” Geto chuckled. You grinned, even if he couldn’t see it.

“A woman’s always gotta be prepared, Sugar. You never know when something’s gonna happen,” You said.

“I guess,” He chuckled. “Oh, and by the way, do you have plans next weekend?”

“Why?”

“Well, I was thinking we could get dinner together and then go to the festival in town after,” He said.

Warmth rose to your cheeks, a smile pulling on your lips as you laughed lightly. “A-are...are you asking me on a date, Sugar?”

“I mean...you could call it that, I suppose,” He replied. “Something wrong with that?”

“If you want it to be that, then all you had to do was ask, Sugar. I won’t bite,” You said.

“Too hard,” He laughed. “Anyways, I guess I should let you get some sleep.”

“It’s only 12, you old man,” You joked.

“I am not a cradle robber,”

“You’re such an idiot,” You shook your head.

“Goodnight, Y/n.”

“Night, Sugar. Call me sometime tomorrow so I’m not bored out of my mind,” You said, reaching for your charger.

“Okay, your highness,”

“Damn right.”

“Now you’re the idiot. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, sunshine.”

“Su-sunshine? What? You have to make names up now too?”

“I feel left out. So yes. Sunshine.”

“Dweeb.”

“I like Sugar better.”