Tangerine ~ Bullet Train

6 - How a phone call would change everything

'Wow.' Riku couldn't stop saying that phrase every time he saw the next page of the comics Yuina drew for him. Even after two days he was always amazed whenever he looked at them, which was pretty much all the time. 'Mom, just look at that!' he exclaimed. 'It's so beautiful!' Yuina feared she was being a burden with her comics drawing so much attention of Aya whilst she was trying to make dinner, but her aunt didn't think so at all. She actually loved seeing her son so happy because of something Yuina did for him. 'You're right, love,' she agreed, 'it really is beautiful.'

Yuina felt her heart slightly melting. The last time she felt that way, was... well, actually not even that long ago, but she tried to push the thought of it away. She replayed the occurrence many times in her head, even every time she felt miserable at that stupid music festival, so most of the time. It felt weird that a stranger could make her feel better still. It wasn't just a fluke; her meeting Tangerine really meant something to her, but she tried not to think about it anymore, as she would never see him again.

Not thinking about him anymore was being made very difficult by her cousin, as he would eventually look at the sketches and drawings she made in her time being at her aunt's place. She was here for only two days now, but she felt very inspired to draw.

'Who is this man?' Riku asked her whilst looking at the drawing of Tangerine. She had carefully stashed it at the bottom of the pile of papers, yet it was the most detailed drawing she had made whilst being here. It also was the first thing she drew when she was able to, so she could capture all his details before she would eventually forget the little dimples next to his mouth when he would laugh, or the little wrinkles that would become visible on his forehead when he seemed to think about something real hard, or the slight curls in his brown hair, orthe little golden earring he had in his left ear.

Shit, she could remember everything about this man. Even his voice, which sounded less low than you'd expect when you would look at him.

'Is he your friend?' Riku held on. Yuina didn't know what to say. 'Oh!' her cousin exclaimed. 'I know! He's your hero! Just like Thomas and Dora are mine!' She was completely stunned by his statement. 'What?' she tried to laugh it off. 'Why would you think that?' she asked, because Riku seemed to be so certain. 'Because of the way you drew him,' he replied. 'He looks tough and serious, but there's something soft in his eyes, which overall kinda makes him look like a protector. Your protector.'

Yuina felt her cheeks burning. She didn't really intend anything by drawing him. She just didn't want to forget about him. She feared that their meeting would eventually feel like it wasn't real, because it was so bizarre. But the itching feeling in her stomach told her it was real.

'He was just a friendly man I met on the train,' Yuina said with a smile. She felt kind of bad about describing him that way, because he had done so much more for her. Yet she didn't want anyone to find out. It felt like something that belonged to her only. 'And he has a pretty cool moustache too, don't you think?' she jokingly said. 'What?' Riku reacted. 'No way!'

'No?' Yuina asked. 'I think it would look very good on you, too.'

'No way!' her cousin repeated. Yuina grabbed a marker from the table. 'Here, let me draw it for you so you can see for yourself.' She pretended to get closer to him with the intention to draw on his face. 'No!' he yelled, laughing. 'Please don't!' Yuina ran after him, which resulted in her chasing him down a few times around the table. The sound of her cousin's laughter would be heard through not only the kitchen, but through the living room as well. He was full of joy, which made her heart feel warm again. His father Saito even came looking. Whilst standing beside his wife, they both looked at their son having the time of his life.

They loved having Yuina near them. Aya's sister would often complain about Yuina being difficult to be around with, but she never experienced anything like that. She knew her sister could be harsh and Aya didn't think Yuina deserved how she was being treated by her parents. Yuina didn't know, but her aunt has had many arguments with her mother about it.

Yuina was so busy running after her cousin and having a total blast, that she didn't hear her phone buzzing on the table. Riku got tired, which meant she was catching up to him. But instead of drawing a moustache on his face, she put the marker back on the table and gave her cousin a warm, big hug. 'Yeah, it's hugging time!' he exclaimed happily. Riku always thought his niece would give the best hugs. 'I wish you would stay longer than two weeks!' he said, although her staying for that amount of time was in fact fairly long. Not long enough, she would think. 'Did I hear someone say it's hugging time?!' Saito said whilst walking towards the pair and spreading his arms open, welcoming.

At first Aya looked at them with a happy smile on her face, but then she heard the ringtone of her phone. She saw the name of Yuina's mother on her screen and she decided to pick up the phone. 'Miyuna,' she greeted her sister. 'Aya, oh, I'm so glad you picked up!' Her voice sounded stressed out and tired. 'What's the matter?' Aya asked.

'Mommy, come join us!' Riku suggested whilst looking at his mother with a happy face still, but hers turned pale white. 'I – I understand, how horrible,' she said to Miyuna. 'Mommy?' Riku asked, sensing the seriousness of the situation. Not only Saito and himself stood up straight again, Yuina also looked at her aunt warily. It was clear something was going on, she could see it at Aya's shocked face. 'Yes, I will tell her,' she said whilst nodding. 'Saito and I can come for support, too,' she suggested. 'Thank you for calling. Hang in there, Mi, support will be on the way.'

After she hung up the phone, Aya's hand started to tremble. She laid down her phone on the table. Saito walked up to her and put his arm around her. 'What's the matter, love?'

Yuina could feel it was something really serious, something that made her aunt very upset. She put her hand on her cousin's shoulder to give him solace, but little did she know she would be the one that would need the support most. She realised that when her aunt let her eyes slide to her face. 'There has been an accident,' she said with a trembling voice. 'It's your father. Hiroto was accidentally hit by a car. He's currently in the hospital. I'm so sorry, dear.'

Yuina felt numb when hearing the news. Aya and Saito thought it was because it was a lot to process all of a sudden, but that wasn't the reason really. Yuina didn't know what was, but she didn't feel torn apart inside by this news. She just felt like she did most of the time; neutral. Still, she allowed her family to put their arms around her to give her comfort, whilst pretending to be sad about the news.

Yet the only thing that came to mind was the fact that she had to cut her trip short to go back home again to visit her father in the hospital and to support her mother, whilst she never got any support from them. She had to leave her aunt's place early after just arriving here.

Now she really did feel sad.