Tangerine ~ Bullet Train

20 - "Take it."

Yuina stood there, grabbing her suitcase firmly, waiting for the doors to make the warning sound that they were going to close. That's when the three of them stepped forwards onto the platform. She almost forgot about the world outside, but it looked grimly dark at this place. She knew it wouldn't take long for dawn to rise though. Besides, she wasn't alone, so she found some comfort in that.

It felt scary leaving the train, because she didn't know if anyone would be waiting for them out here.

They were all alone. It was deserted. The doors closed and the train started moving again, letting the wagons slide before their eyes so they could see the few people that were still on the train. Yuina could see Glasses standing with a girl in some sort of pink school uniform. In another wagon she could see Sweater, and other people who were probably involved in this job. Although she knew the danger wasn't yet in the past, she felt in fact relieved to be outside the train with these psychopaths still in it.

'We have to move,' Lemon said. 'We don't know if anyone is waiting for us on the streets. We have to find shelter before dawn rises.' Tangerine and his brother looked at each other, after which they slammed their phones on the floor and kicked them broken. 'So he wouldn't be able to track us down easily,' Lemon explained to Yuina when she would look at them with a questioning look on her face. 'They can really do that?' she asked in surprise. She had thought that only occurred in movies, yet she should've known the reach of the underworld. She felt stupid even asking that. 'We need to walk very carefully and avoid cameras,' Lemon continued explaining. 'They could hack into the footage to find us.'

Lemon tried to hide his annoyance when Yuina was again surprised that was real, but Tangerine felt guilty again for making yet another spot on Yuina's innocence.

Yuina didn't mind ditching her phone very much; she never felt connected to other people, apart from her aunt's family. She only used her phone for when she was bored. She grabbed the thing out of her pocket and looked at the screen, which was full of texts and missed phone calls. The group had tried to connect with her, but had eventually stopped doing so. Her mother texted her to see if she was still on schedule, which she of course wasn't. Well, she was closer to home where she was now than when she would've stopped with the group, but she wouldn't be going home. That thought didn't make her sad.

Just before she wanted to get rid of her phone, Yuina's mother was calling her again. She looked at her screen doubtfully. 'Maybe I should take it,' she suggested, to which Lemon looked at her incomprehensibly. 'I don't know what the others have told her about me leaving them, but my mother would simply not accept me not going home. She will try to benefit from this situation by creating people to sympathise with her. Whether she believes it or not, she will tell everyone I wouldn't leave on my own voluntarily. She would probably make up a story about me being kidnapped or something, and if they can really see us on the recording, you would be implied in some made up story about you kidnapping me.'

The truth was, Tangerine felt like it wasn't even being made up. Now that he was out of the train on a deserted platform in Nagoya in the dark, it felt like he was taking her because she had no choice. He felt like a swindler; luring her to come with him.

'Alright,' Lemon said. He had also looked at the train when it started moving again and he realised how many other people were involved in this scheme. The White Death would probably want to deal with those people first, which meant they would have some time to get away. He didn't want the police come knocking on their door so they would be arrested for suggestively kidnapping Yuina. They would go public, even easier for the mafia to be found. 'Take it,' he said. So Yuina did.

'Mom,' she said when she picked up the phone. 'Yuina?!' her mother asked. If she didn't know better Yuina would think her mother was worried, but she recognised the indignant tone in her voice. 'Why didn't you pick up?!' I was a little busy having a knife at my throat, she wanted to say, but she didn't. 'I can't do this anymore, mom,' she said. 'I won't be coming home.'

'What did you say?! That can't be true.' Yuina didn't reply, after which there was a little silence. 'What's going on?! Akira told me you wouldn't go with them, but they didn't know why. They said you didn't say anything and just stayed in the train.' So they didn't tell her mother that Yuina was involved with these men. For whatever reason they thought it would be best not to. Maybe because they knew her mother wouldn't want anyone to make a smut on her reputation and she would somehow retaliate on their parents.

'I can't do this, mom,' Yuina repeated. She didn't know what to say, because she didn't rehearse any words. Still she needed to find a way to somehow make her mother believe she left on her own and wouldn't be coming back for a while, so she wouldn't turn her in missing and the police wouldn't go searching for her, finding footage of her and two men. In fact Yuina was being fed up with her life for a while now. Maybe she didn't even have to search for words.

'We're not a family,' she said. 'We haven't been for years. You and dad never ask me how I'm doing, you never show any interest in me, you just boss me around and try to push me into the direction you want me to go, without thinking about what I want. You even threaten me when I don't do as you say. What kind of parents do that? Who makes their daughter be in a place she doesn't want to be, threatening her that if she doesn't obey she will be kicked out?'

'Look,' her mother replied after being silent for a few seconds, 'can we not do this right now? Hiroto's boss will be at the hospital at noon, so you better be there.'

'Or else?! You will kick me out? You don't have to, because I won't be coming home.'

'You will get home immediately, young lady, or your life will be very difficult.'

'Didn't you listen to a single word I said?!' Yuina felt very sad. Now that she was speaking the words she always wanted to say, saying she didn't want to go home because she couldn't take it anymore, her mother still didn't listen. Tangerine and Lemon did. They could hear every word she said and felt bad for her. 'My life is already difficult!' Yuina continued. 'You're suffocating me! You always take everything from me. Just when I thought I could have some time to myself and be with people who actually care about me, you ruin it again.' She knew it was a very mean thing to say, but she said it nevertheless. 'I don't want to be at your side just so you can pretend we're a loving family.'

'This is very important–'

'No! You pushed me away for years, threatening me, because you knew I needed you. Because you knew I didn't have anywhere to go. Guess what? I don't need you. I won't be coming home.' Yuina could feel her mother's anger through the phone, but she felt lighter now that she said everything she wanted to say. Her mother didn't even think about Yuina's feelings. She just thought about appearances and how it would seem to the outer world that Yuina didn't even visit her injured father at the hospital. 'What do I say to his boss?' was all her mother could ask. Yuina felt a flash of rage coming out. 'Why don't you just tell him that he can go fuck himself?!'

Lemon couldn't hide his reaction and blurted out a slight chuckle, which he luckily muted with his hand. It made Yuina suddenly very aware of the fact that him and Tangerine where with her and that they had heard everything.

Her mother wanted to say something again, but Yuina hung up the phone. The thing started shaking in her hands because of the rage she felt towards her mother, who immediately started calling again. Yuina opened the messenger app and said that she wouldn't come home one more time. Then she turned her phone off, took the card and memory drive out of it and smashed the thing into the ground. She bended to grab the three broken phones and threw them in the trash can. She got hold of her suitcase and stood straight up. 'Alright,' she said, 'let's go.'

Lemon looked at her as if he was amazed by her quick change of attitude again. It was clear to see that she didn't make up a story, that Yuina really lived like this with the constant pressure of her parents. Yet she stayed so strong, not falling apart but keeping things together. 'Yeah,' Lemon replied, 'let's go.'

Tangerine couldn't let it pass so quickly. He felt bad for Yuina. She didn't deserve to live that way, but she also didn't deserve what was happening to her now. He couldn't help but still feel guilty, even though she had said that she would've still stepped on the train if she had known the outcome of doing so. The three of them left the station in silence, Tangerine quietly taking over carrying her suitcase whilst avoiding her gaze again.

Even though the danger seemed to have subsided for now, they still felt uneasy.