The empty station was an unnerving sight. The cold wind whistled through the open platform, causing the woman's hair to billow in her face. She hastily pulled it back, not taking her gaze off of the stoic bullet train on the tracks.
Tokyo Station was usually a sea of people, pushing past each other to catch their respective trains. But at the ungodly hour of three in the morning it was completely silent. The only sign that Tokyo was all around was the dull murmur of traffic in the distance.
She sat on a cold steel bench at the far right end of the platform. There was no one else in sight. And why would there be? The Hayate Shinkansen wouldn't be departing for another two hours and the station was officially closed for the night.
Being a master in stealth made it easy for her to hide during the final inspection of the day. The station employees never really looked that hard, so she just pressed herself into the convenient space between two walls of lockers. It was uncomfortable, but sure enough, the lights flicked off and the once busy platform was plunged into eerie darkness.
She waited in silence. There was no need to talk. No need to move. All she did was watch the sleek nose of the bullet train on the tracks before her. It glistened beneath the glow from the exit signs, hanging above the platform. The woman admired it. Whenever it pulled into Tokyo Station it waited on the platform for one minute, before it sped away, with whatever people managed to step aboard in time. It was always a blur.
It was truly gorgeous; beautiful compared to the subway trains that she was used to in New York. The way its nose pointed forward, curving back to form the sleek aerodynamic body, that cut through the air like a knife. It wasn't grimy or dirty like the subway trains. It was clean and spacious and comfortable. Humane; for lack of a better word.
Suddenly, her phone began to buzz in her pocket. Without a word, she took it out and held it to her ear, her gaze never wavering from the train.
"Are you at the station?" The voice was filtered, but it sounded female. "Bronte?"
The woman—Bronte—sighed. "Well, that's rather unprofessional." She chuckled humourlessly. "Aren't names supposed to be confidential? Therefore we don't use them on jobs?"
The voice on the line made a sound of disregard. "My bad. Cobra, are you at the station yet?"
"Don't you think that's a little on the nose?" Bronte screwed up her face at the name. She had always wanted a cool code name; she had even designed her signature weapon—a two-pronged blade, with poisoned tips, which created a wound resembling a snake bite—in the hopes that she would be given a snake-related name. While Cobra was fitting, she was kind of hoping for something a little less intense, something more elegant.
"I like it," Bronte's handler—Amelia—responded with a chuckle. "It strikes fear into those who hear it. Isn't that what you want?"
Bronte sighed. "Yeah, I guess." She glanced at the large clock on the opposite platform. It was almost four o'clock. "I guess there are worse names in the business."
"You can say that again," Amelia sighed. "Fruit and vegetables are just so terrifying, right?"
"Very scary." While the foods themselves weren't worrying , the underlying reference was. The fruit names were familiar, and they weren't a good sign if you heard them.
"Speaking of which," Amelia continued. "I got a tip from the big boss. He said there are gonna be twins in car 3 who have the case you want. On the ten o'clock Hayate."
Bronte took a double take. "Twins?" She furrowed her eyebrows in recognition. "Not the twins?"
"I don't know, Bronte. There are millions of twins in the world." Amelia laughed at her own joke. "But if it is the twins, that won't stop you from completing the job, will it?" Bronte grunted in affirmation. "Good, because this is important." There was a moment of silence. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question."
"Yes, I'm at the station." Bronte leant her head back against the wall, not caring about how grimy it probably was. She was just so tired. "If I don't have to board until ten, why do I have to be here so early?"
Amelia sighed. "I'm not enjoying it either, you know? But, it's just a precaution. In case the owner of the case decides to catch an earlier train." Bronte rolled her eyes. "If they get word that there is someone after the case, they might try to give you the slip."
She hung up after that.
When it reached six o'clock the lights switched on. Bronte stood up, groaning at the feeling of moving her legs after having spent so long seated on the cold bench. But the stretch was short, for she darted back to her hiding spot, as the conductor stepped onto the platform.
He opened the doors from the main terminal and the Shinkansen lit up. People immediately started filing in from the street, so she ducked into their midst, feigning as if she were just entering the station as well.
She glanced at the slip of paper in her hand. A ticket. More specifically; a ten o'clock ticket for the Hayate Shinkansen, all the way to Kyoto Station. It was an unnecessarily long trip, but she knew she wouldn't need it. She would be on the train and back off ten minutes later at Ueno Station: mission accomplished.
The train pulled out of the station, followed by a hundred more of the same model. But she didn't board any of them. Thousands of people entered the platform and boarded each train, stepping around Bronte as she stood, watching the timetable on the screen change every few minutes.
No one suspicious showed up on the platform, but there were so many people, it was impossible to tell. The uneventful day seemed to stretch on forever, even though only about thirteen hours had passed. Only thirteen hours. It was dark by the time she saw her train flash on the screens.
As soon as the clock struck 9:59pm, another shiny bullet train slipped into the station. Bronte lined up with the rest of the passengers, waiting for people to disembark, before boarding themselves. She stepped into the gangway between cars 2 and 3, turning left into car 2 and taking her seat right at the back.
Many people filed into the car, taking their seats and immediately closing their eyes. Most of them were probably heading home after a long day at work, and trying to catch up on some much-needed sleep. Having been up since this time the previous day, Bronte envied them deeply. She wanted nothing more than to lean against the window and close her eyes as well, but she had a job to do, and she wouldn't be on the train for long.
A/N: What was your favourite scene in the movie? Comment down below. I love reading your comments!
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SNAKESKIN (Tangerine) ✓
Fanfiction"I'll be off the train at Ueno Station. Don't worry." When Bronte takes the mysterious snatch and grab job, she expects to be on and off the train with the asset in no time. But when she realises that the bullet train is full of others with the same...
