‘Go easy on me, please! Boys have mostly only ever teased me about my name, I’m not used to having normal conversations with them. Certainly not with a cool guy like you, Kosaka-kun.’
‘Well, that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that about me. Like I said, all through middle and high school, I was known as “army-geek guy”. Meaning I’ve never had a girlfriend.’
‘So, are you saying I have strange taste?’
‘Hey now, don’t go back on what you said just like that!’
‘Ah, sorry, no! I’ve never had a boyfriend either!’
At some point he had taken off his headphones and they were hanging around his neck. Talking to Gon-chan was more interesting than listening to the same old music.
‘Kosaka-kun, you don’t seem like you’re from Kansai. I’m from Nagasaki, what about you?’
It was the first personal question she had asked him. He took it as a sign that she was enjoying talking to him too.
‘I’m from Hiroshima. I live a short bike ride from Nishi-Kita.’
He may have overshared by including where he lived, but Gon-chan had mentioned the station that was nearest to her too.
‘Huh, but isn’t rent expensive in Nishi-Kita?’
‘I got a late start on my apartment search. But I found a decent place that’s only a ten-minute bike ride from the station, and the rent is pretty cheap. Actually it’s kind of close to the Mukogawa River.’
The iron bridge over the Mukogawa River was the first one along the route from Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi towards Umeda. A lot of people who lived on either side of the river thought the Hankyu Line was a bit less convenient to get to, but for a student – especially one who grew up in a provincial city and whose primary means of transport was a bicycle – it was more than suitable.
‘Oh, that’s not far from where I am.’
Based upon her response, he figured maybe the environment where she had grown up was similar.
‘I can do my shopping near the station on the way home, and there’s a supermarket close to my apartment too,’ he said.
‘Oh, do you cook for yourself? I’m impressed.’
‘I don’t have the budget to buy prepared meals or junk food all the time. So I crib from cooking magazines that I read in the store, because they usually have cheap and easy recipes. I make a lot of mistakes in the kitchen, though.’
‘Wow. I leave all the meals up to my aunt.’
Just as they were speaking, the train had passed the last crossing before the station, so the pressure of passengers about to disembark was growing on either side.
As Kei’ichi subtly moved as if to protect Gon-chan from the onslaught and waited for the doors to open, he thought to himself,
At last they had reached Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi, the terminus, though it isn’t actually the last stop on the Imazu Line.
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station serves as a fairly large junction on the Hankyu Line.
The platforms for Sannomiya-bound trains (towards Kobe) and Umeda-bound trains (towards Osaka) are situated on the east–west axis; to the south of that is the platform for what’s sometimes called the tail-end of the Imazu Line. Add to that the platform on the north side for Takarazuka-bound trains, and altogether there are four platforms. Passengers ascend to a concourse on the upper level and then descend to whichever platform they need or, if Nishi-Kita is their final destination, they simply exit through the ticket gate.
Those who head towards Umeda can also get off at Juso Station, an even larger junction than Nishi-Kita. From there, they can continue as far as Kyoto or to any of the smaller localities in between that comprise the greater metropolitan region.
All manner of people from every walk of life – solo passengers, friends, couples, families, work colleagues – traverse the concourse at a brisk pace.
But as they cross paths, the contents of each traveller’s heart are a mystery known only to themselves.
She wasn’t in any particular rush, but when the train had slid into the platform and the doors opened, Shoko was caught up in the surge of exiting passengers and deposited onto the platform.
As she was walking towards the stairs that led up to the upper concourse, someone barged into her sharply from behind.
Shoko was still wearing her party shoes with their thin heels, which made it more difficult for her to absorb the impact and keep her balance, and she tumbled to the ground. The wedding-favour bag had been dangling from her fingertips – that too was tossed to the ground, followed by the shattering sound of something breaking.
‘What do you think you’re doing?!’ Shoko cried out before she even had a chance to get up.