The Passengers on the Hankyu Line полностью

One thing she was sure of: to quit now would only mean accepting defeat. And so, at the very least, she would hold out until the quiet type took her maternity leave (she was also the type who probably wouldn’t come back to work anyway).

An older woman and a young girl came in from the next car, in search of empty seats, and the young girl pointed at Shoko, exclaiming happily, ‘A bride!’

In that instant, tears spilled down Shoko’s cheeks.

That’s right, I wanted to be a bride, alongside the man I’d been with for five years. Our love wasn’t born from inertia and compromise. It was like that young man who just leapt off the train and the young woman he was chasing after. My ex may have been a bit unreliable but he was kind and I loved him. I thought his jitters were only temporary, while we were planning our wedding, but ultimately his unreliability is what ruined us.

I never wanted things to end like this, with my illusions about him completely shattered by that conniving woman. Because when she plotted to marry him, she didn’t just steal him away from me, she trampled upon and ruined the five years I had with him. I was so wounded, it felt all I could do was simply hand him over.

I’m no bride, young lady.

I dressed up like a bride in this white dress so that I could put a curse on their life together.

Sakasegawa Station

My, how adorable!

Tokié’s eyes crinkled at the sight of the couple that were standing in the middle of the staircase.

The young man was speaking earnestly to the long-haired young woman who was carrying a tote bag featuring the Disney character beloved by Tokié’s granddaughter, who was with her today.

‘If you’d like to have a drink, how about today? Are you free now?’

He must have run up this long staircase because he sounded breathless.

‘But, uh, not if you have a boyfriend …’

‘I don’t,’ the young woman replied cheerfully, smiling at him. ‘In fact, I’m looking for one. So your invitation is quite welcome.’

‘OK, great!’

‘I’d love to.’

From the corner of her eye, Tokié witnessed this heartwarming scene of budding romance just as her granddaughter called out, ‘Granny, the train is coming!’ before they both stepped quickly down the rest of the stairs. She wasn’t so old yet, she could still hustle without worrying about her back or her knees.

She and her granddaughter dashed onto the train and then stopped to catch their breath.

They had even made it with time to spare – the announcement cautioning against last-second boarding had yet to blare from the loudspeaker.

‘Nice hustle, Granny!’

Her granddaughter had got to be a sassy little thing, though, as a grandmother, it would have been immature of Tokié to inform her that, had she been alone, there was no doubt she would still have made it – so she refrained.

Her son and his wife wanted to see a movie that day so Tokié had offered to take care of her granddaughter. The plan had been a trip to the dog park that had opened on what used to be the site of an amusement park, Takarazuka Family Land. It was the perfect destination for her dog-loving granddaughter. Even though Tokié didn’t have a dog, they could still take the dogs at the park for a walk. Tokié had also promised that, on their way home, they could get off at Sakasegawa where she would buy the girl a snack and a present at the biggest 100-yen shop around, which was her granddaughter’s favourite (likely because her pestering was more successful there than at a regular store).

‘Weren’t they cute today?’

Her granddaughter was talking about the Welsh Corgis. Tokié hadn’t let on how much she herself loved dogs and that she was actually more knowledgeable about breeds than her granddaughter.

There were no empty seats but it looked like there might be some in the next car so the two of them moved on, hand in hand.

‘Granny, did you bring découpage again for today?’

‘Yes, I did, a new project.’

‘My mom says I don’t need any more.’

Her daughter-in-law had yet to realize that children didn’t keep things to themselves. Although it would have been even worse if she had deliberately been using her daughter to convey the not-so-subtle message.