Gesaffelstein - Viol
Miyako stood on the platform and waited for the train. A sign's bright yellow digital display said the train was on time, but that was not news, for the trains were always on time. She rubbed her hands up and down her swollen belly, almost as a reflex. Two more months. She did not know what her parents would say. Nagano was a different world. Before she left for university, her friends back home used to tease her and say, "you'll be such a Tokyo girl. You'll forget about us." She had changed, that was true, but she hadn't forgotten about them. Although Tokyo offered her everything she could want, she often--and especially lately--found her thoughts drifting back home, to images of the mountains, her parents' house, the little park in the center of the city...She looked at her phone. No messages. Nothing. What could he be doing? Silent Hichachu. He was at work, she knew. Busy. Adding and subtracting. Finding more ways for the company to succeed. But still. He knew how nervous she was to go home. He'd told her that he had to stay in Tokyo and work, that this was an important time in his career and he could not get away to accompany her to Nagano. Why did he not write? Miyako thought there was almost nothing better in life than the little green flash of light that occurred when a message arrived on her phone--she could write poems about that light.She felt a rush of air as the train pulled into the station and came to a stop. She boarded and found her seat, next to the window. An older man with gray hair and a rumpled suit sat down next to her. He immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep, seemingly able to slip into and out of consciousness at will. Miyako wished she could do that.She pulled out her phone to check again. Nothing from Hichachu. She sighed. She would send him a text sticker. No. Several stickers. To let him know. First a panda with tears streaming from its eyes. Next, she sent a laughing horse. Then a puppy riding a butterfly. And a pink kitten bearing its teeth in a playful grimace. Then a yawning koala bear in a tuxedo. Finally, a penguin with cartoon hearts in its eyes. Hichachu would know what that meant. He would understand. The train accelerated. She stared out the window at the pink-white blur of the blooming cherry trees.[BUY Conspiracy Pt. 2]