𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍. ʜᴀɴᴀꜱʜɪʀᴏ

1 2 : 雨

Rain

—

Soon after Kou and Teru left, the scenery outside changed in a blink of an eye, just as how Hanako said it would. They didn't really notice it, until they heard the soft pitter-patter of droplets, hitting the slightly opened window and the somehow moist smell of petrichor coming from the now-soaked earth.

"It feels like it's been raining here for sometime now," Nene mumbles as she drags the window down as it rattled. She leans on the surface for awhile, staring at the new setting outside, amazed. "Magic."

Hanako laughs at her as he plops down on the seat across from her, "I've been used to it but the first time I actually saw it, that was what I had in mind too."

It was raining hard outside; nimbus clouds covered up the clear blue sky, blocking the sunlight and making it look like the daytime was finally ending because of the darkness it had. It didn't look entirely lonely though, just fine for a mood of some cup of coffee and lovely music.

The both of them were silent as they watched the pouring rain. The place it was raining on looked like a fine countryside, judging by the way just few houses are built around while the rest are gardens and lands covered mostly in pure grass and flowers.

"Do you think people are living there?" Nene asks as she glances at him. "This town looks pretty and perfect for a painting."

"I don't really know but," he purses his lips before shrugging. "Maybe they can't just see this train."

They fell silent again after that. The continuous sound of droplets of rain making in contact with the window panes were the only sound they could hear as the train moved forward onto an uncertain place. But then again, it wasn't lonely at all.

After several minutes of silence between them, Nene peeks at him, expecting him to be comfortably leaning and sleeping on the seat cushions. But he wasn't. Instead, he was just looking outside, an unreadable expression in his big amber eyes.

"Hey, Hanako," she clears her throat as she starts and tries to catch his attention, which it certainly did. "When you first met me, what did you think of?"

It was kind of random, but she was trying to get something clear from him, that was relevant to Kou and Teru's leaving. Hanako stares at her for a few seconds before looking up and crossing his arms, "I thought your legs looked pretty fat and they reminded me of radishes — oww, hey!"

She smacked him on the head, hard, "I wasn't talking about that, you weirdo!" Welp, that was pretty embarrassing and she didn't really need to hear that.

"Well, what are you exactly talking about?" He frowns at her as he rubs the part where she had hit him. "Geez, you didn't have to be so mad about it."

Nene shot him a glare before taking a deep breath to collect herself, "I mean, you said before that you don't tell anything about the bell to people who seem like they can never go back again. I know it's because you don't want those people to stay here forever, trying to wait for something that will never come but," she fiddles with her fingers as she stares at him. "Do you think that I can never go back again too?"

Hanako just looked at her for good three seconds until he shakes his head and says, "No. I just forgot. Sorry."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him again, "What's that? That sounded really half-baked and irritating. Tell me the truth, will you?"

"I was telling you the truth, though," he rolled his eyes. "Besides, you looked really curious so I just had to show you."

"Uh, fine," she says in utter defeat, knowing that she has lost their ridiculous argument. "I guess that's it."

The rain didn't really look like it would stop anytime now. Maybe it was a thunderstorm that would stay on the town for the whole day till the next day, perhaps. But Nene didn't hate it; she had the fondest of memories from it after all.

"Do you like the rain?" Hanako asks without glancing at her.

"Yes," she answers with a small smile. "It reminds me of a lot of things I did before when I was younger. Have you ever danced in the rain?"

He firmly shakes his head as he laughed, "We're not allowed to do that in our house. We have strict rules. But one time, I've imagined myself doing that. It felt pretty great."

"Right?" She giggles. "It's a shame we can't do that here either. But really, you have to try it out once we get back. Even as an adult, it feels pretty nice and I think it lessens stress!"

Hanako slowly nods at what she said, although he didn't look enthusiastic as her at all. In fact, he even looked a bit lonely as he gazed outside once more. It was those same unreadable orbs again — and somehow, she hated how she couldn't read the meaning behind those eyes.

And that was when she realized that she actually wanted to get closer to him.

"Hanako, we couldn't really talk about this the last time around but," she blushes a bit as she looks at him straight in the eye. "I'm really curious about you. About how you are from the living world. Hanako, are you—"

She was interrupted as loud thunder crackled from the outside of the train, making her feel like jumping a feet in the air because she was completely startled. A sight of incredible lightning followed soon after, sending chills down her spine and hair standing up at the back of her neck. And then, she heard him snicker.

"I cant believe you're such a scaredy-cat when it comes to thunders and lightning," he sighs, shaking his head slowly. "You never fail to amuse me."

"Shut up!" Her eyebrows were furrowed at him as she grumbled. But suddenly, the look of amusement on his face morphed into that of a surprised one to a horrified one. Nene glares at him. "What? You're trying to scare me now, huh?"

"I-I'm not, though," he shakily answers as his breath hitched. It managed to make her heart beat faster again as he points at something from behind her. "Look behind you."

"Heh," she nervously chuckles at him as she stands up, her hands on her hips. She tried not to let it get to her as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not scared at whatever you're plotting right now. Besides, you're really—"

Nene clamped her own mouth as she turned around and saw a dark and mysterious shadow looming nearby, just a few pair of seats away from them. Its brown eyes were looking directly at her, as if piercing her soul at that sole and exact moment.

And then, the whole train was enveloped in sudden high-pitched screams.