When they finally collapsed into their seats as the doors hissed shut, Tanagami let out a monumental sigh. Beside him, Tachyon was busily stuffing her laundry into the side pocket of her bag. He felt the eyes of other passengers on them, but he was too exhausted to care. It was winter, yet he couldn't tell if he was shivering from the cold or sweating from the exertion. He slumped into the long bench seat by the window, letting his body go limp in a rare display of public defeat.
Tachyon watched him and let out a soft giggle. That sparked a flicker of genuine irritation in him.
"This happened because you were late," he hissed, keeping his voice low but packing it with all the frustration he could muster.
Tachyon raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Oh? My fault? Well... I suppose it was. You have my regrets; my alarm clock appears to have staged a silent protest this morning."
Tanagami squinted at her suspiciously. "Is that the truth?"
"Don't look at me like that. We made it, didn't we? All's well that ends well. Besides," she leaned back, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, "I'm quite looking forward to this. What sort of man is your father?"
"...Just an ordinary man," Tanagami replied, his voice trailing off into another sigh.
Seeing his lingering gloom, Tachyon's expression finally softened into something resembling an apology. "I am sorry for making you run like that. I truly thought I had more of a margin for error."
"Yeah, well... I should have given you a more detailed timeline," Tanagami muttered. He took one last deep breath, sat up straight, and rubbed his face. "Man, I'm beat."
He lapsed into silence, staring at his hands, lost in thought. Tachyon watched him for a while, but eventually, she pulled a thick volume from her bag and buried herself in its pages.
The rest of the trip was its own kind of ordeal. Tachyon became so engrossed in her reading that she refused to look up during transfers; Tanagami had to lead her by the hand through the crowds. The mere touch of her sent his pulse racing—a reaction he hated himself for—and the fear of being separated in the bustling stations made his palms sweat. He walked in a state of constant, low-level nervous tension.
Two transfers later, Tachyon finally tired of her book and began to talk. They were seated across from each other in a four-person booth.
"Trainer-kun, look outside."
Tanagami had been staring blankly at the straps of his bag. At the sound of her voice, he blinked as if waking from a trance and looked at her. Their eyes met. Tachyon gave him a faint smile and gestured with her chin toward the window.
"...The countryside," she murmured.
Outside, a landscape of withered fields stretched to the horizon. The world was a monochrome of dried grass and brown earth, broken only by the occasional red-roofed farmhouse in the distance. To Tanagami, it was a view he knew by heart.
I'm really back, he thought, watching the distant houses blur past. Then he looked at Tachyon. A strange, heavy emotion settled in his chest. He was sitting here, in the middle of his nowhere hometown, with a person he had once assumed would never exist in his private world. The reality of it pierced him.
Tachyon, who had been resting her chin on her hand while watching the fields, suddenly turned back to him. "Is something the matter?"
Tanagami shook his head slightly. He looked down, searching for words, then looked back at her. It took a few heartbeats for the thought to form.
"No... I was just thinking. I'm glad you came with me."
Tachyon's smile widened. "Is that so? I don't know what prompted that sudden sentiment, but I was just thinking the same thing. The countryside is a lonely sort of place, but compared to the city... how should I put it? There's an ineffable quality here. Take it from a city-born girl—there's something special about this stillness."
She turned back to the window as the intercom crackled to life.
"Next stop: Ryu-no-Ikoi... Ryu-no-Ikoi. Please mind your belongings..."
They weren't getting off yet. A few more stops and they would reach the end of the line. Their beginning. The digital display on the ceiling flickered with the name of the next station. They would arrive in thirty minutes. Tanagami's heart began to thrum with a mixture of expectation and dread.
As if sensing his agitation, Tachyon's leg brushed against his under the table. When he looked at her, she gave him that same enigmatic smile before pulling her leg back.
Perhaps the expectation was winning out over the dread. He stared at her for what felt like an eternity, and Tachyon met his gaze with equal intensity. He felt a tickle of self-consciousness deep in his chest, knowing his small, dark eyes were being scrutinized by her brilliant ones.
Lulled by the rhythmic swaying of the train, they eventually reached their destination. The announcement rang out: "Ryu-no-O."
Dragon's End. The town was named after an ancient legend—a dragon that had wandered the world before choosing this place as its final resting spot.