Chapter 9 Territory
The rush hour was starting and the crowd was building up. We made our way to the train platform and it was getting harder and harder not to be split apart by the crowd. Not that it was a problem because we all had cell phones and we knew where we would meet up with the others so I hastened my pace. I was still having a hard time navigating the correct way to the platform and somehow felt lost when Akari grabbed my forearm and led me to the correct set of stairs, I wanted to say something but she was leading on still clutching my forearm it felt weird and good at the same time and I was confused whether I shrugged it off or leave it there, after all, we were already on the right platform.
The train hasn't pulled up yet and we were lining up on the platform with Akari still holding my forearm. I was becoming nervous and aware that some people were looking at us. I made a little shrug hoping that Akari would notice. Then I noticed someone was gazing at me more intently than the passing strangers, it was her, across the platform on the other side and before her face could fully register Akari adjusted her hold and held my upper arm as if hugging me when an Express Train came barreling down the platform in front of us, blasting us with wind and swirling leaflets. The mysterious girl definitely recognized me, I can see acknowledgment in her eyes.
As the Express Train rumbled past the platform she was no longer there, was I seeing ghosts? I tried to search for her but our Train to Tamachi had already pulled up. Akari was grabbing me too hard and physically manhandled me inside the train. I wondered if she was excited about the Mixer.
The Train ride was uneventful. Akari finally let me go, it was impossible for me to get lost inside a train. She was busy with her cell phone, texting one of her friends already in Himouro's Mixer. My thoughts began to wander again, I was thinking about the Mysterious girl, was I actually seeing ghosts? The frequency of the sightings was supernatural I thought.
I decided to put the thought in the back of my head, I was busily phrasing my intro lines for the mixer, mentally noting the correct lines I should say. I texted Himouro that we were almost at the station and should be at Starbucks within 30 minutes. Akari was back holding my upper arm again after the train made a slight curve, she was awfully close. I wondered what she was thinking. Was she marking me before the Mixer?