Prologue What Happened on the Train

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https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330649624871134/episodes/16817330649624899884

“A train will be arriving soon on the first track. It is dangerous, so please step back to the inside of the yellow line.”

Spring.

The announcement echoed on the platform in the morning, crowded with people squinting their eyes in the warm sunlight.

Over the years, Akaitohama Station has grown considerably and become a popular tourist spot.

Originally, it was a suburban area with a beautiful seaside view that was visited by many people, but a few years ago, a drama was filmed on the beach called Akaitohama, which is a famous spot here, and the popularity of the area was quickly ignited.

The drama was about a love story with minor plot.

It was a story about a dull designer guy and an older career woman who are attracted to each other, something like we have seen somewhere before.

However, I remember the scene in which they made a romantic confession on the beach at sunset, and the scene in which he grabbed her arm and hugged her on the station platform when she ran away crying after a fight.

The fact that the actors in the drama were two of the most talked-about at the time was probably a major factor in the drama’s high viewership ratings.

People all over Japan were inspired by this moving drama, and the area became a sacred place.

Aka Ito (red string).

In other words, it can be said that “red string” was the perfect name for a spot for the fulfillment of love.

People were told that if they walked along the beach together, they could have love for each other, or if they took the train together from the station here, they could get married, etc. These kinds of good luck charms quickly became very popular.

In reality, there are many people on the beach on a daily basis other than tourists, such as neighbors just enjoying a walk or students passing the time, and many people commute to work or school on the train every day, so if such spells were effective, it would be frightening because you could become a lover with a complete stranger.

I was at the front of the line waiting for the train, and I stepped backward, thinking that there was nothing romantic about it.

I had inadvertently stepped on the yellow line.

I must have been leaning forward to quickly jump onto the train car and secure a seat.

It’s dangerous, so I have to listen to the station attendant.

“Oops.”

As I took a step backward, I collided with someone behind me.

“Excuse me, are you all right?”

“……Tch.”

“?”

I turned around to see a middle-aged man in a slightly dirty coat staring at me.

Then, after clicking his tongue, the man leaves the place looking frustrated.

Did I do something to offend him?

If I stepped on his foot or something, I’m sorry.

“Oh, here it comes.”

As I waited for the train, feeling a little sorry in the morning, a train entered the station with a rattling sound.

Then the automatic doors opened with the sound of air escaping, and an avalanche of passengers came out from inside.

After that, the passengers waiting on the platform now get into the train as if they were fighting for something.

“Uh……oh, it’s empty, it’s empty.”

While the train, where many people got off, was soon filled with people, I found an empty seat and sat down.

The train from here to the high school I will be attending today takes about 20 minutes.

I have been there once when I visited the school, but the express train takes you there in one stop, and it feels much closer than you think.

But I don’t want to waste even such a small amount of time.

I’m a high school student starting today.

I don’t want to waste even a small amount of time by doing useless thing, so I read books or study.

“……Hmm?”

As I was about to take a book out of my bag, I saw an elderly man in front of me.

He looked like he was looking for a seat.

But no one was willing to give up their seat, even though they noticed the old man bending at the waist and looking anxious.

Normally, I would have turned a blind eye to him.

But on this particular day, I stood up to offer him my seat.

The reason was simple, I had seen a horoscope on a morning news program that said, [If you are kind to others, good things may happen to you].

Well, whatever the reason, it is always good to do something for those in need.

“Um, you can have a seat if you’d like.”

“Oh, you don’t mind? Sorry about that.”

“No, I just enjoy the view once in a while.”

“Oh, you’re a very impressive young man. Well, let me thank you.”

“Oh, no, no, no. Well then.”

After I gave up my seat, I saw the old man take out his wallet from his pocket, and I ran to the next wagon.

He was probably trying to give me some money.

I felt scared and sorry to ask an old stranger for money just for giving up my seat.

I moved to the next wagon so as not to make him feel uncomfortable, when the train shook suddenly.

“Whoa.”

The shaking was so bad that I lost my balance.

I leaned on the man in front of me as hard as I could, and I lost my balance and fell down with him.

“Ouch……a-are you all right?”

“Guh……what the hell.”

“I-I’m sorry, I lost my balance……hmm?”

“Ah, t-this is not.”

The contents of the man’s baggage spilled out of his bag.

What scattered all over the place are photographs.

And the photos are.

“Peeping….photos?”

“D-damn it !”

There were several photos of women’s skirts and thighs.

The man picks up the photos as if to shield himself from the stares of those around him and me who are stunned by the sight of him.

The man crawls around the area, scrambling to gather up the photos.

When he had finished collecting the photos, he went over to a high school girl who was standing nearby.

“I-if this happens, screw it !”

“Kyaa !”

“You’re a cute girl, let me touch you !”

The girl’s screams and the man’s dirty voice echoed in the wagon.

The man drops his bag and reaches for the high school girl, coming at her in public.

And then again.

The train shook worse than before.

“Whoa.”

I lost my balance and fell toward the man again.

And I fell down with him, running into the crowd of people on the crowded train.

I pushed the man down and he was completely stretched out.

“Ouuuch….”

It was an irresistible force, but I knocked the man unconscious, and as I was puzzled over what to do, the train slowly slowed down.

And as soon as we arrived at the station platform, station staff came wading through the crowd to replace the passengers who were running away in fear at the sound of the girl’s screams.

“Please stand back. We have a report of a pervert on the train.”

“Oh, shit.”

I would have liked to explain the situation and confirm the safety of the man who was probably the pervert I pushed down earlier.

But today is the entrance ceremony.

The police will think I’m a delinquent for getting into trouble on my first day of high school and missing the entrance ceremony.

I knew it was wrong, but I left the place with the crowd.

Well, the train was overflowing with people, and I figured that no one would recognize me in the chaotic crowd of passengers.

After passing through the crowded ticket gate, I left the station a little early and headed for school.

◇

“Come to think of it, I wonder if that girl was all right.”

When I saw the school, I suddenly wondered that.

I was looking at the senior students who were going to school with an indifferent look on their faces and the new students who were heading to school with a nervous look on their faces like me, and I was somehow thinking about the girl who was almost attacked on the train.

I wondered if she might also be a student at this school.

It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and I don’t remember what she looked like, but I think she was wearing our school uniform.

Well, the uniforms of this school are similar to the blazers of other schools in the neighborhood, so I could have been mistaken.

“I wondered if I should have stayed there after all.”

Just kidding.

I thought to myself, but I didn’t have the guts to turn back.

I followed the flow of people into the school grounds and followed the directions of the teacher who shouted through a megaphone in the center of the school yard saying, [New students, please go to the gymnasium.]

I was a little bit far from my hometown, so I couldn’t hide my nervousness and went to the gymnasium with my collar straightened.

◇

“Well, hello to all the new students.”

And so on.

I was listening to the formal greeting of the school principal at the back of the rows of students lined up under the direction of the teacher who was now inside the gymnasium.

The boys and girls in front of and behind me on my left and right are whispering to each other.

They are probably local friends.

I wondered if I would be able to make friends with any of them.

While I was in a daze, I overheard the chatter of the girls in the row next to me.

“Hey, did you hear? There was a pervert on the train this morning.”

“Yeah, I heard. I heard that a boy in our uniform caught him.”

“Rumor has it that he tackled him and pushed him down. That’s amazing, is he a senior? I’d like to meet him.”

“Yeah. He’s definitely cool, isn’t he?”

While listening to this conversation, I realized who they were talking about.

Maybe, just maybe, it was me.

The pervert who appeared on the train this morning was probably that guy.

It’s hard to imagine that there would be so many perverts in the vicinity on the same day.

And it was definitely me who knocked the pervert unconscious.

I simply lost my balance, but speaking of tackling, I tackled him.

……Is that what they’re talking about?

“Well, then, all new students, please look for your names on the bulletin board in the back and return to your respective classes. If you don’t know where you are assigned, please go to the nearest teacher.”

The entrance ceremony went off without a hitch.

Then, starting from the row on the far left, the new students left the gymnasium in order.

Soon after, my row was dismissed, and I looked for my name on the bulletin board behind me and found it among the first-year students.

“Well….hmm?”

I put on my shoes at the entrance of the gymnasium and walked out, and from a distance, I could see a girl standing alone in the middle of the courtyard by the gymnasium.

The rest of the crowd was also fascinated by the sight of a lone female student standing alone in the middle of nowhere.

“Who’s that?”

“But isn’t she really pretty?”

“She has long legs ! Second year? Third year? From a distance, she looks really cute.”

She was probably more than 10 meters away from us, so I could not see her face clearly, but even from a distance she looked beautiful.

I looked at her like the other people did as I followed the flow of people in the crowd.

Then, after being pushed by someone from behind and almost losing my balance, I looked again at the courtyard, but she was no longer there.

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