Our lockers at the train station had been opened. All of them. So aggressively in fact that it looked like some wild animal had slashed and bent them. The doors were disfigured and hanging by their hinges. It did not bode well for our upcoming trip. The girls searched the surrounding area for any traces of the culprit but found none. They instead salvaged what they could of any remaining items her or she had left behind.

While the two girls were gathering our belongings I decided to head over to the main desk to inquire if they had caught anything on tape or if the staff had seen who had done this.

The attendant I met on the other side of the window was, to her credit, as polite as could be while being remarkably unhelpful. She appeared to be a fresh graduate and was bowing profusely, apologizing and calling up people like mad. But ultimately all her politeness was useless.

A police report was filed and I left to be with girls, our train out of town was going to depart very soon. Not only that, I suspected we might know who had targeted us. Indeed, something or someone was messing with us. And they were undoubtedly related to the summoner.

When I returned Hana and Kira had gathered what items they could find and were ready to go, albeit looking a little worse for the wear. They had salvaged Hana’s makeup bag, a few odd pairs of clothes and, oddly, both Hana and I’s manga books.

“Guess he’s not a fan?” Hana joked.

I chuckled a little at that. Kira’s lip quivered.

“My favorite hat!” Kira cried. “Master, they took it!”

I gave her a hug.

“It’s okay, I’m sure we can pick up another fun outfit somewhere along the way.”

“Ooh maybe we can get one on the train-”

“No!” Hana and I cried out in unison.

***

We had a cabin. Our own freaking cabin on the train! I had never traveled like this. Pure luxury. I was simultaneously mad at Miku for spending so much and on the other hand extremely, extremely grateful.

I will pay her back the second I can.

It was rare to see trains like this anymore in Japan. From Tokyo or in and around the main lines most trains these days were rapid bullet trains, traveling much faster and only having normal seating. This train was a much older model, a throwback to a different time. It was one of the few that ran all the way out to Kibukuro.

In the far north things are a little slower. Older.

Hana whistled, checking out the wooden interior, sliding door, and sleeper bunks. Clearly it was designed for even longer trips than our own. The kid in me was excited, but the logical part of me was still nervous about all that was to come.

My two companions seemed to have no such thoughts plaguing them at the moment. I heard a scrambling noise and turned to see Kira in action.

The cat spirit had immediately crawled up to the top bunk (there were four) and crawled to the edge of her bed so that her head poked over, looking down at us, her tail wagging and a grin on her face.

Clearly she enjoyed this place as much as Hana, though perhaps less for the vintage aesthetic and more for all the opportunities to ‘play’.

I emptied one of the salvaged bags from the locker. This one appeared to contain a small amount of clothing items. I counted a few pairs of socks, two small tank tops, a sports bra, a brightly coloured pair of capri pants and the last clothing item was a very lacy and very pink set of underwear.

Lingerie? Had she packed this for the trip with something in mind?

I lifted them up and shot Hana a look: “Expecting to use that?” I asked.

“A girl never knows,” she replied.

“Oph pretty!” Kira said pointing.

We laughed, the awkward sexual tension breaking somewhat.

“I think you have taken enough of Hana’s clothes. Ok what else we got, anything useful?” I asked.

Hana brought out the remaining items contained in her tote. She laid them out for us on the floor of the cabin. There was, she showed, her makeup bag, complete with lipstick of two colors, eyeliner and a pair of tweezers.

I didn’t comment, though Kira let out an excited sound and I could see her tail doing overtime going back and forth on the top bunk.

Other than that from my own bag there were two undershirts, a pair of boxers and a pocket swiss army knife. I grabbed the knife and pocketed it. At least that might come in handy. Then, of course, there were our two manga books.

Hana unearthed these from her own backpack.

Thank heaven for small mercies. Something to do!

After we’d taken inventory I cracked open my book and lay down on the bunk. Hana did the same with hers. We were reading the same series, it turned out, though she was several volumes ahead. This particular manga was called Teleportation King. It was about a man who was suddenly granted the power of teleportation and used it to become a millionaire. It was actually quite good. Unfortunately the man was quickly becoming more and more evil. I wasn’t a fan of this type of main character as a protagonist.

I let Hana know this was my opinion of the plot. A mistake. Hana then shot back that I was too far behind the current volume and not to question the writing, that the main character’s personal plot arc would explain his behavior.

This led to an argument about the nature of spoilers. I personally felt like what she’d just done was spoiling me. Hana argued that she’d not given any details of the plot. As nerdy arguments tend to, this one was getting more and more intense. As our argument heated up Kira jumped down from the top bunk, creating a loud bang and startling us both. She landed on all fours, of course, then got to her feet.

“Master and mistress, don’t fight!” she exclaimed, “Kira doesn’t like it!”

She was both so adorable and surprising that we agreed to table the argument. Instead we agreed to read the manga to Kira, showing her the pictures as we did so, explaining the storyline together.

It was a rare wholesome moment for the three of us and it felt like we were a family. Kira got more and more into it as we read onwards.. The part I had reached was a love arc between the main character and the daughter of a rich Saudi prince. Originally he had meant to steal from her a very rare jewel but instead they had fallen for each other. Unfortunately he was now wanted by interpol for his crimes and was figuring out how to break this news to her.

Oh yeah, and the kicker? He had just proposed.

Kira particularly liked the idea of giving someone you loved a ring and asked Hana or I if we’d ever done it, causing a lot of blushing, explaining and deflecting. We kept reading and suddenly we were in the thick of things.

The good stuff.

The makeout scene.

Kira made a gasping sound that was a cross between surprise and excitement

If Kira was surprised at what she was seeing, this was unexpected. Fenra had been, let's just say, very familiar with the things shown on those pages And more, in fact. So Kira’s surprise spoke to the fact that despite both being spirits and appearing to be the same age, Fenra and Kira were radically different.

Kira was, in so many ways, naive to the world in a deeper sense than Fenra ever had been.Rather than a temple spirit she often seemed to be a wild spirit instead. I considered that for a moment.

A wild spirit. But according to her she was to replace Fenra while she was gone as my own spirit companion, so shouldn’t she know all that Fenra did?

I was interrupted by a gasp from Kira and tuned back into the conversation between the girls. Currently Hana was explaining “kissing.” She explained that this was another way to show affection and love. Kira, usually not shy at all, blushed and mumbled something unintelligible. Hana and I shot each other a look. We kept reading. Soon the romance was gone and we had gotten into a rather convoluted scene involving international politics. Hana was the first to doze off, then Kira, then myself. The slow steady clicking and clacking of the train on the rails lulling us into peaceful oblivion.

***

I awoke to a crash and a bang. I sprung to my feet, standing in the center of the cabin, looking around wildly for an enemy. There was no-one. I turned to the two girls. Both were sleeping and hugging each other.

Those two, I swear, they sleep through everything.

I looked out the window, wondering how far we’d made it. Outside, whizzing by us, were rice fields as far as the eye could see. So we’d slept long enough to leave the main cities behind at least.

Since I saw no threat inside or out, I had to assume the bang that had awoken me had just been from the old train itself. But waking up had made me realize one thing. I needed to use the facilities.

Badly.

I left the girls to find a place to go. Even a private cabin on the train didn’t get you your own lavatory. Train travel luxury had its limits. I made my way down the hall to the toilet. There in the bathroom I looked over my reflection. Rumpled shirt, eyes with dark circles, various cuts and bruises on display. I laughed and shook my head as I washed my hands. A pretty sight indeed. Nothing like the handsome protagonist of the manga we’d just read.

On the way back to the cabin I encountered the snack cart lady and got several things for the girls to try, my arms full of them. I knew Kira especially would appreciate them, it had been a while since breakfast and that girl could eat.

A lot.

When I got back the door was closed. Had I closed it? I didn’t remember having done so. Perhaps the thing had slid closed automatically. In any case, I had an issue now. I had no hand to open the door and tried, unsuccessfully, to knock on it with my foot to solicit some help from the girls. There was no response. I pressed my face to the glass to see inside if either of them were awake. My mouth hung open.

Oh they are awake alright.

Kira was on top of Hana. Her back was bare. I could see the pale smoothness of her skin. The top of her leopard print suit had been removed. I saw their lips lock. I saw Hana's hands in Kira’s silken hair. Then Hana rolled her over and I heard, through the door, Kira squeal in delight. I caught a brief glimpse of her large bare breasts, pink nipples extended, before Hana descended, massaging one with her hand and suckling the other hungrily.

I heard Kira moan.

BANG!

HSSSS!

FIZZ!

Chaos and loud sounds engulfed the hallway as I dropped everything I was carrying, lost in the scene beyond the glass. The girls both turned to see me and I ducked and crouched down on the floor. Beside my feet the soda I had dropped was spinning and spraying all over the floor. My snacks were littered in the hallway.

Shit!