For Riley, it began on the train. But for Quinn, it began much earlier than that.
Quinn walked along the aisle of the train coach and managed to find a seat beside the window. He had a backpack on and a big jacket to try keeping out the cold because of how much it was raining outside. His hair was a shade of black that looked brown in bright light. He was tall, but not too tall and not handsome enough to make anybody swoon. He was basically the definition of average in all these aspects.
But his eyes. Those were the first things that Riley noticed about him. Those eyes were absolutely beautiful. So green that you could get lost in them. She was an artist. Someone that could never let an opportunity like this go! So that was why she decided to watch him that day. She had a seat opposite him, on the same windowpane even! And she just watched him like a hawk!
He would have found this disturbing. But Quinn was not even looking at her, he wasn't looking at anyone. Quinn was looking outside the window and watching the night lights pass by. He wondered for a moment what it would be like to disappear like those lights. Just blink out of existence for a while and then never come back. Would it not be nice to forget everything for some time? Maybe even forever?
Yes, it might be nice. Maybe it would help him forget? This burning of alcohol in his chest wasn't really helping him at all. It was just making the hurt more. But he heard that sometimes the burn was good. It helped you to come back down to reality, didn't it? It was something that kept you grounded. Quinn scoffed! Grounded!? He didn't want to be grounded!! He just - He didn't even know what he wanted.
The first tear formed in Quinn's eyes and Riley would curse herself many times later for thinking that it was one of the most amazing things she had ever seen! You don't think things like that about someone else's pain! It was obvious the boy was in pain! But the way the lights bounced off the teardrop and lit up his eyes. The way everything in the train seemed completely insignificant when compared to the glimmer of those eyes. It was truly beautiful.
But then the tears just kept coming and coming! Riley became a bit uncomfortable when she noticed that he just wouldn't stop crying! It was like some flood gates opened and he started bawling his eyes out! She coughed and tried to look away as he turned his face to the window to hide his tears, but she couldn't take her eyes off him for some reason. Everybody else was ignoring him, but this isn't the place for someone to be crying. You should try to preserve your dignity!
The train started to slow to a stop and Riley noticed that this was her stop. She stood up to leave, but she saw that the boy was still crying. There was no one looking their way, so she subtly took off her face cap and carefully dropped it on his head to cover his face. His tears paused for a moment and she spoke softly to him.
"You'll catch a cold if you stay like that, be more careful,"
Quinn grabbed the tip of the face cap and tilted it up to see who spoke, but all he saw was Riley's back as she walked out into the rain and disappeared down the road. He took off the cap and looked at it for a moment. It was all black and had the image of a dollar bill printed on it. For some reason, he laughed at the image. The cap wasn't even that good-looking. It looked like it has been used for months if not a year already!
Quinn looked back out the window at the side and saw that all the lights had gone out already. It didn't look very pretty anymore. Was this how dark and scary it would be when he blinks out of existence? How terrifying.
......
Riley lived a few blocks away from the train station she dropped at. Her apartment building was a regular five-story building that had constant light but one too many water problems. But she wasn't complaining at all! The rent was cheap and there was always a public bath open anyways, she could cope easily! Riley was a thirty-one-year-old spinster who - according to all the magazines she read - was way past her prime. She had a pretty face and a toned body, but the simple fact of how old she is was like a bullet to her heart every time. As an artist, she never had time to focus on romance. She already knew what she wanted to be from a young age and she worked towards it for so long that she ended up alone before she knew it! So after college, Riley moved as far away from home as possible and rented a place for herself. In this town, Riley lived alone and had no friends.
"Shit, it's Sunday tomorrow! I forgot to buy some groceries!"
The regular grocery store didn't open on Sundays there and Riley bolted out of her house while throwing in a coat and grabbing an umbrella from the side of her door to see if she could catch the store open! She raced across the street and toward the train station! The grocery store was only two blocks away from the train station so she always used a shortcut through there!
Riley was so focused on running that she completely missed Quinn sitting on a bench at the train station in her haste! Quinn looked up when someone raced past him and he had to cover his face from the water that was splashed all over him! He grimaced and waved his legs back and forth to get the water out from his shoes! What sort of crazy person just runs through a puddle like that!?
Quinn frowned and decided that he wouldn't bother with her. He didn't have the liberty of wasting time on people that didn't matter. You see, the funny thing was that this was the first time that Quinn was doing something like this. And by this, I mean using the train. Like ever. And so it was a complete shock to him when he got the news from the ticket teller that this train was the last one of the night and there were no others!
Quinn agonized!!! He came out of the train thinking he could act like some tragic hero who went far from home and then get on another train while saying - Yeah, I was this close to never coming back - But now he was trapped here!!!
He couldn't sleep out in the rain and dirt! It was dirty and the people around here all looked like hobos! And there was even that annoying girl that just splashed water on him for no reason! Ah, he was going to get robbed! He was going to get beated and robbed, wasn't he!? Ah! This is the end of his life!
"What are you doing?"
"Argh!"
Quinn recoiled in shock as someone suddenly appeared in from of him. All he could see were their shoes since he was currently in the middle of holding his head in his hands and agonizing about his sad life. So he quickly looked up and tried to appear normal! Wait - this face. You're...
"... The one from the train!"
The girl that was standing in front of Quinn was definitely the same girl from the train! She was the one that gave him the cap! The reason why she gave him the cap suddenly flashed through his mind and Quinn became embarrassed! Ah! She saw him crying!
Riley tilted her head to one side as she saw the boy in front of her paling. Has she seen him before? Oh! His eyes! I can never forget those eyes! He was the one crying on the train!
"You're the crying boy!"
Quinn's soul left his body and floated away once he heard this and his self-confidence plummeted like an anchor! Was that what his title was now! Just because he cried once!?
Riley laughed and put her hand in the pocket of her sweatpants. What was this guy doing? He looks like his life just ended. His face might look happy, but that sadness from the train. I can still see it in those eyes.
"Why are you out here so late? You aren't going home?"
Riley asked this seriously while trying to ask like a mature person! Yes! She had to be the mature one here since she was obviously older! This boy should go home and his family should deal with his trauma or whatever was going on with him!
Quinn looked away from Riley and scratched his neck when he heard her say that. Home? He couldn't go home. Not yet. Not until he finally forgets everything that happened there. But he couldn't tell her all this, so he just said.
"The trains are no longer coming and I don't live close by. I don't think I can go home yet,"
Riley was surprised. What kind of idiot doesn't know that this is the last train of the day!?
"Where do you live?"
Quinn was hesitant to say anything, but he finally spoke up after she seemed to be getting impatient.
"Osaka. I live in the western district of Osaka,"
Riley exclaimed in shock as her eyes bulged! Osaka!? What was he doing here!!!? This is on the other side of Japan!!