Back then I was 25 years old. I just joined a high school in Tokyo as an English teacher.

My parents lived in Nara. I also grew up there.

One day, I received a call from them. My father told me he had fixed my marriage with the daughter of his childhood friend and gave me the date when the girl and her parents would arrive at my parents' house. I was caught off guard. I said I wasn't ready yet to get married. But my father didn't listen to me at all. And I couldn't go against my father. So I agreed to come.

The day before the given date, I reached Kyoto Station around 10:30 pm. From there I got on the train to Nara. A few minutes before the departure, the passenger of the seat next to me arrived.

It was a girl almost around my age. She was wearing a mask. But from her captivating black eyes and her silky black hair, one could without a doubt say that she was beautiful beneath the mask.

On the one hour journey, we exchanged a few words. I learnt that she was an art teacher in a middle school in Kyoto. She told me she was visiting her parents in Nara.

When we arrived at the station, we said goodbyes. I went to a nearby shop to buy some sweets. Then I started walking towards my parents house. It was a thirty minute walk. While walking I was checking my phone.

Suddenly, the person who was walking in front of me stopped and turned around.

"Are you following me?"

I heard a familiar voice. I looked up and saw it was the same girl I met on the train.

"Oh, it's you," we both said at the same time.

I said that it was the way to my parents' house.

We both decided to walk together as it was almost midnight.

After fifteen minutes, we were still walking in the same direction. The situation became a bit awkward for both of us. After a while we came in front of my parents' house.

"Where is your parents' house? Mine is right here. If you don't mind, I would like to walk you to yours," I said.

"It's a few blocks away. But they gave me this address and told me to go there first," She replied and showed me the address.

And to my surprise, it was the address to my parents' house.

Seeing the both of us in front of the house, my parents came out as they were waiting for me. With them were a man and a woman almost the same age as my parents.

"It seems you two have already met," said the man.

"That saves us a lot of time," said my father.

"Mom, Dad," said the girl after seeing the man and the woman.

"Wait a minute. Is he the childhood friend you told me about? Does that mean she is...?" I asked my father.

Both our parents laughed and told us to go inside the house. After we went inside, our parents reintroduced us. It turned out she was the girl my parents fixed my marriage with.

From then, several years went by.

And that's how the girl I met on the train became my wife.