Between Him and Her

Second Meeting

Thirty minutes after the last bell had rung, Liya started to pack her backpack. It was her standard practice if she didn’t have any club activity to oversee or any English voice recording to do for Iwata sensei. Since she wasn't athletically inclined, she didn’t participate in any of the school sports or wasn’t given any other responsibilities as such. After she had passed the school gates, she promptly put her headphones on.

Head bopping she walked quickly to the station. Students were heading along with her as well. They knew she existed but didn’t acknowledge her in the station as they would with other teachers. Maybe it was because she wasn’t their regular teacher, perhaps they were shy, or perhaps they didn’t want to build a relationship with whoever it was who had come to teach them English as they would leave again. Liya’s previous teachers had retired after serving only one year. It was what the school liked as well. She was told when Iwata sensei gossiped such things to her.

Breathing in the breeze again, she walked to the end of the platform where the last car would stop. Still, not a lot of people would go all the way to the end so she could relax and daydream. In the background, she could hear the automated computerized female voice announcing the arrival of the oncoming train.

“Mamonaku ichiban sen ni Yamato Saidaiji yuki ga mairimasu. Abunai desu kara kiiroi sen made osagari kudasai.”

She looked up to see that familiar face looking out that window compartment in the last car. Liya got in along with some other passengers as well since it was packed a little she moved closer to that plexiglass divider that separated the train conductor compartment with the last car. There were no sidewall seats as arranged as it was only for passengers to stand, she got closer to the glass to lean against it.

Arranging her headphones tighter to her head, she felt the need to move away from the person that was crowding upon her. Liya felt him breathing over her. It was unfortunate that she wasn’t blessed with the height as her average 5ft 3 was considered short even for Japanese standard. It didn’t help that she wasn’t wearing any heels. So with a little struggle, she turned around to face the plexiglass so she wouldn’t have to feel the other people breathe on her.

She was scrolling through her music list when she felt this stare; it was a feeling that one got when someone was reading whatever that was in their hands over them. Immediately she looked up to see the conductor’s eyes on her. For the second time that day, their eyes met, but this time they held. Standing as close to the plexiglass as she was the only thing that separated them was that divider. He was tall. Taller than her, where her head only met his shoulders. He was at least 6 foot or more.

His face was lean but strong and tanned as if he spent a little longer in the sun in his free time. She could see that he had short dark hair under his dark green uniform cap and a long neck with prominent Adam's apple. His lips were full and dark brown eyes. He had lines around his eyes and slight bags that belied his age. He looked to be around in his late 30s. He looked discomfited by her stare that he stepped back a little. Liya shook herself from her observation and looked down at her screen. She heard him announce the next stop. It wasn’t hers so she flipped through her music titles.