Nostalgia
The rain steadily flowed down the windows of the bus, like the tears streaming in her soul.
It was dark outside, late in the night, on the last bus of the day to the city in Osaka. Bus no. 123. The world was fast asleep, calmingly silent, the only exception being the slow, rhythmic sound of the pattering rain. The scenery was a blur- the rain, the tears, the darkness- clouding the view of the late fall hillside. The trees were all brown and naked by now; vibrant colors of fall now disappeared, escaped into distant memories, except from the few trees that still clung to their leaves.
There were sounds of muffled, half asleep people, bundled in their warm winter jackets whispering. The bus was sparsely filled- only a few people scattered here and there.
The bus engine whirred, a quiet hum, evenly. The ride was smooth, save for a few bumps on the mountain road that kept her from falling asleep.
But she didn't see the trees, or hear the whispers of the people and engine whir.
What she saw was her past moving on without her, leaving her behind. What she saw was herself moving on from her past, leaving it behind.
What she couldn't see was where it was going, where she was going.
What she couldn't see was her future, clouded by darkness, devoid of him, the one she loved.
The memory of his face was already fading in her mind, the one that used to be so firmly etched in her thoughts, now a mere shade of what it once was to her.
And maybe, she thought, just maybe, one day the pain would fade away as well.
She clutched onto her crumbled bus ticket, leaning heavily on the streaming windows, and gazed outside unseeingly.
For once, she felt truly lost.
The title quite honestly has nothing to do with the story, but it's the name of the song by Ikimono Gakari that I listened to on repeat as I wrote this while I was riding a bus on a rainy day. This was originally supposed to be a part of a longer story I was going to write set in the 1970's with Mikan and Natsume, but I highly doubt I'll actually go through and write it.
Maybe you'll get the semi-reference in the story. But I highly doubt that as well.