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"We made it.."
Shuya looked around the train impatiently, making sure his face was covered. Noriko looked down, her wide-brimmed hat covering her face, clinging to Shuya's arm. A tear or two escaped her eyes and a sob blew from her lips but other than that, she was silent. She nodded silently to acknowledge Shuya's comment, but still remained silent.
"What'll we do now.." Shuya whispered. Noriko, while still maintaining her stare on the floor, whispered back, "We hide and wait." Shuya grunted. "What'll we wait for, the end? We can't let Shogo's death go unnoticed!"
Just then, the door to the train compartment opened. In came a ticket collector, as well as a police officer. "Hello, passengers!" the ticket collector greeted happily. People that weren't already looking at the fierce-looking officer turned their heads up. Shuya looked up from the brim of his cap, but Noriko stared on.
"Mr. Tanaka here will just be checking in. There was a problem with this year's Program a few days ago, and two students may have escaped.." Gasps came from many of the people in their compartment, especially those travelling with children. "But nothing to be worried about!" the ticket collector assured. "If they're here, we'll catch them!"
Noriko sighed. "This is it," she sighed, another tear falling from her face. Shuya didn't answer. He was deep in thought... "How will we get out of this mess?" he asked himself. Suddenly, he perked up. He took off his snow bonnet and shoved it onto Noriko's head, pushing her hair underneath it. Noriko looked at him, confused, but when he put on her hat and started smiling almost unnaturally, it all pieced itself together. She leaned over to him, "Good idea," she told him, taking out her ticket to give the man.
The officer looked at the odd couple suspectingly. He looked at their tickets, then waved them off. "Is there a problem, officer?" Shuya asked in a high-pitched voice that almost made Noriko crack up. She kept her straight face though, and added in a deep voice, "Yes, is there a problem?" The officer looked at them strangely. "No, nothing Mr..."
Noriko had to think of something fast. She looked at some bags near her feet. "Jun Kimura," she answered in her man-voice. "And my name is Miyabi Saitou," Shuya told the officer in his girl-voice. He squeezed Noriko's arm and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We're going out!" he announced happily. Noriko blushed a bit, but nodded as to confirm.
"I see," the officer approved. He handed them a flyer. "I just thought you guys looked like these kids right here." Shuya and Noriko looked at their pictures staring back at them. Noriko looked at Shuya. "We do, don't we Miya?" she asked him to help keep the act up. "Yes, we do.. You look like the girl though!"
The officer left them with a few words, "If you see them, make sure to let a nearby police officer know, okay?" Both of them nodded. They had to keep the Jun-Miyabi act until they left the train though, just to make sure no one would get suspicious. They did whisper to each other though, commenting on the flyer. "I look horrible." Noriko shuddered in a quiet voice. Shuya just squeezed her arm harder. "I don't want to think about school pictures right now, okay Junjun?" he said out loud.
By the time they got off the train, they had gotten into the habit of calling each other "Miya" and "Junjun". It took them a while to get out of it, but they still called each other those names for fun. But there was a lot of serious business to be finished before happiness could happen.