Sango rushed through the street, ignoring the stop light and almost being hit by a car. She shrieked as the car zoomed past her.
"Asshole!" She screamed at the driver, even though the car was long gone.
She took a deep breath, pushed her hair back with her fingers and continued down the street. She quickly walked down the steps of the train station, looked around suspiciously and gracefully hopped the turnstile. She continued down the rest of the steps as though nothing happened. There wasn't a single person in that train station. It was so silent, she could hear rats squeaking on the train tracks.
'That's disgusting.' She thought as she shuddered. She continued down to the end of the station, searching for the seats. 'I know the trains come one every hour and I just missed the 1AM train.'
When she got to the seats, she saw a nicely dressed young man, staring at a picture on his iPhone. He was covered in dirt and smelled like smoke. 'Was he in a fire?'
"Um..." She began as he looked up at her. "Are you alright?"
He sighed. "I'd be lying if I said I was fine."
Sango showed a sad smile and sat down next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He lifted his head all the way up and smiled at her without saying a word.
Sango was charmed, but quite skittish around the handsome young man. "W-what's the matter?" She asked nervously.
"It's nothing. You're just the first person I have spoken to in three days." He sighed before showing Sango the picture on his phone of himself along with a white haired, dog eared boy and an older man who looked like himself. "That's my best friend and my father. They died a week ago when my home was engulfed in flames. I had only stepped out for a minute..." He went on as he studied the picture himself. "My best friend...I begged him to come over. He wanted to stay home with his girlfriend, but he gave into my plea. He was such a good friend."
Sango was feeling deeply compassionate for the young man. She slowly placed her hand on his shoulder. "I am so sorry you had to go through that."
"I appreciate your sympathy." He said gracefully as he gently patted the hand on his shoulder.
"Might I ask...have you been sleeping in this station?"
He nodded and hung his head down shamefully. "I have been here for days. I took time off work and wandered halfway across the city on foot until I found this station. I thought it would be a great place to reflect because no one I knew would find me here and there's no service on my phone."
"So...you don't have anywhere to go?"
"I do...and I have the means to get there. But I was in no rush to reach my destination."
"I see."
They continued to sit side by side on the station bench occasionally glancing over at one another and exchanging small grins.
"Your train is coming." He said suddenly as he heard the clanking on the tracks in the distance.
Sango looked up and saw the train lights approaching through the tunnel. It stopped, two people got out and it sat in the station for quite some time, giving Sango a chance to decide whether to get on or not.
"Hmm...I think I'll take the next one." She told him.
"A-are you sure? They only come once an hour."
Sango nodded as the doors shut and the train began to pull out of the station. "You haven't told me your name yet."
"Miroku."
"My name is Sango."
The two gently shook hands.
"Now, might I ask what a beautiful young lady like yourself is doing out at this hour?"
Sango's face turned grim when she thought about what she was doing. "My father...he...he was so abusive for so long and tonight...while I was asleep. He tried to..." She paused. She didn't want to say what happened. The word couldn't come out of her mouth.
"I understand. I am so sorry you had to experience such a horrible thing at the hand of your father. You have my sympathy."
"You're very kind."
"Is it safe to say that you in fact have nowhere to go?"
Sango nodded. "I'm 16, no job, no money and all I had was a pass for the train. I didn't even pack more than two days worth of clothes in my bag. I just rushed out. I wasn't even thinking about where I was going. I guess you can say I was headed nowhere fast."
He nodded his head in understanding. "But you do know that what you're doing is dangerous, don't you?"
"Yes. I told you I wasn't thinking." She dropped her head in shame. "I intended to come up with a plan once I got on the train. I just...just had to get away."
"Well you have time now to come up with a plan." Miroku informed her.
Sango sat quietly in deep thought. She went through all her contacts looking for someone that might possibly let her stay with them. 'No...not him...not her...not her...definitely not him.' But she couldn't find a single person who could take her in.
She let out a groan and tugged at her hair. "What am I going to do? I have school in a few hours but once my day is over, I'm still going to be in the same predicament."
"What if you could do anything you wanted in this situation? What would you do?"
"I'd leave the country and start over in a small town where no one knows me."
Miroku sighed. "I would be disappointed if I couldn't ever see you again."
Sango's cheeks flushed. "What do you suppose I do?"
"We could...start over together. Since we're both down to nothing."
"You mean that? You'd help me? A stranger?"
"I don't believe you're a stranger." He said as he grasped her hand. "Our awful circumstances have drawn us to one another. So we can find a new path together."
"As crazy as it may seem...maybe you're right."
"There's another train coming. We can go together. This way, neither of us has to be alone."
Sango watched as the headlights pulled in. Miroku stood and reached out for her hand, waiting to see if she would go with him.
Sango turned to him, looked at his hand, then at his kind face. The moment the train pulled in, she grasped his hand and followed him onto the train.
Next stop, somewhere...together.