"And on the date of the accident, the engine runs again as a warning. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul!"
"Kiyoshi, what are you talking about?" said Ichihiro.
"It's a ghost my driver told me he saw." replied Kiyoshi.
"You know the railway here hasn't been here long enough to have ghosts!"
Ichihiro was right, the Gensokyo Railway had only been around for a token few years. Ichihiro left leaving Kiyoshi behind to ask his driver.
"Is it true? You saw a ghost engine?" he asked.
His driver laughed.
"It was only a pretend story from a book I bought at Kourindou."
Kiyoshi was disappointed. He was finishing up work at the Sanzu Harbor when the sun was setting. Kiyoshi liked running at night, he had memorized the line and knew where he was going. However, a cart filled with lime had lost a wheel on a unguarded crossing and was stuck, its owner went to find some tools to fix it. Kiyoshi careened down the line and smashed into the cart covering himself in white lime. He continued onto the next signal box where Ahiru was waiting. The signalwoman came out and his driver told her what had happened.
"You should get cleaned up or everyone would think that your a ghost!" his driver said.
"I've heard of dead humans and youkai being ferried by Komachi, but not engines!" the firewoman laughed.
As his crew were joking about the propects of Kiyoshi being judged by Eiki, an idea flew into his funnel.
"Hey driver, don't wash me down yet, I want to give Ichihiro a good scare."
"I'll help too." said Ahiru and the two made a plan.
Kiyoshi's driver and firewoman quickly took some paint, paper, cardboard and some wire. They cut the cardboard into a triangle and painted a swirl and made Kiyoshi a hitaikakushi to place on top of his smokebox.
"You look like a real Yurei." said Kiyoshi's driver, pleased by her work.
The firewoman agreed.
"Yeah, if Yuyuko had six wheels and yellow paint." she said.
Ahiru arrived at the shed where Ichihiro was preparing to take his evening train.
"There has been an a-a-a-a-"
"Out with it Ahiru!" said Ichihiro.
"There has been an accident!"
"What accident?"
"Kiyoshi crashed and...and...and..."
"Kiyoshi had an accident?! Where did he crash? I don't my train to get delayed because he, of all engines, crashed!"
Ahiru paused dramatically with a look of complete shock.
"On my way here...I saw Kiyoshi's ghost."
"I mean the line's clear but-" he continued.
"Good." interrupted Ichihiro.
"I'm not worried and you should be too, what you saw was probably noth-"
"Ooooo!" came a voice.
"What's that?!" said Ichihiro, now feeling some sort of dread.
"Let me in! Let me in!" came the ghostly voice.
"No, no! Not by the smoke from my chimney, chim chim!" said Ahiru.
"I'll chuff, and I'll puff, and I'll break your door in!"
Ichihiro now looked visibly scared.
"I think I uh...um...well...I?"
The doors opened revealing a white limed covered Kiyoshi with a hitaikakushi in front of his funnel, which completely convinced Ichihiro that Kiyoshi's crash really was that bad.
"I think I'll go get my t-t-train! I think its late!" said Ichihiro, rushing out of the shed and towards the station.
The next morning, Ichihiro pulled into the big station with Ahiru resting by the next platform over from him.
"What happened to you?" Ahiru asked.
"I slept in the goods yard and I didn't want to intervene with your grieving about Kiyoshi."
Just as Ichihiro finished with his excuse, a whistle blew in the distance. This scared the daylights out of Ichihiro and he quickly puffed out of the station. It was just Kiyoshi, all cleaned up and ready for the days works. He had heard everything.
"I don't know about Ichihiro, but I think he looks like he had seen a ghost." Ahiru said.
Kiyoshi couldn't have been more pleased.
