Epilogue
"All embrace the joys of life and equality"
Grand Central Station, New York, New York
Thursday 31st December 1931
10:45
Yugo and Rin hadn't even been off the train two seconds before they spotted exactly who they'd come all this way to find.
Masumi and Hokuto found themselves rushed by two of the dismounting passengers. Unlike the others, this couple still had big smiles and sparkling eyes.
"Hokuto and Yaiba and Masumi and DAMON!" the Yugo hooted with joy, let go of Hokuto to now tackle an equally joyous Damon.
"Yugo! It's been too long!" Damon laughed.
"How was California, Rin?" Masumi asked, smiling at Rin who had hugged her.
"Warm, but dirty" Rin admitted now hugging Yaiba "It's great to be home."
"We got your letter!" Yugo cheered "And a present for Masumi's birthday too!"
"Oh, you didn't need to do that" Masumi insisted.
"No offence man, but you look like hell" Damon admitted, looking Yugo over. Up closer, he could see what appeared to be a few bruises on his skin and his clothes were a little torn up. Rin's too.
"What happened in there?" Reiji asked, searching the other doors with his eyes from his family disembarking.
Yugo laughed again, patting Reiji's shoulder, but it seemed more weary this time. "Live long enough and we'll tell ya!"
Yaiba laughed along with him, but noticed a young boy back in the doorway the couple had come from. He seemed reluctant to step into the light of the station.
"Hey! Reiji!" he turned his head and saw a man and woman approaching Reiji. The woman, who resembled Reiji enough he guessed she was his sister, ran up to him and grabbed him in a hug.
"Good to see you again, Reiji" the man who was with her – her husband probably – took off the army cap he was wearing and shook Reiji's free hand.
"What happened, Zarc?" Reiji asked "The train was delayed? What for?"
Zarc just laughed nervously, like Yugo had done. "Man, if I could tell you, I would, but I wanna live to see my kid born!"
Reiji seemed stumped by this, until the woman whispered something in his ear, at which point his face turned from confused to delighted.
"Hey, Yugo, Rin" Hokuto now spoke up, pointing at the same boy on the train Yaiba had seen earlier "Is he with you?"
Rin and Yugo's faces suddenly lit up. They hurried back to the train pulled the reluctant boy over to the group by his arms.
"Oh Masumi!" Yugo sing-songed "We present you Reira, your new birthday present!"
"A new baby brother!" Rin picked up the sing-songy tune.
"So you'll never be lonely again!" they finished in unison.
There was complete silence amongst the group, as they all looked down at Masumi's 'birthday present', who was ducking his head and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.
Masumi finally smiled and crouched down to talk to the boy face-to-face. "Hello Reira, I'm Masumi."
"Um…hello" the boy murmured.
They all then turned their heads as Reiji approached the boy himself.
"Reiji" Reira murmured shamefully, turning to him.
'He's spoken to Ray and Zarc' his mind was screaming 'He knows what you did and hates you so much. You should just leave now before he has to do it himself.'
"It's alright Reira" Reiji reassured him.
'Don't believe him' Reira told himself 'He's going to come out with it any minute. And you deserve it, you deserve every bit of hate he gives you before he abandons you.'
"It's good to see you again" Reiji told him "I missed you whilst you were at school."
'Liar' his mind supplied 'He's lying. He's going to show you his true colours any second now.'
"Do you feel the same way?" Reiji asked, placing a hand on top of Reira's head and ruffling his hair.
'Don't believe him. Don't believe him! DON'T BELIEVE HIM!'
But Reira finally caved, launching himself at Reiji and grabbing with around the waste, burying his face in his brother's jumper and outright sobbing.
"I did miss you!" he sobbed "I missed you so much!"
And there, on that platform on the eve of the new year, after all the trauma just hours ago, wrongs were righted, and joy filled the crispy morning air.
Chinatown, New York, New York
Friday 5th February, 1932
14:00
"It's surprising, don't you think?"
"What is?" Shuin'in asked.
"That so many survived what should've been an outright massacre" the president acknowledged "And how many owe their lives to you."
Shuin'in scoffed. "No they don't."
"Oh?" the president just smiled benignly "So the rumour I heard about how you told the drivers to keep driving because there was a team of train robbers trying to keep up with the train, ensuring it never stopped until all the hijackers were either dead, disembarked or surrendered. I suppose that wasn't you, then."
Shuin'in gritted his teeth. "I guess not."
The president looked over at Shinji and Shingo, smiling knowingly.
"Anyway, that's it" Shuin'in told him "Can I go?"
"Of course" the president nodded "I know you won't take money. But you have my word we will do everything in our power to set the record straight."
Shuin'in paused, then picked up his crutch and got to his feet. "Thanks, I guess."
He turned to Shinji as he past him, thanking him also.
"Thanks for the sweets" he told him "I liked them."
As he reached the door, however, ignoring Shingo entirely, he turned back to the president.
"Can I ask something of you, sir?" he questioned, sounding more polite then than he ever had.
"Of course" the president nodded "Ask away."
"Why did you ask me to come here?" Shuin'in asked "If you're not looking to publish the story. Why did you need me to tell it?"
The president adjusted his glasses and folded his hands one over the other. Under any other circumstances, that would have meant the conversation was over, but he seemed to be in an unusual mood this morning.
"When my father adopted Reira, I was sceptical" the president admitted "I knew it was a campaign decision, fundamentally, but I also worried he was trying to replace Ray with something so opposite he wouldn't feel guilty. I thought of him as a burden, rather than a sibling." He sighed with disappointment, probably at himself. "I knew something had happened to him, and Ray. They wouldn't talk to me about it though. I assume they've been threatened into silence by someone who wants this all covered up. I don't want to make their lives more difficult, I just wanted to know how close I came to losing almost my entire family whilst I didn't appreciate them, and what for."
"Well" Shuin'in seemed uncomfortable with this answer "I hope I helped you with that, I guess."
"You did" the president reassured him.
Shuin'in nodded once, then left, closing the door behind him.
"Well he was just bizarre" Shingo admitted "Can you trust a word he says?"
"He the only one who's word I can trust on that train" the president admitted "The senator made sure the business was hushed up. But, his approach to the hush money was…unique."
Grand Central Station, New York, New York
Monday 4th January 1932
20:00
Sora Shuin'in was back where he'd been on Thursday, plotting what to do. Having to go to hospital to get his leg splinted meant he'd missed his original appointment, and everything he'd needed to do in New York had been done. Now he had to sit around and wait for another job. Considering he'd missed this one, and not gotten the payout he needed, he may as well sleep in the station. It was that or a park bench.
Just as he was pulling a blanket out of his bag, a man approached him.
"Were you on The Flying Lancer?" the large man questioned.
Sora narrowed his eyes up at the man suspiciously. "What about it?"
The man then produced an envelope. "I think you're who I'm looking for. This is my thanks."
As the man walked away, Sora decided to open the envelope. By the time the man – Senator Leo Akaba, he now recognised him – had made it to the other side of the station to join some other people, Sora found himself staring down at the largest amount of cash he had ever seen in his life.
His face burned with embarrassment and rage. Did the senator think he could buy him? That what he'd done on the train was for money? The hell did he think he was?!
"HEY!" Sora bellowed across the station "GET RIGHT BACK HERE AND TAKE THIS BACK YOU PIECE OF-!"
He stopped as he saw one of the people the senator was with wave at him. It was Ray Drago, the girl from first-class who he'd pulled to safety. And next to her was the young boy – her brother was it? – who he'd gotten away from that conductor freak.
The grin and small smile he got from each of them respectively floored him, and distracted him long enough for the group to move out of his vision.
He looked down at the money in his hand.
Well, if those guys were so eager to give it to him, he may as well give it back the only way he could.
He crossed to one of the ticket booths and slammed the entire wad of cash in front of the cashier.
"I want all the tickets this money can buy" he told him.
The cashier's mouth opened and closed a few times in shock before he choked out. "Where to, sir?"
"I don't care!" Sora growled at him "Just do it!"
Chinatown, New York, New York
Friday 5th February, 1932
14:00
"He spent it all on train tickets?" Shinji seemed equally surprised "Well now all the letters you made me send to different parts of the country make sense."
"But why?" Shingo frowned "I thought his whole deal was freeloading?"
The president finally decided to reveal the secrets he knew.
"The man you just met was Sora Shuin'in" he told them "His father was Marco Shuin'in, a long-time train engineer who occasionally taught classes at rail colleges across the country. Then, the train he was on derailed at a road crossing in New Orleans and hit several cars waiting at the crossroads, including a school bus. The death toll was…unlike anything seen before. Officially the accident was caused by Mr Shuin'in failing to maintain the brakes, meaning the train couldn't slow down in time. Unofficially, the wheels decoupled from the train due to low-strength bolts being used as a cheap replacement."
"So they covered it up?" Shingo questioned.
"Yes, and Marco Shuin'in took the fall" Reiji continued "He's spent eleven years in prison for negligence leading to death, and upon his release will be banned from working on trains again."
"Talk about being royally screwed" Shinji winced.
"Sora inherited his father's love of trains" Reiji finished the story "He now works as a fact-finder, crossing the country by rail to take up jobs. But, it was the rail companies who put his father in prison and took the trains away from him. So, to get back at them, he refuses to buy his tickets and put money in their pockets."
"That…actually makes a lot of sense" Shingo realised "So the price of his story…"
"Was to set the record about his father straight" the president confirmed his thoughts "We start on it on Monday. But for now, what do we know about what happened to the other passengers?"
Shingo flicked to the page of his notebook where he'd written all that down.
"Yugo and Rin are still in New York, they may decide to settle down here eventually, what with their hunt for gold out west coming to nothing" he read.
"Can't decide if that's a good or a bad thing" Shinji admitted "Those two jokers living in our city."
"They still maintain contact with Reira, and ensure he takes frequent visits to see Masumi" Shingo continued "You remember the Kotsu family mansion that they stole back from Eita Kyuando?"
"The big gaudy building on Fifth Avenue?" Shinji recalled "Yeah, why?"
"Well, Masumi doesn't like living there by herself" Shingo told him "So she's invited Yuya and his gang to live there instead."
Shinji's eyebrows rose into his hair. "How did that come about?"
"Yugo and Rin introduced them some time in the new year" Shingo told him "By all accounts it's a harmonious arrangement. If you call frequent bomb test explosions harmonious." He paused to assess the information he had written down. "Yuya and his gang appear to have gotten away with stealing the army bomb that Zarc Drago was transporting. At least, the army won't admit there was ever a bomb aboard the train. Under the circumstances, though, they've gone fairly easy on Drago about losing it."
"I'm sure his father-in-law had something to do about that" Shinji suggested.
"Both of the Dragos and their baby escaped the train unharmed" Shingo reported, looking at the president "But you already knew that."
The president just kept smiling benignly as Shingo flipped to a new page.
"Serena and Yuri Polyma were picked up by the FBI" he continued "They're both cooperating with authorities. Last anyone heard, they were being held at the FBI branch in Pittsburgh, but no one's heard from them since. The Fuser organisation is denying they had any knowledge of the attack, and is now denying any affiliation with the Polymas in the first place."
"Well there's irony" Shinji joked.
"Since the Lemures' plan was stopped, Shun Kurosaki remains on Alcatraz, even if no one will admit he's there" Shingo continued "One of his trusted allies has taken over the former Kurosaki affiliation in Chicago."
"Not his sister?" Shinji seemed surprised.
Shingo just grinned at that. "You wouldn't believe who she's now working for."
Shinji didn't get it. "Who?"
"Who do you think pulled her out of the river?" Shingo grinned.
"No way!" it hit Shinji like a bolt of thunder "She stayed with them? I can't decide whether those guys have gained themselves a powerful ally or a whole basket of trouble!"
"It makes sense that the girl who lost her family would seek out the strangest family of choice in existence" Shingo pointed out "After all, she's still waiting for her happy ending."
"I don't think you need to worry there, Sawatari" Reiji Akaba, President of the Daily Days, sat back in his chair with a content smile on his face "I have a feeling those two are going to be just fine."
Near Allentown, Pennsylvania
Thursday 31st December 1931
06:00
At the edge of the caboose, almost untouched by the explosion caused by Yuzu's cherry bomb, Dennis Mackfield was perched over a message carved into the roof.
I will be waiting for you in Manhattan
I will wait for you forever
Please try to find me
I will try to find you too
R.K.
"Manhattan, huh?" Dennis stood up, looking into the sun towards New York "That's an awfully big place. And I didn't even tell her my name."
He stretched and rolled his shoulders, shaking off any pains from overexertion during the night after a long break.
"It'll have to wait until I've finished my business with Damon and Dobocle" he told himself "But then, I'll find you, Pretty Lady. I promise."
And with that promise in the air, he leapt from the train into the dawn.
And one month later, here we are! 13 chapters, 170 visitors and absolutely no reviews later! (Come on guys, it's nearly Christmas!)
Regardless, it's been a wild ride writing this. Since there aren't enough characters in Arc-V for me to have written in the Immortals Arc of Baccano, I had to cut the elixir of life subplot entirely. And I thought, that's fine, the Lemures want their leader out of prison for another reason. And then, about four chapters in, I remembered Czeslaw and my mind might have imploded. Cutting him just didn't feel right, but then why would Reira want to take out everyone in the dining car? Turned out to be more of a headache than I intended.
Trying to fit everyone into the roles of the Baccano characters wasn't particularly easy either. Yugo and Rin both seemed like a natural fit for Isaac, but then I couldn't seem to write the other into the role of Miria, so they sort of flip-flop between the two characters. Yuri and Serena got the same treatment - Yuri seemed like the perfect Ladd, but Serena was about as far removed from Lua as you could get; so Lua more or less got cut and the pair of them just sort of shared Ladd's roll in the plot. Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka as Jacuzzi, Nice and Donny were pretty easy - surprisingly Meiru was the most fun to write. I sort of forgot how much of the story was from Nick's point of view and I wasn't about to go back and rewrite to put a character with more screentime in Meiru's place. I'm glad I didn't since her voice seemed to flow the best with this type of plot. Reira was really the only one who could've taken Czeslaw's place and putting Ray and Zarc in the place of the Bariums gave him a reason to have his own stake in the plot. Reiji of course was going to be the president with a little bit of Maiza thrown in for good measure and Shingo one of his editors - and lets face it, Shinji was just sort of born to be a political magazine editor. Weirdly the hardest person to cast was Goose. I knew I wanted Ruri to be Chane (Ruri playing the mute, since we didn't hear her talk for a hundred episodes, get it?) and Dennis as Claire, but who would that leave to play Goose? Obviously either Yuto or Shun would have to be Huey, but why would the other want to kill Ruri? I just couldn't figure it in. In the end it only went to Allen because I needed a member of the Resistance who wasn't intimately connected to the Kurosakis, and while Kaito would've been the perfect fit, I'd already vowed to leave the legacy characters out of it. So we, get crazy!Allen instead. Unfortunately that meant killing Yuto off, since I couldn't justify him not being there via any other method. As for Sora as Rachel...by that point I'd run out of characters, and along with Dennis, Sora is pretty much the biggest wildcard in the Arc-V story, so it wasn't completely out of nowhere. And lastly, Masumi as Ennis. My coolest girl in Arc-V playing the coolest girl in Baccano. My biggest regret for cutting the Immortals Arc was leaving out Ennis, Firo and Maiza, because I love them all. The LDS trio, along with Damon and Dobocle and probably Reiji serve as some weird blend of the Gandors and the main trio. Just don't expect a massive side story about them - there just aren't enough characters to cover that. Seriously, look it up.
For those of you that have stuck through this marathon, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed what you read. And a little Christmas review or two wouldn't hurt anyone, right?