Saya leapt onto Train's roof, stole his milk, drank it in a few big sips, and placed it on the ground beside him. "Thanks for that." She smiled. "It's been a while." She hugged Train before continuing. "Train, I missed you so much. I've been worrying about you ever since I died. I was constantly thinking about you." She studied his outfit. "You look normal now. When I saw you six months ago, you looked downright diabolical."
Train blinked a few times before saying, "I did?"
"Yes, you did."
Train said nothing.
"You look like you have something more to say."
"It's kind of… well…" he sighed. "All right, I'll say it. I've been dreaming about you for the past six months. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I saw these yukatas in a shop and I remembered how much you used to wear them. Speaking of yukatas, you're wearing one now."
"Yukatas? I thought that they were kimonos."
"Yukatas, kimonos, whatever they are. What design is that?"
"I don't know. Whatever it is, it sure is pretty."
"They're… uh… hearts," Train said after examining the pattern on Saya's sleeve for a few seconds.
"They're hearts? Cool!"
Train smiled and suddenly had an overwhelming urge to hug Saya, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't resist it. He pulled Saya into a tight hug. Saya hugged him back. Then they broke apart and stared into each other's eyes. Train stared into Saya's brilliant blue eyes and Saya stared into Train's golden ones.
"Train, what are you doing up here?" Sven asked.
"Sven, how'd you find me?" Train asked, clearly surprised that Sven found him.
"Who are you?" Saya asked.
"I'm Sven," Sven said.
"Hi, Sven. I'm Saya. Pleased to meet you," Saya said.
"Come inside whenever you're ready," Sven said. "Just don't stay out here too long, or the crows will probably peck your heads." Sure enough, a crow was preening itself on the chimney. Stupid crow, Train thought.
After Sven left, Train said to Saya, "It's been six months since I've seen you. I want to know what's been going on with you."
"There isn't much to talk about on my side of the story," Saya said. She seemed to have more to say, but Train didn't want to push her to say it. If she didn't want to say anything else, she didn't have to.
"Well, as you can see, I've become a sweeper. My partner is Sven, who you saw earlier. Then there's Eve, who I call 'princess.' She is a bioweapon made by Torneo Rudman, an influential dealer in the underground weapons market. She was designed to be the ultimate soldier by using nanomachines in her body into weapons and other things."
"What are nanomachines?" Saya asked.
"Nanomachines are micro-robots engineered to be smaller than one billionth of a meter. Used correctly, they can manipulate DNA structure to cure serious illnesses. Molecules can be arranged to create new matter. The possibilities are endless."
"What can Eve do with them?" Saya asked.
"She can manipulate her fingers to turn them into weapons, turn her hair into fists, turn her arms into a shield, turn her skin to steel, and many other things."
"Wow. That sounds pretty cool."
"Yeah, it does."
Saya yawned. "I'm beat. Can I stay over at your place tonight?"
"Sure," Train said. It was nice to have his friend back. He stared after Saya as she made her way to their apartment room. Train couldn't help but feel entranced by her beauty. He opened the door to his apartment and saw that Saya was talking to Eve, who was reading a book called The Bonds of Friendship.
How appropriate, Train thought. After Saya, Eve and Sven went to bed, he stole a quick peek at the book. One chapter was on how guys could be themselves around his girl friend. I need to read that, he thought. He flipped to page 125 and read the whole chapter within an hour.
--
In the morning, Eve found the book lying on the table. Someone was reading this, she thought as she looked around the room. Sven was lying in the other bed. She saw Train's bedroom door was closed.
Saya suddenly realized that she was facing Train and their noses were a few inches apart. She shot up in alarm.
"Train, wake up!" She said, shaking Train's shoulder slightly.
"What is it?" Train asked. He quickly put two and two together and said, "I was cold, so I decided to warm up by sleeping next to you."
"What's up with you two?" Sven asked. He saw that Train and Saya were close together and said, "Train, why were you sleeping next to Saya?" Sven was standing over Train and Saya's bed in the other bedroom.
"I was cold and decided that I would warm up by sleeping next to Saya," Train said.
"Oh," Sven said, although he didn't believe it.
"Who's up for doughnuts?" Rinslet asked as she walked in through the door of their apartment. She froze when she saw Saya, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Train sat up and asked, "Rins, is something wrong?"
"So you're the girl that was brought back to life," she said as she studied Saya. "Tell me how that happened." They were sitting at the breakfast nook.
"Well," Saya said as she took a doughnut, "When I was in Train's arms at the firework festival, I was dying."
"Go on," Sven said while Train was tucking huge strands of hair behind his ears.
Warning sign number one that he likes her, Eve thought. He's putting his hair behind his ears to tell her that he's listening intently.
"Anyways, after I died, my spirit came to me and told me to get myself together. It told me that I had people to see and criminals to catch, so I'd better wake up soon. So I woke up. I realized that Train was gone. I heard gunshots and stuff, and then I saw the rest of the firework show. By the way, Train, you still owe me that ramune!"
"Yeah, I still do," Train said. "Sorry about that. I'll get you some tomorrow."
"Thanks! You have to try some, too."
"What flavors are there?"
"Well, there's lemonade, pineapple, kiwifruit, peach, curry, bubble gum, wasabi, melon, strawberry, orange, lychee, and Blue Hawaii."
"Blue Hawaii for me," Train said happily.
"Lychee? Eww. I wouldn't mind trying strawberry," Rinslet said.
"Orange sounds good to me," Sven said.
"I want to try pineapple," Eve said.
"All right, then," Train said.
An hour later, Train was searching the streets for a shop so that way he could buy the ramune bottles. After he found one, he made a mental note of its location. Later that night, Train bought the ramune bottles for him, Sven, Rinslet, Eve, and Saya. He placed the ones for Sven and Eve on the table and put Rinslet's in the fridge in case she wasn't there. He got the ones for Saya and him, and then went to the wharf to watch the sky with Saya.