Sequence 2

As he sat, Shuji drummed lightly on his knee to fill the silence. He had been waiting for a long time. Funny how trains had scheduled times to be places and didn’t just bend to your will. It was just inconvenient. After talking with Hanako, he left for the train station. He had come here to wait. Most of all, he’d come here to get away from that apartment where they’d spoken.

He’d even taken to staring at his pin. It was the weirdest thing. Lancers got pins as a mandatory part of their uniforms. This pin was the cause of his problems. This dated ornament was the reason he’d spent his midday with a crying girl in his room. It was all the pin’s fault, not his.

The pin wasn’t even in the shape of a lance. The pin looked more like an arrow and was around five centimeters long. A poorly designed, five centimeter long, silver clothing ornament signaled that he was now capable of leading a unit. It was an honor. The sacrifices he’d make for this position were an honor. As the third youngest Lancer in history he was sure that his name would be written somewhere. In all of GUARDIAN he’d be a footnote in history. Shuji’s discomfort would earn him a spot as a piece of trivia. It was all such an honor.

Shuji continued to turn it over in his hand because he needed something to do. Normally he would just play around on his phone like most people his age, but that had risks. Hanako’s number was on it. Shuji didn’t trust himself enough not to reach out to her now, so he had set his phone to do not disturb. His words nearly betrayed him in front of her. So he rolled the arrow-shaped pin around in his hand and tapped on his knee.

This continued for hours. The train ran through the night and he’d arrived at the station in the early afternoon. The train ride was eight hours but still didn’t leave until ten at night. When he got hungry, he got snacks from a vending machine. That was fine enough for him. He went back to twirling his pin. Finally, the train bound for Nagasaki arrived. Shuji stood up reluctantly and reached his hand to his small travel bag. Reaching down tentatively, his hand didn’t grab the handle firmly and instead fumbled. The luggage shifted and fell over, lying flat on the station floor. Of course, he knew he should pick it up. But, he hesitated. He truly wasn’t looking forward to moving. Would he truly be comfortable somewhere new?

The soft sound of feet trudging to the train shook him from his thoughts. Shuji knew he had to do this. He just had to. With a swift motion, he snatched up the bag and strode towards the train. Before he stepped on, the young man took one last look at the city he once called home his whole life. Shuji would leave it all behind now. But, he was so numb to the thought at this point. Any feelings to the contrary would set in later.

After a few moments of fiddling, he secured his luggage overhead. With that done, Shuji shrugged out of his jacket and then slumped into a seat. He’d do his best to sleep through the train ride. Trains weren’t the smoothest mode of transit. With his head leaned against the window, he looked out at the scenes of the night that flew by. He was still in the city for now. Shuji slid his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and quickly scoured through it and pulled out a small photo.

The photo was the same picture as Hanako’s lock screen. It was a stupid picture. It was such a stupid picture. Just them and the bay from their vacation to Ichihara. Shuji wore a stupid fake smile for the picture upon her request. But Hanako’s smile was sincere. Hers was actually breathtaking. He hadn’t gotten to see her smile today.

Shuji slid the photo back into his wallet and sighed. It’d be easy to stare at her photo and regret his decision. But he knew that would be the wrong thing to do. He needed to sleep. He gazed out the window as he thought of why he needed to transfer for this promotion. Well, that was simple enough really. There wasn’t a Lancer position open in Tokyo, and he needed to get out of Tokyo. But why Nagasaki? In the end, it didn’t matter. He supposed that logistically it didn’t make a difference where he was when he killed Oni.

The promotion, however, put him in a very new position. As a Corporal, he’d mostly gone on solo assignments or worked with a partner. But as a Lancer, he’d lead a full squad. It came with its downsides of course; he had to have a direct subordinate: a Lance Corporal. Lance Corporals were Vanguard workers new to fieldwork. They’d be Corporals, eventually. Until that point, they were protected by a Lancer.

Shuji really didn’t care much for the thought of having a Lance Corporal. Maybe he’d force them to run errands for him to get out of his hair. Perhaps his superiors would frown at this though. But what was he expected to do? Train his subordinate? They needed to improve of their own accord just like he had. Such things shouldn’t be his duty. Shuji’s Lancer hadn’t taken much of an interest in him or his development. So why shouldn’t the cycle of neglect continue? It had worked out so far. To add to his annoyance, he had yet to receive any information about his Lance Corporal. It was doubtful that he’d truly care much about the details of his subordinate. But he expected someone to respect him enough to at least give him that information beforehand. But apparently, no one did.

In his first movement in several minutes, Shuji let out a small sigh at this fact. But, it wasn’t like he could do anything about it now. In a handful of hours, he would be in Nagasaki, meeting his new Captain and Lance Corporal. One could say he had a big day tomorrow, but Shuji wouldn’t acknowledge those as important events. Regardless, he should probably get a little sleep before he arrived.