Sequence 3

The jarring of the train coming to a halt caused him to awaken. With weary eyes, Shuji let out a bored yawn before rising. He then grabbed for his luggage absently and gave a hearty pull before meandering towards the exit of the train. He would be glad to be rid of his noisy luggage. With any luck, a soft, quiet bed should await him once he got to base. But, he’d have to meet his new superior first, an event he was less than thrilled to experience. He took a few breaths and steadied himself for that. In a few days, he’d feel bad about things with Hanako. Well, he’d feel worse than he did now. But not now, not when there were things to do.

Taking his first tentative steps into the train station, Shuji searched around the station. GUARDIAN should’ve sent someone to pick him up and deliver him to the compound. After all, it wasn’t like he knew his way around Nagasaki. He naively expected a cinemaesque scene to unfold before him of a chauffeur holding a sign with his name. So, his eyes darted around for a sign with his name on it. But no such scene played out. He stood there waiting. Waiting for such a scene. Or any scene. But nothing came. After several minutes, Shuji wandered out of the station. Surely someone had come for him. Surely.

Stepping outside into the weak morning light, he held his eyes closed for a moment as he adjusted himself to the sun. Once he was properly acclimated to an environment not lit by cheap fluorescents, Shuji began to once again scout for his ride. Once again, there were no signs. This was becoming painful. Walking over towards the edge of the sidewalk, Shuji stopped and looked around for anyone that looked GUARDIAN-related. No avail. With a sigh, he leaned on a concrete pillar that was used to support the awning over the entrance to the train station.

The minutes dragged along without end. Just how long was he expected to wait? He closed his eyes. How much time had passed since his train had arrived? Why was no one here yet?

After much more waiting than he’d like, Shuji felt a harsh tug on his jacket sleeve accompanied by a rather loud voice. “Excuse me, are you Yotogi-san?”

Opening one eye, Shuji stared at the obnoxious female that had just invaded his personal space. Well, he was going to make eye contact, but instead, he found his eyes came to chin-level on his assailant. Weren’t men supposed to be taller than women? He would’ve loved to voice his discomfort at the fact that she had touched him without his permission. Or the fact that she was still touching him without his permission. Or maybe the fact that she was standing much closer than necessary to confirm his identity. Sadly, she seemed to want to do the talking for the both of them.

“Oh, yup. I’ve got the right one. This is you right?” she asked, shoving a wallet-sized photo far too close to his face. She kept her other hand clasped around his jacket sleeve, like a constrictor refusing to let go of its prey. Because of her vice grip, Shuji was unable to even tell what the subject of the photograph was. But, it wasn’t like this woman would give him the chance to confirm his identity. “Yup. This has to be you,” she said turning the photo such that she could view it. “Yotogi Shuji. Blonde. Brown eyes. Short. Kind of emaciated looking. Wears his face like this.” She accompanied the last statement by changing her maniacal smile for a poor attempt at Shuji’s scowl.

“Yes that’s…” Shuji tried to begin.

“You don’t have to tell me Yotogi-san, I know it’s you. I can tell. Don’t worry. The description they gave me covered everything.”

Wait, the description included his scowl?

“Oh, I almost totally forgot. I’m Umeki Yumiko. Nice to meet you.” This time the last statement was accompanied by a small bow. As she had not relinquished her grip on him, this bow brought her uncomfortably close to his face. Even leaning back, their noses were only centimeters apart. Also, one should be wary of their clothing before they bow to someone.

“Please, straighten up and release me,” he mumbled. He avoided making eye contact for fear his eyes might wander. He also didn’t want to dignify her current actions with the implicit attention eye contact yielded. If you act like a hyperactive child, you should prepare to be ignored like one.

In response to his request, Umeki leaned in closer but continued gratuitous use of her “outdoor voice”. “You should really speak up. It’s rude to mumble. Also,” she said grabbing his chin with the hand that had been grasping his arm. “You should look at people when you talk to them.” And with that, she turned his head such that he was forced to view her face to face.

This really wasn’t appropriate. This wasn’t how adults were supposed to act. Umeki was at least that, right? There was no way she was younger than twenty or so. Thus, this behavior was off-putting to say the least. During this period of forced eye contact, Shuji made note of aspects of her appearance as she had so kindly listed off all of his.

It was as if whatever god created her really enjoyed pink. There was just a nauseating amount of pink. The eyes she forced him to stare at were their own obnoxious shade of hot pink. This pulled attention from her hair, which held a dull hue of the same nauseating color. The outfit that she wore was made up of mismatched shades of pink as well. Shuji didn’t have the slightest eye for color, but even he knew her appearance clashed.

“Hey, stop ogling me.”

“I wasn’t! And why are you still holding my face?”

“Don’t stand there and lie to me! What’s wrong with you, haven’t you ever seen a woman before?”

Not one that acts like a four-year-old, he thought. “Why didn’t you answer my question?” he asked with a mumble. A mumble was all he could really muster as she refused to relinquish her vice grip on his jaw. This was starting to hurt.

“Oh crap,” she mumbled. Again she ignored his question. But, at least this time she finally released him as she checked her watch. Her usual unnerving smile deepened to a frown. “Introductions took too long. We need to go.”

Wait. Did she just call what happened “introductions”?

“Hey, Yotogi-san. Wake up. We gotta go,” she said, grabbing his bag from out of his hand and turning to walk towards a parked car at the edge of the sidewalk. “If you want to ogle me, you’ll have to do it in the car: pervert.”

“I wasn’t ogling you,” he responded in a weak voice as he followed after her. She quickly threw his bag in the backseat before getting in the driver’s seat. Shuji crossed in front of the unremarkable white sedan before getting in on the passenger’s side. If Umeki didn’t stop talking, he was in for a long ride.

“Buckle up,” Umeki said absently as she turned the key in the car’s ignition. The poor machine sputtered to life reluctantly and went into gear with even more reluctance. Shuji wandered briefly what kinds of abuse the machine had taken. He quickly decided it was probably just years of usage in high-stakes situations. Strange, it looked new.

Then he felt it. The slow pull of the car taking off was a natural occurrence. But, when it at once grinded to a halt Shuji realized he had been foolish to write off the car’s reluctance. Looking over to Umeki he saw her staring at her feet as she was moving both of her legs at once.

Wait. Was this car a manual? Did GUARDIAN not know what year it was? More importantly, could Umeki not drive a manual transmission? Another short spurt of moving ensued by a grinding halt told him that she indeed couldn’t.

“Don’t you know how to drive a manual?” he asked rhetorically.

“Well…not really. I mean, I’ve driven one before, but never on an actual road.” As she spoke, Shuji became acutely aware of at least a handful of cars also trying to merge into traffic. They were patiently waiting for the mistreated white sedan to merge first. Not wanting to use up all of that goodwill, Shuji rolled down his window and motioned for them to go around the struggling vehicle. Then he turned his attention to Umeki.

“How did you get to pick me up if you haven’t driven on a road before?”

“You might’ve noticed I was a little late…this uh…this was why.”

Clenching his eyes shut tight, Shuji pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why would you pick a manual to come pick me up if you can’t drive one?”

“These were just the keys they handed me.”

“And you didn’t think to take them back?”

“No. The Rear Guard member in charge of the garage looked a little agitated, and I didn’t want to bother him.” As she spoke, Umeki seemed to have given up trying to merge into traffic. Her hands were completely off the wheel as she held them together, occasionally tapping her index fingers together. Was she expecting him to scold her?

What was hard to believe was that this woman didn’t want to bother him. No. What was extremely hard to believe was that this woman was afraid of a little shouting. Her who had completely disregarded his personal space and spoken volumes too loud through the entirety of their “introduction”. Shuji honestly believed that shouting was her default.

Releasing his nose and checking the window, he gathered that the street would never clear out enough that she would be able to take her time merging into traffic. They would have to settle for taking a handful of honks they probably deserved. Well, with their course of action determined, there was only one thing left to do.

“Umeki-san, start driving. Merge into traffic and go.”

“But, I’ll grind the gears and the car will heave and stop.”

“I have no clue how far the base in Nagasaki is from here. But I’m assuming it’s far enough that walking is out of the question. So, at some point, we’re going to have to drive. That traffic isn’t letting up anytime soon. You’re not going to become a better driver just sitting here. I don’t even know how to drive so I can’t take your place. And even if I could, I have no idea how to reach our destination. Just do what you can do and that will just have to be enough.”

For a moment she looked like she was going to argue. But Shuji wouldn’t hear any of that. He kept his face stern. He didn’t know her rank, but there weren’t many that could ignore an order from a Lancer. And honestly, he figured she couldn’t be very high ranking with her level of competence. For a moment they sat there staring at each other. Neither of them appeared to be willing to relent.

To emphasize his point, Shuji lifted his left hand and pointed behind Umeki towards the road and the traffic that filled it. “The car needs a driver. Are you up to it or not?” Apparently, this didn’t have the effect Shuji wanted. Umeki looked even more hesitant than before. It was almost as if any second she was going to shout “No”. That would be bad. This car wasn’t going anywhere if Umeki had a mental breakdown. Looks like he’d have to try a different approach. How taxing.

“Umeki-san, you got the car here in one piece, right? You did it all on your own. You can do it again.” Shuji dreaded this, but he put a hand on her shoulder to show support or something like support. They made eye contact, and she seemed to gain a semblance of confidence. But just that amount wasn’t enough. She needed a bit more before she’d actually act. And that was another hassle altogether.

“You don’t mean that,” she replied quietly.

“I said it, didn’t I?”

“Well…yeah…you did but-,” she began. Once again she was looking like she was about to have another self-conscious fit. Shuji wouldn’t let her ramble and make matters worse. That would only further delay them.

“Listen. The only thing stopping you is you. Don’t worry about the other cars: they’ll stop. And don’t worry about the other drivers: they don’t matter right now. Lastly, don’t worry about how long it takes for you to get moving: we’ll get there when we get there. Okay?” He tried to put on his best face of “reassurance.” That was a hard sell for him. But honestly, how was he supposed to feel? This obnoxious girl waltzed into his life and almost has a breakdown over not being able to drive?

In another setting, he would’ve laughed about it. The irony was almost perfect. But, he didn’t get that luxury as he lived the irony. Why did he have to get stuck with the job of giving the would-be chauffeur a pep talk?

Those were all feelings and questions he had to keep to himself though. On the outside, he looked as supportive as he could. It still wasn’t a very supportive face, but it was all he could muster.

With a small nod in response to his question, Umeki looked ready for the ever daunting task of driving. Taking his hand off her shoulder, Shuji readied himself for her to begin driving. Umeki took a few deep breaths first. Then she checked the traffic to her right. With that, she was ready to go. Shuji gripped the dash a bit as she began to merge into the moving traffic. She was doing slightly better. Slightly.

After a small handful of starts and stops and a more than a small number of honks, Shuji and Umeki were on the road. She surprisingly shifted gears without much problem. That was a relief. Shuji still dreaded when they would have to stop at the next intersection. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since she’d pulled into traffic. As they made a gentle turn she spoke.

“Thanks for that.”

“Uh?” he mumbled without moving his gaze from the window.

“For what you said earlier. I get that you might’ve just done it to get me to start driving. But, it…it kinda helped a bit. Honestly, I’m terrified of driving.”

“Why do you do it then?” he asked with a bored expression.

“The captain said I had to pick you up. No questions asked.” That was strange. Why would it be so crucial that she have to pick him up? If she was terrified of driving wouldn’t her superior spare her the horror of being in heavy traffic? More importantly, wouldn’t her superior spare him the misfortune of having to endure her driving? Either way, Shuji kept his bored expression as he watched Nagasaki slowly pass by.

“Don’t mention it.”

“I won’t.”

Shuji returned his full attention to looking as bored as he could. Thankfully, Umeki lost the need to continue forcing conversation with him. The rest of their ride was speechless though the car complained often.