The train car was packed with humidity and silent commuters, standing room so limited that she considered herself lucky to have made the cut. Even with her taller stature, she'd been working hard for a long time to make sure she was slim. Constantly, constantly working.
Part of her forgot that her headphones had been in, droning on with the words of one of her colleagues, for the length of her journey, a few hours. Still, oddly for her, she could recall none of it. Instead, she could only recall the racing thoughts, the distracting wandering of her mind, the tiny observations and tics she picked up from the people around her. Even as people slowly exited, the train thrumming along on the track, it still felt oppressively suffocating. Her clothes clung to her skin, hair wrapped around her neck and shoulders, briefcase seeming to grow endlessly heavy in her hands, fingers so cramped she wasn't sure she'd be able to ever set it down again-- it would simply have to remain locked in her grip until she died, like cement shoes. When her stop finally rolled into view outside the whizzing windows of the train car, though, she thought it might simply slip out of her hand instead from how quickly it clammed up.
She didn't get nervous. Countless speeches, presentations, papers, panels, review sessions, Q&A's, sessions, classes, and so on had ensured that. Rarely was she alone-- always, always it seemed, she was talking to someone, to such a degree that the silent train ride had made her feel as if she'd forgotten how to speak. Her tongue seemed to swell in her mouth, sitting awkwardly behind her teeth, a racehorse chomping at the bit.
The door slide open only barely in time to not allow her to collide with them in her hurry. She disappears like an apparition up the stairs, stealing away to the platform. Looking around, though, she realizes that she doesn't know what she's looking for. An off-kilter sort of vulnerability grows inside her like a Joshua tree, pushing her own stomach up toward her throat threateningly. Had she ever done something this stupid, this impulsive? Chasing down a train seconds before it left a platform and jetting off to the countryside without notice to anyone except the clients she would be reimbursing for her cancellation? Dread started to twist its way up inside of her too. She was alone, and afraid, and she didn't know what she was looking for.
"Miss Sasaki?" A timid voice comes from behind her, followed by a tap on the shoulder. She whirls around in an instant and finds herself face to face with a pale, dark haired stranger no taller than her. His hair is wiry and short, only brushing the tops of his ears, eyes a bright, sun-burnt earth sort of brown. His smile reveals teeth that looked as if they'd once been confined to the corral of braces, but had been set loose a moment too soon. In some ways, he looked much older than her-- well groomed, proper, wise-- while in other ways, she would not be remiss in declaring him to be her age or younger.
She smiles softly, letting out a sigh that blends smoothly into a laugh. "Yes, that's me. You must be the person I spoke to over the phone, yeah?"
"Yes," he says stiffly, giving a small bow. "I'm excited to meet you. I'm supposed to give you this, actually--" He adds, setting his backpack on a bench and unzipping the side pocket, digging for a moment before he pulls out a box, holding it out for her. She accepts the box with a smile, pulling the silky end of the red ribbon until it unfurls in her hand, and lifting the lid off. "It's a gift from the organization. Essentially, it's your visitor's pass, but, well--" Her eyes are met with a shimmering silver pin with a raised, black emblem on it. "--the organization has never been one for a lack of style," he chuckles. "Plus, that's much more permanent than a paper pass, and we want you to feel like you can always come back." Staring at the pin, at the emblem, she's able to recognize it from the information she'd found on the organization before. Somehow, though, it seemed more familiar than that. Where, though? The fact that she couldn't place it bothered her, but... well, her memory had been somewhat faulty on the trip. Maybe it was exhaustion from the travel, and she would connect it soon enough.
She plucks it out of the box with a polite smile, cradling it gently in her hand. "It's lovely."
"Oh, here--" he mutters, grabbing it from her hand and undoing the back, then quickly threading it through the fabric of her shirt so naturally you'd think he'd've done it a million times over. "Now you're all ready to go! Do you have any bags?"
Miyako blinks a few times, then smiles. "Oh, no, no," she laughs. "I have everything I need."
His eyes dart down to the briefcase. There's no way she'd brought any changes of clothes, right? It wouldn't fit. Still, he doesn't question it. "Well," he shrugs, "if you need anything while you're here, we're fully stocked on anything you could need. And since you're a guest, don't worry about the prices of anything. Come on," he adds, gesturing toward the exit, turning and beginning to lead the way. "They'll all be waiting for you. We have a big night planned."
Odd. Something was odd. But she was too nervous, or too excited, to care.