Riding the Highway Bus | Short Story

I was lucky enough to get the very last seat. Now I can recline my seat and sleep. All I have to do is let the highway bus carry me to my destination. Just thinking about that makes me feel much more at ease.

I had intended to head home after the new year to avoid the crowds, but it seems many people had the same idea; the previous bus filled up in an instant, so the company added an extra bus. This extra bus is about half full.
There are six minutes left until departure. Some impatient people have already placed their bags on the seats next to them. I wait, praying, 'I hope no one sits next to me.'

The digital clock inside the bus showed 11:44 PM. Even though New Year's Day is coming to an end, I still can't shake the feeling of the end of the year. I had crawled under the kotatsu, eaten toshikoshi soba, and drifted off, only to wake up and realize the new year had already begun. I regret now that I should have just gone home at the end of the year instead of spending such a dull New Year's.

My classmates from vocational school went home a little while ago. Nagano, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama... they all live so far away. When my best friend Ogura went back to Hiroshima, I went to the Sanyo Shinkansen platform to see him off. But right now, there is no one to see me off. Though, since my parents' house is only a little over an hour away by highway bus, I don't really need anyone to see me off anyway.

The inside of the bus waiting for departure is strangely quiet and unsettling. Trying to distract myself, I look out the window and see that despite the late hour, the Tokyo Station Yaesu South Exit bus terminal is bustling with people. The more people there are, the more depressed I feel about being alone. With so many people here in Tokyo, why do I feel so lonely? Among the people passing by right now, I wonder if there is anyone else who, like me, couldn't stand being alone anymore and jumped on a highway bus.

As I turned these thoughts over and over in my head—thoughts that wouldn't lead anywhere anyway—a sudden wave of sleepiness washed over me.

—I'll just sleep.

Once I fall asleep, surely most of what I'm thinking about now will stop mattering.
The moment I thought that, I caught sight of a woman waving at me. She was wearing a white coat with the hood up and white gloves. Surely she must have a lover on this bus. I looked at the seats in front of me. But no one inside the bus was waving back at her.

—Notice her, you heartless person.

When I looked at the woman with that thought in mind, our eyes met. She was waving her right hand at me.

—Huh? Who is it?

Maybe she's an acquaintance from vocational school. I squinted to get a better look at her, but she had her hood pulled down low, so I couldn't see her face clearly. Still, I felt like she was about my age, in her early twenties.

I waved back tentatively, and the woman started jumping up and down, waving both hands enthusiastically. I checked the inside of the bus once more, but still, no one was waving back at her. I have to admit, I was a little confused.

“Thank you for waiting. The 11:50 PM Midnight Tsukuba bound for Tsukuba Center is now departing.”

The bus announcement played.

The woman was still jumping and waving. Every time she jumped, her hood shifted, and I could see her expression.

She had a huge smile on her face.
I waved back even more vigorously than before.

—It doesn't matter if it's a case of mistaken identity or a misunderstanding. There is someone waving at me. That's enough.

I accepted the situation.
The bus began to move slowly.
I pressed myself against the window.
The bus terminal and the woman waving at me began to fade into the distance...

I kept waving until the woman's figure disappeared from my sight. Before long, the glittering lights of the city began to stream past outside the window.
I watched the scenery outside for a while, then sank deep into my seat.

—In the end, who could it have been?

That question was erased by drowsiness the moment the bus entered the Metropolitan Expressway.
When I woke up, the inside of the bus was completely bright. I feel like I slept for quite a while. I wonder where we are driving now. Have we passed the Misato Junction yet?

—Wait, hold on.

It takes at most a little over an hour from Tokyo Station to Tsukuba Center. It shouldn't be morning yet.

—Where... on earth am I?

I hurriedly sat up from my seat and noticed that someone was sitting next to me.

—Who is it!?

When we departed from Tokyo Station, there was no one sitting next to me. Since it's a direct bus, it's impossible for anyone to have boarded along the way. Could it be... that they moved inside the bus and specifically came to sit next to me?

—What an annoying person.

Thinking that, I glanced over at them and realized I recognized the coat the person was wearing. A white coat with the hood up. And... on their hands, white gloves.

—Ah!

When I shouted involuntarily, the person looked at me and smiled sweetly. While watching me freeze, the woman slowly took off her hood.

On her head were large, white ears.
I understood everything.

—So that's it!

Surely, she came all this way to let me know, since I still couldn't escape from 2022. That must be it.

"It's 2023, the Year of the Rabbit," she said.

God certainly does things in a roundabout way. Though, I don't even know if God exists.

—You look cold.

When I gathered the courage to speak to her, the woman blew a breath onto her gloved hands and pressed them against my cheeks.

—Yeah, it's warm...

The woman nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for riding with us. The final stop is Tsukuba Center."

It took a moment for me to realize that the announcement was real. I woke up with a start and saw the backs of passengers heading toward the exit.

Outside the window, it was dark. It was the middle of the night. The bright LED streetlights were dazzling. It seems I really have returned this time.

—What a strange first dream of the year.

I stretched out wide and grabbed my luggage from the overhead rack.

On the seat next to me, a single white glove was left sitting all by itself.

(End)

I wrote this for a reading.
I didn't consciously include any heart-throbbing or moe elements at all.

The 23:50 Midnight Tsukuba bus bound for Tsukuba Center is a real route, and I used to take it occasionally when I lived in Tsukuba City.
(The final stop is actually the University of Tsukuba, not Tsukuba Center.)

It's easier to just take the highway bus and sleep than to take the Tsukuba Express from Akihabara.

I received a "CONGRATULATIONS" for the "Creative Writing" theme!

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