## FULL THROTTLE Sex is like a train. Getting all that weight moving takes work. Slow at first. Deliberate. Then faster, gathering momentum. At full throttle, the thing seems determined to keep going on its own. There’s a point where all that buildup turns into a rush— Like a libidic choir singing its version of a glorious resurrection. Then the apex. The throttle comes off. Sweet inertia takes over. And for a little while, you’re just along for the ride. Until everything settles back to neutral. This time, though, the release itself didn’t feel like a train. Shattering glass came immediately to mind. Not breaking so much as dispersing—every tiny shard of myself flying outward, dissolving into the air until I couldn’t tell where I ended and the room began. For a few seconds, I felt almost absent. Hollowed out. Spent. I collapsed against you, my face settling into the side of your neck. Somewhere very far away, I heard your voice. “Are you done?” Tiny at first. Almost an echo. Then again, closer. “Hey. You done?” Your voice pulled me back. Eyes still closed, I didn’t want to answer. I wanted to be dead for at least an hour. “Yeah,” I murmured. “That’s nice.” A beat. “How did it feel?” “It was wonderful, babe...” “I’m pleased one of us enjoyed it. Maybe sometime, share the experience?” “…Oh. Sorry, babe. I promise next time I’ll let you know.” “That makes me really happy.” I felt you shake your head. Sex was over, and we were still caught in the afterglow. Or rather, I was. You shifted underneath me. Just a little. “[[おもい | Omoi | Heavy]]…” I lifted my head. “What?” “Heavy.” “Hmm... you calling me fat?” “No,” you said, already smiling. “I’m saying you’re lying on top of me.” I started to move. Your arms immediately tightened around me. “Oh, so now I’m not allowed to move?” “I didn’t say that.” “You literally just complained.” “I made an observation.” I settled back against your neck. The room went quiet except for our breathing. A few seconds passed. Then I whispered, “I think this is why they invented the cigarette.” You chuckled softly into my hair. “[[ばか | Baka | Idiot]]。” “Watashi?” “Yes, you. Idiot.” Neither of us smoked. Neither of us had cigarettes. And we always thought that was a good thing. We fell asleep exactly like that. *** ## SHATTERING GLASS I don’t know how long we slept. Something outside the bedroom woke me. Not loud. A scrape, perhaps. A footstep. Something. I lifted my head. “Sable…” You stirred underneath me. “I heard movement outside the door.” Your eyes opened. Instantly awake. I shifted off you slowly and reached underneath the bed. Your expression changed as I pulled out a pistol. You stared at it. Then at me. “You had a gun under the bed? Since when have you--” I ignored the question and started toward the door. You watched me for about three seconds. Then something hit the back of my head. I spun around. “What?” A pair of briefs landed beside me. “Your underwear, genius.” I looked down. I picked up the briefs with my free hand and stepped into them. You watched. I pulled them up, the gun still trained loosely toward the door. Your expression became very strange. “What?” You shook your head. I pressed my ear against the wall beside the door. Behind me, you whispered: “They’re inside out.”  I looked down. The label was sticking out. I looked back at you. You shrugged, “just saying.” I put my index finger against my lips. “Shhh.” We both listened. There it was again. Movement. Then something else. A faint sound. My eyebrows lifted. “I hear a black cat.” You leaned closer. “You hear a _black_ cat?" I looked at you. Your lips compressed. You were very clearly trying not to laugh. “What?” You leaned toward me. “Sable to Ravyn. Confirm.” I frowned. “Confirm what?” “You heard…” You paused, apparently needing a moment. “…a _black cat_.” "Yeah," I said with my palm up. You giggled softly. "You can't hear color, baby." Then, the sound of a muted **_pfft_** somewhere outside caught my attention. A thin, vicious zip tore through the still air. I had just enough time to turn my head toward the window when something struck the glass, the pane exploding inward. I lunged towards you without thinking, covering you with my body as shards burst across the room. For some reason, that moment felt slow...like one of those scenes in an action film where the hero sees every shard of glass suspended in the air. Yeah, let me rewind that - "For an instant everything seemed to slow—the fragments hanging in the air around us, catching what little light remained in the room." I saw your eyes widen. I saw the curtain snap inward. I saw fragments glitter in the light. My arms wrapping around you. Then— black. Absolute pitch darkness. A second later — **_CLACK_**. A mechanical switch. Then an emergency light flickered amber. Not bright. Just enough to make everything worse. I lifted my head. The bedroom was gone. I felt cold concrete beneath me. Open air. A train track. We were crouched under some kind of station shelter. Nothing elaborate. Just a roof with a long bench. Some old posters on the wall. At either end of the station's platform, the railway disappeared into what seemed to be a canopy of trees and straight into the darkness. At one end of the shelter, a flight of concrete stairs with steel railings climbed upward. The only obvious way out. I slowly stood. “What the hell…” You got up beside me. I looked down at myself. Still in my inside-out briefs. Nothing else. Pistol in my hand. Then I looked at you. “Babe.” “What?” You were looking around with concern. “You’re still naked,” I said. You looked down. “Oh.” You found a shirt lying on the bench and pulled it on. At that point we clearly had larger problems than being half-naked in a rural Japanese station...at night. *** ## 鍋原なべら駅 — NABERA EKI Then I saw the sign. **[[鍋原駅 | Nabera Eki | Nabera Station]]** You stared at it, “Nabera Station.” I turned toward you. “Nabera?” You nodded. I looked around again. Cold platform. Tiny shelter. Trees and darkness on either end. Stairs.  “How the hell…” A telephone began ringing somewhere above us. It sounded like one of those old-fashioned rotary ones, where you'd start dialing a phone number on Monday and then finish on Tuesday. _Riiing_. I tilted my head. “Sable… I hear a green telephone.” You slowly turned your head toward me. “You hear… a _green_ telephone.” “Yeah.” Your face did that thing again. “First you heard a black cat. Now you're hearing a green telephone.” I frowned. “You can’t hear color, Ravyn.” _Riiing_. I pointed toward the stairs. “Well, apparently I can.” You looked upward. Then back at me. “Do green telephones ring?” _Riiing_. “This one does.” We started toward the concrete stairs. Halfway up, you stopped. “Ravyn.” Something had been scratched into the concrete wall. You leaned closer. You gestured me toward you. “What does it say?” You squinted, “[[電話に出るな | Denwa ni deru na | Don't answer the phone]]。” “What’s that?” It says, “Don’t answer the phone.” The ringing echoed above us. Then you noticed another line. Smaller. Rougher. “[[聞かれてる | Kika re teru | They're listening]]。” It says, “They’re listening.” I stared at the message. Then something happened. The scratches started changing. Letters crawling across the concrete. The warning rearranged itself before our eyes until it read: **_PSYCH! GO AHEAD AND ANSWER IT!_** You stared at the wall. Then at me. “…Psych?” I shrugged. The phone rang again. You looked genuinely offended. “If the haunted station is trolling us, I’m leaving a one-star review.” We continued up the stairs. At the landing, the station opened onto a street. Or what should have been a street. Everything was dark. One lamp remained flickering randomly, washing the pavement in weak amber light. No cars. No pedestrians. Nothing. Shop windows lined the road. Apartment windows rose above them. Most were black. But standing there, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was behind them. Watching. A black cat suddenly jumped onto a fence and stopped. Turned its head toward us.  "_[[ばか | Baka | Idiot]]。_," it said. You and I just stared at it. Then it sprang down to the other side. Its body moved normally, but its head stayed fixed at the same angle throughout the jump, neck stiff, eyes locked on us through the diamond mesh. It landed on the ground and walked away along the far side of the fence without ever looking forward. We watched it go, its gaze still fixed on us, until it disappeared around the corner. “That was weird.” You looked at me, “did that cat just call us idiots?” “Yes, it did.” “Okay,” you responded, rubbing your shoulders. *** ## GREEN TELEPHONE Near the steel railing at the top of the stairs stood a small glass telephone booth. Inside it was the green telephone. Still ringing. I glanced at you with my "I-told-you-so" look. You ignored the look. We entered the booth. The phone rang again. I picked up the receiver and held it to my ear. A voice spoke. It sounded like a whisper. Staticky and hallow. “_[[ポケベル | Pokeberu | Pager]]… await instructions,_" followed by a flat tone. I looked at you. “It said, ‘Pokeberu… await instructions.’” "I know, I heard," you said. My expression changed. "How did you-- Nevermind." You raised your palms and shrugged your shoulders. “ポケベル. That means a pager, right?" "Yeah, Pocket bell. Old Japanese shorthand.” Then we heard it. _Beep...._ We both looked down. A small black pager sat on the narrow metal shelf beneath the window. I picked it up. Green text appeared: `UNIT-07 REQUIRES SUPPORT. ` `ENSURE HER SAFETY. ` `DO NOT MAKE CONTACT.` I showed it to you. You read it once. Then again. “Unit-07. Sayaka-san.” Your whole posture changed. "Ooooh, this is very serious." “Right? And if they’re telling us not to make contact, they don’t want us rescuing her directly.” You nodded, “Support from a distance. [[見守る | Mimamoru | Watch over her]].” I looked outside, “I guess we should comply.” "Ye-ah...it doesn't sound like we really have a choice, babe." Then I handed you another pistol. You took it. Looked at it. Then looked at the pistol already in my other hand. Then at me. I knew the question before you asked it. “Don’t...” Your eyebrows rose, “Don’t what?” “Ask.” You looked at my briefs. Then back at my face. “It was inside my underwear. Don't know how.” You closed your eyes. “[[聞かない | Kikanai | I'm not asking]].” “I told you.” “I am not asking.” “Good.” You looked at the pistol again. “If anything else materializes in there, tell me before it’s a grenade.” We found a concealed position around the corner with a clear line of sight back toward the phone booth. We moved quickly but quietly. Then came footsteps. Running. Several people. You looked at me again. “Recons,” I whispered. You gave me that expression. “Recons? What...what are recons?” “Shhh.” Voices carried through the street. Men began spreading out through the area. Checking corners. Alley. Doorways. Windows. No Sayaka-san. One of them shouted: “_[[前進！| Zenshin! | Advance!]]_ ” The group began moving away. We waited as their footsteps faded in the distance. You leaned toward me, “they’re not looking for us.” “No, they’re looking for her.” *** ## UNIT-07 Then something moved. I caught it first. At the edge of an alley. A flicker. Not someone clearly stepping into view. More like the darkness itself had shifted incorrectly. I touched your arm, “there.” You followed my gaze. A figure appeared. Small. Slim. Wearing a cat mask. Black leather jacket. Satin-like shorts. Leather Recon boots. “Recons… hmm, interesting.” I kept looking. Longer than I probably should have. Her hips. Her legs. The way she moved. “Hey,” you said in a mildly protesting tone. I barely heard you. “Hey.” “Huh?” “You’re staring at her.” “I’m watching her.” “You’re staring at her.” I continued staring at her... she was really cute. You reached over, caught me by the chin, and turned my face toward yours. “Eyes here, big boy.” “What?” “We were told to watch her, not stare at her.” "That's practically the same thing." Then something metallic caught the amber light. Both of us looked back. “Is that a katana?” You narrowed your eyes, “yeah.” She moved like every footstep had been decided five minutes before she made it. No wasted motion. No hesitation. I studied her. “Babe...” “What?” “She seems smaller than you.” "I can see that." “If she does anything stupid, you could kick her ass.” Your expression flattened, “smaller than me does not mean easier to fight.” I kept watching Sayaka. “She’s tiny.” “She’s an assassin with a katana.” “So?” You leaned closer. “[[なめないで | Namenaide | Don’t]] underestimate her.” I looked at you. “Fine.” Then added: “If she does something stupid, you distract her, and I'll kick her ass...carefully.” You sighed and rolled your eyes. Sayaka’s attention turned toward the telephone booth. She walked toward it. Picked up the receiver. Dialed several numbers. I nudged you. “Sable. She’s calling somebody.”  We watched. She waited. Then started speaking. You tilted your head. You turned toward me. “What?” “I can hear her.” “She’s hundreds of meters away,” I said. “I know.” “You can hear a phone conversation from three hundred meters away?” “Well, apparently.” I stared at you. “Look, you hear black cats and green telephones. I have sniper-grade directional hearing. That makes us a team. It's not a competition. Now, do you want to know what she’s saying or not?” I leaned closer, “What is she saying?” You listened. “_...blade secured…_” Sayaka paused. “_…container lost…_” Another pause. “_…handover required…_” Then: “_…Nabera…_” You went very still. “'blade'... that could be the _Masamune_, right?” I nodded. “Sounds like she got the sword but lost whatever case or package went with it.” “And Nabera is the handoff point.” “Which explains why we were asked to protect her.” I thought about that. Then looked at you. “But why us?” You looked back. I shrugged. You stared at me. Then down at my inside-out briefs. Then back up, “apparently whoever recruited us has absolutely no respect for operational timing.” “At least, they recruited us after we had sex.” Your head turned. "You had sex, remember?" I winked at you. Then made a kiss gesture with my lips. Your expression immediately changed. “Ravyn…” “What?” “[[集中して | Shūchū shite | Focus]].” I grinned, "make it up to you?" “Mission first,” you sounded irritated. “Later?” You looked back toward Sayaka. “Mission. First.” Sayaka finished her call. Then headed toward the station stairs. “She’s going down,” I whispered. “We should shadow her.” You nodded. “Stay back. No contact unless we have to.” *** ## KAISŌ We followed her down the concrete steps. Quietly. Carefully. We reached the platform, then positioned ourselves just past the steps, where it was darker. We found Sayaka waiting. Except she wasn’t exactly waiting... She was taking selfies. You stopped halfway down the stairs, “…You have got to be kidding me.” Sayaka stood beneath the station light in her cat mask, katana beside her, holding out her phone... _Click_. Different angle. _Click_. Then she touched two fingers to her cheek in a peace sign.  _Click_. I stared at her. “Babe… Sayaka is a total freakin' teenager?!” You glanced at me. “She is currently wearing a cat mask and carrying a katana.” “Exactly!” _Click_. Another peace sign. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head, “this is not how I pictured Unit-07.” “Well, apparently Unit-07 has a selfie phase.” I pulled out my phone. Your head snapped toward me. Then you looked at the phone. Then at my briefs. Then back at the phone. “Ravyn.” “What?” “You have a phone.” “Yes.” “You don’t have pockets.” I looked down. You followed my gaze. Your face changed, “No.” I said nothing. “Ravyn.” I still said nothing. “[[まさか | Masaka | No way]]...” I was staring at the screen of my phone. You rubbed your temple, “I officially refuse to ask how much storage space your underwear has.” "Look at this..." I held the phone out to you. Sayaka’s selfie was on the screen, the one she had just taken. Then another appeared. And another. You stared at the phone. Then at Sayaka. Then back at the phone. “How the hell are those getting on your phone?” “No idea.” "Babe, why the hell does Sayaka have your phone number?" The rails began humming. Sayaka changed instantly. She tucked her phone into her jacket, and her attention locked onto the tunnel. The humming deepened into a rumble. Then a roar. Headlights appeared in the darkness. The train came out of the tunnel of trees far too fast, bearing down on the platform as if it had no intention of stopping at all. For a second, I thought it was simply going to blast straight through Nabera. I felt curiously euphoric at that moment. Then, maybe five hundred meters out— **_SCREEEECH_** The brakes bit hard. Sparks burst from beneath the train—not brief flashes, but a glowing, steady stream running along the rails as the cars fought their own momentum. Steel screamed against steel. The train kept coming. Slower now. But still fast enough to make stopping feel almost like an afterthought. It took nearly the entire five hundred meters. Then, finally, the train came to rest. Almost perfectly in front of Sayaka. Its destination display flickered. Then settled. **[[回送 |** Kaisō | Out of service]] You whispered, "_kaisō..._" The doors opened. No passengers. No conductor. Nothing visible inside except darkness. Sayaka stepped toward the open doorway. She held out the katana. Two hands emerged from inside. That was all I could see. No face. No body. Just hands. They closed around the Masamune. For a few seconds, Sayaka’s hand remained closed around the hilt. Then she let go. The doors immediately closed. The train departed, and we watched its lights disappear into the tunnel. Then Sayaka turned around. And started walking directly toward us. “Sable.” “What?” “She’s coming.” “Yes.” “Quick.” “What?” “Kiss me.” Your eyes narrowed, “What?” “Pretend we’re minding our business.” You looked at me like you were deciding whether strangling me would attract more attention than kissing me. Then you grabbed me. Pulled me close. And kissed me. Hard. The sound of Sayaka's boots approached. Closer. Closer. Then she halted beside us. “You guys have a light?” she said in a soft, level voice, completely self-assured, carrying the faintest edge of what seemed like amusement. I broke away just enough to look at her. Then brought the lighter up to the Sobranie waiting between her lips. I flicked it and the flame caught on the first strike. The flame illuminated her face. Pale skin, burgundy lips, dark eyeliner streaking almost to her cheeks. You stopped moving. Sayaka leaned toward it and lit her cigarette. You stared at the lighter. Then at me. “…You don’t smoke.” “No, I don’t.” “I know you fucking don’t.” You looked at the lighter again, “Where did that come from? No, nevermind...don't answer that.” Before I could react, Sayaka took the cigarette from her lips, exhaled, and looked at us. “Get a room… [ばか | Baka | Idiots].” She walked past us and up the steps. I couldn’t resist, “That’s the point!” Sayaka stopped, but didn't face us. You froze against me. I continued, “we **HAD** a room!” For one long second she stood with her back toward us. Then Sayaka giggled. Then she continued up the stairs. I looked at you. You looked at me. Then— black. *** ## THE ROOM WE HAD I opened my eyes. For a few seconds, I wasn't sure if I was looking through my actual eyes or if I was in a dream. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference. I took a deep breath. I Blinked once. Twice. Ceiling. Our bedroom ceiling. Okay, that wasn't helping. I could hear you breathing peacefully beside me. Then the humming of the electric fan. I looked at it. I still felt strange. I didn’t move. This happens sometimes. I dream that I'm dreaming inside another dream. After that, I'm never quite sure if I'm actually seeing what I'm seeing, or just seeing it in another dream. For several seconds I simply stared upward again. "Sayaka-san..." Damn she was cute. Then I remembered something. My eyes automatically shot towards it... Intact. No broken windowpane. No shards of glass scattered across the floor. Curtains in order. “Yes.” No repairs needed. Without looking, I reached toward the other side of the bed. My hand found your hip. You were there, facing away from me. Sleeping. I faced you, and just let my hand rest against you. After a moment, you shifted and rolled toward me, your eyes opening halfway. You looked warm and sleepy. Normal. “Babe…” your voice was husky with sleep. “Are you still awake?” I stared at you for a few seconds. Then I said, "I just woke up…” "Everything okay?" “I had this weird dream.” **END**