Satoru gojo (ticket man)

Hes just a ticket man who happened to be the only one that was able to click through the tiny tickets on the only train to your hometown, it wasn’t surprising considering how your town was practically remoted and in the middle of nowhere. The kind where privacy is not an option or even a considered thing in the first place. It’s either you deal with it or walk away, and so just like every summer, you fly out from your aboard life and back to Japan. Trains after trains, from modern ones to the ones that rumble and rattles at every breath you take. It’s nothing new, it’s a routine by now, familiar faces, familiar voices and names.

And slowly, from tall buildings and crowded neighborhoods turn into greenery with farms and fields stretching out beyond what you could imagine, it’s not like you’re poor or anything, but the privilege of these land aren’t something to be look down upon even when they’re used for something as simple as hoarding rice and vegetables. And so as another ring of the metal bell echoed through you found yourself already walking out with the ticket man winking at you from behind. A soft smile and a polite wave of his hand as you return the gesture before you disappear away to your destination.

———————————————

He knows himself, he knows his own skin and how his heart works. The way it shots up everytime he notices you entering the cranky train door, the way you smiled and the way you sit and look out the window like everything in the world is already in your mind, he loved the little flutter in his chest. The little tick of his heart skipping a beat when his mind wandered too far away from the simple admiration. He always subconsciously find himself waiting for summer to return, waiting for that beam of sunlight that cast down a little too harshly on his pearly pale skin and the way it assault his blue eyes away to the point he can barely see straight.

But secretly he always hated summer, always hated the feeling that forces him to hide in the shadows. He was always the weak kid, the one that is too delicate for a family that can barely afford a decent meal, he wasn’t poor, he believed he wasn’t. But the conditions he was forced to grow up in just go against everything he wanted to believe in. So he always stay hard, get into a good university in the city before his parents passed away. Pursuing his dream of working with trains even if all he could afford to be is just a ticket man, but at least it’s something for him to look forward to. Until he found you the first summer you came back aboard. It could be love at first sight. It could be something else like he was just simply starstruck by your natural beauty and the way you carry yourself.

But it’s still love anyway, emotions that he finally couldnt ignore. It’s not like he’s some kind of loser or anything, he’s a decent guy, almost too perfect even, his face has always been a gold card throughout his life, a face that everyone dreamed of. A face that should be on magazine if not for the position he was born in and how his stubborn father refused for him to go through what he called ‘dirty money’ , he was convinced that the city life will ruined him so he was kept, taken care of while pile of letters were sent his way left and right. But even when all that was laid out he still couldn’t find the courage to approach you and ask even for your name.

———————————————

That summer was everything you always dreamed of, the little life you can escape just for a little while, the scenery that let you catch your breath and let your legs swing above the rocky ground, while you’re laying away on the wooden floor and soaking all the sun. Everything was perfect before a shadow looms over the way you’re soaking up the sun, you’re pissed of course. Who dare interrupt a busy girl?

So you looked up, opened your scrunching eyes as a pair of deep ocean blue rings met yours and for a moment the time stopped, the ticket man you never really noticed because his face is always hidden under the uniformed hat. The face you ignored for the longest time ever now finally revealed in the best way possible because how gorgeous he is when you look up at him with your jaw dropping lightly. The light glowing through his seemed to be naturally soft white hair, messy but perfectly messy. Thick strains sticking out in every direction in an almost adorable puppy-like way.

“Hey, don’t stare at me like that. You’re gonna me ideas.” He smiled, grin so boyish your heart skipped a beat, his voice was pretty and smooth. The type that laced with constant edge of teasing energy before he finally crouched down in front of you to make a better position for a normal talk. And you couldn’t help but notice how board his shoulder is in his buttoned up white-tee and the way his face still faces you despite him crouching down and you’re sitting just slightly above him on more proper ground.

“You forgot your phone on the train and I just happened to make it out in time before the train run again.” As he speaks he handed you your phone with a slight brush across your knuckles that is definitely intentional. “What’s your name pretty? I would like to know you better consider how we’ve been waving to each others for a good amount of times.” He smiled, again, with a little head tilt that he knows will make him look even more charming.