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The trains of Japan were always on time. Seasoning City, despite not being the largest and most populous city in the country, was no exception to this rule. The lines ran like clockwork, arriving when the schedule said they would and departing shortly after.
There was only one train that strayed from these rules.
Train number 13042012 was a menace to the train conductors.
The train could be an entire ten minutes behind schedule when it pulled into one station and arrive exactly one minute ahead of when it was supposed to at the next. It could skip a station entirely, or end up on a completely different line. There was even one incident where it had somehow turned around entirely, going the opposite direction it was meant to.
What was strange—besides the train’s behavior, of course— was that the passengers never seemed to notice anything different. There had been no complaints about trains being late or having to get off at the wrong station. There were no accidents, no collisions, no derailments, nothing at all. The train baffled the staff beyond comprehension, and rumors arose about the train being haunted, or possessed, or worse. Eventually, they just decided to take it off the rails for good, to be done with the problem altogether.
A few weeks after the formal retirement of the enigmatic train, a young conductor noticed that the train that was pulling into the station didn’t match the number that was on his list. The train looked strange as well, it had been scratched up on both sides, and colorful shapes had been painted over some of the windows. He called up the others, and when they inquired about the number on the train, he recited what he saw.
“It’s 13-04-20-12,” he told them. “Weird, right?”
The operator on the other end of the line put down the phone.
Since that day, the entirety of the Seasoning City Train Operators agreed to leave the mysterious train alone. It was beyond their understanding, and any effort to remove it would not work. They left it be, and train number 13042012 (now dubbed “The Phantom Train” by conductors) continued to run as normal, or as normal as it possibly could.
Everything was as it should be.
Especially for the fourteen year-old boy who called the Phantom Train home.
Hanazawa Teruki knew he’d hit the jackpot when he decided to turn the first car of train 13042012 into his base. It was perfect, it was big enough to house him and his crew, small enough not to be an easy target and a liability, and, best of all, it was mobile. He could be anywhere, everywhere on the Seasoning City train lines, and that made him hard to reach.
Not too hard to reach, though. Teru still wanted some people to seek him out for turf wars, so he made sure to stop every once and a while.
He loved his train. He’d gotten people, mostly his five young followers from various parts of Seasoning Below, to assist him in transforming the first car into his vision. Brightly painted sheets were hung over the windows, patterned carpet stolen from an abandoned arcade was placed on the floor. Multi-colored pom poms were hung from the handrails. They’d taken a swivel chair, removed the wheels, and bolted it to the ground. That was where Teru sat, watching over the operations of his court.
And it was his court. Not to brag, but Teru had a pretty good understanding and control of the train lines by this point. He had his gang, who helped him run the whole show and followed his orders. Anyone who dared come into his court was at his mercy, they could be thrown off the train at any moment.
He was in charge, and that was how it was meant to be.
When Teru had first come to Seasoning Below, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to find a purpose, but it came surprisingly easy to him. And it really wasn’t that different from his old life, his parents had ignored him then, too. Now he didn’t have to worry about speaking to them ever again.
So, yes, Teru was enjoying himself very much here.
“Hey, Teru?” asked one of his henchmen (but she was a girl, so…henchwoman?). “We might want to go to the market tonight.”
Startled from his train of thought, Teru spun lazily in his chair to face her. “Really? I thought we were still good on supplies.”
“Oh, we are,” Kurosaki Rei responded. “But I’ve heard from some sources that someone important is returning for the first time in ages. Something that’s attracted both the Conjuror and the Thresher to Seasoning City.”
“Conjuror and Thresher?” Teru had heard the names before, but had never really paid much attention, since the both of them had been in some other city long before he’d come to Seasoning below. It was surprising to hear they were coming back, though.
Rei nodded. “I have a feeling something big is about to go down.”
Hoshino Takeshi perked up from his seat. “Does that mean there’s a chance to win something?”
Teru grinned. “Probably,” he said. “I bet we’d be able to bag something in the chaos.”
“So, we’re going?” asked Rei.
“You bet we are! Kaito! Tell your brother to set a course for wherever the market’s going to be tonight!”
“Okay, Teru!” called Shiratori Kaito, punching in something to send to the front of the train.
Teru leaned back in his swivel chair, doing a full spin before smirking. “Get ready, guys. We’ve got a market to crash.”