3 Arrival

As the young, black-haired Nakayama Tadashii slept, time seemed to pass by as normal. The traveling spell the bus driver had placed upon the vehicle had not dilated nor compressed time in the slightest. They themselves were, in fact, traveling in a pocket dimension separate from the one in which all others existed, but it was as if they were traveling across the same geographical plane as the Earth whilst being invisible to all who live on the opposite side of that metaphorical coin. Though the darkness of the dimension would blind the vision of all those who existed inside of it, the geographical expertise of the bus driver proved to be useful as he skillfully traveled to the City of Edgar Brauss. They likely phased through hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of obstacles, people, vehicles, and buildings, although their presence didn't actually exist on that side of the metaphorical coin.

Monday, exactly 5:02 A.M., and Tadashii had awakened about an hour prior.

"Well, we've arrived." the middle-aged bus driver reported, prompting Tadashii to become aware of the fact that the wait was now over. The boy's new magic life in the City of Edgar Brauss would officially begin within the next few hours.

Nakayama jumped slightly at the bus driver's announcement and immediately grabbed the handle of one of his suitcases out of pure instinct.

"Ah-okay!" he shouted in nervousness. He then looked around and noticed that the windows were still dark----when suddenly…

The darkness of the dimension began to dissipate in a motion similar to that of curtains unveiling a new scene in a play. The morning sun began to peek through slowly before completely enveloping both the in and outside of the bus. Naturally, Tadashii shielded his eyes to avoid the pain. After all, he had been sitting in a darkly tinted atmosphere for the last 12 hours or so.

"Holy crap!" he said in amazement, not truly understanding how they got there without even being able to see their path. Outside the window, he could see that they sat within a parking space, likely assigned to this bus in specific, and just before them stood an unimaginably large gate. Beyond it, he could see a couple of really tall buildings, but because of the size of the gate, that was all he could see. It must have been over a hundred feet tall!

"Wait a minute…" Tadashii pondered. "How the hell did we even get here? Could you even see the road?"

"Don't need a road when you're moving like we were. We phase right through everything."

"That still doesn't quite answer my question. How did you know how to get here so accurately?"

The bus driver leaned back in his seat and turned his head to face the teenager.

"I think you'll find my knowledge of geography to be pretty vast, kid. Of course, if I undid the spell in the middle of a wall or something, we'd either be crushed to death or merge with it for eternity," he said with a cheeky smile. "Now, stop worrying about it so much and get the hell off my bus, would you?"

Tadashii's face contorted with both disappointment and relief. Like he'd just dodged a bullet. Nonetheless, he quickly grabbed the biggest suitcase and put it on his back, and then grabbed the other two by their handles. As he began walking down the bus's walkway, he peered out the front window at the large gate.

The area in which the bus was parked was designated for international bus drivers such as the one that had just previously traveled with Nakayama. They sat in a large parking lot occupied by only a few other busses. They were likely outperforming their roles as city transportation, so perhaps it was normal for the lot to be so empty.

He also couldn't help but notice that there stood a single, lone woman. Every piece of clothing she wore was either black, white, or grey, but he couldn't exactly tell what she was wearing from the distance he saw her from. She clearly had something on her face, likely glasses, and she had a clipboard in her hands which she held at her waist. It appeared to have a piece of paper on it, or perhaps there were many stacked on top of one another.

As Nakayama walked, he finally met the same line of sight as the bus driver all the way at the front of the bus, to which the man pulled a lever that began opening the doors. The boy looked over and asked:

"Say, uh...do you have any idea who that woman is over there?"

He pointed in her direction needlessly as the man was already well aware of her presence.

"The woman who's paying me, that's who," he responded, still not quite answering Nakayama's question. He was looking for more of a "role-type" answer. Is she an accountant, a waitress, a housewife, a teacher…? Anything. However, he didn't decide to pry for more information because the bus driver probably didn't know who she truly was or what she did.

Suddenly, as if pulled out of some kind of trance, she began a brisk walk in the direction of the bus. She and her red high heels. The distance between her and the bus was a few meters, so it would take her a few seconds to arrive at the door.

"Move, kid. You're in the way." the bus driver demanded, giving Nakayama a slight shove out the double doors of the bus.

"Gah!" He then stumbled ungracefully down the few steps, his suitcases following with several heavy thumping sounds. As he finally hit the pavement, his body moved forward on its own, trying to finally balance itself. As he settled, the woman was finally only a couple of feet away from the teenager.

She wore a greyish black blazer and skirt. She was unnaturally beautiful even though she was in such formal attire. The light shade of red lipstick on her lips, her peanut brown hair, and the silver glasses her eyes required in order to see normally. At least, Nakayama had assumed that she needed them for daily tasks, though that may not be the case according to his knowledge. Her hair was tied up into a bun with a red hair tie, and her incredibly smooth white-beige skin was as satisfying to look at as a hated villain being crushed by a beloved protagonist.

She was rather skinny but carried her "feminine fat" in the most perfect of ways. Her breasts were rather large, but probably not quite D-cups, and her thighs were nice and meaty, as unattractive as such a vulgar description might be.

As she walked within the gap that existed between the bus and the young Tadashii, she turned her head to look at him. "Glanced" at him would be a better word. She narrowed her eyes as if she were studying everything about him, and the butterflies in the boy's stomach dispersed throughout his body at the attractive, mature woman that stood before him. He became nervous and fidgety. It wasn't even so much that she was pretty, but rather the fact that he had no idea as to what she wanted or why she was eyeing him down so heavily. She was about his height, at 5'8, so she didn't even have to look up or down. It was a straight shot.

Suddenly, her seemingly serious eyes became gentle, and the narrowing of her eyes ceased. And with that, Nakayama's butterflies gathered into one place yet again and then disappeared along with the woman's scary, yet charming look. She turned her head away from him to face the bus driver, but she neither smiled nor spoke. Her eyes became bored, uninterested, dead. Whatever word that describes something or someone without emotion would perfectly fit the look she gave the smiling bus driver.

"Alright, that's him isn't it ma'am?" the bus driver asked playfully.

"Yes, you've done your job well." she nodded. Her voice was so calm and smooth. It's like with every word she spoke, the eardrums melted in pleasure. It was like cutting a stick of warm butter. It was neither deep nor high. It was neither whiny nor strong. It laid somewhere in the middle that created the warmest, feminine pitch imaginable. Every aspect of her seemed to be incredible.

She began to fish around in the chest area of her outfit, shaking both her clothing and her breasts a little until, finally, she pulled out a small, rectangular pack. It likely contained money and it had some writing on it that Tadashii couldn't read. Not that he was illiterate or there was some kind of exclusive written language of the City of Edgar Brauss that he couldn't read. It was just so small and so far away that he literally failed to make it out.

"Great, then I guess we both know what comes next." the bus driver said as he stuck out his hand as far as he could reach it.

The woman then leaned forward with the pack of money in hand and gave it to the bus driver. When he took it, he laughed a little. Kind of like a child.

"You should find the amount of money I promised." the woman said.

The bus driver opened up the pack and inspected its contents.

"Hm. Well, I trust you. No need to count it." he said as he stuck the white, rectangular pack of money in his pocket. He then turned and put his hand on his knee, facing the woman entirely.

"Alright, I appreciate the paycheck. Now, don't call me again for a while, woman."

"So long as you're getting paid, I do not see the difficulty in you performing your duties as often as I may need them."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Though, for another immediate trip like that, I'm probably gonna need a little more."

The woman closed her eyes and sighed, likely out of disappointment or frustration.

"Then, I suppose I'll need to find a suitable replacement for such services," she said in a low tone. Nakayama couldn't tell whether this was their sense of humor, or if they both communicated in full honesty that could be interpreted as satire.

The bus driver jumped a little bit, and a small gasp escaped his mouth. He kept his hand on his knee and put the other behind his head and laughed a bit.

"Relax. I was just kidding you, ma'am."

While he was clearly a little frightened at the idea of losing money like that, he still didn't let a hint of nervousness, such as stuttering or shaking, escape his mouth or his gestures. And not once did he ever lose his big smile.

Finally, the woman opened her eyes again.

"Then, I suppose our transaction here is done. You are free to leave and continue your work."

"Alright, see you around, kid." the bus driver said, giving his attention to the young Tadashii who could only stand behind the woman and overhear the conversation. After all, he honestly had no idea what was going on. Was he just being dropped off at the front gate and this woman was just paying the bus driver for bringing him here? Was he all alone or was someone going to guide him? Either way, the only thing he could do now was stand there and wait.

The smiling bus driver finally began to leave by closing the doors to the bus, the vehicle making an exhalation sound, and putting both hands on the wheel. He backed out of the parking lot, driving past the woman and the teenager who still carried three heavy suitcases. As the bus made its way 5 meters, 10 meters, 20 meters, and beyond 50 meters away from the two who still stood in the parking lot, the sound of the running vehicle faded into the morning's rising sun.

A small breeze blew both Nakayama's and the woman's hair as the boy stood behind the respectable adult while her head followed the direction of the fleeing bus.

And as the large vehicle's visibility came to a close, the woman turned around to face the young Tadashii who looked back at her with curious eyes.