Off the Rails (Shouhei and Helvetica)

The echoing howl of trains arriving and disembarking in Central's City station caused the platform to thrum like the exhalation of a great beast - those massive vehicles were simply the lifeblood flowing in and out of a glass and steel heart. The trains didn't leave without depositing a fresh load of disgruntled passengers, however; and it was sure as hell that no one was leaving Central any time soon, what with the auditions approaching at a frightening rate.

Helvetica was surrounded by a gaggle of eager recruits, all of them chatting about how sure they were that this year's audition would be a spectacle for certain. The older squad members lingered in the back, watching their younger peers with amused expressions - though Helvetica herself could not be counted among them, instead standing some distance away from her teammates, a sense of alienation pervading her presence here. Something about someone like her surrounded by people so fervently intent on watching the auditions simply felt inherently wrong, though she'd stick it out simply due to the insistence of her comrades. One of them clapped her on the shoulder, a rather bulky man with a toothy grin who'd she'd known since he joined the squad. "Hey, don't sweat it too much. Loosen up a little! Have fun, you know?" He laughed, before rejoining the already waiting group of others.

The android sighed once before jogging through the crowd, avoiding the dense pack of other arrivals to catch up.

“...One step atta time, Sensei.  Keep a bit’a your weight on me,” Shouhei Kagawa struggled not only the tsugaru shamisen case strapped to his back, one arm tugging his rolling luggage, but the body of his hungover teacher, Ichika Kurosawa, leaning on his other side as they exited the train.

“Fuck, this District still reeks since the last time I came here.  Almost making me sick,” growled Ichika after being woken from her nap, now setting one awkward foot after another.

“Maybe ya shoulda-” Shouhei immediately stopped himself from the rest of his remark.  No matter how much he told Ichika to cut down on the alcohol, she wouldn’t.  Even though her body paid for it now, nothing short of an apocalypse would deny his teacher her drink.  Hopefully she was truthful about not feeling sick either.  “...Ya sure you’re feelin’ all right?  We could grab some grub before we check into our hotel.”

“No.  I want to lay down again.”  Groaned Ichika as she pushed herself off Shouhei, adjusted her sunglasses and wide brimmed hat, then began shuffling along with the moving crowd, her own rolling luggage in tow.  

“Gotcha-” For all of her sluggish movement, Ichika still held an almost otherworldly amount of strength, as her shove managed to cause Shouhei to stumble back several paces- back, into the body of another commuter at the station.

The sudden jostling elbow of a fellow commuter was enough to elicit a brief noise of surprise from Helvetica, who stumbled backwards but regained her equilibrium in just as quick an amount of time. Unfortunately for the both of them, the taller figure's luggage strewn about the ground around them as the buckle containing his suitcase's contents gave way. Already the other travelers around them were shooting dirty glances at them as they parted around the pair like a river around an adamant stone.

"Sorry about that! Let me give you a hand..." Helvetica knelt on the ground adjacent to Shouhei, beginning to gather up the fallen, crumpled articles of the man's carriage.

The words of the stranger didn’t even register to Shouhei as all of his attention was focused on his now exposed suitcase.  His amber eyes dilated, his jaw dropped, and an incredible heat came to flush his reddening cheeks.  For not only the stranger to witness, but any onlooker, were his underwear strewn about in clear sight, along with a spilled makeup kit.

“S-sorry!  My fault, I wasn’t-” Ignoring the stranger’s hand for help, Shouhei was entirely focused and scrambled to gather his belongings, particularly the satin tiger-print thong that stuck out like a sore thumb.  His hands feverishly attempted to hide the already embarrassing sight and he could feel the heat rise to his face, almost like a volcano about to erupt.  The stranger had caught an unwanted glimpse into his personal life, exposed as raunchy and perverted.

“It- it ain’t what it looks like, really!”