[All right, so she probably gets a text from him saying "That American Tigers pitcher's on the train with me. Already came over to say hi."] * Katie replies pretty soon after: "did you shake him?" "Nowhere to go. Just stood over my seat and started talking." "ugh." "poke his eyes out and run." "On a moving train. Think they'd probably catch me." "yeah but then you wouldn't have to talk to him anymore." "i could call? then he couldn't keep talking to you?" "Good strategy. Give it a minute, make it seem more natural." "ok." [Five minutes later, Kyon's phone rings!] * Kyon picks it up, and automatically says, "Sorata." * Katie's on the other end! "I still think you should have poked his eyes out," she says in English. Her voice is quiet as ever, so it's unlikely someone besides Kyon could hear her on his end. * Kyon smirks. "Not time for overkill solutions. He's gone now." * Katie sighs on the other end. "That's good. Who was it?" That Tigers pitcher with the strong curveball. Saw us on the platform, got on the same train. * Katie is quiet for a few seconds, then she says, "He must've wanted to talk to you, then." * Kyon shrugs quickly, looking out the window. "He's heading home. Just happened to be the same train, same car. Coincidences." Just small talk, then? About us, about pitching. Heard I was throwing a knuckleball, which could be useful. And about our trip to Austria or Australia. Or somewhere. * Katie laughs a little, over the phone. "Austria or Australia, but not America? Who comes up with that stuff?" * Kyon leans back in his seat. "At least he got the first letter right." Yeah, only we didn't go there, either. * Katie still sounds amused. * Kyon stretches his legs out, and says wryly, "Right. So that's been my ride so far." At least no fans noticed you yet. Yeah. Got the hat and glasses on now. So we'll try to hold it off. What about you? * Katie shrugs on the other end, but Kyon can't see that. "It's been okay. People are talking, but not to me. I've been trying to sketch Kazuko, so I can show Satoshi later and see if he recognizes her." Good to draw that. Who's talking? * Katie is quiet for a bit, then she says, "There's a woman on the phone, I think to her husband, they're talking about moving to another part of Tokyo. A guy talking to a kid about their cat. It's not his son, but maybe his nephew? The cat has a tumor. And earlier, two teenagers came through, talking about a video game that's coming out, but I didn't have enough to figure out which one." * Kyon nods curtly. "So nothing important for us." * Katie sighs. "No." * Kyon pauses a beat, and then asks, "Things good at home? How's Kumaguro?" I'm not there yet. Almost. * Katie adds, a little ruefully, "Still have to climb all the stairs." * Kyon snorts a laugh. "He'll be happy to see you." * Katie huffs out a small laugh herself. "Happy to get food." And some attention. Don't forget the attention. * Katie snerks. "Yeah. He'll have lots of that, too." * Kyon nods quickly, turning his head to look more towards the window. "Right. Just on this train for hours. So if there's anything, you can call back." * Katie mmms softly, but she doesn't say anything else. * Kyon squints behind his sunglasses. "Yeah?" Yeah. I, um... I don't know. * Kyon notches his tone down one level, and just says more curiously, "Yeah?" * Katie sighs. "Tonight, I mean." * Kyon shifts in his seat, and then says, "I'll leave my phone on. Just 'cause I'm on the road doesn't change our rules." Okay. * Kyon raises his eyebrows a little, and then says, "Really okay." * Katie takes a moment, but she follows up with, "I don't know." After another, she adds, "I think... I'll probably call you." * Kyon nods curtly, and then simply says, "Good." Yeah. Do you think I should call Satoshi tonight? If you can make the timing work. * Katie hums. "Yeah. I guess it can wait until tomorrow if it needs to." Right. Do it if you can, tomorrow if you can't. I will. I'm about to open the door. Do you want me to put Kumaguro on the phone? * Kyon smirks. "You won't have to when you open it." * Katie laughs. And opens the door, to be greeted by CAT. * Kyon snorts a laugh. "See?" [And so, Kumaguro enthusiastically joined the conversation and got all of the food and pettings he could want.] [End!]