Two Nights

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, we are beginning our descent,” said one of the stewardesses through the speakers. It startled Atsushi from his nap. He had not been able to get a real sleep. Sure, the trip had lasted a total of eighteen hours, but it had meant taking two different planes : one to Moscow and the other to St. Petersburg. And that was without mentioning the taxi trip to Tokyo and the infinite waiting times at the airport. But finally, they landed in Pulkovo Airport, St. Petersburg.

The weretiger stirred and stretched his legs the best he could in the small space of this plane, letting out some kind of purr, then looked around himself. He was at the left of the middle range of seats, in economy. At his right was Mr. Nakahara and Dazai, both holding hands as the latter was playing some mobile game. And, two seats away, at the right of the same seat range was Akutagawa, reading a book, apparently very focused on this task - well, he always seemed focused on everything he did anyway.- Or -Atsushi and Akutagawa being cute but there's angst