Takahiro looked at her beautiful neck: long and elegant like a swan's; an exquisite curve from her delicate shoulders to her small perfectly-shaped head. She stood like a ballet dancer and had a similar small elfin face with large black eyes and small pretty lips. Her hair smelled of summer fruits and summer flowers and the scent made him dizzy with desire. His lips were so close to the soft skin of her slender outstretched arm, and he could sense her firm body so close to his. He longed to kiss her.
The train slowed and pulled in to Ueno station. The young lady pushed her way off the train with the rest of the morning commuters. Takahiro hoped he would see her the next morning. Another crowd of commuters got on the train, replacing those who had departed; pushing and shoving, trying to find some space. A pretty girl stood next to him. Takahiro looked at her beautiful neck: smooth and white; leading down to her ample bossom.
Yuka was waiting in the summer evening rain. Her convenience-store umbrella barely kept her dry and her knee-length socks were wet through. He was late. She had been waiting since seven-thirty, but it was now almost nine. She was staring at the photos of him she had taken on her cellphone: him outside his office; him eating ramen in a counter restaurant; him walking up the steps to the train station. She had many photos and each one was a treasure. In her bag she had the PET bottle that he had thrown into the recycling can on Ebisu station platform. She took the bottle of of her bag, carefully unscrewed the lid, and put the bottle to her mouth. She felt she could taste his lips, felt she was kissing him.
Takahiro walked down the narrow street to the one-roomed apartment where he lived. It had been a long day and his boss had shouted at him in front of his junior. It had been very embarrassing. Later he shouted at his junior for a minor mistake, and that made him feel a little better. When he reached his front door there was a small package outside. It was from her, he thought. Inside his room, he threw his bag on his futon and opened the gift. It was a cellphone strap with a cute orange rabbit attached.
Yuka was so happy. She had managed to take six photos of him without being seen. Her favourite was the one of him bending down to pick up her gift. She spent several hours that night looking at the photos again and again. She hoped that maybe he would use the cellphone strap. It would be such a thrill to see him using one of her gifts. If she could photograph him using it, well, that would be perfect. She slept well that night, but was ten minutes late to work the next day and was scolded by her boss.
Mamiko watched Yuka come in late to work. She was often late and was often told off by Tanaka-san, their boss. Mamiko hated Tanaka-san, he always stood too close to her and had really bad breath. She got a lot of attention from men; they loved her big round eyes and beautiful neck. Her ballet classes had given her good posture but with the downside of too much attention. On the train the day before, a creepy guy had stood so close to her she could feel him sniffing her hair. It made her shudder. She had no interest in men at all.
Mamiko watched Yuka working. She adored the way that Yuka played with her hair when she was concentrating. It would be so nice to touch her soft hair, so wonderful to go for a coffee with her, go shopping, share moments of pleasure. Sometimes her loneliness was unbearable, but every day she could see Yuka and imagine a life together. At lunch time Mamiko followed Yuka out of the office, and they silently shared an elevator down to the street below. Yuka seemed to be looking at some photos on her cellphone, but Mamiko couldn't see what they were of. At the front door of the building Yuka turned left and Mamiko turned right. Maybe tomorrow, she thought, maybe tomorrow.