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It’s night.
Midnight, to be precise.
And in a city that never sleeps, a man is lying over the well-maintained benches of a stationary subway, accidentally having fallen asleep.
It’s not exactly his fault he dozed off. He’s been rather exhausted as of late and it's only further intensified by how lively the big city is. No, he hasn’t been drinking, he’s just tired. To the point where he can sleep practically anywhere on command.
Unlike the loud hustle and bustle outside, the inside of the subway is eerily quiet. Metal vessels that carry over thousands to different destinations effectively and efficiently have turned in for the night, and they wait in still silence until they are to reawaken. The lights are dim, and there are no other passengers aboard. Of course there wouldn’t, or rather shouldn’t, be any at this hour. The last train has already reached its destination.
The lone passenger of the subway is by no means sleeping comfortably. He’s facing the wall of the seat, exposing his back, and his shoulders are hunched up, forming creases in his black suit. His breaths are deep and slow… the only whisper of sound in the vessel.
Clink. Clank. Clink. Clank.
At first, it’s further away. The hard, crisp, and precise sounds of metal.
Clink. Clank. Clink. Clank.
It gets louder as it approaches. Rhythmic and predictable. A simple walk cycle of white shoes on the clean floor.
Clink. Clank. Clink. Clank.
The man is none the wiser to what’s approaching him, closing in on his vulnerable sleeping form. He doesn’t hear the steps of ever-increasing volume, purpose held within each.
Clink. Clank. Clink. Clank. Ssshhp!
Click!
The heels of white shoes collide with precision. A habit.
Now, it stands right by the sleeping man. Posture straight, head tilted down at the one who rests uncomfortably yet peacefully. It reaches out.
A hand on the man’s shoulder. A gentle shake.
The man’s brows furrow and he mumbles something about “completing it by the next deadline…”
A light chuckle responds, followed by a smile stretching wider.
“...sir… Excuse me, sir…”
The gentle shaking continues until the man finally rouses from his slumber. Bleary eyes blink open and a stiff neck turns towards the source of disturbance.
The man blinks in surprise at the smiling face that fills his vision. Most of the details are a blur in the haze of sleepiness, but he can clearly see a pair of grey eyes that seem to glow in the darkness.
The man is frozen as he stares up at the apparition. He isn’t going to die, is he?
The smiling mouth opens, emitting the flat voice of an announcement speaker.
“Excuse me, sir. It is 12:14 am. I kindly ask you to please alight the subway and return home.”
Aoki is just your regular, normal everyman. Serious, diligent and hardworking to a fault. He’s basically enslaved and married to his job(s). The usual combo for a workaholic.
With how hard the man works with his multiple jobs and responsibilities, it’s a given that he be provided some time off. Thing is, he never takes it, always insistent on continuing his work and selling away his personal time (and his soul) for more productivity. No doubt he’s an exceptional everyman.
So, it’s only natural that Aoki is forced to take a vacation, much to his dismay. According to his boss, lounging around at home while thinking about work or contemplating the redundancy of existence doesn’t count as a proper vacation, so the man finds himself nicely packaged and shipped off to another region entirely.
Now, one would think that the Alola region with its tropical climate or the Sinnoh region with its rich culture and history would be good locations to take it slow and relax. But somehow, Aoki ends up in what’s virtually the opposite of that, the Unova region. (Not that the Unova region is a bad place to take a vacation, but it’s just unexpected for an average single man like Aoki.)
Annoyingly enough, his boss gave him no set time for how long his vacation should be, just that it shouldn’t be “too short”. For a man who has basically never taken a break that’s longer than a day in his entire life, that’s quite the tall order. A month should be long enough, right? If it isn’t, he supposes his boss will just kick him out of Paldea again until enough time has passed.
So far, only three days of Aoki’s forced vacation have passed and he must admit he’s having a… time. Not that his location of vacation isn’t interesting – far from it with all the grand attractions and diverse areas – but it might just be due to the fact that the man doesn’t know how one supposedly does the action of ‘vacationing’. Well, the food is good, but food is always good.
…And then Aoki’s experience seems to escalate from a modest 3 to a dramatic 10 when he begins ‘vacationing’ in Nimbasa City. No, it’s not because of the liveliness of the city or the amusement park rides. It’s because of the unexpected ghost encounter he had in the subway late one night. Now Aoki reasons that he could very well have imagined it all in his sleep-deprived haze, but he can so clearly remember the glowing eyes that pierced through him that he questions whether it really was a dream. He dismisses it as such anyway. It’s not like it would benefit his ‘vacationing’ if he started fixating on that strange encounter.
Perhaps such a ghost story could be shared with his associates, like… his boss? He doesn’t exactly have anyone to share this kind of story with…
He could also write it down, maybe start a journal of some kind… No, that seems like a hassle.
When one experiences a ghost encounter in a subway, typical behaviour would involve avoiding that location for a period of time, because… you know. The possibility of a repeat incident, developing into insistent hauntings that suck away any enjoyment in your life and ultimately dooms you to death – aka, the usual paranormal paranoia.
Aoki isn’t all too bothered by his little ghost encounter, however. In fact, he intends to ride the subway the very next day since it’s the most efficient form of transport in the region.
So the man walks down the steps onto the circular platform of… Gear Station, was it? He’s not exactly well-informed about the Unova region and all its intricacies, having never been outside of his own region for a very long time. Ah, and here comes the temptation to just go home and continue his work…
“Oh, if it isn’t Mr. Midnight!”
Aoki is startled out of his thoughts by a flat voice behind him and he reflexively turns his head towards the source. He blinks in surprise at a smiling face, features of which he’s definitely seen before…
Oh.
It’s the subway ghost.
Well, more accurately (and under the fluorescent lights of the station), the ghost is a man in a white coat with wide reddish-brown stripes. The high collar of the coat and the way it flares out at the sides gives the man an odd silhouette which may have been why Aoki thought he was a ghost. Clearly, the man is one of the rail staff with the unique uniform he wears, and it all suddenly clicks together for Aoki.
He really must’ve been sleep-deprived if he thought a staff member doing his job was an apparition.
“Hello!” the man in white chirps, his smile lifting higher and his eyes seeming to light up. The greeting is clearly directed towards Aoki, which means this man just referred to him as “Mr. Midnight” which is… fair, he supposes. He was on the subway past midnight, after all.
“Hello. I’m Aoki,” he replies by default, and offers his hand to shake. It seems the habits of a businessman are hard to shake off, especially for one who works all the time.
The man in white takes the offered hand and gives it a very robotic shake. “I am Kudari. I am a Subway Boss. Pleased to meet you, Aoki-san!”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance as well, Kudari-san,” Aoki replies in kind, tagging on the honorific out of politeness. His surprise doesn’t show on his face, but he really didn’t expect he’d be formally shaking hands with who he assumes is the boss of the very subway system he’s using.
“Did you arrive home safely yesterday?” Kudari asks with a concerned look on his face, despite how his tone remains flat.
“Yes, I did. Fortunately, the hotel wasn’t too far from here,” Aoki replies, briefly remembering how he face-planted onto the bed and immediately fell asleep.
“Hotel! You are a visitor?” Kudari cocks his head in curiosity, the action stiff and almost robotic. Aoki notes the man’s peculiar mannerisms.
“Ah, well… As instructed by my boss, I’m on vacation… So yes, I’m a visitor.”
“I thought you were a worker,” Kudari admits. “You look verrry tired for someone on vacation!”
Aoki can’t fault him for a comment like that, as direct as it is. “Well, this is how I normally look,” he replies with a small shrug. “The dark circles are permanent at this point.”
Kudari laughs. It’s a flat sound but he’s apparently amused. “Take care not to overwork yourself. It’s only an inconvenience when you inevitably collapse!” His serious words contrast weirdly with how cheery his expression is.
“I’d say I’m well-versed in the ways of overworking to not result in such an outcome,” Aoki replies with a deadpan expression and Kudari just grins at him.
The man’s face moves quite a lot. Perhaps it’s to compensate for his lack of tone, or he really is that visually expressive. Smiling seems to be Kudari's favourite expression, and Aoki wonders how many of those smiles are fake. After all, with a job involving interactions with people from all walks of life, it’s only natural that one is practised in controlling their expressions and flashing the perfect customer service smile.
“Where are you normally stationed?” Kudari suddenly asks, pulling Aoki out of his momentary thoughts.
Aoki’s brows furrow, not entirely sure what the man just asked. “Pardon me?”
“Where are you from?” Kudari rephrases.
“Oh, I’m from the Paldea region,” Aoki answers and Kudari’s eyes suddenly shine with the very familiar glimmer of a challenger.
“Battle me.”
Aoki blinks at the unexpected blunt words. “…Pardon me, but I don’t believe I heard you correctly.”
“I am Kudari. I haven’t been to Paldea, so battle me.” The man straightens into some kind of strict pose with his heels clicking together, one arm pointing forwards and the other to the side.
Aoki wonders what kind of jump in logic Kudari took to get from regions to battling. Then again, it’s not that huge a jump if the man is a battle enthusiast or something of the like. There’s also the possibility that Kudari knows of Aoki’s profession, but then the man would’ve demanded a battle much earlier as soon as he saw him or learnt of his name.
Regardless, Aoki already has a prepared response for this.
“Apologies, but I’m strictly on vacation so I’d prefer not to engage in any strenuous activities like battling,” he explains, dipping his head in apology.
“I see. A shame,” Kudari curtly answers.
There’s a moment of silence between the two and Kudari idly rocks on his heels. Aoki briefly wonders what kind of awkward business meeting he’s landed himself in. Of all things he was going to do or not do today, he certainly didn’t expect he would be engaging in something resembling small talk with the station’s boss.
“How long are you staying? What are your plans?” Kudari asks out of nowhere again.
Aoki takes a moment before replying. “Well…”
Taking a seat on the subway, Aoki vacantly stares at nothing in particular as the vehicle makes its departure. Somehow, that strange and brief conversation ended up with him and Kudari exchanging numbers.
Needless to say, Aoki gets the feeling that his vacation is about to become much more lively.