Ch1: New Town

The train shook continuously as it sped through the rails. The paint was starting to come off in some places and the lights flickered at every bump. The orange covers on the seats were very old, with various scratches on them, some seats even had bits of the covers missing, the yellow filling coming off, clear as day for any passanger to see. It was an old train, one that had been relegated to only make the less crowded trips, just like that one: the last train between the metropolitan S-City and the small town of Moriohcho.

A young man sat in one of the orange seats, with his head down, loud music blasting from his dark-blue headphones. He was a tall athletic youth, sixteen years old since since a few months now. His black hair was spiked on the top of his head and fell in a short fringe on his forehead. His sharp dark eyes had a slight green tint to them as they kept staring vacantly through the window in front of him, where barely anything could be seen amongst the darkness surrounding the train tracks. He tapped distractedly with his foot, following the rhythm of the song.

Just as the song ended, he heard a small jingle coming from the speakers in the train cart, followed by a slightly distorted pre-recorded message:

"Next Stop: Moriohcho Station."

He nodded to himself, lowering the headphones to his neck, taking his phone from the pocket of his jeans and pausing the new song that was just starting. Getting up from his seat, he adjusted his jacket and picked up his grey travel bag, approaching the door closest to him. As the train began to slow down, approaching the station, he took another look around, seeing his cart companions: a few salary men in ill-fitting suits, and a few other youths around his age. Not many people took that train, and not without good reason.

With a sudden jolt, the train finally stopped. The cart doors slid to the sides, letting the passengers out into the station. Moriohcho station was still quite spacious, with three tracks and a second floor. On the ground floor, there was a small bakery, a bright coloured souvenir shop and the ticket seller as well as a help desk; however, all of the different offices were already closed due to the late hour, and the only personnel remaining to be seen were security guards. Feeling a bit thirsty, he walked up to the vending machine closest to the door, taking a soda from it and cracking it open, drinking a few gulps, lamenting how it was a bit warm.

He leaned against a wall for a second, while he drank, admiring how despite the town's small size and population, the station was still somewhat impressive. In truth, while not being especially known for tourism, it wasn't uncommon for people to come visit their relatives, and its hospital was well known and rated in the region. The calm mountain town was also a very appetizing setting for people tired of the rush of a major city.

"The station's closing," a station guard told him.

He nodded, drinking the last drops of his warm orange soda and throwing the can into a rubbish bin, walking out of the building. He had to lift his bag with his right hand to descend the staircases on the outside and into the town, walking into a the station plaza. In the other times where he had visited, that plaza was one of the most populated areas of the town, where it wasn't uncommon to find children playing or people going out for a stroll. However, at such a late hour, almost nobody was sitting on the stone benches sprinkled around the place. He couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia in being there again, after all, the last time he had visited had been years ago. His maternal grandparents had lived there, but shortly after his last visit, they had moved to the city to join him and his parents. Only a single family member remained, his aunt, who had chosen to stay and keep her job as a nurse in the town's hospital.

"Daisuke! Here!"

He smiled as he recognized the voice, looking to his side, finding a woman walking up to him. She was of medium height, with a heart-shaped face, full lips and large dark brown eyes. Her auburn hair fell in soft curls to her shoulders. She wore hospital scrubs underneath a warm-looking wool midnight-blue cardigan. From the shadows under her eyes and from her clothes, she had surely just come off a long shift at the hospital, but the gentle, caring smile she gave him was unmistakable: that was his aunt Saeko Hirose.

He met her halfway, gladly accepting the strong hug his aunt gave him. Letting go of him, she took a quick look at him, from head to toes. Although his aunt Saeko still looked nearly identical to the last time he had seen her, he had changed quite a bit.

"Look at you so tall!" she chuckled giving him a pat on the arm, "I don't think you'll be able to enter the house without hitting your head."

"It's OK, aunt Saeko," he said playfully, "I'll duck if I need to, no worries."

"Hum-hum," she nodded, beckoning him to start following her, as she made her way across the plaza, "So, how are your parents? And your grandparents too, of course. Are they well?"

"Yeah, all of them are fine," he said, puling on his trolley bag, making it roll across the ground behind him, "They wanted to thank you for acting as my guardian while I'm here. And for letting me stay in your house too, of course."

"How could I say no? You're family, Daisuke," Saeko smiled, looking at him briefly from the side, "Besides, having some company at the house isn't so bad. Especially if you're willing to help me out with cleaning and that sort of stuff."

"Sure. It's the least I can do."

Past the station plaza, they had only to travel up a small street until they reached the centre of the town, where inside a large roundabout there was a pleasant garden with many different flowers, of varied colours and shapes, placed around a statue, a monument to a local folk hero, believed to be the town's founder. From the roundabout, the town spread in multiple directions. He recalled that upwards towards the mountains was where the school was, the high school that he had been transferred to, Budoga Oka High School. He took a look towards where he thought the school should be, but in the night it was hard to make it anything to far away, especially with the fog that had now started to creep in.

Saeko had not climbed up towards the school and the mountains, however, but downwards, walking into a series of streets lined with houses on both sides, into the main residential area of the town. As they didn't cross paths with anyone, Daisuke began to think how calming it must be to live there, compared to how stressful it was on S-City, where it seemed like everyone was always late and running to fulfil a tight schedule at any hour of the day. There, however, there was barely anyone in the streets at that time, even if quite a few houses had their lights on, and the faint sound of talking and laughter could be heard from some of those.

"This place must be really quiet," Daisuke said distractedly, looking around, "Guess there isn't much to be worried about, really."

"Oh, you'd be wrong, Dai-chan" his aunt made a wry smile, "There has been quite a situation as of late, with the shopkeepers all banding together against the big shopping centre in town."

"A shopping centre?" the youth asked, surprised, "I don't remember one from when I was last here."

"It's quite recent, only opened up half a year ago. It's called 'LuckyLand'," Saeko gave a small nod, "It's actually owned by the Yamaguchi family, who have always lived here. They used to have a large convenience store, but they invested extra to expand it into a shopping centre. I guess they are trying to get more tourism going for the town, but there are some people who think they are trying to run the other businesses into the ground." she sighed, "Anyway, don't bother yourself with that. I heard it's a popular spot for kids your age, so you may like it."

Daisuke nodded. In a way, the Yamaguchi family was similar to his own. The Ichijou's had changed their previously small fruit parlour into a company that managed to export nation-wide, even internationally. Yet, he could also sympathise with the smaller business that could be affected by the new, more modern competitor. He wondered how strange it was for him to get his head into mercantile warfare as soon as he had stepped back into the small town.

They had only to walk for a few moments more before Saeko stopped in front of a house that was instantly recognizable to him. Behind a small stone wall, where a plaque had been placed with the name "Hirose" written on it, was a traditional looking house, with an additional floor over the ground one. Saeko took her keys from her pocket, passing by the gate and through the very small garden, heading for the door. She lead Daisuke into the foyer and then to a cosy living room, with a short table, a dark grey couch, some pillows laid on the wooden fkooe, and a medium sized flatscreen television. A wind chime was placed next to the glass panels that separated the inside from the backyard, that was now filing with fog. Barely anything had changed since last he had stayed there.

"You can take your mum's room upstairs, I already cleaned it up for you," Saeko said, taking of her jacket, placing it by the door, "I'm glad someone else can stay here and watch the house. Sometimes I have late shifts and don't get to come home, so knowing you're here makes me less worried. Anyway: Welcome home."

"Thank you, aunt Saeko," Daisuke took a sincere bow, showing his gratitude. As he straightened himself, he had to take his hand to his mouth to contain a yawn, "Well, guess I'll take my stuff upstairs then".

"Hang on", she asked. Her tone had become much less graceful. She turned to look straight at him, "I know you're tired and need to sleep, so I won't push you tonight; Tomorrow, though, we're going to talk about why you're here. I want the truth."

The truth. He had dreaded talking about it, but it wasn't like he shouldn't have expected it. Why else would he suddenly move away from the city, where he was being groomed to become his father's successor in running their company, to go live with his aunt in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Obviously questions would be asked. What he wasn't keen on, was answering those questions. He himself wasn't too sure of the answers. They still tormented his thoughts.

"I will," Daisuke nodded, "I promise".

A kind, understanding smile came back to his young aunt's face. Wishing him a good night of sleep, she went back onto the living room, leaving him with the task of pulling and dragging his travel bag with him, up the stairs and through the hallway, finding the door of his mother's old room and stepping into the small bedroom.

The room that had belonged to his mother, and was now his, was small yet welcoming, with light coloured walls, a redwood wardrobe and desk, a mostly empty shelf with only a few books, a small older, blocky television on top of a stand covered in green cloth, and a large and comfortable bed, whose covers where the same tone of green as the cloth under the TV and as the window dressings.

He threw unceremoniously his travel bag onto the bed, starting to unpack. He took special attention to leave his new uniform on the chair, to be worn on the next day. He then swapped his clothes, changing into the grey slacks and black long-sleeved shirt of the pyjamas, pulling the covers on the bed, preparing to go to sleep when he remembered that he had forgotten to charge his phone.

He walked back to his previously worn clothes, searching for the phone on the right side pocket of his jeans, taking it out and looking at the black screen.

"No battery," he mumbled to himself after he pressed the unlocking button with no success, "Right... Time to charge you up".

He took the charger of the desk drawer where he had just stored it, and took it near the bed, to plug it into the outlet, but just as he was about to connect it to his phone, something unexpected happened, as the sound of buzzing came off from the speaker, and the screen was filled with static.

"Huh? It's broken?" Daisuke furrowed his brow.

As he was cursing his bad luck, he looked back into the phone and he saw something even stranger: It wasn't just normal static, there appeared to be a humanoid silhouette in the middle of it. He felt a chill running across him, as the silhouette looked straight at him, a barely visible mouth saying something he couldn't hear or understand. It pointed its hand to him and talked again. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared again, the static completely gone, the screen as black as night. Daisuke felt a cold sweat, staring at the phone waiting for an explanation that didn't come. He used his free hand to rub his eyes, and as he looked again, nothing was there.

"What the hell?" he looked into his phone with a puzzled expression, "That... Was I imagining things?".

Daisuke looked at the black screen for a few more seconds, before plugging the charger into the phone, and, as soon as he did it, his phone vibrated and a picture of an empty battery was shown with a "0% charging" message underneath.

What was going on with his phone? It seemed to work well while he was on the train and now, after turning it on while charging, it also seemed to be perfectly normal.

It's just my imagination, he thought, I'm tired, I should go to sleep. He laid back down on the comfortable bed and, after turning around a few times, eventually fell asleep. Deep in his mind, however, the strange vision had stayed and it took over his dreams.