It should have been second nature to her by now. How many battles, victories – defeats, did she have to experience before the feelings of nervousness didn't feel the need to rear their heads. Her heels may have been short, no more than two inches off the ground, but the sound they made was almost deafening with her increased pacing.
Noiro may have been new, but she was definitely experience. She arrived from Hoenn to Unova years before and she yearned for some kind of job that involved battling. She only thought about traveling- battling her way through Unova and unto the next region; so could you imagine her surprise hearing the major of Nimbasa City offering her the position of a Subway Boss. It was funny to think about, she almost thought about becoming some kind of Pokemon Coordinator at a point. Her mother did and succeeded! Surely it was in her blood, but it was something she couldn't put her mind to.
"You worry too much~" a cheerful voice chimed, bringing her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to be greeted with that classic smile. Had she ever seen him not smiling? Not that she could recall. He wore this smile the same way his brother wore his perpetual scowl. Clad in white, she felt it didn't suit his personality, but there had to be someway to differentiate the two. "You've had a good run this week." the person continued, "I'm honestly wondering how you can worry so much, you rival Ingo."
"You can't make a silk purse out of a Spoink's ear, Emmet." she retorted, stopping her stride. "Besides I doubt winning some battles, is a good run." she folded her arms, "The triple and rotation lines are still very new to the subway and until we can recruit someone qualify to be another Subway Boss, I'm unfortunately stuck managing both."
"Ah, but that depends on schedule!" Emmet jests, "Ingo and I thought rotating around the three of us would lessen the workload." Noiro sighed releasing her arms to adjust her hat. She tucked a few locks of hair behind her ear. He was right, she knew he was, but there were so many variables at play here. The whole reason Emmet was accompanying her on this line in the first place was one of them.
"I've been out of commission for a long time." she trailed off, staring out the clear window at the lights that briefly light the dim subway car. She could see it out the corner of her eye that signature smile slowly fading out of sight. "I just feel, there's a lot of things I need to make up for. Specifically time." Noiro closed her eyes tightly. She could remember it like it was happening at this very moment. The sound of shrieking metal and electricity surging. It sounded like thunder was booming inside her skull, threatening to shatter her from within.
"Noiro. Noiro." She was jolted back when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Was she always breathing this hard? Slowly she turned her head to look up at him. The concern in his eyes almost brought her to tears. "It was an accident." It took her a moment to realize the aching wasn't her head but in her chest, spreading down her torso.
"I know, I just.." her hands slipped inside her jacket slowly pressing down on the area under her left rib. It didn't hurt much anymore, but at times she remembered, it ached as if it were fresh. Emmet frowned, but his expression held empathy.
"Ingo was worried, you know." he began, "When you didn't answer your pager and the agents were in hysterics, we… didn't know what to think. We didn't know if you were okay." Of course there wasn't anyone to blame she thought. Who – who could have possibly predicted that there would be an infestation on the tracks? The sheer possibility that a colony of Durant would choose the subway for a nest was preposterous! Ridiculous enough to happen in this fascinating world of theirs. It wasn't impossible but, still, the fact it happened – there's was nothing they could do, what protocol was there to follow?
They had destroyed the tracks in record time and pulling the emergency break only made thing worse– the train derailed.
"There's wasn't a lot I could have done." she said, firmly. "But, I still could have done more. Much more."
There was only two concerns on her mind, keeping the trainer in her car safe and making sure those under her made it out safely.
"This is an emergency! Everyone brace for impact!" Noiro yelled into the intercom, "There is a derailment happening, take cover, protect yourselves and your Pokemon!" the moment her finger left the button everything moved in slow-motion almost. There was a temporary halt and she turned her body as best she could signaling for her Aggron to grab a hold of the younger trainer and their Pokemon. Noiro rushed to press her back to the side of the car with her Aggron and tried to reassure the terrified trainer now under her care. There wasn't any thought given to herself before weightlessness took over.
Everything moved again as she no longer felt her back pressed to the side of car. After that, everything else went dark. No, her vision didn't black out, instead the car had taken out anything fixtures that lit the tunnel and the derailment darkened the train itself. The sound of the metal grinding against each other, accompanied by sparks almost took her attention away, before she realized that the car was quickly turning unto its side.
The brake. The brake! Would that even help? There was a moment of hesitation. Wouldn't pulling the brake cause more derailment? She didn't have time to think about the what-ifs as she quickly moved back to the control room and pulled on the emergency brake. She could hear the air bellowing out so harshly, that the air itself could be felt through the broken windows. There was a glimmer of hope in her that was quickly dashed away as the car keeled over.
Then everything went black.
There were injuries, thankfully not severe saved for herself. She didn't know of her fate until she woke up in the hospital a few days later. There was a beam through her abdomen. Luckily, it had hit her at an angle so nothing vital was hit, but her ribs weren't so fortunate. She was out of work for two months.
The trainer that was battling her came out unscathed, thank goodness. The guilt ate away at her about Aggron, how did she not take his safety into consideration too? However, when she apologized, Aggron didn't feel any bit of regret or frustration, in fact, he looked proud. A resolve as steel as his being. A small smile crept on her face, her Pokemon was pleased with the situation why not her?
"If I had realized the problem sooner, I could have done something more. I wouldn't be taking up space on an already cramped line." Emmet knew he couldn't understand her feelings at this moment, but he could at least try to let her know the good she did.
"Iro.. If not for you, who knows what would have happened on that train. There could have been much worse cases than you and Aggron. You and Aggron could have been worse! You could have-" he cut himself short, biting his lip. "You did a fantastic job as a Subway Boss and you should know that."
There was silence after that.
"Iro? Hey, come on," he stepped closer and felt his heart drop. She wasn't staring into the reflective window in front of her, she was staring at him. Her brows furrowed in anger and tears brimmed her lashes. Somehow, she felt this was her fault. When their eyes met she pulled the front of her cap down to hide her eyes. In one motion he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"Ingo would agree with me!" If only Ingo were here. He was much better at articulating things like this; he was only better at physically showing it. He reached towards her hat, gently pushing it up with the back of his hand. The moment her eyes were within view he used his thumbs to wipe away at her tears. "We were so wor- we thought we lost you Noiro.." He held her face, "You were willing to die to protect everyone on that train." He would repeat her bravery an infinite amount of times if he needed to, he wanted her to understand that her sacrifice was the best thing she could have done. He stared directly into her eyes and could see all the hurt she'd been holding unto it, he'd be heartless to not feel it too. His eyes stung. "Some things are just out of our control, but you did best with what you were dealt." Noiro reached up and returned his kind gesture, but her hands lingered for a moment longer. When her hands finally fell she leaned forward pressing her head to his chest. The motion pushed her hat back and it slid off her head.
"Thank you Em." she said, finally giving off some sort of comfort in her voice, "I really appreciate it." He slowly pulled her in closer, arm circling her shoulders. She seemed to melt in his arms, relaxing at last.
"I should be thanking you for all your hard work." he turned his face into hers, lips pressed to the nape of her neck. It was intimate enough for them to know how the other felt about what was said here. One hand of Noiro's gripped Emmet's shoulder as the other laid a palm flat on the back of his neck, rubbing back and forth gently. He thought of how she looked in the hospital, he felt the discomfort deep in his stomach and he held her tighter.
"I never want to see you like that again." Emmet leaned up to look into her eyes once again; slowly that fire was returning to them. He held her face in his hands again. His signature smile slowly crept on his face. "Ingo shares that sentiment." his eyes closed in pure glee. He reached down to pick up her hat and upon straightening he leaned forward. Kissing her softly as he placed the hat firmly on her head.
"Now, let's have a something good to put on the record today!" it amazed her at how he could just go a serious to carefree in such a short amount of time; but it did wonders.
Noiro gave him a smirk while turning her attention to the subway car door. Whether a trainer walked through the door or not, she would be ready to do her best, no matter what.