"Losing your memories is the same as losing your life."
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You gasped, shooting upright. You looked around in alarm, seeing nothing but unfamiliarity. Remembering the events leading up to the present, you looked down at your stomach with wide, expectant eyes. But there was no hole there, no blood, there wasn't even a tear in your clothing. You sighed in relief, you were alright-physically, at least. You looked around, letting your eyes adjust to the new dim lighting, nothing looked familiar. Where were you?
The area was relatively dark, and there looked to be doors everywhere, the only object in the dark space. The doors were placed at random, some even hung high above your head, and none of them looked the same. What was this place?
You stood up, stumbling over. Thankfully, you were able to catch yourself against one of the doors before you could fall. "Where. . .where am I?. . .Another boundary?" You asked yourself, looking down to your shoes. There wasn't any water.
"It isn't quite the same as a boundary." A voice from the shadows announced. The voice sounded like it was coming out of some kind of radio, and was extremely familiar. "Hanako? Is that you!?" You called, looking all around to find the ghost.
Something bumped into the back of your ankle. Looking down, you found a Mokke holding a walkie-talkie between its plush ears. You kneeled down in front of it, leaning closer. "Is that you, Hanako?" You spoke into the radio. And sure enough, an answer from Hanako came from the object. "Yup! Right here!" You quickly took the radio off the Mokke's head, bringing it close to yourself. "Where are you? Where's Nene!? Is she alright?!" Your questions were back to back, spastic and slurring together from your urgency to have answered.
"I'm right where I always am. And Nene's perfectly fine, see?" Hanako said, passing the walking machine to someone else.
"M/n? Are you alright down there?!" It was Nene's voice! You smiled and sighed in relief, she was okay!
"I'm alright, for now at least. Where exactly am I? If it's not a boundary, then what is it?" You asked, looking around the darkened space again, nothing was different from before.
"I'm not sure how long this signal is going to last, so I'll make this short and sweet." Hanako started. "The place you're in right now isn't the world of the living, or the dead. It isn't even a boundary–it's nowhere." He answered. Although his words were filled with information, you still couldn't help from not understanding.
"So. . .I'm technically nowhere right now?" You asked, confused.
"Well. . .in a sense, you are both nowhere and everywhere." Hanako added, making everything even more mind boggling for you.
"So, from your current lack of location, you can access any place from the past or the future. It's a confusing space. I've sent Haku-jodai down there to try and track you down. But that place you're in is a big space, and it'll be difficult to find you, even if we do share a bond. I'm gonna need you to help me out a little, okay?" Hanako asked, sounding sincere. You could hear the quiet concerns of Nene in the background.
"Okay, what should I do?" You asked, wanting nothing more than to leave this place.
"You can see a lot of doors around you, yes?" Hanako asked.
"Yeah," You confirmed.
"Each of those doors connect to a different place. Most connect to worlds you've never heard of, but by looking around enough, you should be able to find a door that connects to the Earth as we all know it. . .So, I need you to find the door that connects to our world and boom! Walk on through it!" He made it sound a lot easier, you had no idea which door led to your world, and no way of knowing how to find it.
"Soo. . .do I just start opening doors?" You trailed off, trying to count how many doors you could see. You were currently at thirty, and that number was quickly increasing. The radio crackled as a familiar female voice entered the conversation once more. "No! Only—you recognize, okay? A lot of those doors—really scary places! Trust me!" Nene shouted, scolding you. Her voice sketched out every once and then, but you have a relative idea on what she was trying to tell you: This place was dangerous, especially the doors.
"Listen to Nene on this one. Don't go around opening random doors, it could lead you into more trouble than you already are right now." Hanako backed up. The radio spurted static.
". .Connect—ish–I'll—You!" You had no idea what he was trying to say. "Hanako? Nene? You guys are breaking up!" You said, shaking the walkie talkie.
"Seems that we–time. G—Luck!" Hanako's voice glitched out, and the walkie talkie was filled with nothing but deafening static.
What did he say? More static invaded your ears, then it went completely silent. You lost signal. You placed the radio on the ground, looking at the lone Mokke. "Well. . .I guess it's just you and me now," You said with a tired sigh. The Mokke looked at you, and nodded its head. "Yes!" It said in its usual high-pitched voice. You smiled, standing up. "Okay. . .only doors I recognize, huh? That shouldn't be too hard. .right?" You asked, looking for a door you recognized.
There were none in your area, so you moved on, leaving the walkie-talkie behind. The little pink Mokke followed behind you, helping you in your search.
"That One!" You heard the Mokke exclaim loudly. You looked down at the little apparition, It was pointing its ears enthusiastically towards a door. It was wooden with bright, colorful accents. It was pretty, but you didn't recognize it.
"Are you sure?" You asked the Mokke, maybe it was mistaken? It hummed and continued to point its ears towards the door. You sighed, walking up to the door and grabbing the golden handle.
"Well, here goes nothing," You mumbled before turning the doorknob, whipping the door open quickly, like a bandaid. Beyond the door, you could see nothing but darkness, it was pitch-black in there. It made you uneasy, and you refused to take a step inside. ". . .Hello? Anyone there?" You called.
A deep, resounding thump came from the room, and you took an alarmed step back. Another thump, and this time, it showed itself. A yellow gloved hand wrapped itself around the doorframe. You yelped and jumped back, the hand alone was bigger than your entire body, and that was just the hand!
Another hand gripped the other side of the doorframe, and the thing finally revealed itself, its head peeking through the door. Its entire body was pink, and the head was three times your size.
"Hello." The thing spoke, its head bobbing up and down, like it was attached to springs. Its eyes downcasted towards you, and you froze. One minute later, and you still engaged in the uncomfortably silent staring contest.
It wasn't until its hand twitched when you moved. You slammed the door, surprised that it actually closed (the hands were outside the door). It didn't try to get out, and fully retracted inside the room politely.
"You knew that wasn't the right door. Didn't you?" You glared at the Mokke, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from the Mokke itself.
The Mokke's ears twitched, and its eyes never met your's. Your glare hardened. "Don't. Do. That. Again. I don't want to die down here." You scolded sternly. the Mokke still wouldn't make eye contact, but it nodded its head. You sufficed it as good enough and straightened up, continuing forward. As usual, the Mokke followed you.
"From now on, we are not opening doors at random. What just happened before proves how dangerous that option is," You stopped walking, looking all around you. "Where exactly do I start?" You mumbled to yourself, spinning in circles, not recognizing any doors in the vicinity. You looked down at the Mokke. "Well. . .I definitely can't trust you to help searching." The Mokke's ears drooped low, and its head bowed in silent shame.
"Don't go looking at me like that. After what you just pulled, It's going to be difficult trusting you again," You said, kneeling down so you didn't look so intimidating. "Unless you can prove I can trust you, I can't really use your help," The Mokke's ears drooped further downward. You sighed, standing up. "Alright, let's get going. I wanna get out of here," You said, walking forward, observing every new door your eyes caught sight of.
But, just then, something started echoing across the empty void. It made you stop in your tracks, forcing you to listen to the beautifully haunting toon. It was a music box, playing for all to hear. You listened. The song was oddly familiar, but you didn't know why.
Maybe it was a tune someone you knew would sing?
Maybe it was from childhood?
Without realizing it, you started to follow the music box's melody. It was difficult to locate at times, it echoed quite a bit. You turned corners, passing many upon many different doors, each one with its own special design. The music got louder and louder with each passing step.
Eventually, it led you to a door. It was brown, with yellow window panes in the design of a flower. Looking through the windows, it showed nothing but darkness, just like the last door that could've gotten you killed.
This had to be the right door, yes?
Guess you can't trust music down here either. . .
Opening the door only led to you confronting a face. Its bulging eyes stared at you.
You closed the door milliseconds after seeing the monstrosity. "I guess you can't trust anything in this world, huh." You stated, voice and body shaking. The Mokke beside you looked shaken up as well, and was visibly trembling.
"I. . .I need a break. ." You said, sitting down on the dark tile flooring. You took a few shaky breaths.
Inhale. Exhale.
You were lost in a place you didn't recognize.
Inhale. Exhale.
Any door you open could lead to certain death.
Inhale. Exhale.
This is a great situation.
Right?
"Hey!" A new acute voice called. You looked at the origin of the voice, the Mokke. There were four standing next to you, grabbing at your sleeves, attempting to pull you off somewhere. Where'd they come from?
"What now?" You asked. The Mokke didn't answer. Instead, they continued to try and pull you somewhere. You stood up, letting the bundle of Mokke lead you around doors, turning corners, and talking amongst one another incoherently.
"You better not be leading me to my death," You said sternly, continuing to follow behind the Mokke. The pink creatures didn't respond to you. So, thus the game of following the leader continued.
"Lookie!"
"Lookie!"
"Over here!"
"Lookie!"
"Over here!"
"He isn't very fast, is he?"
The Mokke ran behind a door while shouting for you to follow. Turning behind the door, you were met with another door. A door behind a door? This place just kept on surprising you.
"This one's. . .oddly familiar. . " You mumbled, blindly reaching for the door handle.
"Now open it."
"Yeah!" The Mokke urged on, jumping up and down. You did just that, twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open.
Instead of being met with darkness, you were blinded by a white light. You closed your eyes until you could no longer see the scorching bright light through your closed eyelids.
"Is. . .is this Mr.Tsuchigomori's classroom?" You asked yourself, gazing around the familiar science room.
It was his classroom, but it looked different, not what you remembered. The only way you could identify it as the science room was by the planet decorations, and a periodic table of elements hanging on the wall. When did Mr. Tsuchigomori have time to re-decorate his room?
You took a step into the room, observing the different colored walls.
But then, suddenly, two young boys sprinted into the room. They were no younger than thirteen, and they both wore school uniforms. They looked like the old uniforms.
They both looked extremely familiar, but where have you seen them before? Why couldn't you remember? The kids didn't notice you, for now at least.
"Huh, it looks like Mr. Tsuchigomori isn't here. . guess I'll help fix you up, Amane," One of the boys said, addressing the one he was holding hands with. Amane. You've heard that before.
Wasn't that what Tsukassa called Hanako? Amane? His real name.
"You know you don't have to. ." Amane said, hanging his head low and looking at the tile floors in what seemed to be embarrassment. A small tinge of pink washed over his features, and you wondered what he was thinking.
"Hey! Don't say that! I'm your friend, it's only natural I help you out when you need it!" The boy bounced back, dragging Amane over to a desk gently, making him sit down on one of the desks. "I've seen Mr.Tsuchigomori do this before, I think I know what to do."
This boy looked exactly like you, just younger.
"You think?" Amane questioned, skeptical. The other boy brought over a first aid kit. "Yeah, it should be fine, trust me!" He spoke confidently, placing the first aid kit on a desk next to the one Amane was sitting on. Amane laughed a little. "You're so weird, M/n. . ." He commented, but didn't protest when his friend gestured to give him his arm.
M/n.
M/n.
M/n.
What was happening here? You and Hanako. .You and Amane actually knew each other before you died? How was this possible? Did you also know Tsukassa? But what happened, how did you die? When did you forget about them? How did you forget about them?
Questions swarmed your brain, never leaving you alone, invading any other thought in your head. The kid M/n spoke up. "Hah! But you love me!" He said jokingly, dabbing a small swab of rubbing alcohol on Amane's wounds. He was too focused on Amane's arm to realize the fond look Amane gave him.
"Believe what you want." Amane said, wincing a little when the rubbing alcohol brushed against his scratched and bruised skin. M/n faltered a little, but continued to treat Amane. "Sorry, I know it hurts," He said apologetically.
"It's fine, it's not your fault anyways," Amane brushed off, shrugging his shoulders a little.
"I know, but I can still feel bad."
"Yeah, I guess so. But I don't want you to," Amane replied, looking sadly into the eyes of the younger M/n.
You watched as the scene played out, confused and questioning your life before the events of your death.
How long have you known Hanako?
How long has it been?
Did he forget, too? Or is he playing one of his tricks again and pretending not to know what's going on?
You didn't know.
This was Hanako, after all.
This was Amane, after all.
"See? All better!" Little M/n said, finishing up wrapping Amane's arms with tight bandages placed with care. Amane looked over it. "Not bad, but Tsuchigomori does it better." Amane said with a teasing smile.
"Hey! At least I tried!" M/n bit back. Amane laughed. "I'm joking, I'm joking!" He said, shaking his head.
"You better be." M/n mumbled, looking over to the side. Both you and little M/n's eyes widened.
"Who. . .who are you?" M/n asked, moving closer to Amane. So, they could see you after all.
Amane also looked over to your direction. You didn't respond, and just continued to stare at them, just as they did with you.
"I-" You started, only to be cut off.
"Found you!" You heard. Hoku-jodai circled you, taking you away from the younger M/n and Amane, who watched you with peaking interest and rising confusion.
You closed your eyes, and the next time you opened them, you were met with Nene hugging you tightly.
"M/n! I was so worried! Are you alright!? Hurt anywhere!?!" She sounded like a worried Mom finding her lost child at the supermarket. You tapped her shoulder. "I. .I'm fine Nene. . .but you're kinda squishing me a little too much!" You were starting to run out of breath. Nene gasped and quickly pulled away. "I'm so so sorry!" She screeched.
"It's alright! Don't worry about it," You responded, smiling kindly.
"Welcome back," Hanako greeted, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling his usual smile at you.
"Yeah. .Thank you." You responded.
After seeing what you saw, you didn't know what to say to him. You couldn't see him the same way anymore, how could you?
You'd have to talk to him about it eventually. But for now, you can just enjoy time with your friends.
"It's good to be back."
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"Sometimes, remembering hurts. And sometimes, remembering is the est thing that could ever happen to you."
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