/This is an experimental story. If people like what I've written, I might continue it./

-Clear's P.O.V-

Nothing. That's all I felt. Nothing. My mind was blank, as white as the shine of distant stars. Then suddenly, color; a bright blue clouding my mind, turning everything from white to this comforting, oddly familiar shade.

Just as color came, so did sound. It was quiet; I could barely even hear it, but I knew it was there. It was a sound I'd never thought I'd ever hear. It was rhythmic and sounded hollow.

Wait. Is this...

It is, isn't it?

A heartbeat...

But, how...? How...? And this color... it's...

A break in the blue of my mind by a bright white burst broke apart my thoughts and I was once again feeling nothing, and my mind was white once more, but within only moments, the white faded again, and silver and gray started to swim together. They blended, but soon formed into their separate colors, alternating themselves like spaces on a chessboard.

I could still hear the heartbeat, but it was becoming steadily louder, as was a voice. "Goodnight," it repeated over and over. Each time I heard the word, the heartbeat, would grow louder.

I knew this voice. "Aoba... san..." I heard a second voice whisper.

The heartbeat had risen to a loud volume, enough so it echoed off the walls of my mind. The white burst that had broke apart my thoughts before came back now, brighter and more blinding than it was before. I tried to block it out by focusing on the silver and gray chessboard above me. It was clearer than it was, and I could make out small dots of different colors on each gray square. The silver was just metallic and reflective.

In the surface of the silver squares, I saw a blurry figure. It was spread out on a table with its white hair splayed out around its head. White bandages covered the right side of its face, its chest, most of its torso, and its left arm all the way to its fingers. The one eye I could see was half closed. It wore no pants, but instead had a white sheet over its legs.

So much white...

When will there be color again...?

I tilted my head to the sound of a lock. I saw an older man step into the room. He was wearing a blue shirt and blue pants, but the blue he was wearing was not the shade I found familiar. The man looked at me, and his eyes went wide.

"Y-You moved... How amazing... I know it's just your head, but you were able to move... " the man said, obviously excited. He calmed down a little.

"It's time to remove your wraps... permanently, I hope," he said, walking towards me. He walked around the table, and I turned my head to look back at the ceiling. The man grabbed my left hand, and starting at my middle finger, began to slowly remove the bandages around my hand and arm.

It took longer than I thought for just my left side. He then proceeded to my chest. He gently lifted up my body and began to slowly remove the bandages around there. I watched in the ceiling tiles. The skin of the thing I saw was even white, like the white that occupied my mind what felt like only minutes before.

The man then set my body back down and lifted my head instead. He took longer with those bandages than he did with the others. Soon, though, my body was no longer covered in bandages.

"Amazing," the man said. "You took even quicker than I thought you would to heal. It's amazing, truthfully, Clear."

Clear...

That must be my name. I didn't get it, but it sounded comforting to me. It reminded me of good things past, of...

"Aoba-san..." I whispered. The word just came out; I couldn't stop it. The man just seemed to ignore it. He said some more things, but I only picked up some because I was starting to feel... tired, I guess.

"...released by the week's end..." was all I was able to get.

My eyes drooped closed right as I heard the door shut quietly.

With each passing day, I slowly got feeling back to my body. I was soon able to sit up and walk around my tiny room. There were no windows in the room, and no other contact or access to the outside except through the door the older man who unwrapped my bandages occasionally came through.

The time he came into the room after my bandages were gone, I was sitting up on the table. He looked at me, and his eyes widened farther than I thought possible.

"C-Clear, h-how...?!" he asked excitedly, and I thought I caught something else in his voice. Pride, maybe?

I just gave a subtle shrug. I still found it difficult to speak, despite me regaining my strength.

The man then walked over to me. He gently touched my shoulder, my arm, my chest, my stomach, and my right cheek. I retreated from him.

"Don't worry, Clear. I'm only seeing if your grafted skin won't deteriorate when touched," he said quietly. I nodded slightly, and sat completely still on the edge of the table, my legs dangling over the side.

The man grazed my skin with the tip of his fingers twice more before he nodded. "Now, we only need your strength to return fully and we should be able to bring you home, Clear."

At the mention of home, my body heated up, my mind started racing, and the heartbeat that I've been hearing recently got louder. I put a hand over my chest, right over where I thought the heartbeat was coming from.

The man didn't seem to notice. "I wish you quick healing, Clear, though I doubt you need me saying it. You've already healed remarkably fast." I gave another nod, and the man nodded back.

"I'll see you in a few days to see how you've progressed." The man turned and walked out of the room once again.

Right when the door closed, I got up off the table, and started to walk around the small room, rubbing my thumb against my middle and index fingers on my right hand. I had been given no pants yet, so I had tied the white sheet that was over my legs days before around my waist.

I grew more and more impatient as time passed. Thankfully, though, my strength was coming back, as was my voice.

I walked around the room, rubbing my fingers together once again, and humming a familiar song to myself when the door opened. The man looked incredibly surprised this time, more so than he was any time before. He walked over to me and I noticed he was quite a few inches shorter than me.

He reached up to touch the right side of my face again. Then he went to my torso, arm, and my shoulder.

"Amazing," he muttered. "As long as you've regained your strength, we can send you home today." Again, when the man mentioned home, my body heated up, my mind started racing, and the recent heartbeat grew louder.

"I think it's back. I can talk now, and walk around, so I think I'm okay to go home." Aoba-san, my mind whispered.I'm coming home.

The man sounded proud and excited when he spoke next. "Then we have some stuff to give you. Wait here, Clear. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I nodded at him as he left. I started walking around the room again, humming the song even louder than I had been before.Aoba-san, I can't wait to sing for you again, my mind kept whispering as I went on singing.

I hummed the song twice before I heard the door open again. The man walked in, holding a pile of clothes in his arms, a pair of white boots hanging from his fingers with an umbrella laying over the clothes. He walked over and set them on the table. He layed out the items one-by-one. A white button shirt, blue pants, a long white coat, a yellow scarf, and a pair of high, white boots with black laces. On top of the scarf, the man put a pair of white gloves, a white belt, a brown watch, and a pair of white socks. The umbrella laid on the table above all these items.

"These are yours. You came here with 'em," the man said, looking at me. I nodded, and stepped towards the table.

The man spoke again. "I'll be outside. Knock twice on the door when you're ready."

I nodded again, and he walked out of the room again. I reached towards the pants, and as I did, I untied the white sheet that was over my legs as I lay on the table from only days before. When I put the pants on, they were pretty long and baggy. I put the belt on next. The shirt came after, followed by the coat. After I had the coat on, I rolled the pants up to my knees to put the socks on. I then let the pants fall back down before reaching for the boots and slipping then over my pants, quickly lacing them up. I grabbed the watch and slipped it around my right wrist, reaching for the gloves as I did. I slipped them on, then grabbed the scarf, wrapping it around my neck, having one side dangle longer than the other as I picked up the umbrella, stepping over to the door and curling one of my gloved hands, knocking against the metal door with my knuckles.

I heard it start to squeak, so I stepped back a bit as the man opened the door and took a quick look at me. We both nodded, seeming to read each other's minds as he started to lead me down a long, hallway made of gray stone. I stuck out a hand, dragging my gloved fingertips against the smooth, cold surface.

Soon, we turned a corner and I saw a set of stairs with an arrow pointing up and a "1" right below it. On the other side of the staircase was a giant "2." The man guided me up he stairs, letting me go first. It was only a small set of stairs, maybe about only half a normal set. But at the end of this small staircase was a flat area, making a small rectangular shape that could just barely fit me and the man, so right when he stepped onto the rectangular space, I headed up the second set of stairs.

These one ended in a much larger area, with the walls the same color as the hallway just down the stairs. As I did on the floor below, I put out a hand and ran my fingers over the smooth gray surface, closing my eyes and letting the sound of the man's footsteps and my touch on the wall guide me.

Soon, my hand fell off the wall as we reached a corner. I opened my eyes and saw a large glass door in front of me, with two more hallways in front of it, so I stood in a T-shaped intersection.

The man turned to me. "Clear, this is goodbye. Once you walk out these doors, contact between us will be no more."

I nodded, acknowledging the man's words. I didn't care that I would not see the man after this, I was just anxious to get home. Even though I felt the way I did, I turned to the man and said, "Thank you. Thank you for all you've done to help me."

The man nodded, tearing up. "Of course. I'm glad I fixed you, because people would be sad if I didn't."

The man and me shared one more look before we embraced in a quick hug. We stayed for a moment before I stood up. I stepped towards the door and set one hand on the handle. I turned back to the man. "Goodbye, and thank you... again..." I whispered as I looked towards the door, pushing it open to the sunlight that awaited me.