So yeah, I put a lot of time and effort into this story line, about how it would work. The idea is inspired by the anime Amnesia,I took about a few weeks to finally place together how it would work, how the characters would adapt into this situation. The song Cruel Clocks inspired the title of this story. I'll explain exactly what this story is about in the next chapter because it might be confusing here.
Cruel Clocks
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Sounds reverberate; smash through air and space
Full of fragments bathed in black and white
Gears from up above rain down to the ground,
I tread on them; they seem to laugh at me
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You never know what you have until you've lost it
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Chapter One
There is this superstition of how the black cat brings bad luck. Some people may believe it while others ignore it and call it nonsense. Amu Hinamori was one of those who shrugged it off as silly nonsense that others believed to only worry themselves. People believe things like that though, like how spilling salt is unlucky, or walking under the ladder and Amu swore there was one about a mirror, but she didn't remember it. A black cat was just an animal that had done nothing wrong to be called a misfortune for bad luck.
Amu sighed and leaned against the park tree, gazing up at the evening sky. The blue sky was now a hazy mix of pinks and oranges as the sunset along the horizon. It was a warm summer day, not to hot- kind of a medium low heat, in the high seventies at most. It was cooling down now for sure. Amu closed her honey eyes and slid down the trunk of the tree. She didn't know why she was here, not until her phone buzzed.
Where the hell are you Amu? I'm waiting over here at the restaurant and you have yet to show! Ten minutes, that's all you get or it's over.
~Kain
Amu huffed, chuckling at the text message. If he would just actually break up with her, Amu would be glad. No scratch that, she'd be astounded and go out to party. Kain Sato was her boyfriend one whom she meant through Utau. At first Kain was sweet and charming but as of last month he became a completely different person, and even Amu's charas no longer liked him, even if they were in their eggs more often. Not ever since he became more demanding and rough, controlling Amu like a puppet, but she was sick of it. Amu was sick of this provincial life she continued to live.
Good, then I'm not showing up. Guess it's over Kain. I am done with you and your bullshit- see you in homeroom asshole.
~Amu
Amu pressed send and sighed yet again, just as a black cat approached her. Amu smiled and held her hand out, watching as the cat came closer and purred when he let her scratch his ears. Amu carefully leaned to pick him up and sat him on her lap, petting him. Her mind thought back to Ikuto, how he recently came back into town. Amu wanted to see him, she wanted to talk to him but Kain stopped her. Now Amu felt stupid and utterly pathetic for letting a guy control her, because she hadn't talked to anyone but her family and Kain for the past month and her friends knew something was up.
"Amu-chan!" Nagihiko called, jogging up to her with Kukai by his side. It looked like they were going on a morning jog.
"Hi." Amu smiled softly, waving. She felt awkward and was in a rush- Kain was waiting for her.
"How have you been Amu?" Kukai questioned.
Amu waved her hand in a dismissive matter, "I've been great. Listen as much as I'd love to hang around to talk, I can't. Kain is waiting for me.
Nagihiko raised his eyebrow, "Amu, is everything okay? You seem very nervous."
"I'm meeting his parents." Amu lied and waved as she ran towards the train station, distantly hearing Kukai say,
"There's something weird going on with her."
"Yeah, I never trusted Kain." That was Nagihiko.
Amu smiled when the cat purred, laughing lightly when it's sand like tongue licked her palm. It tickled and Amu felt free, she felt free and she liked that. Her mother and father begun traveling more for their jobs and Ami had become a young model. Amu had become a model though right here in the heart of her hometown, beginning to become an idol. Sure it was the glamorous life, having fans who adored her and being the center of gossip along with Utau- but then at the same time she missed her old life where she just blended in with the crowd. Now, the crowds easily recognized Amu with her long pink locks of hair and chased the teenaged idol until she reached her company compound. That's were security guards fended them off.
"How can something so small cause so many myths?" Amu whispered to herself, gazing down into the feline's yellow eyes. Amu found them beautifully breath taking, and the cat purred under her touch. "Do you have a name or a home?"
Amu didn't know why she was talking to the cat as if it would respond, maybe because she could talk to it and the cat wouldn't judge her thoughts. Or maybe because the cat reminded her simply of Ikuto and sought comfort. She didn't know. Amu checked for a name tag. There wasn't one, or any sign of identification.
"How would you like to come with me?" Amu asks, earning a purr. "Okay, now let's name you, Ace. I'll name you Ace."
Smiling lightly, Amu continued to scratch the cat behind its ears as he closed his yellow eyes. Amu picked up the habit by touching Ikuto's ears. She laughed to herself. Amu seemed to always be thinking of that blue neko now a days. Maybe that was a sign that she truly missed him and his teasing. Sighing, Amu knew she shouldn't be thinking this way.
Standing up with Ace in her arms, Amu then noticed that it was evening. Time flew by while she sat there by herself. She roamed the park with Ace, quietly thinking. She'd call Utau or Rima in the morning to see what they were doing of she was free. The agency had been busy recently too, which didn't help Amu's personal life. In the distance, Amu heard a violin- but she was too tired to go see if it was Ikuto. Last time it ended up being a little boy, trying to make a living. He was there every Tuesday night, and tonight just happened to be Tuesday.
That's when Ace jumped out of Amu's arms once they reached the main streets, running across the busy intersection. Amu was about to go after him, but stopped, she didn't have the right away to cross the busy street yet. Then that's when the superstition hit, just as she was shoved towards the street. A yelp escaped Amu's lips as she grabbed to hold onto something, but she tripped, and landed right onto the cross walk.
Amu groaned in pain, quickly getting up, but it was too late. Like a dear in headlights, Amu froze at the oncoming car- its honks blazed in her ear. The pain only lasted for a second, and the screams in the background faded into nothing. Across the intersection stood a boy with the same yellow cat eyes, glancing down at the phone and then at Amu, who's little locket glowed. Curiosity spiked up in the boy, just as Amu's phone buzzed.
No one ever leaves me Amu. You ought to learn that by now, hope you liked the little push my love.
~Unknown
~Cruel Clocks ~
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My attached right arm usually creaks
But somehow now, the sound has disappeared into silence
A stream of light is blocking the symbol of the world,
And so it starts to break and crumble away
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Ikuto flattered in his music as he heard the distance screaming and yells, followed by farther sounds of sirens of an ambulance. Deciding to see what all the commotion was about, Ikuto put his violin away- glancing at the younger boy who he'd been practicing with, Aki.
"Good job kid. Next week at the same time." Ikuto smiled. Aki was passionate about the arts of violin and was determined to get better, which cause Ikuto to decide to teach the boy. It was a good deed and it helps Aki's self-esteem. Seemed like a win-win.
"Okay Mr. Tsukiyomi!" Aki smiled brightly as he waved goodbye to his teacher.
Ikuto's mind drifted as he walked, his thoughts slipping back to Amu. Utau had mentioned that Amu has been busy lately so not to take it personally of Amu doesn't speak with him right away. He wasn't upset, but he wished Amu would just call him or something. The Guardians were now in high school with their own cliques, but they still meet up. They still talked and hung out. Ikuto smiled, they were moving on with their lives.
Utau was excelling in her music career with Kukai, who was a popular athlete, by her side. Ikuto approved of Kukai dating his sister, knowing that the goofball would take care of his baby sister. Rima was working at some small comedy pub, waitressing and writing her own scripts. Nagihiko, who now taught dance classes in his spare time and was on a basketball team, often, went with Rima. Kairi, Ikuto didn't know exactly what he was up to as of late, but last he heard Kairi had begun his own samurai training camp thing. Tadase, he wasn't really up to anything but being president of the school.
Then there was Amu, who had blossomed into a beautiful young woman, who begun a modeling career. She was inspiring others around the world and touching the hearts of those who were lost. Amu was an idol with beautiful intentions with the world. Ikuto even heard that Utau and Amu were trying begin a charity to help poverty. He recalled that interview.
Utau Hoshina and Amu Hinamori sat right besides one other, facing some reporter who was filming the interview with the two idol best friends. The reporter was from some American company who traveled all the way to Seiyo just for them. Of course, the two had other issues to tend to, but made time for this reporter who took her time to come out here.
"If I am correct, Utau here gave you a chance to model but you turned it down Amu?" The reporter, Anna asked.
Amu smiled at the blond report and gave a nod, trying to speak her best English. "Yes, at that time I was struggling to get accept by a modeling agency when Utau offered, but I wanted to start my career on my own. After a few weeks, I was recruited by Pandora. Now here I am in life."
Utau gave Amu a proud smile, "Amu is admirable for that. She strived and worked hard to get where she is now. Because of that, Amu tries to do everything herself."
Anna chuckled and nodded at the two idols, looking down at the clipboard that held all her questions.
"This question is for the both of you. When you see fans, what is your purpose?"
Utau didn't hesitate with her answer, "My fans are my purpose. It's because of them I strive to work harder and harder to reach their high expectations. Fans are the main purpose to any idol, we put our fans first. Isn't that right Amu?"
"Hai- I mean yes." Amu giggled. "Fans are our anchor you could say. They hold us to the ground- because without them, we'd be nothing."
"Amu, you made something of yourself for sure." Ikuto mutters, looking at the posters of Amu's poster some person had in their car. She was a well-known model now, a perfect idol that was Utau's best friend in real life and in the public eye. It made sense though to Ikuto at least.
Finally the flashes of red and blue caught the attention of male's midnight blue eyes, causing him to join over in the crowd of people. It was hard to see, but Ikuto made it to the front of the crowd to see paramedics around a body- blocking his view. Ikuto was curious; he blames the cat part of him that always seemed to be inside him.
"She's stopped breathing!" One paramedic shouted, and began to press Amu's chest before placing his lips onto hers. CPR, the girl needed CPR. "She's not responding!"
Ikuto wondered who the unlucky soul was that was injured, possibly dying. That's the thing with life though that made it so precious- you never knew when you'd lose it all.
A female paramedic took two slender fingers, pressing them gently to a pale skinned necked that was stained with red. Looking around, Ikuto saw the blood on the cement and on the headlights of a truck. His eyes widen as he saw the flash of pink hair when the female paramedic shook her head at the male paramedic. When they both moved, Ikuto saw the body, Amu's lifeless body and it seemed like the world froze before it suddenly melted and came crashing down around him.
"Time of death, 7:45 p.m. July 3, 2014." The male paramedic says in a sadden voice as they covered Amu's body with a white sheet, placing her on a gurney.
Ikuto watched in silence as they left her there as they wrote things down onto a paper, scribbling furiously and talking in hush whispers. Ikuto had tears in his eyes, pain and heart break- that's all he felt. Something caught his attention, a strange boy with ebony hair at the other end of the street, holding Amu's cell phone tightly. Had Amu known that little boy? Maybe he was a fan of hers or something. Besides that fact, why did he have Amu's phone?
Ikuto eyes widen when he suddenly ran, not away from the scene but towards the gurney where Amu's body laid. The ebony haired boy touched the sheet, were Amu's head would have been. Ikuto noticed the little boy was whispering something, with tears in his eyes. The he removed his hand and just stared.
A gasp come from the crowd as the supposedly dead body took a loud breath and shot up in the gurney. The white sheet fluttered down, and Amu was taking in her surroundings. She looked confused as people whispered and took out their phone cameras as they snapped photos. Amu reacted by hiding her face, and the little boy reacting by touch her arm delicately. Amu's eyes widen, Ikuto watched, as she looked confused at him.
Maybe she doesn't know him, but how is she alive?
Sure Ikuto was glad Amu was alive, but she was just legally pronounced dead. Whispers, floated to his ears, and Ikuto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the new rumors and gossip begun to form. The crowd recognized who Amu was.
"She's alive?" The female paramedic breathed in amazement.
"This is not the time to wonder! She needs to get to the hospital!" The male paramedic yelled, going to roll Amu into the ambulance but stopped when seeing the little boy.
"Who's he?" He questioned.
"With me." Amu choked out, falling back onto the gurney as she fainted.
"Come on boy!" The female paramedic said, yanking the boy into the ambulance as she closed the door. Then the ambulance was off racing down the street with loud ambulance sirens just as news reporters pulled up. Ikuto fallowed the ambulance as best as he could.
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I have no tears left to shed, as much as I cry out
So I scream, with the voice I thought I'd.. lost.
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Utau Hoshina was shoving roman into her mouth rapidly as her boyfriend, Kukai Souma, tried to catch up to her speed. Their friends cheered behind them, Rima and Yaya cheering for Utau with their charas and Tadase and Nagihiko cheered for Kukai with their charas. This was Utau's third time beating Kukai in his own game, and within the next few seconds Utau was done. Kukai finished seconds later.
"I win!" Utau yelled in victory, high fiving the two other girls.
Kukai grumbled, "I don't get how you win. Are you cheating?"
Utau scowled, "How do you cheat in eating food?"
"Throw it on the floor." Nagihiko chirped.
Rima sweat dropped at her boyfriend, "I think we'd have seen that."
Utau simply laughed, sticking her tongue out. "Kukai is just being a sore loser as usual!"
"Hey!" Kukai said in protest.
Yaya sighed, "Why didn't Amu-chan come? Or Ikuto-kun?"
Utau looked over at the childish girl, "Ikuto was teaching tonight and Amu was busy. Yes I checked her schedule- she had a photo shoot and a date with Kain."
"I don't like that guy." Kukai said.
Utau sighed; he always got like this when it came to Amu. Kukai and Amu were close, like sibling close. Sometimes though, Utau wished he'd loosen up a bit because Utau knew for a fact that Amu didn't like the fact that he tried to protect her from the world. It wasn't his place, at least that was what Amu says. Utau though had to agree, Kain was acting strange now, around her and everyone else. Kain always kept Amu by his side, and when she was near him he was always upset. He was clingy.
"I don't think it will last longer." Utau says. "Last time I spoke with Amu, she was on the verge of breaking it off. I told her that was a good idea."
Tadase nodded, "Has Ikuto gotten into contact with Amu?"
"No." Utau says, glancing up at the television set to see the news channel. She was about to look away when she saw Amu's name. "Guys, look." Utau pointed towards the television set and watched intensely- telling the worker to turn the volume up louder.
"So it is rumored that idol Amu Hinamori was just a victim of a hit and run. The car that supposedly hit the idol drove off when she came back to life. Yes, you heard correctly, she came back to life after being legally dead for three whole minutes."
The group of friends eyes widen, who the hell would hit Amu? Who the hell drove away?
"Please share what you seen." The news reporter says, holding a microphone out to a young couple. They had surprise in their eyes as if still trying fully processing what just happened. Rima couldn't blame them, neither could Utau.
"Well, I didn't recognize her at first from behind- but she was holding a cat that run out into the traffic and I think on instinct she chased after it- and then she tripped. The car came out of nowhere." The petite woman said into the microphone, looking at the camera before she gave it to the man.
"We all heard the paramedics pronounce her dead, but then she suddenly sat up gasping for breath. I believe the lord had mercy on a good soul like Amu's, who is dedicated to helping others, and allowed her another touch. She's a true angel of the lord."
Utau sighed; people would make up such a story. It's sad that it didn't surprise Utau, but she had a feeling a story like this was going to come out soon enough. Now the public will believe that Amu is an angel of the lord and probably worship the ground she walks on even more. Soon after a few people restated the same story, the camera changed to one in front of a hospital, surrounded by police cars and paparazzi.
"It's official that St. Anna's hospital is the very hospital Amu has been taken in to get treated and exam. We are told that no one has been allowed to go in besides doctors and other patients. Police enforcement for currents arresting anyone who go to the extreme to enter the hospital. Amu's condition still remains a mystery to the public."
"How troublesome." Rima sighed.
"Let's go." Utau said getting up and throwing money onto the counter- heading out of the roman shop, not bothering to see if her friends were fallowing. Utau already knew they were.
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Hey,
I remember, in the past, your everlasting smile
As you patiently taught me everything I would need in life
Like the happy things, and all the things that would bring me sorrow,
And.. The fact that I can't die.
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Nothing seemed real to Amu as she sat in a white room. There were no other colors, just eight different mirrors that showed eight different people. Amu eyes glanced over at them all, surprised to find all of them to be images of her.
"They aren't images. They are you." A voice echoed around the room, causing Amu to glance everywhere, only to find no one with her.
"Who's there?" Amu asked, trying to stand but finding she couldn't even move her legs. Let alone stand up. Come to think of it, Amu felt cold and numb- she felt as if she were floating.
"These people are you, Amu. Four of them are pieces of you that have become their own person. The humpy lock made it so you'll live, but there's always a price that comes with magic." The voice paused before continuing. "You're cursed to live a life of death. Eight of you, all different pasts, all different people."
Amu looked up, "I don't understand. How do I live a life of death?"
"You've always died the same day, at the same age. You were cursed to die at the age of sixteen on the third of July. That lock though, changed it."
"How?" Amu whispered in a shaky whisper.
"I can't tell you."
"Please." Amu begged.
The voice sighed audibly, "It's not as if you'll remember this- which you won't Amu. You see, everyone lives past lives, but not everyone gets reincarnated. Only you and a group of people do. Let me tell you a story. "
"Long ago, in a time were kings and queens ruled, there was a princess associated in a group of people who were loyal to the kingdom. That group was known as the knights of light. They protected the kingdom from dark creatures that threaten to destroy the piece, but they had a strong weapon. One who was used for life and death situations despite the King and Queens' wishes.
The princess was that weapon, whom fell in love with one of the knights, but during a long hard battle the knights won. They lost more than what they could afford, for that day they lost their salvation. They lost their light the moment the princess sacrifices herself for her kingdom, friends and her lover. After her death, a war broke out between the opposing kingdom, the one that the princess was planned to marry to make a treaty. It was broken the moment she died, but no one knew an evil force within the darkness cursed the beloved princess to breath in life again only to die once again. Though in every life, she meets the same people she fought with. This time it's different."
"I don't understand." Amu whispered, looking down and failing to see a figure appear in front of her.
"You shall in time child."
Amu glances up when a hand settled over on top of hers, and Amu froze. The woman had long pink hair, with a smile on her face and brilliant honey eyes that matched Amu's. If anything, she looked like an older version of Amu.
"Who are you?" Amu whispered.
The woman shook her head. "There is no time for introductions, you must choose." The woman was suddenly behind Amu, holding on to shoulders so they both faced the eight mirrors. "Which one do you wish to become this time, before you must chose yet again."
"What?" Amu looked up in horror, only to find the woman gone.
Amu sighed; this was probably the only way she'd be able to get home. Carefully, Amu ,shaking, stood on her feet feeling as if she were about to fall, and without looking- dived into one of the mirrors. Right into the one where the pink haired girl was kicking the soccer ball and high fiving the boys' soccer team. The athlete.
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Please, just tell me why
Why has my time halted in its tracks, before I'm ready?
I cannot comprehend this; this strange and agonizing
Pain I feel piercing into my heart.
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Author's Note
Okay, I hope the ending wasn't confusing- so I'm sorry if there is any confusion. I'll clear up the mirror bit right now.
As typed, there are eight mirrors that stood before Amu- and each of those mirrors was a different personality. The one Amu picked was the "sporty" type, basically a Ran version of Amu. The other personalities and the woman will not be revealed until later in the story. If you have any questions about the curse, or just any in general do not hesitate to ask me. I will answer.
Besides that fact, the two boys, Aki and the ebony haired one will appear more frequently. They have a huge part of this story, so does Kain.
The knights will not be revealed now either.
So yeah, that's about it. How did you guys like this chapter because I rewrote it until I felt satisfied. It would be great if you could review! Love you readers!
~Violet