Rememberance and an event unexplained

When I woke up, I was in a bed.

It appeared to be a hospital.
The bed sheets were white, the walls plain and undecorated, and a table with a small tray of food was left behind.

I helped myself to some of the food, and tried to determine where I was- ...and how did I get here?

As I reached for the door, the knob turned- and with a click, the door swung open.
We both exchanged suprised expressions.

"Oh you're awake...", she said.

Had it been some young woman dressed as a nurse, a tall burly doctor- or even Aioro with that stupid expression- I probably wouldn't have had the same reaction.

But out of all people- why was it her?

Amy didn't say much, and placed something on the bed.

"These are your clothes. They were damp and muddy, but I had washed them for you."

I looked down.
Sure enough, I wasn't in the clothes I was wearing before- I was now wearing someone's ridiculously oversized shirt.

Amy observed my puzzled reaction and responded, "Don't worry, those are my brothers clothes"

I froze.
"Ah. He wasn't the one who changed you- and he won't mind that your wearing them", she casually waved her hand.

Although that eased me a bit, that's not what concerned me.
Why was my friend- my EX-friend here?

Amy was a traitor. She abandoned me, treated me as nothing more than an amputated limb.

What did she have to gain from being here now? The thought hung over me, and a mix of emotions boiled up inside me.

Amy turned and found a chair to pull up to the bed, and motioned me to sit down across from her.
I slowly took a seat on the bed, as my mind started recalling the events from the assult.

My body, seeming to have caught up with my mind- started acheing severly.
I bit my tounge to keep from crying out.

Amy was quiet, but observant- and grabbed the cup of tea off the tray and handed it to me.
"The heat should soothe the pain", she said. Short- quick, and simple. Nothing like how she used to be.

She was silent as she watched me finish the drink, and after I placed it on the table she spoke.

"Sorry."
I looked up at her, suprised.

Her head was hung to the floor, her bangs covering her face and I could not see her expression.
Then she picked her head up and looked at me, with no feeling at all.

"I wonder..., If I said that, would you forgive me?"
I couldn't tell if she was actually saying sorry, or being sarcastic. Her words seemed to go in circles.

Before I could answer, she had gotten up from her chair.
"Of course you wouldn't" she said, as she paced across the floor to the window.

She opened it and leaned out, the wind blowing her hair back.
"I've done so many things. So many things... that I don't even know what's right anymore."

"But in my own way-, I'm doing my best to correct the past."

She smiled, but she was clenching her fist so tightly that I could see red.
Why are you contradicting yourself? I wondered quietly, and she turned and walked over towards me.

"If I'm going to correct the past, wouldn't it be best to start with my first mistake?" She reached her hand out towards me.

I reluctantly grabbed it.
"That's why today,... I'll be helping you."

Her hand started to glow blue.
What was this? A prank? A magic trick?

Whatever it was I wasn't about to-
I tried to loosen my grip and pull away. My hand...was stuck?

I pulled harder and harder, and became more and more frantic as her hand grew brighter and the light grew stronger.

I looked up towards Amy, with what im sure was an extremely desperate look- but the last thing I saw... before the light flashed and enveloped the room, was the smile plastered on her face.

When people face a dangerous choice or situation, they usually describe it as an "out of body" experience.

That would also perfectly describe what I was feeling right now, but in a much, MUCH DIFFERENT scenario.

Only seconds ago, I could recall being in a room with Amy- but now...I was in the middle of a busy street.

There were no cars, but people were quickly bustling around on the sidewalk- heading to wherever their desti-
nation was.

A little boy dropped his ice-cream, and his mother scolded him.

A teenager who appeared to be my age was carrying bags filled with groceries- most likely an errand he was forced into.

A fashionably dressed couple walked with their arms interlocked, probably heading home after a date.

...They all had a place to go,...but where was mine?

I was sure I had never been here before, but something was telling me this was all too familiar.

A quick and sudden wind blew, inflating my clothes like an airbag.
I was shocked, but I became aware that I was still wearing these clothes that were much too big for me.

I patted the air out, and it only re-assured me that this was some prank Amy had set up.
I was embaressed to be seen dressed like this, but more angry that I was in some strange place and didn't know how to get back home.

I sucked up my pride and walked over to a kind-looking old man sitting at a bench.
He can probaly tell me where I am, and how I can get back home.

"Excuse me ojisan, but can you tell me where I am? I'm lost."
No response.

"Uhm, can you at least tell me if there's a bus station nearby...or...a bus schedule...?
He remained silent. Was he asleep?

I leaned a bit closer and I saw him reach for his cane, then struggle to get up from the bench.

"Ah, I'll help you-", I reached my arm out to support him, but it passed right through his body.
He continued wobbling down the street, as if my presence had gone unnoticed.

I looked at my arm.

It was still fully intact.

I raised it towards the sun.

I wasn't see-through.

I could feel a drop of sweat drip down my face.
Was I hallucinating? Did she put something in the tea too?

I ran towards another stranger and attempted to stop them and ask for directions.
Again, I was ignored and they kept walking- right through my body.

It wasn't a coincidence, maybe even some strange phenomina. It was like they couldn't see or hear me.
Was I really here? Am I dead? Did that bitch finally suceeed in killing me?

Maybe I was a ghost? Was there a projector somewhere? Were my classmates laughing at me from some hidden room?

So many questions, and no answer.
My mind was dark, and I walked the only direction I could. Straight.

As I got farther and farther up the road,
the sounds of life changed from loud chattering people, to noisy cars, to the sound of children laughing.

I stopped and looked up.
From across the street, I could see a kindergarden with small children playing in a yard.

My legs unconciously carried me across the street.
What was I doing? This wasn't where I wanted to go.

I kept walking, straight through the fence and into the play yard.
There were tons of kids running around, full of energy- sliding, swinging, and playing in sandboxes.

But the screams of joy coming from them slowed down- then stopped completely.
I looked around. The kids were frozen and unmoving, but their expressions unchanged.

Not far away, I saw a bird that looked like it had just begun to take flight- but it was frozen mid-air, and had not fallen to the ground.

...It was almost like...someone took a remote and paused... life.
I was freaked out and disturbed, and only became more cautious as I continued making my way across the grass.

The silence was scary, but as I got closer and closer to the other side of the yard- I heard talking.

...I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded oddly familiar.

It sounded...like me?
I continued towards it and came across three little girls sitting in a circle, staring intently at something in the grass.

"This is stupid", I heard my voice say again.
I was shocked to see a girl with forest-green hair, clad in a black frilly dress, who looked exactly like a younger version of me.

She wore a bored expression.

"No it's not~", one of the other girls looked up. Her chesnut colored hair and eyes and had an eerie resembleance as well...Amy?

"This is important! I want to catch it and show it to mommy."
The girl who appeared to be me shook her head in disapprovement. "Doesn't your okasan hate bugs?"

The little girl who looked like Amy froze, and then dissapointedly said, "Oh...your right."
Quickly after, she started pouting and whined- "Geeze _-chan, you always gotta make things look bad all the time~"

Eh? I shook my head.
I probaly misheard. She definitely said Kura...right?

I attempted to shake off my uneasiness, as I watched young me and Amy quarrel.
If it wasn't for the fucked up situation I was in, I probaly could've cracked a smile.

I watched the three of them walk back inside the kindergarden, seemingly unaware of the frozen state their classmates and the rest of the world was in.

I took notice as they got further away of the third girl who was with them.
Her back was to me, and I couldn't see her face, just her blonde hair.

But I had no rememberance of knowing a girl with blonde hair, especially during my childhood.
Out of curiosity I followed the girls inside, without bothering to open the door. (I could just walk through it anyways.)

Inside, the three girls were sitting at a small table- a pile of crayons and markers at their desk and blank sheets of paper.

Amy and the blonde girl started scribbiling furiously away at their papers, but I watched myself just sit there, hands in my lap- staring at my paper.

Amy looked up.
"Whats wrong _-chan?" Aren't you gonna draw?"

My heart stopped. There it was again.

I saw myself look towards her quietly.
"What is it? You don't know what to draw?", Amy tilted her head.

She held up her paper.
"Look, i'm drawing me, okasan, otosan, and Onisan!"

My eyes became wider, as I analyzed what appeared to be just unrecognizeable scribbles of color on paper.

My younger self, who seemed have come to the same conclusion, turned and started laughing.
"H-hey! It's not finished yet!" Amy blushed in embaressment and quickly hid her paper.

"You didn't think it was ugly- did you Mii-chan?" She turned towards the girl with blonde hair, who's face I now had a better view of.

A loud bell could be heard from outside, and the door to the play-yard burst open.
The children from outside phased through me as they flooded the room.

"Lunch-time!", Amy yelled as she put down her crayon.
She jumped up excitedly, her pink dress flashing her training pants.

She ran to a cubby and pulled out a small lunchbox, then turned and waved back towards the table.

"Meet you at the usual place!", she said then ran off hurridley.

Mii-chan got up, and walked- normally, to her cubby and pulled out her lunch.
She turned and smiled kindly at 'me' who hadn't moved from the table.

I studied her. She really had the appearance of a small american doll. Fitted in a frilly- baby blue dress, her curly blonde hair tied up in pigtails- rosy cheeks and bright green eyes.

Who...was she exactly?

"We'd better not keep Amy-chan waiting, she'll get mad", she said quietly.

Kindergarden me did not seem to be fazed at all by her comment, and replied:
"It's okay, you can go on ahead of me."

The little doll nodded her head and ran off in the same direction as Amy, pausing once and reluctantly looking back at 'me'- then turning and continuing until she dissapeared from sight.

I watched myself get up and lazily grab my lunch. A few boys from the class wandered over and I watched as I turned in suprise towards them.

I was about to jump between them- but then I remembered that I was a "ghost".
I couldn't stop them. They couldn't hear me, or see me, and I couldn't touch them.

I watched helplessly, fearing for myself.
But the boys didn't show any signs of being hostile. Infact, they all began turning pink- the four of them.
The one with blue hair stepped infront, giving himself a moment to gather his courage, then started to speak.

"Hey...uhm..._-chan..., do you wanna eat with us?"

Again. Why was it that I couldn't seem to hear them say Kura?

The wheels in my mind started turning.
But Kura...wasn't my name...it was...

Wait...what was it again?

The room seemed like it was spinning.

"I can't, Mii-chan and Amy-chan are waiting for me", I held up my lunch in a defensive position and shook my head.

"Aww really?" The group looked at eachother.
I didn't appear to care much for their dissapointment, but the look of the boy with blue hair seemed to move me.

"Well...I guess I can, just for a little while...", I said softly, barely above a whisper.
The boys looked up in excitement at eachother.

"Let's go then!" The group grabbed hold of whatever they could on me and led me away.
"Hey, wait- I know how to move on my own!", I saw myself frown.

I put a hand on my forehead, still trying to make sense of all of this- and followed where they dragged myself away.

The boys picked a shady corner outside and formed a circle, being polite enough to leave room for 'me'.
I watched myself uncomfortably sit in the grass, then open the bento in my lap and start eating.

The boys naturally talked amoungst themselves, but now and then they all focused the conversation towards me. I responded with straight-forward and quick answers, which made them laugh.

I watched what seemed like a happy scene, and even though I didn't see myself smile- I knew on the inside at that moment I must have been happy.

I don't know how long I was watching them or how long 'I' was sitting there, but a bell rang again.
For a moment I looked up, but when I looked back down I saw the horrified expression on my face.

"Oh no... Amy and Mii-chan are gonna be sooo mad at me!"
The boys apologized to me, most as they ran back inside, yelling something about how they didn't want to get in trouble with the teacher.

I was prepared to go back inside as well, but I noticed I had not seen myself run back inside.
I turned back to see myself and the lone boy with blue hair left behind.

"Oh no, Oh no..." I heard myself saying over and over as I scrunched up into a ball.
The boy inched closer and grabbed my hand, pulling me off the ground and out of my ball.

"Don't worry, it's okay", he nodded with a serious face.
A few tears came streaming down my eyes as I shook my head no.

"They'll think I left them on purpose",I cried.

"If their you're friends, they won't be mad at you, right?", he smiled.

I blinked, and quickly wiped my tears.
"Right...", I nodded.

The boy stared for a moment, and I watched my face changed from reassured to puzzled.
Suddenly his arms were around my tiny little body, and his lips on my cheek.

Then he released me and as he ran off smiling he said, "Don't forget- I'm your friend too!"
Little me stood there like a statue for a minute, and in a late reaction, turned bright red.

I watched myself slowly shuffle inside in disbelief.

What the-!
I don't remember anything like that ever happening to me!

Who was that little boy?

Someone was definitely messing with me. I looked around, but there was no one to direct my anger towards.

Not having much else to do, I decided to go back inside and observe this strange phenomina more.
I attempted walking through the door, but my face met with the glass in a loud "Smack".

The hell?
I rubbed my face.

As If I wasn't pissed off and sore enough-, now they were playing with the doors?

Without thinking, I angrily grabbed the handle.
My hand connected with it, and I could feel the cold metal in my hands.

Why had I suddenly become solid?
...If that was the case then maybe I could actually get some help around here.

My hopes lifted, I pulled on the door.
When I swung it open, the same blue light that I saw before appearing here, engulfed me.

...My eyes were open.
I was still in the same, baggy clothes.

I held up my hand.
Not see through.

I touched my face.
Solid.

I turned back towards him and repeated the same question again.
"What am I doing here?"

He gave me a strange look and repeated the same answer:
"You were all banged up and passed out by the lake. Amy found you then called Me and Sensei. Then we all left before the rest of the class together in Hokkaido."

My eyebrows tightened together.

"Why are you glaring?" he said.

I moved closer and looked him directly in the eyes.
"W-what?" he flushed.

"And your telling me your absolutely- 100% sure, we didn't go to a hospital?"
He quickly shook his head.

"And was I, at any point- left alone with Amy? In a white room?"

He shook his head slower, a puzzled look spreading across his face.
"There's no white rooms around here..."

I looked around.
The room I was in was definitely not white- it was much more colorful, and decorated with what appeared to be personal possesions.

Aioro gave me a concerned look.
"You know, you just woke up after nearly drowning, and this isn't the first time. I think the waters messing with your head a bit."

I almost believed him for a moment, because it really did seem like a hallucination.
I mean how could you possibly meet yourself?

But the clothes and my sore nose were proof enough that I hadn't been totally dreaming.
I kept this to myself though- if anyone told me something as far fetched as that then I would've thought they were crazy too.

"Yeah maybe", I looked back at Aioro.
He didn't look like the most reliable source, but I had nothing else to go on. I continued drilling into him for answers.

"So where is Amy now?"

"She left in Sensei's car. Something about filing a report on what happened-
...Well. At least what she saw", he shrugged.

Sounded pointless to me. She hadn't seen what actually happened.

"Have you been here the whole time?" He nodded.

...It just wasn't adding up.

No white room.

No Amy anywhere nearby.

and Aioro had been here near my bed the whole time.

"So who's shirt is this...?" I looked down.

"Ah, that- it's mine. It was a spare one I hadn't worn."
I raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

He stared back for a second then jumped in realization.
"Oh no- I gave it to Sensei so she could get you out of your wet clothes. I didn't touch anything!"

Yeah right.
The person with an innocent face is always the prime suspect in a murder.

But right now-
I was no different than a cop on a cold case.

I sighed and sunk my head into my arms.
I was at my limit.

I had never been one for suicide...but damn. That balcony... was looking... Amazing.
Aioro followed my eyes towards the window, his shoulders tensing up as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

Do you really know me that well? I wondered.

...not that it mattered.
I sat up, and slipped my feet into my shoes.

"I'm going home", walked across the room and reached for the door.
I heard clattering as he rushed to his feet.

Before his footsteps reached me, I took a deep breath.

"Are you going to stop me?"
I stopped walking.

"...Don't bother..." she pulled on the door.

She took a step, then stopped.
"Oh yeah. Sorry I didn't make it...to see you that is."

"What? I'm not concerned about that- right now I'm more worried about-"

"I know", she said.
"I know."

"...Just please don't say it", the door closed shut.

I sat down.
It was sad to admit, but I knew running after her was useless.

That girl did whatever she wanted to, whenever she wanted to.

but what was she babbling about earlier?
Some dream she had maybe?

But I was 100% sure...
I hadn't taken my eyes off of her, not even for a second.

The door swung open, and I looked up expectantly to see Sensei, but instead I saw an unusual visitor.

"Amy?"
Her eyes swept right over me, across the room.

"Where's our patient?", she looked towards the empty bed.

I scratched my head.
"She... uhm...well you could say she ditched...?"

"So you weren't watching her?" she eyed me.
"No I was-..."

"So you let her get away then?", she chuckled.
That made me mad.

I folded my arms.
"I watched her the whole time you guys were gone, just like I was told."

Her expression remained unchanged, her eyes still mocking me.
I tried to change the subject.

"...Speaking of that...where's Sensei?

Suddenly, it moved.
The corners of her mouth wound up into a smile.

"Oh...you don't have to worry about that right now."
She placed one hand on the door and gave it a shove,...shut.

What was she doing?
I could feel my blood pumping faster.

"Now let's see...how should I go about this one?"

"...go...go about what?"

Her eyes opened, to reveal a scary expression.
I could feel it...the fear.

"Now you...even though you aren't my mess to clean...you have a deep effects on what's to come..."

She leaned over and placed her hand on my cheek.
It was icy cold.

"Really...You both are just as bad as eachother...", she twirled my hair between her fingers.

"What...are you...talking about?" I turned my head away.

She balled her hand into a fist and yanked my hair, forcing my face back towards her.

"You forgot."

"You FORGOT", she said again.

"You've been quite the bad boy."
"...But it's okay- Amy-chan will help you remember. Just relax."

I started seeing bright lights.
Was my vision failing?

I moved my hand infront of my face.
It went from five, to ten fingers as the image split into two.

Then...a loud slam, and I could feel Amy's hand suddenly release my face.
The double-vision suddenly faded, along with the lights.

I looked up to learn that her hand had not left me willingly.
Towering over her, he held her wrist tightly in her hand.

Then he spoke.

His mouth wound tightly in an angry smile.

His breaths short and angry.

"...I knew something smelled like shit."