The 0th Hour. {COMPLETED}

Chapter 2: Little me.

6th of July, 2013.

I am Miki Hana! Last midnight, I went to a world that could help me get my memories. I am still unsure if it was a dream or did it happen for real. It feels like a silly myth. This is the first time I found something this interesting. So I decided to analyze more on this from my memory.. Thinking about it again, I remembered a tiny detail that I didn't acknowledge at that time. While reading the strange tag on the gate, on the spur of the moment, I got excited and opened it. But I wasn't alone there. There, beside me was another girl in monochrome, just like me in that golden world, who also didn't seem to notice me, pushed the gates along with me. She was just as tall as me, just an inch or two taller. I wonder who she is. I don't expect to go back into that world again.. Maybe it was simply a figment of my imagination. Well then, if something interesting happens again, I will write it down! So far, I still remember the memory of last night so vividly that it doesn't feel like a dream. Maybe I was really imaginative in the past as well. Now, time to go for bed early today!

Tick tock, tick tock.. The white noise of the clock blended with the midnight rain. The coolness brought the most comfortable sleep. The three hands of the clock hit 12 all together. Time froze.

Hana snapped out of her deep sleep and opened her eyes. Her face looked pale as if she had woken up from a nightmare. Cold sweat ran down her spine.

"Whaa--"

"Again....?" (Confused) Looking out from her window.

"It's golden and I'm monochrome...again?"

"Aaaaahhh!" Pinching her cheeks.

"So this isn't a dream?"

With the eyes of a curious Sherlock, her investigation began. The investigation to discover her past and explore the unreal world began. She stepped out..

6th of July, 2013. Time 00:00.

I went back to the world again. The sudden deafening silence woke me up from my dreams. I wasn't able to hear the noises of the rain nor the ticking of my clock. A silence that should scare me but instead stirred in my curiosity. I pinched myself to confirm whether this is a dream. To my horror, it hurt so bad. Which means, the surreal things happening now is neither a dream nor a figment of my imagination. If this is reality, then I can find my memories! My curiosity at its zenith. What will I find out, now?

Being here again, I realized something else as well. My house, that girl I saw last time and I were the only things that were monochrome in this world. What does that mean? Is it some sort of riddle? Everything in my room was monochrome, except for a piece of paper that was on my desk. I'm pretty sure it wasn't there when I went to bed. It looked like a page ripped off from a book. More precisely a diary. It was shining golden as well. Like a golden page. Written with blue ink, were the words, "A memory never meant to be forgotten." What surprised me the most was not what's written, instead the writer.. It was me. That's my handwriting... And those words for some reason sounded so familiar. It felt like...something I would say.. But.. it doesn't make any sense! Someone like me who is chasing to find her memories, why... why would I say that..now? Now...That's it! It's something, "I", my past self would say. Huh? Am I remembering things now? The blue pen..yes.. I remember... In a diary.. After that? Arghh.. What happens after that? I don't remember! I rushed out, hoping to find some clues. I didn't know what I was expecting. But I ran as fast as I could. Yet, it was unbelievably halcyon. Even though I was running so fast, I couldn't feel the air against my face, like it normally would. Strange..

A memory never to be forgotten, huh? I wanna know what that memory is! While I was running aimlessly, I noticed a moving car. Of course, it was also golden and blended in this world really well, as if it was part of the world. Only I stood out as a disgrace with dull colours on such a bright world. I followed the car. Just like the last time, my energy didn't seem to be used. I wasn't tired nor was I grasping for breath after running behind a moving car.

The car stopped in front of a school.

"Ah!" (Gasps) "My School...."

The look on her face clearly read shocked. Hands on her head with a terrifying look. She has finally started turning the lock to her precious memories.

I....remembered my old school.. But before..I wasn't even able to remember it for a second. Recalling it makes me feel..all ticklish and makes me wanna cry at the same time, it makes me happy.. It kind of hurts inside and also had a weird warmth to it. What's this feeling called? It feels good.. I can remember the texture of the school walls, the rough playground and the chatter of the students ringing in my ear as if it happened a moment ago. The noise of the bell that I always found annoying, I remember it...

Three people came out of the car. Seems like a family with a child and her parents. All in the shades of gold.

Huh? Wait...That kid.... It's me..? That's the childhood me... This is my first day at school!

Who's that? Another little girl belonged to this world, dropping off at the school. And behind her stood a monochrome girl, who was definitely not from this world like me. The same girl who opened the gates with me. I wanted to reach out to her but she seemed so focused on the little girl in front of her. Her eyes were empty.. She looked like an old monochrome porcelain doll. Her face was really beautiful. But she didn't smile.. She had that blank look of a ghost. I can't help but think of her as a human-sized doll. She didn't look like the person who would instantly give a reply and get along well. So I watched my past self going to her school for the very first time.
The feeling of nervousness, excitement and joy..I am remembering them. The bell echoed the hallways. The car and the parents disappeared to thin air, as if their roles had finished. We (the other monochrome girl and me) followed the little girls to their school. Another thing I noticed is that people of this world can't see me or hear me. Since she hasn't noticed me, I guess she can't see me either. But if she is able to see me, then she should have noticed me in the beginning itself. How can something like me, can be missed out in this world? I mean, in a whole world that is only filled with the shades of gold, I am a person in black and white.
Her gaze was glued to the other little girl and mine on my little self. Walking behind this tiny body, I took a tour of the school in memories. Little by little, bit by bit, piece by piece, I am regaining my memories. I hope I won't forget them again.

Walking down the long hallways, her little hands grabbing her bag ever so tightly, while the children played and ran around her, her heart had a throbbing pain. The laughter of the kids killed the silence of my mind. I was recalling them. It was as if I was the girl who was walking down the hallway with a racing heart right now. The sudden school bell startled me. Rushing to the classrooms. I entered. Welcomed by the teacher, who did her job to make the kids comfortable, gave out the seating arrangements.

The desks and chairs arranged individually, across the room. And I got the most famous seat in the manga and the anime. The seat of the protagonist, the window seat.

"Huh? What did I think of just now? Manga..? Anime?"

For someone like me, who spent her leisure time reading the so-called boring Shakespeare and studying, Manga and anime was something that never entered my thoughts. I never had an interest towards it. My talents, activities, hobbies were all forgotten and I never cared to find it. All I wanted was to fit-in, even though I never enjoyed what I call my 'hobbies', I followed the trend. So a word like manga and anime seems something I wouldn't dream of.. Maybe the present me wouldn't. But the 'real me' (past self) would. This is getting more interesting... and confusing at the same time.

I continued to stare at the little girl. But there weren't many kids around. Most of the seats were empty and kids were not to be seen anymore. The loud chatter and giggles of the crowded classroom went silent. Ah! I remember this scene... This...is..when..she comes...