Chapter Text
You drank the potion.
No, there isn't any hesitation in your steps or anything like that. You had taken the vial on your hand, watched the glow of blue liquid swish from side to side, placed the tip to your lips… then you drank it. Slow and steady, as if the action was just the same as breathing to you.
It may have been the same as breathing to you, because aside from doing something deliberate, your movements also felt… blurry. As if you had no recollection why you had drank the potion in the first place, or why you are standing in this void where nothing but your body and the potion existed.
And maybe that should have made you think better. Maybe you should have given yourself enough time to stop and realize that, 'Hey, this is suspicious. I shouldn't be drinking all of this without making sure it's safe.'
But there was no time to think.
Or there was never a chance for you to think, because the moment you drank the potion, your eyes grew heavy and you ended up closing them.
It's the consequences of drinking a suspicious bottle, you know that, but it's still surreal how your mind had also dulled into nothing. Then a voice from somewhere and nowhere at the same time, asked you:
If you could choose wherever you want to be, where would you go?
There wasn't any place that came to mind. Nothing that you could remember, if you even had memories to begin with. But how weird was that? You had no memories, no interests, nothing that reminded you of… you.
You had nothing.
Yet the cold potion had slithered down your throat as if it was speaking to you, and it said: You, my dear, did have something.You have yourself. Under the guidance of wonder and joy, you are you, and you are a child of this world.
Because that is what you have: the assurance that you are a child of this world, like a warm hug from someone, whispering to you that you belonged even in a world where there is nothing.
And now, the potion said to you once more, if you could choose wherever you want to be, where would you go?
You had drank the potion.
No, there wasn't any hesitation in your steps or anything like that at all. You had closed your eyes, listened to the question that lulled you into relaxation.
Then you fell into a deep slumber.
It was interesting how the world began for you.
When you opened your eyes, your gaze landed on towering skyscrapers adorned with billboards and images of certain people. You saw it flicker into a picture of a guy who looked like a comic character, all buffed up with yellow hair and shadowed features. His name was blurry for you, but his grin had caused everyone to stop in their places, amazed and in awe of his image.
The people were another interesting thing about this world.
Some of them strolled by in flamboyant costumes, and they stopped next to others who seemed to be in need of help. But there were also some with peculiar features on their body, like that man who had the head of an eagle. His face was a mix of human and bird; sharp, golden eyes, beak as a nose, white feathers across his face. But the rest of his body was humanlike.
You blinked.
How could a human look like an eagle? It felt as if a mythological creature had been brought to life. And the more you looked around you, the more you saw that others also had the same— not exactly the same creature, but the same— weird features as that man with the eagle face.
Wherever this place is, it's… more than interesting.
You seemed to be standing in the middle of a humongous street as well. Or maybe you are tiny and these people are giants— you're leaning more on the second one, because when you looked down, you found yourself staring into small, stubby hands that belonged to you.
It's not difficult to understand that this body is yours, and that you control every muscle within it.
But even if you knew that and the fact that you had no memories whatsoever, you also understood that this…
This is not your original body either.
Maybe you are seeing through the eyes of someone else, or maybe you never had a body to begin with. Whatever the answer is, you know that this is not you and it can never be you, because who were you before you woke up here anyway?
You were alone, standing in the middle of a crowded place. You had no memory whatsoever, and the giant people paid no mind to the clueless, little you.
You are tiny. So small, so fragile, and it felt as if the moment you take a step forward again, you'll crumple down into the deepest part of the earth and you won't be able to get yourself out of it.
Maybe you looked as disoriented as you felt as well, because somebody raised a voice in front of you.
"Hey, they're gone."
And when you lifted your head, your gaze fell upon the sight of a white-haired girl with bunny ears.
She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. It didn't matter to her if she had a bruise and dried blood on her skin, because there she was, smirk growing as if she had won whatever it is that she wanted to win.
"You don't have anything to worry 'bout anymore," she said again, scrunching her nose as she grinned wider. "Cause those senior old hags aren't gonna bother you after this!"
It was impossible to look away from someone as radiant as her. Short white hair that fell on her shoulders, rich brown skin that contrasted her silver hair. She wore some kind of uniform, the type that felt as if you once wore that back then— but how can that be? You don't remember, do you?
She turned her head to the side, her scarlet pupils narrowing into an even more dangerous glare. "Still, I can't believe they'd openly fight with a little kid in the middle of the streets. Can't they pick someone their own size for once? Or are they scared they'll be defeated because they grew weak at their old age?"
Right as she said that, you saw a couple of people— a little taller than you and the girl— run away hurriedly with a limp on their steps.
Others who were walking past you two only rolled their eyes and went on their way. You didn't understand it, nor did you understand how the girl had a different aura compared to them, with that blood and bruises on her face. Her aura pulled you in, warning you that she was someone you knew. But where? How could you know her? You don't know anything, do you?
"Kid?" you repeated her words. She turned to you with a confused blink. "Am I a kid?"
"Yeah you are," she said without any hesitation. Then she raised a hand at the top of her head and pushed it near yours— but because of the difference between you two, her hand stayed a few inches away from your head. "Look at how short you are compared to me."
"That's not true."
"Is so."
"You're a giant."
She grinned. "I guess I am a giant to a shorty kid like you, huh!"
You looked back down at your tiny hands. "But I don't think I'm a kid."
In no way are you saying that you remember something, but the moment you saw a sight of your body and these tall people, there were two emotions that swirled within your chest. One: it told you that you never existed here before, and you accept that. After all, you would remember a memorable place like this if you lived in a world where comic scenes crossed the line into reality.
Two: the emotions inside of you said that you were once a giant, too. A giant who walked around the street, head buried into the crevice of a phone, tired and exhausted before all of this had happened.
I don't want to be called a shorty, a voice whined in your head. It belonged to you, echoing a lot more than your normal voice did. Please prove her wrong. You did it once back then so do it again today, too!
Prove her wrong? How?
Your gaze met the girl's scarlet red eyes, and she seemed to be losing interest the more you kept silent to yourself. She asked something and you didn't hear it, because the voice in your head spoke again.
Do the thing that you did when I first got you!
At first, nothing came to mind at what the voice had said to you. It didn't strike you as odd that it was speaking to you in that tone, as if you had something it needed and you were the only one who could satisfy its desires.
But in the next second, as you turned back to what the bunny girl had said, something washed over you. A memory forgotten, a name unforgettable.
"If you aren't gonna tell your name, then whatever, that's fine. But you better remember mine— Usagiyama Rumi, because you'll see more of me in the television when I become a hero that saves shorties like you!"
Usagiyama Rumi. The name rang inside the hollowed memories in your chest, until the only thing you could feel was nostalgia.
It wasn't just a name of a random bunny girl in this world. It wasn't just a name of someone who had 'defended' you from those people who looked to be taller and older.
Instead, it was a name that you had seen before.
From a television, she said, but it was more than just a television to you. It came in different mediums too: phone, paper, posters, and most importantly, books. Comic books that you remembered slowly.
Please show her I'm not a shorty!
And suddenly you remember the void. The potion.
You had drank it. And no, you had no idea why, but all of the memories that you had forgotten came back to you in one swoosh of the wind and one mention of the bunny girl's name in front of you.
"Rumi?" There is a tug in your mind as you spoke the word.
She didn't look bothered by you calling her name, and so you muttered the next name that flashed within your mind.
"Mirko?"
That's when she reacted: the girl arched a brow at you. "Ha? It's Rumi, Ru-mi!"
"Mirko." The way you said that name so confidently made Rumi growl, and the sight of her brows contorting into anger—
It made a laugh bubble out of your stomach.
"You're Mirko!" you exclaimed, the ends of your lips curling into an unrestrained smile.
"To hell I am! I said my name is Rumi, not that ass of a name you just thought of!"
You opened your eyes in this world without any expectations; you were ready to walk off into the unknown, and explore the place that you had been put in, because that was what the emotions in your veins had told you— for you to let loose, for you to be wherever you want to be, even if you were terrified at first.
Then, right as you thought that, something happened.
You felt a tug in the pit of your stomach. You heard your chest rumble with a warm emotion, the skin of your fingers shuddering. And you grinned even more widely, because more memories flooded your mind as you gained more control of the new body that had been gifted to you.
"Rumi," you breathed. "I loved you!"
She went incredibly still.
You don't remember it fully just yet, but with her name and with the rapidly twitching bunny ears on her head, you were able to see a glimpse of memories that had been buried underneath your mind: you, watching at the comfort of your home, and you, once seeing Rumi's features animated instead of the real deal in front of you.
It wasn't difficult to understand where you were.
And that seemed to make the world stop.
It must have been the sudden change in your personality that made Rumi's entire jaw drop to the floor, or it must be your declaration of love that made everyone in the street pause from walking.
But the world seemed to warp and twist at the emotions that washed over you.
Your memories wasn't completed yet. You still can't grasp the true imagery of what you had seen earlier— of a different version of you who watched multiple videos in the darkness—, but the uncompleted memory coursed through your veins, and you realized:
The world didn't stop. No, it did not.
It was the tug in your gut that made you feel as if you were the only one moving— because you were. Your limbs were stretching, and stretching, and—
Then you looked down to see the people looking up at you with trembling pupils. Some had even raised their phones to capture the moment.
Because there you were: standing in the middle of the street, able to touch the sky, your fingers brushing against the clouds, and your feet staying still on the ground that were farther from you now.
You- you did it! The voice squealed. It sounded— they sounded so excited, so childlike. You did it, you did it, you're amazing!
And they sounded just like you.
Maybe that is you, and this world is a part of your memory, too. Blurry but never forgotten, because how can you forget the memory that had brought you comfort for years?
If you could choose wherever you want to be, where would you go?
That time when that potion asked you, there wasn't any place that came to your mind then. Nothing that you could remember, if you even had memories to begin with.
But you did have memories, and when you had the power to choose, you had decided to go to a place where you could be yourself. A place where you could start as the new you. A beautiful place… a world and a place… a wonderland where everything can go your way.
Because that is what the potion had promised you.
That this, it said, is your wonderland, and in your wonderland, you can be wherever you want to be.
You had chosen a world.
Now, the world of your choosing is staring up at you with wide eyes and mouths hanging open.
"What… what the fuck!"
And the confusion from under you also started piling onto one another.
"Oh," you uttered in delight, turning to look back down at Rumi whose wide eyes were ready to spill out from her eye socket.
"It seemed like you're not the giant between the two of us anymore, huh?"