Chapter Text
Thud
Yashiro landed on the wooden floors of… the old clock room?
“Owwwh…” She clumsily hobbled to stand up, rubbing her backside. Evidently, time travel did not have any concern for one's comfort. On a different topic though, a question begged to be asked. Why was she still here?
She meandered around, a bit confused as to how she ended up in the exact same place she just was. Did the key not work? She looked around the room. She saw the clock; it almost looked newer, and shinier. The gears looked as if they had been oiled just yesterday. When she looked a little harder, it came to her that the room around her was notably less dusty.
When she came to the realization that she actually might have time traveled she started to grin. She ran over to the window.
Outside, kids in their summer uniforms were setting up for... something. She couldn’t tell what. They carried tables, chairs, props, signs, it almost looked- like festival prep? Banners hung from windows, and everything was vibrant and alive. Could she have actually time traveled to Kamome Academy's festival years ago?
"Wow...” she muttered to herself. Yashiro stared for a while, just watching everyone. It was the exact same as 2015, but it felt different. But then-
SLAM!
A loud noise snapped her out of the trance. She shook her head. Footsteps. Coming up stairs. Her eyes darted for a place to hide, nothing. No escape in sight.
‘Think, Yashiro, think!!’
She tried to think, but alas, it was too late. The footsteps stopped, and she locked eyes with a familiar orange-eyed-brown-haired boy. Yashiro gasped, her heart dropped to her stomach as she looked over him. She found herself walking towards him, like he was magnetic..
‘Is that…?’
"Ha- Hanako!..." She blurted, but quickly realised who it actually was. Rookie mistake.
"Wait– uhm, I mean- uh..." She awkwardly laughed, total failure...
‘Play it cool, Yashiro…’
"Hanako" blinked, taken aback by the stranger in front of him. "Uh- Uhm.. My name is Amane.. Amane Yugi.." He got choked up. In front of him, he sat down in a heavy looking toolbag— cautiously. Then neither of them moved.
The silence felt suffocating. Yashiro was internally screaming.
‘I can’t freaking play it cool! It's Hanako, and he’s here!! He’s alive. He's in front of me. Again.'
Her heartbeat echoed in her head, and she could hear the blood rushing through her ears. Amane didn’t even know her but she had missed him so much.
“O- oh, sorry! I uh- guess I must’ve thought you were someone else... Heheh...” She forced a smile that came out as more of a grimace.
“Someone named… Hanako..?” He raised an eyebrow. He was (rightfully) suspicious. “Oh gosh, are you one of Tsukasa's friends..?” He spoke in a disdainful way.
“No– I mean, kind of but... Ehh..” She slouched back down. Desperately, she tried to collect herself– but to no avail.
“S- sorry, I think I hit my head a little too hard... Uhuhm.. What year is it now? 1960 something, maybe?” She tried to laugh, but it died half way out of her mouth.
Amane blinked again. Yashiro could’ve sworn she saw him grin though, which she marked down as a mini success. “You’re weird,” he said, “It’s 1968 though...”
He crouched down beside her with a wrench in hand, and began fiddling with some clock gears. “Did you hit your head or something?” Yashiro didn't answer that comment. She was currently preoccupied.
‘Nineteen freaking sixty eight??’
The realization that she did in fact time travel sank in, and it scared her. No cell reception, none of her friends, just her and her job to save everyone— No! Not a big deal!
Silence again. She realized she’d just been sitting there, spiraling. So instead of standing and looking weird, she sat down next to him, watching him mess with gears and chains and whatnot. It felt natural to her, although it probably weirded Amane out a bit.
As she watched him, she thought.
‘I can't let myself screw this up now... I have to prevent him from dying.’
She zoned back in, and leaned in a little closer to see what he was doing. “Sooo, are you like– the clock repair guy here...?”
He looked over at her, a little calmer, and slightly more friendly-looking. “Ah, uhm, not exactly.. No one’s hired me or anything.” He leaned back from his work, and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead.
“Well, the reason I’m here is...” He sighed,“well, you know, they say you can time travel through this clock, so...”
Yashiros eyes widened. She leaned in even closer. Wasn’t that like– a secret??
“W- wait you know about that?!”
He leaned away from her. “Well, yeah, duh… Doesn’t everyone? It’s a huge rumor here...” Evidently, her surprise was only greeted with confusion. Yashiro looked down, and only hummed in response. She leaned back a little. She was confused.
So do the seven mysteries actually exist here? That’s... not possible, right? Either way, it may be good for her.
‘Sooo, maybe he won’t think I’m insane? Maybe I can tell him?’
She opened her mouth to talk, but he started talking instead, offering her a screwdriver. “Hey uhm, I need a little help with this chain here... I mean- if you aren’t doing festival prep...” He looked at her hopefully, Yashiro thought it was sort of cute.
“O- oh, no, I’m not doing anything, so– Yeah, what do you need?” She crawled over next to him, and took the screwdriver. She looked over the gears, the chains, clueless on what to do.. He grabbed some pliers and got into position, ready to fix some clock chains.
“Okay uhm- well basically, I'm just trying to replace this chain here, it's kind of rusty. You sure you're up to this?”
“... Uhmm, I’m not exactly a clock technician soo, a little help?” She gave him an anxious smile. He chuckled in response.
“Uhmm, okay. So basically what I’m trying to do is replace the chain. I need to get the gear to slip on the chain here.” He pointed to one of the larger gears. “I think it’s- it’s called the drive wheel? I read that somewhere… So uhm, then—”
Yashiro was dazed off. Who knew Amane was such a massive clock nerd. She pretended to get what Amane was saying- but none of it was processing.
“So uhm, you got it now?” He asked.
Yashiro perked up. “Uhm, yeah! One hundred percent! So I just uhm… I uh…” She felt herself trailing off– what was she doing again? She didn’t know. Amane just sighed.
“Okay. Uhh, here, just let me…” He took her hand and attempted to guide it— but Yashiro gasped- and quickly flinched away from his touch without thinking. He felt— real? Human? But—
'It’s.. Warm?!'
“Oh my gosh? A- are you okay, Hanako? Do you have ghost fever again?” She put her hand to his forehead, then quickly realised her mistake. She stopped.
‘Uh ohh..’
She froze
He froze
‘Stupid stupid!!’
“E- Ehh?!” He flinched away blushing, and his eyebrows shot up like rockets.
“Ghost.. Fever???... And you called me Hanako again?!”
Yashiro sat back down. She waved him off, though it looked more like she was flailing her arms. “W- what?! No I didn't, you must be hearing things! Silly!!” She smiled weakly.
He rolled his eyes, grinning a bit, “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t, but whatever..” He returned his attention back to the job at hand. “..Uhm, so what did you want me to do?”
“Oh yeah, that.. Alright, urgh, here, don’t get too shocked this time.” He took Yashiro’s hand again and led it to the screw on the chain which he wanted to take out, “Alright just loosen up the screws on that chain right there.”
He let go of her hand, and went back to rummaging through his bag. Yashiro was a bit disappointed at the loss of contact, but went through with the orders and loosened the screws on that chain.
“So, what school did you transfer from? I haven’t seen you here before.” He asked nonchalantly. Yashiro’s eyes widened. What should she say?
‘What school am I from?? Come on, come on think!’
“Ahhh- erh, the uh, South- Clock Academy in.. Tokyo!!” She looked over at Amane, who furrowed his brows, a deadpanned look was on his face.
“... What?”
“...We uh, we study clocks! Intensely!! It’s a very prestigious school!!” She desperately tried to dig herself out of the hole she made.
‘I screwed up! He thinks I’m insane, just look at his face!’
He raised a suspicious eyebrow and folded his arms. “You’re acting very odd, just so you know.” He grabbed some pliers out of his bag and sat back next to her again.
Yashiro huffed, and thought up a cover story. “Okay, okay, I get I’ve called you Hanako at least twice, said you had a non-existent sickness, but that was a slip up! And I know you don’t believe I go to a very high-rated prestigious clockworking school but, I do! I am not a spy, or a cultist, or an escaped patient, or any weird thing you’re thinking of! I’m just–”
He cut her off.
“You’re not very good at lying.”
“I know!!” She sighed exhaustedly. “I know, I just—don’t know where I am, or where I live, or even how this place works, and I have no plan, and no money, so!”
Amane blinked, “Huh..?”
“I mean— forget I said anything...” She deadpanned.
More silence followed..
‘Okay, it’s obvious now! There’s nothing else to do but tell the truth...'
Yashiro took a deep shaky breath before finding her resolve. Then she spoke up. “Okay, you know what? The truth is I’m definitely not some kid born in 1950something, and I may have time travelled, and I don't know why I’m supposed to be here yet... So, yeah!”
Amane raised his eyebrows and nodded, “Huh..”
He tapped his chin, as if he was deeply considering it. Another beat of silence passed while he processed.
“So... You’re a time traveller...”
Yashiro nodded, “Yes..”
He grinned and leaned forward, “Knew it.”