Chapter 1:
The Room That Remembered
The empty classroom
She is a quiet girl, and studies in the Hoshino School.She especially enjoys staying behind in class to clean the art room.Her friend Aya often waits for her, and they walk back home together.After 4:00 p.m., the school is silent and no one is seen in there.
She feels safe because she had been in this school for many years.One evening, Aya doesn't come to meet Mia.Mia notices Aya’s school bag is still in the classroom.
The lights are turned on, but there is nobody inside the room.This makes Mia uncomfortable.She walks down the long hallways, searching for Aya.
Her footsteps reverberate at a high decibel.She hears a soft sound coming from Classroom 3B.That is an old room and it is always locked.Mia slowly opens the door.
Inside, the desks are clean, but the clock is broken.
It is stuck at 4:10 p.m.On the board, she sees words in chalk:
“I was here.”
Mia pronounces Aya's name, but nobody answers her.Aya attends school the next day as if nothing ever happened.She is smiling and speaking as usual.
She says she went home early yesterday.But Mia feels something is wrong.
The bell runs late exactly at 4:10 p.m.
Only Mia hears it.She rummages through her bag and pulls out a piece of chalk.
Her hands are cold.This evening Mia checks her notebook.
Of course, there is a page she did not write.
It says that"You saw me.
Now it would ring a bell.
The penny suddenly drops for Mia.Aya did leave early that day.
But something else did stay inside the school.Mia once again returns to Classroom 3B.
The door is open. That clock still doesn't work. There is new writing on the board, which says: “I needed someone to see me.” Mia realizes, time is remembered by the classroom itself. It saves moments that never end. She knows she was selected because she was one of the ones who stayed late. Mia closes the door with care. She keeps quiet about it. Mia stops staying after school. She leaves before 4:10 p.m. every day. Life gradually feels normal again. But sometimes, when the school is deserted, Classroom 3B remains open. Time stands still. And the board is never clean.
She feels safe because she had been in this school for many years.One evening, Aya doesn't come to meet Mia.Mia notices Aya’s school bag is still in the classroom.
The lights are turned on, but there is nobody inside the room.This makes Mia uncomfortable.She walks down the long hallways, searching for Aya.
Her footsteps reverberate at a high decibel.She hears a soft sound coming from Classroom 3B.That is an old room and it is always locked.Mia slowly opens the door.
Inside, the desks are clean, but the clock is broken.
It is stuck at 4:10 p.m.On the board, she sees words in chalk:
“I was here.”
Mia pronounces Aya's name, but nobody answers her.Aya attends school the next day as if nothing ever happened.She is smiling and speaking as usual.
She says she went home early yesterday.But Mia feels something is wrong.
The bell runs late exactly at 4:10 p.m.
Only Mia hears it.She rummages through her bag and pulls out a piece of chalk.
Her hands are cold.This evening Mia checks her notebook.
Of course, there is a page she did not write.
It says that"You saw me.
Now it would ring a bell.
The penny suddenly drops for Mia.Aya did leave early that day.
But something else did stay inside the school.Mia once again returns to Classroom 3B.
The door is open. That clock still doesn't work. There is new writing on the board, which says: “I needed someone to see me.” Mia realizes, time is remembered by the classroom itself. It saves moments that never end. She knows she was selected because she was one of the ones who stayed late. Mia closes the door with care. She keeps quiet about it. Mia stops staying after school. She leaves before 4:10 p.m. every day. Life gradually feels normal again. But sometimes, when the school is deserted, Classroom 3B remains open. Time stands still. And the board is never clean.
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