Work Text:
She woke up to an empty room.
It was cold. There was nothing surrounding her. Wait, who was she?
The girl sat up, still confused. She tried to remember something, anything that she could that would give her a clue about where she was but she couldn't. Her memories were almost like a blank canvas.
A part of her felt as if she should be panicked, but those feelings never came. It was almost as if things were as they were supposed to be, even if that didn't make sense. She's in an empty room with nothing around her, unable to remember anything. How could this be how things were meant to be?
She slowly got up, hoping to look around and find out something about her situation.
Leaving the empty room, she found that she was in a tower just as empty as the room. There was no door she could use to escape, or even a window from which she could look at the outside world.
She sighed and returned back to the room she woke up in. Perhaps if she rested, she'll remember something soon.
As the days passed (at least, she thought it was days; it was hard to tell without any way to measure time), things started appearing within the tower. Sometimes the items would appear whilst she was asleep, and sometimes they just appeared as she looked away. Either way, she couldn't help but be grateful for them.
Even if she remembered nothing, she could at least be able to ward of her boredom with the items that had appeared.
She carefully put a canvas onto the easel that had just appeared. It took her a while to look for the paints that had appeared a while back. She didn't know if she knew how to draw but she was excited to try.
"Oh,"
She had never used her voice before, having never found a reason to. She had no one to talk to, and she had never felt a need to hear her voice before this. But she had just realised something, and she wanted nothing more but to hear it spoken.
"Is my name Shijima Mei?"
She had been scared to voice the thought, fearing that hearing it would make her realise that it wasn't true. Instead she found herself smiling, unable to hold back a small squeal as she jumped up.
"My name is Shijima Mei!!"
Shijima woke up to windows. She couldn't help but feel a bit excited, jumping up to see what was outside. It was a lot less exciting than she had hoped it would be, but she was still happy to finally see something other than the dark walls she had been living in.
'Wait if there are windows now... maybe...'
Shijima nearly ran down the stairs, making a mad dash to the empty wall that had greeted her the first time she had ran downstairs. Just as she had hoped, there was a door.
She bit her lip, a moment's hesitation stopping her, but she shook her head, telling herself not to be silly. She had already seen what was outside the tower. It was only grass, there was nothing to be scared of.
She took a breath and opened the door, taking her first step into the world outside.
"Who are you?"
Shijima blinked in confusion, looking down at the girl who had asked her the question. She felt oddly familiar somehow.
"I'm Shijima Mei,"
The girl tilted her head confused. She mumbled something that Shijima couldn't hear, her tone disbelieving. Shijima mirrored her actions, her expression a picture perfect mirror of the girl's.
"What are you?" The girl asked, and Shijima was almost insulted. She was a girl just like her wasn't she? Why is she asking such an odd question.
Lifting her head to berate the girl for being rude, she suddenly caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the window the girl was sitting in front of. She realised then why the girl had asked her question, and she began to understand everything about her life thus far.
"I am Shijima Mei, a Creation." The girl in front of her - Shijima Mei, the real one - looked even more confused, and Shijima continued, the words flying into her head and out of her mouth without further thought, "When a human, such as yourself, puts their whole heart and soul into creating something, the item they're creating is given a soul. I am one such creation. Mei, you made me."
Mei's lips formed an 'o', her voice not coming out as she took another look at Shijima. Shijima supposed that Mei must have made her to be a form of her. They looked exactly the same save for a few minor differences. Shijima wore glasses while Mei did not. They both had long brown hair, but Mei's hair was a shade darker than her own and kept loose, whereas Shijima's was kept in two long braids.
Mei suddenly grinned as she stood up, grabbing Shijima's hands.
"Hey, will you live in my place?"
Days passed, and Shijima found herself leaving her tower more and more. She spent plenty of time by Mei's side. Unlike the first time, she found that Mei was unable to see her. She supposed that it must be because the painting wasn't finished just yet. Shijima didn't quite know how she could exist when the painting in which she had created wasn't completed yet but she supposed, Mei must have just put so much of her soul into her painting that she came to life earlier than she should have.
As time passed, being by Mei's side became painful. Mei's illness quickly overtook her and Shijima could do nothing to comfort her. All she could do was stand there and watch her struggle to continue to live.
When Mei stopped coming to the art room, Shijima wasn't surprised. She merely returned to her tower, and then picked up her paint brush.
She wasn't able to live in Mei's place, but she could at least try her best to finish her painting for her.
As the years passed, many things changed. She became known as School Mystery Number 4. The stories of her creation were distorted as rumours of her existence spread. Yet, she continued to paint, hoping that she could one day fulfil the reason for her creation.