Maybe she should have taken some time off like everyone had suggested, but she couldn't bear being in the house filled with so many memories of Haruka, from happy days, sad days, to the day she'd found her at the bottom of the stairs, already gone. The image haunted her constantly along with the question of what would have happened if she had gotten to her just a bit sooner. Could she have saved her? But no matter how painful those memories could be, she couldn't bear the thought of parting with the house for good either.
Every step seemed to take so much more effort than the day before, and she found herself calling Haruka's cellphone often to hear her voicemail greeting, just to get through the day. But one day her phone slipped out of her hands onto the hard pavement and refused to power on again. She would have cried if she hadn't remembered the old payphone by the other entrance of the grocery store. She could smell urine and alcohol as she got closer and the receiver was filthy, but she didn't care. She needed to hear her voice. She fished around her purse until she found the coins, inserted them into the phone and dialed the number.
Michiru froze when she heard a click. "Hello?" said the voice at the other end. Michiru's breath caught in her throat. "Who is this?" Michiru forced herself to exhale.
"T-this isn't funny…"
"Michiru? Are you okay?"
"This can't be…you're…"
"What can't be?"
"Nothing, Haruka," she said, wiping tears away with the back of her glove. "I'm fine." From that day she called every day at noon without fail. She didn't care if someone was playing a cruel trick on her. It was so comforting to hear Haruka's voice happily telling her about her day and complaining about having to use crutches. Michiru always tried her hardest to sound cheerful despite the fact that all she wanted to do was cry. Haruka was happy and if she had to suffer to keep it that way it didn't matter. "See you when I get home," She said, every time before hanging up.
"Haruka!" She called, every night after shutting the front door behind her, but there was never an answer. And Haruka's phone was always on top of the coffee table were Michiru placed it every time after charging it. It was never moved out of place, not even by a centimeter. Every night she walked around the house, hoping to at least feel her, but she never did.
One day she stepped out of her car to call Haruka, but to her horror she realized the payphone, that only payphone that she could reach Haruka with, was gone. She stood trembling, with her mouth agape, ready to collapse at any moment. A young girl who worked at the grocery store was putting the shopping cars back in place when she noticed Michiru. "Are you alright, Miss? You look pale…"
"The phone," Michiru managed to choke out, "where is it?"
"They took it away. It was old and nobody used it. It was just taking up space."
"I used it!"
"There's a payphone just across the street," said the girl taking a step back. "I've got to get back to work." Michiru felt so weak as she shakily tried to walk to her car. A car horn blared close by, but Michiru was hardly aware and then there was a loud screech. She looked up just in time to see the face of the frightened man behind the wheel. She felt pain momentarily and then everything went black.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Haruka glanced at the clock worriedly. Michiru wasn't picking up her phone, and neither were the other girls. She felt so useless without being able to drive. Even with the crutches slowing her down, she couldn't stay still. She stopped in front of the stairs. There was always something she felt she should remember every time she passed them, but she never could.
"Stay away from the stairs," She mumbled the last words Michiru had said before leaving. She stared for a long time. The air seemed to grow cold suddenly as the memory came flooding back.
She had struggled up the stairs despite her injuries, and Michiru's warning. She remembered the horror when she felt herself falling back. The way she had tried to reach the handrails but couldn't get a good grip. The pain of her body being forced to bend the wrong way, and the sickening sound of bones breaking. She remembered the pain she felt once she finally hit the bottom of the stairs, and the way she couldn't move at all. She remembered the coldness of the floor beneath her, and the warmth and wetness of blood on the back of her head. She had been so terrified, but she had waited quietly for Michiru. Slowly as she drifted into unconsciousness the pain had become nothing but a dull ache until she could feel nothing at all.
The scene around her changed suddenly. She could hear the pouring rain outside. The sky was grey and the house seemed so dark now. Her crutches, the bandages and the brace were all gone, she realized. The cellphone was no longer in her hand, but on the coffee table and the book she had been reading was back on the shelf. Everything was covered in dust. All of it had been an illusion. She had died that day. She fell to her knees, "How could I have done something so stupid…"
Slowly she became aware of a familiar smell in the air. It seemed to fill the whole house, surrounding her. It was the smell of Michiru's perfume. She stood, and slowly turned towards the front door. There she was, smiling sadly at her. "Michiru, no…" She said softly. "Not you."
"I'm Home, Haruka."