Author's Note: I was rereading it and I decided I didn't like the ending. It's really not... me. I dunno, I don't like happy endings. It's not incredibly sad, I suppose, but it's not happy, so my mission is accomplished.
Flashback
Thought
Mirage Version 2: Sad Ending
A pair of grey eyes focused vaguely on the back of a man rummaging through the fridge.
"You're never going to find anything in there," the girl with grey eyes commented softly.
The man looked back with bold green eyes. "Watch me."
Michiko, the girl, smiled. "If you say so, Kurama."
Suddenly, the man was behind her with his arms secured about her waist. "I say so," he murmured quietly in her ear.
Michiko smiled again.
"Hey, you two, get a room," Michiko's roommate Marissa ordered, stepping around the couple to set down the bags of groceries she carried in both arms. Without hesitating or looking back, the girl busied herself with making dinner.
Grey eyes danced with laughter.
Michiko looked away from the window silently, a gentle tear slipping down her cheek. She crossed the room to her bed and settled herself for another restless night.
-:-
Michiko opened her pale grey eyes reluctantly, shoving a messy lock of auburn hair out of her face.
"I hate mornings," she muttered. She stumbled out of the overly large bed with a sigh and made her way downstairs with a carefully practiced smile and air of cheer placed around herself.
"Hey there, Michiko!" a peppy blue-eyed blonde chirped from the kitchen. "How ya doin' today?" There was genuine concern in her voice, as though she knew Michiko's expression was fake.
"Fine, Marissa."
Marissa examined her friend and roommate closely, a serious look on her face. "You sure? You haven't been acting like yourself since…" Her voice trailed off.
Michiko smiled reassuringly. She didn't ask what Marissa was going to say. She didn't have to.
-:-
"What?" Michiko's voice trembled.
Kurama's eyes dimmed, his expression as blank as it could possibly have been. "I'm sorry, Michi."
"But—" The girl stumbled to find the right words. "Why…? What did I do?"
The kitsune's face softened. He moved forward a little, reaching out a hand as though to touch her. Before his fingertips met her skin, however, he dropped the hand back to his side. "Nothing, Mii. I just… don't want to endanger you anymore so than my presence has already done."
"But—"
He silenced her by raising a hand. "It has to be done, sweet. Goodbye."
-:-
Michiko sighed as she found herself staring at the wall again. She was alone in the house, Marissa having gone out with her boyfriend. Michiko shuddered. Just the thought of love made her sad, sometimes even angry.
She hated it.
There was really no reason she should still be so depressed, as she had often pointed out to herself. After all, it had been almost a year.
-:-
A small group of her friends surrounding her, Michiko put up her daily façade of cheer so as not to worry anyone. She politely refused offers of parts of their lunches with the excuse that she'd already eaten during one of her classes. She hated lying to her friends, but she really didn't feel like eating.
After a while, Michiko's mind began to wander. She allowed her focus to slip between reality and fantasy on a whim, only catching snatches of conversation, all the while with a pleasant smile on her face.
Michiko stared distantly at the farthest wall, not really seeing anything she should have.
A tall, red haired, green eyed man stared back at her. He watched her solemnly, as though it were his purpose in life.
Michiko's attention wavered back to the present, grey eyes focusing on the man. She started, catching herself before she said anything or betrayed that she'd seen him, but did not remove her eyes for almost a full minute. It wasn't long before her eyes started watering.
Michiko blinked, only to find he had vanished.
She sighed inaudibly. Great, she thought sarcastically, that's just what I need. I'm not only depressed, but hallucinating, too. Wow, my life just keeps getting better.
-:-
"Eat something, Mii." Marissa shoved a bowl of ice cream in front of Michiko. "And don't give me that crap you've been giving everyone else. You aren't going anywhere until that bowl's empty!"
Michiko smiled ruefully. "Thanks Marissa. Really." She took a bite.
Marissa grinned. "Hey, someone's gotta look after you, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Something got you down?"
"I just… I keep seeing him. Everywhere. But… I blink or something and when I open my eyes and he's gone again."
"Oh… Well, get some rest, eat something, drink some water… get over him slowly. I'm sure you'll stop seeing as much of him soon!"
"If you say so…"
"By the way… I'm going on vacation with my parents for a couple of weeks. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Anyway, you'd better take care of yourself while I'm gone."
"'Course. Have fun, Rissa." Michiko hugged her friend, watching as Marissa closed the door behind herself, dragging a suitcase to the waiting car. Michiko dumped the food down the sink. "Still not hungry," she muttered.
-:-
"Where's Marissa?" one of Michiko's friends asked.
Michiko continued staring out the window in a bored fashion. "Vacation with her parents."
"No way! That's totally unfair!" another girl exclaimed.
A boy sitting nearby joined in. "No kidding. But she's gonna have so much homework and tests to do when she gets back…"
Michiko shook her head slightly. "She's a good student; she'll pull through."
"Yeah… Oh, did you guys hear about Amanda and John?"
"No, what happened?"
"Ok, so yesterday-"
Michiko tuned them out, uninterested in the current gossip that she had always tried to stay on top of. She watched the grounds, wishing the sky wasn't so sunny or the day so perfect. It had been a perfect day like this when he had left her…
A flash of rose colored hair, a glimpse of emerald irises. Michiko blinked, startled, staring at the figure standing across the field from her. He looked up directly into her eyes, and was gone.
Michiko sighed. And here I was, thinking maybe I was over that…
-:-
And it's really nothing to worry about. Stop being depressed, Michiko reprimanded herself. Just because you keep hallucinating that you see him doesn't mean he's really around, and you know it!
Three days until Marissa was coming home. It was almost too hard to think. Michiko hadn't eaten much at all for at least a month. She had started feeling a little dizzy only a couple days after Marissa had left. She shook it off as unimportant. But now she couldn't focus in the least, could barely get her body to go through the motions of a normal day without passing out.
She decided to take the day off, dragging herself downstairs and calling in sick at school. She looked listlessly at the stairs, unwilling to climb back up them. Instead, she grabbed a blanket from the hall closet and settled on the couch. Her eyes closed sleepily.
-:-
Something was wrong. Something important was happening, and she wasn't there to help. Marissa could feel it in her bones. "Mom, Dad, sorry, but I really have to go." She jumped up, packed hurriedly, and ran out to catch the next possible plane.
She fidgeted all the way back, trying to pinpoint the source of her anxiety. It seemed impossible to do, and Marissa started thinking over everything she could possibly worry about. Let's see… Michiko, school, tests, grades, Clarissa (she's back home with grandma), Mom, Dad (wait, they're fine), Cousins (No, I actually don't care what happens to them)… Must be Michi. She's the only one that seems like it couldn't wait. I mean, I could check on school and grades easy when I got back. Oh god, I hope nothing serious is wrong…
Four hours later and the plane landed. Marissa pulled out her cell phone the second she got off the plane. Come on, Mii, pick up…!
No answer.
"Michiko, whatever you've done…"
Marissa dialed another number. "Yeah, hey—yeah, I came back a little early, but—it was fine. Can I—Look, I only wanted to know if you've seen Michiko." She listened for a bit. "Oh… really? So she should be at home then?" Hearing an affirmative on the other end, Marissa thanked the correspondent and hung up. "God damn her."
-:-
The front door burst open, Marissa just behind it. "Mii?" No answer. "Michiko, where are you?" Marissa called.
She saw a figure lying on the couch in front of the TV. "Oh, there you are. God, you scared me. Mii?" Marissa shook her friend's shoulder. "Mii, not funny. Get up."
Michiko didn't move. Marissa tried to calm herself down by talking it out rationally. "She's warm, so she's not dead… Um… her pulse!" Marissa checked it. "Wow… it's probably not supposed to be so weak. Um… Um… what do I do? She's barely breathing! Oh, wait! 911!"
Marissa jumped up, racing to the phone. "Hi, my name's Marissa Jonsen; I live at…"
-:-
It was so quiet. And dark. Michiko didn't have the energy or the will to move. Faintly in the background, so softly she almost thought she didn't really hear it, Marissa's voice floated to her. Something about a pulse…?
The next thing Michiko knew, there were many voices. Most of them loud, others soft. A door shut then the scream of sirens ricocheted through her brain. She forced her eyes to part slightly.
"Is she going to be ok?" Marissa demanded, tugging on the arm of a paramedic nearby.
"I don't know, miss. We'll do everything we can, but she's in pretty bad shape," he replied. "Please let go of me so I can do my job."
Marissa stepped back, eyes tearful.
Michiko fought to stay awake.
She lost.
-:-
"Michiko?" Marissa's voice again. "You're supposed to be up soon. They said some food in your system, some water, a little rest and you'd come back. They said it was malnutrition. Didn't I tell you to take care of yourself?" Marissa spoke softly, her tone wavering slightly as though she were trying not to cry. "You—You're in big trouble later, missy."
-:-
Michiko was lying on a beach. It was sunny and clear; a beautiful day. The waves were gently lapping at her feet as she soaked up the warm sun contentedly.
"Michi…"
Michiko groaned, flipping onto her back in agitation. Great, someone found me.
"Mii, wake up. You've got to get up, Michi."
Who the… No way. The voices were going fuzzy again as her spirit and mind fell further into the darkness.
"What…doing here?" Marissa's voice demanded.
Bits and pieces of the broken conversation fell to a now stationary Michiko. She stared up, eyes wide, straining to hear more.
"Trying…help…! I…"
"…did…left her! ...away!"
"No!"
"Just…"
"Ku…"
Marissa abandoned her lecture to stare at Michiko.
"Kurama…" The girl's eyes were partially open.
"Mii." Kurama leaned forward, grasping Michiko's hand tightly. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Struggling to sit up, Michiko blinked back unbidden tears. "You're here and not one of my hallucinations, right?"
Kurama laughed a little, sadly. "You weren't hallucinating. I came to check up on you; I wanted to see you. I wanted to tell you to move on. But I couldn't. I honestly didn't want you to move on."
Michiko frowned a little, not propped up on her pillows. "Marissa, could we have a moment?"
"Sure…" The blonde left quietly.
"It killed me when you left," Michiko murmured, staring down at Kurama.
"I could tell," he responded. "I just… didn't know it would hurt you quite so much."
Michiko studied him. "Will you… will you come back?"
Kurama searched Michiko's eyes. "I'm sorry… I must stand by my decision. I cannot stay with you."
Michiko looked down, tears spilling down her cheeks and onto the crisp white sheet of the hospital bed.
"I'm sorry. I suppose I really do have to tell you to move on, no matter how much I wish I didn't have to."
"I still love you."
At this, Kurama's face fell and his eyes became blank. "I can't return your love, Mii. I'm sorry."
"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry'! Is that all you can say?" Michiko shouted angrily, the tears flowing unchecked from her eyes. "Why the hell should you be sorry if you don't care, Kurama? And why the hell are you here anyway?"
"I felt like something was terribly wrong and I was worried about you. I apologize if my saying sorry is annoying you. Perhaps it would be better if I simply departed. Farewell."
Michiko watched the door close behind him. She threw a pillow at the wall before her furiously. Blindly, she reached out to locate something else to throw; a glass of water came to her hand. It shattered against the blank, unfeeling surface, water dribbling down and mirroring Michi's tears.
Crying out in a mix of rage and sorrow, Michiko picked up another item to confront the wall.
Blood red petals lost their grip on the green stem as the rose fell to pieces.
-:-
Kurama sighed as he walked out of the hospital. He glanced up and behind himself at the window of Michiko's room. He listened for a moment with his acute hearing to the sounds of her rampage as he just stood on the sidewalk.
"Hey, Kurama!" Yusuke ran up to his teammate wearing the same goofy grin as always. "Whatcha doin' at the hospital, huh?"
Kurama smiled vaguely. "Nothing, Yusuke."
"Are you sure? You look kinda down, man." The smile had faded from Yusuke's face, replaced by a look of genuine concern.
Kurama looked back up at the room then off in the direction of his house. "I'm sure. I'll see you around, Yusuke."
-:-
Michiko didn't even bother to try and stop the tears. She stared at the destroyed rose on the floor dejectedly.
I look up and he's gone...
-:-
Author's Note: And there you have it. I'm much happier with this version. I'm sure not everyone will agree.