Keigo hadn't left the apartment since the funeral six weeks ago. He didn't care that Sakura and others were worried about. He didn't care about his hero duties for once. He didn't even care about himself. Nothing mattered now that she was gone. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it still- the fact that she was gone. He was standing in their apartment after. The sheets still smelled like her, and the dishes she'd been meaning to put away were still in the sink. Her shampoo and conditioner were still in the shower, her toothbrush in the cup on the sink. They were the signs of life he was struggling not to give meaning to.
Most of the time, he just sat on the floor by the kitchen counter. He didn't eat much, and he hadn't showered in god only knew how long. He just sat there, he wanted to stay close to the door for some reason, as though part of him was still waiting for her to come home. He never responded to Sakura when she came to the door, and when he'd heard her then he had no intention of getting up; but when he heard Hayato, he looked in the direction of the voice. He barely registered anything he said but watched the envelope slide into the apartment with his name scrawled in very familiar handwriting.
It had been six weeks, and although Kei thought that he'd lost the ability to cry, tears streamed down his face. He wanted to crumple the paper. He wanted to burn it. "How could you write something like this?" he asked miserably.
"It seemed like the right thing at the time," a voice responded.
Kei's head shot up and sitting on the floor across from him was the one person he wanted to see more than anything.
"Mari?" he whispered, his eyes impossibly wide.
The brunette smiled at him, but it wasn't as bright as it usually was, and her eyes didn't glitter the same way as before. "Hey," she greeted.
"You're here?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Where else would I be?" she asked.
A relieved sob bubbled in his throat. "You're alive," he whispered. "Thank god." He reached out to pull her into a tight hug, but the moment he touched her, the woman disappeared.
Keigo blinked and rapidly scanned the room, looking for his girlfriend. "Mari?" he asked. "Where did you go?" He scrambled to his feet and began running around the apartment, trying to find the brunette. He called out to her over and over again, but there was no response.
She was gone again.