With((out)) You

Weeks became months. Time moved on, and the powers that be decided the world should as well. It was time to return to normal.

Even though the sky was a different color. Even though the monuments of the previous world were destroyed or corrupted into crystal. Even though the whispers of foreign entities and secret structures never faded. Even though videos were circulating across the internet that showed strange glyphs and glowing lettering hovering in the sky.

None of that mattered. Life had to continue. So the world was forced back into pretend normalcy. Millions were dead. But it didn’t matter. Office buildings were returned to occupancy. Stores were reopened. Bills were due. Everything went back to how it was before Christmas Day.

Except that Miu and Yuki were still not together.

No amount of begging had brought about a resolution. They were still alone without any clue where the other was or how they were doing. Neither of them had phones or access to computers. They were separated in every possible way. In time, depression seized Miu like the hands around her throat. Color left her skin. Weight dropped every day. Hair fell out from neglect. Nothing she ate ever stayed down. Whether or not it was intentional, Miu’s body had activated a hunger strike.

“You’re skipping meals, Miu,” the doctor said.

Miu looked up from her daze. She was in the office once more. Concerned caregivers had reported her to the proper authorities a few days ago, and now she was being tended to by medical professionals and mental health experts.

“Hmm?” she asked as she watched radiant purple light flicker from within the halogen bulbs that were above them.

“You’re not eating. If you don’t eat soon, you’re going to become very sick. Very, very sick.”

No response.

“Miu, you will be hospitalized in a few days if you keep this up. Your body is failing. If you are hospitalized, you will have to be given IVs for fluids. I don’t want to have to do that. So please, tell me why you aren’t eating.”

Tears returned. Every time she cried, it felt like a jagged blade was running through her left eye socket. She could feel the crystal invader responding, and a tingling wrath drifted across her body. Tremors tensed her stomach as she blinked her eyes clear with a broken snarl.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I want to see Yuki.”

The adults inhaled.

“The boy you grew up with?”

Miu nodded.

There were whispers.

“I miss him so much. I just need to know he’s okay.”

The doctor sighed and removed his glasses.

“I am sorry no one has helped you with this, Miu. You must understand that travel is very limited these days, especially for children who are wards of the state. It will be very difficult to find out where Yuki is, as that is not information freely shared.”

Miu sniffed and shook her head in defeat.

“But…”

That was a foreign word for her. Usually, the requests stopped there. A flicker of hope danced in her mind as she finally met the aged doctor’s gaze.

“But, I will see what I can do. However, you must promise to start eating again. And you cannot make this a habit or negotiating tactic to try and see him frequently.”

A tiny gulping sound mixed with a gasp as Miu tried to speak, but it was to no avail. All she could do was nod her head. Everything was wrong. Everything felt destroyed, yet she was being told to be complacent. Her pleas to have one bit of comfort had thus far fallen on deaf ears, but if this man could help her, she would agree to start eating again. Anything to see her friend once more. Even if it was just for a day.

Weeks later, it was early May, and the cherry blossoms had arrived in Hokkaido. They always appeared later than the blossoms in Honshu or Kyushu, but now they were there and covering the hills in pink. Only this time, the pink seemed to glow. Yuki could not see them, though, as he was currently detained in an observation room.

Blood had dried, and the bandage was in place, but the damage was done. That morning, at breakfast, something had driven Yuki to press a knife into his leg until it bled, just to confirm that he couldn’t feel anything. Even as his hands felt the strain and resistance. Even as he watched the blade struggle to penetrate. Even as he heard the shouts from the other boys and the nearby caregiver. As frantic hands rushed to stop him, he looked down at the stream of red spilling down his upper leg with nothing but sorrow and disdain, but no pain.

Now, he was being supervised by two workers,

“Why did you do it, Yuki?” asked one.

“So I could finally believe it.”

“Believe what, Yuki?”

Yuki sighed and felt his jaw spasm.

“That this is all real. That I’ll never walk again. That she’s gone, and I don’t know if I’ll get to see her again for years. That the sky really did change. I hate all of this. I hate it so much. I hate myself so much,” he cried.

There was little comfort or empathy from the underpaid worker.

“You can’t just hurt yourself because of that. You’re going to stop this, okay? The whole world got hurt, but we’re all moving forward. So you have to as well, understand?”

All Yuki could do was exhale. Truth be told, he wasn’t interested in stabbing himself again anyway. The answer was clear. He felt no need to explain himself and simply nodded.

“Can I leave?” he asked.

“No, you’re staying here until the psychiatric evaluation is done. After that, you can go back to class. But after school, you’ll have a supervisor assigned to you for the rest of the day.”

In time, Yuki was able to go back to class, where his empty mind scribbled illegible notes on a bent notepad. The classroom window had small remnant shards lining its edges, locking the window in place. Yuki wondered if that was even up to fire code, or if it was just another part of the changed world they had to accept and look past.

By the time he returned to the shared home and prepared for evening free time, he was exhausted. But before he could start to unwind, there was a knock at the door. Yuki assumed it was for another psychiatric check-in, but when he turned, he saw another caregiver, who had a curious look on her face.

“Yuki, there’s someone here to see you,” she said.

Once more, Yuki assumed it was a medical professional, so he simply nodded in silence and rolled his way to the door. Following her led him past the observation room and to the front door.

“She’s out in the garden,” the caregiver explained.

She.

Hearing that word sent a flash of hope through Yuki’s mind, but he murdered it and buried it as swiftly as it appeared. Having any more hope crushed would lead to his undoing. So he rolled forward with no expectations. Down the ramp, around the home, past the storage building, and out to the garden.

Several small cherry trees lined the entrance along with numerous shrubs. They stood quietly like floral-adorned sentinels, blocking whatever was on either side. His wheels whirred out creaks as they moved along the concrete and out into the embrace of the blossoms. Then he saw her.

His gasp was more of a bleat. It sounded like an animal being stabbed in the stomach, but it was innocent and relieved. The voice caused her to turn. Surrounded by a swooping, frozen wave of bright blue crystal that covered half of the garden and rose several meters into the air.

Pink hair drooped from malnutrition, but was still vibrant. Blowing in the wind like the flower petals once did. Scars on her young face that weren’t there when he last saw her. Pained tears of suffering and joy mixed and ran from her exposed eye and from the strange eyepatch she was now wearing. 

It was HER.

It was-

“Miu?” Yuki cried.

Her gaze settled on his wheelchair, and she accidentally mouthed the word, ‘no’ as her brows turned upwards in shock and her hand raised to cover her lips.

But then she closed her eyes and smiled with a soft nod. His chair came to a stop in front of her.

“It’s me. It’s me, Yuki. I missed you. I missed you so much,” said Miu.