Kuro stared at the door for several minutes after Mai had gone. He was still a little restless about the whole situation. He tried to think through what happened that night and found himself dwelling on the people who had walked past Mai. He let out a long sigh. “I don’t know why it makes me so angry, but it does. I can’t believe those people could just ignore that.” He muttered aloud to himself. “Why did I have to be the one to do something!” He said in a harsh voice.
“Are you so angry because you were the one who got injured, instead of one of those other people?” Said a woman’s clear and dignified voice.
“No! I am angry because they did absolutely nothing! They didn’t even call the police. How can they expect to live happy lives after leaving that girl for dead!” He was yelling by the time he finished speaking.
Kuro immediately felt terrible for yelling at the woman in anger and averted his eyes to avoid the hurt look he thought she must have. It wasn’t her fault and he knew it. “I-I’m sorry Miss. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.” He summoned the courage to look up at her only to meet her cold and emotionless gaze. Her sharp blue eyes seemed to be piercing through him. Kuro felt even more uneasy than before. Without saying a word, the woman went back to writing in her small green book. Feeling awkward in the silence Kuro spoke again, “I really am sorry Miss but to be fair, you were the one who asked why I was upset.”
The woman blinked in apparent surprise and her expressionless face became one of curiosity. She looked behind herself as if checking for something and turned back to Kuro. “Are you speaking to me?” She asked in a curious tone, very different from before.
Kuro looked around to make sure before answering, “Uhh, yeah… You’re the only other person here.” The woman leaned forward and without touching the floor, smoothly floated from her seat to come face to face with Kuro. He was taken aback by this beautiful girl suddenly inches away from him, and three feet off the ground for that matter. Kuro couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she really was. She had long mint colored hair that seemed natural despite that being impossible. The mint color almost glowed as it softly reflected the light. She wore a collared shirt under a pale blue sweater-vest with a pastel purple skirt. The thigh high striped blue and white socks she wore would probably seem eccentric on anyone else but fit her style perfectly. He couldn’t quite decide between beautiful or cute, but her eyes were fixed on his and kept him frozen.
With a puzzled look on her face she finally asked, “Can you actually see me?”
Kuro snapped out of his thoughts and answered slowly, “I suppose so but… You realize you’re floating right?”
The woman tapped her finger on her notebook. “A fact you seem awfully calm about.”
“Probably because it’s pretty obvious you aren’t real. If I had to guess I’d say this a hallucination from all the pain killers and whatever else they have in this I.V. bag.” Kuro started rubbing his forehead. “I do feel a bit dizzy so it’s not surprising.”
“I’m not a hallucination.” She said curtly.
“I feel like that’s exactly what a hallucination would say.”
“What makes you think I’m not real?”
“Well as we already established, you’re floating. And there’s no way you’re a nurse in that outfit. I also hear it’s not uncommon for people on lots of pain killers to see things. On top of that…” Kuro paused a moment before deciding to continue. “On top of that, if someone were to ask me to describe the cutest girl I could possibly think of, it would be you. So, when you think about it, there’s really no way I didn’t imagine you.”
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“I-I see…”
The woman looked at Kuro thoughtfully for moment and said, “I may as well take this opportunity to ask you a few questions, although, if I were a hallucination this would probably be considered self-reflection.”
Kuro shrugged and leaned back against his hospital bed, “Go for it, I’m not going to argue with my subconscious.”
The woman flipped open her little green book and took up a lounging pose while still in midair and said, “In that case, I’ll start by asking why you lied to that girl?”
“What are talking about? I didn’t lie to her.”
The woman flipped back through her notebook and said, “You told her that you weren’t in any pain, despite moments earlier telling Doctor Satoshi that it quote, ‘was on fire’.”
“Oh, I guess I did say that. I just told her that so she wouldn’t feel bad. She probably feels guilty and only came here out of obligation. No need to make that any worse.”
“I see.” She continued to takes notes, “Why did you risk your life for a stranger to begin with?”
“You know, for a dream girl you’re certainly quite serious about this.”
“M-my name isn’t ‘dream girl’, its Melanie. Now answer the question.”
Kuro shifted a little in his bed, “Fine, I just thought I would definitely regret it. I thought if I walked by and didn’t do anything I’d hate myself for the rest of my life. There’s no way someone could do something like that and expect to be…” Kuro paused and looked at Melanie before continuing, “There’s no way someone could expect to be ok with that.”
“Are you aware of what you said to Mai on the evening of your injuries, after she began to tend to your wound?”
Kuro shook his head, “No I don’t, it’s all pretty fuzzy after I saw the gun. Do you know?”
“I’m not able to tell you.”
“I guess if I can’t remember there’s no way my hallucination would know.”
“Yes, I also suppose that would be true.” She scratched more notes down and without looking up asked her next question, “If that girl Mai were to fall in love with you, what would you do?”
Kuro was genuinely surprised at Melanie’s question. He never would have thought his subconscious would ask something so strange since it was so far removed from his own view of the situation. I guess people really do have weird dreams on morphine. “I wouldn’t do anything. If she felt like that, it would only be out of guilt or pity. Even if it wasn’t out of guilt, it would only be a matter of time before she would realize I’m not someone worth loving.”
Melanie continued to write notes for short time before looking back up at Kuro. “I only have one more question for the time being.” She flipped to a new page in her notebook. “Would it be accurate to say that you’ve given up on finding real happiness in your life?”
“I never really thought about it like that but, yeah that’s a good way to put it.”
Melanie took her final notes and snapped her book closed. “For such a negative outlook on life, your actions and attitudes are generally quite positive.” She said in a questioning tone, though it wasn’t really a question. “Your interactions with others are almost always pleasant in nature and you can even be cheerful when the situation calls for it.” Melanie watched Kuro thoughtfully as she tapped her finger on the little notebook.
“I don’t really view my outlook as negative. I see it more as pragmatic. Things are the way they are and being depressed or mopey about it won’t really change anything. Some people are meant to find happiness and some are not. I just know which one I am. Besides, acting like that can cause problems. I don’t need people feigning interest because I look sad.” Kuro shrugged his shoulders and continued, “All things considered my life isn’t that bad. I have a job and a place to live. I am contributing to society and have enough money to take care of myself. I may not be happy but I don’t really have any right to be sad either.”
Melanie continued to tap her finger on the green notebook in her hands. She moved from her lounging position to effortlessly land on her feet, softly lowering to the floor. “Those are probably the only questions that really matter for now. I need to figure out exactly what’s going on so I will be taking my leave.”
“Let me guess, you’ll be gone by the time I wake up tomorrow?” Kuro asked in a sarcastic tone.
“Yes, and it’s possible you will not be able to see me in the future.”
“As expected of a dream girl.”
“As I said before, I am not a hallucination.” She said indignantly.
“Well, hallucination or not it was nice meeting you. I enjoyed talking with such a nice figment of my imagination.” He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
When he finished rubbing his eyes, he looked back to where Melanie had been. She was already gone. I can’t believe I’m this tired after sleeping for a freakin week. I hope I can remember some of this in the morning. Kuro leaned back to rest his head on the pillow and was asleep before he knew it.