"The Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief, is a series of emotional stages experienced when a person is faced with impending death or death of someone. The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance."

Denial

It had been exactly a week now.

Ryuko had been locked away in her bedroom for a full week and no one had seemed to notice yet.

And she was glad.

'I wonder what they'd say if they came on and saw all this,' she thought to herself, looking at the loose sheets of paper that covered her bedroom floor like a thin, papery carpet, decorated with messy handwriting and inky tear stains. 'Would they think I'm crazy? Am I going crazy?'

Her fist tightened around the red piece of ripped fabric she'd been holding onto for most of the week. That piece of fabric was the reason she started acting like this in the first place.

Because it was a sign.

A sign that Senketsu was still there.

He wasn't dead. It was absolutely ridiculous for her to think that. Why would Senketsu leave her like that? He loved her and Ryuko loved him back. He wouldn't just go and die. He couldn't...

That piece of cloth she found... It was proof he was still there, wasn't it? It couldn't just be a coincidence that she found a piece of fabric in the middle of the street that was the exact same texture and color of Senketsu's scarf. Ryuko knew for sure that this had to mean something more.

She just had to find the rest of the pieces, right? Just like last time. And then she could stitch them back together and Senketsu would be with her again and she wouldn't have to be so sad any more.

But for now she just had to focus on talking to him.

"C'mon, Senketsu," she whispered to the piece of cloth, holding it close to her face, "Talk to me. Please. I know you're there..."

No reply.

"Please?"

Nothing.

Ryuko slammed her fist on the floor in frustration, tears streaming down her face. "Please! I'll do anything! Please just talk to me!" she screamed in a near hysterical voice, "Why won't you just fucking talk to me?!"

She took another look at the papers surrounding her, all of them being letters to Senketsu. They were all mostly the same; they started off normal enough, but ended with desperate written pleas for Senketsu to do something, anything to prove that he was still there.

They didn't seem to be working either.

But she couldn't give up hope, not now.

Grabbing what was left of her tattered notebook, Ryuko took her pen and stated writing again. She didn't bother with the greeting this time; she just went straight to begging.

Her shaky hand grasped the pen awkwardly, the damp tear-stained paper ripping beneath its nib, but she didn't stop writing until the page was filled with as many "please talk to me"s she could fit.

She ripped the paper out of the notebook and set it down on the floor, carefully placing that precious piece of cloth beside it. Then she waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened.

"Do something, Senketsu... please..." she whispered.

Still nothing.

Ryuko closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hands, mentally begging him to speak to her. Maybe if she just focused on talking to him, she'd hear something. He was still there, and she knew it. Senketsu wasn't dead, right? He was just finding it hard to communicate with her because she'd ignored him for so long.

"You're not dead," she said aloud, "I won't believe it... not until you tell me yourself."

Knock.

Ryuko opened her eyes. There was someone at the door. She glared at it with wide eyes. "W-who is it?"

"It's me, Ryuko-chan! Can I come in?"

It was Mako.

"Fuck off," Ryuko yelled back, "I don't wanna talk."

Mako was quiet for a moment."Ryuko-chan... Is everything alright? We're all really worried about you! Can I please come in?"

"I'm fine, now go away." Ryuko quickly grabbed her piece of fabric and held it close to her chest protectively. "Just go away. And don't you fucking dare get Satsuki to come either."

"Ryu-"

"Piss off! I'm not gonna tell you again!"

Mako opened the door anyway, flooding the once dark room with light. "And I'm not gonna le-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Because once she stepped into the room, she saw it.

The paper's everywhere, the unmade bed, Ryuko curled up on the floor wearing nothing but her underwear.

For once, Mako was speechless.

Ryuko didn't say anything either.

After a minute, Mako bent down and picked up one of the sheets of paper, studying it carefully. Her eyes scanned over it, and then filled with tears. "R-Ryuko-chan..."

Before Ryuko could say anything, Mako was already on the floor beside her, hugging her tightly. "I-I'm so sorry! You poor thing!"

"Get off me," Ryuko mumbled, tensing up and tightening her grip on her piece of fabric, "I don't need you to feel sorry for me."

"Shh, I know it's hard for you, but you can't just shut yourself away like this. You need to talk to someone about it," Mako said, gently patting Ryuko's hair, "Maybe you can go see a... a bereavement counsellor or something? I'm sure Satsuki can arrange something for you."

"And why would she need to do that? I don't need to see anyone. Besides, don't those counsellors only help with getting over dead people?" Ryuko stared at Mako, waiting for her response, though she already has an idea of what she was going to say.

"Well, Senketsu is... he's... y'know... not wi-"

Ryuko pushed Mako off of her and sat up, glaring down at her. "He's what?!"

"Um... dead?"

"No he's not, you idiot! He's still here, I know he is! Don't you dare say he's dead!"

"R-Ryuko-chan, please. He is... you said so yourself, remember?" Mako stood up, looking hurt. "Why are you being so mean to me? I'm just tryna help you..."

"Because you're being stupid! Senketsu isn't dead," Ryuko showed her the red piece of fabric she'd been holding onto for so long, "See?"

"Is that..." Mako eyes widened in disbelief, "No... Where did you find that?"

"On the street, right outside this building. It's a sign, Mako. He's still here! This is just his way of telling me!"

"Ryuko-chan..."

Ryuko knew Mako thought she was crazy. But she didn't care. She knew Senketsu was still out there, and that's all that mattered. She didn't need Mako to believe her.

"How long has it been since you slept or ate?"

"Dunno, don't care."

Mako stood still for a moment, biting her lip. Then she grabbed Ryuko by the arm and tugged on it. "You need to sleep, Ryuko-chan! Come on, get in bed."

Ryuko didn't budge.

"Please! This isn't healthy!" Mako tugged harder on her arm, trying to pull her towards the bed, "You're gonna make yourself sick. You need to get some sleep!"

"No, I don't... I c-can't," Ryuko whispered, her voice cracking as she tried not to cry. "What if... w-what if Senketsu tries to t-talk to me while I'm s-sleeping?"

The two stared at each other with teary eyes. Eventually, Ryuko pulled her arm free and slowly crawled over to her bed. She didn't feel like arguing any more.

Mako followed behind her, carefully tucking her in once she laid down. "Do you want me to call Satsuki?" she asked, gently running a hand through Ryuko's messy hair. "I know you said not to but... I think we should tell her. Only if you want to though..."

Ryuko shrugged, trying to slide down beneath the blankets.

"...I'll call her now, okay?" Mako stood up, hesitating for a moment before exiting the room and closing the door behind her.

Ryuko rolled over and covered herself completely with the duvet, stroking her piece of cloth as she held it close to her face. "Don't you worry, Senketsu," she whispered, "You can wake me up if you need to. I won't mind."

She could hear Mako talking on the phone outside. She really didn't want to deal with her sister, not right now, not when she was like this. She knew exactly what Satsuki would say to her if she found out about this.

Taking one last look at "Senketsu", Ryuko closed her eyes and slowly cried herself to sleep.

(A/N:) eh just an idea thing i had because i like to write angst... and yep i'll do a chapter for each of the stages. hopefully i finish this pretty soon though lmaaoo. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! concrit is appreciated!