Hanako had suffered through a restless night without sleep when she finally dragged herself out of bed and immediately headed to her sock drawer where she kept her anxiety medication. However, the small prescription bottle was empty. Damn. She had forgotten to get another bottle from the nurse the day before when she noticed she was on her last pill and now she was facing a tough decision. Should she go to the nurse and be late to class, or should she go to class and go without medication until she could go get a refill during morning break?

With a heavy sigh, she headed to the nurse's office. She wasn't able to focus in class without her anxiety pill. She rounded the corner to the nurse's station to find a small line of students waiting outside the door. Double damn. It looked like the nurse would be busy for a while. Hanako frowned at this finding and made her way to her class instead. She could feel her thoughts twisting and turning inside her mind, now tainted by her severe anxiety.

She entered class about ten minutes late, but she wasn't chastised for her tardiness. Mutou never made a big fuss out of when she entered or left, which she was eternally grateful for. Most students would abuse this by coming in late and leaving early, but not Hanako. She made a beeline for her seat in the back of the class. Not many people paid attention to her, it wasn't too out of place for Hanako to be late, or even absent some days.

She spent the class doodling in her notebook and not paying attention to the science lesson going on. Mutou never called on her to answer questions anyway, so she was safe from his calling her out. Hanako looked down at her notebook near the end of class and was surprised to see she had been drawing a house on fire in the woods. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene, biting down on her lip. Did I do this? She wondered, not at all referring to the picture.

"Yes, you did," she reminded herself. Hanako froze in her seat, gripping her pencil so hard her knuckles turned white. No one noticed her, everyone was busy working on the problems Mutou had given them a few minutes ago. If I ignore these thoughts, they'll go away eventually…Right?

"No, that's not how it works." She squeezed her eyes shut tight as she concentrated hard on blocking out these awful thoughts. Everyone around her continued to work on their science classwork none the wiser to the internal battle raging on inside of Hanako. Despite her best efforts, the voice continued to talk, becoming increasingly gleeful.

"You killed them both…And that boy who confessed to you…" She remembered everything in vivid detail, the house fire that killed her parents, the boy who had been hit by a car while chasing after her. Hanako was barely aware of the stinging pain in her lower lip as she accidentally bit a small gash through her flesh. "If you hadn't been so afraid of the dark…If you weren't so terrified of commitment…If you were never born…You shouldn't be alive…Who else are you going to murder…?"

At this last question, Hanako's eyes welled up with tears and she found herself bolting out of the classroom door before she could stop herself. Her classmates stared after her with all sorts of questions written on their faces. They had rarely seen their fellow student just run out of class and they turned their inquisitive gaze to Mutou, searching their teacher for an answer. When he shook his head and insisted everyone go back to their work, the students' faces fell in collective disappointment, but pursued the issue no further.

Hanako was running to the classroom she had always occupied with Lilly during lunch. She hadn't chosen the place consciously, she was on autopilot when she had burst out of her class. The classroom was as vacant as it always was, and she gave a small sigh of relief that she could be wholly by herself. She needed to be alone, to confront herself, to prove herself wrong.

"How can you? I'm always right." Hanako was challenging herself to a battle of wits. She hesitated, almost scared of herself. She couldn't let these thoughts control her forever, could she? Hanako took a few deep breaths in a futile attempt to calm herself down enough to rationalise her anxiety to herself.

"Leave me alone," she whispered. Her voice shook, but she was going to stand her ground. She couldn't bear the thought of having to deal with these crippling thoughts, or being reminded of all the people she had hurt, for the rest of her life. Her hands were clasped firmly over her ears in a desperate attempt to silence her own thoughts. "Please…go away…"

"Hanako, is that you?" asked a soft spoken, yet concerned, voice from the doorway. Hanako had been so wrapped up in her nervous breakdown that she had failed to notice Lilly's light footsteps approaching the classroom. Now the tall blonde was frowning with concern written all over her delicate features. "Are you alright? Hisao told me that you ran out of class. Did something happen?"

"Y-Yeah…" Hanako admitted. She always felt like a small child in her best friend's motherly presence. While it was an uncomfortable feeling at times, right now she needed someone maternal to take care of her. She wasn't ashamed to confess that she hadn't taken her anxiety medication. Lilly would understand. She always did. "Lilly…I-I…didn't…take my medication…this morning…"

Using her cane for navigation, Lilly walked over to her friend with quick steps. "Oh, Hanako…Is that what's wrong?" She placed a hesitant hand on top of Hanako's head to discern the other girl's location. Once she was sure of Hanako's whereabouts, Lilly leaned over to envelop her in a tight hug. "You're okay now, I'm here." Her heart twisted as she remembered the first time she was around when Hanako had forgotten to take her pills.

"What if I hurt you, too?" Hanako countered, her voice thick from her tears. Lilly only held her tighter, and pet her hair in long, soothing strokes. She knew Hanako was only being so negative because she wasn't well at the moment, but she was still going to shower the burn victim in love.

"You're not going to hurt me," Lilly said firmly, never losing the gentle tone to her voice. Her protective embrace around the smaller girl tightened to reaffirm this. Twirling a lock of Hanako's hair around her finger, she continued, "You haven't hurt anyone, Hanako. They were accidents. No one's at fault. Especially not you."

"Thank you, L-Lilly…" Hanako wrapped both of her arms around the taller girl's waist, pulling her closer. She had never been more grateful for Lilly than she was right at that moment. The blonde smiled and continued to run her slender fingers through her friend's thick violet hair. "W-Will you go to the nurse with m-me?" Hanako whispered hoarsely.

Lilly gave Hanako a saccharine peck on the forehead. "Yes, I will."