Hajime woke later in the morning, groaning and planting his face in his pillow. Mondo still slept, which made him wonder what the hour even was. He rolled over on his side upon hearing a knock on his door.

"Breakfast!" Makoto's cheery voice reached his ears, making him groan again.

"Coming..." He called out slowly, getting out of bed and staring at Mondo. He eventually decided Mondo could wake himself up and put on a grey tracksuit and his usual slippers, running a hand through his hair and following Makoto to the cafeteria.

"Did you sleep well?" Makoto asked nicely, still wearing all green.

"I guess," He shrugged.

"It's good to see you finally starting to adjust a little bit! This place can be overwhelming so some people have trouble adjusting more than others," They reached the cafeteria and Makoto looked at all of the options. "I like smaller portions, but I've been trying to eat bigger meals,"

"I can get smaller portions?" Hajime asked in surprise.

"Yeah, if your diagnosis says so!"

"Oh," He silenced after that, actually having no clue what his own said. Clearly, normal portions were part of his recovery, since that was all he had been getting. Though, one could always start small, right?

He got a bowl of cereal and looked around for a place to sit, eventually deciding on sitting on his own and seeing if anyone would come over. He slowly ate a few spoonfuls of cereal, seeing Mahiru, Hiyoko, and Akane all sit with each other, laughing about something. He briefly thought about going over to them but decided against it. He wanted to see who would come over to him, right? He tried to eat more spoonfuls but felt full enough, frowning.

He knew he wouldn't get in trouble if he ate at least one thing, but still. Maybe it was the medicine in his system. But he needed it to fall asleep, if he didn't take it for a night who knew what would happen?

Hajime just sat there for the remainder of breakfast, sighing when it was time for Goals Group again. As usual, he just wrote down the usual two he always did, knowing he likely wouldn't achieve them even by the week's end at the rate he was going.

"I went swimming yesterday!" Mahiru announced. "I know I said so yesterday but I'm proud of it!"

"That's what we like to see! Enthusiasm like that!" Ishimaru praised.

For the structured games, instead of going after Junko like the previous day, he instead stayed around Akane, seeing her pulling out a game of Trouble.

"A classic, right? I used to play this with my siblings all of the time!" She suggested.

"No way, we should play Sorry," Hiyoko pouted.

"Monopoly?" Mahiru offered weakly.

Hajime groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"What do you suggest then?"

"I don't want to play anything,"

"But you gotta! The nurses say so!" Akane said, motioning to Yukizome who was standing by the door.

"I know," He sighed. "Just play whatever,"

"Trouble it is then!" She placed the board on the table, kneeling in front of it. "Uh, I'll take green, I'm closest to it anyway,"

"Red," Mahiru picked.

"Then I want yellow!" Hiyoko gasped.

Hajime noticed he was stuck with blue and sat up, scooting himself closer to the board. He attempted to pay attention to the rules and the general gameplay, pushing down on the bubble and watching the dice pop up, moving his piece where he was required.

"You're cheating again!" Hiyoko accused, pointing at Akane. "You stole my piece!"

"No I didn't, it probably fell on the floor," She sighed.

"No way! You can't even steal pieces anyway, you stupid cow! You're supposed to go back to Home if you jump on one!"

"Then that happened,"

"It did not! Give me my piece back!" Hiyoko demanded, standing up.

"Guys..." Mahiru held out her hands, eyeing Yukizome who looked over at them. "She didn't take your piece,"

"Did too! I saw her with my own eyes!"

"Then where's the piece now?" Akane demanded. "You lookin' to get slapped?"

"You won't last a chance against me!" Hiyoko put her hands on her hips as Yukizome walked over.

"Stop it, you two. Otherwise I'll call Kyosuke-kun and Juuzou-kun on you!" She reminded them cheerfully. Hiyoko sat back down with a huge pout, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Akane rubbed at her forehead and Mahiru took her turn, happily moving her piece three spaces. Yukizome returned over to her usual spot, though Hajime could still feel her watchful eyes. He played his hand, just staring as the girls played, Mahiru and Hiyoko talking to each other all the while.

It wasn't...awful, but still left a lot to be desired. Yet, he was actually playing. It was progress. He continued to slowly move his pieces, keeping an eye on his own movements until Yukizome called for lunch.

"Yay! I won!" Hiyoko cheered, throwing her hands up in celebration. Mahiru just shook her head while Akane sighed.

"Darn, here I thought I was good for it. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow!" She slapped Hajime on the back as they got into the cafeteria, grinning. "What's got your fancy today?"

"Uh, I don't know," He answered quickly, knowing he'd just pick the lightest option as usual and then only eat crumbs of it. No, he had to remain positive. He kept making those goals for a reason, and if sleeping without medicine wasn't a possibility, then he could still eat.

"I feel that. Half the time I just get all of the meals because they all look so great!"

He looked at his options and eventually decided on chicken noodle soup and more tea, made in a more Western style in comparison to his last few meals. He looked around for a place to sit and just sat near the end, jumping when Junko twirled over to him, spaghetti and a breadstick on her plate.

"Geezh," He sighed as she smirked at him.

"What a positively peasant dish you have there! Not even a single side! Whereas we get to feast like the royalty we are!" She beamed, hands on her hips.

"A mood-swing?" He predicted.

"Yup!" She twirled some noodles around on her fork. "So, got any questions for me? I may not be as 'old' as some other patients here, but I know my stuff! I ask around,"

"I don't know..." Hajime looked around and found his eyes settling on Byakuya, who was sitting by himself and cutting his food into incredibly small pieces. "What's his deal?"

"Togami-kun! Our resident hardass!" She laughed. "Been here for two months I think? He's super freaked-out and suspicious of everyone. Thinks everyone is out to get him. Got in here because a maid walked in on him trying to kill himself. I heard he was about to jump out a window, but Touko-san swears he was going to jump off the roof. Either way, he wanted to go splat on the pavement so now he's here!"

Hajime shuddered at her description of it. Could that have been him in just a few months?

"Is he...nice?"

Junko laughed even harder. "God no! He's a prick! Kirigiri-san says it's because of his disorder but I totes don't buy it," She slurped some noodles into her mouth, getting some sauce on her lips. "I bet he'd be mean even if he wasn't sick. There's some good people here, yuck, I know, but there are. They're nice because it's in their personality, but not him,"

He looked back over and saw Byakuya slowly chewing his food, staring straight ahead. Every time silverware clinked or a glass got elbowed his eyes would subtly but sharply turn in that direction.

"A maid found him, is he rich?"

"Totes loaded. His mommy is some French actress who's super pretty and his daddy is the rich owner of some company. Got lots of other siblings and they all hate each other. Some say he tried to kill himself for attention,"

Somehow, Hajime felt a pang in his heart. He didn't really want to feel anything for an aloof jerk like him, yet...what a life. He couldn't even imagine being rich with that many siblings and yet still seemingly ignored or flat-out hated. And when you tried to kill yourself, your family assumed you did it for attention and not from a genuine mental disorder. From what he had seen of Byakuya, he tended to mock the others sardonically, but still. Nobody deserved a life like that.

After lunch, Hajime headed to the exercise area and found only the guys there, figuring today they'd be separate from the girls.

"Why don't we all play basketball?" Mondo suggested. "We could ask Coach Nidai to get a ball out of the shed and we could all dribble it or something,"

"What about baseball?" Makoto suggested.

"Not enough people," Nagito sighed. "A shame, baseball would be fun. Maybe next time we have the girls around we could all play a game like that,"

"Aren't they afraid of patients hitting each other with the bat?" Hajime found himself asking, making all of them look over at him.

"It's all in good fun," Nagito laughed easily. "A few times I hit myself in the face, but like I said, all in good fun,"

"Come on guys, basketball it is," Mondo shook his head and walked off. "Get the court ready!"

"You heard him!" Makoto said, and him, Chihiro, and Nagito all dashed off in that direction, picking the nearest hoop. Hajime walked off too, glancing back at Byakuya who was sitting by himself on a bench.

"Want to join us?" He asked slowly. "I just thought you'd want to-"

"Absolutely not. I will not lower myself to such a pointless waste of my time," Byakuya snapped. "Leave me out of it. He doesn't mind if I just sit here as long as I'm minding my own business,"

Hajime felt like Nidai did in fact mind if people didn't properly exercise, judging by what Akane told him the other day, but he also knew if he stood there and argued with Byakuya it'd be an even bigger waste of time that would result in him getting in trouble. He clenched his fists and walked away, joining the others on the court.

"Let's go!" Mondo yelled, dribbling the ball and throwing it up high, watching it sail over their heads.

"D-Don't throw it so high! That's not fair," Chihiro pouted, trying to jump in the air to catch it. Nagito ran halfway across the court's length and jumped up, grabbing the ball and gasping as it hit him in the stomach.

"Got it!" He announced, holding it up.

"Congrats!" Makoto cheered. Nagito threw it at random and it went long, hitting the back of the hoop and falling to the ground.

"Shit, it ain't a dodgeball, just dribble it," Mondo said, grabbing it and dribbling it rapidly between his hands. "Try to take it from me!"

Makoto held up his hands and shook his head, but Chihiro tried to dive in, grabbing the ball but Mondo moved it just out of his reach.

"You try," He suggested to Hajime, making him jump at being addressed.

"Okay," He ran over and tried to grab it, keeping an eye on Mondo's movements. He noticed he dribbled it closer to the ground that time so Hajime got closer, pushing Mondo aside and grabbing the ball, dribbling it a few times himself before tossing it in the air. The ball sailed above their heads and fell into the hoop, making a satisfying 'whisk' sound. It bounced harmlessly on the court.

"Hinata-kun's cool, everyone!" Mondo laughed.

"Did you play a lot of sports before?" Chihiro asked nicely, blinking.

"Not really, guess I just got lucky," Hajime shrugged.

Nagito frowned a bit and took the ball, standing several feet away from the opposite hoop. "Watch this!" Once everyone's eyes were on him, Nagito jumped and threw the ball, watching it go long and roll down the grassy hill. "Awww, I missed,"

"Mister Komaeda!" Coach Nidai's voice boomed. "Go get that ball! As for the rest of you, time for rest!"

Hajime stared back at Nagito rushing down the hill as they went back inside, wondering. Once him and Mondo reached their room, he sat on his bed.

"Uh, know what the deal with Komaeda-san is?"

"What? That weird kid?" Mondo thought about it. "Don't know, really. I kinda stay out of everyone's way. Most of the people here are weird, ya know,"

"Yeah, but he keeps looking at me funny,"

"I don't know what shit goes on in his head. Maybe he's tryna size ya up or something. New kid, ya know?"

"I don't even know what mental disorder he has,"

"Askin' the wrong person,"

Hajime sighed after that. "Wanna play cards?"

"Nah, I'm goin' to sleep. I didn't get a lot last night," Mondo declined, getting into his bed. Hajime just shrugged and looked through his bag, pulling out one of the card games he brought and laid them all out on his bed, remembering the instructions said one person could play it if needed. He shuffled and flipped the cards around quietly so Mondo wouldn't be disturbed until he felt satisfied, then laid them all out on his bed again. He started playing Memory with them, challenging himself to complete the whole deck of fifty before the hour was over. He found one, two, three, four...

After the break, Hajime had to go to an hour and a half of therapy; he didn't go to his one before lunch so Kyoko decided to cut into some of his homework time to talk with him more.

"You don't mind," She assumed.

"I don't know, I got lots of work to do," Hajime said blankly.

"Have you been eating?"

"Little bites here and there. Basically just enough to not pass out. I don't feel super hungry,"

She nodded and stared at him. "It could be your medicine you use to sleep. It may work, but it comes at the risk of making you feel nauseous."

"I don't think that's the problem, everyone else takes it to sleep and they can eat just fine,"

"How do you know they take it?" She asked, making him look up into her stern expression. "You don't know anything about the other patients' medical histories, so how do you know they take medicine before bed?"

"I...don't know?" Hajime blinked.

"Exactly."

"Do you know anything about Komaeda-san? He keeps staring at me whenever I do stuff," He tried changing the subject, making her shake her head.

"I am not allowed to discuss other patients nor their diagnoses."

"Fine," He threw up his hands.

"You're having an easier time adjusting than other patients of mine. Most people lash out at me or just sit in silence, but you're making an effort,"

"Because it's the least I could do,"

During his homework time, what stuck out the most to him was the lack of Mahiru. He had been there for three days, but Mahiru had always been around in whatever he did because she was a more minor case. Did her own therapy run long? Then again, his own therapy purposefully ran longer so maybe she was around, just in the bathroom or something. He just kept his mind numb with work, even as Ishimaru turned on some light, quiet classical music. Taeko played with her hair in approval.

"This is far more my taste. I appreciate it," She smiled as she continued to work. Hajime had some homework still and wondered what he'd work on if he was still admitted and ran out. Maybe Kirigiri could give him stuff to work on? According to the brochure sometimes the staff stepped in and gave worksheets or other forms of assignments for people to work on during the hour if they had no homework or anything else. He figured he would just cross that bridge when he came to it.

"Good work everyone!" Ishimaru praised at the end of the hour. Taeko sighed and closed up her book, watching Hajime as he rose.

"Did you know on my first day here, I scratched Miss Yukizome? She had me sedated almost instantly, however the fact is I got away with it. No other patient owns that claim to fame, only myself," She suddenly bragged, walking beside him. Today she was wearing a white camisole and black shorts with the same lacy robe over her clothes and he suddenly wondered if her and Junko shared clothing. They seemed to have the same monochrome fashion sense. Could patients even share clothing, or was that forbidden in case they traded weapons secretly too or something?

"Why are you telling me this?" He finally asked.

"I thought you would be interested. You could do that too, if you wanted. They will give you medicine and tie you to your bed most likely, but it feels good for that moment, that you hurt them and got the upper-hand," They walked into the group therapy room where Tsumiki was sitting, going through her bag again. Hajime supposed he could, he could just walk up and yank on her braid or pinch her arm, she'd likely even cry, but what would that accomplish? He felt the staff were monitoring him especially closely after his first night, so being openly violent would get him absolutely nowhere. He caught Taeko's subtly sly smile as she sat down and he sat across from her, keeping his distance.

"Hello everyone!" Tsumiki sprung to her feet once everyone was seated. "Today, i-instead of usual group t-therapy, I'm going to take t-the lead. S-So, let's start. Today, l-let's talk about a personal role model of ours. Who inspires us to do our best. F-For me...i-it's...you guys! S-Seeing my patients recover is always enough to put a-a smile on my face!"

"Ugh, I totes don't wanna talk about that!" Junko shouted. "Not all of us have a role model!"

"U-Um...I-I'll just go down the line..." Tsumiki pointed at Sakura on her right, who nodded.

"The people who inspire me most are my family members. They taught me everything I know and always encourage me to do my best. I understand it may be a common answer, but it is common for a reason. I believe most people have close connections to their families," She then motioned to Touko, who played with her braids.

"I d-don't know...I-I don't really have anyone...nobody really seems to like me," She smiled weirdly. "I-I don't know if my parents even remember locking me up in a place like this,"

"My mom and dad!" Chihiro waved his hand. "But more than them, this famous therapist. She was born with a rare disease so she has to be in a wheelchair and can't talk, but that doesn't limit her abilities to help people! I want to be just like her some day!"

"Likewise, my sister is my own personal cheerleader," Makoto smiled.

"Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary. A truly beautiful and fabulous woman. I want to live my entire life in her image," Taeko beamed.

"Interesting choice..." Tsumiki squeaked.

Hajime realized they were all looking at him, waiting for him to comment, so he tried racking his brains for a good answer. He had no personal role models aside from people who were good at things, anything. He was good at nothing so he latched onto admiring people who had something to show for themselves. Was that a good enough answer?

"Lots of people. Just seeing others live their lives is enough for me," Hajime finally said, leaning back in his chair. He looked over and noticed Mondo was sitting next to him and was talking super energetically about his mother. He assumed most people would just talk about their own families, because who else would normal people be inspired by?

"E-Everyone just talked about their families," Tsumiki sighed at the end of their session. "W-Well, it still counts! Sometimes our families can be the most important and inspiring people in our lives. Okay, dinner time!"

Hajime walked to the cafeteria himself, making a mental note to eat at least one entire thing this time. He got something random yet again and just sat where-ever, figuring someone would either sit with him or not.

"No! Stop it! Get your hands off me! Knock it off! No!" A familiar voice shrieked, and everyone quickly turned to see a blonde girl struggling in the hands of a tall man with green hair, dressed in a white uniform.

"Chisa-chan was kind enough to let you out of your room, but so help me I'll put you back in there if you don't stop!" The man scolded.

"I told you, I'm sick! I can't eat dinner!" Hiyoko wailed, kicking her legs and thrashing around.

"You ain't sick," The man pulled Hiyoko further into the room, ignoring her punches and kicks. A man in an identical outfit with white hair as well as Yukizome then appeared, eyeing Hiyoko. "Sit down and eat your dinner for Christ's sake!"

"No!" Hiyoko yelled again as she was shoved into a chair. She was close enough Hajime could see puke on her clothes. "I'm sick! I'm sick! If I start eating, I'll puke again!"

"We'll see about that," The man scoffed.

"Keep an eye on her, Juuzou-kun," Yukizome ordered. Hajime wondered if the two men were the so-called Juuzou-kun and Kyosuke-kun he heard about.

Hiyoko took three bites of her mashed potatoes before she gagged and vomited into her lap. "See? I'm sick! I told you, I'm sick!"

Sakakura walked right back over and put his hands on her chair. "Eat,"

"No! You can't make me do anything!" She insisted even as the other two rushed over, Munakata holding a needle. Hajime looked around and saw the others eating, not even acknowledging what was happening. He suppressed a shiver. This seemed like a genuine mental breakdown and they were just carrying on like nothing was happening. How common were these here?

"Eat before we stick you," Sakakura demanded, and Hiyoko pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, trembling.

"I can't! I'm sick! I told you, the only thing that will make me feel better is Big Sister Mahiru!"

"But you know she checked out earlier," Yukizome said with regret in her tone.

"I don't care! She was the only friend I made, the only person who ever gave a damn about me, and you all let her leave! What about me?! I needed her!" Hiyoko cried.

"Keep her to her room,"

Munakata nodded and stuck the needle in her, making her go stiff in a few seconds. The two men dragged her out of the room easily, while Yukizome looked back at everyone. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to host your television hour, so another nurse will take my place. Sorry!" She smiled before walking off. Hajime just shivered, recounting what he just witnessed.

Sure, Hiyoko was a mean brat, but she didn't deserve to feel like that. He looked at the others again and found them still eating in awkward silence. He pushed his own tray away, finding his appetite gone.

Poor Hiyoko. If he kept refusing treatment and just functioned on autopilot, would that eventually happen to him? What if it happened in an actual social scenario?

He had to actively try to get better, no matter what.

The nurse in charge of their television time was none other than Tsumiki, which Junko laughed at.

"Finally! Horror movies, here we come!"

"Y-You aren't allowed to watch those," Tsumiki shyly scolded.

"Who's gonna tell me no?"

"Are you sure that is the best action after what we witnessed at dinner?" Sakura asked. "You know just as well as me that upsetting more people is not what the staff needs right now. I am perfectly content with watching a random animated movie once again,"

"Those are so boring though!" Junko gasped.

"Ya thinkin' about that chick?" Mondo asked, nudging him.

"Yeah," Hajime answered slowly. "I don't want to break like that,"

"Nah, I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, stuff like that happens but it's not an everyday thing, ya know? I think that redheaded chick leaving so suddenly wasn't a good thing for her,"

"No duh," He snapped and instantly felt bad. "I didn't mean that,"

"I know man. You're on edge, I get it. You need a nice hot shower to get your mind off things,"

Hajime couldn't even fathom showering right then, but he knew in a weird way, Mondo was right. He just needed to move on from the incident and keep living his own life. He turned his attention over to the television, which was showing some old game-show, and tried to focus on that instead.

After their hour of television was over, Nevermind walked in and smiled regally. "Telephone and shower time! Tonight, Enoshima, Owari, Fukawa, Fujisaki, Oowada, and Naegi will use the phones while the rest of you shower!"

Well, he wouldn't be able to shower, but at least he wouldn't have to awkwardly look at a phone for several minutes either. Hajime just stood up and walked to his room, finding Tsumiki already there alongside Ishimaru like the previous night. He got out his pack of cards from earlier and looked around for someone to play them with. Mondo and Chihiro were both using the phones, as were Makoto and Akane. Hiyoko was absolutely out of the question. He finally tossed the cards away in frustration, realizing nobody left would want to play cards with him, or at the very least, would put up a huge fight about it. Maybe he'd just read.

He dug through his bag for some pajamas and slipped them on, getting on his bed and reading more of his book. He had gotten halfway through a few chapters when Mondo finally wandered in, looking at him.

"You shower yet?"

"No," Hajime didn't look up.

"Oh. You wanna?"

"No,"

"Well okay then," Mondo went into the bathroom to shower while Hajime closed up his book, noticing the others had come back from using the phones. Still, he shouldn't keep people from taking showers or whatever else they needed just because he wanted to play cards.

"Hinata-kun?" A familiar voice reached his ears and he glanced down to see Chihiro, holding out a notebook.

"What?"

"Would you say I had a good day today? My weekly exercise is to ask others if I did a good job,"

"I barely saw you today," Hajime shrugged. "We just played basketball together,"

"B-But did I do good?" Chihiro asked shyly. "D-Did I have any...episodes...?" That word was whispered as if it were something shameful.

"No," He responded, then thought of Hiyoko. "But I don't know what your episodes look like,"

"You'll know!" Junko laughed from her own doorway. "When he goes real cuckoo, then you'll know!"

"Miss Enoshima!" Ishimaru scolded her, making her pout.

"Then yeah, you were good," Hajime told Chihiro, who smiled happily. Hajime walked past him to Junko, finding Taeko in their room, sitting on her bed and reading a magazine. Taeko's whole side was decorated like a gothic mansion, while Junko's was equally opulent except in hot pink and red. "You two share a room?"

"Yup!" Junko flashed him a peace-sign. "Makes total sense, right?"

"Do you guys share clothes?"

"Yeah, sometimes,"

"Uh, do you know who else shares?"

"Well, aside from us two, and you and Oowada-kun obviously...hmmm...Fujisaki-kun and Naegi-kun, they both share. Sakura-san and Akane-san both have a room. Mahiru-san used to share with Hiyoko-san until she got discharged, so now they might put her with Touko-san! I can't remember if Togami-kun and Komaeda-kun still share or if they have their own rooms," Junko rattled off. "Good matches!"

"Thanks," Hajime just nodded, having what he needed. The roommates made sense, most of them anyway. "Discharged?"

"Yup! Around this afternoon when Hiyoko-san was in the middle of therapy, ain't that nutty? She's been a nervous wreck ever since!" Junko grinned. "Makes sense. Those two were nearly admitted at the same time and were inseparable. We started calling them 'Sisters-in-Anxiety!'"

"That's..." He cut himself off, not sure what he thought that was. Not really horrible because even though Hiyoko was a wreck and deserved to say goodbye to her close friend, at the same time, it was clearly time for Mahiru to move on. Just as he expected his own first day, she wouldn't be there for long.

"Mister Hinata," Kirigiri arrived and gently pulled him away from Junko. "Do you need your medicine?"

"Can you not ask that in the middle of the hall?" He asked instead, trying to shush her.

"It's not an embarrassing question." Kirigiri said, holding out the bottle. "Yes or no?"

He stared at it for a time, staring so long the characters started to blur together. If he didn't take it, he wouldn't wake up feeling sick and exhausted and might even eat an entire meal for once. If he didn't, he'd also have trouble sleeping and end up even more irritable in the morning. Being grouchy wasn't good in a place like this, no matter what. One night, he would not take it, maybe his last night, but for now, he felt he couldn't risk it.

"Yes," He finally sighed, and Kirigiri nodded and handed him the usual water and pills, which he swallowed down. He had enough energy and sense left to slowly wander into bed and collapse into it, burying himself under the blankets and falling into yet another deep sleep.