Kagome and her mother exited their vehicle, Kagome walking off briskly, leaving her mother to carry in her things. She walked up to Ayumi, who was waiting with another woman outside of the doors to the building she'd become familiar with ever since she was smaller, and her younger brother had been carried into the building. She didn't know why, but the thought gave her a bit of confidence, which caused her steps to become a bit more assured.


"Well Ayumi, ready to lock me up yet?" she asked the woman, who smiled at the girl. Her companion however did not appreciate Kagome's sarcastically sweet voice.


"Now Kagome, we're not locking you up. This isn't a mental institution, it's a center for mental well being. You're not coming here to be kept a prisoner. You're coming here so that you can leave a better person."


Kagome just raised her eyebrows and grinned back at the woman, "If you say so."


Her mother arrived behind her, which Ayumi took as a signal to enter the building. The two of them led Kagome and her mother through a locked door, and Kagome found herself in what would be her new home until she was discharged.


There was a recreation area, which included three couches, with a small tv, surrounded by videos. A large coffee table sat in the middle of the area, with another table setting beside a column, with a few chairs in front of it.


The entire section of the building was built around a small garden which was surrounded by glass. The square shape and the glass made it almost impossible for someone to do anything without someone being able to see from the Nurse's Station. The three unused walls were lined with doors which led to the rooms in which she'd be sleeping.


"Kagome, everyone's eating dinner right now. You can go join them while we go through your things." the other woman, who had yet to be identified, said.


Miss Ayumi smiled gently at Kagome and led her through a set of double doors, almost identical to the ones in her cafeteria at school, and there she saw all the other kids.


There were five tables, all either filled with boys or girls. The majority of the children were younger, taking up three of the five tables. One of the others held three boys. One was seemingly asleep, his head laying on an empty tray. The other one had short black hair, and was leaned back in his chair eyeing one of the girls at the table next to him. Across from him, was a boy with long black hair. She couldn't see his face as his back was to her, but his posture was very relaxed, and he seemed to be having a conversation with the flirting boy.


At the other table, there were four girls. The first one she noticed was the one that was on the receiving end of the other boy's stare. She was really pretty, with long black hair she had held up in a ponytail and she wore pink eyeshadow. The girl next to her had blonde hair with black streaks, and she was talking animatedly as two other girls nodded along with her. Both of them had black hair, though the girl on the left side of the table had shorter hair.


Ayumi cleared her throat, and everyone turned to face her.


"Guys, we've got a new in-patient. This is Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, meet the other C Building kids."


"C for cell block!" one of the kids muttered.


Ayumi just shook her head and gave Kagome a push to the table were the girls her age were sitting.


"Oh, and before I forget, do you have any food allergies?"


"Um...not really. I just can't drink milk." Kagome answered.


"Okay then! I'll go get your dinner."


Ayumi walked off to an adjoining room, which was visible through a counter with an opening above it, again similar to the ones at her school.


"Hiya Kagome!" the girl with pink eyeshadow said, "Sit at the other end of the table so we can all see you!"


Kagome complied, looking around a bit nervously.


"So," the girl next to her said, "whacha in for?"


"Suicidal thoughts." Kagome said, rolling her eyes.


"Ah then. Just like most of us," the short black haired boy at the other table said, "right Sango?"


The first girl to speak nodded, "Yep. Welcome to Death Row Kagome! I'm Sango."


"Death Row?"


The short haired black haired girl nodded, "Yep. That's what us Suicide Watch kids are. I'm Nazuna by the way."


"Hi Nazuna," Kagome smiled.


"I'm Rin," the girl next to her, with long black hair said, giving her a friendly wave with the hand that wasn't currently trying to killing a jello bowl.


"I'm Kirara," the blonde girl said, and pointed to the children's table, "and that's my brother Shippou."


She turned to see a small red headed boy wave back at her, his face covered in chocolate pudding.


The flirt nodded to her, and introduced his table, "I'm Miroku, the sleeping dude next to me is Jakken, and the pretty boy in front of me is Inu-Yasha."


Inu-Yasha's head swung around to face Kagome and he rolled his eyes, "Kagome, you should be careful around Miroku. He's not just in here for suicidal thoughts. He's molested like five girls at his school."


Miroku frowned, "I didn't molest them, my hands just wandered for a bit, and they were easy."


Sango rolled her eyes, and look pointedly to Kagome, "If you're going to listen to anyone here, listen to Inu-Yasha. Miroku's an idiot."


"Aww, you love me anyway, don't you Sango?"


Sango stuck her tongue out and Kirara snickered as Ayumi finally emerged from the kitchen, balancing two juice cups on top of a Styrofoam box. Kagome, since she'd been to a mental hospital before, knew what was going to be inside. Fake food.


"Rin, do you need some help trying to open up your jello?" Nazuna asked the struggling girl.


"Could you please?" Rin handed her the sealed bowl gratefully.


While Nazuna tried to pry the lid of Rin's jello bowl open, Rin turned to Kagome with a happy grin.


"Where are you from?" she asked.


Kagome idly stuck a fork in her mixed vegetables and answered Rin's question, "I'm from Allen. A small town with big idiots."


Rin laughed, "I'm from a town like that too. Greenville. The blackest soil and the whitest people. I get to go back home tomorrow. No outpatient or anything."


Kagome smiled and swallowed a bite of mashed potatoes before congratulating her on being released to the real world.


"Yeah, it's great. I'm going to miss everybody, though, at least I still get to see Inu-Yasha."


Inu-Yasha merely grunted from the other table, trying to pretend as if he didn't enjoy her company. Kagome got the impression that it was rather hard not to, as Rin seemed to be one of those people that liked to chased bubbles and butterflies. You always felt guilty if you didn't like them.


"His old brother-"


"Ahem."


"I'm sorry, half older brother, lives in my city. We've always been close friends. In fact, he said he's going to come with my mother when I get signed out. He's going to skip his college classes that day. Isn't that romantic?" Rin sighed dreamily, and Kagome somehow didn't have to look at Inu-Yasha to know he was rolling his eyes.


"GARH!" Nazuna growled, finally getting the top off of the jello - only to have the bright red gelatin go flying out of the bowl and into the window leading to the Nurse's Station.


The tech she'd hit shrieked, and the small room erupted in giggles. The girl blushed madly as everyone started congratulating her, but her face paled when the tech entered the room frowning.


"I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean to! PLEASE don't give me the shot again!" Nazuna begged.


"It's okay Nazuna, I know you didn't do it on purpose. I was monitoring the cams at the time. However, it's time for you guys to clean up and get ready for bed."


"Miss Ayame?" Sango asked.


"Yes Sango?"


"Kagome just got here, and she hasn't had a chance to finish her dinner yet."


"Oh, okay," she looked down on the clipboard she was holding, "I guess you should stay with her until she finishes, since you two are going to be roomies."


"Yes Miss Ayame!" Sango said cheerfully, doing a mock salute.


Ayame rolled her eyes, and waited at the door while everyone threw their trash away. In no time they'd all filed out of the door, and Sango grinned at Kagome.


"Usually we go to bed later, and we get a snack, but Miroku and I were...being touchy...and so we have to go to bed early."


"Everyone?" Kagome asked, popping a chicken nugget in her mouth.


"Yeah, everyone. The tech from Hell was working. She's such a bitch. Thank God she won't be back until tomorrow night."


Kagome nodded wisely. She remembered having a few bad techs at her last mental hospital.


"So, who do you think is cute?" Sango asked slyly, stealing one of Kagome's nuggets.


"Well, Miroku was okay," Kagome said, grinning at Sango's jealous reaction, "but Inu-Yasha was really cute when I actually got to see him. I dunno though, Shippou is pretty hot."


Sango almost fell out of her chair laughing, and Kagome hid a few giggles behind her hand. For being in a mental institution, she was pretty happy. At least Sango was cool. Her last roomie was a bitch, and that only made Kagome "BS" her way out of there faster.

Kagome finished the last of her food and threw it into the trash bin, and Sango led her out to the living room, where a man was sitting in one of the chairs with a thermometer and a blood pressure pump. Sango led Kagome to the free chair in front of him, and told Kagome to take a seat.

"I'm going to take your vitals now Kagome, okay?" Kagome nodded, and held out her arm and let him wrap the thick black cloth around it. Kagome watched him write down something, and then he handed her the thermometer and she placed it under her tongue. In a few seconds it beeped, and showed her temperature as 100.1

"Ah, you're running a little fever huh? Mmkay. Sango, your turn."

Sango took Kagome's place and the process was repeated, with Sango's temperature showing up as 98.8. After that, Sango grabbed Kagome's hand, and led her a room at the end of one of the halls. All her things were placed beside the empty bed. A quick search revealed no CD player, and Kagome growled. She'd have to make due without any music.

She changed into her pajamas, deciding to shower in the morning, and looked around her room. It was actually one big room, with a dividing wall down the center. At the front of the room, on Sango's 'side', was a vanity area, and on Kagome's, there was a bathroom. In between them lay the door to their room.

Against the back wall were a bunch of cabinets, and a desk that was attached to the walls. It looked like the cubby area in the back of her art room. There were no chairs, and so she climbed on top of the desk, and glanced out the windows.

Sango appeared in her side of the room and grinned as she hopped up where Kagome was sitting. The two of them talked about Kimberfield, and Kagome told her about her past experiences, though Sango seemed careful not to reveal too many details about why she was in the hospital. It wasn't until Sango looked as if she was going to pass out on her side of the room did she return to her own bed, and Kagome decided to go to sleep.

A/N: Sorry that took so long. Major drama going on in the homelife. Plus I've been trying to lose weight. My mother said if I lose fifty pounds that I can get breast reduction surgery. W00t! As usual, I'd appreciate reviews. It's not like I'm only writing this for reviews, but it gets depressing when you see that there are very poorly written stories out there getting twenty reviews per chapter, and it's all positive feedback, you know?

Or am I that bad? *laughs* No idea.

What I do know is that I got one review for the last chapter, so here we go with my response. :D

Merayna: Yes, I've been to two mental institutions. The first one, was at age 12, when I went to the Seay Center. The second time was when I was 14, and I went to Timberlawn, which this story is based off of . I'm glad you find it realistic. This story is a lot of fun to write, so I hope you're enjoying it too.