"You may sit here and wait."

Kagome nodded, suddenly very nervous and wishing she could be anyplace OTHER then the shrinks office.

'And I mean shrink!' She thought to herself. 'Damn it, I will call him what I wan….I just swore and insulted someone…Well, if I am going to act like Inuyasha…'

"Keh" She muttered to herself, sitting down in a chair and wiggling a bit to try and get comfy.

"It's really not wise to talk to yourself in a shrink's office. They tend to frown on such things."

Kagome blinked, looking for the source of the voice, and turned to see a young man about her age, standing in front of her, shifting slightly as he tried to give her a confident grin, to hide his nerves.

He had short black hair, which was a bit messy but still looked good on him. He had deep violet eyes, which had a bit of a twinkle in them. His face was kind, maybe even playful, yet there was also a bit of shyness, telling Kagome he had worked up a lot of nerve to make the comment.

The teen wore blue jeans and a black shirt that said, "TCH." On it. Kagome figured it meant "Toyko Childs Home."

"I guess that would be smart." Kagome said, watching the teen let out a sigh of relief that she didn't make fun of him. She chuckled and glanced at the chair next to him, then back at him, doing this several times, hoping that he would get the point. Finally, she coughed, and pointed at the seat.

"Oh." he said, sitting down. "Sorry."

"For what?" Kagome asked with a laugh. He cringed and she stopped instantly. "I mean. why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong. You were just making a joke to lighten the mood."

"I know." The boy said. "just seems like I always am wrong." He glanced at her. "Why are you here…I don't remember you in the orphanage."

'So the orphans call it an orphanage too.' Kagome thought with a smirk. 'Score one for me.'

"I am from the school."

"Ah, we get their nuts for books?" Kagome laughed and he grinned. Obviously, he had a fragile ego.

"You could say that…you tell me why you got brought her, and I will tell you mine." She had a theory it had to do with him being so shy, but her manners prevented her from saying so.

"You don't even want to know my name first?" The teen asked with a chuckle. "Or let me know yours?"

"Kagome…and yours is?"

"Ian" The teen said. "Now…who want sot go first?"

"I believe I asked first." Kagome said with a smile. Ian nodded, and Kagome could tell he was becoming more at ease with her.

"i…well…" He shifted. "I have nightmares."

"Nightmares?" kagome asked. That didn't sound like something so terrible as to justify a shrink visit.

"Ya. I will go to sleep, and wake up not remembering anything that I had been dreaming about…but…"

"But what?" Kagome asked. "Come on…you can tell me."

"I just met you!' Ian said, flustered

"Still."

Ian sighed. "Ok,ok. I wake up, and I find I have done weird things. Like, one time I woke up outside. Another time, I had destroyed my pillow. I don't know…I do weird things in my sleep."

Kagome shrugged. "I bet we all do weird things involving sleep. I mean, I have heard of people talking in their sleep, or having to hold stuffed animals, or listen to comedy albums." She chuckled and looked at him. "You are just lucky to figure out that you are weird."

"Ok, ok!" Ian said, laughing now. For some reason, this girl made him feel more confident. " Now, I told you why I am here, what about you? You wake up in the middle of the night outside too?"

Kagome looked at his smiling face and sighed inwardly. She hated taking that smile away so quickly.

'Why couldn't I be here for emotional problems or problems wetting myself…ok, let's pray the gods didn't hear THAT comment…'

"My uh….my two best friends…and the guy I loved…they were killed about a month ago."

Ian's smile faded and he nodded. "I am sorry." Kagome looked at him and he adverted his eyes. "I know it's a terrible thing to say."

"What is?"

"Sorry."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "How can sorry be a terrible thing? Seems it conveys emotion, lets someone know that you care about how they feel. I would think sorry is a great thing."

"Has it ever made you feel better?"

"….no." Kagome said quietly.

"Sorry is a selfish word. People say it to make themselves feel better, not the other person. Since they can't think of anything nice to say to cheer the person up, it makes them shift and get nervous…" He smiled gently. "…like I am most of the time." He looked up at the ceiling. "people say they are sorry when they hear my parents died. I hate it. I mean…sorry isn't going to bring them back. I'd prefer it if they did something to take my mind off it, instead of pitying me."

Kagome smiled. "I was thinking the same thing yesterday."

Ian smirked. "You blew up at school yesterday, huh?" kagome shifted. "I knew it! You did!" he laughed.

"What's so funny!"

He sighed. "Just glad there is someone as crazy as me at this place now." He smirked, and it was Kagome's turn to laugh.

"Kagome?" The receptionist said. "Dr. christan will see you know." She looked at Ian. "Ian, you can go into the therapy room now, the others will be in shortly."

Ian smiled. "Good luck."

Kagome nodded and entered the shrink's office, which looked like oen of those offices you would see on a tv show when the main character had gone nuts. It did little to make her feel better…but she wasn't that scared anymore.

'If someone like Ian can go to these things… so can I'

She looked around, a bit confused. Dr. christan smiled as her head darted about. "I don't believe in couches in my office Kagome…just sit down on the floor with me." Kagome nodded, getting down to the floor with ease while Dr. Christan grunted slightly. "Old bones."

"This is nice carpet." Kagome said.

"Thanks…I like to focus more on the person then the condition..and I find being unprofessional helps. Now…I hear from my receptionist you and Ian hit it off real well?"

Kagome blushed. "He seems nice."

"He is. Just a bit shy…but he is very friendly when you get to know him." Dr. Christan leaned against the wall. "Tell me…how did it feel to talk to him?"

"It felt nice." Kagome said. "He made me feel at ease coming here." She gave him a weak smile. "I was…scared to come."

The doctor nodded. "When we are scared and in a new place…we look for guides to help us. These guides can be friends, bosses, parents, even lovers." Kagome blushed at this. "Not that I am saying Ian is your lover. I just mean, he is someone that can guide you through this, like you can guide him through being more confident around people…you have a real gift for bringing people together."

Kagome smiled at the ego boosting comment the psychiatrist had given her. 'I could do this every day, forever.'