Much has happened since we had visitors over and she has gotten better with her syntaxes and speech, communicating in more than utterances and she seems to have become more socialized. However, she still can't seem to walk on two legs but does seem not to mind being pushed around in a wheelchair, actually, she had gotten used to it, even sleeping in it, from time to time. Noting all all of these, Aikurou and Nui suggested we'd take her somewhere public.

I was hesitant, as it seemed like a large step that Ryuuko wasn't ready for but they insisted, Aikurou saying, "It could do her some good." and Nui saying, "And she'd have to go to a public place anyway." I suppose I couldn't argue it but I did state my apprehension. Of course, Nui did state that perhaps we should take it slow, starting with a ride in the car. Would she be afraid? I wondered, considering Ryuuko hasn't gotten into a vehicle since she was taken from home, to the institution, and then back home again.

"We could go in the car," Aikurou said, "and, while it is a small step, it is a start, after all, she has to get used to riding in the car, anyhow." I did point out that it could frighten her but I relented nevertheless. However, I suppose I should have mentioned that Ryuuko can be stubborn, as she has been often quick to protest. Of course, she could use some time out of the house and she does seem to be curious about the world outside the walls.

I went upstairs to get her ready and I could tell she would not like what it was we were going to be doing. She wasn't doing much of anything besides laying on her abdomen and fiddling around with her fingers. However, being someone who doesn't like what she doesn't anticipate, she was mildly annoyed that I interrupted whatever it was that she was doing. She gave the response of, "No!" I tried to lessen her bad mood by saying, "We're going to do something fun today." This began something of an argument.

"No!"

"Now, Ryuuko, you won't know if you don't like it if you've never tried it."

"Mmm-mmm."

"You have to give it a chance."

"Don't want to."

"It'll be fun, you'll see?"

"No."

"Could you just give it a chance, please?!"

"NO!"

"Alright then, you're going to try it whether you like the very concept or not and that is that!"

"Hell no!"

Before I had a chance to register it, I recieved a smack to the side of my head, leaving me momentarily dazed. Silently, through her gaze, she told me that she was going to do this without fighting. I was right in this assumption as I had to put up with her bites and hair-pulling just to put her socks on and had to practically wrestle her to get her down the stairs. Once we were down the stairs, she bit my wrist.

"Well, does this happen often?" Aikurou asked, eyeing my abused wrist to which I said, "No, however, she doesn't tend to like what she doesn't anticipate." What I said intrigued Aikurou, leaving him to ask, "What she doesn't anticipate?" and then he went on to say how that is strange but did note that, if I had to fight to put her socks on and get her down the stairs, then she was definitely going to fight if we got her in the car.

He wasn't lying. Despite coaxing, Ryuuko still didn't seem to be pretty keen on getting in the car. Of course, being larger than she was, he was able to lift her off the ground, to which she quieted. She wasn't anticipating that, no, but, she didn't react negatively to it. She looked him, then down at her feet, and then back to him again, before withdrawing her limbs like a baby would if startled. However, she wasn't startled but that seemed to be her reaction. "I think she likes that. " Nui said, "Being picked up, that is." Neither of us knew what to think but there was nothing else to explain her reaction. When he set her back down, she was quieter and became cooperative, thus we got her in the car without a fight.

While we did get her into the car sans a fight, she became frightened by the car moving, saying, "No! No! No! Stop!" We endured this for roughly fifteen minutes before she quieted, entranced by the world moving outside the window. It was a world that she was barred from, missing it entirely. "Does freedom feel nice, Ryuuko?" Nui asked her. She gave her response in the form of a pat to Nui's head, while saying, "Nice." She wasn't really articulate with her thoughts although a terse response had sufficed. She was very much enjoying what she's missed all this time.

However, her enjoyment was bittersweet, as she asked, "Why?" She wasn't asking why she was enjoying this world in which she missed, instead, asking why she was treated the way she was before. She had missed so much but still knew enough to understand how she was treated in comparison to the rest of us. She clearly yearned for things to have been different but fate was far too cruel to allow it.

Still, we haven't forgot what she said. Silently, I wondered how that would be if she had born in a normal and loving family.