"Alright guys, it's art time, so grab one piece of paper and utensils and get started!" Miss Aya clapped her hands.
"What's the point of this?" Azusa sighed.
"Well, its called Art Therapy and people believed that by art, people can express their emotion better," Miss Aya explained.
"Seems all crap to me," Azusa said under her breath.
"What are you drawing, Yui?" Mugi asked nicely.
"My fairy!" Yui answered but she was drawing nothing but lines and circles.
"Where? Where?" Ritsu looked over Yui's shoulder.
"Right here!" Yui answered.
"I don't see it!"
"It's right here!" Yui cried.
"That's not a fairy!" Ritsu answered back. "Ah what'cha painting Azusa?"
"The moon."
"Ooh, nice nice," Ritsu bounced to Mio's cat looking figure.
"Thanks," Mio blushed.
"What's your name again?" Ritsu asked Mio, but before Mio could answer Ritsu was already running around the room and Miss Aya told her to sit back down.
"Berry!" Yui cried. "Berry school walks to straw!"
"Huh! " Azusa asked. "Ugh, I hate it when she doesn't make any sense."
"I think she wants strawberries," Mio said.
"Perfect! How'd you know?" Miss Aya asked Mio.
"Oh, I just…I just guessed," Mio said meekly.
"Maybe dinnertime, you can have strawberries, okay?" Miss Aya told Yui.
"Yay!" Yui celebrated.
Mio soon forgot about the incident she had with 'school' time and learned how to get along with Yui and Mugi. Though she is having a hard time still getting along with Azusa, she's still a bit scared of her. With Ritsu, she doesn't know how to approach her since she's always scattered everywhere. Dinner time came and Mugi seemed like another person.
"Mugi?" Mio asked.
"My name's not Mugi. And don't talk to me, I don't talk to stupid people," Mugi glared at Mio. Mio was taken aback at this. Azusa started laughing.
"Don't worry, she's changed to another person, I got so mad at her the first time I heard that too," she explained.
"When will she turn back?" Mio asked.
"No one knows, but it's best if you leave her alone for now," Azusa said.
"Ne, Chari, can I have your cookie?" Ritsu asked.
Mugi, known as Chari, gave Ritsu her cookie.
"She seems to get along with Ritsu just fine, we don't know why," Azusa said.
"Ah," Mio examined their friendship.
"Don't take her seriously, she didn't mean it," Azusa tried comforting Mio.
"Thanks," Mio smiled at her.
Azusa, for the first time in a long time, blushed and said, "You're welcome."
"Medicine time!" Miss Aya announced after they put their trays away. They took their medicine and Mio was reminded that she was as crazy as the others and that there was something wrong with her. Right there, she suddenly felt bad again thinking about missing school and the work she left behind and what her peers and teachers might say once they find out about her being in an Institution. She went straight to bed, missing movie time after dinner. She laid down thinking about her life.
Am I really cut out for this? She thought. She began to tear up once again. Then the feeling of emptiness began to reside in her. My future's not set. I don't know what I want to do after high school. I'm not excellent at anything. I feel like I'm the only one undecided. All my 'friends' have their goals set. Maybe if my life wasn't so complicated. Maybe if I wasn't so weak all the time. Mio hugged her pillow and cried herself to sleep. She couldn't handle thinking about how her depression was eating her life away. And how she stands there, doing nothing about it. And how it frustrates her how she can't do anything about it because she thinks she's weak. How will she be able to cope with her depression?