Okay, I haven't forgotten about you guys. At 32 follows, this is already on the board for my popular stories. Granted it Is placed at 7 out of 12 but by joe it is still there. And you all are great.

Chapter 4: Day One

Nora was... she wasn't sure what she was doing, or meant to be doing rather. She was sitting in a circle, while people started to drone on and on about some petty problems about the colour of light that supposedly changed colours on the hour. Or that is at least the more amusing tale Nora created. The actual one was something along the lines of their milk at breakfast kept disappearing and it was causing slight stress on them. Nora wasn't sure if it was even possible for something like that to cause stress. Chances are they were just drinking it absent mindedly.

Nora turned her attention towards Weiss. The therapist in this part of the nut bin. She just took in all the information from them. She jotted it down almost as fast as it was said, and waited patiently for their stories to end before she commented.

"Well, like I suggest last group session, this routine you've fallen into, and you always said that if you broke from it something bad will happen. And nothing bad has happened. Has it?" Weiss asked as she finished her note taking.

"No... nothing bad has happened as of yet. But it is only a matter of time. Before something terrible happens. They are just buying their time." The brunette man stated as he his hands began to do what Nora assumed was just a twitch. He had been doing it all throughout the group session.

"Just remember Russell, it is okay for you to throw your routine out of the window. Bad things happen all the time. But baby steps." Weiss spoke just as calm as she had for the rest. She quickly turned her attention to Nora. "Now Nora, you are the last person, and I saved you for last intentionally. You have seen what this is about. As you are new, start off with the basics and tell us about you." Weiss spoke again with the gentleness that she didn't need for Nora.

"Well, seeing as I'm virtually being forced, my name is Nora Valkyrie and I'm only here for a mental evaluation that the courts demanded." Nora finished her statement and crossed her arms. She was already tired of having to speak about her. She had no idea how she was going to be able to do it any longer.

"Well can you tell us more about yourself. The rest have spoke about their past. You should at least attempt the same. How else are we meant to figure you out?" Weiss continued her calm response as she gestured to the others. "Let me guess Nora, you don't feel comfortable sharing about your past. Don't worry, everyone here has at some stage been in your shoes. Either being ashamed of their past or just not comfortable with their past. There isn't anything we haven't heard before." Weiss urged Nora to continue on.

"Yeah... it isn't either of those. My parents were inventors that couldn't get out of the conscription that ended up getting them killed. Ren's parents who were only passing through my village heard about my story and adopted me. And for the last ten years I've been living off my parents wealth they left me. So Ren has always looked out for me." Nora began as she already felt slightly colder from the memory.

She never liked dealing with her past. She would much rather forget about it. Despite what Ren said was the healthy option. This way she could at least be herself without any trouble. This was a nice way. This way seemed to work best for her. At the very least it was the devil she knew.

"Okay, that seems like you've kept it bottled up a bit too long. Do you want to talk about it more?" Weiss asked calmly. Debating if she should use some persuasion. Nora probably kept that bottled up as far as she could. And she just loathed the idea of them coming back up.

"No... I'd rather not." Nora just stated. She had no idea why but she felt she just earned a few more days being in there. She just knew she didn't need it. She was perfectly fine, it was either this or spend a few months in jail. It is just every second she spent in those damned white walls she knew she made the wrong call.

"Right well, you already know Nora. If you don't want to talk about it, we can't help. So if you don't want to talk about it I can't force you." Weiss directed at Nora and turned back to the group. "So if no one has anything else they would like to say," Weiss asked, and was met with silence.

"Okay, you are free for now." Weiss stated as she finished what she was writing. Before Nora could bolt out of the room, Weiss spoke up. "Nora, if you have a minute, I'd like to talk with you about how Ruby is dealing with you."

Nora relaxed at the fact she didn't need to talk about herself. She never thought she would hate something that seemed so natural to others so much. She had no qualm with talking about literally anything. As long as it wasn't her early life. It was something that even Ren had a hard time getting her to talk about. "Well, she is a bit uptight but all I noticed really was the vanishing stutter and some major OCD. Like the closing the door and how after I laid down on my bed she had to fix it." Nora stated as Weiss stood up and they began to walk towards what Nora could only assume the cafeteria.

Well that was what she hoped. She was hungry, and that was one of the many things down that hallway that Ruby showed her. This way she could eat and Weiss can get what she wants about Ruby known.

"That is only minor things. Which is good to hear actually. She has acted violently in the past. But if you want a bit of advice, if she has what she simply dubs 'The Nightmare' she will scream, ignore it the best you can, someone will be in to sedated her. We don't know what triggers the nightmares, but what we do know is they causes slight problems that we can easily resolve, but would rather not." Weiss continued as they walked into the room Nora was practically begging mentally for.

Nora noticed one major thing though. A huge crowd gathered around a table. Nora pushed past everyone as fast as she could so she could see what had everyone so enraptured. And the sight that met her left her mouth hanging agape.

Ren the chess master she knew growing up was on the ropes. All he had left was a knight, the king, and four pawns. Ruby however seemed to have only lost a singular knight, her queen and all her pawns. She had Ren pinned in the back corner.

"C-c-c-ch-check in t-t-two." Ruby stuttered, as Ren simply moved a pawn into the way. Attempting to slow Ruby down. Ruby just quickly took it. "Check mate." Ruby statement took Ren off guard as he scanned the board and saw he was beat.

"That was a good game Ruby. I really thought that would have given me a turn to breath a little. Not speed the game up." Ren commented, as he stretched. Weiss saw out of the corner of her eye what had become the standard. Gambling on games like that. "I'll excuse it this time but if I catch even a single dollar exchanging hands again, I'll have all your jobs!" Weiss yelled causing the room to be cleared remarkably fast.

"S-s-s-s-sorry D-d-d-d-doctor Weiss." Ruby stuttered turning to the plate of food she had. The food on it having long since gone cold. She began to poke at it with a fork as Ren began to pack up the board and pieces. Weiss began to help him and they quickly walked off talking about something.

Nora quickly sat across from the smaller redhead. She was speechless. She had always thought Ren was undefeated. But that just proved that assumption was wrong. Ren could rather easily be beaten. She was now painfully aware about how true the old saying about assuming was.

'The silence is nice. Pity it won't last. She has some loud and annoying gesture that may just cause me to snap. Then I would need to stay in solitary for a while, while they asses the situation. Which would take an eternity in isolation time.' Ruby thought as she began to eat some of the cold pasta dish she had.

"That is impressive. I've never seen Ren lose at chess. That was impressive.." Nora began as she began to flail her arms out of excitement. And it was only a fraction of her true astonishment. She was only barely with holding it. She didn't want to startle Ruby into some unneeded aggression. Which would surprise her, in it's own way. She had only ever saw the girl as the innocent non aggressive, slightly socially awkward but never aggressive.

"I've won one hundred games and we drew fifty. It isn't hard once you figure out how your opponents think it is easy. Ren plays passively. So the best way to counter is for aggressive attacks. Which is what I always go for." Ruby stated as she took another bite. It was probably her favourite meal but it always tasted terrible cold.

"I suppose Ren just never had much practise. But that could just be because he was more so focused with studying, so he could get into a nice college, so that he could land a nice job like he has here." Nora continued her rant. Almost ignoring Ruby's comment. Not that Ruby really minded. It could have been a whole lot worse in the past. But she kept the mantra in her head. One more day after tonight.

"Why didn't you tell me about that Ren!?" Weiss hissed at him as he placed the game down onto the table. He could understand Weiss' anger but the simple fact that Nora felt like she could reveal such a crucial part of her life. Something that took him four years growing up to even speak about.

"Weiss, I know you're my superior and all, but the simple fact that she opened up that much is saying something about your skill. She hates talking about her parents. Does she bottle up every little feeling she has? Yes. Is she aware that it has negative consequences for her health? Yes, I make sure on an almost daily basis that it is terrible for her. But she just never feels comfortable around most people." Ren started as they walked back towards the dispensary window.

"I'm fully aware about my skill. I've been working here since you were in med school. But what I'm worried about is the fact if she kept that bottled up for this long, what else. If she heads to group again she may just break down." Weiss continued to hiss, she didn't want to be the cause of someone taking a near permanent residence there. Out of the few they had the only one they continued to attempt to salvage was Ruby. They rest never even attempted to change.

"I need to pass her off to Blake and give her that knowledge. But with my opinion we should keep her longer. But Blake has a better sense at that kind of thing. But keep in mind she may may very well be here another month. Maybe more." Weiss continued as she took the clipboard that was handed to her. She quickly checked the file and handed it back.

"I'm aware of this all Weiss. It was partially the reason why I tricked her into coming here. You and Blake are the best psychiatrists I know. And I've even had the good grace to study under a few of the common household names in the modern era. If anyone can help her are you two. Maybe she may even be the piece you've both been looking for to help Ruby." Ren stated as they continued to make some of their evening rounds.

Nora heard a loud scream. Something she wasn't used to while she was asleep. While she was awake chance are she was the one that caused them.

But this, it was different. It was like the scream would save someone. It was dreadful. And if she had a decent amount of rest she could have a decent guess at where the scream was coming from before she even opened her eyes.

But she simply needed to, as she did she could see Ren and some other guy walk in and instantly walked over to Ruby to hold her down as the other doctor Nora met that day walked in and injected her with something.

Nora had no idea what it was, but Ruby instantly began to quiet down. As her fighting died down Ren looked over at Nora who had been almost fully awake now. "Go back to sleep Nora. She won't be up again until much later." Ren stated as he gently pushed Nora back down onto the bed and pull her blanket up.

"Okay Renny..." Nora muttered as she closed her eyes again. Letting sleep invade her eyes once more. 'I thought Weiss was joking. But clearly not.'

Author's Note:

welp nice round ending. No cliffhangers and I only see about four maybe five chapters left of this. I hope you all are enjoying it.