Sleep didn't come easy that night.

It might have been because I had already taken several naps that day, or perhaps the fact that every time I did nod off I found Kiki staring at me when I awoke.

After opening my eyes to find her staring at me for the last time I figured that the creepy factor was probably it.

"Hey." I said.

No answer.

"Why are you staring at me?" I said louder.

She blinked.

"People don't blink when they sleep with their eyes open." Not that I had experience watching people sleep.

"Darn, caught." She finally said.

"That is so creepy." I told her.

"I know, that's the point." She said. "Did you know you sort of twitch in your sleep?" Then she started to convulse in a way. She made her shoulders jump and kicked her feet around. "Like that."

"Good to know." I said flatly. I didn't really care.

"Did you dream?" She asked.

"A little." I answered.

Kiki propped herself up on her elbow and looked at me intrigued, "What about?"

"Normal dream stuff," I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

The girl across from me sort of half shrugged. "Just thought I'd make conversation, you're not going to sleep well tonight anyway."

"Why is that?" I asked her as I sat up. She was probably right.

"No one sleeps well their first night here." She informed me.

"Oh."

"So how'd you get here anyway? What's your story?"

I looked around the room uncomfortably. There wasn't much in it, certainly nothing I could change the subject with. There were two dressers in the rather stark room; it was a lot like what I'd heard a dorm room was like. I had some friends in boarding schools that sent me pictures. Hey, maybe I could say I went to a boarding school when I talked to my friends?

"Hello?" Kiki brought me back to reality.

"Um, Well, Uh, just…problems." I attempted to sound aloof and cool but I don't think it worked.

She laughed. "Come on, you can tell me. It's not like anyone cares around here."

That was true; I mean everyone here was just as crazy, if not more so than I supposedly was.

"Alright, fine." I finally said. "It all started when me and my parents moved here a couple years ago," and so I told her.

I told her about the spirit world and how my parents had turned to pigs and I had almost disappeared if it weren't for Kohaku. I told her about the bath house and how my name had been stolen and how I'd retrieved it. I told her everything and it felt good to talk about my adventure without having notes written while I told it. Kiki just sat in the dark and listened. I could tell when she blinked by when the white in the middle of her face disappeared and reappeared. Sometimes her eyes would brighten like she was enjoying it. She seemed like she might have believed me too because she never shook her head or looked at me like something were impossible.

"After I got back from that world and told my parents about it they thought I'd had a dream. Of course they got more concerned as time went by."

"Oh, so it was your parents who turned you in, huh." She said it seriously.

"Well I'm sure my therapist pushed them pretty hard to do it." I looked away from her.

There was a moment of silence.

"How'd you get to be here?" I finally asked her.

"Let's get some sleep." Was all she replied before turning her back on me.

The next morning I jumped when I heard a bell going off, it didn't wake me up because I had been awake for an hour. Kiki stirred only slightly to turn over and hide her head under a pillow.

"Go turn the light on or they'll do it for us." She said in a muffled, sleepy voice.

I did what she asked but it bothered me that she said "they" would do it for us. I mean, who was this "they" she spoke of and how would they know our light wasn't on? Did they have hidden cameras around, watching our every move to make sure we didn't start frothing at the mouth? Kiki, obviously didn't have these thoughts rushing through her extremely groggy head, instead she was ripping off her covers, without moving the pillow from her head.

I marveled briefly at her laziness before changing into day clothes. Somehow I found changing from pajamas to jeans and a t-shirt slightly silly.

I hadn't slept very much that night; instead my head was busy with questions and theories and even escape plans. Somehow I had managed to ponder why Kiki had dodged my question as well.

As I was beginning to dwell on that again, a voice came over an intercom in our room.

"Chihiro, please report to the head therapist's office. That is all."

I looked at the ceiling, where the voice had come from, hoping that maybe they would come on and elaborate that the reason I was being called there was that I was being sent home.

Unfortunately, no such luck.

I sighed before leaving the room, Kiki had half her body out of bed when I left, the bottom half. Her head was still buried somewhere in pillow land, I envied her ability to stay asleep.

As I walked down the hall I thought about how much the bags under my eyes must have weighed. I guessed at least the equivalent of some history text books, the big ones that seem so pointless because no one ever has enough time to teach that much history in a year. I also thought about how stupid it was that I hadn't paid attention to the tour that the nurse had given me.

I was lost.

To the right was a door that read "Janitor" to the left was a hall way that looked like it held more rooms, there was a payphone on one of the walls but somehow I didn't think that calling the front desk would work. I kept moving forward, down the hall that looked the same as the one I'd just been in. I was just about to turn back and see if I couldn't find Kiki when I bumped into Howl. He had just come out of what I would assume was his room.

"Well good morning." He said cheerily.

"Hi." I said quietly. I didn't really want to let him know I was lost so I avoided eye contact.

"Where are you off to this morning?" He asked me.

"Uh, head therapist's office." I said before beginning to walk straight again. Eventually I would find it right?

"Oh, well you're going the wrong way you know."

I stopped, looked around, briefly wondered if I could find a way to make it sound like I knew what I was talking about, realized there wasn't and finally faced him. "Oh really? Where would the right way be?"

He chuckled and waved his hand, signaling me to come back to him. "You missed the turn." He said. "Here, I'll show you."

"Okay."

So he showed me where to go. I was sort of wondering whether he would be late for something, but the smile on his mouth gave me a weird relaxed vibe, like he didn't have to be anywhere if he didn't want to be. "How was your first night?" Howl looked down at me with his blue eyes; they were glossy and full of life. I wondered how that could be, I hadn't been here for more than two days and I was already feeling lost and alone.

"Sleepless." I answered him unenthusiastically. He laughed, he had a very warm laugh, and when he did I felt alright with where I was. Somehow this person calmed me down even though I was in a prolonged state of panic.

"We're here." He said.

I hadn't even realized that we'd made it through the cafeteria and into the hallway that held the offices. "Oh, thanks." He said it was no problem and disappeared.

Nervously, I knocked on the door and from the inside I heard a muffled voice tell me to come in, so I did.

Inside I found the "head therapist" that I had met yesterday sitting at his desk; he was wearing a black suit today. I realized that I hadn't gotten his name, however I also realized that I didn't exactly want it.

I figured I probably should get it anyway so instead of asking I looked for a name plate. After searching his desk for a moment I found it.

"Doctor Jay Harlow"

Odd name but who was I to judge?

Doctor Harlow stared at me with an obnoxious smile on his equally obnoxious and large face.

I tried not to scowl.

"How are you today, Chihiro?" He asked, leaning foreword in the stereotypical therapist pose. His fingers interlaced, resting gently on the desk, his glasses perched at the end of his nose.

"Peachy." I said unenthused.

Doctor Harlow kept smiling but I saw his brow furrow as he reached for a clip board with what I could only assume was my information on it. He thought I had missed this subtle hint at his discomfort, but I hadn't.

Briefly I wondered if this eyebrow movement was normal for him. When his forehead smoothed again a permanent crease where his eyebrows had almost met remained. There were also worry lines on his forehead; he seemed older than yesterday, although I hadn't really been paying attention to him yesterday.

Now I studied his face with some intensity. He had a dark complexion, small freckles dotted his nose and neck. His hair was slightly silver, but only in streaks; the rest was black and wavy. This made him look a little bit younger, but not by much. He was middle aged, and if I hadn't been in this situation I would say that he looked quite friendly.

Not right now though, I only saw him as something I wanted to avoid. I looked away as his blue eyes came to rest on me.

"It says here that you went to the spirit world?"

"Didn't we go over this yesterday?" I asked annoyed.

"Yes, but I'm just going over facts. Now, from the reports your old therapist filed about you, it looks like you are suffering from schizophrenia. From the talk I had with you yesterday I'm inclined to agree with that."

"Wait. Isn't that where you talk to yourself?" I asked with wide eyes.

"In some cases yes, but-"

"I don't talk to myself." I cut him off before he could continue.

"That's only in some cases, Chihiro. Schizophrenia is a very complica-" A beeping from his phone cut him off again. He looked down at it and I saw his eyes widen the tiniest bit. "Excuse me." He whispered before picking it up.

"Yes, Doctor Harlow speaking…yes." I was slightly awkward as he spun to the side in his chair, he wasn't looking anywhere in particular but he was very intent on the phone. "Oh she did? Again?...Alright. Bring her to my office." Then he hung up the phone and looked at me.

"I'm sorry Chihiro; I'll have to explain later, I'll have the nurse start you on your medication. For now you're excused."

I took that as my cue to leave. Without saying anything I retreated to the door and walked through the hallways back to the cafeteria where breakfast was in process.

The whole place was buzzing. Something had happened.

I got my food and sat down where I saw Howl and Kiki, but San was nowhere to be seen. I would have assumed that she just hadn't gotten there yet but the two already sitting looked concerned.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked.

Kiki looked up at me and followed my movement as I sat down. "San tried to commit suicide again."