A/N: You don't know how many Radiohead songs I've been listening to whenever I write a chapter for this story. It's insane - no pun intended.

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Special Case.

Roxas yawned for the umpteenth time as he drove towards the psych ward; he was so tired he was afraid he was going to fall asleep in the middle of the freeway.

He was pretty sure he slept the entire night, but when he woke up in the morning he felt as if he didn't get any sleep at all. He wondered if Ansem could answer a few of his questions when he sees him later on.

"You look rather perky today," Axel commented dryly when Roxas stepped into the lounge looking a little worse-for-wear, "I reckon you didn't sleep much?"

"Not really," The blond yawned as he moved to sit on the couch beside the ever-so motionless Kaori, "Actually, I'm not even sure."

"What do you mean?" Demyx asked curiously, leaning over Kaori to listen properly.

"Well, I remember falling asleep but when I woke up the next morning I still felt tired," Roxas ruffled his hair in confusion, "I really don't get it." He glanced around the room and noticed that the sadist was nowhere to be found. "Hey, where's Larxene?"

"She's due for her checkup, so you won't be seeing her today," Axel informed him with a smirk, "I thought you'd be relieved. Naminé sure is."

"Naminé?" Roxas whirled around and spotted the familiar white-blonde girl sitting at the far table in the exact same position she was in the day before: she was emotionlessly staring straight ahead with the same crayon in her fist, hovering over the blank piece of paper. Her stark white dress was almost blinding as the sun peeking in through the window dappled across the thin fabric. Again she was totally barefoot.

"Intrigued now, are we?" He heard Axel snicker from behind, and he could not help but blush.

"I didn't get to ask Ansem about her yesterday, but Zexion set me up for an appointment after I'm finished with my hours today." Roxas explained sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey, that means you can let us in on the info!" Demyx added eagerly.

"I thought you guys knew about her."

"Not in that way," Axel shrugged, "The only thing we know for sure is that they found her wandering the streets a few years ago."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah," Demyx frowned, "Really weird, if you ask me."

"For some reason Ansem and the other shrinks have been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to little Naminé." The redhead's eyes shifted over to her and he frowned. "She looks lonely - why don't you go talk to her? Dem told me she actually shows emotion around you."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "How are you so sure she's lonely? She looks like a stone statue!"

The pyromaniac laughed and jokingly pushed the blond off the sofa. "Trust me, kid, I know. Go talk to her - I'm pretty sure she wants you to."

The boy groaned, but he began to make his way towards her anyway. "Fine, fine." He could feel his pulse quickening for some reason as he pulled up a chair to sit beside her. "Hey Naminé," He greeted kindly; when she lacked a response his eyes dulled and he turned around to face Axel but when he spotted the redhead waving his hands, gesturing him to continue, he groaned. "Uh, how are you?"

Again, no response. Roxas exhaled sharply and slapped a hand to his forehead, feeling like the world's biggest idiot. He wondered why he even bothered listening to Axel in the first place, but at the same time he felt like he should keep trying. He breathed in deep and attempted to speak to her once more. "Hm, it looks like you haven't drawn anything yet," He frowned down at the blank piece of paper, "Why don't I start you off?"

He hesitantly reached for the crayon in her hand, and he sighed in relief when he managed to pull it out without her responding. He tapped the end of the crayon against his chin as he briefly contemplated on what to draw, and when an idea came to mind he 'ah-ed' and pressed the waxy tip to the paper. In mere seconds he leaned backwards to stare at his work; a purple-coloured butterfly was floating in the middle of the page. Granted, a second-grader would've drawn a better butterfly but it was probably the best piece of art he had ever made.

He grinned when he spotted Naminé's half-open, seemingly disinterested eyes move slowly from the wall towards the piece of paper in between them, and his grin broadened when she slumped over it to examine the drawing. She reached for the crayon in his hand and began to touch up on his artwork; he watched her intently as she drew some grass, a tree, a few clouds and a large purple sun. Her drawing style wasn't very different than his: the lines were crooked, out of proportion and childish-looking but they still looked better than his misshapen butterfly.

"There," Roxas smiled at her, "See, you just needed someone to give you a head-start."

She gave him a tiny smile, and his stomach flip-flopped a couple times. "Thank you," She nearly whispered, "You're a very nice person to come and talk to me."

The blond blushed and tousled his hair. "Aw, well I didn't want to leave you all by yourself - you looked kinda lonely just sitting here." He flipped the piece of paper over and gestured towards it. "I like the way you draw - why don't you make me another picture?"

Her smile widened a little; it would've been unnoticeable if he wasn't paying close attention to her. She immediately got to work, skimming over the page with the purple crayon. Roxas glanced over her shoulder to watch her, careful to keep his distance just in case she felt uncomfortable. He could smell the shampoo in her hair and the odd, sterile scent of the hospital lingering on her dress but for some reason he liked it.

"All done." Naminé sang in that wonderfully soft voice of hers; she gestured towards the piece of paper and Roxas saw with amusement that she had drawn him: he could make out the uncontrollable mess that was his hair, the patterns on his shirt and the hole in his jeans. Again it was something a child would draw, but coming from her meant that it was a masterpiece.

"Heh, it looks better than the real thing." He chuckled, and he smiled when she stifled a small giggle behind a pale hand. He could feel Axel and Demyx's eyes on his back and he felt pride swelling up inside of him; he's getting the seemingly mute girl to talk, and not even the head psychiatrist of the ward can do such a thing!

"You're different than everyone else around here," Naminé stated shyly, "You're...you're nicer than them."

Roxas' head cocked to the side. "Them?"

"The staff," She replied; her voice was nothing louder than a whisper, "They don't treat me as nicely as you do. They don't stay with me to watch me draw, and they don't even try to talk to me." Her eyes lowered to her crude drawing and his heart sank at the crestfallen expression she was wearing. "They say I don't talk much - it's only because no one's ever tried to talk to me before."

"Well, you don't have to worry about them," Roxas shrugged, "They don't know you. If you ever need anyone to talk to I'll be around-" He gestured towards the two young adults sitting by the sofa, "-and Axel and Demyx are around too. You talk to them, right?"

"Sometimes," The flaxen-haired girl admitted, "Only when...only when she's not around." Naminé bit her bottom lip and grabbed the hem of her dress with a grip so tight her ashen knuckles whitened even more. "She's so mean to me..." She sniffled and swiped at her eyes.

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Hey, remember what I told you yesterday? It's just the way she is - it's her sickness that's talking." He tried to smile for her, but for some reason he was unable to. "As long as I'm around she won't bother you. I promise."

She glanced up at him and sniffled again; she wiped her tears away and nodded diligently. "Okay." She smiled, and he finally managed to smiled back.

"Hey," Axel approached them with Demyx in tow, "You can't have all the fun - we want to talk to Naminé too!"

"Yeah, Roxas," Demyx grinned, and the blond blushed and rumpled his hair, "Quit hogging her, will ya - we had her first."

The pyromaniac sat beside the smallest blonde and gave her a heartwarming smile, like how a brother would give to his younger sister. "How are you doing?" His tone was kind and patient - a tone Roxas wouldn't imagine someone like Axel to use, "Feeling better? I haven't seen you in awhile."

Naminé gave him a small smile and absently tugged on a strand of hair near the back of her head. "I'm okay," She replied delicately, "Better than last week."

"That's good to hear," Demyx breathed a sigh of relief, "We were worried about you."

Roxas wanted to ask what they were talking about, but he figured that it would be better to inquire about it when Naminé wasn't around. He spent the rest of his two hours with the three patients; he laughed at Axel's jokes and marveled at Naminé's drawings. Demyx sang the smallest blonde a song - a song she claimed to be her favourite - and Roxas awed at the dreamy, almost intoxicated expression the young girl wore when she listened to the musician sing. She was something to look at, that's for sure, but at the same time it was odd to think such a thing because, well, she wasn't exactly normal.

Wait, just because she's mentally unstable doesn't mean it's not normal to think she's pretty. The brain doesn't have to do anything with the way a person looks on the outside!

"Hey, fresh meat," Axel nudged his elbow, tearing the blond away from his thoughts, "Time's up."

"Oh - right," He abruptly stood up from his chair and dusted off his jeans, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, Roxas." Naminé smiled and waved, just like yesterday, and he smiled and waved back before leaving the room. He twisted and turned his way through the hallways and staircases towards Zexion's front desk, astonished when he realized that he actually remembered his way around.

"He's waiting for you," The smoky-haired boy didn't even bother to look up from his paperwork, "So just walk right in."

"Thanks." He made his way down the hallway to the dark-wooded door at the end, and he inhaled slowly before rapping against it with his knuckles.

"Come in," Said Ansem's deep voice, and Roxas turned the doorknob and walked inside. The office looked the same as usual, and Ansem was sitting behind his desk just like last time, "Hello, Roxas. What did you need to see me for?"

"Er, I just have a few quick things to ask you," The blond answered as he took a seat, "First of all: how come I don't have Naminé's patient profile?"

The man's eyes widened momentarily, and then he relaxed a few seconds afterward. "Oh, I almost forgot you had Naminé in your assigned room-" He reached for a stack of paper near the corner of his desk and rifled through it for a bit; he handed Roxas a single sheet, "-she was incapacitated for the last week and I had to take her out of the lounge to keep a closer eye on her."

"Er," Roxas hesitated, unsure of how to word this properly, "A couple of patients told me that you kind of just found her wandering the streets a few years ago."

"It's true," The man frowned, "She was just walking around the streets of Twilight Town in the middle of the night, covered head to toe in grime and wearing that same white dress you saw her in not so long ago - she refuses to wear anything else, and she doesn't like to wear shoes either." Ansem scratched his beard as his eyes swam with memories. "The police found her first, actually, but when they couldn't get any information out of her they sent her over to us. It took us nearly a month to get her to say her name - she doesn't seem to remember how she ended up on the streets, or anything in particular; either that or she's just not telling us anything."

"What exactly is her condition?"

Ansem neatly folded his hands on top of the desk. "I think it's best you read her profile, Roxas, and then you can ask me afterward."

The blond boy quickly scanned through the sheet of paper in his hands:

(Surname Unknown) Naminé

Approximately 17-18 years of age; female

Resident of Twilight Town Psychiatric Facility for 3 years

Points of Interest: Highly unresponsive, apathetic and unmotivated. Shows mild cases of insomnia as patient is unable to sleep through the entire night, and is prone to nightmares; volunteers and employees on night shift are to distribute the proper medication when this occurs. Slight possibility that patient is suffering from amnesia. Patient is known to shift into a manic-depressive state; volunteers and employees must take caution as patient is prone to self-harm.

Diagnosis: Acute Schizophrenia: Handle with extreme patience and vigilance; speak slowly and kindly and make sure not to have any sort of sharp or pointed object on your person.

"Schizophrenia?" Roxas glanced upwards from the document with his brow scrunched in confusion.

"It means she has trouble distinguishing the difference between reality and figment of imagination," Ansem replied in a business-like tone, "She's known to have episodes where she sees, hears and even feels things that aren't really there, and when she's not having an episode she's usually very stoic and unresponsive. People with her condition are nearly completely incapable of functioning properly in society without some form of very heavy medication," He shook his head pitifully, "A young girl like her is so undeserving of such a fate."

Roxas mussed up his hair. "But when I talked to her yesterday she responded, and I even made her laugh today...sort of."

Ansem's eyes widened in shock. "Have you really?" He leaned forward a little bit, intrigued, "What did you do?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing, really - I just sat beside her and helped her draw, and then I started talking to her. She talked back and we had a normal conversation."

The blond man chuckled and nodded. "That's quite a feat, if I do say so myself. I can't even get her to say a single word when I'm examining her." He absently straightened his tie before continuing. "Roxas, I want you to keep an eye on Naminé. Spend as much time with her as you possibly can - talk to her, draw pictures with her, anything, really. I will be asking you to come here once every week to give me an update on her progress."

Roxas shrugged. "Sounds easy to me."

Ansem's answering smile was grateful. "Glad to know you're willing to participate." He folded his hands over his desk again. "Now, was there something else you wished to ask me?"

"Oh, right-" The blond rumpled his hair, "-uh, lately when I wake up in the morning I feel like I haven't really slept at all, though I plainly remember falling asleep the night before." He scratched his head in confusion. "Is that normal?"

Ansem chuckled and nodded. "Maybe you're just anxious with all the stress and pressure of completing your community hours, and plus it's your last year of high school, isn't it? It's always hectic in your graduating year - I know mine was. Just take some time to relax yourself before you sleep; drink some warm milk or tea for your nerves. You probably shift around a lot in your sleep, or maybe you even sleepwalk."

"Sleepwalk?" The image of him walking around the house in a zombie-like state was frightening and amusing at the same time - Sora would get a kick out of that, that's for sure. "Er, how would I know for sure?"

"Do you have siblings?" Roxas nodded. "Maybe you can ask them if they've heard anything during the night."

"My mom said she's heard me moving around a lot in my room." The blond frowned as his hand reached for his hair.

"That's a good place to start - ask your mother what she's hearing exactly, and then come back to me when you've got your answers." Ansem gestured towards the door. "I'll be expecting a full report next week, Roxas."

The blond smirked and gave him a mocking salute. "Will do."

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A/N: Whatever song Naminé asked Demyx to sing to her is up to your interpretation; for me the only thing singing in my head right now is Radiohead's Idioteque (now you all know where I got my username from), and I'm pretty sure that's a song Naminé wouldn't listen to.