Azusa Nakano sat in the room at the table. She
was dressed in her school uniform and in
between her twin-tails sat a pair of black
nekomimi. There were five places set, including
her own, and she was busy pouring tea and
placing a piece of cake on each plate.

"Isn't it wonderful that we get to spend so much
time together now?" she asked her friends with
a smile on her face.

Yui nodded 'yes' happily while putting a bite into
her mouth that was slightly too large.

"You need to be more careful, Yui-senpai. You got
icing on your cheek."

Asusa picked up a napkin and gently wiped the
older girl's face.

"I'm glad they let me have a bigger room. We
would have been so cramped in that other one."

From the opposite side of the one way glass, her
parents and the doctor were carefully watching
Azusa take tea with her invisible friends.

"Do you think she'll be alright, doctor?" Azusa's
mother asked with tears welling in her eyes.

"Of course. Mrs. Nakano," said the man who had
met with Azusa during her stay in the hospital,
"the human mind is strong and resilient, it can be
hurt like any other part of the body and it can
also heal. There is nothing wrong with her. Your
daughter is merely suffering from 'survivor's guilt,'
loneliness, and sadness from losing her best
friends. She has been hurt and she can recover.
I'm certain she will come to terms with the
accident. She just needs time."

"But she didn't even notice when we came to
visit her in the hospital."

"We cannot put a cast around her mind to help it
heal, Mrs. Nakano, we cannot stitch it back
together and medication can only do so much.
Things like this take a little while. We just have to
be patient."

"Would it be okay if I went in to say 'goodbye' for
today?"

"Yes, but don't deny that her friends are there."

"Is it safe to reinforce this behavior?"

"Maybe not, but it would be even worse right
now to tell her otherwise."

Azusa's parents walked into the room and over
to their daughter. She happily put down the cup
and received their hugs and kisses.

"We have to go today, my love. Be good and do
what the doctors tell you, okay?"

"Yes mama," she answered, though not very
enthusiastically.

After they left, Azusa returned to the tea-party.

"They all seem to think that I'm crazy for talking
to you."

The four looked at each other with some worry.

"They will keep thinking that until you let us go."