Breakfast ended without fault, Kid having returned to his seat. Maka was kept back as every other patient filed out, Maria berating her for her poor behaviour. A roll of her eyes proved the young girl was beyond caring, choosing to furiously and rhythmically tap her foot against the carpeted floor, rather than listen to the nurse. Eventually putting the incident behind her Marie escorted Maka to the group therapy room where the rest of the patients were throwing fits over seating. It took Maka a moment to understand the situation. To compensate missing school, frequent lessons were being held in the therapy room during typical term time, three round tables surrounded each by four chairs carefully placed in the room, each one behind the the other.
Black*Star was on top of the middle table screaming that he'd wanted to sit at the front as Sid tried to calmly explain why the blue haired boy was no longer allowed. Maka momentarily wondered why that was. Liz was hiding under her chair under the table, protecting herself from the screeching teenage maniac. A quick look to the front showed Kid and Soul sat a seat apart, Soul slumped over the table.
Patty was giggling and encouraging black star while Blair prowled round the room. For a second the catgirls eyes caught Maka's and gazed into them. She made the point of not looking away until a few seconds had passed but Maka was sure that short amount of eye contact had scarred her. Ignoring the rest of the kids around her, Maka swiftly headed towards the front table and effortlessly slid into the seat between kid and soul, throwing a glance at the white haired boy. Looking at soul up close maka realised the boy had fallen asleep, long hair curling into his eyes, soft and fluffy, quiet snores fel through his barely parted mouth, his closed eyes were curled a little, smiling at whatever he was dreaming about. His body was closed off, arms tucked neatly under his head, which was in turn tucked into his arms. Maka wasn't sure why but she envisioned him to be a rough sleeper, someone who kicked and fussed and, while you couldn't exactly call it sleep-talking, wouldn't stop making noises until someone hit them over the head to wake them up. He was more peaceful in sleep than maka had ever seen him while awake. She didn't mean to stare but watching the boy, seeing his chest push up and down was a peaceful experience so she continued to take in all of his features, storing and categorising them in her mind, having nothing else to do while the therapists tried to calm all the other patients down.
Kid was watching Maka, eyeing the side of her head, thoughts racing. The yearning to get answers to questions he didn't know was still strong. He couldn't understand the attachment he felt, the need to question her about where she'd come from. He'd have felt the same pull with Tsubaki, had he not been reacting severely to the new medication they'd put him on the week she joined. By the time Kid's body had stopped self-destructing and cooperated, three weeks had passed and tsubaki was yet another hospital patient he knew. It seemed like a loss, really. Tsubaki appeared more willing and submissive than Maka, it would have been a lot easier to extract information. What information, Kid didn't know. His head was foggy and it hurt to cut open old wounds. His memories of before the hospital were almost gone, dreams that whispered away on the wind. He could remember his father's smile the first time Kid joined the school. God knows what the name was, he'd have to ask someone later. He remembered how the other children would leave him alone, knowing that if they dared touch him they'd answer to the principal. He could also remember the sharp loneliness that plagued him, the dark wretched thoughts that slowly drove him mad. The feeling of constantly being watched, being judged by those around him. The suffocating air as he walked into a classroom. The tense tightrope his peers trode upon while near him.
And just like that the doors were closed, Sid was handing out test papers, everyone having settled down over time. Maka was furiously scrolling through the test questions, her expression only showing disgust. Soul was dazed, scrubbing at his eyes to remove the leftovers of sleep. Kid held back a small groan as he saw his name messily scrawled at the top of the page. He could barely hold back from shredding the booklet when he noticed at least three dog eared pages. He focused on Sid's voice, focusing on the explanation of the test.
"Those of you who have been here for less than three months will be unfamiliar with this process. The majority of you are in the same age and curriculum group, so we're one year behind your current curriculum, seeing as this is not a school, but an institution of sorts to help you get better. The first section of this test covers core subjects, math, english and all three sciences, the second humanities and creatives, the third general studies/knowledge. The fourth section is specifically designed for each patient with a set of unique question to help assess your current state and health. And while I understand that trees are precious, I have printed multiple copies of each of your papers in the event someone decides to vandalise their own," Sid paused, glancing at the front table of problem students, almost grimacing when realising Maka fit so easily into the group, filling the gap between between soul and kid. He could only imagine the the amount of ways they could potentially ruin countless lives. He'd let them be for now, he had more pressing matters.
"I implore you not to complete anybody elses questionnaire and not to force people into sharing their answers," another glance showed Maka already scribbling answers down on the paper, Soul lazily copying her and kid subconsciously attempting to smooth out the folded edges of his papers. None appeared to pay any attention to the older man. He held back a sigh, leaving it up to their counselors to decide if they'd get in trouble.
"As soon as you done please hand in your test and then you may leave, with permission from either myself, Maire or azusa. You may begin."
Maka furiously scribbled the answers down, pausing at the end of the page to wait for the sound of Soul's pen to stop before turning over. Aware that Soul had opted to copy her answers Maka rationalised that there was no point in calling him out. She assumed Sid knew what he was doing and would take that into account when reading through. Even if he didn't, Maka wasn't the slightest bit bothered. She just wanted to reach the end, hand it in and leave. She couldn't bear to imagine being in Kid's position, the young boy having started with incensed tears building in the corners of his eyes. A few minutes in and he'd given up trying to smooth the ruined paper, instead folding all of the corners in a specific pattern to create a symmetrical look before finally beginning the actual test.
It didn't seem like a test in Maka's eyes. Nor did it seem like an exam. She supposed the correct term would be a quiz. Did it matter? She didn't know if the terms had any specific meanings and whether or not they were different. She did know some teachers favoured certain words, ones that gave the entire thing an air of professionalism. What she did know was that no matter what it was, test, exam, quiz, she just wanted to finish it quickly. She had no intent on completing the fourth section. It was a waste of time and even if she did, who could say it was the truth. It was always harder to conclude whether or not someone was lying when reading something they wrote. Speaking face to face allowed you to observe them, to watch, expose their mannerisms and falsehood.
Reaching the end of the third section the pigtailed blonde chose to flick through the remaining pages. She mindlessly scrawled generic responses and then stood, stalking up to Marie who was closest to her. Marie took it with a gentle grin, flipping rapidly through it to check Maka had made the effort to answer everything. Once satisfied she gestured towards the door and then Maka was gone, racing away from the room. She was tempted to pace around and explore for a short while but she blinked and out of nowhere noticed she was standing in front of the door to her room. Softly sighing, she nudged it open and dragged herself in, not bothering to push the door shut. With another sigh, more exasperated and frustrated, she threw herself onto her bed, welcoming the cold embrace of the duvet. Quickly it warmed to the temperature of Maka's body and the girl pushed up, sliding onto the floor. Her mind was exhausted but her eyes refused to close, energised and buzzing. This proved to be a problem until her idle gaze steadily rested on the bookshelf that resided in the other half of her room.
Instantly Maka's hands twitched, longing for a book to be rested between them. The teenage girl shot up from where she lay and began rifling through, trying to remember the particularly engaging stories, eventually settling on the hefty collection of Michael Morpurgo books she'd collected over the years. Working swiftly she stacked a few in her hands and made her way back to her resting place on the bedside floor. Relaxing her body for a mere second Maka picked the first one, Long Way Home, and settled into a more comfortable reading position. The process of immersing herself in a fantasy tale began and Maka's mind grew blank, her thoughts and feelings erased.
A/N
Super sorry for super late update. I had the first half (more than a half, a good 80%) written in January but I wanted to write more and then I kind of lost motivation until now? Soon I'm going to be going back and comb through my chapters and make edits where needed. I can't say how major the edits will be but as always with me the first few chapters may be a little more than tweaked as they aren't as thought through and improved as the rest. I sometimes read everything and note where I need to improve in later work so they just get left collecting dust and being a bad example.
Thanks to all of you reading, read and review. Point out any mistakes I may have made because there are probably a ton. Until next time. Which will definitely be this month because I've gotten the entire next chapter written. Pray that I remember to upload it.