Pristine and Seventeen by Erin M.

Analysis

A/N: The real world isn't like the movies we see or the television shows we watch. Although we helplessly wish it could be. This story is about a bitter reality that one girl has to face.

Bitter frost encrusted the parking lot of the St. Jude's Mental Institution. The sky had been a permanent steel gray throughout the month of November, with no prospect of being any different. Dr. Naraku Yukoto parked his black subcompact into his appointed spot and stepped onto the ice bitten asphalt. He grabbed his clipboard from the passenger seat and slammed the door, locking the car with a touch of a button on his keys.

"Alright, lets see here." He murmured aloud. "Got my keys, schedule, my smokes."

He patted his white coat breast pocket, insuring himself that his pack of cigarettes was still where he'd put them early this morning. Dr. Naraku neared the entrance of the hospital, feeling the sudden "whoosh" of the automatic sliding door inviting him into another day of traumatized patients.

"Good morning Dr.!" one of the secretaries exclaimed with a pearly white smile plastered on her pale face. "Here are your reports for today."

And with that, the all-too-happy secretary handed Naraku a single packet of paperwork.

"This it?" Naraku asked slightly puzzled. He typically had four or five packets of information on each of the patients had for the day. It seemed almost impossible that he had just one.

"I believe so." She answered, checking his information box once more.

Naraku took a glance at his clipboard for his schedule. Sure enough, only a single patients' name appeared on his schedule for the day. Giving the secretary a final nod, he headed upstairs to his third floor office.

Dr. Naraku Yokoto was one the most prestigious psychologists in all the country. Unstable mental institutions were begging for even the slightest bit of advice on how to properly treat a patient or seeking on his intake on a certain illness. It became overwhelming at times, but Naraku had done his job for far too long to be completely stressed about the worries of other people.

The young doctor inserted a silver key, separated aside from the jumble of the other assorted keys, and swung open a large metallic door that led to his spacious office. A collection of numerous plaques and degrees hung on the wall behind his large cluttered desk, reflecting a bright eyesore of a light from a window that had a marvelous view of Tokyo.

Naraku tossed his clipboard onto his messy desktop and rubbed the back of his head full of long, black hair. It was barely even 8:30 and already he was feeling the splitting pain of one of his daily migraines. He plopped down on his dark brown leather chair and popped a couple of aspirin from his desk.

He was just beginning to doze off when he heard an annoyingly loud buzz go off. He shot off his seat and pressed the "answer" button of his speaker.

"Yes?" he answered quite irritated.

"Your first patient is ready to see you." Said a nasally voice on the other end.

"Okay." He ended, scrambling to find his patients' information papers.

He retrieved them the moment the door handle began to turn. Naraku sat up and began to skim over his first and only patient of the days' analysis.

'Patient name: Kagome S. Higurashi. Age: 18. Sex: Female. Physical Analysis: Thin, but healthy, no visible cuts, scars, or bruises. Mental Analysis: Severe depression, insomnia, suicidal. Other: referred patient, mute to all staff and personal at hospital. Medications: Prozac, Triazolam, Flurazepam, Estazolam. Mental Response: No response.'

"Dr. Yokoto?" Asked one of the nurses accompanying the patient into the office.

"Ah yes. Bring her in." Replied Naraku, glancing away from his reading.

Escorted by two nurses in dull cream-colored uniforms was a frail looking, dark haired, teenage girl. Dressed in an oversized paper-thin hospital gown, the nurses helped the girl take a vigilant seat on the old, cracked black leather chair opposite from Naraku. He noticed that she was careful in not raising her head to look at him.

One of the nurses met his eye and came over to him. She lowered her head, cupped her hands around his ear, and whispered three words to him:

"Get her story."

The nurses made a quick getaway, making sure to shut the heavy metal door behind them quietly. Dr. Naraku gazed at the girl, not sure where to begin. She continued to avert her eyes to the floor, which made him a little wary.

"Hello Kagome." He said in his soft, professional voice. "How are you today?"

Nothing. Her eyes did not shift and her body persisted to be slump and unmoving.

"Ahem...so you've been here for a year, huh?" He coughed, slightly unsure of what his next move was going to be. "How has it been?"

Still nothing. Naraku looked down at her information papers. They read that she was mute to all personal. He was focusing on the information bit by bit, trying to unravel her secret, unnoticing Kagome's head slowly raising and staring out the office window.

"It is a beautiful day today." She whispered.

Naraku looked up to see her small, pale face fixed on the window beside his desk. The dull daylight gleaming from her vast expression made her look young and almost carefree. Naraku also began to gaze outside his window. Although the sky was filled with dark storm clouds and the wind was billowing in from the east, the girl found beauty in it.

"It looks like rain." Naraku suddenly blurted out on accident.

"I love the rain." Kagome replied in a sad, soft voice that Naraku's ears had never per chanced upon.

Suddenly, the girl turned her head and placed her gaze upon Naraku. Her eyes were big and brown, clear and soft, just like rainwater.

'They look...so sad.' Naraku thought as his face fell into a slight frown. 'I wonder why...'

"Why are you here?" Naraku wondered aloud.

Kagome was taken aback. No therapist, nurse, or drug had ever asked that question, when really, it was the only question that truly mattered.

"You want to analyze me?" She inquired, suddenly feeling betrayed by her own train of thought.

"No." Responded Naraku. "I want to hear your story."

Naraku leaned back in his old chair and awaited the girl's story.

'I want to know,' he thought, 'what makes you so sad. I want to know....what brought you to your sadness.'

Kagome's heart felt heavy. She started to tremble, not wanting to remember her life, but unable to escape it, she could never forget.