When the car slowed down, Aru looked at a giant building. He couldn't tell what kind of house that might be but it looked kinda impressive. And friendly. The car stopped in front of it. "Okay, here we are." Ryouta got off the car and opened Aru's door. He slowly and carefully got off too. "Is this the place?" he asked. Ryouta nodded. "Yeah. Come." He reached his hands out to Aru and the little boy took it. He sought for security and this hand was the only thing that could give him exactly that. Ryouta lead him inside the building... that looked a little bit like a hospital. "Is this a hospital?" Aru asked. "More or less." Ryouta answered. "But Mom said I am not sick!", "Well..." Ryouta inhaled deeply and stopped walking. He turned around to Aru and squatted down in front of him. "You aren't sick with this in mind, but... well, it's a different kind of sick that's pretty difficult to deal with on your own. Someone else will explain this to you later. Okay?", "So Mommy lied to me?", "More or less, yeah." Ryouta nodded. "But don't be scared, okay? Here are plenty of other kids.", "Uh... Okay...", "I'll bring you to your room now. Mr. Chiba is going to get you for a survey in a few hours.". "Okay." Aru nodded. Ryouta smiled and took his hand again. He went with him throughout the quiet hallways. Here and there, Aru could hear someone crying. He stopped for a moment. "Why are they so sad?", "Uhm..." Ryouta scratched at his head. "...Don't mind them. They're just homesick.", "But why can't they go home? Or why don't their parents visit them?", "They are not yet allowed to." Ryouta answered. "Why?", "Sometimes, isolation is necessary to help people to deal with their problems.", "Uhm.... Really? But if it makes them sad, that's not the sense behind it, or am I wrong?", "You're totally right, but their parents will come visit them soon.", "I hope that. I don't want them to cry."

Ryouta brought him to his room. It had a window with curtains, a wooden chair and table and a bed with two pillows. "What do you think?" Ryouta asked. "It looks... quite similar to a hospital." Aru said. "I once had the flu, I guess I was eight then. That's why I can clearly remember what hospitals look like.", "I know. But it's not similar to a hospital. You don't have to remain in bed all the time. Regard this as some sort of private room. Just like your room at home.", "Okay... But the walls are painted white, that somehow makes me feel uncomfortable. One wall in my room is painted red...", "I'm sorry, but I cannot change anything on that. At least try to feel home here, okay?", "Okay." Aru nodded. "Fine." Ryouta smiled. "One thing... the door will be locked.", "Why?", "Reasons.", "What reasons?", "Some of the patients try to escape from this place sometimes. That's why we lock the doors and the windows can only be opened in one special kind of way. And they cannot be shattered this easily.", "They try to escape? Why?", "Several reasons. I guess you don't really wanna know them.", "Okay...", "Wait here until Mr. Chiba picks you up. In the drawer of the bedside table, you can find pencils and paper. You can draw if you feel bored.", "Okay." Ryouta closed the door and locked it. Aru went over to the window and looked outside. He could see streets and houses of the town. "How far may Mom be away right now?" He wondered. Then, he sighed, went over to the drawer and took out pencils and paper, sat down at the table and started drawing something.

After a while he nearly fell asleep with his head on the paper, he heard someone unlocking the door. It was a blonde-haired man with bright blue eyes and the friendliest face Aru ever saw. "Hello. Aru is your name, right?" Aru nodded. "Yeah.", "I am Akito Chiba. I want to ask you some questions, would you mind following me to my 'office'?", "No.", "Good." Mr. Chiba smiled at him. He brought Aru to a room with a huge wooden table, a computer and two chairs. The walls were painted green. "That's no fair!" Aru said. "Hm?" Chiba looked at him. "What do you mean?", "The walls! They are painted green! Mine are white! I wanna have painted walls too.", "Oh." Chiba laughed. "Well... It would be unfair to the other children if you'd have painted walls. All of their walls are painted white.", "Huh... lame.", "C'mon, stop complaining, Aru. That's not nice." Aru pouted. "It's still mean." Chiba just laughed. "Sit down on the chair." Aru did so. Chiba sat down opposite him and took a pen. "Well, Aru. You're ten years old.", "Yeah.", "That's quite young. So... We received a call from your mother yesterday and she explained what was going on. You... can see ghosts, right?", "Yeah. She says they are not real. But if they weren't real, I wouldn't see them, right?", "Well..." Akito Chiba inhaled. "It wouldn't surprise me if you never heard of it, but I am still asking you: Ever heard of schizophrenia?", "No. I never heard it before until my mother mentioned it yesterday during the phone call.", "Okay. Let me explain it to you. Schizophrenia is a serious mental sickness that causes you to have hallucinations, thought disorder and delusion." he started. "It's not normal. And it's also very incriminating. For you and your family. Your relationships to other people will suffer.", "What?", "If you tell people you can see ghosts, they will see you as a silly person and, most likely, don't wanna have anything to do with you. This can end up even worse. For example in depression, to mention one of the worst cases.", "Is it really that bad?", "Yeah.", "Oh...", "Don't worry. We know how to deal with that. I will be your therapist.", "How long will I have to stay here?" Aru asked. "Huh... that depends on how well the therapy works. I cannot say for certain.", "Okay... Will Mom visit me while I'm here?", "I'm certain she will.", "Okay...", "I will start with the therapy tomorrow, okay? You need some time to settle yourself in here.", "Okay." Aru nodded. "Good, I'll bring you back to your room now. Come with me." Chiba went back to Aru's room. The little boy went inside. "You will get food around three o clock, okay?" The man informed him. "Okay..." Aru nodded. Chiba locked the door again and Aru was left alone with his thoughts. He sat down on the bed and looked on his feet. "Mom, why did you lie to me..." he mumbled. Then, he let himself fall down and landed with his head on the pillows. He felt tired and overtaxed. After a while, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.