This Thing A Quiet Madness Made

Chapter 32

"What about them?"

"If I recall correctly, you were quite close to a number of your classmates. I know one student comes to visit you quite often."

"Close... no, not really. At least it wasn't genuine."

"From what I know, you seem to care for them."

"Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. They never cared about me: it was Ito Naoko they liked."

"But you were Ito Naoko, weren't you?"

"That's... no, that's not right."

"Unknown, I believe the way you were treated growing up has instilled a sense of worthlessness in the back of your mind. The way you speak about yourself tells me you believe your value comes solely from your quirk and nothing else, but you need to understand that isn't true. I know it's not easy to change your way of thinking, but-"

"Can we stop for today? I'm tired."

"Avoidance is not going to help your recovery-"

"Thank you for your concern, doctor. It was nice talking to you again. I'll see you next week."

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Unknown could hardly tell how long she had been in this little white room. She had stopped keeping track. The only remaining clues she had were the weekly visits from the psychologist and the detectives who still came by every once in a while to ask her all the questions she had already answered. She didn't know why; perhaps they didn't believe her? Maybe they were looking for something more? It didn't matter, really. She would speak to them whenever they came, she would answer whatever redundant questions they asked. What else did she have to do in this empty little room?

She had long since exhausted what little entertainment they had provided her. She had read each of the five books in her room twice, despite her overwhelming disinterest in all them, and played all of the pointless little board games they gave her. None of it was interesting: empty and meaningless, through and through. Now, what little intrigue they offered was utterly drained, leaving her with nothing but her own festering mind to occupy herself.

The silence was becoming invasive; it filled her head with too much nothing, it echoed too loudly. The blinking red light of the security camera began to irritate her, the overwhelming whiteness of the room sometimes appeared to twitch and shift on its own, and her constant lethargy refused to ease regardless of how much she slept.

Occasionally, she would slip into the bathroom and sit for a few hours. It hardly qualified as a change of scenery, but it would have to do. She often left the shower running for hours at a time, lying curled inside the bathtub for as long as she chose, simply staring off at nothing in particular. She had even fallen asleep there a few times, which had been, rather laughably, the most exciting thing that happened all day.

Unknown could feel her mind growing restless, itching for more, anything more, yet at the same time, her body never had the energy to keep up.

A cruel predicament indeed.

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Unknown tiredly pried open her heavy eyelids. Slowly, the darkness of the room crept into view, soon enveloping her vision.

It must be evening now.

She shifted onto her back, then again to lay on her other side, and closed her eyes.

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