Lesson Learned

An Uncomfortable Subject

Her cheeks heated up, feeling like she was under a bright light.

Both her parents weren't looking at her.

"...I mean, I guess so," she mumbled, feeling her brother hold her hand reassuringly.

Their therapist turned the pages of his notes. "Now the problem is, that this means you aren't being completely honest in your relationship with Nakamura because you're worried of upsetting her and that she'll leave you."

"But, I mean...that'll pass though," she reasoned, frowning. "We've only been dating for four months, so I'm sure I won't worry about that if I have more time."

"Perhaps, yes." He didn't sound like he believed that. "Now, I know you've been making progress with this and your self-esteem has improved tremendously from what you've told me in our past sessions, but  this is something you need to be aware of so there isn't an imbalance in the relationship." He smiled a little warmly. "You and Nakamura obviously care about each other a lot."

"We do..." Mitsuko muttered, rubbing her arm.

"Which is why it's important you're honest with her and aren't afraid to voice your feelings," he told her firmly.

She chewed the inside of her mouth. "Okay...I can work on that."

Dr Yokoyama nodded, and then turned to her dad. "And I would recommend you talk with Nakamura, Chairman. From what I gather your main problem is the two of you are unwilling to sit down and try to understand eachother."

Dad grimaced, not looking at any of them. "I suppose you're correct..."

The other man nodded, turning to GakushuuandMitsuko. "Our session is nearly over, but if there anything else you two would like to bring up with your parents?"

Mitsuko held back a sigh when her brother remained silent. "...Well, actually, when we went to the movies-"

Gakushuu crushed her hand warningly. "No! Nothing I can think of."

"Ow!" She hissed and wrenched her hand free. "Jerk!" She smacked him across the head.

"Hey!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay then." Dr Yokoyama picked up his diary. "Well, the month is nearly over so let's say to have your individual sessions on the 28TH February this Thursday and then the family session on the 3rd March?"

***

"Ritsu...can I ask you something?" Mitsuko said while they were playing an online Tetris game on her laptop that same evening.

"Yeah, sure!" Ritsu dodged and incoming squared and cleared a layer. "Just try not to lose in the process!"

Mitsuko frowned, clicking the block to make it rotate. "You already have an unfair advantage of actually being in the game."

Ritsu laughed and cleared another layer, hopping onto the virtual squared like it was a wall. "You wanted to play a game!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask....do you ever have a low self-esteem?"

"Huh?" Ritsu looked confused, missing a block so it landed incorrectly. "What do you mean?" She frowned, scratching her head. "I am still learning emotions so you'll need to be more specific?"

Mitsuko shifted on her bed, adjusting the laptop on her lap. "I mean like...do you feel bad when you can't please someone...like really bad?"

The AI hummed, pushing a block out of the way before it hit her head. "I guess...I feel happy when I'm able to help the class out and be useful."