Chapter 1: Takahashi Minami
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Maeda Atsuko paced back and forth in her session room while waiting for the new patient to come inside and walk through from the door that was closed.
Waiting for the new patient anxiously, she couldn't help but to think how could she handle four people who is living inside only one body. Treating someone who has D.I.D mean that she would get new four patients and not just only one patient. Deep inside of her mind, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to handle the new patient.
But then a knock echoed through the not so big room. It was probably the new patient already. Atsuko panicked for a bit before she cleared her throath and then walked to her desk and sat down on her chair.
"Please come in." She hoped that she didn't sound nervous pr that her voice cracked. That would be too embarrassing as a psychiatrist.
As she finished uttering those words, the door was opened and a young woman whose height wasn't so tall came inside of the room. She was wearing a short sleeved light purple with a white collar shirt and a white knee length high waisted skirt. She also wore a white wedges.
Takahashi Minami was unexpectedly calm and composed. She didn't seem like someone who has any other personalities living inside of her. That was of course out of Atsuko's expectation. She expected someone who had a grim look and big panda eyes to come inside but she was met with a collected and serene looking young woman.
Atsuko then gestured her new patient to sit down in front of her and the patient quietly followed her gesture and sat down on the provided chair.
A smile appeared on the psychiatrist's lips as she extended out her hand for a handshake greeting, "Good afternoon, Takahashi-san. My name is Maeda Atsuko and I'm your psychiatrist. I'm 25 years old and it's my first year here working as a full fledged psychiatrist in Accel Hospital." She introduced herself.
The short girl stared at the outstretched hand for a little while before she took the handshake offering and firmly grasped the psychiatrist's hand, "Good afternoon, Dr. Maeda. I'm Takahashi Minami, 25 years old working as a creative producer in a tv station."
Minami was growing comfortable after she found out the psychiatrist who would be treating her was the same age as her. She relaxed her tensed body by resting her back on the chair.
"From now on, everytime we hold a session, we will introduce ourselves, okay? Please tell me if you find it tiring or uncomfortable." Atsuko explained and the patient didn't seem to mind at all.
"Well then, first, tell me about yourself, Takahashi-san."
The question caught the patient off guard. She wondered why would the doctor ask her to describe herself when it was already clearly written in her file. What more did she want to know? Her personalities characteristics was already written in the case file.
Noticing the uncertainity in her patient's eyes, Atsuko smiled at her to reassure the new patient. "I'm asking you to describe yourself, Takahashi-san. I'm asking you to tell me what kind of person is Takahashi Minami and not the... Other people living inside of you. I want you to tell me about you. What do you like, what don't you like, how many blankets do you sleep under and things like that. So please relax, Takahashi-san. I won't intrude your comfort zone in our fist meeting."
Minami heaved a sigh of relief and then smiled a little to her psychiatrist, "Right. I was wondering why you would ask but okay. I was born on 4th of April, 1991 and was raised in Tokyo. I am the daughter of Takahashi Kousei and Sato Hinami. My father is a politician and my mother is a fashion designer who has her own brand."
Minami looked like she was a little hesitant while talking about her parents. She wasn't looking at Atsuko and was looking at her own intertwined hands instead.
"Takahashi-san. I don't want you to feel troubled or uncomfortable by talking about a topic you're sensitive about. I encourage you to enjoy the session with me. Like I said, talk about yourself and not your parents." Atsuko reminded.
From what she had observed, the girl in front of her might have a bad relationship with her parents and that's why she seemed awkward while talking about her own parents.
Silence filled the room for a short while before Minami decided to speak up, "I like katsudon. I also like hamburger steak. But I don't like tomato. I don't like bathing together either. It makes me feel embarrassed."
Atsuko grinned as the patient had started to open up about herself and she was glad that Minami tried to trust her and told her about her interests and what she doesn't like. Even though it was a small progress, a progress is still a progress after all.
"I work as a creative producer and I enjoy my job very much. Getting ideas from anything and growing the ideas into something that is worth watching in television... I like those kind of jobs very much." She was at ease while describing something she really likes and the atmosphere in the room had picked up.
Minami was blabbering anything about herself and Atsuko attentively listened to her new patient. But one thing she had noticed, the short girl didn't have any friends. She was only relying on herself.
Their session eventually came to the end. Minami was glad she could talk so much and it was the first time in a while that she had fun. Talking with Atsuko made her feel at ease and she felt like her worries were long gone. Atsuko made her feel comfortable. That smile of hers managed to make her feel contented and unworried.
The patient stood up and bowed down to her psychiatrist, "Thank you so much for listening, Dr. Maeda. I had fun." She sincerely thanked Atsuko and the latter also stood up.
"It's my pleasure. And please, just call me Atsuko so the next time we have a session, we won't be all too formal okay, Mi-na-mi?" Atsuko winked and she could see how Minami's face turned red.
"O-okay, A-Atsuko."
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Minami went out of the hospital with a smile donning her pretty face. She didn't know that sharing her stories and worries could improve her mood so much. Also, the warm feeling she would get everytime the psychiatrist showed her smile was also relaxing. Atsuko had managed to make Minami so secured just from the first meeting.
Happy with her session, Minami then called a cab to go back home. But as she was calling a cab, an advertisement showed up in the electric billboard. Her father's face appeared in the advertisement.
Her father's face was as stoic as always. He talked about justice like the topic of child abuse. Every words that flew off from her father's mouth about child abuse triggered something inside of her and in an instant, a breath was caught in her throath and she was gasping for air. Her breath shortened slowly, she felt suffocated and her legs gave out. She collapased while holding her neck and people were looking at her.
Minami tried her best to gather the feeling of her legs. When she could feel the strength of her feet were coming back, she stood up and walked away to another secluded place while staggering. She reached a back alley and immediately sat down while her breathing was really unstable.
Her conciousness was fleeting away and soon, Minami closed her eyes, her body not moving anymore.
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Atsuko had finished checking up her patients when her friend who is also a psychiatrist came calling her to have lunch. She accepted the invitation as she felt hungry herself.
"Hey, Acchan! How's life lately? I heard you have a new patient. A man or a woman?" Oshima Yuko asked as both of them were walking down to a nearby restaurant near the Accel Hospital.
Atsuko nodded as an answer, "A young woman who suffers D.I.D. I'm honestly worried because her case is quite confusing and this is the first time I'm handling a D.I.D patient."
They reached the restaurant and Yuko once again continued the conversation once they were finally done ordering their food. "How many personalities have you seen so far?"
"Only one. The main personality. The main personality has built a wall around her and she seems like someone who has a lot of worries. But once she feels comfortable, she can be pretty talkative." Atsuko described her new patient while looking outside from the window.
But a familiar figure caught her eyes. She saw her patient, Takahashi Minami walking around while playing with her phone.
The first year psychiatrist turned to her friend, "I just saw her. Wait here and I'll ask her to join with us. You can also call Haruna!" She stood up and then jogged outside to catch her new patient.
Fortunately, she could reach the short girl before she would walk away further. She held the girl's hand and turned the patient to face her.
A smile bloomed on her lips as a greeting, "Hi again, Minami. How about eating lunch with me?" She asked and for some reason, Minami was looking at her strangely.
Minami raised an eyebrow as she stared at the psychiatrist from up to down, "Who are ya, old hag? Do ya need somethin' from me? If you don't need anythin', go away cuz I have an audition to do." Somehow she was talking in Kansai accent.
Atsuko was surprised at the change of act. She was about to lash out at Minami for calling her old hag but then she remembered that the girl has another personalities aside from Takahashi Minami.
"Who are you?" She carefully asked.
The person in front of her grinned and made a peace sign, "The name's Kawachi Nami, an upcomin' idol! Remember my name, 'kay!"
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A/N: here's the first chapter! Sorry if it might seems boring but i've tried my best to write this chapter! And thank you very much for the comments and thankyous! I appreciate them very much!!
Replies:
@Ava: you'll have to wait for jane doe to appear haha
@black_maa: Atsuko will have a hard time lol
@IamNot_Glad: you're a psychology student? That's cool!
@ubulubulbilu: thanks for reading!
@deguchi: i hope this chapter is also interesting hehe
@Kakeru15: here's your update~
@AI712: here's your update!
@Haruko: haha let's just see!
@phoenix0i: acchan surely will have a hard time! Lol
@lezperv: thank you for giving my story a chance!
@Ruka Kikuchi: i hope this chapter is still interesting for you!
I'm really happy with all of your comments! Thank you very much!!
Topic: Who You Are 「AtsuMina」Chapter 4: Jane Doe 2015/02/21 (Read 18734 times)