A/N: whoever thought Linkin Park would be my muse?

Kamiya Kaoru, Makimachi Misao, Sagara Sanosuke, and Myojin Yahiko are psychology interns taught by Saitou Hajime at the well-known Takani clinic, run by Takani Megumi. Their patients include Himura Kenshin; a patient suffering multiple personality syndrome and obsessive compulsive, Shinomori Aoshi; a patient with chronic depression, Kinomoto Tsubame; traumatized since she was found with her slaughtered family; Yukishiro Enishi; who hasn't been the same since the death of his sister, Sawagejou Chou the thug with anger management problems, Hiko Seijuurou with a narcissist complex, and many more. These four interns will work together to work with these special patients through the next three months to help them heal their wounds.

"Welcome to the Takani clinic. My name is Megumi, and I'll be in charge of you four for the next three months, do as I say, and you don't get hurt. Are there any questions? Yes?"

"How long are we expected to be here each day, Takani-san?"

"Makimachi-san, yes? That will be up to you, it depends on how much you wish to help the patient you'll be assigned. I'm expected to write a report on each of you at the end of the three months, and that'll be determined by your bedside manner, so to speak, and of your will to help these patients. Anymore questions?"

"Yo, Fox, can I have your number?"

"You must be Sagara…your professor warned me about you. Let's get in my office so I can assign your patients."

"…YOU DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

Megumi sat down behind her desk, tossing her hair behind her and motioned for her new interns to sit down on the couch across from her.

"Your professor, Hajime, sent you all here because he believed you four had what it takes to join our family here at Takani clinic. Now will be the final test. If you can survive the next three months here, take it that you've been welcomed into the family, and we'll start working out your pay. Now for your patients…"

She pulled out 6 manila folders, each with a different name on them.

"I've assigned 3 of you to a patient each due to my gathering of information from your professor. However, one of you I've been told cannot be trusted to run off on his own, so I will be working with him for the remaining three patients. Kamiya Kaoru, you have Himura Kenshin."

Kaoru stood up and took the folder, flipping it open and scanning through its contents.

"Makimachi Misao, you have Shinomori Aoshi."

Misao stood up and did the same thing as Kaoru.

"Myojin Yahiko, you have Kinomoto Tsubame."

Repeat of the process.

Megumi glared at Sano, the only one left, jabbing him in the chest.

"You're with me. We have Yukishiro Enishi, Hiko Seijuurou, and Chou. Let it begin."

"Well, Weasel, this is where you'll be and where your patient lies. Good luck with this one, he's an ice block."

"Baka, don't call me that. Arigatou for showing me the way, Hajime-sensei,"

"Feh. Can't leave a weasel like you getting lost, even if though you were my old student,"

Misao by now was hopping mad, but she made it through her anger, managing to bow thanks to her ex-teacher and opened the door to where her fate was to lead her.

Yahiko stared up at his old teacher.

"She's gonna die, ain't she…"

"We'll see, brat, we'll see…"

Megumi's heels clacked on the tiled floor as she guided Kaoru and Sano down the hall, with obvious grace in comparison to the mess that was Kaoru.

To say Kaoru was nervous was to say the Great Wall was "kinda big"; she was scared beyond help.

'WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? I'm just an INTERN and they expect me to deal with a schizophrenic obsessive compulsive? I'm gonna die…'

"Ne, Fox"

"Don't call me that, Rooster,"

"Che, Touché. Do you think it's really wise for Jou-chan to handle such a difficult case so soon?" Sano and Kaoru didn't look it, but they were cousins that grew up rather close together. No matter how much Sano tried to hide it, he was secretly very concerned for his favorite relative's well-being.

Megumi turned around and looked Sano straight in the eye, as he felt his breath hitch.

"Trust me, I've read her files and interviewed with Hajime-sensei. There's no one else I believe will be able to handle Himura-san as well as she will. Don't worry, Kamiya-san, you'll be fine. He doesn't bite,"

Kaoru managed to visibly relax, and reached over to Sano's hand, and gave him a thankful squeeze. However, she was still rather pale.

"Demo…Takani-sensei?"

"Megumi's fine,"

"Megumi-san…What's his obsessive compulsive? It says in his file that he has a rather violent other side, but is his obsessive compulsive dangerous?"

To Kaoru and Sano's surprise, Megumi laughed. She laughed and laughed until she was crying.

"Believe me, Kamiya-san, his obsession won't hurt anyone. His other side only shows up every once in a while, and only for an hour at most. You'll be fine," she said giddily, wiping tears from her eyes.

Cousins stared at each other in shock, but shrugged and continued on their merry way. Finally they reached the…laundry room?

Megumi opened the door with a smile on her face.

"He's just inside, go on and meet him!"

Kaoru blinked in surprise, and looked up at Sano, who shrugged, grinned, and pushed her inside.

"Have fun, Jou-chan! I'll be back for your remains in a few hours!"

"YOU JERK!"

"Well, brat, this is your stop…" Hajime growled, pushing him towards the door.

"Hmph…antenna-head…"

"What's that?"

"Bezumi," (nothing) he grumbled.

"Better be nothing, you ungrateful brat. Now I have my own stuff to take care of, call on Takani-san if you need any help, and don't bother me."

"Yeah, yeah…"

With that, Saitou was gone, and Yahiko was alone, save for the person on the other side.

"Alright…I'm going in…"

"Hey, Takani,"

"What now, Sagara…"

"You said we have three patients, but you have the files and I know squat about them…"

"Pfft…You know their names, and now you'll know that Yukishiro is suffering childhood trauma, Hiko is a narcissist, and Chou has an anger management problem."

Sano nodded at them all but paused at the last name.

"MATTE, Chou's here?"

Megumi blinked up in surprise. "He's an old friend?"

He laughed, which Megumi nearly fell in love with.

"You could say that, I guess…"

Megumi stared at him in confusion, but Sano merely winked and held up one finger.

"One word…Himitsu!"

Megumi glared, but continued down the hall.

"Might be a secret now, but I'll find out what's behind you two. We're going to him first, after all."

"Hmm…I like a woman who's in control…"

"Sagara, shut up."

Misao's bright personality slightly faltered when the emptiest pair of blue eyes stared up at her from the simple bed in the middle of the empty room. A shiver went down her spine as she felt herself pulled into those dark void-like eyes, but she shrugged it off and put on her brightest mega-watt smile she could muster.

"Ohayo, Shinomori-san! My name's Makimachi Misao and I'll be with you for therapy for the next three months!"

Shinomori Aoshi stared up at her from the bed, eyes slightly narrowing at her genki attitude, and sighed.

"Takani clinic must be getting desperate for workers…"

Misao's anger immediately flared, as she gave a hard-core glare at the dark, handsome stranger.

"Hey, I don't like you very much right now either, but I'm an intern and I need this experience if I wanna help people later on in life! Not something you'd understand, Mr. Grumpy!"

"If you're supposed to be helping me, why haven't you said anything to help me? I'm still as gloomy and depressed as they all say I am, and from the looks of it, you need more help than I do with that temper of yours…"

"WHY YOU"

Aoshi held up a hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"Violence is a sign of pregnancy, Makimachi-san…"

Misao felt her temper going over the top.

Suddenly, Aoshi looked straight into her eyes, startling her. "Makimachi…sounds familiar…Would you happen to be related to a Makimachi Okina?"

Misao froze, as if she had been struck. She looked down at the floor, biting her lip.

"No. I would never want to be related to such a man anyway."

She picked herself up and gathered her things. "It wasn't a pleasure meeting you Shinomori, but neither of us can help it, we're stuck with each other for the next three months. Good day, Shinomori.

With that, she shut the door.

Aoshi stared at the shut door and wondered what got her so worked up.

"Feh, whatever…" he grumbled, lying back down on the bed, "things are getting quite interesting…" he murmured, a tiny smirk gracing his face.

"…Oh my…" Kaoru whispered, still too much in shock to say anymore.

"Oro?"

Let's explain Kaoru's situation, shall we? She entered the Laundry room, where she found a short, redheaded man standing next to a washbasin with his soppy clothes inside. How does she know they're his? Take one lucky guess.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod…" Kaoru mumbled, turning away in embarrassment.

"Can you…please…throw something on?"

"ORO!" Himura Kenshin's face turned almost as red as his hair, as he made a grab for extra pants in the cabinet, and pulled on an extra shirt from a drawer.

"Sumimasen, I didn't expect anyone to come in here!"

"I guess we're even cuz I didn't expect a naked man to be in the laundry room!"

Kenshin laughed a little, still very embarrassed. Once he was properly clad, he jumped in front of Kaoru and stuck out his hand.

"Himura Kenshin, mental patient, nice to meet you!"

Kaoru jumped in shock, not expecting that. She nodded, taking his hand.

"Kamiya Kaoru, psychology intern, your therapist for the next three months…"

Himura Kenshin blinked in surprise of the coincidence.

"Well, for starters, I'm afraid that's my obsessive compulsive,"

"Taking off your clothes in front of people? Megumi-san said it wasn't serious!"

Kenshin laughed. "No, it's not that, and it's really not serious. I have this tendency to wash my clothes."

Kaoru stared. "You're kidding"

"Afraid not, Kamiya-dono," he said with a wide grin, "Sessha apologizes for frightening you so much on your first day, we'll go talk in my room now, if you'd like,"

"…I'm afraid I have to leave, it was nice meeting you, Himura-san…"

"Kenshin."

Kaoru blinked up at him in shock. "Pardon?"

"If we're to be with each other for the next three months, might as well drop the formalities, ne Kamiya-dono?"

Kaoru laughed. "You hypocrite, fine, I'll call you Kenshin, but if you call be Kaoru."

"Hai, Kaoru-dono!"

Yahiko's breath hitched when he saw the maiden before him. She must've been at least 19, with chin-length hair that framed her pale face. When he closed the door behind him, she looked up at him with the darkest, emptiest eyes he'd ever seen. He knew she'd been traumatized for the past 10 years, and made it his duty to help her that one moment their eyes connected.

"Konni, Kinomoto-san!" Yahiko cried, taking a seat across the table from her, a wide grin on his face, "I'm Myojin Yahiko, a psychology intern, and I'll be in charge of your therapy for the next 3 months!"

Getting no response from her, simply a blank stare, Yahiko shrugged.

"Not much of a talker, aye? Says here you haven't said a word for the past 10 years, that right?" No response. "…That's fine, I'll talk enough for the both of us. I know! I'll talk about myself, and you tell me a little about yourself if you want,"

"My name's Myojin Yahiko, like I said and I'm 21 years old. I've already technically graduated University, I skipped a few grades in elementary. I'm an orphan, my parents died in a car accident when I was 12, but my aunt, uncle, and cousin are lots better than my parents ever were. To put it simply, my parents abused me, so I never liked them much. My aunt and uncle were great and supported me all they could until I gained a scholarship for Tokyo University. My cousin's awesome, he's the happiest guy in the world, and anybody would like him. His name's Soujirou and he became a medical doctor last year, and now he's engaged, the guy's just great, you'd like him."

Yahiko turned to look at her, and found her staring curiously at him.

"I kinda talk too much, don't I? Sou always said my mouth was gonna be the death of me," he laughed.

Tsubame just turned away from him, and lay down on her bed, her back facing him.

Yahiko sighed, and stood up, scratching the back of his head.

"Sure, you might not like me now, but I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the next 3 months unless you're better and get released somewhere in between. Get some rest, cuz I'm coming back tomorrow morning, and we're gonna spend the whole day together!"

With that, he left. When the door clicked shut and Tsubame heard his footsteps go down the hall, she allowed herself to turn around and face the chair he had been sitting on, a small smile on her lips, and a slight blush on her face.

"Fancy seeing you here, Broom-head…"

The blonde with gravity-defying hair sitting in the corner stiffened slightly in his seat and swore, turning around.

"Rooster? That you?"

Sano grinned. "So you do remember me! Tell me, Sawagejou, how's life treating ya?"

"Tch…just great. I'm in loony bin, what do you think?"

"You're in the TAKANI CLINIC, you ungrateful MORON!" yelled the forgotten woman behind the rooster.

Chou blinked up at her. "Oh Takani-bitch, you're here too! Great, my least favorite people piled into one room! This is like one big happy dysfunctional family!"

A vein in Megumi's head bulged as she launched herself at him, to be held back by Sano.

"LEMME AT HIM! I'M GONNA RIP THAT BROOM RIGHT OFF HIS HEAD!"

"Chill, woman. Chou was just playin witcha!"

"Yeah, geez Takani…"

Megumi felt like ramming her head into a wall. Repeatedly. Until she knocked out. Dreams were so nice…

"Let's just get this therapy thing started, shall we?"

The three people sat down around the table in silence, until Sano spoke up.

"Seriously, Chou…what happened to you? Says here you cracked after your roommate moved out"

"Kamatari has nothing to do with this!" Chou bit back, glaring.

Sano's eyes narrowed at Chou's defensive attitude. "I'll say he has a pretty big role in this…he's the one who's concerned about you and sent you here, and with your anger management problem, you'd think you'd rebel or something, but you came…"

Chou roared and slammed his fists down on the table.

"LEAVE KAMATARI OUT OF THIS!" he yelled once more, face flushed from yelling, but Sano and Megumi both saw the pain in those brown eyes.

"Che. Fine, be that way. You know I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, Chou…"

"You think too much of yourself, Sagara," Chou snapped, glaring daggers at his old comrade.

Sano simply left, dragging Megumi with him. The door slammed shut and Chou threw the table aside, and threw things across the room for five minutes straight, until he sat there in the middle of the ransacked room, panting a little. He then made his way to the untouched bedside table and picked up a picture of two smiling men; himself and a guy who looked more like a girl than a guy.

"Kamatari…why'd you leave, you son of a bitch…" soon, Chou curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out, clutching the picture frame with all his might.

Sano and Megumi walked in silence back to her office. Sano looked at her from the corner of his eye and noticed her a little uncomfortable.

"Chou wasn't always like this…" he murmured, trying to strike a conversation.

Megumi jumped slightly, but regained her composure.

"What's your relationship with him, anyway?"

Sano stretched, folding his arms behind his head, thinking.

"How can I explain this…" he mumbled, before coming up with words, "He and I grew up together, we never really liked each other, but I know how to read him like a book and vice versa. Jou-chan and him were best friends at a time, but the fighting between him and myself broke them apart. She took my side in an argument, and he never really forgave her for that, so never mention her to him, and don't mention him to her, okay doc?"

Megumi nodded slowly, assuring him about patient-confidentiality, motioning for him to continue on.

"This Kamatari guy…I met him once. He was really pretty, prettier than most gals I've dated, but I wasn't interested. He was, but I just don't bend that way…Either way, I only met him at Chou's housewarming party, they seemed kinda close…in a disturbing way."

Megumi was shocked, but nodded in understanding.

"But I'm pretty sure they're not together, after all, he moved out. I'm guessing there's more to the story, but I'm not gonna pry today. I'm gonna get to the bottom of it, I don't care if he doesn't want me to interfere."

"But…you said you've known him all your life. Has he ever showed signs of being homosexual while you knew him?"

Sano thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"He never really did before, but like I said, Kamatari and him seemed too close for comfort, the way they kept looking at each other…or at least the way Chou kept staring at Kamatari…"

"One-sided?"

Sano pondered that idea for a while before shrugging. "Possibly, but he never seemed to bend that way…I always assumed it was Kamatari, cuz he certainly was interested in men, from that short moment I was talking to him those years ago…" Sano shuddered at the memory. 'Twas the first time a guy flirted with him.

Megumi sighed.

"Chou seems to be a rather strange character, all I can say is that Kamatari has something to do with the way Chou's acting now…"

Sano's eyes narrowed.

"I couldn't agree with you more…" he turned to look at her, "I'll talk to friends of his, try to find out where Kamatari moved to and why if they know. I'll figure this out…."

Megumi glanced at Sano in curiosity, but Sano noticed.

"What?"

"For someone who doesn't like the guy, you're rather eager to help him out…"

Sano growled and turned away. "I hate the guy, but he and I go way back, there was a time we were actually friends. I owe him that much. I'm gonna help him even if it's the last thing I do…"

Megumi stared in shock, but smiled, shaking her head.

"You are one interesting character, Sagara-san…"

Once Yahiko arrived, everyone sat down once again.

"So, everyone, how was your first day with your patient?"

Nobody had anything to say, which made Megumi laugh a bit.

"Alright, from today's experiences, describe your patient in one word. Misao?"

"Jerk."

"Yahiko?"

"Quiet…"

"Kaoru?"

"…interesting"

"And Sagara?"

"Ass-who-deserves-to-burn-in-hell"

Megumi laughed, and waved her hand. "You're all free to go! I'll call you all for our meeting time tomorrow, get a good night's sleep. We'll be dealing with our patients all day tomorrow!"

Misao and Sano groaned, Yahiko cheered to himself, and Kaoru blushed.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a looooooooong day…" grumbled Megumi.

A/N: Gah I hate myself right now, I'm neglecting my other fics, but this idea just hasn't left my head for the past week, so obviously someone up there just wants me to write this fic. O well. Please review…