#fte

"Sorry. but... I don't think I know anything too important about that, sadly."

"O-oh... n-no problem."

"If it's not too much to ask. Can you tell me about her? You mentioned her the night me and Kyoko arrived and I'm curious to know more about you."

"Oh, there's n-nothing too much about her to say. S-she's what you'd probably think if you heard 'single mother working as a nurse'. Very tired a lot of times, exhausted easily, temper all over the place."

"Whenever I used to patch myself up after a long day at school, she'd look at me when she got home. She'd shake her head and exhale before just properly re-applying them. She really got me to figure out how a lot of this stuff worked."

"I actually used to read some of her books from nursing school when I was young too... s-something about them just got me, e-even with the lack of pictures."

"You were the one who acted as the house keeper a lot of times, I'm guessing."

"I-I mean mama needed my help with lots of that stuff. She'd be so tired from all the work load and just pass out on the couch sometimes, or be totally drunk from work friends taking her out. S-someone had to make sure we were both eating well."

"Making recipe cards was just a fun little project too, f-for me and for her when she was too out of it to remember anything herself..."

"...I never liked Mama when she was drunk after work. She loved saying mean things a lot then. I think she saw me more as a mini-her when she was like that. And she didn't really like herself."

"When I hear the term 'Hurt people hurt people', I think of Mama. I think she's broken. Like me."

"I don't think you're broken, Mikan. I think you're very nice and kind."

"..."

"Do you think mama can be the same?"

"If you think she can be, then so do I."

"That'd be nice... m-maybe after we get your friend to safety, I'll see if Junko would be fine in trying to take time to go and see her... w-would you mind coming with, i-if that's alright? I don't think I'd be able to f-face seeing her again all by myself."

"Sure, when everything's calmed down, I'd be more than happy too."

"Y-yaaay!"