Onihunter Yuna 2

78 Another Consultation (Present)

"Thank you for coming on short notice, Omura-san," Doctor Yamada greeted his colleague.

"No problem." Midori looked at her ward, who was sitting on a chair in front of the desk, shoulders hunched, staring at the floor. She was holding a handkerchief that had been clearly used. "Are you okay, Yui-chan?" Absently, the girl nodded without raising her gaze. The nurse squinted at the therapist, who smiled briefly.

"Please, sit down, Omura-san." He pointed to the other chair. Yui's backpack was lying on the floor. Midori responded to the request and took a seat. Doctor Yamada walked around the desk and sat down on his chair. "With Yui-chan's agreement, I want to involve you in the decision-making process."

"What's going on?" The black-haired woman looked at the girl, who didn't move and stoically stared to the ground. She looked back to the therapist.

"Now. To be brief. I'm worried that Yui may develop a post-traumatic stress disorder."

"No wonder. She has lost her parents and siblings," Midori retorted.

"Let me explain that, Omura-san. Of course, Yui was traumatized and that undeniably hard. But that doesn't mean she's developing a PTSD."

"Okay?"

"Such an experience is followed by an acute stress response before the processing phase begins. As a result of her trauma, Yui suffered a dissociative stupor. She was virtually blocking herself from the world and was trapped in herself."

The nurse nodded and squinted at the blonde sitting next to her. She reached out and grabbed Yui's hand, but she didn't react. "Keep talking, Doctor Yamada."

"I'm not sure how this affected her recovery process. Anyhow, she showed the expected reactions after she woke up from the stupor. Of course, I treated that accordingly."

"You don't have to go into too much detail. What's the problem?" Midori asked.

"My main problem is, that Yui has a recurring dream. Did she tell you about it?"

Shaking her head, the guardian replied, "No."

"Do you want to talk about it, Yui-chan?" The middle-school student shook her head slowly. "Of course it's all strictly confidential, but I don't have to tell you that, right?"

"Yes, sure. Go on." With her thumb, the nurse stroked the girl's hand.

"It's about a man named Tirr. A very bad man, who commands a pack of 'dragons'. In Yui's dream, he is responsible for the death of her family." Doctor Yamada took his notes to help. Midori felt Yui's hand tighten slightly. "I'm not going into the details now, but this Tirr and his 'dragons' killed the Masuda family, except for the surviving sister Yuna. Instead, she sets out and destroys the bad guys." He looked at the girl, who was looking down to the floor. "Yuna is the heroine of this dream. Tirr is the villain, and Yui the victim."

Midori stared at the therapist, then she looked back to her ward. She remembered one of the first statements Yuna had made after she woke up. Tirr was the killer of her family. It wasn't an accident.

What if Tirr really existed and in truth was an oni? What if the Masuda family had actually been murdered? She had asked herself these questions a few times, but somehow they kept going under, because so many other things required her attention.

"I don't know what to say, Doctor Yamada," confessed the nurse. "How is this dream problematic?"

He sighed. "From our conversations, I conclude that Yui somehow persuades herself that this dream corresponds to reality. That this idea has something delusional about it. That's actually my main problem. In many other ways Yui behaves sovereign. That's why I don't think she suffers from PTSD. She visits the school without any trouble, on the contrary. According to her own statement, it's going well. Also the new living situation doesn't seem to bother her. She acts independently and lives her life."