Acceptance | Death Note |

[02] Suppressed Emotions

"Wow...you really like to read, don't you?" Coco's voice conveyed just how amazed she was by the amount of books her new roommate had put on the bookshelf. In just thirty minutes, Kite had managed to arrange all the books she brought with her in alphabetical order on the shelves, completely filling the entire case. Coco had never met someone who owned so much reading material in her young life.

The brunette turned to her roommate with a sheepish expression, pulling her sleeves over her small hands and fidgeting with them. Her head bobbed up and down, nodding in response. Kite gazed at her collection and ran her delicate fingers along the spines. They stopped on one particular book, a thin one indicating it wasn't an incredibly lengthy story.

"I...didn't h-have friends as a child...all I had were my books..." She pulled the book out from the shelf, flipping through its page. "T-This one i-is one of my favorites.."

Coco moved closer to get a better look at the cover, tilting her head as she leaned down. "The Little Prince? What's it about?" She took note of the child-like illustrations, as if a ten year old drew them. There was something whimsical about the drawings, despite how amateurish they appeared to be.

"W-Would you like to read it? I-I don't mind l-letting you borrow it." The shy brunette closed the book and held it out to Coco. It was always better to let someone experience the story for themselves rather than just spoiling the entire thing for them. The dark skinned girl smiled and gently took the book from Kite, holding it delicately.

"Of course! If it's one of your favorites, then it must be good." She placed it down on her nightstand, opting to read it later when she didn't have anything to do. For now, Coco wanted to show her new friend around the orphanage. Give her a more in-depth tour of the place. "But~ for now, I wanna take you to meet some of the other kids here. There's so many things Roger didn't tell you about." She was practically bouncing up and down where she stood, resembling an excited and hyper puppy dog.

Kite fidgeted as her gaze fell to look at anything else but her roommate. Grunts and squeaks escaped her throat as her body jerked a bit. Coco's excitement ceased, her smile fading as she tilted her head. "Um...I've been wondering about this since earlier but...why do you keep doing that?"

The petite girl tensed up just as she did before in the playroom, avoiding making eye contact with the other female. Her chest tightened up, the ability to breathe becoming more difficult. "I...um...I-I was...born with T-Tourette Syndrome..."

She turned away from Coco, holding her hands to her chest. Expecting the dark skinned girl to start laughing or making fun of the sounds she made. Instead, Coco tilted her head and walked closer, leaning down to look around at Kite's reddened face. "What is that? What's Tourette Syndrome?" Her chocolate brown eyes filled with curiosity. She genuinely didn't know what that even was. Kite slowly turned her head to look at her new friend, her muscles relaxing just a bit since Coco wasn't making fun of her. But still, trying to explain what it was to someone wasn't an easy task. She didn't feel like she had the courage to talk about it with anyone.

"Um...w-well..." She started, fidgeting some more as she tried to work up the nerve to talk. It took a few minutes for Kite to open her mouth to speak, and when she did Coco couldn't hear a single stutter in her sentence. She spoke so clearly, as if she had a textbook entry inside her head.

"Tourette Syndrome is one type of Tic Disorder. Tics are involuntary, repetitive movements and vocalizations. They are the defining feature of a group of childhood-onset, neurodevelopmental conditions known collectively as Tic Disorders and individually as Tourette Syndrome, Chronic Tic Disorder-Motor or Vocal Type, and Provisional Tic Disorder. The three Tic Disorders—"