Psycho-Pass: Coping Mechanisms

Part 13 : Pain Perception

PART 13 - Pain Perception

------- after some time -------

"You scored... an A."

Ginoza scrolled through the whole page, looking the results of the first test that Shizuka did.

"I did?" she was trying to lean over to see the display of his notebook herself. She was a little bit nervous about checking the details on her own, so Gino did it for her. He was curious about it, and to an extent, he was proud that she scored so well.

"Not only that...", he gave her the notebook so she could scroll all the way down the list, "... you also have the best result."

"Nobuchika! It's amazing! It's superb! I can't believe it!" she screamed of joy, hugging him along the way. He endured it and then pushed her a bit, fixing his glasses.

"Why can't you believe it? You worked hard," he said.

"And so did you. I have to thank you somehow. Tell me, what can I do?"

"Just... continue doing this well. That will be enough."

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Ginoza was spending even more time with Kogami. She knew they were good friends since childhood, and was glad they were becoming inseparable in high school... but she also started envying Kogami for having Ginoza to himself most of the time.

As boys will truly always be boys, she couldn't do much about the natural bond men were forming in certain age. She knew it was childish to compare her relationship with Ginoza to Kogami's relationship with Ginoza... but she did, and had to accept it nonetheless.

Ginoza was gradually making a deliberate distance, having a life and goals of his own. Shizuka understood that things couldn't be as they used to, but still somehow wanted to keep Ginoza in her life. She would occasionally invite him to have a lunch with her, go to a coffee, or visiting his grandmother with him. Additionally, she was still seeing him for studies, but other than that... they have almost stopped spending time like before.

She thought it was a part of growing up. She knew just how much trouble Ginoza had during his childhood, so she decided she didn't have to make things difficult for him in any way. She didn't want to impose, especially if the two of them were already making some plans. She hanged out with her friends, Kaori and Saya instead, focusing more onto studies as the terms were getting hectic. During the lunch break, girls were checking out their new scores.

"Shizu scored another A in machine design. I can't believe you can keep up such good grades without clouding your hue," Sayo noticed. "After all, you are taking two courses. And doing well in Law studies too. What's the catch?"

"Drawing is actually releasing me of stress, I enjoy projecting. It positively influences my hue," she smiled. "But studying law is a bigger challenge to me. I really enjoy it too."

"Yeah... but, aren't you tired, Aki-chan?" Kaori asked. "It must be bad for your mental health."

"Not so much. I've been taking therapy so I can function better," Shizuka responded, but in reality, having two split courses was already starting to take its toll. She was taking pills for concentration, pills for relaxation and pills for treating anxiety.

Don't let it show.

"You are like a machine. Stashing all the knowledge. Either you have some cyborg mind alteration or... you have some illegal, spare chip in your brain so you cheat on tests," Sayo laughed.

"Are you saying I'm like... Johnny Mnemonic?" Shizuka smiled.

"Something like that," Sayo grinned, "or maybe you're just a nerd."