Psycho-Pass: Coping Mechanisms

Part 33 : Latent Criminal

PART 33 - Latent Criminal

"Akibara-san... you have a visitor," the nurse informed her, opening the door of her cell via security code. Shizuka slowly rose in her bed. She should have definitively been more enthusiastic... but her meds wouldn't allow it. She slowly dragged towards the impenetrable glass, still a bit dizzy, also a bit numb and nauseous.

She slowly dragged her legs and then sat on a chair, blinking from light that was too bright. The microphone activated, enabling verbal communication. Once the visitor approached, he sat in front of the glass and faced her. He noticed how pale she was. How drained she seemed. Her eyes looked empty... without that usual brightness she carried.

Before him, there was a changed woman... a woman who seemed to have matured... but also lost something important along the way. A part of her soul, maybe. That's how great losses look like.

They faced one another.

"Remember when it was the opposite?" she asked, thinking about how ironic it was. "You, sitting at this very place... and me, sitting over there?"

That was one way to start a conversation, he thought. That glass did bring back memories. Scenes he couldn't forget even if he tried. She cried during most of her visits, and her crying face wasn't what he wanted to remember about her. Now... she just seemed... indifferent. Numb. Like she would accept whatever came next.

"I didn't think you'd end up sitting there so soon," Kogami admitted. There was another pause. Talking didn't seem to be as easy as it used to be. Not from that chair anyway. Not in that center. Not under those conditions.

She remembered how difficult it was to talk to him when he was institutionalized. She only understood only now. What it truly meant... to be a latent criminal. Rejected. Abandoned. Alone. No delusion, no assumptions. He was right... only those who experienced that... could understand what it meant to truly fall out of this society's grace. He was now on the other side of that glass... trying to find a way to communicate his own feelings. Instead...

"You look..." he said, trying to commence the conversation anew.

"Dreadful? I know. They won't even let me dye my hair."

It was a poor attempt of a joke... and a poor attempt of a smile. But, at least she tried. He appreciated it.

"I was going to say strong. That fortitude of yours is admirable... regardless of your hair-color," he said, slowly finding all those words. He couldn't care less about the color of her hair. Sure, she looked stricter with that raven-like shade... but she was still very beautiful to him. He actually liked her natural look.

There... she thought. A simple statement of encouragement that Kogami could easily give... but Ginoza never could. Why was it so hard for Gino to say something nice to her? To encourage her from time to time? And why, even now... she seeks that approval from Gino? She was frustrated about it.

"Fortitude? I am barely holding up, you charming bastard. I am still at 120."

Already lower than Masaoka's own CC, he thought. Meaning... there was still hope.

"Balance is the key, they say," he smiled slowly. Then, she smiled too. Mirroring, he thought. Good. If she still mirrored his behavior... then she still liked him. Even after that case.

"It won't drop, Kogami... and it's already been a month," she said, the smile already dispersing from her lips. He actually already knew how high her CC was... because Gino kept informing himself about her condition, staying in contact with the rehabilitation center. He wasn't obliged to share that info with Kogami... but still, he kept him updated. Shinya appreciated it.