Distrust and Intrigue

"Please take a seat"

Such a simple task, you'd think that considering that she was willing to walk from her comfortable cell, through a tightly weaved and specially designed set of corridors that were specifically made to combat and nullify her abilities, to an office that could have been in worse condition than the grinches Christmas tree for all she knew, that she would be prepared for therapy

But no…

She just stood in the doorway and stared. For nearly ten minutes all that could be heard within the office was the slight sound of gentle breathing. Unwilling to back down Cane simply returned her stare, never changing his expression or letting the hand gesturing towards the sofa fall.

Finally, after obviously going through some harsh mental turmoil, Akari walked in and sat on the couch with a soft thud, finally letting Cane return to his previous posture, which was for the best as his arm had started to ache, he stared at her for few minutes before letting his gaze fall to the folder in his lap

Taking it in his palms and studying it for a moment he nodded and looked back at her

"So? What made you decide?" he asked, looking directly at her, causing her to look at him with an expression that seemed to be both hostile and confused

"Decide?" she responded, it was the first time he had heard her voice since he had to fix her cell a week ago…

Huh, Cane thought, reflecting internally, since their little tantrum and by extent, his first meeting with Alice only an under week had passed, with him being attached the same day as Jasmin and Alice's fight, Friday and since then with the girls learning of his injuries on Monday and his recovery only clearing him for work now, Thursday. Only 6 days in total yet it felt like a month

Before his thought process could devolve any further he saw Akari now staring at him, still waiting for him to answer his question, realizing his mistake he reiterated his previous question

"What made you decide to enter the room instead of not?"

Looking stumped by his question Akari for the first time took her eyes off him and instead looked towards the doorway, her body still tense, as if she were prepared to run out with a second notice, she continued to do so for a few seconds before returning her gaze to him, her voice now filled with a mix of venom and dislike

"I heard that a certain doctor here could actually control his urges around me, couldn't help but test that before entering, could I? after it's not every day I can meet someone who can be in my presence for over ten minutes without throwing themselves at me like a dog in heat" her voice had taken a clear tone of condescension by this point

Nodding and taking notes quietly "so is that how you perceive people's reactions to your abilities? merely causing people to no longer be able to control themselves?"

She simply stared at him for a moment her gaze cold and posture tense, she seemed to be unable to hold in the sheer amount of contempt she felt for him, Cane could see it leaking out of her from every pore, and when she spoke her words were filled with venom

"my power simply reveals the true ugliness and turns it towards me, humans are nothing but animals that stand on two legs, always hungry, slobbering, and obsessed with their own wants" she went quiet for a moment longer allowing Cane to speak

"so why did you enter?" he asked once more, still unsure why she would do so if she believed her own words "if you hate people so much why sit down and talk?"

For nearly twenty minutes silence reigned supreme within the room, Akari simply glared at him and Cane simply stared back, to an outside perspective, not that they could exist seeing as the entire victim wing was removed of staff for this session, it would seem as if time had stopped in the room, neither moved nor spoke, perhaps not even breathing

"sigh" Cane let out a small defeated breath, there was no point in trying to get too many answers out of her if she didn't want to say, not only would it just make her uncomfortable and likely reduce her opinion of him but it was highly inefficient, so instead he took the same tactic he did with his less interesting clients, simply asking stereotypical and normal questions of a therapist "how has life been since your Enclosure within the victim wing?"

"mostly the same, since my enclosure I have simply sat in my room, ordering foods and books, with the occasional chance to leave the cell and go to the exercise area, and everyone and a while some rat will stick around too much and lose himself to my powers and soon after his life to my sword" she seemed to enter her thoughts for a moment and looked directly into canes eyes "did you know I have a security setup in my room so that I can be aware when there are pests outside my cell?"

"I was unaware" Cane answered, not sure what she was referring to

"So, you can imagine my surprise when it turns out the man I saw on the camera feed last week, who was sitting on a pile of corpses and watching the other rats slaughter each other, not lifting a finger to help or save any lives, turned out to be immune to my powers"

her gaze while chilling to the bone, reminding him of Jasmin during their first sessions except far more distrustful

"So, does that mean that even without an outside source of drive, he had absolutely no care for human life? I mean had he cowered in fear amongst the bodies I might have believed it but to simply sit on the bodies of the dead and watch the slaughter… he must be quite different from the heated dogs and rodents I usually meet"