Day 46: Doctor's Office 3 (Dr. Kisugi) [Fourth Shift]

[fearghoul]

The next session with Mr. Derringer should be an interesting one indeed, Makiko mused as she settled in her office for the afternoon patients. The groundwork was laid, after all, and now she knew exactly how to proceed. It was sad that she had to make preparations for such a sub-par specimen as he was, but - well, unplanned efforts had resulted in

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[forgot_it_all]

Therapy. After talking to Soubi, he'd been feeling better. He'd even helped out that Yuna chick at second shift. But then that talk with Miku's roommate on the bulletin happened and Ritsuka's mood had plummeted. Miku was gone and now he had to go see that doctor. Ritsuka still didn't like her, even if he knew he had to talk to her because Muraki-sensei had left to pursue work elsewhere and he'd be disappointed if Ritsuka didn't at least try to talk his problems through. So would his real therapist back in Japan for that matter

[fearghoul]

Ah, and there was the boy now. Makiko looked up from the papers and nodded in return, then gestured toward the chair in front of her desk. "Good afternoon," she observed, pausing for the barest fraction of a second to glance down at the file before her before continuing, "Ritsuka. Please, have a seat. I won't bite."

That much was quite easy to promise, after all - he wouldn't be worth even the effort she was making for certain other patients. And he had said last week that he hated dishonesty, so she might as well tell him the truth. For the most part, at least.

[forgot_it_all]

If the doctors were anything like the nurses, then Ritsuka wasn't so sure Dr. Kisugi wouldn't bite. During the day, at least, she was normal, sure, but come nighttime, there were no guarantees. Ritsuka edged forward and flicked his gaze to the chair she indicated, still unsteady on his feet around her.

After a moment, he finally returned the greeting - a quiet 'good afternoon, Sensei' - and took his seat, sitting on the edge. Even if he was determined to make the best out of this, that didn't make sitting near her any easier. There was something quietly unsettling about her cold, business-like manner, but that was probably just because Ritsuka wasn't used to it. "...how are you today?"

[fearghoul]

"Fine, thank you." Makiko's tone today was crisp as usual, and she absently tapped her pen against the empty page in the file as she regarded the young man. Something was slightly different about him, but it wasn't significant enough for her to consider prying into it. He still wasn't worth any serious effort on her part. "And you? Have you considered what we talked about last week at all?"

She'd been momentarily tempted to pretend that she'd forgotten him after their last session, but dismissed it after only a brief moment. Even if she did manage to frighten him at all, he wouldn't have the savor worth the effort. Or the risk; she had to keep that in mind constantly now.

[gentiana_clusii]

Christ. Therapy. Ken hated therapy. He'd considered acting out, before realizing that it would only make the nurses sedate him and send him on his happy-ass way--then he'd be drugged and sitting in a God-forsaken doctor's office.

He wasn't headed to the same one he'd had last time, that was all he knew. He barely paid any attention to the name on the door. Kisugi. Well, whoever it was, it didn't matter. Ken only intended to cooperate enough to get through this bullshit, get through the day. God, was it almost over already?

He was left with an admonition to 'be good,' something which irked him incredibly--he may be crazy, but he wasn't a child--and a door shut in his face.

'Well, here we go...'

[fearghoul]

"Ah. Mr. Witte." Makiko glanced up from her papers, absently closing the file on which she'd been adding some notes and settling it onto the pile to one side, placing it there with unusual precision, lining up the edges without really seeming to pay attention to what she was doing. "Please, have a seat."

She could all but taste his fears heavy on her tongue, bitter and sweet both, an odd tang that mildly intrigued her. Only mildly, but it seemed that was the best she'd get this afternoon, sadly enough. She pushed down the disdain, though, only gesturing toward the chair in front of her desk before opening the file for her current patient.

[gentiana_clusii]

"I prefer Ken, if you don't mind," Ken returned. "Mr. Witte is my make-believe father." He preferred to stand, really, but this was going to be far too long and drawn out for his tastes. He moved toward the chair, watching the doctor and his surroundings--everything was very clinical, arranged, it set him slightly on edge.

Well, he was pretty much always slightly on edge these days.

[fearghoul]

Generally speaking, Makiko wasn't inclined to indulge the bizarre delusions that seemed to have been collected in one place here. However, this afternoon was proving to be fairly tedious thus far, leaving her just bored enough not to argue. "Very well, then," she replied, then added in a slightly clipped tone that left the quotation marks around his name almost audible, "'Ken'."

She flipped a couple of pages in the file, as though she hadn't already read it over well enough to be certain of its contents, and picked up her pen once more. "I'm Dr. Kisugi, as I'm sure you'd already guessed. I'll be your therapist here at the Institute. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to begin with?"