--Saturday, August 15, 2172
Early in the morning, Kai entered Shiraki Junpei's office with a calm step, then sat down on the long, comfortable couch while the cats jumped from his shoulders to lie down beside him. Not long after, Junpei entered the consultation room with a warm and friendly smile, greeting him as he walked to the cabinet where he kept the tea.
"Good morning, Saito-san, you seem to be in a good mood. Did something good happen yesterday?"
"Not much." Kai replied casually as he opened his laptop. Junpei nodded casually, then poured two cups of tea and asked with a smile.
"I see you've been working hard, Saito-san. You've become quite the liar overnight."
"If you know the trick, it's just a matter of practice."
Kai replied casually as he extended his hand to take the cup of tea Junpei was offering him. From the aroma alone, Kai knew it was a high-quality Gyokuro, and as he tasted it, he couldn't help but comment with a subtle smile.
"Good tea."
"I prepared it specially." Junpei replied casually before taking a sip of his own tea, after which he added in a relaxed voice.
"But getting to what's important, shall we continue where we left off last time? Or would you like to talk about something else?"
"Since you mention it, how about we talk about something more interesting than me? It turns out that, while poking around, I discovered some very interesting things. I found a real-life plot full of mystery, drama, and even a betrayal or two. Aren't you interested in hearing it?" Kai commented with a calm smile as he looked at Junpei, who responded with a similar smile.
"Oh, that sounds interesting. What's it about?"
"It's a bit long, but I think it should ring some bells for you, so it'll be interesting."
Kai commented in a playful tone before bringing the cup to his lips while watching Junpei do the same. After a small sip of tea, Kai set his cup down on the small table and began speaking in a relaxed voice as he started petting the bellies of the relaxed cats.
"It turns out that a long time ago, there was an ambitious young man with irresistible charisma and an extraordinary talent for 'reading' people, which, combined with the supernatural senses granted by his quirk, allowed him to do something not too different from reading minds.
"This young man grew up in a single-parent home, raised by his abusive father—a petty con man, alcoholic, and bad-tempered—who beat him constantly and made him steal for him. But this talented young man knew he was meant for greater things, so one day, while dragging his father home from a seedy bar like every other night, he made a decision that changed his life.
"At one point, the young man stopped walking and simply turned around to walk in the opposite direction, never looking back, and that was the last time he saw his abusive father. But this was only the beginning of the young man's story, who, having yearned all his life for what he believed was the elite life and happiness, embarked on a long journey of self-improvement.
"The first thing the young man did when he arrived in an unknown new city after stealing and slipping away for nearly a month was use the 'tools' he had learned from his father to fabricate a backstory and start earning his living as a 'fortune teller.' Due to his great talent, it didn't take long before the young man came to know the wife of someone important.
"Thanks to his great skill with people, this talented young man managed to legalize every last detail of his new identity, which allowed him to take the next step in his life plan. Soon, the young man changed cities again and left behind his identity as a 'fortune teller' to become the sugar baby of some wealthy women.
"These women, who had influence and money, became his patrons for his goal of getting into university. At one of the most prestigious universities, the young man began studying finance with the idea of making a lot of money and achieving happiness, but his life took a complete turn when 'she' appeared…"
Kai paused his story to take a sip of his tea while looking at Junpei, who stood up with his teacup in hand to grab a small watering can and begin watering the plants in the office. At the same time, Junpei asked with his unflappable calm smile and a somewhat curious voice.
"Oh, our 'hero' found love? What was she like?"
Kai set his cup on the table and went back to petting the spoiled Tama, who was rolling around on the couch with her belly exposed, demanding he return to his work as a professional masseur. As he resumed his duties as a cat masseur, Kai continued his story in a relaxed voice.
"… She was a complete beauty. Slender and elegant, with beautiful chestnut hair that fell to her hips and an expression as cold as ice that hid a heart as pure as crystal, softer than a cloud."
"What an interesting description." Junpei commented in a calm voice while removing some dry leaves from a plant near the window. For his part, Kai continued in a calm voice while studying the relaxed therapist.
"I think so too; whoever wrote it is definitely a very talented person."
"Or perhaps a very enamored person." Junpei commented as he brought his cup to his lips, to which Kai replied with a calm smile.
"Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that… She wasn't only beautiful, but she was also the daughter of an ancient clan with extensive connections and economic power. She was practically the direct descendant of a feudal clan, and our talented young man was also well known for his ambition. A beautiful, young, rich, and influential woman was just what our talented young man needed in his life.
"Of course, our talented young man got to work and soon unleashed all his charisma and people skills, but for the first time in his life, nothing worked. That beauty was like an iceberg; nothing he said or did caught her attention. Naturally, our young man, brimming with talent and ambition, focused entirely on the mission of 'thawing' that 'iceberg.'
"Before he knew it, our talented young man ended up setting aside finance to enroll in a psychology program, and he spent every day reading everything he could to understand the smallest detail of the human mind. But none of that helped; the beauty wouldn't even look at him, and the young man was about to give up, but one fine night everything changed… by sheer chance of destiny, he was able to play the prince saving the damsel."
"The oldest trick in the book." Junpei added with an amused smile as he placed a flowerpot in front of one of the windows so it would get sunlight. Kai smiled, equally amused, before continuing calmly.
"Exactly. By pure chance, our talented young man saved the beauty from a group of thugs, and in less than a year, they were already living together. With a rich beauty by his side, the talented young man's life changed again, and he focused on understanding the human mind and pampering his source of wealth, having two beautiful children along the way. But one day, everything vanished into thin air, and the talented young man's life changed once again…"
Kai fell silent with a subtle, mischievous smile on his lips. For his part, Junpei brought his hand to his chin to analyze the position of the flowerpot, and after rotating it a couple of times, he nodded in satisfaction. Then Junpei turned to look at Kai and commented with a calm smile as he poured more tea.
"Quite an interesting story, Saito-san. A truly telling story."
"My thoughts exactly." Kai replied with an equally calm smile as he extended his hand to take the cup of tea, but his hand froze in midair when Junpei spoke in his typical calm and welcoming voice.
"It's exactly the kind of story I like; the kind that says more about the narrator than the protagonist."
Junpei smiled playfully as he saw Kai freeze for a fraction of a second before calmly taking his cup of tea and asking.
"Really? What does it say about the narrator?"
"Many things."
Junpei commented in a calm tone before taking a sip of tea with a subtle, playful smile on his lips, a moment he took to analyze Kai, who simply drank his tea, absolutely relaxed, without any sign of nervousness. After a few moments, Junpei placed his cup on a small saucer he held in his other hand and continued speaking.
"First of all, that story tells us how competitive and sore a loser the narrator is. To the point where he uses his precious time and resources to thoroughly investigate someone just to tell a story in order to exact a small revenge while simultaneously intimidating and asserting power. But beyond that, the fact that the revenge is a story and not something else tells us a lot about the narrator's psyche.
"After all, the narrator is a fearsomely strong man, also rich and influential, so he has many options for taking revenge, but out of all of them, he chose to play on his opponent's turf to outdo him. Rather than violence or domination, he chose direct combat on unfamiliar ground…"
Junpei paused briefly to set his cup on the table, a moment in which he looked at Kai with a subtle smile and asked.
"Don't you find such a person very interesting, Saito-san?"
"Certainly so."
Kai replied in a calm tone before drinking tea as if they were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. Junpei's smile widened slightly at the response as he sat back down across from Kai, an instant in which the cats pricked up their ears and fixed their gaze on him as he spoke in a calm and professional voice.
"But the most interesting thing of all isn't that. What's really interesting is that for a 'revenge' or at least a 'rematch,' there had to have been a loss… Therefore, that story is nothing more than admitting defeat and acknowledging that you yourself don't know whether what you feel is truly love, Saito-san. So, wouldn't you like to talk about it with your therapist? I assure you, you'll feel better."
"You're really good." Kai couldn't help but comment in a calm tone, then added after taking a sip of his tea.
"But you, better than anyone, should know that your job is almost a farce. The vast majority of mental illnesses are imaginary or self-induced, and for people in your line of work, it's much more profitable to generate dependency than to actually help. If your patient says they have depression, 8 out of 10 therapists won't just confirm it but reaffirm it until they turn the illness into reality.
"And when it's not that, they just dedicate themselves to asking stupid, generalist questions to make people vent and reflect on their own. In the end, talking to a deaf person, a therapist, or a simple stuffed animal is the same thing. No, actually, talking to the stuffed animal is better because it hardly generates dependency, and the doll will never use your secrets to try to exploit you.
"Although you're a bit different, since you don't do it for the money but rather seem to have other objectives besides playing with your 'patients,' I think you already understand that perfectly. I won't be your toy, and the only reason I'm here is because my family genuinely believe it will do me good, and I'm too lazy to disagree with them…"
Kai paused briefly to set his cup on the table while looking directly into Junpei's eyes, a moment in which he added with a slightly more serious voice that seemed to carry the weight of entire mountains.
"Let's play calmly, Dr. Shiraki; although I'm a patient man who values a good challenge, there are certain lines that are better not crossed."
After speaking, Kai stood up from his seat and walked to the exit while the cats jumped onto his shoulders. At that moment, Junpei glanced at the clock, confirming that there were still a few minutes left in the session, and then commented in a relaxed voice, without the slightest trace of fear or discomfort.
"While it's true that bad ones aren't rare in this profession, the fact that your family asks you to give it a try only demonstrates one thing: it works, and you know it. Besides, Saito-san, you're far too arrogant to accept an intellectual defeat that would force you to resort to violence, isn't that right?"
"Millions of people blindly believe in homeopathy; that doesn't mean it does anything more than a placebo effect. And don't tempt your luck, doctor. You better than anyone know that people tend to do unexpected things when pushed too far." Kai commented in a calm voice as he pulled the door open. At that moment, Junpei spoke in a playful tone.
"How to kidnap someone without leaving a single trace?"
Kai let out a small chuckle as he opened the door and soon left the place, leaving Junpei with an enigmatic smile, drinking his tea in silence. But when the door closed, Junpei's expression changed to a more serious one. He soon pulled a small notebook out of his pocket, where he wrote down a few things, before going back to drinking his tea while reflecting with a subtle smile, looking at the door.
"See you in two weeks, Saito-san…"
***
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