Reiji was sitting in a waiting room.
Naturally, it was a psychiatrist's office; and he was waiting for his turn.
He was still shaken by his uncharacteristic outburst at the orphanage the previous day. The memory clung to him stubbornly, gnawing at the back of his head. Truthfully, he did not want to be here at all. Therapy was never something he had considered necessary for himself after all, purely because he did not feel like it would be of use to him.
However, this had been a sincere request from Shoko, and the least he could do was give it an honest try.
Besides, Shoko had spoken highly of this particular doctor. Though she hadn't met the woman in person, she seemed confident and certain, even, that this psychiatrist could help him.
The human mind had long been theorized to be a vast maze. To truly help a person recover mentally was often considered a task bordering on the impossible.
Dr. Aurelia Yseline, however, was said to have a perfect, one-hundred-percent patient recovery rate. Whether it was minor trauma or psychological damage severe enough to break people beyond repair, she always seemed to find a way.
Reiji forced a tired smile as he adjusted his traditional black kimono.
'Maybe it'll be worth it…'
As if on cue, a posh door in front of him opened.
A man dressed in formal office attire stepped out. As the door closed behind him, Reiji studied the stranger through droopy eyes framed by dark circles. The man was blushing… and oddly cheerful. Far too cheerful for someone who had just finished a therapy session.
'Huh?'
'Aren't people supposed to take time to heal their minds?'
Moments later, a clerk announced that it was now Reiji's turn.
He nodded politely, offered a faint smile, and made his way toward the door.
The moment his hand touched the handle, he felt strange.
Reiji paused. His smile faded instantly.
'Something doesn't add up…'
He shook his head lightly.
"I should just get on with it."
With a deep breath, he twisted the handle and stepped inside.
The room that greeted him was… peculiar.
It was brightly lit, furnished with sleek, modern decor, and impeccably clean. At first glance, it appeared ordinary. But as Reiji's gaze drifted toward the center of the room, he finally noticed the psychiatrist herself.
She sat behind a pristine white desk. Behind her, a large glass window flooded the room with afternoon sunlight. She wore a plain black formal suit, neat and understated.
As Reiji scanned her, his eyes settled on her neatly braided amber hair.
It was strange. This was the first time he had ever seen someone with that particular shade of color.
His gaze moved downward, toward her face… but before he could properly register her features, his attention was captured by her eyes.
Golden irises.
They were so captivating that, for a brief moment, he found himself unable to look away.
'W–what…?'
As his focus finally widened again, he was able to take in the rest of her face. Her skin was pale; though not dangerously so, unlike his own. A few loose strands of amber hair framed her face, while some were neatly tucked behind her ears.
She was beautiful. Beautiful to an unsettling degree.
Reiji froze, staring far longer than was appropriate.
Her presence was intoxicating; almost enough to dull his senses entirely.
Then Akame stirred slightly and the sensation snapped him back to reality.
Reiji narrowed his eyes as his expression hardened slightly. She was hiding it well, but he could feel it now; traces of cursed energy clinging to her presence. And not just a little. It was far more than what any non-sorcerer should theoretically possess.
The cold truth struck him immediately.
'She's a curse user…'
The woman cleared her throat.
Then her voice reached him: smooth, melodic, and utterly detached.
"Hello. I am Dr. Aurelia."
She took out a notebook and clicked her pen.
"Before we begin," she said evenly, "how are you feeling coming in today?"
Though the words were meant to comfort patients, her tone was apathetic, almost devoid of genuine emotion.
Reiji continued to stare at her, eyes wide, lips parting slightly in disbelief.
'Is she really supposed to be a therapist?'
**************************************************************************
Reiji was sitting in the chair opposite the elegant psychiatrist.
As he observed her more carefully, he couldn't help but notice how… plain she actually was. She wore no jewelry and no makeup. There was nothing flashy about her appearance. Her charm was subtle, always restrained, never exaggerated or overstated.
Aurelia pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"So," she said calmly, "where would you like to begin today?"
Reiji was deeply uncomfortable. His thoughts were tangled, pulling him in opposite directions. Part of him wanted to let the session continue. Another part screamed at him to report this immediately to the higher-ups. A rogue curse user masquerading as a psychiatrist was no small matter.
'She must have sensed my cursed energy too…
Then why isn't she reacting to it?'
He stared back at her with uncertain eyes.
'What am I supposed to do right now?'
Her golden gaze met his. It was eerily steady. She did not even blink.
Reiji frowned.
Before his thoughts could spiral further, Aurelia spoke again.
"We can sit here quietly for a while," she said, her voice gentle on the surface. "If that makes things easier."
Reiji's expression twisted slightly. For just a split second, he thought he heard a sigh… almost like disappointment, beneath her words.
He scratched the back of his head and decided to go along with it for now.
"Um… hello," he said hesitantly. "My name is Reiji Kamo."
Aurelia nodded curtly and immediately began writing in her notebook.
"As for where I'd like to begin," Reiji continued, his gaze lowering, "I'm not really sure…"
He paused.
"My mind is kind of a mess right now."
"That's perfectly acceptable," Aurelia replied without looking up. "Has there been any recent change in your lifestyle that you feel may be contributing to this?"
Her tone was very professional, but Reiji was certain there was a trace of irritation beneath it.
'Her voice is strange,' he thought.
'It's like she isn't trying to understand me at all…'
He exhaled slowly. "I started going to a new school, and…" He hesitated before continuing. "A lot of people I cared about have died since then."
Aurelia's pen paused for only a fraction of a second.
"Interesting," she said quietly, making a note.
Reiji's eye twitched.
'Is this woman serious?'
"Please continue," she said. Her voice was cold but firm, insistent in a way that left him with the uneasy feeling that stopping now would be a grave mistake.
He clenched his fists before speaking again.
"My… my mother passed away when I was very young," he said slowly. "I don't remember that day clearly. But sometimes it comes back to me… in dreams and hallucinations. It's never complete… just fragments. Pieces of the same moment."
Aurelia responded without a hint of sympathy.
"And how does that affect you?"
Reiji stared at her in disbelief.
His jaw tightened as anger flared briefly in his chest. He wanted to protest. To ask her how she could say something like that so calmly.
And yet… A strange premonition told him to answer anyway.
He swallowed his indignation and spoke after a long breath.
"The hallucinations feel too real," he admitted. His voice wavered slightly. "I don't even know what's real anymore."
Aurelia immediately resumed writing. She did not respond right away.
"That is incorrect," she murmured.
Reiji blinked, confused. "What? What do you mean? I was being honest."
Aurelia adjusted her glasses before looking up.
"Allow me to clarify," she said evenly. "I believe everything you told me. However… you are not hallucinating."
Reiji froze.
"…Huh?"
She sighed softly.
"Your sensory cortex is functioning normally," Aurelia explained. "In cases of hallucination, the natural pathway of sensory processing is disrupted. The brain activates sensory regions without external input, often due to abnormal connectivity between the limbic system that regulates emotions and the sensory cortex."
She met his gaze directly.
"That is not the case here."
Reiji felt his chest tighten.
"If your sensory cortex is behaving normally," she continued, "then the information your brain processed; voices, images, sensations, must have originated from real stimuli."
She paused deliberately.
"Which implies that what you perceived, was in fact… real."
Something inside Reiji shattered.
His thoughts exploded violently. He could not tell what to believe anymore. He understood now; she had arrived at this conclusion using her technique, that was the only way. And for some reason he believed her completely, as if this was the answer his consciousness was desperately looking for.
That realization only made things worse.
Had those moments truly happened again and again? Had that gruesome day replayed itself before his eyes?
One of the few beliefs tethering him to sanity, the idea that those visions weren't real… was ripped away without mercy.
Reiji slumped back in his chair.
Madness tightened its grip around his heart. His vision blurred as tears welled up uncontrollably.
Aurelia watched him quietly, her expression unmoved.
"Quite a predicament," she said calmly.
She rose from her seat and walked around the desk toward him.
With a swift motion, she turned his chair so that he was facing her directly.
Pale white waves of cursed energy unfurled around her in an instant.
She extended both hands toward his face as warm tears streamed down his cheeks.
"It appears," she said softly, "that something has forcibly unraveled your mind."
Her right hand cupped his cheek gently. Her left hovered above his head. For the briefest moment, her unfeeling golden eyes flickered.
Cursed energy gathered at her fingertips, thick and viscous.
The stark white hue shifted, deepening into royal blue and shimmering golden yellow as the energies intertwined.
She held his face firmly.
"Please forgive the intrusion."
And then her fingers bore into his skull.