Inside Your Mind

14 - Shinsou

Sit down, wait and enter hell

"I really don't know why you always insist on working nights, Shinsou." Hideaki Hirota said. Kaori stopped drumming along on the dashboard to the song that was playing on the radio and looked over at him.

"I've told you a million times that I have insomnia, Hirota. I'm either going to lie in bed staring at the walls or I'm working. At least work keeps me busy and it gets me tired enough so I can get a few naps in during the day." she said and continued bobbing her head along to the music again.

Kaori Shinsou loved working the night shift during her internship. Normally, she wasn't looking forward to nights - all they meant were tossing and turning and maybe lying half-awake for an hour and feeling even worse afterwards. If she worked during that time, she could at least do something useful.

"Maybe you should get that insomnia thing checked out again. Sounds pretty bad, if you ask me. You really should be taking it a little easier, you're working like a fucking robot, girl." Hirota mumbled and shook his head, turning the corner to stop at their favourite place to get coffee for the night shifts.

"Where would the world be if everyone hated the night shift as much as you do, Hirota?" Kaori asked with a big grin on her face. She had been paired up with Hirota whenever they worked the same days for the last two years. They basically knew each other inside out at this stage. And Kaori loved how grumpy and cynical he was about everything, it had a certain charm.

"Seriously though, you should really be staying at the office and write up some reports or do some paperwork instead. Especially with your concussion. And after you've been involved in that arson case a few days ago, too! How are you not traumatized by that? It was a horrible scene." Hirota said. Kaori almost felt sick to her stomach when she remembered seeing the charred corpses, with just the teeth still intact. They had their mouths wide open, probably screaming in pain.

Kaori shivered a little. She was definitely traumatized by that, but it was something that was a given in this line of work. She'd been talking to the councillor at university just yesterday and had made a few more appointments, seeing how stressful things had gotten lately. It was a fairly normal procedure for most students who made it as far in U.A. as she had. No one went to work in some sort of law enforcement for more than two years without any counselling. People who tried to do that usually dropped out real quick. Some others tried to tough it out, but had to take a break at a mental hospital eventually.

"Bold of you to assume I'm not traumatized. I just like cruising through the city at night. It's calming. Especially with you, Hirota." she answered with a shit-eating grin. Hirota just raised his eyebrows and parked the car in front of the convenience store.

"Of course. Let's rephrase that. I'm surprised Iida let you go on patrol, instead of telling you to stay in the office and do paperwork." Hirota said, as he got out of the car. Kaori got out of the passenger seat, quickly grabbing her hat from the dashboard.

"You know Iida can't say no to me." she replied, while putting on her hat. Hirota shook his head and gave her a disapproving look.

"Whatever happened at that last Christmas party, huh?" Hirota mumbled. Kaori grinned at him.

"What happens at the Christmas party, stays at the Christmas party." she said and shrugged while they were walking into the store.

"Shinsou, he's like 8 years older than you!"

"Oh my God, Hirota, chill. Nothing happened, okay? He just brought me home, because I was close to passing out."

If only Kaori knew if she was telling him the truth or not. She really couldn't remember any part of the Christmas party that had happened after she had done those Tequila shots with that guy from the Kiyashi police department. All she remembered was waking up in Tensei Iida's apartment, in his bed, next to him. And sneaking out through the window without him waking up. She was especially proud of that one.