Psycho Pass: Redemption (UPDATING)

9 (UPDATED)

"These new toys make this facility not look so lonely," Rikako commented as she walked by running her index finger along a surgical table in the center of the room.

Makishima watched her from the dark. He wondered what Yashiro would say at that moment. He imagined her standing in the room watching the equipment, until noticing Rikako's presence and quoting Zarathustra when he said those you cannot teach to fly, teach to fall faster.

"Now only the protagonist of the play is missing," Makishima's voice echoed.

Rikako picked up a scalpel placed on top of a metal side table, to contemplate the reflection on its blade and caress it in the process.

"Touma-sensei is interested in a man named Ryoji Hashida," she twirled the blade in the air.

Makishima knew he was a politician suspected of corruption and falsifying crime rate reports. Despite criticism and opposition, he was likely to continue to cheat the system because of his money, influence and reputation. Makishima could not help but imagine the audience and wondered what Yashiro's reaction would be.

"I see you haven't said anything to your friend," he commented.

When he turned to Rikako, the way her eyes flickered with a brief but intense hesitation did not go unnoticed by someone like him. Rikako continued to examine the equipment.

"I'd rather it be a surprise," she replied.

Makishima narrowed his eyes without taking his eyes off her.

"How do you think she'd take it?" he folded his arms.

Rikako's lips remained slightly parted. There was a strange gleam in her eyes.

"It wouldn't be the first time she's seen cruelty."

Rikako paused for a few moments. Makishima took a couple of steps forward and raised his head slightly.

"You know about her," he said with a distant look.

"Ever since I first saw her reading in a hallway instead of being in literature class, I knew she was different."

Makishima let out a smile as he imagined the scene.

"I saw how she changed another student. It's not the first time she's done it, am I wrong?" Makishima walked around while looking at her.

Rikako closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and took a deep breath.

"No, it's not. She always acted that way consciously or not," Rikako continued, pausing to shoot him a glance. "I think she's able to clear or cloud the tone of others, like a mirror."

Makishima raised an eyebrow and suddenly stopped his graceful gait.

"A mirror?" he blurted out.

"Yes, but that's not the weirdest thing," Rikako began to explain, lost in a fixed point on the stretcher as he watched her intently. "Anyone would break in the first few days. To observe a person's darkness without being affected is practically impossible. Yashiro, on the other hand... keeps her hue perfectly clear."

Makishima remained motionless, thoughtful.

"Even after what happened," Rikako added. "There was a night when her father tried to kill his wife and herself. However, the mother murdered him with twelve stab wounds. As a result, her hue became so clouded that therapy was no longer within her reach. At the time, Yashiro was fifteen years old."

Makishima had researched Yashiro's past after meeting her at the library. From the first moment he knew she was hiding something.

"Not only did she watch her father die at the hands of her mother, but she also witnessed her death," he smirked.