Moving silently down the winding corridor thoughts began to flood his mind. He didn't understand the point of all of this. Did they really think that this would change him. Change anything? Continuing towards his destination, he began to hear the muffled sounds of what seemed like a confrontation. Suddenly the sounds grew in intensity as a door several feet down the hall flew open. A tall, lean young man with unruly hair and a bandanna stalked into the hallway turning his attention back to someone still in the room, a horrific scowl distorting his face.
"Fuck you, Himura!" He screamed, jutting his finger to the person in the room, and light laughter could be heard from within the room.
"This one will see you next week, Sano." The muffled voice came almost cheery, and the young man jutted up his middle finger in response before slamming the door, the harsh sound resonating through the once silent halls.
The young man stalked down the hall muttering more profanity as they crossed paths, nearly body-checking each other in the process. Finally making his destination, he just stood there, paused outside the door at the end of the winding corridor. He read the name on the door silently, several times with his icy stare. 'Dr Himura Kenshin, LCPC' it read. A silent sigh escaped his lips, inaudible to the human ear…or so he had thought.
"It is okay to come in, that it is." Came a muffled voice from behind the door.
But how? His eye narrowed the slightest margin, never changing the cold, reserved expression on his face. Stealth was second nature to him. He lived his life as a ghost in the shadow, allowing him to excel at his 'profession,' if that was what you could really call it. Never the less, he turned the door knob slowly and entered the room without a sound.
Upon entering he automatically began to memorize the details of the room, another tell-tail sigh of what he was. Then his steely gaze penetrated the man sitting at the desk centered precisely in the middle of the room. Had he to guess, he imagined that there had been actual measurement to ensure the exact placement of every piece of furniture in the office, most notably a sheathed katana mounted on the wall directly behind the desk. The man sitting at the desk looked up from a file he had in his hand. A serene expression and gentle smile played across the man's face, making the x-shaped scar on his left cheek seem very out of place. He was use to people posturing in his presence in order hide their uneasiness around him, however this man showed no signs of being uncomfortable. In fact the man, with his bright red hair and unusual speech pattern, appeared perfectly calm, never averting his gentle gaze.
"You are right on time, that you are." The words coming in an almost sing-song tone. "Please, have a seat." And with that he sat opposite the man at the desk.
"Would you like something to drink?" The man asked, the kind smile never leaving his lips.
"Green tea." He answered monotony, his cool demeanor never faltering as he grew more perplexed by the man sitting at the desk.
"So, Shinomori Aoshi. Do you know why you are here?" The man asked, breaking the last 15 minutes of silence between the two men.
"Do you?" He responded, his icy blue eyes peering through his jet black bangs.
"Oh yes. This one read your file, that he did." The red-haired man said with a smile. "And this one is quite impressed, that he is. But this one will ask again. Do you know why you are here?" He asked more pointedly, not backing down from Aoshi's intimidation.
"Aa." Aoshi responded matter-of-factly, not breaking his gaze from the red-haired man.
"This is good to hear, that it is. It will make less work for this one!" The red-haired man responded in a happy tone, giving a sincere smile. "And this one will be able to begin asking the really important questions, that he will."
The red-haired man sifted through the file he had been holding with a level of agility that Aoshi was eerily familiar with. Aoshi waited, watching the man carefully. The absent-minded, carefree expression on the man's face did not seem to match the nimble movements of his fingers as he finally stumbled upon what he had been looking for.
"It says here that you were charged with 15 counts of assault, that you were." The red-haired man began, maintaining his cordial demeanor while reading the file. "You single-handedly took down 15 heavily armed men outside of a local tea house with a single…kodatchi." He raised an eyebrow, dubiously eyeing Aoshi.
"Aa." Aoshi confirmed, his voice laced with cold indifference.
"Kodachis are normally used as defensive weapons, that they are." The red-haired man stated. "Yet the report clearly states that you were the one on the offensive, that you were." Aoshi simply met this observation with his characteristic stoicism, though it made him curious.
"You know about weaponry." It was not a question, but statement, as Aoshi knew this to be true.
"This one was not born a therapist, that he was not." The red-haired man smiled brightly.
"Really…" Aoshi said, successfully concealing his interest in this new-found information.
Aoshi simply closed his eyes, pondering the situation unfolding in front of him. First, he found the whole idea of therapy an affront to his dignity. He would have preferred some form of incarceration. And then there was this man in front of him, an enigma that caused a growing vexation within Aoshi. As he reflected on his situation he could feel the man at the desk observing him carefully.
"Something is on your mind, that it is." The red-haired man came gently, breaking Aoshi's meditation.
"Aa." Aoshi responded honestly, lying being beneath him, as he kept his eyes closed.
"Care to elaborate?" With that Aoshi opened his eyes slowly, a smirk playing on the corner of his lips.
"No." Point, set, match.
"At some point you will be expected to say something, that you will." The red-haired man raised an eyebrow, though showed no signs of irritation or being ruffled.
"I thought I had…" His reply came cold and emotionless making the red-haired man chuckle, a response Aoshi was not expecting.
"It has been a while since this one had such a difficult opponent." The red-haired man smiled brightly, causing Aoshi's gaze to narrow imperceptivity.
'Opponent' he said. So that was how this was going to be. That was fine with Aoshi. If this man was looking for an opponent, he certainly had the capacity to comply. But would the red-haired man make it worth his while?
"My, my! Look at that. Our time is up, that it is." The red-haired man said warmly as he stood up from his desk to shake Aoshi's hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, that it was." As Aoshi stood to tower over him the difference in their height became almost comical.
Upon Aoshi's departure the red-haired man sat back at his desk, a warm smile playing across his face. He began to stack the files on his desk into a neat, orderly pile, and meticulously organizing each item on his desk. Then he shook his head with a light chuckle as he went over the session in his head.
"He will be a handful, that he will." He sighed.
And so…the game was on.