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Wakoko may have taken the order a bit too literally, because she ends up standing right outside the door instead of waiting in the waiting room like any other normal person. This comes with an advantage: she can hear what they say decently enough, and it’s technically not her fault- yet soon enough she starts to wish she didn’t. She’s being demeaned. Odd terms and labels are used to describe her. Someone mentions that she was obviously shell-shocked. The lines drawn by the patterns form a clear enough picture, and the core of it, shockingly enough, isn’t what she did or her odd, unique behavior- but that the people who saw those videos think that Wakoko is a dangerous psychopath. It’s the main topic of conversation. Because it wouldn’t look good for the police to just let a dangerous psychopath roam the streets and that’s the point- not one that is still basking in the spotlight.
Because that’s what people think
and what people think is what matters the most.
Eyes quite open as her mind continues to adjust to that reality, Wakoko almost doesn’t notice the man with the hat as it opens the door right in front of her. First, he sighs, of course, as scaring people shitless just in case is both their culture and their job- but then he talks.
Man with hat: Alright. Off you go.
His words are a silver lining in the dark cloud that Wakoko had barely just noticed.
Wakoko: …soooo…?
Man with hat: You will be seeing a therapist weekly. Soon, you will be interviewed. And I /need/ you to say that you are seeing this therapist weekly. Young lady, do not forget to say this.
Wakoko: …and?
The man with the hat shakes his head.
Man with hat: That’s it. No ‘and’. It’s a travesty, an overreaction, all of this.
He nods towards the receptionist.
Man with hat: Go give that woman your address.
Wakoko: But the takoyaki.
The man /stops/ to look at her from under that hat, a man who with absolutely certainty has at least once killed another with his bare hands. He takes up his wallet and hands her over some bills, then pats Wakoko’s puffy hair and leaves.
…
