Rehab, Ch. 8.
Minako stepped into Dr. Shodo’s apartment as one would step into a prison cell. Resentfully, resignedly, and with a tiny bit of resistance. His apartment was well furnished, if sparse. Tones of beige and green gave a calming environment, but Minako was not in the mood to be calmed and her bitterness noted that the lack of bright colors in the place made it boring.
During her surveying, he had entered behind her and was now politely stuck between her body and the rest of the apartment.
“Does it suit you?”
Minako was taken aback by his question. It seemed as if he was trying to...gain her approval. This was disturbing, and Minako showed her uncertainty by biting her lip hesitantly before turning to face him. Finally, she decided on honesty, though perhaps not as brutal as she would have been before he asked his question.
“Not really. I prefer bright colors, but your apartment is very nice all the same.”
Was that a smile?
“I can see that you would prefer bright colors.”
Definitely a smile. Dangerous territory, Aino.
“Especially because the planet I affiliated you with earlier is known for its warm colors”
DANGER! DANGER!
“Oh, really?”
Minako sugarcoated her answer, making sure to bat her eyelashes like a doll.
‘”Yes, really” he replied, but, astoundingly, let the subject drop as he led her down the hall to what he announced with little aplomb was her room.
White. Everything in the room was sleek, white and modern. Also tasteful, it bore scant remnants of what Mina might have called feminine touches. If she were looking for such things. Which she was not. At all.
“Why is it white?”
Mina blurted this out without thinking. She did not want Shodo to think she cared, after all.
Surprising her again, Shodo actually appeared to be deliberating on his answer.
“I…am not sure. White has always struck me as a pure color. A purity that not many can attain, and so easily tainted.”
Minako actually turned around from where she had entered the room slightly ahead of him, and was unsurprised when she found the now-familiar glassy stare focused, for once, not on her, but on the pristine and slightly puffy bedspread.
He looked frustrated.
“Does that make any sense to you?”
Suddenly his eyes shifted to hers, and she thought about a girl she was so often mistaken for, and replied that it did.