CHAPTER 5

The house was vast but it was not because the owner was a fan of luxurious furniture nor elegant decorations. He loved simplicity and when Sybil dominated the country and citizens, Makishima had paid the most heed to bigger mission. The interior design of his place was not in the priority. All mattered to him was it was deserted, comfortable and he could stuff as many books as he could.

After finishing a novel, it was the perfect time for him to watch news while sipping his favourite tea.

It was double perfect when the news just happened to update Kasahara Aimi's murder case. Every time her name was mentioned or her face was shown on TV or he happened to read about her on his tablet...

Makishima could not help but smile. His Psycho-Path and crime coefficient had always been his shield from the street scanners. Even he hated how people were always observed by Sybil system but he was happy with the fact that Sybil's principle had backfired. Instead of preventing him from killing people, it indirectly allowed him to cause endless destruction as much as he wanted.

No one could stop him including the capable Kougami. Instead, not only Sasayama's murder case was not solved yet, the man was demoted which would restrain him more to haunt and kill Makishima.

What a sick world we live in, Kougami. I killed your friend but Sybil protected me, he thought. Don't you think it's unfair? Why would you still work with the shitty government?

And you, Ginoza Nobuchika...

"I have your most anticipated news of the day, Makishima," Gu-sung's nonchalant voice broke his internal thought. Makishima turned, looking at his partner with a calm smile.

"What is it?"

"The former inspector who you killed his father... he was discharged from the rehab centre and assigned back as an enforcer."

Good, he thought.

"Ginoza Nobuchika... make sure you remember his name," Makishima said, putting his cup of tea on the small table opposite him. "Thank you for the news, Gu-sung. It really made my day, more than any book could offer."

"More than any book could offer... are you sure?" Gu-sung asked, already took his spot on the brown sofa. Despite he enjoyed hacking any sort of devices, he never enjoyed it when his neck and back decided to protest and cause him sore. "I thought that you aim more to that Kougami Shinya. Plus, what I have found still proved me that Kougami is smarter and more capable than that Ginoza."

"Kougami is more capable after we killed his enforcer. Back to the days when he was an inspector, he is... naïve, reckless and stupid. It's the pops who always ensured that he never went astray," Makishima stated. "It only took one enforcer to bring up the hidden power and sense out of him. The same goes with the pops. That Masaoka was more competent after he was demoted as an enforcer. What does it say other than the Sybil system is sick? It produces a bunch of weak inspectors who only hide behind that talking guns and enforcers. When those incompetent inspectors finally understand what criminals want, they were called latent criminals. Quite 'fair', is it?"

Gu-Sung did not reply instantly. He stared at his comrade for seconds before blurting out, "I can see why you want to know what happened to Ginoza after he lost his father. The reason is the same as Kougami but more extreme, right?"

"Exactly."

The door was breaking open from outside, revealing a mid-30s guy, wearing all black from head to toe. Anxiety written over his face.

"Great timing. I was thinking about you, Matsuda," Makishima remarked.

"What? Are you going to order me to kill again? Don't we have to wait for a while since the bureau are actively investigating?" Matsuda said. It bothered him how Kasahara Aimi's murder case caught so much interest when he thought it was just a cliched-way of killing an innocent girl.

"Yes, good job for guessing. Just one more victim and you're free to go. This time, the targets are a pair of son and father who live together and... maybe if the son is gone, the father will go berserk and start blaming the system."

Even Makishima solely talked to Matsuda, Gu-sung was the one who left his spot and took action right away.

"I will find them in no time, Makishima."

Silence lingered in the air before Gu-sung left the room. With an unreadable smile, Makishima remarked, "while Gu-sung is doing her job, should we have a cup of tea, Yuiichi-san?"

"Yes, I am the new enforcer of Division 1. It's nice meeting you, Inspector Shimotsuki?" Ginoza turned to Akane which the inspector nodded right away.

Mika could not help but blink at how relaxed the guy looked.

Wait... what? Did you just want to act like nothing happened before this? We have met yesterday, I was so happy to work in the same field with you and this is the best explanation you could give me, enforcer?

No wonder no one told me about which division is Inspector Ginoza assigned to...

It's because there is no longer Inspector Ginoza.

Ginoza's seemed-to-be nonchalant reaction had touched her nerve but unbeknown to everybody, Mika would use other approach to deal with the man.

"By the way, which one is my desk, Tsunemori?" Without sparing any look at Mika's direction because he could not avoid from meeting eyes with Kougami, Ginozas turned his frame stiffly to Akane.

"It's... Masaoka-san..."

"We can exchange desks, Gino," a husky voice which was the effect of consuming cigarettes interposed but it only made Akane and Mika turned to him.

"It's okay. I will take Dad's," Ginoza said, almost immediately before Kougami could ask further.

While he turned to no one else as he made his way to Masaoka's desk, Akane secretly showed a thumbs-up to Kougami.

"Nice try, Kougami-san."

"What are you? My teacher?"

They all headed to their own desks, leaving Mika who still had her eyes on Ginoza.

The motive of the antagonist for Kasahara Aimi's murder case was surprisingly easy to guess.

Was what all of them excluding Ginoza had concluded.

A second victim was killed in less than 24 hours instead of being abducted for days, probably because this time they aimed a man with a tall frame. While the second victim, Yamamoto Rui was the same age as the first victim, the video which contained how he was abused was addressed to his father. He also lived far away from the first victim and had no connection whatsoever with each other.

Rui's body was dumped just around his father's old motorcycle. The sick man did not have anyone else living in his house since his wife passed away five years ago. Yet, despite his fragile frame, he still had the energy to cry his eyes out. What happened to his only son was like the worst nightmare since Rui was a good son and never gave him troubles.

"He's the only family member I have! One with clouded Hue should be detected by the scanner right away but what have it done!? You bureau should have done a better job!"

Be yelled at like a child or a slave was a part of the job; Ginoza could understand and relate to it as much. He had seen and faced worse when he was a rookie inspector but now...

When he was holding the father, who kept yelling, all he could think was Masaoka.

"My son... who killed my son?"

"You're my son after all, Nobuchika."

"Mister, please... listen to me..." Ginoza looked around while his thin frame was tightly hugged by the father. People were still gathering around the crime scene despite the CID mascots, Komissa constantly gave them friendly reminders. This would only make Rui's father downright more miserable because people would never stop talking about how Rui died. "I know what you felt. I know that you're sad..."

"What could you have possibly known!? It's not like your father was killed like this! I only have my son and now he's dead!"

The scream was way louder which caused Mika to click her tongue. She could not care less since Ginoza should deal with it alone. He should reap what he had sowed.

But not for others. Yayoi and Kagari made their ways to Ginoza but the man lifted his hand, wordlessly said that he could take care of this situation even...

It was emotionally scaring for both parties. The father who encountered a compassionate stranger and Ginoza who was quickly judged that he did not understand how it felt to lose a family member.

But unlike himself in the past who easily snapped, Ginoza only had himself to blame. No matter how deep he understood what the old man had felt, he should be more collected and considerate as someone who was in charge of the case.

The fact that he failed as the chief of Division 1... the fact that he failed as a son... he wanted them to be the last evidence that he was useless to their team.

"Shion, can you brief me about the first victim again? I mean... is there any extra information about her?" Without wasting any second which leaving others slightly behind him, Ginoza made his way towards Shion as soon as the automatic door was open.

"Hey, watch it..." Mika was about to remind the enforcer who was supposed to lead the case but Akane quickly raised her hand.

'He knows what's he doing'. She was positive that was what her senior had tried to tell her.

But for Mika, it did not matter either the enforcer knew what was he doing or not. It was still the same case with Kougami who acted like he knew everything by continuously throwing random theories as if he was the criminal himself.

She hated this situation. Why the hell Akane followed them around like she was blind?

"Yes, yes... I know you're going to ask that again," with a smirk, Shion pressed a few buttons before the big screen opposite her brightened the cave-like lab. "The first victim, Kasahara Aimi was a university student, age 20, lives with her parents. According to her friends and lecturers, she is a bookworm, smart and how to say this? She's a very mama girl so she doesn't even bother to get herself a boyfriend. Since her father works late, she's closer to her mother. The second victim, Yamamoto Rui is..."

"Doesn't even related to the first victim. He's in his mid-20s, single, works day and night as a restaurant cook and other two part-time jobs. According to his neighbours, he and his father are close."

Something immediately crossed his mind.

"The criminal might have childhood trauma because of their parents so they decide to torture other parents as well."

Yes, that might be the case.

And Kougami just happened to share the same thought as him.

It was a perfect timing. He did not even need to bother with explaining every single theory to them because there was always the sharp Kougami with them. Just like what kind of character did they expect from him, he was supposed to zip his mouth and pay attention to the inspectors' orders. He did not even need to give orders.

Being an enforcer was not so bad so far.

At this moment, they were expecting Mika to lash out or question Kougami or Ginoza right away but instead, she was scoffing.

Just scoffing and they were thankful already.

"That's why they dumped the bodies in the spot where the father or mother would be the first person to see their child in early morning," Akane supplied, brown eyes still glued to the screen.

"Bingo!" Kagari exclaimed cheerfully which was followed by Yayoi's calm nod.

"So, the tumbler that you handed to me earlier, Gino..." Shion said, easily caught Kougami's face expression as she used 'Gino' before pressing more buttons. "I had it analysed as quick as I could..."

"Hey, I didn't ask you to be really into it..." Ginoza could not help but raising his voice as his attempt to stop Shion from taking each of his word seriously.

"Ah, I found it!" Shion exclaimed, raising her voice back to indirectly ask Ginoza to stop talking. "You're right, Gino! The tumbler that the victim had brought to his house was owned by a guy named Yuiichi Matsuda. They both had no relationship whatsoever. Their workplace and house are far away from each other so it was most unlikely that they will cross path unless..."

"They did cross path one day because it was an incident or a planned incident?" Yayoi suggested.

"Yes, most probably. This guy might accidentally drop the tumbler when he and Yamamoto bumped into each other or sorts."

"Then, the victim might try to give the tumbler or call him out but Yuiichi might rush to somewhere," Akane said.

"He might rush to somewhere or he might want to avoid the victim so that he wasn't found out about something. Too bad, the street CCTV doesn't help much since it's raining," Shion said. Her red-nailed fingers quickly typed and zoomed in the screen, hopefully to find more clues about Yuiichi.

"I bet he's stealing something," Kagari supplied. "If now, what else would he be up to? Hurting and killing a stranger out of nowhere."

"I guess going to the crime scene again will help more. What do you say, inspector?" Kougami asked, eyes wandered to both Akane and Mika.

"Yes, of course. Let's go, Inspector Shimotsuki."

"Understood, senpai."

"A Psycho-Pass above the regulation values has been detected! Inspector on duty, please go straight to the site with Enforcers immediately."

"It might be him," it did not take long for their luck to be on their side as the stress warning echoed in the neighbourhood. Akane immediately remarked, "Kunizuka-san, Ginoza-san, follow me! The rest will follow Inspector Shimotsuki and trace the guy now!"

The two teams made their ways separately. Akane ran as fast as she could, with Yayoi and Ginoza followed closely behind her. Silence passed and while the stress warning no longer ricocheted, whoever with the high Psycho-Pass could not be too far.

He must still be around...

"Inspector, I will search around for a bit," without waiting for Akane to answer, Ginoza made his way towards all the walls that he could see. Silence passed and with how no single soul around them, probably all the residents had jobs that needed them to get up early.

Most probably Yuiichi might not be familiar with the area so he would run to anywhere he could think of. He at least would know the victim's schedule. According to the father, the victim would get up early and walk pass the path which Ginoza was currently catching his breath at. The path with thick grasses because his shoes were slippery and worn out so...

The criminal must be familiar with this area that...

His mind brightened right away while his legs carried him to the only place he could think of. He immediately raised his dominator, not flinching to find a man, hiding anxiously.

Ginoza never expected that on the first day of him being an enforcer, the luck struck him. He successfully caught Yuiichi Matsuda while Kougami and Kagari arrived at the scene slightly later than him.

It was not something that would happen everyday; the fact that he was faster than Kougami.

The luck lasted longer when Shion announced a welcome party for Division 1 new inspector, Mika and the new enforcer, Ginoza. Since the culprit was also a mastermind of a case which Division 2 was investigating, the interrogation was done by the division first.

"This guy is so slow for God's sake," the drunk Shion exclaimed as she pointed at the shocked Kougami. "We are planning the party for you quite a while and he's supposed to tell you about it but he kept it quiet. I couldn't take it anymore."

Ginoza could not help but glance at Kougami whose eyes reached everywhere but his green eyes.

"Quit it already, Kou-chan, Gino-san! The case is over so what's with the long faces!? Let's go to my place and celebrate. Akane-chan, let's go!"

"I think I will pass..."

"Let's go, Inspector Shimotsuki," before Mika could come up with an excuse, Yayoi turned to the young inspector. Now that the case was over, the collected face loosened up. "This will be a celebration for you joining this team. Shion and I have all of it covered."

"Oh, really?" Kagari asked. This was the first time he heard of the extra plan to make Mika feel welcomed since all he had in his head was Ginoza. He even spent a lot of time about foods with Kougami.

"Yes," Shion and Yayoi said with a sinister smile that only Kagari somehow could decipher it.

These women...

"Let's... let's go to my place, shall we?"

"So delicious!" Shion exclaimed while she rested her arm on Yayoi's shoulder. "Screw my diet! I will stuff myself with all Chef Kagari's cooking."

"Feel free to dig in, everyone. Akane-chan, I have made your favourite chicken teriyaki. You have worked hard all this time. It must be stressful to deal with the chief alone every single day."

"No, not really," Akane replied as she reached for the dish.

Now, she has me as her partner. She won't go all these troubles alone. I am more confident to deal with the chief, Mika thought.

Insulting Kagari like a dog before eating his cooking would be weird for her so Mika decided to only have a drink even Yayoi sometimes offered her to take a bite. The enforcer sometimes made random comments to encourage Mika joining their conversation.

Maybe even when she was an enforcer, Yayoi could understand why Mika had such an attitude when it comes to a latent criminal.

Now, despite Shion and Kagari's antics, Akane's soft laughs, the fact that Kougami and Ginoza did not comment anything to each other, Mika chose to look around.

Kagari's way of speaking, funky appearance, annoying grins... they all matched to his place. It was indeed vast which Mika wondered why the government invested this much to provide the comfort to the latent criminals when they would threaten the nation peace anytime. There were game arcades in the living room. While the wall was only painted with dull brown and the furniture was also old, it felt like a child lived here. So tasteless since after working, latent criminals could only spend their free time in headquarters or their places.

There was no way Mika would let her crime coefficient turned so high that she would end up in a cage like this. The living space was enough to prove that latent criminals were no longer useful to the world.

So, she convinced herself that she was right when she had clearly set her boundary with enforcers excluding Yayoi who was the reason how she gained her strength to look ahead.

The last but not least was...

"Try this one, Gino-san! I bet you don't eat much in the rehab centre, right? What did they feed you? Was it much more luxurious since you're a senior inspector? Mine was the worst. They gave me tasteless soups and..."

"I bet that's because you have caused troubles so much, Kagari. The only way was you have to show them that you are not dangerous."

Ginoza Nobuchika... the one who was supposed to be her inspiration. The one who had her heart thumped so fast as soon as she saw him.

As much as it was hard for her to draw her eyes towards any man given with how she was brought up by her strict father, plus her academy culture, Ginoza was the first one.

The first one who she could not help but admire. When her friends thought that the guy was not attractive and way too serious especially when he told off the enforcers, she loved his sense of justice. She loved the way his words matched his action. He was strict but that was because he held Sybil system close to his heart. He made sure everyone in his team did their job well because being part of the bureau was a big responsibility.

But now, the same inspector was demoted as a latent criminal who was caged just like Kagari and Kougami...

It was bewildering. How could such a thing happen?

When Ginoza excused himself outside to head to his quarters for a while, Mika decided that this was the chance. The whole time; since she learned who was the current Ginoza, she did not speak much. Her small frame was with them but her heart, her mind only fixed on one thing.

She wanted to speak alone with the guy.

So, she quickly headed outside, thanks to her excuse that she had to call her mother.

"Ginoza-san!" She called out his name as soon as they reached the end of the corridor which was far from Kagari's quarters.

"Yes?" Ginoza replied, eyes sized up to see Mika.

Come to think of it, Mika did not say anything after everyone told her who he was. She did not participate any of their discussion about the criminal's whereabouts but Ginoza did not pay any heed to it. He assumed that she was new and still learning.

But what made her call him out when there were only two of them?

"So, you're really not inspector anymore? Do you really live here?"

He could smell the insult right away despite she sounded monotonous.

"Yes, evidently."

"Is it that bad that you have to be an enforcer instead of waiting longer to have your crime coefficient back to less than 100?"

"My average crime coefficient is 140. The therapist said that I have no chance of recovery..."

"Then don't be so stuck up and know your place already."

"Excuse me?"

Mika reacted so fast that Ginoza felt like he was slapped instead of being warned.

"Excuse you, enforcer," Mika lifted her eyes to match his green pair and just like that, he could not see the warm and ecstatic gaze that she had for him during their first encounter.

Instead, it was full of despise and disgust which Ginoza swore it was too intimidating and strangled his throat. That was why when Mika made her way closer to him, his legs could not take him anywhere.

"You yourself said that there is no hope for you to recover as a normal citizen. You're no longer someone who's in charge of the team so it's the time for you to leave it to me and senpai who have clear Psycho-Pass and crime coefficient."

"Wait, inspector. I am sorry but what do you mean? Did I do something..."

"You and Enforcer Kougami are no different. Yes, you guys used to be inspectors but now you're are just dogs. You only bark when we say so, not unnecessarily. Don't be so stuck up just because you could solve a case this fast. It doesn't totally show your capability. Rather, it shows that you yourself will be a criminal in no time because you understand what the criminal thinks perfectly. Sorry to say, I will be the one who will kill you with my dominator first if you try anything funny."

This was out of nowhere and nonsensical. He wanted to shout back but with how he was reminded by the same person that he was now a hunting dog...

It might be because he was not mentally prepared, he lost his words to reply to Mika. The inspector also did not seem to care what he thought because she immediately walked away from him.

He believed no one noticed how meaningful for him to be thanked personally by Rui's father. How pleased he felt when he could make someone's father this happy.

"Thank you so much, inspector! Thank you so much," no matter how many times he had told the old man that he was just an enforcer and everybody also helped solving the case, the old man was too happy and grateful to hear him.

He himself still had the time to interrupt and tell the father that he was just an enforcer so...

Which part of it that showed he had not known his place? His determination and constant opinions about the case came from his urge to see the father smiled happily.

It felt like his late father, Masaoka was watching the whole time and said...

"Good job, Nobuchika. I am so proud of you. Even if they say you're a hunting dog, don't lose hope. If you want to fight for justice, do it. Someone has to be a detective even it's not the best job in the world, right?"

But Mika who had known him less than 48 hours was also determined to ruin his rare happiness.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have anything to say :D Hope you enjoy your reading despite this clumsy writing ;)