Psycho Pass: Sleepover, Pt. 1
Akane Tsunemori. Inspector Tsunemori, Kogami reminded himself. There was a clear delineation between their ranks: the huntsman and the hound. It was a line that, at least for him, grew thinner and more difficult to find the longer they worked together at the Ministry of Welfare.
She stood outside the door to his quarters just staring at the wall. One tap on the console would have announced her presence. Instead, her hands were clutched in front of her. The right one was bandaged in gauze, injured from the night’s mayhem. Another bandage partially covered her eye where a latent criminal had successfully taken aim with his fist.
Though his Dominator had not judged the man fit to die, Kogami brandished his own form of justice before pulling the trigger. He doubted the criminal would ever raise that fist against anyone ever again, at least not without extensive surgery to repair the damage.
Akane was still dressed in the rain-soaked clothes she had been wearing when the perp knocked her off the causeway into the drainage pool. After shattering the man’s hand and paralyzing him, Kogami had found her clinging to a maintenance ladder. Fortunately for both of them, it was just rainwater from the recent storm. Still, there was a musty odor to it. His own clothes carried a hint of it from where he carried her to the medical drones to get checked out.
Though young, the Inspector was tough and getting tougher on the job, but this case had set her back. She got too close to where the dogs do their best work and learned that she, like all Inspectors, was mortal. There was a frightened, shell-shocked glaze over her eyes, which were usually lively and brilliant with optimism. He wondered what her psycho-pass looked like now.
Somewhere near clear and powder blue, he surmised. The scanners within the building would have flagged her otherwise.
His usual antics were generally enough to rouse the color in her cheeks; so, he struck a pose in the doorway. With one hand on his hip and the other pressed against the frame, he cued the control panel to open. “Can I help you, Inspector Tsunemori?”
She was startled by the abrupt opening of the door and stepped back in fear. “Mr. Kogami?” she replied in a small voice. “May I—may I come inside?”
Unsettled by the fragility in that voice, Kogami took a cautious step to the side. He let the culprit off too quickly, far too quickly for the amount of pain the man had caused his handler. “How’s the head?”
“Fine,” she whispered. Walking by him slowly and with deliberate steps, she grasped the collar of her wet jacket and pulled it tightly against her neck as if chilled.
Kogami narrowed his eyes. Yep, definitely should have killed the bastard.
The Enforcer slipped the knot of his tie and tossed it over the black suit jacket on the back of his couch. “You should have been home hours ago.”
“About that.” Akane turned to face him, her eyes welling with tears.
“Afraid to go home? According to Ginoza, you shouldn’t be. Masaoka bagged two of the bad guys that were sending you death threats. Kagari bagged another; and I managed to bring down the last one. They’re all tucked away in an isolation facility across town.”
“Mr. Ginoza thinks I’m being paranoid.”
“What’s your gut telling you?”
“That this was just the probe, a test of the MWPSB’s response. It’s nothing more than a ploy to lower my guard. The real attack is yet to come.”
“Okay.” Kogami crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the next play?”
“As long as I stay here in the building, it won’t end. I have to go home, sooner or later. I need to flush them out and put a stop to it once and for all.”
“So, what’s stopping you?” He leaned back against the couch. “Ginoza?”
“Resources. I could take a Dominator home with me, but signing one out would alert Ginoza. The last thing I need is another lecture. Or worse, him filing a report about my inability to work as an Inspector.”
“And if you’re right? If the bad guys come calling?”
“But if I’m wrong, it just gives him ammunition to say that I really am delusional.”
“That exact word,” she replied in disbelief. “Mr. Kogami, I am anything but delusional!”
The color was returning to her cheeks. It was a good sign. Akane was a fighter, a thinker, as well as an overbearing optimist. Ginoza took significant pleasure in undermining her because of that inexperience and cheery disposition. Kogami felt his heart quicken and his hands ball into fists. He hated when Ginoza was cruel to her, but some battles were meant to be fought alone.
“So, that brings you back to other resources. Options?”
“I need to do something less conspicuous.” Akane looked up for the first time and met his eyes. Never one to let formality stand in the way of principle, she popped the question. “I was wondering if you would come home with me?”
“Now you’re talking like a real detective. The safest huntsman is the one with a hunting hound at her feet.” He snatched up the tie and wrapped it around his collar before shrugging into his jacket.
“You’ll come home with me?”
“If you smell something amiss, I do, too. The hell with Ginoza.” Kogami flipped his collar up and adjusted his tie. “If nothing happens, he’s none the wiser. No one is.” He flipped the collar back down and pulled his jacket collar over it. “But if the bad guys /do/ make an appearance, I’ll be there. End of story.”
“I’ll have a car ready for us in the underground garage.”
Kogami tapped a Spinel cigarette from the packet. Lighting the cigarette, he took a deep draw and savored the bitter taste in the back of his throat. “Then why do you look so spooked?”
“What if Ginoza finds out?”
“We were discussing a case. Can’t really explain why we were at your place. We just were. It got late. You were tired from our last investigation, not to mention injured. It’s not like you can just send an Enforcer home alone, right? I slept on the couch.”
“You’re a good man, Shinya Kogami.” For the first time since the night’s investigation, she managed a slight smile.
“Save it for my funeral. Let’s get you home.”
They drove in silence for the entire ride to Akane’s apartment complex. Kogami sat behind the wheel as the navigation system took them on course. Hands behind his head, he pretended to be aloof, while staring at her from the corner of his eye. While she seemed relieved to be with him, her usual demeanor was diminished.
Exhaustion, he told himself, and fear. Should have killed that perp.
If he had anything to do with it, tonight would be the last she lived in fear for her life from this group of latent criminals. They called themselves the PWO: the People’s Watch Organization. Anarchists, they had caused a good deal of mayhem across the city. A growing list of graffiti, vandalism, and cyber-threats were enough to attract the MWPSB’s attention. The ensuing investigation turned up a handful of miscreants who were unhappy with the status quo and looking to make noise, the wrong kind of noise, according to the Sibyl System.
Akane spearheaded the initial investigation that brought most of the foot soldiers of the PWO in for therapy in sanctioned facilities. While the main ringleaders were still at large, the group had been demeaned disorganized by Ginoza’s flippant observations. Therefore, they were no further threat; however, Akane had only cracked open a small cell. There were dozens of others across the city. It did not long for them to regroup with death threats against Inspector Tsunemori and a cyber smear campaign against the Ministry of Welfare. The threats, considered idle by Ginoza and Chief Kasei, became realization when a small parcel bomb detonated outside the doors of the CID office. While no one was seriously hurt, it put Akane and MWPSB squarely in the crosshairs.
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