Chapter 1 - Gambit
By the Sibyl System's standards, the mission was a success.
Inspector Matamoru Teruko reports to the MWPSB over her wrist-com: "The culprit's crime is larceny. Crime Coefficient substantiated. Culprit surrendered voluntarily under Dominator persuasion. Motive supplied by suspect as: family duress due to loss of income after employer down-sizing. However, further investigation revealed additional criminal activity via illegal cock-fighting venture run after-hours at the thief's former place of employment."
Crime may no longer be a huge problem in Japan, but the economy is as vulnerable as ever to the whims of global power honchos who gamble with other people's money.
Matamoru's high-pitched voice continues: "Culprit's family will be taken into custody for contamination evaluation. If found clear by the Sibyl System, they will be allowed to remain in the city as wards of the state until culprit's rehabilitation is deemed complete. Successful results will allow the culprit re-entry into society. Unsuccessful results places the culprit under house-arrest, with all family members tagged as Latent, regardless of age."
Enforcer Ginoza Nabuchika listens as the report is made. He doesn't like his superior, but it's not his place to have an opinion. Moreover, the evening's events have left him somewhat tired and shaken. The scenario is far too familiar for his liking.
He remembers being evaluated at age ten. It was only because Masaoka became an Enforcer that his mother and he were allowed to stay in the city where he was born, albeit under less moneyed circumstances. He wasn't marked as a Latent, but times were still rough for the younger Masaoka, rougher still after his mother divorced and re-married the Eurasian man he thereafter called Dad, even though he took the man's family name legally as an adopted son at twelve. He's a Masaoka by birth and no paperwork on earth can change that. Nor does he want it to. Not anymore.
When Inspector Matamoru says Enforcer Sabonaki and he need to stay behind, the two Enforcers look at one another. Sabo smirks. Gino just sighs. She invites them all, as she usually does her Enforcers during a mission, to have a drink with her. It usually means she's looking for company. Enforcer Sabonaki is only twenty and randy enough to go along with whatever she plans. Gino isn't much of a drinker. Hates the stuff, actually. But going back to the Nona Tower dorm isn't appealing either, so he tags along.
Umami is busy late on a Friday night and the three people sitting in the booth look like any other patrons, but for the dark blue MWPSB windbreaker Matamoru wears. An hour of the ginger's attempts at getting Gino to go home with her have proven fruitless and she's finally called the MWPSB for another Inspector to take him back to the Tower.
"Stay put," she orders, more than a little drunk and disgruntled at being turned down for a little menáge-à-trois action. "You," she points at Sabo, "make sure he does or you're ass in the sling, got it?" She slides out from beside Sabo to stand, swaying a little. "I gotta pee."
"Such a lady," the young Enforcer jibes with a chuff, gazing at the voluptuous but retreating form with longing. "But great cat-scratch."
"Which you clearly respect, eh?" Idiot.
"A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do. And what's not up with you, Gino-san? She's hot."
"Our tastes differ," he says, meaning his preference in women.
"I was wondering about that. You and Kogami-san were partners, right?
Gino's eyes narrow. "Professionally speaking." Don't even go there.
"Right, right. So don't you like women?"
If they weren't sitting on opposite sides of the booth, Gino would have punched him. He's not insulted by the question, just annoyed at Sabo's insistence on pestering him. Same old bullshit: Koga-san and Gino-san were partners - like that? - it's likely, even though neither of them desired anything more from one another than friendship, which they had; good and solid friendship between two very heterosexual men. Until Ko got stupid. Well, I'm not much smarter, now, am I? What's the big deal anyway? But no, I'm not queer. Thanks for your so-called interest.
Sabo leans over the table, cupping a hand beside his mouth. "Hey, wanna run for it?" The smarmy Enforcer reminds him of Shusei, all swag all the time, except Gino likes Shusei. Correction: liked.
"That would be a waste of energy. And I believe Matamoru said it was your ass in the sling if we did, not mine. You know what that means."
"Yeah, yeah. Crap duty for a month and no pussy tonight."
"And that's the least of it. I'm going home," Gino says standing up, taking a moment to straighten his posture. This was definitely a bad idea.
"Hey, don't you have to wait for a back-up Inspector?"
"I know one I can call." Though I hate bothering her. She's probably as exhausted as I am.
"Oh."
Gino airpads Akane's wristlink ID.
"Ginoza-san? What is it?" comes her voice over the device.
"Akane-san, I need a ride. Are you home already?"
"Where are you?"
"Umami."
"Are you drunk?"
"Maybe."
"Don't go anywhere, ok? I'll be there in ten minutes." Gino re-takes his seat and broods as the minutes tick by. Inevitably, his thoughts turn to Akane. Tsunemori Akane - his former subordinate and now, his superior. She's forthright, honest and possesses one of the lowest Psycho-Pass readings of anyone he's ever known. He respects her, he admires her, he's in love with her and she doesn't know any of it.
Matamoru returns and slides into the booth, beside Gino this time. She rests her head on his shoulder, looking up at him, fiddling with the pull on his jacket. "Sure you don't want to join us, Nobu-kun? It'll be fun."
"Inspector Tsunemori is already on her way. I'm fine."
"Hmpf. That little bitch? Thinks she's all high and mighty now that she's Unit One Coordinator, doesn't she? Well, I've been an Inspector nearly ten years and I can lead a unit as well as anybody. But do I get the promotion after your ass is demoted? No. I get re-assigned from Unit Three to Unit Two as a subordinate to Tank and she gets promoted to UC with only a year's experience. Burns me up. Must you, too, doesn't it?"
Gino stares into the pilsner glass he's nursing. "First of all, if you think insulting me makes for good foreplay, you're wrong. Maybe Sabonaki here likes that. I don't. And second - Inspector Tsunemori is doing a good job. Leave her alone."
"Oooh. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're hung up on her, but we both know where that'll lead, don't we? The pure and pretty Inspector Tsunemori doesn't sleep with underlings, does she? Or maybe just with Inspector Kido? They seem pretty tight lately."
Gino pushes the attractive, but crass woman off his shoulder with a little more force than necessary. She smashes into the far wall of the booth. "What the fuck?" she snarls.
"Excuse me?" a soft voice sounds to their left.
Akane. Gino turns his head slowly. Just the sound of her voice makes him feel better, though he'll never say so. It wasn't like that in the beginning.
Back then, she was just another rookie who didn't know Paralyzer mode from Destroy Decomposer. Gino disliked rookies then and still does now- unpredictable variables in dangerous situations. In-field training takes time and energy, time he rarely had when he was the Unit One Coordinator. And Akane was emotional, sentimental.
Still, she was a quick study. She didn't rattle easily, she had good instincts and she meshed with Unit One early on. She wasn't beautiful like Yayoi or glamorous like Shion, but she'd cornered his attention. She reminded him, in fact, of someone he used to know - himself, back in the day; only she had an uncanny ability to stay sane in a job that starts to make one crazy from the get-go.
He looks at her, now, from a slanted angle and straightens his back. He's both happy to see her and ashamed of his state of being. She's been home already judging by the MWPSB Academy sweats and hoodie that she wears. Gino feels worse.
Akane looks down at the top of Matamoru's auburn head directly to her right. "I've come to bring Enforcer Ginoza back to the Nona Tower, as requested. HQ is aware of the change of plan. I take it you'll see to Enforcer Sabonaki's return?" She looks at Sabo who, all at once, is serious and conscious of his role within her presence, bragadocio stifled.
"Sure thing, babe," Matamoru says without looking up, passive-aggressive behavior in play. Akane doesn't rise to the bait.
"Then we'll be going. Ginoza-san? Shall we?"
Matamoru slides out of the booth and past Akane, pulling herself up to her full height of five-ten, half a foot taller than the UC. She looks down on the young woman in more ways than one, but says nothing to further deepen the hole she's already dug for herself.
Akane looks at up the woman, who is nearly a decade older than herself. "You will see me on Monday morning, Inspector. There are things we need to discuss."
Matamoru says nothing, but turns away as Gino leaves the booth and the restaurant with Akane. Outside, it's a mild night but Gino asks, just the same. "Cold?"
"Not exactly," Akane replies. "Let's walk a bit, huh?"
They walk side by side in silence for awhile. He has no idea how she feels about him and maybe he doesn't want to know. Just being with her is good enough, for now.
"So, just how drunk are you?" she asks, her head tipped to one side, looking up at him.
"I'm not drunk. Okay, I was buzzed about an hour ago, but I took an AmTab." The AmTab is an amphetamine-based compound that the Ministry provides to its units when they cover all-nighters or stake-outs. It keeps the senses focused when fatigued and, he's discovered, works just as well when one is a little off-kilter.
"That's not good for your blood pressure, Gino-san. You know that."
He stops and she does, too, after taking a step past him. She turns to face him and he leans down to put his face near hers. "Since when are you my mother?" It comes out a bit more sarcastically than planned. He watches her shoulders square.
"Since you decided to act like a jack-ass. What were you thinking being with her?"
"What does it matter to you who I'm with?" his volume increasing.
"It's not like you, Nobu-san." She matches him. They're arguing out loud now.
"So I'm Nobu-san, now? Are you my friend or something?"
"You need a friend. And yes, I'm one of them. Maybe your only right now, unless you want to throw everything away and be re-assigned to some nondescript unit in the boondocks."
"You'd do that to me?" You wouldn't. Not after everything that's happened.
"You're doing it to yourself, Nobu-san." She grabs his arm, eyes pleading in a way that takes him aback. "I know what you've been through. I was there, remember? I miss them, too. But it's water under the bridge. Gone and not coming back." He searches her eyes for some answer, some clue as to how she can just set it all aside and keep her sanity and her heart intact.
The events of Bloody Night and the days that followed could not be wiped from his memory, no matter how many supplements he took or mental case sessions he endured in Isolation. Add those two lost months of his life to his current assignment and he can safely say that he's spent the last eight months enmeshed in a thought loop of self-recrimination over his father's death, Shinya's disappearance, Shusei's death, Makishima's ease in manipulating no one and everyone, his failure to lead his team effectively and his failure to understand the true state of the world according to the Sibyl System. No. No drug, no therapy, no burnt offering or intervention of any kind will ever erase the stains on his soul.
He's come to terms with it but only because of the woman beside him. She was the one who visited him every week at the Rehab Center, just to find out how he was doing; the one who made him believe that it was possible to accept things as they are without giving up faith in the justice system. He just wants to be able to find a place where he can forget it all and be Ginoza Nobuchika once more. That place would be in Akane's bed, but she hasn't offered and he hasn't asked. Maybe I should. What's the worst thing she could do besides say 'no?' Say no and laugh.
They reach their destination in silence and he stares at the simple multi-apartment dwelling. It's a singles-only building, but his investigative talents have revealed that many of the inhabitants house a family member, friend or lover. Akane isn't one of them.
Then why is Inspector Kido leaving the building? He's a rookie Inspector who's taken a distinct interest in Akane. Gino wonders if Kido has put any moves on her and bristles at the thought. The veteran doesn't see them and they watch him together until he turns the corner at the end of the block.
"What's he doing here?" Gino asks, trying to keep his annoyance under wraps.
"What does it matter who I'm with, eh?" She throws his words back at him like a dagger. "He's a colleague. He said he wanted to finish up the paperwork on a case before the weekend. I told him to stay and let himself out when he was done."
"And if you think that's all he wants, Akane-san, you're not as bright as I thought you were."
They fume at one another in silence, eyes locked. Finally, she says in a milder tone of voice, "What do you want from me?"
Everything. Every breath, every taste, every inch of your skin, every thought you possess. He's tempted to reveal something of how he feels about her, but the words stick in his throat. "I just want to talk. Just talk. That's all."
Her expression tells him that she's weighing her options: bring him back to the Nona Tower at once or let him in, feed him coffee and let him crash on her sofa. He's done it before. She always leaves early the next morning; he stays until a back-up Inspector arrives to bring him home. They never discuss it afterwards. And he never sleeps on those nights knowing she's so close by, yet so far away though it makes him feel better being there.
"Come on, then," she says, slipping her arm through his and pulling him onwards. They make their way to the 14th floor. She unlocks the door and stands aside. He slowly walks past her into a basic one-bedroom apartment.
"I owe you," he says. More than you'll ever know.
Going back to dormitory is optional when an Inspector says otherwise and no one yet has had the temerity to say anything to either one of them at the office, innocent as their nights together may be. And, from Sabo's comments this evening, I doubt anyone thinks anything of my crashing at Akane's from time to time. We have history, after all. And in their line of work, history trumps all, no questions asked.
"Slippers, please," she says moving into the kitchenette. "I'll get the coffee.
Her robo-unit greets her cheerfully and complies when Akane requests retro-Western decor causing the room to shimmer into early 21st century NoAmero-style living quarters. Gino exchanges footwear and heads to the plushy sofa offered, an incongruous piece of furniture for such a small room, but he's learned that Akane is nothing but surprises. He drops into the pillowed corner, staring up at the ceiling while his feet still rest on the floor.
"So," he says, trying to sound vague, "what's Kido-san like up close and personal?"
"What?" She turns on her heel to face him. "What kind of a question is that?" One I need answered.
"He seems rather interested in you."
"What do you know about that?"
"You've been dating," he says cautiously, pretending to know something he doesn't; typical detective ploy he doesn't expect to work on her.
"Are you stalking me?" She sounds annoyed.
"Don't flatter yourself."
"As if," she mutters as she fills the ReGen with sufficient water and presses a button. As she watches the coffee cup materialize, she toes out of her sneakers and liners. She grabs the waiting mug, steaming hot. He doesn't think she's going to bite at his fishing expedition, but she says, "We've gone out a couple of times. We agreed we're better off as colleagues only." She walks to where Gino sits. "Here," she says holding it out to him. He sits up with a weary sigh and, without thinking, grabs the mug with his bare hand, only to set it down at once on the low table in front of him.
"Dammit, Akane! That's hot."
"Now you're sobering up," she chides shaking her head at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. Gino keeps his eyes on the eyes of the Lucky Cat that waves to him from the side of the mug, but his peripheral vision sees Akane's bare feet. She has petite toes, unpainted, clipped neatly. So like her. As simple as she is complex. And he? He is as complex as he is simple. Perfect complements in an imperfect-yet-perfect world.
"I'm grabbing a shower. Drink all of that," she warns as she stands and leaves him in the living area to head into her bedroom.
End - Chapter 1 - Gambit