Greetings all and welcome! All rights to Psycho Pass go to its respective owners. This plot, Ito Hinagiku, and any other unrecognizable characters are property of thePrecociousQuill. Enjoy, friends!
A Daisy Among Thorns
Chapter One: Daisy
17th December, 2104; Tokyo, NONA Tower
"Ito-san, do you know why you have been brought here today?"
The girl in question looked up from her lap to stare unblinkingly into the eyes of the dark-haired Inspector sitting across the desk from her. Her stare was so scathing that it took a good bit of restraint for the Inspector not to flinch. It was like looking into the abyss that led straight to the awaiting flames of Hell.
"Of course I know why I am here," The girl scoffed, releasing the Inspector from her intense glower as she turned her head to the side in frustration.
An intense loathing of her predicament seemed to ooze out of her every pore in plain disdain. She looked around the claustrophobic interrogation room, her eyes scanning the blank walls for any sign of possible escape. When she found none outside that of the door that the Inspector has just used to enter the room, her expression soured further.
The Inspector cleared his throat before continuing, "During a routine street scan at 7:15 this morning, your Psycho-Pass was detected as clouded and above accep—"
He was interrupted by an admonishing tut, "Don't you think it is a bit rude to start throwing out accusations at me before you have even introduced yourself, Inspector?"
The young man tilted his head to the side, his silver gaze narrowing to analyze every visible and psychological aspect available to him of the girl sitting cross-legged just a few feet away.
Her skin was a pale ivory, unblemished with the exception of the dark rings that hung under her eyes. Burgundy colored locks fell around her petite frame in unkempt waves, the length pooling at her waist as she sat. However, her most notable feature were her eyes. Not for their elegant shape or honey-color, but for the shear ferocity that was settled deep with them.
She was quite young. If he remembered correctly, her Psycho-Pass had read her birth year as 2090, making her only fourteen. That fact was somewhat difficult to believe. He hadn't been in the room mere moments before she fixed those daunting eyes on him, and had used them to hypothetically hold him in place as she lashed him to-and-fro with that terribly quick-witted and wicked tongue of her's.
However, despite all of her irreverence for the situation she was precariously placed in, the rookie MWPSB officer couldn't find it in himself to dislike the girl. Her spunk was refreshing, so contrary to the typical denial and pleading he had come accustomed to since he had begun holding these sorts of interrogation meetings when he had joined the MWPSB just over a month ago. From her pointed questions, he could also tell that she was a straightforward, no bullshit type of person.
It was the kind of personality quirk that he truly valued, and it was also the type of trait that he found in himself which pushed him to answer her inquiry.
"Kogami. Kogami Shinya, Division Three Inspector."
The burgundy-haired girl seemed momentarily surprised by his lack of rebuttal, but when she returned her gaze to him, a smirk lightly painted her thin lips, "My, what a gentleman you are, Inspector Kogami. My name is Ito Hinagiku. Though, as you are one of Sibyl's many pawns, I am sure you are already well aware of that."
Ah. With her last statement it had become all too apparent to Kogami why a girl this young was lounging in a chair with his partner's handcuffs decorating her wrists. Not only was Ito Hinagiku strikingly self-confident and perceptive, she was a dissident of the Sibyl System. Those who failed to properly respect the Sibyl System were all too likely to get caught in the intricacies of Sibyl's few and barely perceptible flaws.
"Hinagiku…that's quite a sedate given-name for someone who has as high of a Crime Coefficient as you do," Kogami finally spoke in response to her jab.
"Hm?" Ito slouched in her seat and placed her thin-soled shoes on the desk separating them, "My father chose it. From birth he had high hopes that I would be as demure and nonthreatening as a daisy. Too bad it seems like I'm not exactly living up to that ideal. Not that I am particularly fond of the name anyway. Calling me by my surname, Ito, works just as well."
Kogami watched as the petite red-head played with the chain linking the metal cuffs on each of her bony wrists. She lightly ran her fingers along the chain, eliciting a high pitched jingle as the metal links bounced against each other. The handcuffs seemed to completely grab her attention for a few seconds before she was once again holding eye contact with him with those fearsome orbs.
"Tell me, Shinya…unlike me, have you had the chance to live up to your name?" Her malice was thinly veiled by a tight-lipped grin, "Are you truthful?"
Those dark eyes bore into his soul, and Kogami found himself having to look away from their intensity.
For someone so young, Ito was quite the lioness. It was important to remind himself that this was not merely a witty child that was taking pleasure in pressing his buttons, but someone with a Crime Coefficient well over the acceptable level who was intricately attempting to weave tendrils of manipulation through their conversation. Admittedly, the detective within him was an inquisitive fly that was all too willing to wonder into that web.
In a confident voice, the Inspector ran his fingers through his shaggy midnight hair, and quipped, "I am a disciple of the law. Nothing is more truthful than justice."
The smile fell from Ito's face, and she blankly stared at the other occupant in the room. Several moments of tense silence passed before a giggle found itself bubbling out of her chest. It was a short-lived, but genuine sound.
"Read that straight out of the textbook, did you?" Ito drawled, humor highlighting her tone.
Kogami was stoic, but a barely visible smirk quirked up one side of his mouth, "Yes, nevertheless I also find that my own ideals align with that principle."
The feisty girl nodded in understanding, "Perhaps, I owe you an apology? You don't seem as much of a stiff as I first perceived you as."
Placing her feet back on the ground, she continued, "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Where were we? Something about the notoriously high Crime Coefficient I seem to have racked up?"
Kogami couldn't help but to shake his head at her antics. Between her spirited persona and the way she had mentioned her clouded Psycho-Pass in such a carefree manner, Ito brought a certain hot-blooded Enforcer to the forefront of his mind. It nearly felt more as if he were having a conversation with Sasayama Mitsuru, minus the occasional misogynistic comment and lack of colorful language, rather than a teenage girl.
He almost wished that he could open the door to let the Division One Enforcer in just to hear the banter that was likely to ensue between the two. Since he had met the brunet man on a cross divisional case two weeks ago, Kogami could already gather that Sasayama was someone who could appreciate the irony in things that most others would find grating. The young Inspector was certain that Sasayama would get a kick out of going head-to-head with someone whom was just as aggressive as he was, especially if that someone was a charming young lady. If nothing else, it was sure to be amusing.
Unfortunately, young girls whom had Crime Coefficients high enough to nearly activate the Dominator's Lethal Eliminator mode were no laughing matter. So, instead of acting on his curiosity, Kogami steeled his nerves and muted his entertained expression. Now was the time for law, not whims.
"Ito Hinagiku."
Ito mockingly raised her hand, the other arm reluctantly following as her wrists were bound together, and called, "Present, sensei!"
When Kogami ignored her jest, she dropped her hands back to her lap, and attempted to smooth out a wrinkle in the skirt of her Oso Academy uniform. She felt the change in the Inspector's demeanor turn back to the seriousness that he had first exhibited when he had entered. Once again her face was wiped blank with the exception of her smoldering eyes. No shift in atmosphere seemed to be able to dim their vivacity.
"During a routine street scan at 7:15 this morning, your Psycho Pass was detected as clouded," the stoic man reiterated his earlier explanation, "the drone detected an abnormal spike in the Crime Coefficient for the Oso Academy area. The bot was further able to narrow down that it was your singular Psycho-Pass discharging such a high reading, and skewing the local statistic.
We detected a crime inducement factor from your Psycho-Pass wave. Your mind's Crime Coefficient is above the acceptable value. Thus, you were detained and brought here for holding."
"So," Ito shrugged casually as if the fact that her Hue was the color of mud didn't affect her in the slightest, "what's the recommended course of action? Digital therapy? A counseling session? A stress care drug regiment? I have a Classic Literature exam later today, and I'd hate to miss it after all the relentless hours of study I've put into it. If we could finish this up befo—"
It was Kogami's turn to interrupt now, brows furrowing, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "I don't think you understand what I am saying, Ito-san."
"Of course I do. Lots of my friends have come in for stress management sessions," the girl responded flippantly, though something about the way she sat a little straighter told Kogami that she wasn't as ignorant as she seemed.
With a stony expression, the older of the pair deliberated what he was about to say next. He felt a tug somewhere around where his heart should be. This would be the first time he had ever delivered a judgement on someone who was not only so young, but clearly so vivacious.
The voice of his underdeveloped conscience echoed in his mind too quiet to hear, too unused to make him question the morality of imprisoning a teenage girl because a disembodied entity told him to.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, but years from now, when Kogami would be defecting from all he had worked so hard to protect, he would recall this as the first of many instances he would come to question the Sibyl System. For him, this would be the first nail in Sibyl's coffin. It also would not be the last time Ito Hinagiku would provide him with a nail to secure that coffin shut.
His fists tightened as he delivered the verdict, "Your Crime Coefficient is 283. Sibyl has determined that you have a zero percent possibility for recovery."
"Ah," Ito murmured, realization plainly dawning on her face, "I see. I suppose I really won't have a chance to live up to my name. Daisies aren't known for being a threat to society, after all."
The conflicted Inspector continued on, afraid he'd falter if he stopped now,
"Ito Hinagiku, you have been judged a Latent Criminal."
The meaning of the label settled deep within her bones. Kogami could now see that she clearly understood the gravity of her situation. Her face had drained of all its color.
Ito lowered her head, the first sign of defeated she had shown since they had begun this whole ordeal. A curtain of burgundy waves blessedly fell to obscure her face from any onlookers. Her fingers still attempted to smooth out the wrinkle in her skirt, but now they quivered with unshed emotion.
Though the teenager's shoulders shook as if she were crying, when she spoke next, her voice still possessed that cheeky lilt, "I presume this means that I won't make it in time to take my Classic Literature exam, huh?"
"No, you will be moved to an isolation cell in a Rehabilitation Facility in the Hachiouji District," Kogami's eyes softened minutely, while he didn't exactly feel sympathetic, it was still difficult to see someone so young be broken.
"Is that so?" Her voice was small, a far cry from her earlier vibrato.
"Yes, a unit from the First Division will be entering to relocate you in a matter of minutes."
"Oh…so soon?"
"Yes," He sighed. The least he could do was answer her queries.
"That's unfortunate," a disgruntled snort sounded from behind her wall of hair, "That doesn't leave me much time."
The coal-colored hairs prickled on the back of Kogami's neck, something was beginning to feel not quite right, "Not leave you much time to what?"
Suddenly Ito's head jerked up to reveal her positively livid expression. The twitches he had mistaken for hidden crying where truly her attempt at reigning in her overwhelming surges of anger. Slender brows contorted her face into a ferocious scowl, her upper lip drawn back in a snarl.
Once again those venomous eyes, lined with the most delicate of lashes, bore straight through to the core of the young officer's very being.
Ito moved so fast that he never had the chance to even raise his Dominator before the wiry girl was standing. Contrary to her small size, she had managed to flip the desk that had once been the barrier between them. The force had pushed Kogami back hard enough that his head ricocheted against the wall.
Rushing forward, Ito used his brief moment of bewilderment from the blow to take advantage of the short window of time given to her, and smash her foot against the hand that held the Dominator. With as much force as she could muster in her tiny frame, she clasped her hands together and rammed her connected fists into his head like she was serving up a volleyball. The room spun as Kogami blindly clutched for his Dominator with the hand that hadn't been crushed.
Just as his vision was flickering in and out of consciousness, Kogami finally heard Ito's retort his question.
In that sassy voice she had used since the start of their meeting, the deceptive young girl snapped out,
"Enough time to escape, of course!"
Author's Note: A mighty thanks to you all whom read this through to the end. Feel free to favorite, follow, and review. Let me know what you think, so I can decide whether or not to continue writing the misadventures of Hinagiku and her mishaps as she navigates the the intricate world of the Sibyl justice system. Thanks again!