Dead in the Water
Summary: We all die. Some, fight against this while others ride out the waves to their end. Kougami Shinya had let the water drown him.
-I wasn't born to be a skeleton-
He doesn't know when pulling the trigger came naturally to him (or when it used to not be) but every shot he's ever taken is calm, collected, and always hits its target.
…
The rain tastes of melted peppermint as he sits tiredly in the alleyway. His breathing is heavy and labored, but he pushes these thoughts away as he loosens his tie. The (steadily increasing) number on his watch frightens him as Ginoza calls out for the missing Inspector. There wasn't enough time to lower his psycho-pass (there never was enough time) and he begrudgingly walks out of his hiding place. He fishes a cigarette from his coat pocket, lighting it.
Like the gun he doesn't know when this once in a blue moon occurrence turns into a nasty habit but he takes a drag of the cigarette anyway, feeling himself calm down. The sky is dark, grey, as the rain cuts into the puffs of smoke. He exhales. It does not, however, cut his psycho-pass in half.
…
Lines cross, intersect; join together until he doesn't know who he is anymore. Detective, Enforcer, Murderer, none of these titles rouse the human inside of him and for a while he feels like a walking skeleton. That is, until the appearance of one Akane Tsunemori.
…
She was a bright light, a beacon calling to him from his place in the Pit. Her radiance, however, only filtered specks of color into his monochrome world. The color red soon stands out against all the colors she had given him.
Everything was covered in blood, from his hands, feet, every pore of his body was drenched in the liquid and he slipped back into the Pit.
…
A man called Shogo Makishima caused an avalanche of dirt, bones, and memories to crash like a tidal wave onto him, crushing him at the bottom of the Pit. He is buried, dead, and the dog (the beast) is born.
And no one comes to his funeral…
One day, Makishima dies (by Shinya's own blood stained hands) and his collar is broken. Chains no longer bind him and the dog quickly turns into a wolf. Without a pack, however, the wolf was doomed to die.
…
But the collar left a red ring around his neck. The wolf scratched at the marred skin, growling. Eventually, he drew blood. He couldn't forget the team. No amount of whiskey or gin could drown out the memories. It was foolish, he thought, to think that he'd find peace at the bottom of a bottle.
They say dogs can always find their way back home. But, he had wandered so far into the forest he didn't even know if he was still alive.
…
The gunshot came as a breath of fresh air. The sky became blurry, little flakes of snow drifting onto the man. He reaches out, grasping a single flake that dissolves in his gloved hand. Akane cries, curling around the dying man.
"I'm sorry! I didn't want you to throw away your life… to throw away everything you worked for! I thought I could save you b-but I couldn't. I-"she breaks off, sobbing. Cold drops fall onto his face and he lifts his hand to wipe away a single tear.
"It's not your fault, Akane. I should have known that this feeling, this revenge would kill me…" His eyes glaze over, hand dropping to the side.
…
In the snow two wolves huddle together, a flurry of snow surrounding them. The white wolf howls sadly, pawing at the still creature. A magnificent black wolf lets out a whimper, licking the nose of its companion. It lets out one more warm, puffy breath before dropping to the ground. The white wolf is left alone in the snowstorm, howling into the dark.
"God… where did you go?"
The wolf receives no answer.