AN: THIS IS THE PSYCHO-PASS AU NOBODY EVER ASKED FOR. If you've never watched Psycho-Pass, do go watch it. It's a brilliant show. Also in other news in case my announcements of updates on Tumblr doesn't go through, TVP 15 will finally be updated on 20th December in honour of Akashi's birthday. Title is taken from Egoist's Fallen /gives everyone love

hey, love me—because i'll never let you go

"You should be careful with Hound #4."

Kuroko, sipping lukewarm lemon tea, pauses. "And why is that, Inspector Kise?"

The blond laughs at the astringent look marring Kuroko's face, setting down his cup of espresso. "Because he's got two of him inside — you'd never know which one you're dealing with. One is a veneered charitable businessman, and the other," he shrugs, "our resident sociopath slash serial killer. Always be on your tiptoes, Kurokocchi."

In retrospect, it's a warning well-heeded.

With the addition of Hound #4 to their Division 1, it reinforces the manpower they lacked.

Hound #1, Aomine Daiki, longs for someone to visit — and not fatten him up, unlike his daily visits to Hound #5 Murasakibara's room. Hound #2, Midorima Shintaro, prefers to be in the company of Division 2's Hound #6, peppy Kazunari Takao. Much less could be said for Momoi Satsuki, Hound #3, who yearned for the solitary confines of techno-savvy Analyser Riko's room, and often came out with disheveled hair or a crooked tie.

The day Hound #4 gets inducted into Division 1, Aomine skitters from table to table with handmade corsages: Tightly bunched ribbons of red and yellow. According to Analyser Riko, those are his primary colours. Aomine tacks one on a disgruntled Midorima's lapel, slaps two on Murasakibara's hair, while Satsuki overseers the process.

"All right, don't forget to welcome him with a smile, okay?" she admonishes, arms akimbo. Aomine throws two more to his superiors Kise and Kuroko, onlookers with much gratification, and finally settles down. "We have to make it look like we're a bunch of professional people, so don't do anything stupid!"

Anything stupid, in this context, refers to the time when Aomine rode a safety drone in their office lobby, hollering like a cowboy.

"Momoicchi sure is spirited," Kise says under his breath. Kuroko discreetly looks at him, nods bluntly, and he chortles. "I get where Aominecchi's coming from. He's been the longest Hound we've — I've ever had," he amends himself, "and we can use a fresh face in here."

Kuroko has little to say about the matter.

What Kise warned a few days earlier lingers fresh in his head.

As the second inspector-in-command, he rules over only a select few: Namely, Murasakibara and Momoi. Kise has more experience steering the difficult ones, like brash Aomine who leaps into battle with a spartan war cry, and snippy Midorima always berating his every beck and call. While Murasakibara's lethargic beyond belief and Momoi smiles too Iwidely/i when she administers judgment on the latent criminals, they're a safer combination for Kuroko.

Hound #4 proves to be his first real obstacle in a long while.

Kuroko's tried sifting through his new enforcer's records while running a little housekeeping on his Hounds' database. Hound #4's data comes with no specifications; barebones of transparent information on what everyone knows about him — tales of the philanthropist with a heart of gold, always appearing in high functions within society's upper crust once upon a time. Then, his descent into madness escalated from the untimely death of his father, the leading echelon of the Akashi Empire, orchestrated by #4 himself.

His Crime Coefficient read a startling 699 when the inspectors of Division 3 locked him in.

Kuroko picks apart these details when he studied his newest addition. It's, by no means, a manual on how to tame wild Rottweilers, but then again, it's better than nothing. At least if his hand gets bitten in the process by #4, he can hazard a wild guess on what triggered it.

"Here he comes," Kise says, his voice vibrating with excitement. A bead of sweat falls from his sideburns, and his grin is too rigid. "Go on, Kurokocchi, say hi to him."

The automated glass doors slides open to introduce the new stranger, and Kuroko gets up from his seat. Aomine's just about ready to launch himself onto their latest comrade, but falters and only staggers backwards wordlessly. Everyone else remains seated, obediently watching Hound #4 rapidly approaching their superior's desk — rapidly approaching Kuroko.

"Hello, Inspector Kuroko," says the man, laconic. He holds out a hand and Kuroko takes it; his handshake is firm, crushing, only two shakes and a nod. "I am Akashi Seijuro, and I will be your shield."

For a shield, he certainly lacks in size. Only 5 centimetres taller than Kuroko, and probably shirt sized M unlike Kuroko's measly S, Akashi Seijuro stands strong like the shield he says he is. With suit finer than the standard department store-bought, it gets Kuroko wondering who exactly is welcoming who in this picture. Is it Kuroko to Akashi's new workplace, or vice versa?

"Thank you for agreeing to work with the MWPSB, Akashi-san," Kuroko replies. Under the table, he wipes his sweaty palms and makes it a point not to stare into the startlingly rose and honey eyes Akashi has. "We need everyone's cooperation to make our missions a success because Chief Nijimura Shuuzo depends mainly on Division 1."

Akashi laughs, eyes crinkling. It is a sound that raises the fine hairs on Kuroko's nape when it's too lucid to belong to a criminal like him. "Yes, I've met him. He's certainly the perfect portrait of justice."

"You mean you've met him?" Kise sounds incredulous, theatrically bug-eyed in disbelief. This time, he gets up from his chair, shielding Kuroko behind him. From the corners of Kuroko's eyes, he sees the strained tendons overrunning Kise's wrist when he takes Akashi's proffered handshake, and more sweat rains from his temple. "I mean, Chief Nijimura doesn't exactly call on guests if he doesn't have anything to say…"

"Yes, well," here, Akashi pauses contemplatively like he's rearranging his words to adjust to Kise's lower capability, "I have been a prominent figure in monopolising Japan's trades for a long time. He may have just wanted to give me a friendly greeting." Then, his eyes are half-lidded. "It's not every day you get a chance to reduce a scion to a slave, don't you agree?"

When Kise chuckles uneasily, the smirk traveling across Akashi's lips tells otherwise.

The rest the day is spent with Akashi eyeing Kuroko like an indulgent child, and veteran members of Division 1 united to drive #4 away.

AN: to be continued? or not to be continued? :'D what does everyone think? /pretending that there won't be any mentions of deaths/bloody scenes hahahah