The clean-cut, smiling Inspector raised a form and pressed it against the glass in front of Tsubame for her to read. Inspector Shimotsuki shifted in her seat next to Tsunemori, apparently expecting a poor reaction from the latent criminal behind the transparent barrier. Tsubame tilted her head slightly to read the page, scanning it for any indication of a catch. There were a few concerning clauses regarding the reprimanding of Enforcers by Inspectors, but it seemed that such consequences could be avoided if one was careful. She'd never been shot with a Dominator, and didn't plan to try it out any time soon.

"What do you think, Ms. Maekawa? SYBIL has suggested your release into the custody of the MWPSB based on your aptitude for the work we would train you to do. Would you like to leave with us today as an Enforcer for Division One?" Inspector Tsunemori peeked at Tsubame from around the parchment she held.

"Division One of the PSB... And I get to live at Nona Tower instead of in a padded room in this Hell hole?" Tsubame looked away from the Inspector's gaze as the short-haired woman nodded enthusiastically.

"You bet. SYBIL has authorized a one way ticket out of here if you sign the employment agreement. It's not quite the same as the life you lived before, but it beats sitting around in an isolation room, right?"

A voice in the back of her mind told Tsubame to run. Nothing good can come from being subjected to people in this society. Go back to your room where you don't have to interact with anyone ever again. It'll keep your hue clear. As she reconsidered, a different voice from the most concealed depths of her memory rang out in defiance of her reluctance. Look, Missy, latent criminals don't get very many do-overs. My life wouldn't have much meaning if it weren't for cases like this and survivors like you. Don't let me down, alright?

"Mr. Masaoka…" she whispered to herself. Tsubame closed her eyes and forced a timid smile to her face. "Inspectors," she said, confidently now, "let's go home."


For the first time in six years, Tsubame pulled on some clothing that had been stored away on the day she was admitted. The clothes that used to be hers no longer fit over her older-than-eighteen figure, so she grabbed the jeans, camisole, and button-up that used to belong to her mother. She pulled on a pair of her mother's boots, slid into her dark green double breasted pea coat and looked at herself in the mirror on the wall of her isolation room. She took the crimson ribbon she used to wear in her hair and tied it in a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. Minus her mother's ever-perfect make-up, she was shocked to see how much resemblance she'd inherited. Her fingers found the wedding bands that hung on a chain at the hollow of her throat. Nervously, she turned toward the door of the room and placed her hand on the glass.

The ding of the scanner positively identifying Tsubame as someone who was approved to open the door set her heart aflutter. Until this moment, she had been trapped within the confines of those four padded walls without the authority to control who entered or exited her room. The sudden realization of empowerment triggered sirens in her head. This is dangerous. You can't be trusted with this. You can't leave your safe place. You'll get hurt. Inspector Shimotsuki was waiting patiently behind the door as it opened.

"Ready to go?" The thin-lipped, dark-haired woman looked as uninterested as ever. It was apparent to Tsubame that Inspector Shimotsuki was all business all the time. She hesitated before stepping into the hallway next to her new superior.

"W-where did Inspector Tsunemori g-go?" Tsubame asked, trying to control her stutter. She hadn't had issues with her speech impediment since before she'd been admitted into Isolation, but now it tied her tongue with a sickeningly familiar stickiness.

"She went outside to bring the cruiser around. Do you have all of your personal items?"

Tsubame nodded, not wanting to seem too intimidated by the Inspector. Her nerves had taken over her tongue, but her head still worked fine. She followed Shimotsuki down the long corridor of isolation chambers. Many of them had the curtain holo drawn against the light from the hallway, but a few of the cubicles were visible through the glass wall. They seemed even more like fish tanks to Tsubame than ever before. One inmate sat motionless on her bed, staring at a drawing on her wall. Another lay reading something on the holo-screen from his wristband. She shuddered at the thought of everyone in the corridor being able to spy on her like that. The name for the "Isolation" ward certainly didn't seem appropriate for such a place. It felt more like a zoo.

Shimotsuki held the door open for Tsubame at the end of the hallway, allowing her to enter the lobby of the asylum first. It had a very sterile taste to it; the kind of aroma that assaults the back of your throat before your nose even recognizes it. The Inspector walked over to the circulation desk to sign one final release paper before Inspector Tsunemori entered the lobby through the front door.

"I take it Ginoza is still accounted for?" Shimotsuki grumbled, clearly irritated by the notion that this Ginoza character was even present.

"Of course," Tsunemori sighed, rolling her eyes. "Since when have you known Enforcer Ginoza to be of concern for deserting?"

"Since Enforcer Ginoza became a hound. Really Akane, you give them too much credit. The SYBIL system's assessment of a person's crime coefficient doesn't lie." Shimotsuki handed the pen back to the receptionist.

"It also doesn't tell the whole truth," Akane mumbled so that only Tsubame could hear. Her eyes widened at the Inspector's disdain for the SYBIL system, but her mouth remained firmly closed. Akane smiled and motioned toward the door. "Are you ready to leave, Ms. Maekawa?"

Tsubame followed Tsunemori to the door, inhaling deeply as it slid open to a partly cloudy, somewhat brisk late afternoon. A white Public Safety Bureau cruiser was parked on the curb next to the rehab facility. Akane looked back at Tsubame over the yellow "103" on her blue MWPSB jacket and winked.

"I think you'll find Nona Tower a much more comfortable place to live, Ms. Maekawa. I'm sure Mr. Ginoza wouldn't mind showing you around once we get back."

"M-Mr. Ginoza?" Tsubame flinched. Akane walked to the car and opened the door for the new Enforcer. As Tsubame approached, she felt her knees weaken in fear. Run.

"Ms. Maekawa! Glad to see you'll be joining us after all!" the man's kind smile seemed familiar enough for Tsubame to relax a little, but she watched him carefully as she took her seat next to him and Akane shut the door. She held her breath until the Inspector took her seat in front of the steering wheel. "Nobuchika Ginoza," the pale-skinned, midnight-haired Enforcer introduced. "Or just Gino, if you prefer." He extended his hand across the small space between them.

"T-Tsubame Maekawa. It's n-nice to meet y-you." Tsubame's hand shook violently as she accepted Gino's handshake. He quirked a questioning eyebrow, but did not pursue her timid response. Sensing that her apprehension had something to do with his proximity, he nodded subtly to her before leaning casually against the door on his side, away from her. She blushed and turned away to stare out her window. He's a friend, Tsubame, she tried to reason. He's not going to hurt you. She forced herself to take a breath to check herself before glancing back over at him, cursing herself for pulling her hair back. His content expression put her a little more at ease, and he seemed to be consumed by his own thoughts. She relaxed against the seat while Shimotsuki entered the vehicle and Tsunemori punched in the Nona Tower address. An overwhelming relief flooded her chest. Nona Tower.


"Well, Missy, if you need anything just give the Inspector a call over at the MWPSB, alright? Just make sure you don't go setting off any more street scanners."

The kind old man smiled at Tsubame, but she could tell he saw through her insistence that she was fine. If she reported what had raised her stress level, Mr. Fujimoto would definitely be upset with her, and she really didn't want to risk that.

"Masaoka, let's head out. There's another stress level alert just south of here. We gotta go check it out," the spikey-haired Inspector called. Masaoka nodded back at him before placing a hand on Tsubame's shoulder. "You're lucky your hue cleared up on the way home, Missy. A fourteen-year-old doesn't need to be going to rehab. Get some rest, alright?"

Tsubame nodded, her head spinning a bit. She blinked the memory away as a hand waved in front of her face. "Are you alright, Ms. Maekawa?" Yayoi Kunizuka, another Division One Enforcer, stood facing Tsubame in the common area of the Enforcer's shared wing of Nona Tower.

"Yes, sorry Yayoi. You were saying?"

"All of the Division One Enforcers have unlimited access to the kitchenette, television, and lounge area in this wing. Inspectors have the same access of course, but they mostly leave us to ourselves while we're off-duty. It's a great place to come relax after work. Normally another Enforcer is around to keep company." Yayoi's deadpan face and almost robotic voice gave Tsubame the idea that she didn't actually spend much time socializing in the common area. "I'll show you to your room. Inspector Akane should be there already. She wants to debrief you before leaving you for the night."

Yayoi lead Tsubame through a door at the back of the kitchenette, which opened up to a hallway with six doors lining it; three on each side. Akane leaned against the first door on the right, reading something on her portable holo-screen. She looked up and smiled as the women approached her.

"Thank you for giving Ms. Maekawa a tour, Yayoi. I really appreciate it."

Yayoi nodded silently and turned to go back to the common area, presumably to return to the Division One office. Tsubame smiled meekly at the Inspector.

"So how many Enforcers are there in Division One?"

"Four," Akane answered, opening the door she stood in front of. "Ms. Kunizuka, Mr. Ginoza, Mr. Hinakawa, and you. This hallway is where all of you are assigned to live. The middle doors on either side of the hallway are bathrooms. Yayoi's room is the one at the end on the right, the door across from yours is Hinakawa's, and the one at the end on the left is Ginoza's. He might actually be in there now. He went off duty shortly after we arrived. Sho and Yayoi are on the night shift. Do you know how to work a room holo?"

Akane entered Tsubame's room and pointed to the small control pad near the door.

"You can change the room's interior with the control pad. It's pretty dark in here without a texture selected, but some people like it that way." Akane's eyes softened at the notion. "If you move the furniture, you'll just have to reprogram the holo." Akane opened a menu on the screen and showed Tsubame how to drag and drop the locations of her furniture on the screen. Then she scrolled through the decoration options. She chose a traditional style, not unlike the décor in the apartment in which Tsubame grew up with her parents. Tsubame reached over and tapped the next option on the list; a more contemporary design with sleek edges and an orderly feel.

"I think I'll stick with this one," she offered, not meeting Akane's eyes.

"Sounds like a plan," Akane smiled. She looked over at Tsubame's open door where Ginoza had appeared from the hallway.

"I'm pretty fond of the contemporary look, myself," he smiled. "I'm going to make some dinner if you'd like to join me Maekawa. I know it's been a long day for you."

"I d-don't think I…"

"That's very kind of you, Ginoza," Akane nodded. "Gino's a pretty good cook," the Inspector winked at Tsubame.

"I suppose I could eat a l-little," Tsubame caved, not wanting to offend either of them.

"Great! I've got to get going now. My apartment's a twenty minute commute from here. Have a good night! I'll see you both in the morning." Akane waved and walked past Gino, leaving the two Enforcers alone. Tsubame stood frozen in place, trapped by Ginoza's form in the doorway. Her heart began to race.

"Chicken or beef?" Gino asked after a moment. He stepped away from the door and gestured for her to go first.

"Uh, chicken I g-guess." She warily crossed his path and entered the hallway between him and the open door to the kitchenette. She steadied herself on the counter while he pulled supplies from the cabinets.

"So what do you think so far? Better than Rehab?"

Depends, her inner voice sassed him. She caught herself scowling at him before he turned around.

"I'm not really s-sure yet," she stuttered. She closed her eyes and focused on willing away her uncertainty.

"Are you alright, Missy?" Ginoza asked.

"Missy?" she whispered back to him. He dipped his head to her height from across the island and looked up at her face through his hair. Tsubame avoided his eyes, glancing down at her white-knuckled grip on the counter top. She shook her head, swallowing her growing anxiety. After clearing her throat, she forced a confident tone from her lungs. "I'm fine, Mr. Ginoza."

"If you're sure," he sighed, slightly worried. What did this poor woman experience in that place? Ginoza could remember that his own rehabilitation after Masaoka's death and Kogami's disappearance wasn't particularly pleasant, but he'd never been in Isolation. He wondered how people ever managed to survive so cut off from reality. Perhaps she's having a hard time coping with it… Like culture shock in a way.

Tsubame sat down rigidly on a bar stool opposite where Ginoza began boiling water on the stove top. With his back turned to her, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. He's just a co-worker. He's not going to come after me. That's not supposed to happen. She squeezed her eyes against her thoughts as paranoia overtook her brain. Teachers aren't supposed to come after you either, Idiot. Let your guard down enough and you'll end up right where you started this nightmare. All men have the capability to hurt you. Father didn't believe you, Masaoka left you, and Mr. Fujimoto…

"So where are you from?" Ginoza's voice interrupted her internal panic attack. She shook her head and swallowed.

"Just north of the city… My parents used to have an apartment there." She dropped her eyes to the floor, loneliness filling her to the brim of her eyes. "They died when I was fourteen."

"I'm so sorry," Gino flinched. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. My parents are gone as well. I know that it's a touchy subject."

"Th-thanks," Tsubame replied. She picked at her fingernails nervously. "How long have you worked at the MWPSB?"

"I was hired as an Inspector right out of Uni," Ginoza answered. "I was nineteen and pretty naïve about the world. I was fortunate enough to have a rather experienced partner when I started. That was about ten years ago."

"You were an Inspector?"

"Up until a few years ago," Ginoza smiled under his bangs. "I got a bionic arm, a clouded hue, and a demotion to hunting dog." He thought better of bringing up Masaoka. No need to trade gory stories with another orphan.

"I didn't know that could happen," Tsubame admitted.

"It happens more often than you'd think," Ginoza sighed. "But being an Enforcer isn't so bad. It allows latent criminals to serve some purpose in this world. At least we're useful, right?"

"I suppose," she shrugged. Gino began plating the meal he'd made for the two of them; steamed rice, stir-fried vegetables, and teriyaki chicken. He slid her plate in front of her with chopsticks stuck in the center. It smelled delicious, the tang of the sauce whetting the sudden grumble in her stomach. After a few bites she began to feel a bit more relaxed. Ginoza leaned easily on the counter across from her, unsure if joining her on the other side of the island was a good idea.

"Do you drink?" he asked, reaching for the bottle of wine he'd set out at the beginning of his preparations. He poured himself a glass.

She shook her head no.

"I wasn't old enough before…" she trailed.

"Right," he grimaced. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"I'm not going to make you drink it, but this is pretty good wine. And a little can go a long way for a bit of stress relief. Here, just try some." He pushed his glass towards her.

Here, just try some. The words rang menacingly between her ears. Mr. Fujimoto's predatory glare appeared before her, a small bite of tofu pressed insistently to her lips. If you don't like it I'll find something else, but you have to eat, Tsubame. Tears streamed down her face against her will as she faded in and out of the kitchenette where she sat with Ginoza and her bedroom-turned-prison with the man who stole everything from her.

"Maekawa? Hey! Maekawa!"

"What?" she snapped at Ginoza, who had somehow appeared right next to her.

"You look a little pale. Maybe you should go lie down."

He just can't say anything right. Fujimoto's voice oozed from the parts of her brain she'd tried to contain for the last ten years. Her parents lay bleeding in their bed, that sinister man standing incriminatingly above them, telling her to go back to bed. Without thinking, Tsubame shoved Ginoza away.

"Leave me alone," she whimpered, covering her face, "please."

"I'm sorry, Maekawa, I don't know what I've done."

"It's not you. There's no way you could know…" she peeked up at him, warning him not to return to her side. "I'm not alright, okay? I probably never will be. It's not your fault, and it's not your problem. Don't take it personally, okay?"

With that, she left Ginoza to his ignorant glass of wine. She locked her door and cried as quietly as possible into her pillow, gripping the fabric of the pillowcase so hard she could feel her fingers going numb.


Ginoza stared at the closed door to the hallway for several uncomfortable moments after Tsubame's retreat. He ran a hand through his hair before grabbing his wine glass and flopping down on the couch in the common room. His Inspector voice nagged him for his affinity for alcohol, but his Enforcer voice laughed in his face. He sighed and took a sip before placing the glass on the coffee table next to him.

"If there's one thing Inspector Ginoza and Enforcer Ginoza have in common, it's their ability to dig themselves unwittingly into a hole." He had to chuckle to himself as he remembered many a time when he had unintentionally insulted poor Akane in her rookie days. "I'm glad I'm not that much of an asshole anymore," he sighed. Amazing how becoming a hound takes the giant stick out of one's ass…

He glanced at the clock on the wall. Doesn't take long to replace the stick with your own head though, Nobuchika. Way to go. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and hunched over his knees. Bed time. He downed the bubbling white wine and stood to place the glass with the other dishes in the sink where the housekeeping application would disintegrate and regenerate the dinnerware. As he passed Maekawa's room on his way down the hall, he stopped to listen at the door, his heart twisting guiltily in his chest. A heavy sigh released only half of the tightness between his shoulders. Sorry, Maekawa.

A sleepy hand found its way to the bio-lock on his door. The relief of entering his room at the end of a long day was exactly what his mind needed. He stretched as he sat on his bed, set the alarm on his tracking wristband, and covered his head with his comforter, feigning sleep until the enigma finally decided to grace his eyelids with its welcomed weight.

The first few hours of the night were peaceful behind Ginoza's closed eyelids. A screen played clips of happier times; of his childhood before Masaoka's demotion to Enforcer. He watched a small version of himself search the tiny garden outside his parent's home for fireflies in the middle of a sultry summer evening, the moon just barely visible in the pink-purple sky. Masaoka smiled and caught a blinking bug for him and held it up for little Nobuchika to see.

"Papa, do fireflies have psycho passes?"

"I'm not sure, kiddo," Masaoka replied. "If they do, I'm sure their hue is always clear. What could possibly stress out a firefly?"

"What clouds a hue, anyway?"

"Honestly I don't even think this new SYBIL system knows for sure. Different things, I suppose. Stress, frustration, tragedy…" Masaoka's eyes saddened. "But you know that, don't you Gino?"

Masaoka turned to face Ginoza where he stood watching the memory from a distance. In that instance, the scenery melted away to a dark, run-down processing plant on a deserted plot of farmland. An explosion behind Masaoka choked both of them, and the sound of steel giving way to gravity screeched to a heavy thud.

"Dad!" Ginoza ran to his father, knowing what he would find. He'd seen the image a million times, every day, burned into his eyelids like the mark left on Kogami's Inspector jacket by a stray cigarette butt. Ginoza jolted out of his nightmare and checked the time on his wristband. One more hour than last night, he thought, relishing the small victory that was four hours of solid sleep. He stood, adrenaline flushing the weariness from his body. The raven-haired man pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, took a breath to steady himself, and wandered shirtless into the common area. The figure of someone standing at the glass exterior wall startled him at first. Sho was a sound sleeper with a decently strict bedtime, and Yayoi never slept in the Division One quarters since Shion's room was so much bigger. Not to mention both of them were on duty. Tsubame's palm lay flat against the window.

"May I join you?" Ginoza asked quietly, hoping to avoid surprising her. Tsubame shrugged, not turning to look at him. Ginoza stepped slowly toward the window, careful to approach Tsubame from a wide enough angle that she could see him in her periphery. He stopped several feet away from her and turned to stare out over the city. "Can't sleep?"

"I'm just a bit unsettled, I guess," she lied. Everything is too loud and there are two potential break-in points in my room. How can anyone sleep like this? "What about you?"

"I don't sleep much in general," he admitted. "My mind races at night sometimes. It was bad as an Inspector, but with so much time on my hands as an Enforcer it's worsened… especially since my brain tends to get creative when it's tired. It's a vicious cycle, really."

"I can relate." She turned to face him now, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. She was still wearing her clothes from the day. It seemed to Ginoza that she hadn't even attempted to sleep. She'll regret it tomorrow. Her eyes widened at his appearance. "D-do you normally walk around half n-naked when you can't s-sleep?"

He blushed. The Enforcers were all so comfortable with each other he didn't even think about his shirtless-ness offending anyone. The detective switch blew a breaker in his mind as a question shoved its way out of his brain. Why is she so intimidated by me?

"I apologize, Ms. Maekawa, I didn't know anyone else was up. I can go change if it'd make you more comfortable."

"N-no it's f-fine," she fought. She squeezed her hands together in an attempt to quiet the tremble that shook her voice. Uncomfortable keeps me wary. I need to stay uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and changed the subject. "You'll have to p…" she paused to stop from tripping over the word… "pardon my stutter. I can't always c-control it."

"Sounds frustrating," Gino nodded, a compassionate half-smile gracing his face. "I don't mind it. Take your time, I like talking with you."

"W-why?" She couldn't imagine she made for good company. "All I've done so far is freak out at you."

"As an Enforcer you don't get to mingle much with new people. Yayoi isn't a woman of many words, and Sho's pretty introverted. It's nice to have someone else around." Internally he yearned for a connection with someone. He missed his father, he missed his best friend, and he even missed Akane. Inspector Tsunemori had become increasingly distant with him for reasons beyond what she could tell him. When they spent time together normally they passed it sitting somewhere quiet with a lit Spinel filling the air with Kogami's smoky aroma. Though knowing they both missed Kogami made Ginoza feel a little less alone, Akane tried very hard to avoid conversations about it. And, for the sake of her hue, he didn't press her about it.

"I see…" Tsubame mulled this over for a moment before deciding to take a seat on the couch behind her. "It's difficult for m-me to understand that," she admitted. "People are more of a problem than a comfort."

The gears in Ginoza's brain were turning.

"Does being around people make you stutter?" He made sure to keep his voice soft, banishing his Inspector tone for the duration of this conversation. He didn't want to cause her any more anxiety than he already was.

"Y-yes." She looked away from him, trying to ignore the terrifying outline of the muscles in his human arm. She was sure he could easily hold her down. At that thought her mind lit up in conflict with itself. This is why your crime coefficient is so high. You literally worry about everything. But is it not true that I would be physically no match for him? At least if I scream it'd wake up Hinakawa. Except for he's not here. Could I even outrun him?

"I don't know if this will help you, but I promise you're safe in Nona Tower. None of the people here would do anything to hurt you. And out in the field, the same people have your back. We take each other's safety very seriously, and as a group, the Enforcers prioritize the safety of the Inspectors. We can't well protect Mika and Akane if one of us gets hurt, so we also look out for our own. You're a hound, I'm a hound. We've got the same goal. My success, and the success of Division One, resides in our ability to work together as Enforcers."

"That helps a little," she sighed, the stiffness in her tongue dissipating. "I just need some time, I guess."

Ginoza dipped his head in acceptance of this. Outwardly he was calm, but internally he was flooding with questions. He wanted to understand where Tsubame was coming from. He wanted to help her feel at ease. Most importantly, he wanted to prevent her issues from causing disorder and mistakes when it mattered most. He excused himself and returned to his room, spending the rest of the night searching the few documents he had access to for answers about Maekawa. After a fruitless search, he resolved to speak with Akane as soon as possible about it, hoping she'd understand his concerns.