CHAPTER SEVEN: Unfair Developments
by jolibrix and ThatGingahNinja
WARNING: *This will be a full length story that contains canon typical violence, language, mature adult themes, and sensitive topics. If those bother you please do not read thisfic.
Mina
Mina carefully dug around the thorax of one of the three bodies that had been dumped in these outskirts and shuffled the collection of facts that had accumulated since arriving at the site.
Fact one, almost none of the bodies had clothes. The team had started the slow process of uncovering at least ten people, and only three, thus far, had remnants of clothing that were looking disturbingly like hospital gowns. Otherwise, they found no cloth, buttons, zippers, or any of the other normal things usually left behind by clothing. It meant that these poor people had been dumped there nude.
Fact two, they were definitely dumped there. One could expect some small displacement as bodies rotted. Weather, earthquakes, and even tree roots were all culprits of moving bones, but none of that could account for the blatant evidence that the dead were thrown into very large pits, landing every which way. Some were prone. Some were supine. Many seemed to have been stacked on top of each other. Either way, it lacked evidence of any pattern that might have indicated that the graves were funerary in nature.
Fact three, from what little she could see, they were not archaeological. A few wore busted communicators, which was very recent technology. It reminded her of the wrist bands the Unregistereds had managed to commandeer when she was a child. Slightly outdated, the bands had still managed to change her people's lives. There were medical devices that, no doubt were current technology. Even Unregistered doctors had access to that kind of hardware because of her brother's black market trading. She had seen some obvious wiring and connecting ports for a cybernetic leg. No one could call that archaeological.
Nakamura would also bet money on the fact that some of the medical devices they had found were recent as well.
The woman had a very active imagination that, unfortunately, supplied her with many different scenarios as to why and how the bodies managed to get there. None of what she fathomed was good.
Frustrated, she came out of her squatting position, stretched, and made her way around to see how the others were doing. As Mina checked on the inspectors and Yayoi, she consciously formed a wall around her self-doubt, knowing that it had no place here, at a crime scene. It also helped her quell the urge to admit that she was no expert and had little to no real life experience with skeletal crime scenes.
Her experience with bone identification came from adults who had no problem satisfying her morbid curiosity. She had asked, and they had taken her to the graves of her long dead relatives, allowing her to sift through the bones and ask anything she wanted. Every year afterward, during their Festival of Bones, she repeated the process, learning something new every single time. In a way, her fascination with death brought her closer to her family. What better way to learn than with the bones of loved ones, they had concluded.
But this was different. She was working on memory from the multitude of books she had read on the subject. If they asked her to do lab work, it would be a long process, because Nakamura knew she would have to constantly go back and check herself with reference material. There was pressure coming from many different sources. First and foremost, the dead that had been chucked here, they deserved rest and justice. Hopefully, the drones would be able to sort this out.
Nakamura was also painfully cognizant of just how badly she needed to prove herself a worthy member of the team. If she fucked this up, it was probably the last strike. The tension that surrounded the team was palpable, and she could understand why. This wasn't supposed to be possible with Sybil in charge. It was throwing a wrench in the cogs of the system they used to run their entire lives. If these people hadn't been part of the police force, they never would have even needed to think on their own.
Mina had kept her thoughts to herself, assuming that the findings would be better received through the robots. She also couldn't afford to reveal her findings and then have it come up wrong. That would certainly rock their already shaky confidence in her.
She made her way to Masaoka, who had quite the pile of dirt behind him, waiting to be sifted through the strainer. "Hey Pops, how are you holding up? Got any questions?" she questioned, sitting down and starting the arduous but necessary process of sifting through soil.
"Not yet, Trouble." He paused a moment and gave her a very steady appraising look. The old man's eyes seemed to take in her face the longest. Then he said,
"This work seems to agree with you. You remind me of someone I met a very long time ago, back when I was a detective, before Sybil was instituted into the justice system."
"And who is that, Pops?"
"Another person named Nakamura, actually. I met him at a mandatory training course. He was teaching us to process skeletal crime scenes, just in case technology failed us, as it seems to have done today."
Mina knew he would be able to see the tension in her body. There was no way to stop it though. "What an interesting coincidence?" she tried to say nonchalantly. Odds were, that man had been her father.
"Interesting. Yes...I seem to remember him having hair the color of yours and some of the brightest blue eyes. More strange coincidences, I suppose." The lines around his eyes crinkled as he smiled at her.
She felt like the breath had been knocked out of her.
"I haven't thought about that in many years. I wonder what that man is up to now," he mused, not taking his focus off of the woman.
"He's left this earth, Old Man," she wanted to say. She was almost positive it had been her dad. "Who knows, Pops? Best not to dwell on the past." Mina stood up and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm going to go and check on the others. Yell if you need anything."
She tried to keep her steps unhurried, but found herself almost jogging toward Yayoi. Mina stopped and headed toward the tree line, realizing that a little break away from the others was needed. Masaoka had brought up memories better left buried deep.
Michio Nakamura had been a brilliant forensic anthropologist, father, and husband. She could remember sitting on his knee looking at osteology manuals and asking questions, and much to her favor, no subject was too taboo for him to discuss. Even to this day, the woman found herself wishing for his guidance, and hating his decision to leave her and Kishio alone.
Nakamura could remember when she found his body, syringe still sticking out of his arm, and in his hand, a picture of her mother. Her brother had not been far behind her that morning. It was the only time she ever saw her brother cry. Even when her mother had been taken in a raid, he had never shed a tear... at least, not in in front of her.
The little brunette punched a tree focusing on the pain of scraped knuckles and jarred bones. It would do no good to think of her family now. They were all dead, and the best she could do was live her life. She was alone...left behind, and no tears could change that.
She missed her people and true home to the point of pain. If she were home, Mina would be helping gather fruit, raiding the forgotten and decrepit cities of old Japan, stealing hyper oats, pulling fishing nets, and enjoying the myriad of festivals dedicated to the changing of the season. These celebrations would be entirely representative of the various cultural groups that made up the UR population.
A week later, every group, (they had separated out of necessity due to raids), would come together for the Festival of Bones. It was a time when her people were at their most vulnerable with everyone coming together, but it was so important that none chose to miss it. This event was the only ritual that was entirely unique to the Unregistereds as a group. The history behind it was morbid and sad, but it had turned out to be a time to gather as a single cohesive group and pay homage to their ancestors. Later, the missing were added to the roster of those to remember and honor. This was where she had learned about bones, and she was going to miss it this time. She had missed it for over five years now. She wouldn't be able to pay proper respect to her father, mother, and brother, and it ate at her.
Leaning against her impromptu and rather unforgiving punching bag, Nakamura let the smells and textures of the forest seep in and give her a piece of home. The simplest of memories trickled through, but it was all the more poignant for its normalcy. Mina and her brother were sitting outside on a warm summer night eating pomegranates, and teasing each other, as usual. It wasn't long before they had started a mini war, spitting the seeds at each other, effectively grossing out Kishio's boyfriend of the time.
It made her all the more aware that that was something she could no longer do. Her brother was dead, and she wasn't permitted out of the CID without an escort. How would Inspector Ginoza react to a request to simply sit outside at night?
Reality slapped Mina in the face again as she caught sight of Masaoka digging. She was here, unearthing the dead for Sybil, and doing it with Sybilites. Her mind had come full circle, back to the skeletons, and back to the fact that they were looking at a mass grave. The people they found here deserved proper funerals... Nakamura wondered at how people here conducted such matters. Once again, her thoughts turned to the missing Unregistereds and how they would never see a proper burial. Anger overflowed once more. The tree suffered more assaults to its bark, before she heard footsteps behind her.
"I think the tree's winning," Kougami said, looking bemused and eyeing her carefully. The rumor mill provided her with the knowledge that the man was a magnificent profiler, which scared the shit out of her.
"Hmph. Best fight it's had in centuries, I bet." Self-consciously, she wiped her bloody knuckles across the rough fabric of her fatigues.
The way he stared became pointed. "Hold still," he commanded. A hand came out and rubbed at her chin. "You are very dirty," he said, looking at his fingers.
The woman started to drag her own digits across her face, but one look showed that her hands were filthy.
"The drones are here. They want us to start the hike back."
Looking over, she saw little and big robots stationed around the many graves they had started uncovering. The others were packing up. Pops had two large cases in his hands, and she wondered at how well he would hike with them.
As they made their way silently back to the paddy wagon, she started to feel the full effect of the strenuous work day. Climbing the ramp into the wagon made her feet feel like lead. She was exhausted emotionally and physically.
Nakamura must have fallen asleep on the way back, because one second, she was fussing at her brother and his rowdy friends, and the next, her brother morphed into Kougami. His voice floated to her, a smooth mix of cigarettes, hard liquor, and certainty. He was so cocksure, and if he wasn't so handsome he probably wouldn't get away with it.
"Mina."
"No," she said. She didn't want to see Kou. She wanted her brother back, even just for a second.
"Mina," his voice was softer than normal.
More aware than before, she realized that she was asleep against his arm. "Mnnggh," she groaned, opening her eyes for only a second then nuzzling into her 'pillow'.
"Damn, you're a hard person to wake up," he stated, voice low.
She was still against his shoulder, confused. "Huh?" She knew he'd said something. Hadn't he? It was of no use anyway, because her eyes started to droop shut again.
"Exactly," he said sounding amused, tugging lightly on her hair. Warm palms were against her shoulders, sitting Nakamura upright. "You can sleep later. We have a debriefing to go to."
"I'll carry her," Pops said in an exaggerated voice.
That woke her up enough to shake her head. No one was carrying Mina Nakamura anywhere. Shakily, the woman came to her feet and walked into the building. Kougami was leading her, hand pressed lightly between her shoulder blades. They filed back into the office, and gathered around the two inspectors. Mina noted that Erra looked perturbed and just as tired as she felt. It was also of note that Ginoza was eyeing his partner with care and worry.
Once everyone was paying attention, Erra stated, "We received the drones' report while we were headed back."
"Wow, that was really fucking quick," Mina said, forgetting to censor her speech.
"Yeah, too quick," Masaoka added.
"They sent it before the rain even started," Ginoza added, looking perturbed.
"What are you dancing around?" the little brunette asked snippily.
"They came to the conclusion that it was archaeological." Kamiya sounded sad and frustrated.
"On what fucking grounds? There is no way... Please tell me you all agree. You saw! You saw the same things I saw! You guys know that's wrong. Please tell me you do!" She saw red, outraged.
"Sybil couldn't identify the bodies, and therefore assumed the bodies were historical. They are going to be incinerated this afternoon," Gino supplied, looking like he didn't quite believe the logic either. It was maddening that despite that look on his face, he was still going to just allow it to happen.
"They didn't even have time to dig them all out. There is no damned way. Can you guys appeal this?"
"No. I already tried," the redhead looked somewhat depressed…defeated even. It was an emotion Mina had never seen on the woman's face.
Kou tapped Nakamura's shoulder, demanding attention, making her lock with his eyes. "What were your findings, Mina? Why are you so sure?" he was looking at her intently.
"There were ports and wiring for cybernetic arms and legs. Some of the other medical devices seemed recent as well. And there were indicators of foul play. You guys saw the hospital gowns. I bet if we checked on the dental work, it would all be recent too... And I saw some signs of violence— broken bones partially healed, I noticed green around some of the bones and found copper wiring, as if their hands had been tied... stuff like that. The whole site was indicative of mal intent. How could Sybil fucking miss that?!"
It was the most ludicrous thing she could imagine. A super computer that couldn't deduce what she could from just a few hours of work. Something was very wrong with this situation. "I could show you all, if I had the remains, and you would see it, plain and clear as day."
Maybe they couldn't identify them because they weren't in the system. Maybe they were Unregistered. Maybe Sybil just set fire to the only lead I have on finding out what happened to my people.
Her thoughts were wild, but she tried to calm her features because both Kougami and Masaoka were looking at her, trying to read her.
"We still have the first four we dug out," Pops supplied.
"Wait, you didn't make a manifest and give it to the bots?" she asked.
He scratched the back of his head and said, "Looks like I must have forgotten to add those few. Guess it works out better for us, eh?"
Clever old man! Mina silently praised. All of them knew there would be only one reason he would "forget."
"Who said that we weren't going to turn over that evidence? We need..." Ginoza started, but as much as she feared him throwing her back into rehab, this was something she most certainly could not stand for.
"What the hell?! We are just going to ignore a mass grave? Why? Because the infallible Sybil System couldn't figure it out?"
"That's right!" he shouted back, but she could see his jaw clench after the words. It was enough to let Mina know that even he was doubting Sybil on this one.
She tried quickly to come up with some solution to which he would consent and came up with nothing that could possibly appeal to the rule following inspector. They were glaring at each other. He knew that something was amiss, but was choosing to ignore it for rear of recrimination. It seemed so useless and unfair. The more she thought about the possibility of them being Unregistereds the more frustrated with the situation she became. They could be her people, damn it!
"Fine then," she said. If they aren't going to do anything about it, I am at least going to get a look at what we brought back, and they will have to pry them from my hands.
She walked toward the door, intent on getting to the boxes and hiding them in her room until they inevitably came for the dead. Nakamura quickly made a list of things she could use to bar the door. This place was so damned backwards if this was how they treated a mass grave.
She didn't make it ten steps before Pops blocked the way out with his body and Kougami grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her resisting form back beside him. They were at an impasse. She refused to budge, and he refused to release his hold. Kou's eyes focused on the compass tattoo on her wrist. She had caught him staring at it more than a few times. He always looked at it like he was trying to memorize the contours of the ink. Mina knew that if he really wanted, he could use brute strength to move her.
Instead, he said, "Min, I know what you are thinking. I can read it all over your face. Don't do it."
"Let go of me," she hissed, trying to twist out of his fingers and failing. A quick look showed that Ginoza was scowling, but Erra looked deep in thought, studying the scene in front of her.
Nakamura noticed the signs of panic floating through her limbs. She could see the faces of the taken with perfect clarity. Five years of her life may have been missing, but the years before that were clear. The wails of mothers who lost children, cries of orphaned little ones, and the helplessness of everyone left behind after a raid flooded her senses. There were so many, and they had not a single clue as to what happened or why. Her brother had found something and died for it, and in her grief, Mina had failed to go get that information. Oh how stupid she had been. She wasn't going to fail this time. She owed it to her people to at least look at the dead.
With a jerk and a twist she surprised Shinya and managed to break the hold and had every intention of knocking the old man down. She had to try. The woman wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she didn't.
She heard Erra say, "Shit, grab her."
Masaoka was never in any danger. Kou had wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her chest. The hold was tight, and the only way of getting out of it was to hurt him, which was something she didn't want to do. Still, a struggle ensued. Nakamura was worked up, breathing far too hard, and close to tears.
"Hound 4, you need to get a hold of yourself and accept..." the black haired inspector started, but she interrupted, yelling.
"This is wrong! And you all know it!" A survey of the room showed looks of shock and maybe even guilt. "What is wrong with you people? I get that you have grown up without having to worry, because of Sybil and..." Stop now Mina. You are saying too much... making it too obvious. Her brother warned from inside her head. A short frustrated scream made the grip around her constrict in response. "Those people had families, friends... people who miss them... love them." The woman tried to break free one more time and had to admit defeat. He didn't let go, even after she sagged. "The people who care about them deserve to... hell... just imagine it. Someone you love and care about is in your life and then one day they just don't come home... can't be found. It leaves a hole that can never be filled, because you don't know if they're alive or de..."
Kamiya's voice cut in loud, clear, and more emotional than Mina had ever heard from her. "If we give you the time, can you process all the remains that we have without lab equipment?"
"Yes. Just let me look at them. I know I can at least prove..."
"Wait! What exactly are you saying, Kamiya? We could lose our jobs over this. It's illegal and a direct violation of orders. You can't seriously be considering allowing this!" said Inspector Ginoza.
Mina's eyes widened and she stood very still as she noticed that Inspector Kamiya's eyes appeared full of tears. She had kind of believed that the woman's empathetic mannerisms were an act to gain trust, but perhaps she was wrong. Maybe Kamiya felt deeply for these poor people. Whatever the case, it was clear that Mina had struck a nerve.
As the redhead turned to face her partner, Mina was surprised again by these people as the harsh Inspector Ginoza's face turned immediately to worry. He seemed as unnerved as Mina felt at seeing Kamiya's eyes so full of tears over this.
"Inspector Ginoza," his partner started softly, "this needs to happen. Nakamura is right. These people and their families deserve justice. We need to find out the truth about what happened to these people. I have to know. I understand if you can't allow it. I don't want you to lose your job over my actions." Kamiya turned her head towards her enforcers and Nakamura saw a tear slip down her cheek as she added words that made Mina tense. "I understand if you have to turn us in to the chief."
Mina wasn't sure her eyes could get any bigger as she stared at Ginoza waiting for his reaction. She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until the man tugged out his pocket square and pushed it easily into Kamiya's hand. When the woman inspector turned to look at him again, Mina let out the breath as he asked quietly, "It's that important to you?" Kamiya nodded and he frowned deeply, touching her hand to gently remind her of the handkerchief, which she quickly dabbed under her eyes.
Suddenly, Nakamura realized just how much Ginoza favored his partner, and she almost took joy in the fact that there was anything in life that could cause that man to soften. Until now she had seen him as a purely hateful individual who took no pleasure from anything, but during this moment everyone saw a brief glimpse of a different side of the man.
"I'm not going to turn you over to the chief. That—that's going overboard. I trust you to do what's best. Nakamura can have the remains for two weeks. After that, they have to be out of here or every one of us will lose our jobs."
"Yesss!" Mina cheered in a whisper. Ginoza shot her a look and adjusted his glasses, back to looking as stern as ever.
"That's assuming that no one else on our team has objections to this. I won't put you three in danger of losing your jobs," he said, surprising Mina again as he gestured to his veteran enforcers.
Thankfully, Kougami, Masaoka, nor Kunizuka had anything to add. After discussing a few more details, the team headed out but not before Nakamura leaned over to Yayoi and whispered, "Is it me or do those two clearly need to fuck?"
Ginoza
Kamiya had scheduled a three day weekend for herself, taking the following Monday off. When asked, she would answer no further than to say "personal reasons," which Nobuchika found very unlike the woman. He also found it unusual that despite having found a mass grave that would now require their attention because she had insisted, she was still opting to take the time out of the office. She had been distant and distracted all day, and Gino thought perhaps the day off would do her some good so he didn't press for her to continue working.
When he had asked her privately to explain why she'd been so adamant over not turning in the extra remains, she merely responded, "Please forgive me, Inspector. It's an extremely personal reason, but I don't think I'm ready to share it with anyone just yet. Certainly not today. Ask me again when I get back from the long weekend, ok?"
It made him uneasy to see her behaving so strangely towards him. She was usually the one person he could count on to treat him like he wasn't a nuisance.
Also unlike her, she packed up to leave right on time. She almost always stayed late, especially on Fridays. Many times it would be just Kamiya and him in their offices, filling out paperwork and going over cases. They both liked to leave no loose ends before starting the weekend, and it had become a time that he looked forward to each week. One would always have a question about paperwork for the other, which would be quickly answered. That was followed with casual conversation as they took the files upstairs to the chief's desk and made their way to separate cars.
What Nakamura had said about him earlier that day would normally not have been that far off the mark. The hyper-focused inspector did generally find sex and relationships to be an enormous waste of time and a potential danger to his psycho-pass. However, he no longer seemed to be on the fast track at the CID. Ever since he had begun to question things during the Makashima case, the chief had quickly tired of him and discarded him. Now his partner appeared to be the new favorite. Ginoza wasn't entirely surprised, and not even sure where he stood on the matter.
He wasn't the type to feel jealous over a woman, and Mina's words would normally have just rolled off his back. Now that he didn't spend as much energy concentrating on impressing the chief, things were different. More often than not, he fought with himself to control the thoughts of his partner that kept creeping into his mind…thoughts of her naked, sweating, writhing, calling his name. It shamed him. She was intelligent and able and respected him as her leader, and all he could picture of her when he was alone were his hands roaming her glorious body.
Kamiya had been right earlier. It had made him feel a twinge of jealousy to see her flirting with his father, especially when she was familiar enough to kiss his cheek. He had to stop looking at them as he silently yelled at himself for wanting that innocent kiss for his own. She was becoming quite important to him for reasons other than desire. The fact that he still wanted her physically despite that, continued to cause him great frustration.
It had been a long time since Ginoza had felt so relaxed around another person, or that someone had even been able to tolerate his personality so well. She wanted his company. She treated him like her friend as well as a co-worker. Sometimes, on those late Friday evenings together, she actually asked him to wait for her when Chief Kaisei would ask to see her in the office alone.
"I don't like her," Kami mentioned one of those times. "Something about her makes me very nervous. Can't you at least wait in our offices until I'm done?"
"I'm not sure what you think will happen to you in there."
"I'm not sure what I think either. I can't get a good read on her and I don't like it. Aren't you supposed to provide back up support, partner?" she asked, giving him a simple smile.
"Tch," he huffed. "I don't think this counts as back up, Inspector. How did you even get promoted this far if you're scared of Chief Kaisei?"
"I didn't say I was scared. I just don't like her. I'd rather end my week with a friendlier face."
"I don't know who you expect me to go get. I'm the only person left at the office at this hour."
"Ginoza, seriously?"
"Yes. You saw everyone else leave before we came up here." She had said goodbye to several of them and he worried perhaps she wasn't feeling alright after not seeming to remember that.
"My God," his partner groaned as she shook her head and buried her face in her palm. Looking back up at him with great incredulity, she added, "You. I meant you, you idiot. Of course, my partner would be my 'friendly face!' I speak to you more than anyone else here, Gino. Do you really think I find you more off-putting than that woman? I can't…I just…" She let off a frustrated huff.
"No, I just…a 'friendly' face? That's not a description I've ever received. It wasn't necessary to make friends with my co-workers to succeed. Experience has shown me that personal attachments get in the way. Besides, I don't tend—"
"Oh," Kamiya said sounding somewhat dejected. "I thought we were already becoming friends, Inspector. I wasn't aware you found my company so taxing."
"What? No. That wasn't my point. It's that people here find that my dedication grates on th—"
"Good. So then you're saying you will wait for me?" she interrupted.
"I…o-ok." He had no other answer to offer, shocked as he was that she hadn't already been offended enough to just leave him standing there in confusion. Ginoza turned out to be glad that he'd said "ok," because he found that his weekends were indeed better begun just from walking his partner to her car. That initial response eventually became a prepared, "Back up support, this evening?" and he would wait at the end of the hall by the elevators, enjoying topics irrelevant to police work as they left for the weekend. Allowing someone to be friendly with him was new and uncomfortable at times, but he was quite enjoying himself.
He had learned more about Kamiya in a few weeks of this pattern than he had about most people in his entire life. She was talkative with him and he was happy to let her carry most of the conversations. He knew her favorite books, songs, that she had only ever kept fish as pets (which he found completely ridiculous), that she was allergic to cats and that at one time she had been a dancer. He wanted to hear more about her dancing, but she had yet to elaborate. He had hoped it would be soon.
But not today. Today she would not be headed to see Kaisei or taking extra time for paperwork. Today she was anxious to get away from CID for whatever reason. Today she wished everyone a hasty goodbye and was the first of Division One to want out of the office. Today Gino felt disappointed.
After talking briefly with part of her team outside the HQ doors, the redhead said, "Have a nice weekend, boys," and headed down the long hallway towards the elevator.
Then Ginoza found himself doing it again. He just couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of his partner for long. He barely noticed that his father and Kougami were still standing to his left watching exactly the same thing.
Masaoka let out a low whistle, and Gino caught sight of Kougami nodding in agreement. Kou paused his unlit cigarette just before his lips, and he and the other enforcer shared a knowing glance, sly grins on their faces. Ginoza made annoyed faces at the pair.
Inspector Kamiya just missed the elevator. As she leaned to push the button, Inspector Shuichiro from Division Three appeared and pressed it for her. It was impossible to hear what they were saying from this distance. He couldn't even try reading their lips with them facing the elevator doors, but Ginoza found himself irritated at the way Shuichiro was clearly fawning over his partner. The man was married, after all. Shepherd One reminded himself that Kamiya worked in Division Three before being placed with their team. Her old partner was likely just being friendly, but Gino found it annoyed him either way.
He had let her distract him so much again, that he'd already forgotten he wasn't standing alone. That is, until the oldest enforcer said, "I'm not sure I've ever seen any that compare to the way that redhead beauty looks in a skirt."
Gino crinkled his nose and furrowed his eyebrows at his father in disgust, "Ugh! Could you not say that again? Ever? You're a filthy old man sometimes."
"Guilty," Masaoka chuckled slightly. "I don't deny that beautiful women have always been my weakness."
Kougami laughed and said, "Pops, 'weakness' is an understatement, don't you think?"
His father's behavior was making Gino very uncomfortable...or maybe that was due to Kamiya laughing and placing her hand on Shuichiro's arm. Either way, he scolded, "Both of you cut it out! Don't let me catch you talking about another inspector that way, got it?"
"Scold all you want, Ginoza, but I'd wager there's not a pair of eyes in this entire building that have been staring after Miss Sass more than yours," the old enforcer added bluntly.
"Watch your mouth, Enforcer!" Gino said as he shot his father a dangerous glare. A few seconds of silence followed, and Kougami awkwardly excused himself back into the office.
As the elevator's bell dinged and its doors opened, Shuichiro offered Kamiya his arm, and she accepted it onto the lift. He grimaced as the man obviously leaned back to view his partner's ass. "Tch," he huffed, watching her still laughing at whatever their colleague was saying.
"Just don't forget, son," Ginoza shot his father another dirty look as the familiar word left his mouth, but his father continued, "Inspector Kamiya is the type of woman a man notices. Inspector Shuichiro is not the first to try getting her alone, and I'm sure he won't be the last. Invite the woman for a drink or something."
"Would you please just stop talking?" Nobuchika begged, as he squeezed the bridge of his nose in his frustration. Kamiya was facing them now as the elevator doors closed and she noticed the two men still standing outside the office. She smiled brightly and waved goodbye again. Only Masaoka returned the wave.
"Suit yourself, Inspector," returned the seasoned ex-detective. "I know you hate my advice, but you'd be surprised, son," he added as he turned to begin walking back into the office, "what a little time alone with the right kind of woman can do for a cloudy hue."
Ginoza scowled after his father until he was completely through the doors to their office, and then he returned a hopeless gaze to the shut elevator doors.
