Originally published on AO3 on November 21st, 2021. I figured I'd use this account as a backup instead of abandoning it all together. I struggled really hard to finish this in time, so it's not exactly what I wanted, but I'm mostly happy with this. I hope it's not too boring, lol. Once again, some constructive criticism would be nice since it's been a while since I've written in third person, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Gino! :)
November 21, 2112. An ordinary, mostly uneventful day for everyone in Division 1 of the MWPSB. Other than a few mild disturbances out in the city, the day went by quickly for most without much of a fuss. In fact, everyone had the time to catch up on all their reports and retired for the day, only Inspector Nobuchika Ginoza and Enforcer Yayoi Kunizuka remained as a skeleton crew to take care of any other minor disturbances if needed.
Ginoza didn't mind working the later shifts, and even if he was allowed to leave earlier, he usually stayed longer to work on his reports anyway. He did prefer to get all his work done as soon as possible rather than procrastinate, even if some of his crew didn't feel the same way.
However, he was usually either alone when working this late, or with most of the other Enforcers present. While Yayoi was quietly looking through a magazine and listening to music at her desk and not at all bothering him, he didn't like the awkwardness of being there with just one other person, no matter who it was. He'd honestly prefer there being one more person there so they could talk to each other and ignore him like always. He knew it was, well, kinda sad to think like that, but it was a comfortable feeling that he was used to.
Because he didn't really have any actual work to do, he had decided to clean the office from top to bottom. It might've looked clean to anyone who walked in, but Ginoza found plenty of little things hidden in crevices. Like, chewed up gum and other candy around Kagari's desk? Ew. Why didn't he just spit out his gum in a trash can like normal people? Ginoza was definitely going to have a talk with him about it tomorrow, and if this habit didn't improve, he could and would confiscate his candy jar.
Or how about the cigarette butts around Kougami's desk? Sure, he might be pretty good at putting most of his cigarette butts in the ashtray, but it didn't help if the tray was never cleaned out. Or that the ash was never cleared off the desk and began to build up into a dingy black film that covered most of the surface. Ginoza wondered how Kougami could work at the desk without being annoyed with the gritty texture that covered literally everything.
It wasn't long before a notification came through of a slightly higher than average stress level reported in a nearby apartment building. While Ginoza was mostly hoping for a quiet night, he was relieved that he no longer needed to scrape off gum from the bottom of the desks anymore.
"Kunizuka," he said to Yayoi who had just put down her magazine to glance at the notification. "This seems minor enough. Let's take it."
Yayoi nodded wordlessly and stood up to put on her jacket.
While neither would probably admit it out loud, both Inspector and Enforcer were grateful for the distraction from the mind numbingly boredom of the office.
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"The cause of this area stress level is most likely Ryouichirou Takashi," Ginoza informed Yayoi during the short drive to the apartment building. Since it was just the two of them, and the fact that the case seemed pretty simple, Ginoza had opted to just take his car and a dominator each for the two of them. Bringing in the paddy wagon and all the official gear of the department was bound to freak people in the apartment out, and he definitely wanted to avoid making things worse for other people when there wasn't really anything big happening.
"His Psycho-Pass has recently begun to rise. He doesn't seem to go anywhere and stays home all day, so it's likely he's been neglecting his therapy. My guess is that his Psycho-Pass has just passed the 100 mark."
Yayoi sighed and shook her head. "That's what happened to pretty much all of us…" she said quietly. "Everything is mostly fine, and then one day our Psycho-Pass begins to rise and we don't know why… And then it gets to point where it becomes unacceptable when nothing even happened in the first place."
Ginoza scoffed at that. "I doubt that's the case for all you latent criminals. There's always a cause. And even if there isn't, if you decide not to go to therapy when it starts to get bad, then you only have yourself to blame."
Yayoi turned away from him and gazed out the window.
"…I suppose you're right."
The rest of the car ride was quiet until they got to the apartment building. It was an expensive high rise, definitely one of the newer and fancier buildings in the district. Unsurprising, since the technology in it was advanced enough to tell them which resident was most likely the cause for the high area stress level. Ginoza was grateful for that, it meant that they wouldn't have to play guessing games with every resident in the building. This was definitely going to be a fast case.
Ginoza and Yayoi proceeded up to the sixth floor where Mr. Takashi supposedly lived. It was a quiet hallway, and Ginoza was surprised that it was mostly elderly who lived on this floor. For such an expensive apartment, it was really kinda weird that so many of the residents were old.
Ginoza nodded at Yayoi before she stepped forward. "Mr. Ryouichirou Takashi?" she called out politely after knocking twice on the door. It took a long moment, but there was shuffling behind the door, and then it opened a crack. A wrinkled face peered out of the dark apartment. It was impossible to see anything behind Mr. Takashi, it was completely pitch black.
Yayoi smiled at the man. She was always good at being polite to the suspects to try to prevent them from losing it. It sometimes worked.
"Hi, I'm an Enforcer with the MWPSB," she said to the man and showed him her identification. "We've been notified of a high Psycho-Pass in the building and are conducting a brief investigation. We're simply asking all the residents if we can see their most recent score. Will that be alright?" She asked innocently.
The man glared at her. "Bah, if there really is a high Psycho-Pass in the area, it's probably from those no-good teenagers upstairs!" he huffed. "Did you see what they did to the holo-garden outside? Despicable. Listen to me, you don't got a thing to worry about with the people on this floor."
Yayoi was actually impressed with how well this old man was hiding his guilt. Usually, all the people with high Psycho-Passes were nervous and frantic at the presence of the police. All sweaty and nervous, and more often than not, they tried to run. But this man was staring at her full in the face with just a grumpy frown.
"That may be the case, but it's just standard procedure. We'll be sure to move on up to the next floor once we're done with this one," she explained calmly and stuck out her hand. "While I believe you, I still have to see your Psycho-Pass. It'll only take a minute."
The man glared at her for a long moment. Almost a full minute had passed with the three of them just staring at each other before the old man sighed in defeat.
"Ugh, fine, you got me. I guess I'm getting arrested now, right? Let's just get this damn thing over with."
Ginoza was shocked that this man had given up so easily, he'd definitely never seen that before. If the man was willing to admit it, why didn't he just go to therapy to begin with? Ginoza certainly didn't understand it. And even Yayoi was dumbfounded with how easy this case was, even if her face didn't show it as she stoically handcuffed the old man. At least she'd have an interesting story to tell the other Enforcers later.
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Ginoza hated having this, well, criminal in the backseat of his car. He almost wished he had brought the paddy wagon and cursed himself for thinking the car was a better idea. Seriously, where else did he expect Takashi to sit once they caught him?
Sure, he already had one latent criminal in the car with Yayoi, but Yayoi did earn herself a bit of his trust, as did all his other Enforcers. They were capable enough to become Enforcers after all, but he had no idea what Takashi was capable of. Yes, he was handcuffed. Yes, he admitted his guilt pretty quickly and was just sitting in his seat quietly, but still. He could never be too sure what this man would do.
"Do you seriously think we don't know?" Yayoi said suddenly. Ginoza looked at her, blatantly confused. Was there a conversation going on between her and Takashi that he somehow wasn't aware of?
"Inspector?" she said after a long moment of silence.
"You… You're talking to me?" He was now even more confused.
"Yes. I don't know anything about Mr. Takashi. Why would I be talking to him?"
Ginoza frowned. As an Enforcer, Yayoi was probably the one Ginoza liked working with the most. He didn't have to babysit her like he had to with Kagari, and he didn't have… a messy past with her like he did with the other two Enforcers. But she was always difficult to read and sometimes spoke… strangely. This was definitely one of those times.
"Well… I don't know why you would suddenly say this to me either."
Yayoi rolled her eyes and began to speak slowly, like she was talking to a child. "Today. Your birthday."
Ginoza couldn't help but groan outwardly. He had hoped he could make it through the whole day without anyone mentioning it. Once Masaoka and Kougami had left the office for the day without saying anything about it, he thought he was in the clear. But he had celebrated too early, it seemed.
"Why are you trying to hide it?" she continued. "Your father is literally one of us, of course we would know."
Ginoza sighed. "I wasn't hiding it, Kunizuka. I just don't care."
"You don't mean that."
"I do," he said angrily. "I really do."
Yayoi sat quietly before speaking again. "But why? I can understand not liking other holidays, but your birthday is the only day where it's all about you. What's not to like?"
Ginoza was surprised that she was still continuing this conversation. She wasn't usually the nosy type, why did she care?
"You know why I don't like it? Everyone is always being fake and happy for you, even though most of them don't care… It's a day where everyone feels obligated to be nice to you and it's never genuine. I really don't want any part of it."
"Inspector… That's not true."
"Yes, it is. Have you ever seen people singing that awful 'Happy Birthday' song? Next time you do, look at all their faces. No one's happy. No one's enjoying themselves. Everyone is just trying to get through the song as quickly as possible so they can move on with the stuff they actually care about, and they don't care about the person whose birthday it is, they just pretend they do. It's a really fake day and I can't stand it."
"But-"
"Ah, shut up! Both of you!" Takashi interrupted angrily from the backseat. "I can't stand to hear you two argue about something stupid like that!" the old man said with a harsh scowl before continuing. "Do you really wanna know what a birthday is? It's a day where you get to look back at how much this world sucks since the day you were born. It's a day where you think about all your crappy decisions and see how much better your life would've been if you chose differently. It's a day where you remember all the good people who died and all the ones you hate that are still alive. And worst of all, it's a day where you sit at home alone wondering if everyone's forgotten about you. That's all a birthday is. Just another day."
A long awkward silence falls over the car.
"Well… that was depressing," Yayoi said, breaking the silence.
Ginoza couldn't help but agree.
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A half hour later, Takashi has been taken away to the correctional center. Both Ginoza and Yayoi agree that he clearly needs it, the guy is obviously depressed and filled with too much hate.
As the two are walking back to Division 1's headquarters, Yayoi suddenly stops in her tracks.
"…Kunizuka? What's wrong?" Ginoza asks once he notices how far behind she is in the hallway.
"Hey, do you really hate your birthday that much?"
"Well, I guess not as much as Ryouichirou Takashi does, but I still stand by everything I've said. Why?"
Yayoi bites her lip, and that's when Ginoza understands.
"You… You guys planned me a surprise party, didn't you?"
Yayoi's silence was all the answer he needs, and Ginoza can't help but sigh.
"I mean, if you really don't like it, you can just leave now… I'll tell them you're not feeling well and went home for the night."
Ginoza stared at her for a moment and let out a defeated sigh before walking up to Division 1's office and letting the doors slide open to greet him.
"SURPRISE!"
The doors slide open to reveal all of the rest of Division 1 and even a few members from the other Divisions, like Inspector Aoyanagi. Streamers and other decorations hang haphazardly around the office, but all in all it's a generally cheery atmosphere that Ginoza didn't expect to see.
"Happy birthday, Mr. Ginoza!" Akane exclaims as she walks up to him. "We made sure to have Ms. Kunizuka with you because we knew she wouldn't spoil the surprise while we set up the office! We made sure to…" she stops in her tracks as she notices the look on his face. "D-Do you not like it? Are these decorations too much?"
Everyone stops what they're doing and stares at him. He looks back at all their smiling faces, and finds a small smile begin to form on his own.
"Thank you, everyone. I mean it."