Smoke & Mirrors
Chapter I: An Exceptional Candidate
The ceiling fan whined gently in the back of Ginoza's mind as he continued scanning the first half of the offer letter. Sugo sat across from him with arms folded; studying the Inspector's expression in hopes to get a glimpse as to what his reaction might be when receiving the pamphlet. The old obnoxious battery powered clock ticked the seconds of silence. It use to belong to his Grandfather when he was a bachelor and loved the durability of the clock so much that he took it with him when he married Ginoza's Grandmother. She gifted it to him when he received the news that he was accepted to the PSB in 2104. Now sixteen years later, he found himself at a familiar crossroads but unlike last time, he wasn't certain if this was a path he'd want to take.
"So…" Sugo's impatience broke Ginoza's concentration. "Whatcha think?"
Ginoza placed the stack of papers down, not bothering to flip through the benefits and pay. He was still a latent criminal after all. This letter was just giving him the choice to choose a new kennel. The only salary and benefits he could expect was not to be locked up in the loony bin for all his life.
"It's unexpected." Ginoza finally answered as he gently ran his forefinger across his bottom lip, still staring at the papers. "A new division created solely to focus on the matters outside of Japan. One that barely has reached it's one year anniversary."
"Is that what's troubling you?" Sugo struggled to not star Ginoza's lips for too long. "How young the department is."
"A young department that is probably still going through growing pains. Do I really want to leave Division One in its time of crisis after devoting so much into it?"
"Division One-what Division One?!" Sugo hissed as he leaned over the table. "Yayoi left. Rejoined society and didn't even bothering looking back at us. Akane is gone. Mika has just been promoted to chief. Chief!... You really want to kiss her heels each time she kicks dirt in your face?"
Ginoza was too slow to suppress the light chuckle that escaped his mouth; slipping through his covered hand. Sugo was never known for such shit-talking when he was an Enforcer. Was this the effects of working at MFA...a brash sense of humor? It was freshening.
"Mika won't take up her new office until they find two fresh recruits to fill the role of Inspectors. Also, there are two new Enforcers that just joined the team. I can't leave them high and dry-"
"No!" Sugo cut him off. "I'm sorry Ginoza but come on- who are you suffering for? You don't give a shit about these newbie Enforcers. You were bored to death when I joined Division One but at least you had Akane to lean on. Now that she's gone, you're bored again. And now that I'm gone, you're probably miserable."
"Wait, what? Why am I miserable?"
"Cause I was the only interesting person there. Unless Sho has started looking people in the eye when talking to them."
"Wow, Sugo." Ginoza laughed. "Is that what I can expect when joining the MFA? Becoming an asshole like you?"
Sugo joined in laughing along with Ginoza as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms again.
"Well I can tell you one thing," He says as he stared up at the ceiling fan once more. "The perks are worth it. You are no longer an Enforcer. With the role of Special Investigator, you don't have to be chained to an Inspector anymore." Even someone as jaded by the PSB as Ginoza couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Yeah! Imagine: driving a car again...behind the wheel! Going out shopping. Going out to a bar and drinking something else other than the government standard bottom shelf crap they give you. I mean granted you're relocated but at least you don't have to spend your "free time" in the same building where you work!"
Ginoza studied Sugo, trying to find a hole in his too perfect of a story. Based on his ex-colleague's appearance, it seemed life at MFA has done his friend some good. Sugo sat up straighter and his mannerisms bolder, more carefree. The bags underneath his eyes that settled when he joined Divison One disappeared and there was a spark in them that he had never seen before – even when Aoyanagi was still alive.
When the two men were able to quiet their laughter, Ginoza came to a conclusion.
"I'll think about it."
Sugo sucked his teeth and playfully shook his head, his tongue running across his teeth with a slight smirk. A flirtatious quirk he's developed after experiencing the freedom of being in the MFA.
"Gino…" he sighed disappointedly.
"I didn't say 'no'." Ginoza sat back in his chair, crossing his arms to mirror Sugo. "I just need to think it over. Maybe even read more of this twenty-five page pamphlet you gave me." He quipped back. Sugo's teasing was starting to rub off on Ginoza. After some time, Sugo accepted defeat.
"It's actually six pages." He corrected his ex-partner as he got up from his seat. "Well I'll give yah a few days to think it over." Sugo made his way over to the door of Ginoza's apt that lied deep in the basement of the PSB where the other Enforcers lived. Ginoza followed after him.
"So is it just you and the Hanashiro lady that make up the department right now?" Sugo's couldn't help but tighten his jaw.
"Ughhh, no. There's one more Special Investigator on the team with me." He was thankful that Ginoza wasn't facing him to catch the panic in his expression. "But with you, it'll be the four of us." He turned and smiled at the long haired man.
"Really?" Ginoza propped his hand on the edge of his door. "What are they like?"
"...great! Really smart. Sharp. Experienced." Sugo nodded staring past Ginoza, not daring to look his ex-partner in the eye. "I gotta go! Call me after you tell Mika that you're quitting."
"Sugo…" Ginoza sighed as he watched him walk down the hall.
After seeing the last of Sugo disappear into the elevator, Ginoza couldn't help but grow cold from the silence that now filled his apartment. He watched Dime sleep calmly in his crate. It pained Ginoza to know that his dog will never get to enjoy a run along the riverside path again now that his owner has been sentenced to a lifetime living in the PSB building. The only alternative right now would be even worse and Ginoza didn't have the heart to think about where Dime would end up in since his Grandmother is too old to take care of a husky.
He couldn't help but imagine a life without the restrictions of being an Enforcer. How much happier his dog would be, his Grandmother now that she can hug him in real life and himself. But just as easy as it was to imagine a life not living in the PSB as an Enforcer, it was harder to imagine a life not working within Division One.
He entered Division One as an ambitious, although pretentious, young man – barely in his twenties. Armed with all the gall to prove to the world that he wasn't the son of his old man and that he was working alongside his best friend – the only family he ever needed. Fast forward to today, the old Ginoza wouldn't even recognize the current one. Now in his thirties, Ginoza finds it harder to get up each morning and too easy to close his eyes. When he does close his eyes, he doesn't sleep but instead dreams of the father that he had spent so much of his life hating. And that best friend that he thought would never leave him...Ginoza barely thinks about him anymore. An accomplishment he prides himself in as it was very difficult to get to such a state. To think that he would be leaving Division One in a state like this, after losing so much, was this him admitting defeat? By accepting this job, was he admitting failure to the promises that younger Ginoza had when first entering those doors? He was too afraid to answer that question so he hid the papers in a corner of his desk.
Thursday. 5:30pm. Just thirty more minutes till Ginoza's shift ends. Today was unbearable for the Enforcer. Over six hours of being in the computer room writing up reports with only Sho slurping noodles ever so often to keep him company. Mika took the two new Enforcers out to deal with a disturbance in the slums as a way to get more experience. Lately things have been quiet in the city which any detective would be thankful for. Only thing is, Ginoza was no longer a detective. When things were quiet, his purpose ceased to exist, his mind wanders, boredom gnawed at him. He felt small and useless. Pointless.
Usually when such restlessness creeps up behind him, he would go and schedule some time with his therapist to untangle the thoughts in his head. But ever since he found out that his most previous therapist was part of a terrorists' plan to dismantle Sibyl, he never took up the time to find a new one. Also what was the point, he wondered to himself. He was a latent criminal. It's not like his hue was ever gonna be where it was before after the horrors and stress he had endured during his time at the CID. A therapist was just a waste of time in the end.
After finishing up the last of his third and lengthy report, Ginoza thought it'd be a great time to reward himself – maybe a visit to the snack machine.
He was not gone for twenty minutes till he came back from the food hall to a computer room full of people huddled around his computer.
"What's going on?" He asked, realizing that the remaining members of Division One came back earl from their field trip.
"Mr. Ginoza," Sho whispered under his floppy hair. "Your computer started to flash and I could hear it overheating from where I sat."
"What?" And then it hit him. "Shit! I didn't submit the reports yet!" He went over to his computer which was now being tinkered with by a repair man.
"I'm afraid whatever you were working on is now lost." The repair man continued to inspect the monitor, tinkering with wires. "Things way overdue to be replaced."
That was the same computer I had when I first started working here.
"Mr. Ginoza," Sho tiptoed up to him without taking his eyes off the repair man. "Did you happen to store the reports into the mainframe for safe keeping or did you keep the windows open?" Ginoza covered his frustration with his hand.
"I know I should have saved them to the mainframe while working but it's such a pain to-''
"Well now you're gonna have to deal with a greater pain of starting all over again!" Ginoza couldn't hide his dismay when turning around to the source of Mika's shrilling voice.
"But it was three reports, Inspector." Ginoza started. "And I still have two more to tackle. Can't one of the Enforcers help me to make sure we submit them on time?"
"I don't see why other members of our team have to be bogged down by your incompetence, Enforcer!" Her gaze burned holes into Ginoza's frame. "You know full well that you should have been drafting the reports on the new mainframe. Not reverting back to the old method!"
"I apologize, Inspector." Ginoza hung his head. "Just a bad habit I need to-''
"Inspector Akane is no longer here to baby your blunders anymore! Once I am Chief, I'll be assigning Inspectors that won't have the time to pick up your slack. Should you keep this up, you can find yourself being demoted to Division Two or Three."
This isn't the first time Mika got herself firing all cylinders towards Ginoza. Usually someone more senior would have stepped in by now, reprimanding her temper and reminding her place. But sadly, no one had the spine to step up. And why should they? Two Enforcers who just started the job days ago and Sho could barely find the strength to speak above a whisper these days.
Dammit, Akane. Ginoza thought to himself. A little prayer to wish into space in hopes that she would materialize and tell Mika off. The ceiling gave him solace and took his mind away from the computer screen that mocked him.
"Enforcer Ginoza!"
"Yes?" Back down to Earth, Gino. Or is it Hell?
"Thank you for joining us." She cocked her hip to the side like a gun. "Use another computer in the meantime and start again on those reports. Don't think I'm pushing back their deadlines. Admin has been on my back for them the past two weeks."
"Wait two weeks?! But you only assigned them to me just yesterday!"
"Well if you haven't noticed, I've been busy training our Enforcers single handedly. You do know that you're not the only person in this team that has work to do."
"They've only been hired just five days ago. What were you doing for the past two weeks?" Bad call, Gino.
"Are you questioning how I run this team, Enforcer?!" There was a stillness in the room thick with tension. The calm before the storm. Ginoza could feel the weight of everyone's eyes; calculating what he should say next, factoring in where he went wrong and judging who he was as an Enforcer.
Sixteen years I put into this place and I'm constantly put on trial. He thought to himself. The horrors I endured, the lives I was able to save, the loss that I endured all to uphold the sanctity of the Sibyl System and yet I am still a pariah. I lost my father and childhood all because my Father was outcast from society with both my mother and myself following after him. School year after school year I was bullied and I accepted it because I assumed it was Sibyl's rightful judgement – the cross I had to bear for my father's sins. Tirelessly I worked to join this department and be the perfect Inspector to the point that I cursed my own father just as Sibyl did. Only to later lose him in front of my eyes, my best friend and eventually my freedom. All in the name of Sibyl's sense of justice. What do I have to show for it? A deteriorating Hue, an underground cell that I call an apartment and an insecure girl who gets her kicks by humiliating me.
The question that Ginoza asked himself last night after Sugo left his quarters, whether accepting this new position was admitting defeat and failure to the promises he made when he first became a detective. Ginoza found his answer right then and there in the stillness of the computer room: fuck it all.
"Apologies, Inspector." Mika's eyes widen as she watched Ginoza gracefully bow his head. "Allow me to make a call and those reports will be attended to right away." Before the young woman could think up another retort to throw at the long haired man, Ginoza walked out of the computer lab not knowing that he'll never return to it.
Within the hour, Inspector Mika Shimotsuki received an email from PSB's HR Department that boiled her blood faster than the mentioning of Akane's name. She didn't know what angered her more, the suddenness of the email being sent after Ginoza walked away or the fact that she had no authority or control over it whatsoever.
Dear Inspector Mika Shimotsuki,
The Ministry of Welfare is happy to announce the transfer of Enforcer Nobuchika Ginoza to MFA's Suppressing Action Department as a Special Investigator.
As of today, Nobuchika Ginoza will no longer be part of the Public Safety Bureau and our department will assist you in fulfilling yet another role within your team.
We appreciate your commitment to this transfer and look forward to the success that such an exceptional candidate will provide to the SAD.
Sincerely,
Public Safety Bureau Human Relations Department
(Please do not respond to this message)
