*I want to apologize for how long this update has taken, a lot has happened, and I think I'm losing my mojo. But thanks to COVID-19, I've had time to catch up, and I'm ready to continue this fanfic to which you have been so faithful. I hope you like what I have in store for you…

Part 4 – Hachioji manufacturing Plant – Part 1

The next morning, Akane and Kogami entered the lobby to see their teammates enjoying the hotel's continental breakfast.

"Morning you two," Ginoza said.

"Good night," Kagari asked.

"The beds are comfortable," Akane said as she sat down, "Any word on the plant?"

"We've been given full access," Ginoza said, "But there is a small wrinkle."

"What," Yayoi asked.

"There was a dead body found just this morning by the plant manager," Ginoza said as he picked up a tablet, "A… Daisuke Shioyama, thirty-two, unmarried, found dead around 6:52 A.M."

"Mode of death," Kogami asked.

"Mode of death," Ginoza said as he looked through the report, "Nothing."

"Nothing," Kogami asked.

"They've agreed to store the body until we've arrived," Masaoka said, "Which means no autopsy has been performed."

"I can perform it," Akane said as she pointed to her eyes, "My eyes can perform the autopsy by looking at the body."

"Good," Ginoza said, "As soon as we're done then we head straight on."

In Route to the Plant…

"Would it surprise you I've never been here before," Akane asked as she looked out the window to see Sunset Boulevard going by.

"It wouldn't," Kogami said, "You're full of surprises."

"What's so surprising about me not being out to California," Akane asked.

"It's how you react to the world around you," Kogami said, "You seem to harbor a natural curiosity about the world around you. It shows someone with an open mind."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that," Akane said, "From someone who sends most of the newbies under his protection to Division Three."

"You've been talking to Karanomori haven't you," Kogami asked.

"Is that obvious," Akane asked, "I asked about her when you were recovering in the hospital."

"You're going to turn out alright," Kogami said, "You might have a future in this job."

As they pulled up to the plant, the first thing they were greeted by was a large Japanese male with thick, slicked black hair dressed in a pair of black shoes, slacks, a white shirt, and a black-tie. He obviously had implants because there were two thick lenses, much like Ginoza's over his eyes.

"Hello there," he said as he walked up to Ginoza, "Welcome to Hachioji manufacturing. You must be the debt collectors. I'm Kuraudo Goda, the plant manager."

"Indeed," Ginoza said as he walked passed the man, "We're going to need to see the body as soon as we can."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Kuraudo said as the entered the plant, "It has been completely untouched since we moved it."

"Moved it," Kogami asked as he shoved the man against the wall, clutching his collar with an iron grip, "YOU MOVED A BODY FROM A CRIME SCENE?!"

"It was a precaution," Kuraudo said, "We're on a quota we have to meet. It was right in the middle of a heavy traffic area, and we need that area to move supplies."

"You know what the fine is for tampering with a crime scene," Kogami asked.

"No," Kuraudo said, "Whatever it is, I'll pay it."

"Five thousand dollars," Kogami said.

Kuraudo pulled out his wallet, and quickly held out his credit card, Kogami then pulled a small device out of his pocket which Kuraudo slid the card into.

Kogami entered the charge, and the device charged Kuraudo's card that amount.

When the machine beeped, Kuraudo smiled, "There, see," he asked, "It's all good."

Kogami handed Kuraudo back his card, "Your debt to society has been paid," Kogami said as he checked the screen on the front of the device, "Be advised because this is your first offense your sentence was light. Should it happen again a Debt Collector in your area might not be as tolerant of this crime as I was. Am I understood, sir?"

"Yes sir," Kuraudo said as Kogami released his shirt.

"Now take us to the body," Ginoza said.

Kuraudo led them to a small room in the basement which resembled a small morgue, "What the fuck is this room for," Kagari asked.

"Our accidental deaths," Kuraudo said as he opened one of the multiple doors in the room, and laid out on the tray was a body that had looked like it had been sucked into some kind of industrial metal bending machine, and spat back out.

His left arm was completely severed, as was his right leg, and his waist was almost completely compacted.

"Good shit," Masaoka said.

"Inspector," Kogami said as he gestured at the body.

Akane looked over the body, "I think we can guess the cause of death," Kagari said, "Blood loss. The machine that tore this man apart caused him to lose a lot of blood, and he bled out."

"Good guess," Akane said, "But wrong. Cause of death was pulmonary edema."

"What," Kagari asked.

"One of the blows from the drone hit a rib, the rib hit his lungs, his lungs filled up with blood, and he drowned as the drone was taking him apart," Kogami said, "Horrible way to go."

"Did our victim here have any problems with any of the other employees," Masaoka asked.

"No," Kuraudo said, "He seemed to get along with everyone at the plant. Plus he hadn't committed any crimes, or had to pay any debts to society."

"There any cameras," Kogami asked.

"Yes," Kuraudo said, "Our cameras went down in this area for about five minutes."

"Down or deleted," Ginoza asked.

"We can show you the footage," Kuraudo said, "I can assure you that no one touched the cameras since the shift change."

"I hope you don't mind if we confirm that," Masaoka said.

"Not at all," Kuraudo said as he led them out of the 'morgue', and to the security office.

The poor guy at the security office was heavily overworked, you could see sleep was weighing heavily on his eyes.

"Yuji," Kuraudo said as he slapped the man on the back of the head, "Stay awake," he pointed over his shoulder at the team, "These people are Debt Collectors. They want to see footage of Daisuke last night."

"Last night," Masaoka asked, "He stayed here?"

"This facility operates on a 24/7 basis," Kuraudo said, "We operate on twelve-hour shifts."

"Twelve-hour shifts," Akane asked.

"And they make how much," Kogami asked as pointed at Kuraudo.

"About five dollars per hour," Kuraudo said.

"Now you know why someone would want to do a scrape job on some bullets," Kogami said.

"Scrape job," Kuraudo asked.

"Shut up, and show us the tapes," Kogami said.

"Ok, ok," Kuraudo said, "Show them the tapes."

Yuji pulled up the video, and it showed Daisuke at his station, and continued for about five minutes before Kogami spoke up, "Can we speed this along? We don't need to see this in real-time."

Yuji sped up the footage, and they saw his supervisor coming around, some of the others asking him for help, and then moving to his break. As he was on break, he and three others saw one of the other overweight workers, like Yuji, and instantly began teasing him, Daisuke actually flipped his plate up onto his shirt.

"That didn't seem very nice," Akane said.

"The workers get bored," Kuraudo said, "Sometimes bullying is the only way for them to get some enjoyment out of it."

"And that's ok with you," Kogami asked.

"We have regulations that guard workers against being bullied, but they're ignored, so we honestly don't enforce them," Kuraudo said.

"So you're running an elementary school," Kogami asked as he pulled out one of his electronic cigarettes which was kept in a small black metal box with a slide-open top, and ignited the tip by simply giving the top a small one hundred and eighty-degree twist.

"I wouldn't say that," Kuraudo said.

"Then what would you call it," Kogami said as he removed his cigarette, and blew the smoke in Kuraudo's face, "Elementary Schools do the same: the bullies are left alone because they're popular while the bullied kids are punished when they fight back. No wonder the poor bastard lying in your morgue is dead. In a world like this, it's either you do something, or they do something. Someone took their frustration out on him," he placed the cigarette back in his mouth, and pointed at Kuraudo who had just finished coughing, "And right after you told us he got along with everyone at this plant," he pointed back at the screen, "The shit I just saw is not getting along with everyone."

"You do realize that means you lied to us," Shusei said.

"Well, I…" Kuraudo began.

"You finish that sentence, I'll put this cigarette out using your eye," Kogami said, "You don't defend your people, then crap like this is going to happen. I want to talk to the employee that he abused, and I want to see the drone that killed him."

"The employee left about two hours before you arrived," Kuraudo said, "The drone hasn't been found yet."

"I want his street address, and his name," Kogami said as he removed his cigarette, and placed it back in the case.

"His name is Shio Tadori," Kuraudo said, "He lives at a house on Sprite Street."

"With," Kogami asked.

"His parents," Kuraudo said, "He's trying to find another job. Their address is 0124."

"Alright," Kogami said before turning to Ginoza, "Sir, permission to take Inspector to find this man?"

"Granted," Ginoza said, "But your Breaker stays here with us while we search for the guilty robot."

"Deal," Kogami said as he walked past the team, "Come along, Inspector."

Akane followed Kogami out the door of the plant, and into the car, "Why'd you make that comparison back there," Akane asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

"To him being the principal of an elementary school," Kogami asked as he buckled his own, "Because regardless of the situation, that's what he is, and that's the situation when it comes to bullies."

"Seen it before," Akane asked.

"Experienced it," Kogami said as he started up the car, and began to drive to their suspect's house, "I was bullied a few times as a kid during Elementary School. No matter how many times I complained, they never stopped. One day I decided to fight back."

"It didn't turn out well," Akane said.

"Not at first," Kogami said, "I gave him a bloody nose with one punch, come to find out later I fractured one of his bones."

Akane kind of cringed, "What kind of trouble did you get in," she asked.

"They wanted to take my recess privileges away," Kogami said, "They managed to do so for about a week until my father got involved. When he learned I was defending myself, he threatened to sue the school."

"Your father threatened to sue," Akane asked.

"We lived in a military town, so everyone that worked at the base sent their children to be educated at that school," Kogami said, "My father was CO of the base's Judicial Advocate General Corps, and it didn't hurt that I had made several complaints earlier so it wasn't hard to convince them that if he sued, they would lose the suit on a count of they ignored the complaints."

"Not a bad situation to be in," Akane said.

"Sort of," Kogami said, "It was right, but it felt wrong."

"I imagine it would," Akane said, "You almost losing recess."

Kogami chuckled as he settled back into his seat, and continued driving, "What about you?"

"Me," Akane asked.

"It's just the two of us," Kogami said, "Come on, you can tell me."

"I'll admit, it happened a little when I was in middle school," Akane said, "I was a bit of geek back then, I had the thick glasses, and braces that gave me a bit of a lisp."

"You got the braces off," Kogami asked.

"Yes," Akane said.

"What about the eyes," Kogami asked.

"I don't feel comfortable talking about them," Akane said, "I-if that's ok with you."

"That's fine," Kogami said as he raised his hand, "You don't want to talk about it, we don't have to talk about it."

Kogami then drove his car onto the on-ramp, and towards the suburban part of Los Angeles.

I'm back, and I will finish!