Put some things there, remove certain things out to creep people out... Hey that was almost poetic...
- Chapter 4-
Kougami
Pouring all the rage I've been holding in all day on the punching bag was what I needed the most, trying to remain calm during this case proves to be more of a challenge just knowing that Gino may turn out just like Sasayama. Seeing his body like that sent me over the edge back then, I don't know how I'll be able to bare coming upon Gino's corpse. To find him just placed wide into the open, just discarded like a piece of trash for everyone to see what would be left of the late senior inspector of the MWPSB. I can't let that happen, not again I just can't fail a second time…
Ever since the Specimen Case this is the first time we've gotten ourselves a serial killer and this is an odd one without a doubt and to make things worse the unit is down its senior inspector. No matter how much heart Akane has, she still lacks the experience and knowledge in how to deal in such situations but so far I have to say she's doing quite well to say the least.
Gino is hard-headed and pretty much a sour ass but he is good at what he does. Getting information out of people is one of his strong points. He twists his words in ways that those he interrogates spill out what he wants to know without them even noticing it until it's too late. It's just unfortunate that Gino doesn't give himself more credit for his work, he always doubts himself even when we were in high school, that hasn't changed…
The sound of the bag coming into contact with my fist is all that fills my quarters, each sound I imagine it being the guy's skull cracking under my fists as I give a blow right after another.
Every minute counts, we can't afford to sit back and wait for something to come up. I get that our shifts have ended three hours ago, we all need our rest to properly function however, in this circumstance we can't take that luxury. If we waste too much time, even if we do save Gino's life there's always a possibility that his psycho-pass will pass the point of no return and be demoted to an enforcer and just the thought of that happening makes my blood boil.
Gino has worked hard to get to where he is and he's endured so much all of his life. He struggled when Pops was taken away from him, watched his mom die and was basically raised by his grandparents. He studied constantly, endured being bullied and even with all of that he's managed to keep a clear hue and a gentle heart. I'll be damned if this is what causes him to crash. Fuck no!
I give one last punch at the punching bag, watching it swing back and forth before going to the fridge taking a water bottle out to drink as the sound of the bag still swinging fills my quarters. Staying inside this confinement is enough to make me lose my sanity. Well, whatever is left of it anyway? If it was just up to me, I'd be searching the streets right now, getting all the information I could possibly get. I wouldn't stop until Gino would be standing right in front of me.
Ever since I met him in high school I've always been there for him. No matter what I always had his back until the day I fell into the abyss and never resurfaced. If I hadn't fallen in that hell hole, I would still be an inspector; I'd be free to look for him right now… Chances are if I wasn't in this predicament right now all of this wouldn't have happened in the first place if only I had been there.
I throw the empty bottle that I crushed in my fist into the trash as I exit my quarters. Wandering the empty hall of the CID in silence, passing the other enforcer's quarters who are either already asleep or still awake doing nothing before stopping at the one at the end of the hall, not bothering to knock on the door as I enter.
"Kou, I wasn't expecting you."
Pops sure is one hell of a poker face. All day he's either had a lite smile on his face or a neutral expression. He's still in his suit though, sitting on his couch with a glass of whiskey in his hand and the bottle lying on the coffee table half full.
"Drinking to calm your nerves pops or you're just drinking for the hell of it?" I ask as I take a seat on the couch in front of him, separated by the coffee table.
"A bit of both…" He answers, giving me a glass of whiskey with that same calm expression he's had all day. "You've calmed down but I can see that you still have that rage inside of you." He adds.
He'd be right as usual, I'm boiling with rage and I'm doing my best to keep myself in check but it's harder to do then saying it. I have to keep repeating to myself that I'll find Gino, I'll find him alive and he'll be fine. His hue will still be clear, that he won't be a latent criminal when I'll find him that everything will go back to how it were.
"I'll find Gino that I promise." I declare taking a sip of my whiskey. "I'll find him and bring him ho-"
"I don't doubt it that you will but this case can go either way Kou. I've seen enough cases like this to know not to put all hopes on it, we can breathe when it's all over." He says followed by a swallow of his liquor.
"You sound as if you don't believe we'll get Gino back alive pops." I blurt out but saying those words definitely hit a sensitive spot. I can only imagine what's going on in his head right now.
I've been friends with Gino for a very long time so sure this is personal for me but for pops it's got to be the worst feeling knowing that your own kid is somewhere being tortured to death and that he might have to bury his only kid before he goes. That very thought must be excruciatingly painful for a parent to endure.
"There's nothing I want more than to have my son back here within my sight even if he'll always be out of my reach that's fine with me as long he's well and happy." He tells me before letting out a sigh, allowing himself to sink into the couch with his glass of whiskey in his hand.
"I never wanted him to follow in my footsteps; I wanted him as far away from this kind of life but if that's what allows me to see him I'll accept it. I know that Nobuchika is strong; he will find a way to pull through that's all I can tell myself so I can continue in this case." He says as he rubs his forehead. Even if he doesn't want to admit it, this case is already starting to wear him both mentally and physically down.
"Kou listen to me. This case is personal for each of us, some more than the other but we will do everything we possibly can to get Nobuchika back. We must all keep our heads; we can't afford to make a single mistake." He tells me, more like he's warning me not to get carried away.
"You don't have to tell me twice pops I know what I have to do." I assure him. Getting a solid profile on this guy is the most important part to solving this case, putting it all together is the trickier part though.
"I know what this case means to you Kou. I know you fear that we will get to Nobuchika too late, you fear coming upon his body just like you did with enforcer Sasayama." He states but he couldn't have been closer to the truth.
To call it fears though… I wouldn't go has far as to call it fearing but yes it does bother me knowing that fact. I know in every case there is always a chance that you will fail in finding the murderer and prevent an innocent's death but what makes this worst is that this guy has already managed to kill five people and yet somehow those deaths had never been connected before until now…
He's not a new murderer who's still experimenting in his kills, to try and find what he's comfortable with. He has already established that and that's the fucking problem. Right now he is completely in control of himself. No fear, no form of anxiety, or that he'll get caught. He believes that he's untouchable to the point that he's now bored so he came up with this game, he's playing with us.
"We might have diverged paths now but Gino will always be my closest friend. Yes it bothers me that he's being tortured alive, yes it bothers me that I might find Gino dead but I promise you one thing when I get my hands on that bastard I'll drive my fist into his fucking skull." I declare as I empty my glass in a single gulp.
The rage I had managed to calm down is starting to resurface again as I think about what I'll do to that bastard for harming Gino. I'll make him regret for even considering making Gino is next victim.
"You think the little missy will let you do that?" He tells me with a grin.
He's got a point; Akane would never let me murder a serial killer with my own two hands even if they deserved it. She'll absolutely want this guy to be judged by the damn Sibyl system.
"Talking about the little missy she came by earlier. For her first solo case she's doing well but she's shaken and I can't blame her. Keep in mind Kou that it's our job to make her job a little easier, not to make too much problems for her. Subdue the criminal and retrieve Nobuchika, that's all we have to do." He adds and again, he makes an excellent point.
"She's doing great considering her lack of experience. She'll make one hell of a detective one day that's without a doubt." I state as Pops gives me a refill.
"She sure will…"
XXX
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That whiskey sure hit the spot, after two glasses I had to refuse another fill up and left pops to himself to return to my own quarters for the night. I don't mind drinking but I also want to be able to think straight tomorrow. I have to come up with something by the start of the next shift. Day two and before we even know it the day will already be over.
I walk back to my quarter, dragging my feet as I enter and was kind of surprise to see Akane going through one of my books sitting on the couch. She quickly jumped to her feet and closed the book in haste with a red face failing to hide her embarrassment terrible and I can't help but chuckle at her for it which only causes her to become even redder much to my amusement.
"I thought you went home already inspector." I tell her as I enter closing the door behind me. I see she was looking through my old high school photo album, my fault for not putting it away I guess.
"Yeah I was about to but I had to talk with Mr. Masaoka first. He doesn't even feel confident that we'll find Mr. Ginoza in time, I feel like he knows something that I don't but he just doesn't want to say it." She states. Her expression is gloomy, matching her tone as she held the photo album closer to her chest sitting back on the couch.
"He's got something in the back of his head; I won't deny that much but he's probably just not sure so he doesn't say anything not to lead us off." I answer back taking a water bottle out of the fridge.
"All the enforcers don't seem to be too worried about all of this. Everyone is in their quarters doing the same old things as if nothing is wrong, is it just me that's worried?" She asks.
"No we're worried about Gino's condition and safety too it's just that everyone's way of dealing with that stress is just different but I can tell you that we are all on edge. We're just better at hiding it that's all." I reply as I make my way to the couch to sit next to her.
"Sorry about snooping, this was on your table… Other than these pictures, I've never seen Mr. Ginoza smile before. He actually really looks happy in these… What was the event? Everyone is all dressed so formally." She asks as she goes through the photo album page by page bringing back old memories to my mind with each one she flips.
"It was our high school graduation. Our class wanted an old tradition ball, a prom as they liked to call it back then. All the guys had to wear tuxedos and the girls had to wear these elegant gowns and apparently it was a sin if two girls had the same dress." I explain not able to hold in a small laugh as I think back at the argument three girls had because they had been wearing the same dress it was just hilarious watching them fight over something so trivial.
"I have to admit, it was way more fun than I had thought it would have been." I add.
Those sure were the good old days; we didn't have anything to worry about back then. All we wanted was to protect people and that's what we did, we became inspectors but it didn't take long for us to realize that the world we lived in was nothing more than an illusion created by the Sibyl system. It won't take Akane long to realize that too, sooner or later she'll realize just how sick and twisted this world is all on her own and what she makes out of it will be all up to her in the end.
"Mr. Ginoza went to the prom with inspector Aoyanagi?" She suddenly asks rather surprised eyes glued on the picture with Gino and Risa photographed together. Risa in her strapless crimson dress that showed her figure quite well with a split on the front left of her skirt revealing even more skin while Gino wore a simple tuxedo with a crimson tie to match Risa's dress; I have to admit they looked good together that's for sure.
The next picture was a group picture including some girl I just can't remember her name other than she had been dumped without a date at the last minute and I decided that I'd be her date much to her joy since I didn't have one. To be honest I had actually forgotten to ask someone out so it was just luck that she had been stooped but because of that, my tie didn't match her dress but oh well we had fun anyway…
"Yeah that was my doing, Gino didn't have a date and neither did she. During our time in high school Risa had the biggest crush on Gino. Like usual he was totally oblivious to it, I think he still is to this day." I explain followed by a laugh just thinking about those two and how I wasted my time matching both of them together for that event causing me to forget my own date in the process.
It's never been much of a secret that Risa has had a crush on Gino and the fact that she still does is no mystery. She flirts with him at any possible moment she has while Gino on the other hand never even seems to notice her advances. Pops and I have given him slight hints on different occasions but he never caught on and that one time with Sasayama… That was just hilarious how he had been teasing Gino about how Risa was with him but again always completely oblivious.
"Explains why inspector Aoyanagi wants to help find Mr. Ginoza so badly…"
"Risa would do anything for Gino and in a way he'd do anything for her but when it comes to a relationship he's a total idiot." I state taking the album from Akane's hands, placing it back in the bookshelf where it belongs.
"You're still thinking about Izaya aren't you?" I ask.
"Yeah… Did you know that he lost his wife and little girl three years ago?" She tells me and quite frankly no I didn't know that Izaya once had a wife and daughter which make things rather strange if his stressor was the loss of his job… It would make better sense if the death of his family had been the stressor instead so that could mean that he might not have killed just five people. Maybe more but with different …
"I looked into his file more and from the report he was a good worker but his performance dropped after he lost his family in a car accident and it ended that he lost his job. How can a human being with such a clean slate even become a murderer, I just can't understand it." She adds.
"Push someone too much over the edge and they'll eventually fall or push back. Some go down so hard that they can never come back but first thing's first we have to pick him up. We'll leave that to Risa to handle, we're going to stop by professor Saiga tomorrow, if someone can help make things clearer for us it will be him." I tell her. I can't help but have this feeling that we're just being played here so getting Saiga's word in this case will be more than helpful.
Liking the lite modifications so far? Yes? No? Next chapter will be some old stuff with some new.