There the former chapter 5. I decided to change Akane's POV to a Kougami POV instead.
- Chapter 6 -
Kougami
~ Day 2 ~
I've been locked up as an enforcer for three damn years and only in that short period of time things have changed. The urban area is pretty much abandoned now as nature took over back what was hers. Basically erasing what we humans did to it in the past, quickly healing now that we humans no longer seem to care for it like our ancestors did. Pops would often recount how things were before the Sybil system was introduced into society; people would actually do things outdoors and just go on the wild unknown adventure but not today. In this day and age, everything is already pre-determined for you, all you have to do is follow the oracles of the Sybil system and you're set.
The whole thing might sound like a good idea if you think about it real quick. To obey the Sybil system so you can live a healthy and happy lifestyle for the rest of your boring damn life but it's only once you stop and really think about it how twisted that thought really is and once you allow yourself to make those single thoughts, it won't be long until your locked up and forgotten.
I can't say that I got much sleep last night not like I sleep much anyway but I couldn't stop thinking about this case and I must say that I was rather surprised to see Akane so early this morning. She had already contacted Saiga when she came to see me this morning, ready to head off to the good old professor of mine.
Although Akane hasn't said anything, I can tell by her expression that she's got no clue as to why we are now in the urban area instead of the city. I never did mention to her that the professor doesn't enjoy the city life; actually he loathes the very idea of being near anything that is a hologram and in a sense can't say that I blame the man. Yeah I guess holograms can look good but it ain't natural; out here in the wonders of nature is truly what I'd call freedom.
Gino is always lurking in the back of my mind, I always keep trying to imagine what's currently happening to him at this very moment and it just kills me. When things like this happen, it always happens to someone else, to someone that you just don't know or barely know. It doesn't happen to you or the ones you are close to, that's what we all say...Crazy saying, a stupid one if you ask me…
"Mr. Kougami are you sure that we should have left inspector Aoyanagi the job to apprehend the suspect?" She asks killing the long silence that filled the car for a while now since we left the MWPSB.
Her concern is understandable but she can't split herself into two either and should simply take the offer that has been given to her without question but I get her feelings too. Division one is the unit that has been charged to apprehend the criminal and retrieve Gino, it's our duty and as the only inspector available for the division every decisions lies on Akane's shoulders and thus meaning she needs to be the one leading in this investigation. However she also has to understand that she can't do everything on her own even if she has the heart, will and power to do it.
"Risa said she could handle it so you should let her." I simply answer not bothering to hide my boredom while looking outside from my window.
"I just thought it would be better if division one was the one to take him in that's all." She voices out.
Can't say that she doesn't have a point, yeah it would give division one the highlight for catching a five time murderer but it's not as if it will be worth much in the long run though. I think what Akane hasn't realized yet is that as the main division on this case; it is our job to gather as much information as we can to narrow down in order to come up with a solid profile.
Izaya Hinamiya is currently missing, we don't know where the man is hiding and finding him might take hours to even days and that's just time we don't have. Allowing Risa and her division to search for Izaya is much more beneficial for this investigation. We gather information while another team searches the streets and besides I know Saiga. He wouldn't help in an investigation just for anyone but I know he'll help me out so I have to go myself so meaning that Akane has to come with me. It just can't be helped in this situation.
"Gathering information is just as important as actually getting Izaya. If we know too little about his motives and all we have is a security camera footage it won't be enough to put actual pressure into interrogating him." I explain as I remove my gaze off the scenery outside and on to her instead before continuing. "We have to find out where Gino is being held, normally we would point the dominator and allow the Sibyl system to decide its verdict and be done with it but we can't take the chance that it goes into lethal eliminator, we need information from him first or we might never find Gino alive."
That's the hard part and I wish Gino hadn't removed his terminal when he got home that night. Things might have been much easier if he had it with him, we might have been able to track his location with it but now, we have to capture that bastard alive and get him to spill out the information that we need.
If Gino is still alive and Izaya truly turns out to be the actual murderer and we kill him, we don't know just how long Gino can fair until we actually find him. An average human being can survive seven days without food or water but we know that the murderer is killing his victims by draining their blood in a certain method so we just can't take that gamble.
"Yeah but chances are Izaya is with Mr. Ginoza right now. When division two finds him, Mr. Ginoza should be around the area also right?" She states but that would be a foolish mistake to assume.
"Not necessary. Don't forget Akane that this man must be doing something else for a living and that means whatever he does during the day, he won't be near Gino. The guy on the security camera looked way too clean to be homeless and jobless." I further explain my reasoning but I can tell she's not totally convinced but she doesn't try to further the argument as silence consumes the car again as she turns her terminal on to check on something before turning back her attention towards me.
"Professor Jouji Saiga, it says that he's a retired college professor. How can he be of some help to us in this case?" She asks and I can't help but chuckle at the question as I stretch my arms to relieve the cramping.
"Professor Saiga specialises in human psychology. He used to be the one to prepare and form inspectors in the MWPSB into criminal profiling. I, Gino and Risa were all students of his before his retirement, actually we were his last students." I explain. "If there's one person that can help us figure out more about this sociopath, it's him."
I place my hands in the back of my head, leaning back in my seat as I glance towards Akane she seemed amazed that Saiga was the one who thought me psychology or that she's now comparing me with Gino and Risa which is a normal thing to do but each of us have our own strength and weaknesses so doing so isn't the smartest move to make.
"I know what you're thinking Akane. You think Gino doesn't match up to me." I blurt out catching her by surprise as she looks at me with this embarrassed look on her face proving me right.
On this job the last thing an inspector should do is doubt his or her own partner. Out on the field the only ally you should trust is your partner and no one else. Yeah you can have faith in your enforcers but the thing is and I know that's something Gino has been trying to get into Akane's head for a while now and that is not all enforcers are like division one's. We would never turn on our shepherds nor would we try to run off on them either but other enforcers would, some would even try to harm their shepherds if they see an opportunity. So in a sense you can say we're the abnormal enforcers within the CID.
"Gino is just as good as I am but he doubts in his own abilities causing him not to perform to his full potential but trust me when I say this, Gino can be a great detective if only he'd stop putting himself down all the time that would help." I tell her and I know if Gino hears about what I just said he'll choke me himself but I'm not the type to hide the truth. Akane would have picked it up eventually on her on anyway, best to let her know about one of her partner's weak points.
If you don't know Gino and I'm sure Akane made that same mistake, if you don't know him you'd think that he's this calm and confident individual who gives the impression of being incredibly together and organized but the reality is that Gino is riddled with so much anxiety and insecurities and the source of it all well I for one am a factor and so is Pops. The rest well it's all intertwined…
The car takes a turn into a narrow road leading deeper into the forest and not long after, I'd say about five minutes a large house started coming into view. Saiga's house made almost entirely of bricks and concrete with large windows. The glass structure of Saiga's greenhouse attached to the side of his house is basically its focal point. The landscape is just like I remembered it to be. The calm features of the natural mini falls flowing into a small stream is soothing to look at and it just blends well with the scenery of the forest.
I quickly give a glance towards Akane, she has this amazed expression on her face, I seriously wonder if she has ever left the city before? I'll take my guesses that she hasn't so seeing nature's wonders like this must be almost breathtaking for her and just assuming that, I can't help but let out a faint smile form on my face.
The car comes into a stop and we get out making our way to the house as I go straight to the door not wasting any time to ring the doorbell while Akane looks around, not mining as the professor answered through the intercom and I alerted him that we had arrived.
"I don't see much environment Holo being used here." She asks.
"That's because that kind of stuff irritates the hell out of him." I answer back and quite frankly why have any of that shit all the way out here in the first place when you have all the real things and better.
The front door finally opens and we're greeted by Saiga and although I hadn't seen him in so long he hasn't changed one bit. He still looks like a nerd dressed the way he does which is how Risa used to call his fashion sense back in the day and always rocking that messy ass beard of his.
I press my luck calling him by his former title which he never the less doesn't fail to remind me how many years since he quit and to not address him by professor anymore. We exchange a few more words before he lets us into his home before turning his attention towards Akane as she formally introduces herself at her turn.
"Did you have time to oversee the files we sent this morning professor?" I ask getting a stare from Saiga in return as I pretend not to be aware of it as I make my way to his living room, taking a seat next to Akane while Saiga goes to the kitchen and offers some coffee before joining us, taking a seat in a chair on the other side of the coffee table in front of me.
"Yes I have. I must say when Miss Akane Tsunemori contacted me earlier for a meeting about a specific case, I wasn't aware that one of my former students was the victim." He states taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'm sorry I wasn't aware that Mr. Ginoza was one of your students when I contacted you." Akane quickly apologizes but Saiga simply gives her a warm smile and dismisses the need for an apology much to her relief.
"Could you make out anything from the evidence collected or anything that stood out?" I further inquire.
"The documents are incomplete." He blurts out with a stern expression much to my dismay but I had a feeling that would have been the case. "There are obviously missing victims, it is impossible for someone to be this good with only five kills, you would be looking at one with over twenty body counts if not more and that is ignoring any other crimes this individual has committed." He adds as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
I glance at Akane and I can tell that she wasn't expecting an answer like that from the professor as she struggles to keep her composure but still manages well however she can't hide the fact that her brain is probably on overdrive asking so many questions in her head right about now.
"Furthermore from what I can tell by the pictures provided, the pierced wounds on the arms were poorly made, you can tell this individual has no proper techniques in handling a needle but he has improved by the last body however it is to be noted that no form of infections were found on any of the bodies or were any of them found to be dehydrated or malnourished but their stomachs were completely empty therefor meaning that the individual has a basic knowledge in medicine and first aid." Saiga explains.
I remember reading about the autopsy report. It's something that came out as strange to me, well Shion was the one to point it out and I just further looked into it. By that I came to the conclusion that our fucking bastard probably draws blood intervals, keeping the victim alive as long as possible and must use some sort of serum to keep his victims from dying but that's just my theory.
"Only these five came to a match in the database." Akane quickly states and that's another thing if he has killed before, would it mean that he only just recently changed his M.O and just decided to go with specific traits and killing technique? If so that's a huge leap and we can assume that his killing method is now absolute to him.
However, I know what she's thinking, that there has to be some sort of mistake but it's something that I've been pondering with since last night, since Akane told me about Izaya's family having died three years ago. I couldn't help but think that those kills were too good, too right; even for body number one it was almost too perfect for being a first kill.
"This man's psycho-pass must be extremely high, he would have been flagged by a street scanner but he hasn't." She further adds but avoiding the street scanners isn't that much of an impressive feet. I've seen it be done over and over again in this job so for this lunatic being able to do it isn't one bit surprising.
"In the past some criminals claimed that committing crimes reduced their stress levels and assuming this man finds relief in killing could explain why he has never been caught. His crime coefficient lowers until his stress level rises again and he needs to kill." Saiga states and Pops has mentioned the exact same thing to me before and although it doesn't make much sense I wouldn't rule it out as impossible either.
"What are we looking at professor?" I ask as I feel my frustration slowly starting to build back up knowing that Risa's search really is going to lead up to absolutely nothing in the end.
"By these kills I've seen from the files, your man is intelligent, cunning and cruel. I'd say he's a man in his late thirties or early forties. He sees himself as a god but if you ask me these previous kills were only for practice for the real thing." Saiga answers as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose again.
"I believe that Ginoza has always been the real target right from the star. All his last victims share similar trait and from the hospital records they also shared the same blood type." He adds as he continues. "To answer as to why this individual would set his eyes onto Ginoza could be for many reasons. Could be some sort of grudge, jealousy or it might be meant for someone else entirely and if I'm not mistaken his father was once a detective also but was demoted to an enforcer. The attack on Ginoza could be meant for him or could be meant for the person he was closest to." He adds as he gives me a look and I get where he's going with this and just thinking that Gino might have fallen victim because of me makes my blood boil.
But… It makes sense if the fucking bastard had always been targeting Gino right from the get go. It would explain why the five last victims all shared similar trait to him but if you ask me I'm getting the vibe that there is something seriously wrong with that bastard's head and somehow I don't know why but I don't think Izaya is our guy and if not how the hell did he even get his hands on those paintings in the first place?
"Tsunemori here."
I look at Akane when she spoke, looks like she got a call and by her expression it isn't good news and Saiga just has this calm smile on his face as he takes a sip on his coffee. Probably he already knows exactly what the call is about and what news Akane just got. He always gets it right but right now it isn't making things any better, I know the real fucker is still with Gino and that's a problem.
Don't be shy to tell me how you feel about the changes so far. Do you love them or not. I'm getting so many silent readers.