Alright new chapter. For those messaging me on tumblr asking me not to include Aoyanagi into this fanfic well sorry guys she was always a part of this fanfic. I decided that even before she died so she stays.

Kougami

Pouring all the rage I've been holding in all day on the punching bag was what I needed most, trying to remain calm during this case proves to be more of a challenge just knowing that Gino may turn out like Sasayama. I can't let that happen, not again I just can't fail a second time… 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. To make things worse the unit is down its senior inspector, no matter how much heart Akane has, she lacks in experience and knowledge in how to deal in such situations. Gino is hard-headed and 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 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.

I give a last punch at the punching bag, watching it swing back and forth before going to the fridge taking a water bottle out to drink. 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 stand 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 into the trash as I exit my quarters. I wander in the empty hall, passing the other enforcer's quarters, 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 smile on his face or a neutral expression. He's still in his suit 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.

"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."

"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." Saying those words hit a sensitive spot. I can only imagine what's going on in his head. I've been friends with Gino for a long time 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.

"There's nothing I want more than to have my son back even if he'll always be out of my reach that's fine with me as long he's well and happy. 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 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."

"You don't have to tell me twice pops I know what I have to do." 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." Fear… I wouldn't go has far as to call it fearing but yes it does bother me knowing that fact, in every case there is always a chance that you will fail in finding the murderer and prevent an innocent death, what makes this worst is that this guy 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 is still experimenting in his kills, to try and find what he's comfortable with, he has already established that. 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 he's now bored so he came up with this game, he's playing with us.

"We might have diverged paths 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 guy I'll drive my fist into his skull." The rage I had managed to calm is starting to resurface again as I think about what I'll do to him for harming Gino.

"You think the little missy will let you do that?" He says with a grin. He's got a point; Akane would never let me murder a serial killer with my own two hands. 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."

"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 I take a good swallow of whiskey.

"She sure will…"

That whiskey sure hit the spot, after one glass I had to refuse another fill up and left pops to himself. 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 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 with a red face of which I could make out by the cover; it's one of my old school photo albums.

"I thought you went home already inspector." I tell her as I enter closing the door behind me.

"Yeah I was about to but I had to talk with Mr. Masaoka. He doesn't even feel confident that we'll find Mr. Ginoza in time, I feel like he knows something I don't but he just doesn't want to say it." Her expression is gloomy 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 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 it's just that everyone's way of dealing with the 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. 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.

"It was our high school graduation. Our class wanted an old tradition ball, a prom as they liked to call it. All the guys had to wear tuxedos and the girls had to wear these elegant gowns; it was more fun than I had thought it would have been." 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 to realize that the world we lived in was nothing more than an illusion created by the Sibyl system.

"Mr. Ginoza went to the prom with inspector Aoyanagi?" She ask rather surprised eyes glued on the picture with Gino and Risa photographed together and the next one was a group picture with a girl I 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.

"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." I answer followed by a laugh just thinking about those two. It's never been much of a secret that Risa has had a crush on Gino and she still does, she flirts with him at any possible moment she has. Gino on the other hand never even seems to notice her advances.

"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 placing it in the bookshelf. "You're still thinking about Izaya aren't you?"

"Yeah… Did you know that he lost his wife and little girl three years ago? 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."

"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."

Chapter 4.5

Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks is to disturb monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine.

In this world that's what it is, simply a machine that governs each and decides what you should be doing instead of your greatest passion. Art is the largest form of creativity, there is no right or wrongs in art. Unfortunately, Sibyl has taken people's free will to express one's self. Art is dull; it has become nothing more than a shell of its former self.

"Ahhhh- you're finally awake." There is just something about a man I can't resist in hearing the muffled sounds they make as they try to free themselves. It has a tone that isn't usually present in their voice, watching them squirm until they realize that no matter how much they struggle they'll never move and it only makes it all the better as their eyes give out a special message but his are different, there's something else in his eyes or perhaps those glasses are only concealing what they are trying to say. The frames seem so fragile in my hands as I place them on the small table next to me… Fragile as his delicate face. Such a beautiful shade, just like emeralds; his greens eyes have always captivated me and yet he hides them behind such hideous things that do not seem to be of any use to him, the glass of his glasses has absolutely no strength in them, apparently he only wears them for show which is a shame really to hide such a gorgeous face.

His hair feels like silk just as I had imagined it would be as I touch the loose strands framing his flawless face. Muffled sounds escape his throat, shaking his head trying to remove my hand from touching his delicate face as I take hold of it with both hands. His skin feels smooth under my own skin, inspecting every inch as he fights to free himself from my grasp. "Not a single visible pore, you are a perfect model... How sad that you do not remember me Nobuchika, I for one have not been able to forget about you." I tell him, admiring every inch of his facial structure.

His confusion in his eyes are most amusing as he goes quiet looking around the room with those green orbs. "The road had been long but I never withered away from making you my last. In my lifetime I have murdered twenty-one human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than a thousand male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry. I have no desire whatever to reform myself. My only desire is to reform other people who try to reform me and I believe that the only way to reform people is to kill them."

More muffled sounds escape his throat as he tries to free himself again as I reach out for the bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls, pouring the substance on them and then I rub a wet cotton ball on the spot where the brachial artery is located on his arms as I ignore his squirming on the table. "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing… I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since."

Nobuchika has always been this slender, with the years he has bloomed into how I had always known he would have. I have no intention of allowing him to leave, I'll have my own thrill with those he works with, and the one I truly want dead is rather out of my reach at the moment. With one stone I can get two birds, only the second bird is mine to keep while the other must die. "You learn what you need is to kill and take care of the details… It's like changing a tire… The first time you're careful… By the thirtieth time, you can't remember where you left the lug wrench."

I reach for the first needle soaked in alcohol; taking precious care to carefully wipe it dry before taking a hold of his right arm sticking the needle into his brachial artery as he lets out a few more muffled sounds as blood starts to flow through the tube connected to the needle. I take a clasp and tighten the tube to slow the flow of the blood and I repeat the same with the other arm, his blood is of a bright red with a slight dark hue. The smell fills my nostrils as I listen to the first drops of blood fall into the glass jar, such a sweet melody.

"You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You're looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!" Such a beautiful specimen for always hiding behind so much layer of clothing, I had to see for myself what was hiding under that jacket and dress shirt, his stomach is ripped with delicate soft muscles, his chest is hard and yet frail with no chest hair, his breathing is rapid and short as I lick his soft neck up to his ear. My lips merging with his warm skin as I bite into his flesh; fresh blood meets my tongue as he muffles some sounds as I suck on the escaping blood. His body has tensed up under my touch as his muffled sounds start to sound more as whimpers…

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