Sorry for the wait, I had a bit of a writer's block.
Kougami
"Do you think that maybe Mr. Ginoza is heading out to the field a little too soon? I mean he was brutally tortured for four days, is two weeks really long enough to recover from something like that?" Akane asks as she puts on her bullet proof vest. There isn't a yes or no to that question; everyone deals with their emotional conflicts differently. Is Gino ready for this maybe but if it was up to me he wouldn't be going but he's an inspector so I trust his judgement.
"He's determined I'll give him that…" I answer as I finish adjusting the straps of my bulletproof vest. The fabric is a little annoying on my bare skin but by wearing it under my clothes, it will look like I don't have one on unlike the others. I want Seiho to be focused on me; I can handle whatever he throws at me as I buy some time to give the others the chance to shoot that bastard.
"I fear revenge is more on his mind than actually administering justice." She voices out her concern. If that's how she thinks about Gino, then she doesn't know him at all.
"Revenge? You can cross that out; Gino's focus is on getting Seiho off the streets so no one else falls victim to that bastard again."
He knows the risks and he's even taking the precaution that we must wear these bulletproof vests just in case. He must have debated for quite a while just to get the permission from the chief to allow us enforcers to even wear them in the first place.
"Do you think the attack on inspector Aoyanagi made him decide to do this?" She'd be the one to put the idea in his head in the first place, it's not something Gino would have come up with by himself considering the risk but that's not something I will admit to Akane though. If something goes wrong, I'd hate for Akane to hold a grudge on Risa for it.
"… Yeah but it's not just that. Gino has to put Seiho away, that's the only way he'll have his mind at peace." I tell her. Doing nothing won't solve the problem with a criminal out on the loose; just knowing that someone else can get attack and killed will always lurk in the back of Gino's mind and that will put a dent in his recovery or his work performance. He'd rather put himself in danger than allow anyone else to get hurt on his behalf. We may not like the idea but we can't argue against the plan since there is no other way, this is the only option we have to get Seiho out into the open.
"But still, does he have to go out on the field himself?" If anyone can understand her concern it's me but in this line of work, danger is a large factor of it so if you are not prepared to put your life on the line to solve a case then you can find yourself running in circles while trying to solve it and in the end, you either get injured, fail and worst case scenario death.
"No but with him there Seiho will surely come out. That's what he's been waiting for, he's probably been watching the bureau and following us around when we go out on the field to assess a situation just in case Gino comes out." I reply. I've been saying it since that bastard disappeared. We can't find him because he's been following us like a god damn dog, hiding in the crowd and avoiding the street scanners while observing our every move.
"I just fear that Mr. Ginoza will not be his usual self out on the field. What if something happens?" She asks as she puts on her inspector's jacket as I finish putting on my clothes when I see Gino in the distance.
"Hey Gino!" I shout catching his attention.
"What?" Clearly he's busy with something right now but still taking the time to listen to what I have to say.
"What goes up, lets out a load, and then goes back down?" I ask and I have to control myself from laughing when he gives me a confused look on his face.
"An elevator…" He answers and walks away; probably asking himself what's with that question, not really getting the other meaning of the question.
"He's perfectly fine." I blurt out as I look at her confused expression, clearly she didn't get the nature of the question either. Considering her age it isn't much of a surprise but Gino who's going on twenty-eight and can never manage to understand a dirty question is always hilarious.
Sasayama used to have his fun with Gino back when he was still alive. He'd ask him questions like if he liked movies about gladiators or if he'd had ever been in a Turkish prison before. Every time Sasayama would ask him such questions he'd simply tell him no but I could easily tell by his expression that he had no idea that what Sasayama was even talking about was actually meant in a sexual term. He even went as far as to ask Gino if he had ever seen a grown man naked to which pops voiced out his discontent about it but like usual, Gino simply stated that he hadn't and that was it.
One time Sasayama would ask riddles that were obviously dirty intended and Gino would always answer in his usual innocent mind could and it was just hilarious… Sasayama gave up after a while when he just couldn't get the answers that he wanted and even asked me if Gino even had the ability to have a dirty mind. I honestly miss those days. The guy was a piece of work not denying that without a doubt but there was never a dull moment in the office.
"Alright let's go." Gino's order took me out of my thoughts as the others entered the paddy wagon and Akane joined Gino.
Chapter 17.5
Kougami
The paddy wagon comes to a stop and not long after the door opens letting the light inside. Kagari and Kunizuka are the first ones to get out as we follow behind. Akane and Gino come join us in the back as I carefully inspect my surroundings. Risa was the one that suggested we use an abandon port for this operation since there won't be any innocent bystanders around to cause any distractions. So far, I don't see any homeless people around, that at least should make our job easier to spot him…
"Understood." Gino says as he nods to let us know that Risa's division are in place on the rooftops, ready to open fire if need be.
With that we separate into two groups and like it was decided earlier this time pops and I are with Gino while Kunizuka and Kagari are with Akane.
"Gino keep your distance from me, stay closer to pops." I tell him as low as possible to avoid that bastard from hearing in case that he's around.
"Don't do anything reckless Kou." He answers but he doesn't try to argue with me as he joined pops. The plan is for us to pretend that we are investigating the scene as if a crime occurred so it is important that Gino and Akane only observe what we enforcers are doing to make it believable and so far both of them couldn't do any better, they could fool me.
I know he's here. That feeling you get when someone is watching you, I have that. I can't see him but his eyes are definitely on me. I take out my dominator, my finger on the trigger ready to fire the moment I can see him. As much as I want to punch the living daylight out of that bastard for what he did to Gino, I can't afford to take that risk or it can turn very badly for all of us if I'm too careless.
A loud cracking sound fills the air and I suddenly get my breath taken right out of me as I fall to my knees, I see pops place himself in front of Gino with his dominator tightly in his hand and Gino looking towards me with an horrified expression when another loud cracking sound fills the air causing me to fall on my back. I hear Gino's voice calling my name in the distance and everything goes black.
"Mr. Kougami!"
Argh shit, what the hell happened? My chest feels like someone bashed it with a hammer… My vision went from black and is slowly getting better as I finally recognize Akane's blurred worried face.
"Mr. Kougami!" Her voice is distant and yet I can feel her hand on my arm, my vision still blurry as I try to get up but I quickly lose my balance causing me to fall on my knees… Shit.
"Kougami get up!" I look towards the voice as my vision becomes clearer and the dizzy spell starts to wear off, shaking my head as I can breathe better and I finally am able to stand on my two feet without any support. I quickly look around, where the hell is he?
"Where's Gino?" I ask as I pick up my dominator off the ground.
"The operation is a failure. He has a revolver and he open fired on division one. Kunizuka and Kagari have been shot and have been forced to retreat to the paddy wagon until their bleeding stops. Masaoka is in pursuit so hurry and get a move on!" Risa quickly briefs me into the current situation.
"What happened to Gino?" I ask again but she doesn't answer as she runs off with her dominator in hand and I follow leaving Akane behind to tend to the injured Kagari and Kunizuka. "Risa, tell me."
"It happened so fast… We couldn't see him and when we heard the gunshot and I saw you going down followed by a second shot, everything went so fast at that moment and what made it worst was that he somehow got his hands on an inspector's jacket so the paralyzer won't work on him…" She tells me. To think that his crime coefficient is below three hundred with all the murders and crimes he's committed. He definitely knew what he was doing I'll give him that but it doesn't matter how he acquired that jacket, all that matters is that he's fast on his feet and has quick hands which is good to know if it comes down to a fight.
"He managed to take Gino hostage?" I ask and she doesn't have to answer for me to know, her facial expression speaks louder than words. Shit! How could pops have allowed that to happened, the last I remember before I blacked out was pops shielding Gino while he was forced in a crouching position by pops for cover with a horrified expression on his face.
"Yeah… He used him as a human shield to shoot Kunizuka and Kagari, forced Masaoka to throw his dominator to the ground and back away… Threatened to put a bullet in Gino's head if he didn't comply…" Typical actions from a fucking typical coward, I knew that he would go for me first which was the main reason why I wore my bullet proof vest under my clothes in the first place while everyone else except for Gino and Akane wore their bulletproof vest over their clothing and under their inspector's jacket. What I hadn't counted for was that he would have acquired a revolver, which changes things a bit.
I made him believe that I was careless so chances are that in his head, I'm dead or lying dying so I'm no longer considered a threat to him which only proved my point about him having a target to kill and that he was just simply using Gino in a sense to do it. It was either me or pops who were his real target and since he didn't shoot pops when he had the chance only means that I was the only one he really wanted to kill right from the start and now he believes that I'm dead so he doesn't see any other reason to kill but only to escape with his prize.
He viewed me as an obstacle for Gino during our high school years. I had all of his attention and that just pissed Seiho off, he couldn't get close enough because of me. In his mentally deranged mind Gino had a romantic interest in me so in order to make him change from me to him, I had to be taken out of the picture permanently.
"As long he uses Gino as a shield, even if his crime coefficient goes over three hundred we won't be able to shoot him." I voice out. "I'll have to attack him head on, if it means having to kill him with my own two hands then so be it."
"Your own crime coefficient will go up Kougami. We'll corner him and he won't have any other choice but to give up." She adds.
We take a turn towards the pier as we see pops hiding behind some crates and not too far away is Seiho with Gino. "You think that it will be that easy?" I ask her as we quietly approach pops.
"It's worth a try." She states with her dominator ready to shoot.
I carefully look through the cracks between the crates. Looks like he tied Gino's wrists together in a crossed positioned and from the looks of it whatever he used to tie him up its way too tight. It's hard to see from here but there's definitely blood on his hand and looks like he got hit in the face too, probably from when Gino was taken hostage or during when Seiho tied him up.
Seiho tugs Gino to follow by holding on to his wrist but that bastard's mind has taken a walk off the map, you can see it in the way he moves and the expression on his face. He isn't thinking rationally which can be problematic if we use Risa's approach we might actually regret it.
"It won't work… Let pops and I handle it, keep your distance."
Review, tell me what you guys think. I will try to update soon but I'm starting a damn cold so it might be a while.