Welcome to chapter 7!
Mika tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for any news. Getting a call in the middle of the night from the hospital that your boss had collapsed whilst talking with Saiga, was something she wasn't at all expecting. And yet, even though she was mad that her boss allowed herself too get to that state, she had to admit that she was worried for her as well. Her Psycho-Pass was worrying, it always was. How did that woman work herself to the point of fainting, and her Psycho-Pass still not reach past thirty-two point three?
How can someone only reach that point, and then hours later, it go back down to twenty-eight point six? What was her secret?
Mika had to confess, she was slightly jealous that her boss could so easily go from breaking point to normality in a matter of hours. As odd and envious as it was, Mika was enthralled by it as well. She hoped that her Psycho-Pass was that strong, it would make everything a lot easier.
The hospital smelt like bleach and sweat. Mika wished the news of her boss's recovery would come quicker. She needed some air. She let out a discouraging sigh before looking over her shoulder to her fellow enforcers. All of them had come to the hospital when she had called them. She wasn't expecting such an outcome, she honestly thought they wouldn't care. Maybe they were just following her shrilled orders, or maybe they really did care for the short Inspector who was behind the two doors in front of them.
Ginoza was looking to the ceiling fan, his eyes not budging from the spot. He was trying not to worrying too much, Akane was a strong individual. Stronger than anyone who was waiting for her to wake up outside her hospital room. She survived a lot of mind-destroying incidents in her few short years in the M.W.P.S.B, she could survive this, mentally and psychically.
But a blood boiling question seemed to spread through all of them as they waiting patiently. What caused this? Sure the new case was mind boggling in many senses of the word, but it wasn't so bad to faint due to it. Something or someone must've caused this to happen.
Could it be about him? Ginoza thought to himself, hearing Akane's room door slide open to reveal a nurse behind it. Everyone's attention went to her, Ginoza's question fizzling into the air.
Mika pounced on the nurse as soon as she saw her, her finger pointing into the middle aged woman's face. Addling her with questions. "How is she? Is her Psycho-Pass still low? Are there any injuries that need to be specified?" The nurse blinked and raised a brow and then smiled.
"Miss Tsunemori will be perfectly fine, she is just overly exhausted. My bet is that she hadn't slept well in a few days. She is running a fever as well. I want to keep her in for a while to see if the fever leaves, but she should be perfectly well in a few days. Albeit, I believe she should take time off work to rest. Stress is not good on a Psycho-Pass, after all."
Ginoza raised a brow, "Tsunemori has never taken a day off in her days working for the M. W. P. S. B. No wonder she's tired."
Mika bit her lip, "I'll contact Kasei, see what her decision is on Tsunemori possible getting time off to fully recover."
Sho interjected softly, "But surely, with this case, she should keep working? Without her, I am certain that…"
"We'll be fine without her help." Mika snapped. Walking off with her phone, obviously to contact Kasei immediately.
Yayoi spoke through the sudden awkwardness of the situation, "Can we see her?"
"Yes, I bet she'd like some company." The nurse nodded, letting them pass.
Tsunemori will find a way to help us even if she isn't at work. She won't take a day off with a case like this. Ginoza realised as they walked, Even if Mika gets Kasei to agree. We will still have Tsunemori on hand. She'd make sure of it.
Tsunemori looked small in her hospital bed, she was sat up with her legs crossed. She was holding a book in her hands. Her head had a bandage around it, and her left eye was bruised from her fall. But otherwise, she looked just like Tsunemori always looked. Determined.
Sho was the first to speak, his worried voice filling the room. "Big sis? Are you okay?"
She smiled thankfully to him, her eyes still tired. "I'll be fine. I just need some sleep and then I can function again." She bit her lip, "Did you guys really all come here for me? I am sorry, I didn't mean to worry you all."
Ginoza sighed, sitting down. "Mika is contacting Kasei as we speak, apparently the nurse thinks you could benefit from a few days off. A vacation, if you like." He eyed her, "Personally, I think Kasei will say yes. After all, she cares if you go down. If you go down, we all do."
She opened her mouth for a moment and sat back in her bed, as if to contemplate the situation. Ginoza was shocked that she was even doing that. He thought that Tsunemori would rip her drip out of her arm and march to Kasei herself to beg to be kept on the case. But what she did instead was cross her arms and bow her head. "Well, that seems fair to me. After all, I did faint. I am showing signs of fatigue that isn't very healthy for my Psycho-Pass. The only logical situation would to be taken off the case for the time being." She looked up at them, "However…" She smirked, "If I am taken off the case, then I'll need your help to make sure that I am still in the loop."
Ginoza found a smile, he knew that Tsunemori wouldn't back down that easily. She was just thinking of what she could do before doing it. Simple tactic evaluation. It was no good to go into this with all guns blazing. In reality, this sort of thing needed proper analysis.
Shion smirked, "So, you think that you can still do the job, even if off duty for the time being?"
"Yes," Tsunemori replied without a heart beat of a delay. Her voice was strong, her eyes stronger. They bore into everyone in the room and then her eyes drifted to Sho. "Where's Rheya?"
"Um…" Sho blushed, looking to the floor.
Ginoza sighed, "Rheya is still at Sho's apartment as far as we're aware. Do you want me to contact her, Sho, or should you?"
He raised a brow, "Contact her for what, exactly?"
Yayoi stepped in, "If we are to do this, keep Tsunemori in the loop whilst she is off the case, we would be breaking several laws within the M.W.P.S.B rulings. However, I don't give a shit about the laws. Tsunemori needs to help us, but also take time away from the office. Therefore we need to hide our actions as fast as we're doing them, so we need Rheya to create a wall between her and Shion's emails and internet connection from selected time periods and websites to Tsunemori's laptop or tablet device, you will have to pick one, as too many devices will make it harder to control."
"Says who?" A voice said from the door, causing them all to look in that direction. Rheya was in fresh clothes, and her hair was tied in a long braid. She waltzed to Tsunemori and placed a box of chocolates on the table. "Sorry I'm late, I had to sort some personal matters out." She rubbed the corner of her eye, "And to get you those." She smiled tiredly, Tsunemori could smell Sho's shower gel on her skin. "A wall?" She looked to them all, "Why's that?"
Yayoi explained the situation, Rheya nodded slowly, putting a finger to her lip. "Cool, I can do that. Though as Yayoi stated, it would be a lot easier for me to put a wall between two objects rather than three. So pick one device, it'll save time and strength." She waved the air and smiled, "What're you going to do in the meantime of being away?"
Tsunemori put her thumb to her lip and shrugged, crossing her arms. "I might go on a short vacation. Not too far away, but far enough to look like I am taking this leave seriously to Kasei." She looked to the door, "And to Mika."
They all nodded, approving of her choice. Rheya glared at them all, "If anyone talks of this plan to anyone else, I'll put child porn on your laptops. This is serious, ok?" She crossed her arms, "I have a feeling that the murderer is getting itchy to go again. It's been a while."
And as if on cue, Mika sprung into the wall out of breath. She bent over herself trying to catch her breath, her hand on her chest. "A-another mur-murder!" She shrieked, "At a school!"
The reaction was of shock, Tsunemori bit her lip and looked to Yayoi. "Go to the school, see if it matches the past killings, if it does, you know what to do." She smiled reassuringly, feeling a pang of guilt that she wouldn't be able to do anything to help them.
Shion raised a brow, her eyes sad. "A child?"
"No, thank god!" Mika sighed, gaining her breath back already. "A teacher," she finished.
"Go," Tsunemori said, picking up the box of chocolate and smiling at them. "I'll be here resting."
As they left, Tsunemori opened the box of chocolates and inside was an array of expensive chocolate, in almost every possible flavour. Smiling, Tsunemori took one and bit into its crispy wafer centre in pleasure. She picked up the note and smirked, relaxing into her bed and sighed.
Thought you would need this, enjoy.
Rheya.
The victim's name was Naru Ishikawa, a thirty-six year old High School teacher in the High School that Akane used to attend. She had searched it up just out of plain curiosity, not that she was being creepy or anything. She tapped away on her tablet, looking up anything she could on Ishikawa's past and present with not much avail. The guy was pretty clean. One or two parking tickets, divorced three times, adulterer, had several children from his mistresses that were scattered across Japan, but nothing that screamed, 'sinner'.
Or at least, not the sin we're looking at…
Rheya and Shion both agreed that at first glance that Naru's past would indicate that the killing would be linked to the sin 'lust'. However, the crime scene clearly stated in quite large lettering that he wasn't lustful enough to be killed for it. Instead, this man was apparently severely a 'sloth'.
Mika tapped her foot impatiently, Shion glared at her for a moment. That woman had been tapping her foot consistently all day, and it was starting to get on everyone's nerves. Rheya stared at her, stood up from the chair she had been sitting on and walked to her. "Do you have Lymes Disease?" She asked casually, "Because it seems that you have a restless limb problem, which could be explained by Lymes Disease." She smirked to herself, "Been swimming in Sibyl unapproved swimming pools lately?"
"Excuse me!" Mika fumed, she stopped tapping. "I am just annoyed, okay? I understand that these murders are always planned to the minute detail." She sighed, "However, how the heck is the guy 'sloth' and not 'lust'?" She gestured to the corpse. "He cheated on all of his wives, has a lot of children roaming around the country and has also apparently had several sexual relationships with female staff in this school." She sighed, "What is the killer trying to tell us?"
Rheya smiled sternly, as if she was trying not to snap at her. "Things aren't as simplistic as they seem," she managed. She walked closer to the body, "The question we should be asking is, 'why choose "sloth"?" She asked, "Not 'why not choose 'lust'?" She cocked her head to the side, "What did he do to be classed as 'sloth'?"
Yayoi put a finger to her lips, "What if something happened within the school?"
Shion looked up from her laptop, "Odd you asked, I just cross examined his name with the school's name, and guess what came up first?"
"Let me guess," Ginoza said in a grumble, "a sexual assault charge?"
Shion nodded, "The child apparently came to Ishikawa to ask for advice on the matter, in court however, he apparently told the court that his student was lying, therefore the charges were dropped. The child was murdered four months later, though she had switched schools by then."
"So of course, Ishikawa wasn't accused of mistreating a sexual assault charge, since he was no longer her teacher." Rheya said softly. "So that might be the main reason as to why the killer chose 'sloth'. Because having sex is one thing, letting a child die because you were too bored to listen to them in the first place is worse." She shook her head.
Mika sighed deeply, "It all seems so simple, like it isn't as well thought out as the previous deaths."
Rheya narrowed her eyes, "He or she seemed to want us to look at the lettering on the wall." She stared back at it, the letters were large and the blood was still slightly damp.
Ginoza squinted at it, "Meanwhile the blood on the victim is dry… he bled out ages ago." He walked to where Rheya was and crossed his arms, "I may know what they're trying to tell us."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rheya smirked.
Ginoza looked over to Sho, "Get a drone to take a DNA reading of the blood, and make it snappy."
Sho nodded, operating the drone to take a swab and generalise the DNA of the blood on the wall. Mika watched patiently, her eyes curious, her expression other wise blank. The drone took ten minutes before it pinged and told them the answer that they had all been dreading.
"Examination indicated that the blood does not match the victims, instead the belongs to Yuno Morrigan, aged thirteen years, diseased due to murder under one year ago." The Drone told them proudly, completely the opposite of what it should've sounded like in the current situation.
Ginoza looked to Rheya, "Your intuition on the matter?"
"Hmm…" She sighed, "I don't know right now. It is one thing putting the blood on the wall, and it is another thing to discover what they meant by putting the blood on the wall. It is as if they want us to delve further into the life of the victim and the teacher. It isn't just about him… it is about her."
Tougane lit a cigarette, "It is good to assume then, that we should be searching up the life and death of Yuno Morrigan?"
"It is my best bet," Rheya replied stiffly.
Whilst everyone talked of a plan, Rheya took out her phone and quickly typed a message to her laptop at home through a throw away email. She took a picture of the body, message, and made a note to write up any notes spoken through this investigation and send it to Akane as soon as she was able.
Mika cleared her throat, luckily not to Rheya, she hardly glanced in her direction. "I will contact Kasei of the situation and see where she thinks we should move from there. In the meantime, search up anything about Yuno Morrigan and re-examine the evidence we have so far." She sighed, getting out her own phone and muttering. "I have a date to tell Akane that Kasei has formally signed her off the case until she comes back from her vacation leave." She clapped her phone shut, "Get to it, you know what to do."
As she left, Rheya felt an unanimous yet silent 'we know exactly what we have to do' fill the room.
She swung her arms that were beside her, skipping to her seat before crossing her legs. She rummaged through the little paper bag she had gotten her hands on, picking out the candy she had brought. Her mouth was happy with the strawberry flavoured string that melted on her tongue. She giggled excitedly, munching away on the candy piece by piece.
It was when she was mid-way through her treat, that someone sat down beside her. She blinked and looked to her side, sure enough, the figure was someone she knew. She pouted and looked away, "Go away."
"Why?" He sighed, "You know where she is, and I need to know where she is."
"I don't like you, go away." She mumbled, "You're making the candy taste bad."
He smirked, "Shame, I thought we could be friends."
She raised a brow, "Men like you do not have friends very often. More like a fuck-and-go… really." She shrugged.
He bellowed with laughter, "To hear such an innocent sounding individual say, 'fuck' is somewhat amusing." He the sucked on his lip for a second, he reached and picked out a strawberry string and put it in his mouth, smiling. "I need to know where she is, please tell me."
"No. Even if I do know where she is, I wouldn't tell man like you."
"Man like me?" He chuckled, standing, "You'll need my help one day girly, and when you do, you better use correct grammar. Remember, we're in Japan, not your home country."
"Fuck you! Is that good grammar!?" She yelled, he all but laughed it off and nodded. Waving her goodbye before walking slowly away. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, the candy tasted foul now. She threw it away and sighed, getting out her phone and pressing the dial tone for her, 'M' contact.
"Ryuu is looking for you, I do not want him wasting my time anymore. Answer his calls!" She snapped before the person on the other end could answer her.
Once Mika left the room, Akane didn't have to wait too long to have Rheya slide into the room unnoticed and walk to her bed. The girl looked a little flustered, but other wise perfectly well. She smiled to Akane and handed her another box. "I brought you your tablet, I modified the firewall and email address so Sibyl cannot see what you search up, or what it receives from my computer and laptop. I also made a document explaining today's events for you." She sighed, sitting down. She looked tired. "Where're you going to go?"
Akane bit her lip, she knew that Rheya would ask. The girl's life was to know what people were doing, and she knew that she would just hack her way into the truth if she didn't say anything truthful to her. So she decided to play the half-truth-card, and just tell her the outline…
"North," she sighed. "I have an old friend up there who I haven't seen in a while, she'll hook me up with a bed." She smiled, "It'll be nice to see her."
"I bet," Rheya muttered.
"What about you? What're you going to do while I am gone alongside work and other things?" Akane smirked, Rheya stared at her and then smirked knowingly.
She shrugged, "Sho seems to admire me, I may just stay at his place for a while."
"No boyfriend to worry about, then?"
"No," she replied instantly. "A pestering ex-boyfriend, but nothing serious." She chuckled, "Sho is a nice guy, I hope to stay in touch once the case is over."
Akane sighed deeply, "Just treat him well, he's been through a lot."
"Haven't we all?" Rheya said, almost sharply. She stood, "I have to go, I am exhausted." She picked up her bag, "Enjoy the read." She nodded to the tablet.
Akane nodded shortly, "Keep me posted."
Rheya just waved behind her and walked out of the room, just as unnoticed as before. That girl was a shadow, and it worried Akane deeply. Shadows are unseen, especially if they latch onto you…
He laid lazily in his bed, his eyes tired and head pounding from the late night prior. He hadn't drunk that much in a while, and all he could remember were several women trying to test their luck and swoon their way to his bed. Yet he had drunkenly declined them all, and someone brought him home. Someone he didn't know. Yet, all they had done was make him a coffee and a slice of toast. Leaving it on his bedside table, and pushing him on the bed where he slept instantly. He woke up with them gone, nothing missing, as far as he could tell. Maybe the person was just plainly a good samaritan. An odd assurance in a town full of escaped convicts.
He lit a cigarette, sitting up and forcing the sense of spinning from his head too leave. He sighed out the smoke from his lips, and rubbed his tear ducts. Picking up the cold and still full coffee mug, he sipped from it happily, too lazy to move from his spot on his comfortable bed.
The caffeine did the trick, he was eventually able to stand from his bed without having to throw up. He made a fresh breakfast before changing to go for a run, he ran for a solid hour and a half before retiring back to his cabin. He panted heavily, stretched and doing some chin-ups on the bar in his kitchen doorway, and finally he cooled down with some push ups. He showered, made more coffee and lit a cigarette after changing into some slacks.
He checked his mail that he had put on the table when he came back from his run, opening them up and scanning through them. Bills, Bills and more Bills. He checked his bank account and saw he could pay it off straight away, so he did. It wasn't until he stood from his seat and went back into his bedroom for a quick nap, that he saw a letter sitting just underneath his bed.
Something he hadn't noticed this morning in his weak state, obviously.
He picked up the letter and examined the envelope. It was unsigned. The envelope was slightly blue in colour, and smelt vaguely of lemon balm…
He opened it up and a few photographs slid out from the paper, he narrowed his eyes suddenly. He felt a pain in his gut, a knowing pain that told him what was promptly in front of him.
He slowly picked up the photographs and moved back to the table to look at them, another cigarette was lit. He shakily unfolded his letter, and read it slowly. His stomach clenched. Oh god no…
Miss Tsunemori is on the move… looks as if she's packing winter attire… I wonder why?
Seems she's coming to you, it would be a shame if left before she came. Don't break her little heart anymore- we wouldn't want that, right?
Sphinx.
Tsunemori… He winced and put his head into his hands. Why the fuck are you doing this?
He picked up one of the photographs, sure enough, through a window, a half naked Akane Tsunemori was packing a rucksack with winter clothing. Thick jeans, sweaters, cardigans, thick socks, fluffy slippers and sturdy snow boots. He looked at the other picture, she was in a towel, the towel was around her shoulders, just covering her breasts. She was wearing some kind of booty shorts, her legs looking toned and strong, but not enough to look odd against her petite frame. He flipped the picture over, sure enough a typed out note was there.
I thought you'd like this picture.
Grinding his teeth together, he spat out, "God fucking damn it!"
Sorry that it has been so long since I have updated, college has literally been a mess, and final pieces needed to be handed in everywhere in the same week... So I had like 4 final pieces to finish by the friday just gone. So i am SORRY! but here it is, some feels, some mystery and a dead dude who is an asshole at the same time.
ANYONE WATCH THE PSYCHO-PASS FILM TRAILER AND FREAK THE FUCK OUT!? I DID! I literally had a mini-heart attack!
(Pls let there be a Shikane moment in there somewhere?!)