Welcome to chapter 8. Read A.N at the bottom for explanation for sudden hiatus .

She had slammed his door, waking him up with a start. She was glaring at him from across the room. He smirked up at her and rolled his eyes, "Well, you weren't answering my calls."

"You left the files, in the open, in my apartment!" She yelled.

He raised a brow, "How else would I know you would see them?"

She stalked up to him, "What do you want?"

He stood up and yawned, "Well since you've gotten me involved in placing evidence around the whole country, and not actually telling me 'why'… I would actually like to know what dirty deeds I am doing for you." He reached out his hand whilst he spoke, a smile turning up on his lips. "Also… I miss your face, sue me." He stroked her hair, she flinched and stepped away.

"You will just have to trust me." She mumbled. Her eyes looking anywhere but at him.

"And how do you propose I do that?" He crossed his arms.

She bit her lip, and then she smiled. The type of smile that he had grown to adore over the years. She reached for her jacket and unzipped it, letting it fall to the floor. He watched, amusement spreading across his face as she slowly undressed in front of him. He scanned her up and down, the curvaceous body, the great boobs… it made him suddenly interested in doing anything she said.

She was like a black widow… in some ways. She could break a man with her whims and smiles whenever she wished.

She walked up to him and kissed him, he closed his eyes and smiled against her lips. In all of the years they had known each other, he had never been with her sexually. Not to his lack of trying, of course. How many times he had caught himself thinking of those nice legs and green ice-like eyes looking down on him whilst she rode him, was almost an unlimited amount.

He craved her attention, and with that wish suddenly granted, he was now her puppet on a string that she could only control.

"Take me to your room now." Her voice was like acid, he definitely liked it. In an odd way, he didn't imagine sex with her any other way.

"Yes ma'am." He breathed, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He carried her into his bedroom, where her gaining his trust soon ensued.

"The next train that is arriving at platform three is the six-thirtyAM service to Pinewood Pass. The total journey will roughly take four hours. We advise all passengers to bring with them brain training exercises as it has been proven to cure boredom and psycho-pass harming thoughts. We also hope you have a wonderful journey and that your stay at your destination is fulfilling. Have a wonderful day!" The intercom voice was chipper as it floated through the station. Everyone double checked their bags for such brain training exercises, all seemingly pleased to see them there.

Akane meanwhile had other brain exercises that would do the same thing, but was probably 100% more illegal.

The train zoomed past her and stopped on her platform, she checked if she had her pass and boarded the train. Finding her window seat, she pulled out the small table and placed her tablet on its stand. Plugging in her headphones, she decided to put on some music whilst she did her research. Sibyl System approved classical music floated through her ears, happy with the choice, she went onto clicking on the file that Rheya had put on her tablet the day before. The girl had promised that she would update it overtime something had happened with the case.

It had seemed that the girl had lived up to her promise.

The file was full with new material, Akane found herself reading again from the beginning. From the first murder. Once she got to the new murder that had been ensued, she stopped, buying a drink off the trolly that passed her and continued.

Naru Ishikawa was a male teacher who obviously didn't like to get too involved in anything heavy. His murder was placed under the sin 'Sloth', which suited him well, even when you looked at his adulterer status, the prospect of him being 'lust' wasn't right. Ishikawa never involved himself in parent-teacher conferences, never helped out in school fairs or fund raisers. In fact, he never attended any of them.

This man was lazy, and incredibly so.

And for that laziness, a young girl died.

Reading on, Rheya and Ginoza had looked ruthlessly into the Yuno Morrigan murder case. As it turns out, the man who raped her a year prior to her death was the one who beat her until she passed out and died from her injuries.

But what seemingly puzzled everyone the most, was the message of 'sloth' written on the wall in blood, wasn't in fact Ishikawa's blood. It was Morrigan's. Was the purpose to show the police who Ishikawa had brought to death in the past? What other reason was there?

But the other question related to that matter was, how did they get the blood?

Reading on, Akane found out a plausible reason. Rheya had concluded that the blood must have been donated to a near by hospital. Miraculously, Yuno was able to be approved for such donations. Her psycho-pass had recently gone back down to a semi-clouded state. She was no threat to anyone anymore.

So somehow the killer, Sphinx, had stolen Yuno's blood donation to use it on the crime scene.

So it was plausible and there was now a reason why.

That only meant that the killers next victim was around the corner.

Akane opened an new email and typed in a new message for Rheya.

I have a feeling that the next victim will be 'lust'. Sphinx was close to making Ishikawa 'lust,' yet seeming changed his or her mind at last minute. Try and find someone who fits that particular criteria, we might be able to stop them before they get their next kill.

-Akane.

Hitting send, Akane sat back in her seat and sighed. She had left the hospital the night before, packing her bags as soon as she got home. She had brought her ticket before she got home, with cash instead of her ID and credit cards. No questions were asked.

However calm she tried to maintain herself, she found herself inevitably becoming over excited. It wasn't the kind of excitement that people usually found themselves being in. However, it reminded me of the kind of excitement you got off an exam. Once you finished you're excited for the results, however nervous. The two opposing emotions seemingly mix together and attack the person all at once.

This feeling she felt, kept her up all night.

Putting her tablet away, Akane tried to keep herself busy by getting some late breakfast on the train. Choosing a low calorie bagel with cream cheese and a cup of coffee. Once she had eaten, she read some of the book she had brought with her, and did some sudoko, though she felt tired by the second hour of the train journey.

She tried to nap to pass the time, drifting into a deep sleep after several minutes.

She dreamt of him again. Though it shocked to see him in a different environment. He was running after Makishima, with her by his side. She remembered the inner memory. It was just after Yuki died, and Makishima was in their grasp. Though that day Akane had been shot in the leg, after the initial people had been dealt with, Akane ordered Kogami to go after Makishima.

He looked so worried that day, worried to leave her in the state she was. Yet she had paid him no mind to his care. She just tied a leather band around her leg and hoped the bleeding stopped. She followed him later on, she remembered the pain in her leg, and the screaming she heard as she climbed her way upwards.

Makishima was about to kill Kogami when she arrived… it was so vivid. She picked up a helmet, those annoying, stupid helmets that caused so much chaos and hit Makishima as hard as she could.

It didn't shock her when Kogami begged her to kill Makishima. Reminding her of Yuki and all the innocent people who had died because of him. Gritting her teeth, she was about to do it. Her chest clenched and tears threatened her eyes. Sure enough, if she did it at that moment, she would've. But she paused, stopping herself. Remembering the rules… those idiotic rules that Sibyl enforced…

But her dream showed her something that didn't happen that day. Kogami got up and slapped her, yelling at her. Why didn't she kill him? If she had killed him then, Kogami could've still been with her. Still worked with her. She would've been okay mentally and possibly happy.

They could've been together.

She started to cry in her dream, tears fell from her face like bullets.

We could've been together if… if I had been - if I had been stronger.

Sho was out with Ginoza, trying to get a good place in a line to the lunch truck outside the M.W.P.S.B building. He was intently trying to choose something for Rheya that she would like from the menu. Though drew up a blank. She didn't seem to eat that much around people. If she did, it was light things. Things that didn't look healthy, though not heavy in its density.

"Would Rheya like salad?" He asked Ginoza.

"She hasn't even turned up today and you're buying her lunch?" Was his reply.

Sho cocked his head, "Well she has to come in at some point, so why not make sure she has some lunch ready to eat?"

Ginoza looked disgusted for a moment, "You're falling for a dangerous woman, Sho."

"Dangerous? This is Rheya we're talking about."

Ginoza glared at him, "Exactly, she's a goddamn hacker. We know nothing of her past and nothing concrete of her present." He sighed, "I wouldn't get too involved, Sho."

Sho widened his eyes, biting his lip he looked away, "I really like her."

Ginoza rolled his eyes, "Idiot. Just because she spread her legs for you doesn't mean it is 'attraction' that you're feeling. You should've waited until Sibyl chose your partner for you. Like I am." He blushed a little.

"Whatever." Sho mumbled, feeling deflated.

They got a little closer to the lunch truck, Sho suddenly didn't feel very hungry. He looked around him, watching the people walk by, absorbed in their daily lives that they didn't notice two enforcers on their lunch break. It had been a rare occasion, but something that did happen when someone noticed them from magazines or newspapers, usually from around the time they were arrested. These people who then stare at them like vermin for a while before whispering to their friend about them and walking in the other direction.

Today luckily no one noticed them.

However, it was in a split second that someone walked past Sho with white hair and wasn't too tall. She looked over her shoulder, and then Sho's life paused for a moment. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he whispered out loud, "Rheya?"

The girl stilled and then, as fast as she past him, she was gone. Running in between the crowds like a snake.

Sho widened his eyes, suddenly finding himself running after the girl. Ginoza seemed surprised at first, but soon excused the confused people behind him and ran after Sho, calling him name, begging him to stop. "You're insane, come here!"

"That's Rheya! Why would she run?" Sho called back, spotting the girl again, she slipped into an alleyway. "There!"

Ginoza and Sho ran after her, though once they got into the darkness of the alleyway they realised that the girl had outrun them.

"She's…fast…" Sho panted.

"Was that Rheya?" Ginoza mumbled, catching his breath quicker than Sho.

He nodded, "I really thought so."

Ginoza sighed, "Rheya has brown hair, Sho."

He raised a brow, "But her eyebrows… well they're white."

"Really? I didn't notice…" He shook his head, "Even if they are, to change your hair colour like that overnight is near enough impossible." He sighed, "Come on, there's no point sticking around. Let's buy some food and get back to work."

Sho bit his lip, "Sorry… I thought it was her… and well- why would she run?"

Ginoza started walking, Sho followed him. The question burned in the kid's eyes like fire, Ginoza however, found no interest in the matter.

"It wasn't her. Rheya might be dangerous, but she isn't stupid enough to run for no reason." Ginoza grumbled, "Now hurry up, I'm starving and our lunch break is almost over."

She panted whilst pressing her back against the wall. She looked down, spotting the two men walk away. The red head looked deflated, agitated by her decision to run.

She had almost been caught…

She couldn't be caught… that was against the rules!

She had just made it to the building's fire escape, climbing up it so quickly that she thought she'd fall over. She had made it… barely.

Pulling out her phone, she brought up the 'new message' box and typed in a text.

We need to talk.

C

Gritting her teeth, she made her way back down the fire escape, and safely made her way home.

Akane wrapped her scarf around her neck, cuddling herself from the cold. It was minus two Degrees Celsius. Snow drifted from the sky quickly and heavily, so much so that all of the taxis cancelled on her.

She was practically stuck in the pass before Pinewood, unless she made the brave decision to walk there.

Finding no other choice, she grabbed a map from the station gift shop and also brought a red ballpoint pen. Circling the village, and then finding the safest route. She smirked to herself, she could make it there in a couple of hours if she went right now.

She quickly picked up her rucksack, running to the bathrooms and putting on another hoody under her coat. She had a total of five layers on, and thermal trousers on under her jeans.

She should've been warm, however outside in the snow it was still as cold as the antarctic. Pulling up two hoods from her two hoodies, she covered her mouth and nose from the cold and walked on, only stopping to double check the map.

When she hit the forest edge, she pulled down her scarf slightly to smell the air. She smelt it then, for the first time in her life she smelt pine. She smiled lightly, it smelt nice… fresh and clean. Returning her scarf to its position on her face, she kept walking. Again, she only stopped when she needed to look at the map.

Most of the track was flat, a couple of times however she had to climb over fallen trees and jump between ditches. There wasn't many hills, which surprised her greatly. She would've thought that the entire village was surrounded by hills and trees to help with its seclusion.

In a way, she guessed it was a blessing in disguise.

It got to midday and the snow kept coming. It even came through the trees, which made her guess that it was twice as heavy in places uncovered by trees. She hoped everyone was inside, she was insane to be outside, let alone hiking in a forest in these conditions.

She cuddled herself, hoping that soon she would see some sort of civilisation. She checked the map again, noticing that she needed to go right after a few more miles. She kept an eye out for it, and took the right. Climbing up on a hill that put her previous theory to the test.

This hill was a nightmare.

By the time she reached the top, her lungs were almost ready to collapse. The cold air made it seem that there was no air to breathe, it felt like every breath was just her breathing in nothing. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself to climb over another fallen tree.

She didn't feel so good.

She had left the hospital with the warning of a fever still lingering over her. Possibly now it had broken out, it wouldn't surprise her if that were the case. However she couldn't just stop where she was and rest. The likelihood of her catching pneumonia would be disastrously high if she were to stop where she was and rest.

She had to keep moving.

"Kogami…" She panted as she climbed another fallen tree, the sharp wood cut into her trousers. "You better still be Pinewood, or I will strangle you…"

Two men stood at the look out, terrible steaming coffee in their hands. The one with a moustache sighed as he lit a cigarette, sipping at the god awful coffee and pleasantly was warmed as it filled him. The other, slightly younger, put his binoculars to his eyes. Sighing deeply, "Why were we put on such a boring task?"

"Because the boss instructed it." The moustached man sighed, "We can't go against the big guns, Doyal. We'll be fired, and then what?"

"The bar down the street is hiring." He offered.

"And be underpaid?" He snorted in reply, "No thanks. I agree with working to repay for my sins, if it is to sit in the cold with terrible coffee for hours on end, then whatever." He snorted again, "After all, it gives me some peace. Nothing ever passes through here except the food trucks."

Doyal sighed deeply, "Don't you get bored?"

"Nope, just cold." He smirked.

Doyal rolled his eyes and looked through his binoculars once again. "H-Hey, you said nothing passes through here, right? Except the food trucks…"

"Yeah?" The moustached man raised a brow, "Why do you ask?"

"I-I can see someone walking through the forest." He squeaked.

"What!?" He yelped, grabbing Doyal's binoculars and peeking through them. Sure enough… someone was walking through the forest. "G-get my shot gun!"

"Huh?"

The moustached man gritted his teeth, "Protocol states that unless a green flare shoots to the sky, then we have to kill anyone who passes through the forest. Now get my gun!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

Akane looked before her and smiled weakly, she could see a warm glow in the distance that came from log fires. She must be close… she was so close, and yet she couldn't move much further.

The cold was setting into her bones, she shuddered against the feeling and tried to coax herself forward. Yet the very idea of moving made her stomach wobble. In fact, it made her entire body wobble. She panted as she moved, her feet frozen, her legs felt completely solid.

"K-kogami…" She whispered, her breath showing in the air like a thick fog.

When she looked up, she felt something sharp pass the front of her face. Widening her eyes, she looked to her left where the object had directed itself. She gasped when she saw a bullet hole in the frozen tree beside her.

She spurred as quickly as she could into action. Her legs, as frozen as they were, moved like weighted bodies across the forest floor. She panted heavier, the second shot rung past her ear. She screamed, it sounded like a strangled cat as she jumped into a ditch and huffed as she took a moment to look at her surroundings. Looking up and right, she saw an outlook. Gritting her teeth, she realised that they must think her to be nothing but an intruder.

She had to move.

"Damn it!" She yelled, surging her body upwards to the other side of the ditch and climbing out. Another bullet was shot, this time it broke through the top of her bag.

Either she was getting slower, or their shots were getting more accurate. She had to move faster.

She found some protection in the trees, however she knew that they probably knew how to shot around them. They lived in this part of the world, not her.

She was a sitting goose, practically awaiting her death sentence.

What was worse was that her consciousness had deteriorated alongside her adrenaline rush. She was running on practically nothing but a fever and a half empty stomach. She was exhausted and cold.

She would need a miracle. She wished it would hurry up and save her. She wasn't one to decline help when needed, and she damn well needed it.

She kept moving, her short break was over.

She made it another mile before her footing started to become lazy. Several shots had already zoomed past her, and she could tell that now they were playing with her, waiting for her to come out of hiding and accept her fate. She gritted her teeth and took another step.

She should've calculated the step better.

The floor, weakened by the snow and ice gave way to her weight. What made the situation worse was that there was a steep hill behind it. She rolled down the hill roughly, stones digging into her back and legs. She yelled as she collided with a hard tree. Unable to move…

Her legs wouldn't move…

She was about to die.

She closed her eyes, knowing that she put up a good fight… she should just let death come to her.

She was suddenly so tired… her body slowly drifted into the darkness that seemingly welcomed its way around her. She sighed deeply, relaxing her bones and mind to the idea of never knowing the pleasures that life would eventually bring to her.

"-Kane!"

Kane…? She thought tiredly, who's Kane…?

"Akane! Wake up!" The voice said, this time it was closer - louder than before.

She groaned, opening her eyes slowly. Looking up, the blurred face of a man was above her. She took in a breath and smiled weakly, "Let me sleep."

"Idiot." He grumbled, tapping her cheek with his palm. "Wake up, Akane." His voice was softer this time. And closer. She opened her eyes again, he was closer.

And this time she could see who it was.

"K-Kogami…" she whispered. Her voice sounded like a ghost, a voice that did not belong to hers. It was full of happiness and relief. Two emotions she hadn't felt for a long time.

Kogami smiled and nodded, lifting up a gun and shooting it to the sky. A flare of green light shot through the tree tops, and the sound of gunfire subsided. He panted and stroked her cheek, "Don't you dare die, ok? That isn't allowed, Inspector!"

She smiled amusedly and nodded, "Ok… I promise."

He sighed and picked her up and held her close to his chest. "To think you came all this way…"

She kept smiling against his chest, his warmth, his voice, his smell… she suddenly felt safe.

Kogami… She thought as she drifted off into a deep slumber.

*Comes out of hiding* H-hey... so yeah... hiatus, that happened very suddenly. I am so sorry for the disappearing act, but I have a good reason. I was getting ill again. Mentally, physically ill. I have a lot to do to finish the year, and I had no time to plan out this fan fiction, which does take a lot of planning. Also for a while, my love for art spurred up, so I have taken to graphical art. So I have to find the balance between that AND this. So ... I am busy, basically.

I won't promise a weekly chapter or anything, but I will promise to finish this fan fiction. Because I have come back realising that i love it, so yeah... basically that's it.

So review, favourite and all that smooth jazz, and I will see you soon.