The world around Akane was blurry, and she felt like she had a brick inside her head. Her hands were still tied together behind the chair, and whatever she was tied with was cutting her wrists slightly. For the first time in a long time, she actually felt the need for food. She usually wasn't that hungry, but now… she was starving!
Not enough with that, she still only wore her ripped up work shirt and underwear. The room was ice cold, and her bare feet tried to braid themselves together in attempt to gain more body heat.
With slow movements she managed to raise her heavy head a bit, only to be met by the spotlight encircling her. Narrowing her eyes, she searched for her person she talked to… yesterday? She wasn't quite sure how long she had been out, because her sense of time had disappeared.
"Slept well?" the man from the dark asked. It was the same voice as before, and it sounded very familiar, but still muffled. A hand, with a glass of water, appeared in the light. The rest of the body was still covered by darkness.
"Who are you?" Akane croaked, her voice hoarse and hurting by the lack of water.
"Drink." he said, this time firmly and cold.
"That's a funny name," Akane mumbled, but immediately regretted that she even spoke. "And how am I supposed to drink when I'm tied up like this?"
A sigh enacted from the dark, and the arm was extended even further, all the way up to her mouth. She extended her neck, sipping the water until the glass was nearly empty. When there only was a little water back, the hand let go of the glass and let it hit the ground, shattering into pieces. Akane pulled her foot away, trying not to step on the glass.
"Now to answer your question," the man said, pulling his hand away again. "I told you yesterday. I said 'You really don't recognize your own brother, do you?' and afterwards you passed out. With or without my help, I don't recall."
Akane snorted, leaning back in her chair. "That's impossible," she stated, superiorly, though her body was shaking in both in fear and lack of body warmth. "I don't have a brother. I'm an only child."
The man let out a small laugh, not showing any enthusiasm though. "So that's what they have told you," he muttered, nearly sounding a little hurt. "Well, I was never their favorite either, so I guess it's only right."
Akane felt more confused than before. Mostly because she couldn't see the face of the man, but she couldn't make any sense out of the things he said. "What do you mean by 'they'? Who are 'they?'"
"Mom and dad, of course," he said like it was obvious. "I was never really the 'favorite kid'. Unlike you! They adored you."
"W-what do you mean?" Akane stuttered, her bangs covering her eyes.
Suddenly he didn't say anything for a long time. Akane counted to more than a minute. Then afterward, sounds from a chair enacted and afterwards some footsteps. Click! The spotlight above Akane turned off, and the main lights turned on.
"Wh-what in the world-" Akane whispered when she saw the sight in front of her. The man she had hoped only to see locked up. Makishima Shogo. He wore a white shirt and a pair of dark grey pants. By his neck, a greyish scarf was entangled and covered his mouth as well.
Pure anger floated through Akane's veins. Makishima Shogo: the murder of Yuki - one of her best friends.
"Surprised?" he asked, unwrapping the scarf, letting it fall to the ground. They were apparently located in some kind of garage or basement. The walls were white, while the floor was hard concrete.
"You got to be kidding me," Akane murmured, looking down again. Just a few seconds after she lowered her head, she raised it again, yelling: "You killed Yuki!"
"Yeah, and I apologize deeply for that," he said politely. "But I had to. You colleague, Kogami Shinya, and I have some unfinished business. But I would've liked to meet your friend personally. It's not like you brought friends with you home on a daily basis. To be exact, you barely did!"
"How do you know this?" Akane asked, clenching her tied up fists.
Walking over to a table, standing against the wall, Makishima picked up a watch. The Inspector watch. "I told you," he said, a little impatient. "I'm your brother. You might not remember, but I am."
"My watch!" Akane exclaimed, a little hope in her voice. If her watch still was in one piece, she could be tracked.
"Don't get your hopes up," Makishima muttered, showing what he had in his hand. It was some kind of computer drive to her watch, which was totally destroyed. "This is your GPS. You can't be tracked. But the great thing about the Inspector watch is, the fact that you can still send files, even though you can't receive." Pressing a button, the blue hologram screen appeared above the watch's surface. Makishima scrolled through the watch's contents until he made it to the recording app.
"You are going to deliver a little message for me, to MWPSB," he exclaimed. Akane felt terrified. She was paralyzed in fear, and it didn't help when Makishima pulled out an injection needle and his blade - the one he used to kill Yuki with. He walked over the Akane's chair, kneeling down besides her, placing the cold blade on her stomach. "Sorry, little sis, but this will hurt more on you than on me." And then he clicked 'record' on the Inspector watch.
Kogami sat impatient on a couch, waiting in front of Shion's lab. By his side, Kagari sat sloppily, leaning against the back of the couch, and on his other side Yayoi sat, leaning forwards, her hands collided.
From behind the two steel doors, angry shouting enacted from what sounded like Ginoza. Mazaoka was assisting him, which Kogami thought was unfair in so many ways.
"Looks like Inspector daddy issues has another breakdown on Shion." Yayoi muttered, annoyance in her voice.
Kagari began laughing of Yayoi's comment. "Ahh, that was a good one, Yayoi!"
Kogami couldn't help, but smile at the comment as well, though he just wanted to go into that room and get the information they needed to get Akane.
"Oh, look who's not so gloomy anymore," Kagai added, teasingly, earning a killer look from Kogami. "Oh, come on, Ko. We are going to find her. We are worried too, you know."
Before Kogami could say anymore to that, the two slide doors opened, revealing Mazaoka. His face didn't have the gentle expression as usual. He looked worried. With his metal hand he gestured for them to go inside. The three of them got up and hurried inside.
Ginoza stood leaned up against the left wall, his expression glum. A pair of crutches stood besides of him. Shion had turned her chair towards them, holding a cigarette in her one hand.
"So we have some information," Ginoza muttered, annoyance in his voice. "Or Shion forgot to tell us something, to be precise."
"You can't just blame Shion for-" Yayoi started, but was cut off by Kagari, who placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head.
Ginoza nodded at Shion, who just nodded back. Afterwards she turned to the computer, typing stuff in, opening a file.
Turning around once again, she let out heavy sigh. "We can't track her," Shion said straight out, making Kogami flinch. "Her tracker GPS has been taken out."
"What about security cameras? Scanners? Anything in the area where the abduction took place?" Kogami me spouted, desperation playing in his voice.
Shion shook her head, making Kogami let out a 'tch'. "He was too clever," Shion murmured, looking down at her shoes. "There was a breakdown yesterday in exactly three minutes and six seconds."
The screen above the computers showed the security tape from that day. The first few frames were Akane and Ginoza walking towards Akane's car. In the button of the screen a Psycho-Pass measurer was planted, showing a stable result. Then suddenly the screen went black, and only a few seconds later the image returned, but this time it was only Ginoza lying on the ground. The Psycho-Pass measurer had only went a little down, but it was still stable.
"So he managed to do cut off the cameras and Psycho-Pass measurer," Yayoi muttered to herself, rubbing her chin in curiosity. "He has to be some kind of technology genius on Shion's level to figure that out."
Shion nodded in agreement. "That's true, but I have something else to confess," she said, leaning back in the chair. "We know who kidnapped her."
Kogami stood up from the couch, leaning forwards. "Why didn't you tell us before, then?"
Instead of being answered by Shion, Ginoza stepped a little forwards. "Because I know how you would react if she told you before." he said, impatient in his voice.
"Then who is it?" Kogami exclaimed, sitting back down in the couch, crossing his arms like a little child, not getting what he wanted.
Ginoza, Mazaoka and Shion exchanged looks before nodding in unison.
"Makishima Shogo." Shion replied cold and firmly. The three enforcers dropped their jars, dumbfounded by the two words Shion just spoke.
Pictures of Sasayama's lifeless and bloody body flew though Kogami's head in only a few seconds. He clenched his fists, letting out another 'tch'.
"What the hell does he need her to?" he growled, his hair shadowing his eyes.
"Ko, please don't freak out when I tell you this," Shion said carefully, trying to avoid eye contact with the angry enforcer. "Makishima is… Akane's brother."
And with that, everything that made sense in Kogami's world disappeared. An innocent, yet brave woman couldn't be related to that… monster.
"I-impossible…" Kogami stuttered, feeling more anger run through his veins.
Shion shook her head. "No, actually it's pretty logical," she explained, putting the cigarette in her mouth. "If we look he-" She didn't get to say anymore, before something on the computer began alarming. "I-it's a sound file from Akane's inspector watch…!"
Ginoza stepped forwards again, flinching in pain as he moved to fast. "Track it fast!"
"It can't be tracked!" Shion exclaimed, typing as fast as she could on the keyboard. "The GPS is taken out."
Kagari stood up as well. "Then download it," he exclaimed, clenching his fists in stress. "Maybe she's calling for assistance!"
Shion nodded and pressed "accept". It felt like it took a thousands years, though the download only took a few seconds. Pressing the play button, Shion leaned forwards trying to hear what the file said. But that was a bad idea, because the second after she had leaned forwards high-pitched screams enacted from the computer. The whole room froze, paralyzed in awe.
"Is that…" Mazaoka muttered, dumbfounded.
"Tsunemori…" Ginoza finished, his eyes covered by his hair.
The screams grew louder and louder, and at some point Kogami could've sworn that he heard flesh being cut. A shiver went down his spine.
The screams suddenly stopped, and someone cleared their throat. "Division 1," a cold voice said from the computer. Kogami's eyes widened as he realized who the owner was. Makishima Shogo. "This is a simple message. I demand only three things. If I get them, your Inspector will survive. If not… I'll kill my own sister."
What are Makishima's three demands? How did Shion figure out that Makishima was Akane's brother? And how come Akane can't remember Makishima from her childhood?
Stay tuned for the next chapter: The truth revealed.