There are certain recognizable characteristics that mark a country as a dictatorship: a single political party, executions (without trial, or mock trials) for political crimes, nationalization or expropriation of private property, and censorship.

"Where there are sacrifices, there is someone collecting the sacrificed offerings. Where there is service, there is someone being served. He who speaks of sacrifice speaks of slaves and masters. And pretends to be the master. But if anyone ever tells you that you should be happy, that this is the natural right of every man as an end in himself, that the achievement of your own happiness is the highest moral purpose of your life, and that you need no higher aim to vindicate it, that man is not after your soul. That is the man who has nothing to gain from you."

"And you believe Inspector Takahashi is one of them. She is still influencing you… and will take advantage of that."

Kasei Joushuu was sitting with her legs slightly apart and her hands on the armrests of her seat, but when she looked to the right opening her mouth, she sighed and turned her head to the side.

"I'm curious about the way she thinks."

"Obsessively."

Kasei took a deep breath as the male voice fell silent.

"Yashiro is my friend."

"Why?" his voice echoed. "Why is she your friend?"

Kasei frowned and narrowed her eyes a bit.

"We're so different yet she can assume my point of view."

"By profiling the criminally insane mind. It's good to find someone clever enough who sees beyond our suit. Someone worthy of our friendship. It requires trust. You are very secretive and have trouble with trust."

Kasei sighed deeply and raised her chin for a moment.

"For me to consider someone my friend he must have his own reason for living, even if that means opposing me. He must not rely on my dreams and ambitions, otherwise he would be giving up his own. A friend is an equal."

"What your sister made you feel was beyond your control. Something you could not predict."

"Kirino Touko reminded me so much of her," Kasei smiled for a second and her eyes narrowed with strange detachment.

"Did you know that a man's brain undergoes surprising psychological and biological changes when he becomes a father?"

Kasei raised her eyebrows and blinked, as if waking from a dream.

"You also said that the way we think changes after killing," she frowned a bit.

"Sometimes parents can be killers too."

Kasei looked down for a moment, then to the left.

"I've been so focused on taking lives that I never thought about making one."

She frowned with a concentrated face staring straight ahead, as if trying to solve a complex puzzle or dilemma she had never heard of before.

"You were a father to your sister. She was not your child, but she was your charge. Children help us discover who we are. She must have taught you a lot about yourself. What Inspector Takahashi makes you feel is cut from the same cloth. And yet you didn't kill her in the end. Why didn't you elevate her, the way you did with your sister?"

"Yashiro doesn't need any altar—she can elevate herself," she responded with ease, raising an eyebrow.

They remained silent for a minute, Kasei still sitting with one hand resting on the armrest of her seat, and her right elbow on the other, her forearm raised towards her face, and her hand slightly closed in a thoughtful and elegant position, giving her the charismatic appearance of a teacher and politician all at once.

"Love is an emotion that is only possible for people who possess self-esteem," he explained. "One falls in love with the person who shares one's values. If a man has no defined values and lacks moral character, he is not capable of appreciating another person."

Kasei's eyebrows drew together as she tilted her head to the side, resting her right hand on the armrest.

"Turning her into a work of art… would only make me want to throw her out the window," she darkened her expression.

"Why?"

"So that I wouldn't have to watch her become part of a world where beauty has no chance. I would destroy her before the rest of the world does. But part of me wants to fail in my bid to destroy her… because if I fail it means that genius and greatness can survive… even in a fake utopia and a world devoid of consciousness and individuality… where not only weapons but kindness kills."

"The Eustress Deficiency. Your mother was a victim of this, wasn't she?"

"No," Kasei blurted out with narrowed eyes, raising her upper lip for a moment. "That is a way of dying people have chosen. They are not victims. No one is in this city. We are the product of our actions. If people have chosen us, they are not victims, but accomplices."

Kasei blinked and raised an eyebrow slightly. The fountain and statue near the entrance to Ousou Academy. The trees around them. A young woman, smaller in stature, wearing a light brown skirt and white dress shirt, stood in front of the tall statue, her long brown hair fluttering in the wind at her back, with a book against her chest and her head up looking at the statue's bow.

"There are also people who feel happy the way things are now," Yashiro's calm voice echoed.

"Are they truly happy?"

"That's not for you to decide."

"And who does?"

"The individual!"

Kasei closed her eyes for a moment with a visible frown.

"If people ask for chains, why should we refuse to give them, and why should it be shameful to do so? Voluntary servitude is. If they don't respect themselves, why should I¸ as an individual, respect them, acknowledge them, even? Does a human stress over a crushed ant and mourn its death?" her voice rose with venom, as her gray eyes widened.

"He who seeks power over others either lacks self-esteem or has the soul of a ruler," Yashiro stated.

"Why are you trying to justify yourself to her?"

Kasei blinked and stretched in her seat, relaxing her body and her then clenched fists. Slowly, the corner of her lips lifted.

"I'm not," she closed her eyes for a moment. "I see she is no longer detached from herself and the world because of her past experiences… but she has misguided notions of who she is that inhibit her true potential. I want to help her."

"You may not be able to."

"Still…" Kasei squinted for a few seconds, studying the long red carpet on the floor of her empty office.

"I know what she represents to you. This is not an interrogation. We are not interested in your past or your private life, and no one will judge you for it. The Collective is made up of free individuals who think for themselves and have personal desires. We can act on them… as long as we do not harm the integrity of the Collective. Every time you agree to meet with Inspector Takahashi, she shows her clear intention to manipulate you, and you show her yours. I convinced the Collective to agree to let you handle this matter and I expect you to continue to do so. However, as soon as your personal feelings begin interfering with your work… you will be held accountable."

"Takahashi-san, nice to see you. What brings you here at this hour?" Karanomori swiveled in her seat to look at her with a smile.

Yashiro entered the room with her eyes fixed on the screen above the analyst.

"There's someone I'm looking for. I've been trying to locate him on my own but there's no match."

Karanomori turned back to her desk and moved her hands to the keyboard, starting to type something on it as a few windows appeared on the screen.

"Who are we talking about?"

"Probably a former psychiatrist. I don't have the name or location, but I'm sure he worked here in Tokyo."

"Did he retire from his profession?" Karanomori asked.

"No. They must have made him quit."

"Why?"

"One of his patients became a latent criminal. Maybe ten years ago or more," Yashiro folded her arms.

"Don't tell me you think he is… the guy behind these murders."

"That's what the husband of his last victim told me. I believe him."

"Why are you so sure?" Karanomori waved her hand.

"A man who knows he's going to die has nothing to hide," Yashiro looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

Karanomori's body tensed and she looked away.

"Look, uh, we may not find an exact match without a name, but we can try a search. There must be hundreds of psychiatrists who had patients with high crime coefficients."

"I doubt it," Yashiro narrowed her eyes. "It's easier to lock them up."

Karanomori frowned and shot her a glance, but then continued opening different web pages. They were silent for a couple of minutes, her fingers dancing on the keyboard and smoke filling the room, until she stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and motioned with her head towards the screen. There were over a hundred names on it, belonging to former psychiatrists who worked in Tokyo. Karanomori scrolled down with narrowed eyes.

"Wait," Yashiro mumbled. "Scroll up a bit. There."

"Uchida Masashi. He was deemed unfit for duty after the crime coefficient of his patients went up."

"Most of them became latent criminals," Yashiro's lips curved up and her eyes widened. "Got an address?"

Karanomori searched for his name, but found old news.

"He is the criminal force behind an unsolved case. The investigation was completely closed by Bureau Chief Kasei Joushuu as the subject was declared unknown, and the investigation headquarters dissolved."

"What about his psycho pass?" Yashiro's eyes sparkled.

"His… psycho pass?" Karanomori stammered and took a couple of seconds to search for what she was asking. "There are no records."

"Can you forward me his profile please?"

"Sure, I'm on it. The whole list too?"

"Yes," Yashiro looked at her, then back at the screen with wide, piercing eyes. "And his case file. I would really appreciate it."

Yashiro turned on a hologram above her wrist and focused on the man's profile.

"Takahashi-san, my door is always open for mandatory counseling…" the man motioned her into the room, opening the door. "But I never thought you would ever come in on a voluntary basis."

Yashiro walked past him and over to the huge crystal displaying plants outside, while the counselor sat in one of the armchairs, crossing one leg over the other and looking at her.

"It's about this case I'm working on now, the judge," she spoke quickly but in a clear voice.

"Alleged… judge," he smiled and turned his head to the side for a moment. "I have read that Abe Asuka's murderer was her husband."

"No. I'm certain of it," Yashiro took a step towards him. "He was seeing a psychiatrist. Maybe you knew him. Uchida Masashi."

His eyes flashed for a second until he lifted his head in her direction.

"I never met him, but I remember the news. Rather than helping patients, he turned them into criminals. I heard he was captured, but then…"

"He disappeared?" Yashiro finished his sentence. "I have a list of retired psychiatrists. I started to suspect Uchida Masashi. It also matches a precursor crime that happened nine years ago."

Yashiro turned on her wristcom and showed him the case file. After reading it with narrowed eyes for a minute, he leaned his elbow on the armrest and raised his left hand, fiddling with his fingers slowly.

"And you believe this man is the key to discovering the root of his crimes. If the killer attended sessions here in Tokyo but his hue was clouded, I like to think that I or my colleagues would have flagged him."

"Maybe you did," Yashiro blurted out.

"What?" he blinked and shook his head.

"Flag him. Not at first, but maybe later, after figuring out his pattern."

"What pattern?"

"That he targeted people with mental disorders and turned them into murderers. If I could get ahold of the medical records of his patients…!"

"But you can't," his voice was much softer and gentler. "Medical records are private. Without the authorization of the patient or a court order, you can't get them."

Yashiro took a few steps towards the empty armchair, touching its backrest with her fingers, then nodded without looking at him.

"Of course I can get them," Choe Gu-sung replied in a lively and confident voice.

Yashiro was in the break room of the building, which at that time of the morning was completely empty. Standing in front of the wide glass window that showed the city, she held her cell phone to her ear while her other hand was in her coat pocket.

"If the psychiatrist ended up clouding the hues of his patients, I know his colleagues would see through him, at least enough to flag him, as well as his patient," Yashiro looked around, checking that she was alone.

"Send me the list, you'll have the records this afternoon."

"Do I even want to know how?" Yashiro raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

Choe let out a short chuckle, "I'm sure you do, but I'm not going to tell you."

While the rest of Division 2 was analyzing the profile of the alleged victim, a man they had seen in a photograph in the suspect's apartment, Yashiro was sitting in a chair in front of her desk, frowning with one leg over the other, reading a black notebook they had found in the apartment. She could hear his voice reading a passage that was handwritten on one of the pages.

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"

Yashiro closed the notebook on her thigh and raised an eyebrow.

"After Abe Asuka's murder was made public, there were some street demonstrations near the crime scene, which did not last long because the crime coefficients of the participants were clouded," Aoyanagi explained, waving her hand towards a screen in the office. "They were not very large groups—I would say about a dozen…"

Yashiro finally turned her head to the screen that was on, and watched a video showing a group of people in the middle of a street.

"This is… certainly uncalled for," a quiet, soft voice echoed throughout the empty classroom.

Walking to the wide window with one hand in his beige pants pocket, and the other clutching a phone to his ear, Makishima frowned and looked out at the students gathered in the courtyard of Ousou Academy. It was a warm, sunny morning, with no clouds in the blue sky.

"Should I… tell her something else?" Choe asked with some hesitation in his voice.

Makishima looked up slightly, focusing his golden eyes on the windows of the outer building, which was part of the academy, and then to the right.

"No. Make a copy for me and send her the file."

"What about Agawa-san?"

"He plays chess very well… but so far, he's always played alone. Let's see how smart he is when pieces are moved by someone outside his own free will."

"I know I was just here this morning, but I need to ask you something," Yashiro stormed into the room, hands in her coat pockets.

The counselor leaned against the armrest of one of the two armchairs, crossing his arms over his brown vest and white dress shirt, "Of course, what is it?"

"I've been looking over the medical files of the patients," she blurted out, studying his bookcase.

"We talked about this," he looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yes, that's when I got the idea to do it."

"And I told you they were classified," he raised his voice.

"There are four people with the same surname. I've looked over them for hours," Yashiro shook her head and turned to him.

"The files you stole?" he blinked and raised an eyebrow, tilting his head.

"I started to suspect Agawa Hajime. Top of his class at Tokyo University—"

"Why are you telling me this and not your task force?"

"His mother killed herself when he was young—"

"I think you're telling me because you know you can't tell your team."

"He's angry. Driven."

"Do you want to lose your badge…?"

"I just want to stop a serial killer, and I think you can help me. In your professional opinion, as a psychologist and criminologist, do you think, based on everything I've told you, that this could be our guy?!" Yashiro leaned towards him, turning on her wristcom to show him the file.

The counselor slowly lowered his head and sighed. He studied the profile for a minute.

"Yes, I think it's possible."

"That's all I need to know," Yashiro nodded and turned around.

"Takahashi-san…" he raised his chin.

But Yashiro was gone.

It was already getting dark, and with her hands in the pockets of her long black coat, Yashiro walked down a street full of people crowded together, waiting at fast food stands or talking to each other with cigarettes in their fingers. There was a smell of burning and food at the same time. However, the only thing that stopped her was the ringing of her cell phone in the inside pocket of her coat. Yashiro took it out and put it to her ear. It was an unknown number. A quiet, male voice asked after a couple of seconds, "Yashiro?"

"Yes," she narrowed her eyes.

"How nice to hear your voice again. Have you seen the news?"

"I was present at the crime scene."

"And?"

"This time you were careless, impulsive. You moved against Abe Asuka too soon. You didn't do the groundwork. But more importantly… you killed an innocent woman. You fucked up and we're on to you."

"Come and catch me then," his voice was mocking at first, then louder and more dangerous. "You have no idea who I am… and you never will."

"I know your name is Agawa Hajime," she shot back. "I know you studied law at Tokyo University and that you were seeing a psychiatrist named Uchida Masashi."

There was a pause.

"Wrong," he uttered slowly, hesitantly, making her smirk.

"I know you have a girlfriend but you've never had children and you never will. Does she love her boyfriend? Does she look up to him? What's going to happen when she finds out who you really are? What you really do. It will destroy her. It will kill her."

Yashiro was fiddling with her dice in her left hand by then, until she heard the wind against her ear, as if Agawa had thrown his phone, and after a couple of seconds the call was cut off.

"With me, he's kind and decent, but he's done some terrible things… and terrible people are after him," the woman brought two cups of tea over to the round table, sitting down in a living room chair.

"That's why I'm here," Yashiro responded in a calm, friendly voice, taking a cup. "I wanted to talk to him because the people that are after him may come after me and other friends too. I've been trying to reach him for more information but... he changed his phone number."

"Yamada-san, you said you had studied at university with him, right?" she asked, taking a sip of her own tea clutching the cup in both hands.

Yashiro nodded, drinking the tea with her eyes closed and letting out a smile.

"Makishima, are you sure about this? The police might be involved," Choe looked at him out of the corner of his eye, without letting go of the car's steering wheel.

Driving through an avenue, Makishima was sitting beside him, watching the buildings ahead.

"Medical records are classified. Without the respective authorization, a citizen can't have access to them, unless he has a special skill. You have a special skill, and that's why Yashiro asked for your help. And if she tries to lead her task force to him, they will ask how she got a copy of his medical file. Since we stole it, evidence may be inadmissible."

"They won't know until they capture him, which Yashiro can't do without a badge."

Makishima looked at him with a cocky smile.

"We'll find out soon enough."

"He says these people may come after me. The same people who took his psychiatrist. That's why I live in this block. No one will ever look for me here," she was standing by a couch with her hands clasped together.

"I wish that were possible," Yashiro shook her head, tucking her right hand inside her coat. "Maybe it can be… after you help me find Agawa. I need to know exactly where he is."

The woman's body shuddered and her eyes widened as she looked down with parted lips.

"You're one of them," she gasped and took a step back, her eyes riveted on the black pistol she held by her leg.

"No."

"He left long ago," she gulped and looked at Yashiro with a frown. "I don't know where he is."

"Then call him. Now."

"And what… what should I say to him?" the woman asked in a trembling voice.

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

Suddenly, they heard a door open and Yashiro slipped past her, grabbing her arm and turning around.

"Janet?" a male voice called out. "Janet..."

They heard the apartment door close and footsteps echo down the main hallway, until a tall man appeared at the entrance to the living room.

"You are Takahashi Yashiro," his pale blue eyes narrowed meeting hers, and his voice turned cold.

"And you must be Agawa Hajime. At long last."

They both looked each other up and down. He was dressed in black, with a dress shirt, vest and dark blue tie as if he came from a casino.

"That you have to come all the way here without the dominator, means I've gotten too close to the truth, doesn't it?" he lifted a corner of his mouth, looking at the gun pointed at Janet's chest.

"Why would you come back?" Yashiro frowned, narrowing her eyes as well. "What do you want? Are you finally going to tell her who you really are?"

"Hajime…" the woman stammered.

"He is hiding for a reason, Janet," Yashiro tilted her head towards the woman. "The police have been after him for years. It's only a matter of time before they identify him."

"Let her go," the words did not match his dark expression. "She doesn't have to be here for this."

"Finally," Yashiro sighed, opening her eyes wider for a second and relaxing her shoulders. "We agree on something."

"What are you going to do?" Agawa shook his head. "Leave me in a vegetative state… like you did with the girl?"

Yashiro frowned, raising her upper lip, and pointed the gun at him. However, everything went black for a couple of seconds, when Janet pulled out a pair of scissors she had taken from a nearby table, and tried to stab Yashiro in the chest, pushing her against the window. The glass shattered under the weight of both of them with a loud crack, and Agawa shouted something in French. Janet let out a groan of pain that echoed across the room, as her blow was deflected and her hand went through the window, cutting herself on broken glass.

When Yashiro opened her eyes again, she kneed Janet in the stomach to make her drop the scissors, and punched her in the neck, which knocked her out of breath for a few seconds and made her lose her balance, stumbling over a small wooden table placed between two sofas. The surface shattered into pieces after the back of her neck hit its corner, staining it with blood and filling the brown carpet with crystals.

Yashiro hunched over, staggering forward like a drunken woman, as she reached for the gun she had dropped. When she picked it up, she aimed at Agawa again, but blinked a couple of times, looking at the woman and the blood forming around her head, staining the floor. With her finger on the trigger, but a weak grip, she gasped. Suddenly, Agawa jumped past the small table and body in a motion that seemed a blur to her. As he stepped towards her, she pulled the trigger, but Agawa smirked in wild happiness, grabbing her wrist and the barrel of her Glock, and pulling it back so she could not fire.

Tilting his head for a second, he elbowed her forearm and as soon as the gun hit the ground, he stepped on it with his black derby shoe and threw it backwards. Yashiro's eyes widened and she took a step back as he lunged forward again, dodging his blow. Bumping into a rounded wooden table, she flipped it over and two glass cups fell to the floor with a loud high-pitched sound. She managed to grab his wrist, but when she hit his chest with her shoulder, he grabbed her wrist as well and punched her again, almost hitting her in the head if not for her forearms, then grabbed her shoulder and kneed her in the chest.

Yashiro staggered back holding her breath, but he leaped towards her making the same move, which she barely dodged. When she tried to punch him, Agawa spun around with her forearm around his chest, doing another quick spin and grabbing her nape to kick her head. Yashiro gasped and did a perfect spin, releasing his grip and punching his knee. A fleeting smile lit up her face as he fell to his knees, with a grimace and groan of pain. When they got back to their feet, Yashiro threw a roundhouse kick that he dodged by hunching over, then kicked forward, but her eyes widened as he parried it.

Yashiro bent her leg, but then he grabbed her ankle and knee, so close to her, while she was holding his shoulder and wrist. However, she managed to break free and kicked him in one leg. Agawa grunted, but got up faster than before, punching towards her. Yashiro grabbed his forearm and elbowed it, but he caught her shoulder and pulled in his direction, making her fall to the ground. He tried to kick her back, but she rolled just in time, not letting go of his wrist, and got to her knees with one leg over his neck, trying to break his hand.

Agawa kicked her in the back, sending her rolling forward, and he got up faster than she did. Yashiro barely dodged his next blows, and for a moment they caught each other by the shoulders, stopping in the middle of the room. There was a strange smile on his lips and a grimace of pain on her face, but when Yashiro tried to grab his neck, he grasped her wrist and kicked her leg. They both fell to their knees as Yashiro let out a grunt and gritted her teeth, eyes narrowed feeling the tension in her suddenly raised arm. He then targeted her neck, but Yashiro stood up and dodged his elbow. Agawa did not release her wrist and slid behind her, kicking her in the back of the knee to bring her down. When he threw a punch again, Yashiro was lucky to avoid his fist by hunching over and staggered to her feet.

Turning around, Agawa came up and delivered another punch, which she deflected to the side of her face, and grabbing his wrist and shoulder, made him turn and lose his balance, falling under her. Without letting go of his hand, which she caught between her legs, she rolled him to the ground and when Agawa got to his knees behind her, his eyes widened from the leap she made, swinging her leg past his face and letting her own weight smash him to the ground, a blow that made them both groan, but left Agawa trapped with his neck under her leg. Yashiro was still holding his wrist tightly, and for a couple of seconds, she heard his heavy breathing.

Suddenly, Agawa tried to reach for something on the ground, and when Yashiro craned her neck to see, her eyes snapped open and she let go before he got Janet's scissors in her leg, rolling across the ground and scrambling to her feet. Agawa rose with one arm stretched forward horizontally, scissors in hand, and moved first with cold precision. Yashiro took a step back as he tried to slash at her chest, and lifted one leg as he spun around, crouching down to cut her knee. When Agawa lunged towards her face, making her raise her forearm to stop him, he kicked her in the stomach, causing her to stagger backwards and almost fall. She crossed an open doorway to a metal railing, from which they could see other apartments, and the vertical neon signs that illuminated the balconies and the clothes hanging on them.

Agawa ran at her drawing a straight line with the scissors, from her stomach to her neck as if using a karambit, and a horizontal one she managed to dodge, delivering a roundhouse kick to his back that sent him crashing into the railing, and releasing the scissors with a grunt, which fell into the darkness floors below. When he turned around again, Yashiro slid towards him trying to hit him with her elbows, but he hunched over and drove his fist into her leg, making her let out a cry of pain and take a step back.

For a few seconds they looked at each other, until Yashiro jumped up spinning in the air and crossing her leg behind his head, over his shoulder, but he grabbed her by the neck and back, pulling her up against his body and throwing her to the ground. Yashiro closed her eyes tightly and let out a grunt. She did not usually practice grappling techniques as much as Makishima and Choe, and that night it was taking its toll on her, as she gritted her teeth from the pain in her back and head.

Yashiro felt slightly numb and dizzy, both from the blow and the weight of his body against hers, which was sprawled across her waist, as he grabbed her neck and leg. Yashiro's eyes snapped open, and she frowned at the white-toothed grin grazing her face, and the short, tousled black hair lying across his forehead. They could hear each other's breathing for a moment, their chests rising and falling. Yashiro gasped as a shiver ran down her spine, and his lips curved further up with widened pale blue eyes. Then, she slammed his head against the ground all of a sudden, using her leg as weight behind his head.

Agawa gave a grunt and let go of her, but when he looked up again, he was forced to roll on the ground to avoid Yashiro's black derby shoe crushing his face. With his back on the floor, Agawa slid his hand between her legs and grabbed her wrist again, but Yashiro managed to get to her knees by slipping one leg over his neck, and tried to free herself from his grip. She raised her free fist and tried to punch him, but Agawa kicked her from behind, sending her rolling to the ground. For a moment, as both got to their feet, Yashiro touched the back of her waist with a wince of pain, and turned around, stretching her fists out in front of her body.

"Fifth floor!" a woman shouted from outside the building.

Yashiro's gaze strayed to the railing, but footsteps echoed on the ground and she looked straight ahead, stepping back as Agawa approached with a raised fist, then stopped him by the forearm as he tried to elbow her in the neck. His movements became faster and more aggressive than before. Agawa dodged her fist with a smirk and looked her up and down for a second, "He taught you well, not enough."

Yashiro managed to catch his wrist and kicked him in the waist, but then he reached over and kneed her chest and elbowed her back, making her groan. Yashiro punched his leg and backed up a few steps, then gave him a roundhouse kick. However, Agawa grabbed her leg with both hands and spun her around, then let go and threw her against an apartment window, but instead of feeling glass, Yashiro hit her back and head on the aluminum grille. She grunted and flinched, falling to the ground on her knees and hands. For a moment, Agawa stood gasping and staring at her. Then he smiled, taking a few steps forward, and delivered a kick directly to her face. Yashiro dodged his leg, crawling away, and heard him let out a short deep cry of pain after kicking the aluminum grille.

"Bitch," he gritted his teeth, swaying and touching his leg.

Yashiro staggered to her feet, backing away with narrowed and disoriented eyes, until she raised her head and finally focused on him. She smirked when he stretched out his leg with a grimace, but after a few seconds, he slid towards her quickly half crouched, and tried to punch her with both fists and knee her in the stomach, but she deflected them with her forearms and stepped back. Yashiro's eyes shot open dodging a turning kick, and she came at him attacking him with fists and elbows. However, Agawa grabbed her wrist and shielded with his forearm, finally managing to grab them both and kick her in the leg, causing her to fall to her knees in front of him. Without letting go, he tried to elbow her in her face, which she stopped with her hand, but then he caught her by the collar of her coat and pulled towards him.

Yashiro managed to break free and tried to hit him with her fist, but was surprised by a direct elbow to the stomach that would have thrown her backwards had he not let go of her wrist. In one swift move, Agawa placed his forearm on the side of her neck and kneed her in the chest. Then he turned around placing himself at her side, and sliding an arm around her shoulders, kneed her in the face. Yashiro closed her eyes and let out a deep groan. Her body instantly jerked back, but Agawa released her and kicked her in the back, not as hard as the previous one, which knocked her to the ground in a fetal position. Agawa stood there, panting, watching as she brought a hand to her face without actually touching it, turning slowly on the ground, her eyes closed. Her nose was already bleeding, and the blow left her dizzy on the floor.

"Can you see now how useless words are? If you want to change this world, you need might," he looked at his clenched fist. "You can't do much with ideals alone."

"You don't want to change the world," she muttered between messy strands of brown hair all over her face. "You're… hopeless… and you will betray it the way it has betrayed you! Who do you think you are… claiming the right to be… a god?"

Yashiro did not even see him straddling her, grabbing her neck and raising his right fist, until she felt his weight against her body.

"Don't toy around with ethics when you rub shoulders with the likes of Makishima Shougo!" he lifted her up and pushed her to the ground again. "You are a failure—your very existence is a mistake!"

Her silver eyes opened slightly, meeting the pale blue ones that towered over her. He was breathing heavily, his lip curled. His short black hair was messy falling on either side of his face. But Yashiro's dizzy expression made him raise his head and slowly lower his fist. Suddenly, he looked towards the apartment and then back at her.

"I'd love to talk the night away with you, but you don't seem very well," he pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "And now it's time to run."

Agawa stood up and looked at her for a few seconds, lying on the floor with half-open eyes, until he turned around and ran out into the hallway. Yashiro turned on the floor slowly and staggered to her feet. Agawa ran down some stairs, disappearing from her sight, and she tried to catch up with him, leaning with her hand on an apartment wall, unable to stand on her own for several seconds. She felt completely disoriented and heavy, but blinked a couple of times and kept going, faster and faster with each step, until she finally managed to move forward without using the wall for support, and reached the stairs. Peeking out into the hallway, she saw a black-haired man coming out of the apartment, dominator in hand, and she stood behind the wall, hiding, her heart beating fast, and then ran down the stairs melting into the darkness.