One of Mika's lines was taken from Hermione's lines (Harry Potter movie). Nowadays, I am not hardworking enough to be descriptive with my writing so I am sorry for this lazy chapter.

CHAPTER 4

Mika's first impression of her senior was...

Akane was too young. Mika was convinced that she might be the first and last minor who was hired to be part of MWPSB but...

Akane might not be a minor as well, right? What happened to her senior? Why would a seemed-to-be green inspector like her was given a tough responsibility to lead Division 1 with...

Those kind of enforcers...

"Nice to meet you, Inspector Shimotsuki. I am Inspector Tsunemori Akane and I am in charge of Division 1."

"Nice to meet you too," Mika nodded. The tension that had towered over her frame slowly disappeared when Akane curved in a friendly smile to her.

Instead, the tension was quickly replaced by hesitance.

Was she really capable?

"Let me show your desk and our teammates," Akane said, immediately leading Mika deeper to their office.

The closer they got to two men who had gathered around a certain woman at her desk, the more sceptical Mika found herself. Especially when the view of an enforcer with a funky look, brown hair and cheeky eyes was the first person she could see.

"Listen, guys," with Akane's voice turned louder to draw their attention, the three enforcers turned to see her in a slight surprise which was surprising. It showed that they were too focused on whatever case they were on.

That was when Mika's eyes were drawn to the only female enforcer who was there for her when she was broken. The only one who offered her warm embrace when Mika was not only soaked but would crush in despair after learning about her friends' gruesome death.

Kunizuka Yayoi. They immediately exchanged a small smile but she could sense how Yayoi was proud of her to stand and breathe in the same workspace with her. She might not expect that the girl in tears would choose and be qualified to be an inspector who would defeat those people who were as psychotic as Oryo Rikako.

Or maybe worse than the murderer.

Yayoi's calm smile was soothing enough. Her heart bloomed as she realized that Yayoi remembered her.

"Woahh, another cutie," Kagari exclaimed as Mika was static on her spot even he was introduced by Akane. The enforcer had always been loud and could not stand awkward vibes whenever a newbie was introduced. "With this, whichever team I end up in was no longer a concern. We have two cute inspectors to work for."

"Cut it out, Kagari. You scare her," Kougami, another enforcer with a scary look and spiky black hair remarked.

No, I am not scared. I am disgusted, Mika mocked in her head. Maybe Kagari was a typical guy who thought he could be friendly and flirtatious to a young girl like her but Mika never approved such an approach no matter from whom she got.

But...

"This is Kougami Shinya, Hound 3," Akane said, gesturing at the spiky-haired man. Unlike Kagari, Kougami's eyes were empty as he looked at Mika. No welcoming smile on his tight face which stroke something in her, especially when could see how he was way older than the bubbly Kagari.

What's with that look? Why it seems to me that this guy is looking down on me just because I am small and young? Don't tell me he also bullied Tsunemori senpai just because she's just like me?

"And this is Kunizuka Yayoi, Hound 2," Akane said, pointing out at the only person who could indirectly guarantee Mika that her job could get better.

Both women smiled and nodded at each other.

"It's nice to see you again, Mika-chan," Yayoi said softly; something that Kagari would never expect from a scary girl like her.

"Nice to meet you and glad to be in the same unit with you," Mika said softly.

"Wait, you know her?" Kagari said which was unclear to everyone whom he was asking the question to.

"We met during Oso Academy case. She's..." It felt like Yayoi regretted that she decided to use her bluntness in a situation like this.

In a situation where she was not sure either Mika could fully heal her trauma after facing her friends' death or vice versa. She should be careful with her words.

"I am the victims' close friend," Mika said, drawing concealed shock from the rest including Kougami even his was more subtle. The memory of murder was like something tight and suffocating in her chest which she did not have a choice but to carry it around. But, there was no way she would show around what she had truly felt to just anyone. She was now an inspector, not a crybaby. "It's okay, Yayoi-san. I am all fine. I am here as an inspector who will vanish those latent criminals off the face of the earth."

It was blunt and cold. Maybe the fact that she was too young and oblivious so she did not notice that the latent criminals who she talked about included the enforcers.

Noticing the instantly icy vibes from the new inspector, Akane who managed to share a certain look with Kougami immediately interposed, "speaking of the enforcers, we have one more who will join us tomorrow. He might be new as an enforcer but he was already experienced in this field. You can count on all of them including this person."

But, Mika was not the person who easily bought sweet words that easily. Noticing the hesitance in Akane's words made her curious right away. "I am sorry but I don't understand, senpai. How's that he's a new enforcer but he is already experienced in this field? How's that possible?"

"He was an inspector," Kougami answered her from his seat. "He was the chief of this unit but demoted after a certain accident."

Mika was not curious about that certain accident at all since her head was busy with the fact that...

How weak. How come he called himself a chief if he was not strong enough to manage his Psycho-Pass? Now, I got it! It's not that Tsunemori senpai is competent enough to be the chief from the start. She used to have her superior before the superior decided to be emotional and demoted.

As for Kougami, he knew it was too early to assume but...

The way she looked at us, the enforcers... it's the same with Gino's...

"You don't have to escort me all the way here, you know. CCTVs and scanners are everywhere so there is no way I can escape even I don't want to," Ginoza said, eyeing Risa who for some reason did not want to leave his side even they already reached the enforcers' quarters.

It was not like he despised it. He welcomed her thoughtful gesture with an open heart but what about her workload other than accompanying an enforcer who was never her subordinate in the first place?

"That's okay, Ginoza-kun," she said. "You might not notice it but I have checked with Shisui from time to time. She will notify me as soon as possible had we have something urgent comes up."

"Okay, if you say so," the guy said nonchalantly. Unlike his encounter with a certain young inspector which reminded of his old days, he was so calm like he was there to patrol and not about to see his new home.

A home which was like a prison. A home which was not out of his choice. Rather, it symbolized how starting from now on, he was like a bird in a cage.

I wonder what he really felt to hear what the newbie said about him but...

No matter how calm he looked, there is no way I can ask about that right away.

As soon as the door was open, another woman decided to be the second person who threw herself into Ginoza's arms.

This time, she had a blonde hair and slender body with a tight red dress and the most noticeable one was...

She had intended it from the start. Her arms enveloped Ginoza's tall frame affectionately with a bright smile on her pretty face.

"Karanomori?" Ginoza exclaimed. It was shocking enough that he was literally being pounced on for two times in one day.

"You can call me Shion like Shinya-kun does, Ginoza-kun!" Their analyst, Shion said chummily. She loosened her embrace and sharing eye contact with the puzzled green eyes. "Oh, my... your glasses..."

"Oh, my sight is fine in the first place and it was destroyed on that day so, yeah..." he said, completely loosing his touch around the woman's waist. Come to think of it, it was always Shion who initiated any kind of body contact especially when she pestered him to accompany her for a shopping but Ginoza never returned it. At that time, he was too busy being annoyed at the fact that the analyst always took much time to shop.

"I see... how are you doing by the way?" Shion's hand rested on Ginoza's cheek. "I have a day off today and since everyone is busy with the case about an abducted girl, I think I want to tidy up your place just a little bit."

"How do you manage to enter a place which is not yours to begin with?" Risa could not help but ask.

Deep down in her heart, she was asking because she was bothered with how Shion casually touched Ginoza. Of course, the analyst already had a lover, working in the same space as them but...

What are you thinking again, Risa? It doesn't change the fact that you're just his friend. Why would you feel strange when two women had hugged him in just one day and exclaimed shits like they were so into him?

Wait... did I just say shits? Like... the heck? Am I angry or jealous right now? That doesn't make sense.

"Owh... I don't just hack something for inspectors, you know," Shion replied casually, winking at the dubious inspector. "I am sorry, Risa-chan. I just want to help. Hope you don't make this a big deal."

"Sure as long as there is no next time," Risa said. They both had a close friendship but for some reason, she felt unsettled when they had Ginoza between them.

"Thank you, sis," the analyst said cheekily before she drew her attention back to the man. "I am glad that you decided to join us, Ginoza..."

"Gino is fine," he said immediately. "We are no longer in a position where you're obliged to use formality with me. If I can call you Shion, so can you."

Risa could see how Shion concealed her sadness as she could see how coolly Ginoza had reminded her about their new relationship due to his demotion.

"But, that doesn't make Shinya-kun is the only one who calls you Gino. I am not going to break your long friendship..."

"Just a nickname won't change anything, Shion. It's not like he called me Gino because he wanted to be the only one..."

"Shinya-kun is very worried about you, you know," Shion said softly, stopping Ginoza from entering his place and ignoring her words. Akane never wanted to tell everyone how tense it was especially between Kougami and Ginoza but Shion always knew how to make the inspector tell her, thanks to her talking skills. "he might not express it much but..."

"What kind of case the division 1 has been up to?" seeing Ginoza was not curious enough to know what Kougami felt, Shion knew she had to stop bringing up the topic for that day.

"A college student's abduction. She was kidnapped when she was studying in her school library."

The man nodded before glancing at nothing else as he made his way into his new home.

Shion sighed heavily as she looked at Risa. Instantly, the two women knew they shared the same thought.

Kougami with his hesitance to reach out first and Ginoza with his emotionless choices.

Mika could not count how many times she had stroked her chest in the middle of the investigation.

After a brief introduction to Division 1 members, all of them rushed to the new crime scene. The abduction victim's dead body was found at a parking lot of her apartment complex; all bruises on her exposed skin like her legs, face and arms. Kasahara Aimi's position which was sitting against a wall revealed to anyone how her throat was strangled a lot and slit which ended her life right away. She lost some of her fingernails and tongue which was more reasons for her mother to bawl her eyes out while being comforted by her husband.

She could feel the pain. Mika could understand why the 40s woman wasted her energy for that when there was no way her only daughter could be alive again.

"Who found her body first, again?" Mika was dragged to reality when Kougami's monotone voice broke the silence which engulfed the circle of division 1. The enforcer was smoking again which quickly became one of Mika's pet peeves. How on earth he would think to pollute other people's lungs at critical times like this? As if the mother's heart-breaking cry was not enough.

"The mother," Yayoi said, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the body. Empathy was not enough. She knew it based on her experience but as she observed the bruised body from head to toe, she could not help but think.

Just how suffered the girl was before the killer decided that she was boring and better to be killed and dumped like a trash bag?

"The video that the murderer had sent... it was addressed to the mother, right?" Kougami asked again. At first glance, Mika swore people around them would have thought that the man was their chief or inspector instead since he always came up with theories about the murder right from the beginning.

While she was still grasping the full concept of the case, Akane did not seem to have anything useful in her head to let everyone know.

Akane should have led the case but it seemed like everyone in the division relied on Kougami and believed in him too much.

"Yes, for some reason," Kagari supplied.

"And as far as we have obtained, neither her parents have enemies. We had talked to their neighbours and the victims' friends but none of them had talked ill about the family. We can say that they are... enemy-free and likeable," Kougami said. "The culprit didn't even ask for ransom. He simply kidnapped and killed the girl. When they sent the video of torture, it meant they are already bored with the victim."

"It might also mean there will be other random victims after this, right, Kou-chan?" Kagari smirked which received a nod from Kougami.

"Wait, there will be what?" Mika who no longer could stand to hear their conversation which she found them absurd immediately interposed, entering the enforcers' circle. "Don't just jump into conclusions like that. People are still around and you already want to cause unnecessary panic among the residents of this building?"

"No, Mika-chan. We are..."

"Call me Inspector Shimotsuki, enforcer," Mika immediately glared at Kagari whose smile slowly faded away. "No matter how new I am, I am your superior and not your sister," as someone who was naturally blunt like her father, Mika could not hold herself from expressing how unacceptable for an enforcer; her underling to casually address her. Yes, they could say that she was already rude on her first day but they should know from the beginning what people like them should not do to and with her. More delay would encourage unnecessary habits and she did not want them to see that they were friends.

She was an inspector and they were just hunting dogs. There was no way they could get along with her.

"Okay, inspector," Kagari said calmly and while Mika was sceptical that the enforcer would mention her position sarcastically, she was satisfied that she could not spot any. "What are we saying was considering the victim's family did not have enemies, the killer never contacted the parents to ask for ransom or just to let them know how their daughter was doing... we can say that the killer or killers might target more victims to trigger something bigger."

"You're just saying, right? Don't tell me you already believe it?" Mika said with a tone that every single soul knew that she was belittling Kougami and Kagari. "I don't really expect much from enforcers, to be honest. Just common senses with a range of teaspoon is more than enough."

"Yes, we believe it and we concluded it based on our common senses," Kagari started being sarcastic and that was when it drew Akane's attention from the parents.

"That's why it sounded so trashy. It came from your common senses," Mika remarked, brown eyes stared back at Kagari's which spoke insults.

"What do you have in your mind, inspector? Is there any new order for us?" Kougami who decided to be the mature one between the hot-blooded enforcer and inspector interposed with a calm voice.

"My order for you guys is to pipe down or you will cause unnecessary Psycho-hazard had you predicted something reckless and unconfirmed like that," Mika said sternly. "As long as there is no solid evidence, don't spill out just anything."

"Okay, then," Kougami said, as he walked away as far as possible from her and scanned the crime scene. Kagari followed him as he decided that avoiding her as well was the best for his focus.

What a pair of wild monkeys, she thought. She could sense how it took all for Akane to immediately ask her what happened between her and the two enforcers but the inspector could not leave the parents without offering more comfort for them.

Well, it was better that way. Mika was not in the mood to tell anyone else again how the two enforcers had managed to make her blood boil with their absurdness.

"It seemed like they would work days and nights to solve case. It turned out that it was not that simple. The criminals did not ask for ransom nor the family have any enemy. The daughter, Kasahara Aimi was admired by the people in the building since she is a good daughter. Simply said, she's a mama girl, Gino," Shion's words when he met her in her lab before he headed to division 1 office was all he could think of.

I know I shouldn't feel like this but at least she died as a good child for her parents, he thought forlornly before something instantly snapped in his head.

What the heck is that? Ginoza smacked his head, quickly feeling ashamed for having such a feeling. Walking his way absent-mindedly but too fast, his head was full of the fact that the victim was a good daughter without noticing how people around him stared at him like he was just a clown who got lost in a bureau's office.

He headed early since he wanted to be alone for a while in the office before facing others but he was surprised at a small figure who was staring in awe through the glass window.

Tsunemori...

The voice echoed from his head. He was positive for that but somehow, Akane turned as soon as he said her name. She dressed as usual with her blazer, short skirt and black stockings but unlike her visit when he was still cured, it was different. Her lips immediately spread a bright smile at him. It matched the sunshine behind her perfectly.

"Ginoza-san!" she exclaimed, quickly making her way to the new enforcer as he was still on his spot like a statue. "You're early!"

"Yes, I am."

Remember, just act normal.

"You're early too, Tsunemori."

"Yes, I... I couldn't sleep much lately so I thought I would just head straight to the headquarters but I was distracted by the sun. So bright and beautiful," for a second, he thought that he was entertaining a girl in her school uniform, pointing out innocently at the bright sun through the window as if it was her first time. Just like her smile, her big eyes sized up with each word.

"With all due respect, is being dramatic to see the sun up close is your thing, Tsunemori?"

"N... no. What I mean is... I am..." she blushed, realizing how childish she must be in Ginoza's eyes. "It shines and it heals me. It energizes me."

Ginoza lost his small smile right away.

Stupid him. Why he did not notice the hidden meaning about the sun right away?

When in fact, in their current circumstance, Akane never managed to be an innocent girl anymore. She lost the chance as soon as Ginoza was demoted.

"Ginoza-san?" She remarked, brows furrowed as she saw him freeze.

"I am sorry, Tsunemori," he said. It was husky but enough to make her realized what caused him to apologize out of blue. "For giving you trouble. If only I wasn't stubborn on that day... if only..."

Something else registered in his mind before Ginoza could spill ouy all things that had been caged in his heart for six months.

You shouldn't vent on her. Who are you to tell anyone that it's tough to be the current you when you weren't grateful as an inspector? You whined, you snapped, you got jealous, you got sceptical. You reap what you sow, Nobuchika.

"Ginoza-san..." Akane might be naïve and did not be given much time to learn and pick up new experience but she was special. Akane might be naïve but not only her ever-clear Psycho-pass, she was also blessed with empathy for latent criminals which was rare for those who lived under Sybil system. The respected system had judged and gave verdict for everything fairly so why would inspectors like her should waste her time to consider that that was cruel to shoot and punish a latent criminal when they did not even commit a crime yet?

With the quality, he knew what she meant when she stared at him. Akane wanted to say that she understood him and never thought that he caused her trouble.

And yet, others like Kougami and Mika had to arrive there slightly later but still early compared to their normal working hours. The young inspector did not bother to show how much she despised to arrive in unison with the enforcer.

But, as soon as she saw Akane and an unfamiliar man who had his back facing her, Mika's curiosity kicked in.

"Senpai..."

"Ah, Inspector Shimotsuki," Akane exclaimed which sent Ginoza to turn around.

The sight of the surprised Kougami and Mika caused more shock for the former inspector. For seconds, he forgot to breathe and while both of them caused his frame to be still again, Mika's glowing eyes ended up drawing him to her instead of Kougami since they were...

Scarily beautiful.

"Inspector Ginoza-san?" Mika smiled instantly, staring at the man as if he was the only one who mattered. Her chummy exclamation sent Kougami and Akane's hearts sunk before they glanced at each other in worry. "Here you're. I've been looking for you everywhere but no one knew where you're. I have asked around which division are you from but they never..."

"I am sorry, miss," when Akane knew she had to think fast to break the tense that Mika never knew that she had caused it, Ginoza was faster to react. "I am not an inspector."

"Huh? You aren't? But during Oso Academy, everyone called you an inspector. I remember that Enforcer Kagari said that you are their chief so why aren't you an inspector?"

"Inspector Shimotsuki..." Akane's voice was far from being stern and demanding but it was clear for Mika that her senior was desperate to have her attention just for a few seconds from Ginoza.

Mika might be new but thanks to her naturally sharp observation, she immediately could read the atmosphere.

"Wait... don't tell me..." Without bothering to ponder on her rudeness as she pointed at Ginoza, "You're not an inspector. You're an enforcer."

Kougami clicked his tongue as he could not help himself from turning away. His urge to explode at Mika's bluntness was one thing but he could not brace himself well enough to look at how Ginoza would totally or barely maintain his composure. The best friends might not get along well after Sasayama's death but they were tested with the same destiny. They were an inspector before being demoted as an enforcer. Kougami never cared more about that particular destiny but Ginoza...

It meant everything for him.

At this rate, all Akane and Kougami hoped was the best.

The best for Ginoza.