Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Inspector Kougami Shinya received a short voice mail on his portable terminal from inspector Waku Yoshitoshi, who had arrived on the crime scene first. The message from his senior inspector said:

"It's an extremely odd mutilated corpse, so please, try not to be confused when you see it directly."

― An odd corpse? It must be quite a thing if that cool-headed Waku-san says so, Kougami thought.

Kougami was seated in the driver's seat of the smart patrol car. Next to him, in the passenger seat, there was enforcer Yamada Ichiro. In the back seat, Kurata Naoto, and Masaoka they are enforcers too. 

Division 3 of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department:

The inspectors were Waku and Kougami.

Besides Yamada, Masaoka and Kurata who were present here, there were two women as enforcers.

A total of seven people.

Moreover, one analyst assigned to the integrated analysis laboratory was in charge of supporting them. 

Kougami had graduated in his curriculum at Nittou Academy with the best result in the whole country of those days. He maintained the top position even within the career training center of the Public Safety Bureau. He had been assigned to Division 3 of the Criminal Investigation Department since he entered the Bureau, with high expectations as one of the most brilliant candidates for an executive position in the Ministry of Welfare. 

"I heard the corpse has been discovered in Setagaya ward ..." Kurata said in an annoyed tone.

This enforcer had been confined in a rehabilitation facility after dropping out of high-school.

Kurata had a boyish face and a sweet physical appearance, but he stood out for his sarcastic and know-it-all behavior. He had some bad memories of his stay in the rehabilitation facility, which would make him rather harsh to ordinary citizens.

For some reason, he kept watching Kougami more than Waku and gave the impression of trying to pick up a fight with him. His behavior of looking at Kougami as if he wanted to fight him, infuriates Yamada: Yamada Ichiro is a close friend of Kougami Shinya, they have known each other since childhood and their friendship runs deep.

Yamada clicked his tongue in disgust at Kurata's behaviour, Kougami noticed and touched Yamada's shoulder.

"Keep calm, don't worry about him," Yamada nodded and Kougami continued talking. "In Waku-san's location, the crime scene images have already been uploaded from the drones, right?"

Kurata proceeded. "Then, Kougami-san, you can also check quickly with your portable terminal. Or, as you've been told that it's such a strange corpse, could it be that you're getting curious about it?"

"Obviously it's not so," Masaoka answered in Kougami's place.

Masaoka Tomomi. An experienced veteran enforcer who had been a detective at the Metropolitan Police Department before the Sibyl System's implementation. Being shifted and attending to the tough job of enforcer for a long time, he was a reliable man. It would have been foolish to think little of him because he was a latent criminal.

Kougami showed respect to the man who should have been called a living witness of history. 

"You know, Kou doesn't look at the images of the crime scene on purpose."

"Haa?" Kurata said, tilting his head exaggeratedly.

"I'd like to see it with my own eyes." This time, Kougami responded. "After all, the video I received is no more than what the drones can see. Human senses are not involved there. Watching that video, I'm afraid I'll be biased by strange ideas."

"Ah ..."

"If it was an ordinary crime scene, we wouldn't need to think so much. Though..." Kougami said. "A strange corpse, an odd crime scene... I want to come to grips with such a thing as soon as possible."

"You should know things better before you say anything," Yamada said disgusted with Kurata, he gave Yamada a glare but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, Maru will be the one to analyze the video," Masaoka said.

Maru Tasuku, an analyst formerly specialized in anatomy.

"It's annoying ... compared to humans, robots see with more dispassionate eyes," Kurata didn't seem to be satisfied yet.

"But ..." Kougami turned only his face towards him. "It's a man who has committed a crime. There aren't only fingerprints and DNA left on the crime scene. Fragments of human feelings must be scattered there too."

"You're a romantic, or perhaps I should say you're too passionate, Inspector ... " Kurata said with a mocking tone.

"You want a piece of me!" Yamada said walking towards Kurata, but Masaoka's voice stopped him.

"Hey! Nao!" Masaoka would call Kurata Naoto; Nao. "Don't make me hear such a mocking tone towards a superior!"

"Okaaay," Kurata bowed his head half-heartedly.

Masaoka looked at Kougami with narrow eyes and said "Kou, this kind of speech must definitely be an influence of, Saiga's classroom, isn't it?"

"It's a really good lecture. Though Gino doesn't seem to like it."

"That's because Nobuchika is an inspector from the orthodox school. It's fine that way."

It's not that it was made public, but enforcer Masaoka and inspector Ginoza were biological father and son.

"It seems that I am a heretic inspector, then," Kougami said with a bitter smile.

"You are the best inspector I know," Yamada said quietly looking at Kougami.

Kougami felt Yamada's gaze and looked at him, but he immediately looks away. Kougami was going to say something but Kurata was quicker.

"Sure you are," Kurata interfered. "You treat enforcers as humans while being able to keep such a clear hue, don't you? Kougami-san"

"Isn't it like the Sibyl System appraises my aptitude as a detective rather than the way I feel towards the enforcers?" Kougami spit out those words without hesitation or the slightest air of conceit.

"Eeeh, you can say this kind of things as it was nothing"

"What's the matter? Did I say something strange?"

Kurata sighed, he didn't want to waste his time talking with a man that doesn't know that what he said was wrong. 

"In twenty minutes we depart, so do want you must do before we go." Kougami said as he started to walk away, Yamada following close behind.

Kougami walked out of the building to get some fresh air, Yamada came out as well but didn't get too close to Kougami, just stared at the handsome man. 

"Don't stay so far away Ichiro, come here."
Kougami waved his hand wanting Yamada to come closer.
 
He walks over to Kougami standing next to him, he puts his arm around Yamada's shoulder. "I told you before to ignore Kurata, but you still get angry."

"He needs to respect you, I won't let anyone disrespect you."

"You're still the same as always, nothing about you has changed."

"I'm not happy to hear that you know."

Kougami smiled as he touched Yamada's head, even if those two are the same age, Kougami would always act older than him: Yamada would always get mad because he doesn't like Kougami treating him like a child.

He grabs Kougami's hand, "stop touching my head, don't treat me like a child." For so many years, Yamada wanted Kougami to look at him like the man he is, not the child he once was.
 
"I'm sorry if I made it seem that way, I'm not trying to treat you like a child, I know we're the same age but I can't help it."

Hearing Kougami say those words made him feel happy, something as simple as that can make him smile, he feels that Kougami likes to touch him, that's why he is always touching his head or putting his arm around his shoulder.

"Seeing you smile is something I don't see often, I like your smile, you should smile more often." Kougami touched Yamada's cheek and moved closer to him.

He pokes Kougami's hand, he groans in pain and walks away from Yamada. "Why did you do that for?"

"I had told you before not to get so close to me, you might cloud your hue."

"There you go again, worrying about me."

Yamada's hue clouded when he lost his little brother, he knew that taking revenge would cloud his hue but at that moment he didn't care about anything else, he was blinded by hatred and the desire to take revenge. At that time, Kougami couldn't do anything to stop Yamada from committing a crime, he ended up killing the man who murdered his little brother.

His hue clouded and Kougami blamed himself, he thought that if he did something to stop Yamada, nothing would end like this. But he didn't do anything to stop him, even when he knew that Yamada was going to kill that man, maybe deep down he wanted Yamada's hue to cloud.

"Stop thinking about useless things," Yamada's voice snaps Kougami out of his thoughts. "Come on, it's almost time to go."

The twenty minutes were almost up, Kougami still wanted to talk to Yamada more but right now they are on a mission and being late is not an option. They go back inside to look for those two, on the way they meet Masaoka.

"Nao is already waiting by the car, let's go."

Kougami and Yamada followed Masaoka out of the building and Kurata is already waiting outside, as always giving Kougami an angry look. This time he is angry because he didn't want to wait any longer, Kurata wanted to see the body. But he is just an enforcer, he needs to obey the Inspector's orders even if he doesn't want to.

"What's the point of waiting twenty minutes? We could already be there by now." Kurata complained.

"Could you please shut your mouth for at least an hour? I'm tired of hearing your complaints." Yamada said as he opened the door of the patrol car.

"Why are you always picking a fight with me? This isn't—"

Masaoka interrupted midway, "Enough, we don't have time to listen to your complaints, Nao." Masaoka gets in the car and Kougami does the same, Kurata swears and then gets in the car.

Like before, Kougami is sitting in the driver's seat of the smart patrol car. Next to him, in the passenger seat, is Yamada. In the back seat, Kurata and Masaoka. They can't change seats, since Kurata doesn't like Kougami, he can't sit next to him, and Yamada hates Kurata, so he can't be near him either. That's why Masaoka sits next to Kurata and Kougami next to Yamada, since they don't want anyone to fight inside the car.

Chapter Text

The patrol car stopped in front of Setagaya tennis court.

Even if health care and the cyborg technology had made progress, the value of sports did not decrease. If anything, the Sibyl System encouraged a healthy sport experience to keep a clear hue. It’s the principle of a sound soul dwells in a sound body. Sport training was acknowledged as one of the simplest ways to relieve stress and purify one’s hue. For example, Kougami, and Yamada also practiced kickboxing and wrestling.

Even martial arts, which presumed the fight with humans, unexpectedly had no direct connection with violence. As long as athletes respected the rules and didn’t exert excessive aggression, their hue didn’t get worse during a practice match or so. Sibyl didn’t encourage real fights between fellow humans. If professional martial arts fighters had repeated matches that took a large amount of money and their careers, their hue would have definitely gotten worse. However, to see people fighting had a stress-relieving effect.

At present, the opponents of professional martial arts fighters were human-type robots. In a human vs robot fight, hue deterioration could be prevented. Engineers applied their minds to create powerful fighting robots (within the limits of the law) and professional martial arts fighters strengthened their bodies by every possible mean and competed in fights.

However, even if the opponent was a robot, a fight was a fight.

Due to Sibyl, it had become quite hard that such an aptitude would appear. This was the world of the chosen ones, those who passed through the narrow gate.

"A murdered corpse has suddenly been found… is it an annoying criminal, or is it just some series of coincidences?" Kurata muttered.

Under Sibyl System’s management, the number of crimes impeded before they actually happen is overwhelmingly high. Even within the abandoned blocks left intentionally as they were since the beginning in order to act as ‘Grey Zones’, the murder cases other than impulsive and sudden ones are rare.

The ordinary criminals are obligatorily sent to counseling the moment they enter a mental state in which they think it’s okay to commit a crime (the so-called condition of clouded hue). Even so, if their hue doesn’t get clear, they undergo intensive care. If their crime coefficient keeps on getting worse, they are secluded within isolation facilities.

It is the pattern of most of the criminals in today’s society.

Kurata said it’s an "annoying criminal" because this case diverges from that popular pattern. A murdered corpse has suddenly been found, the murderer has not been caught yet. In a place that isn’t even an abandoned block, going away from a crime scene without leaving a record on the street scanners is hardly impossible.

"Naturally, it’s not like there aren’t any blind spots in the street scanners but …" Kougami said.

Kurata interrupted halfway: "Ordinary citizens don’t know either the street scanners number or location. All the more so, their blind spots."

"Exactly.

Kougami, Yamada, Masaoka and Kurata got out of the patrol car.

— 08:20 am.

The corpse was discovered at 07:15 am.

The crime scene was a section of the fence surrounding the tennis court. This fence was made of high-strength bioplastic. Lengthwise, the plastic wire rods created almost square-shaped net meshes. The corpse had been fastened on that fence.

"…It’s an exceedingly odd mutilated corpse." Kougami unconsciously muttered.

"It doesn't look like the corpse had been severed, but rather crushed with something heavy, possibly while the victim was still alive." Said Yamada while looking at the corpse.

What differentiated this criminal was the fact he had tied the mutilated corpse to the fence. He had meticulously vacuum-packed the smashed pieces of flesh, and after shaping them into blocks, he seemed to have rebuilt its former human shape and arranged it on the net of the fence. That is why, from a distance, it looked like someone standing on the side of the fence, and not a mutilated corpse. The model of a human body puzzle brought to completion … That was the kind of impression it gave.

Kougami was still a rookie inspector. It’s not that he had gotten used to seeing corpses. If it had been an ordinary mutilated body, he may have thrown up the moment he saw it. However, an uneasy feeling of cleanliness lingered around this corpse too. The corpse was gruesome indeed, but it was not something directly connected to a feeling of sickness.  

Inspector Waku was beside the corpse. When he received the report, he had happened to be driving close by and rushed there the way he was. He noticed Kougami and the others, and walked towards them.

"Good morning, Kougami-kun."

"Good morning, Inspector Waku."

Waku Yoshitoshi: A young member of the Public Safety Bureau. The only married person of Division 3. Being 185 cm in height, he was a bit taller than Kougami.

A quiet voice and gentle manners. A neat intellectual look and spectacles.

Cool and composed, he had a good understanding of crime scenes too, and he was very good at negotiating with the other units. According to Kougami, Waku could be considered the embodiment of the ideal inspector.

The police drones and micro-robots were carrying out the identification of the crime scene. The data were sent in real time to the analysis laboratory of the Public Safety Bureau.

When he saw the corpse, Kurata raised an astonished voice: "Uuwa, what’s that?"

"Why do you think the corpse was made into pieces?" Waku asked.

"To make it easier to carry," Kougami immediately answered. "That, or because the criminal held a grudge strong enough to make him feel like mutilating the corpse. Another possible reason … making it into pieces was his very goal."

"Making it into pieces was his very goal?"

"If some kind of a message comes up by the fact it was made into pieces, there’s a chance it may become the criminal’s motive."

"Your logical reasoning is good, Kougami-kun," Waku smiled.

"…Thank you very much."

Yamada didn't pay much attention to the conversation, something inside him told him that he had seen something like this before, but every time he tried to remember his head ached: It's as if his mind was paralyzed.

"Analyst Maru has already started to refer to the data of the corpse," Kougami continued. "The victim’s name is Shimono Ryuichi. Age 25. He is an athlete with built up physique. Single. His parents, elder brother and sister live in Osaka. There is no record of him returning to his parent’s home in the past few years."

An athlete who took a large quantity of medicines, remodeling his body within the limits allowed by Sibyl. Pursuing new records through the faculties of their superhuman bodies, this kind of athletes provided the spectators with excitation and stress-relieving effects.  

Kougami noticed that Yamada was lost in thought, seeing him like that worried the inspector, so he called out his name but Yamada didn't hear Kougami's voice.

"Ichiro," he touched his partner's arm, a little startled by Kougami's sudden touch, Yamada took a step back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, are you okay?" Kougami asked worried about his partner's health.

"I was lost in thought, I'm fine."

Kougami wasn't convinced, as Yamada's face looked a bit pale. "You can rest inside the car, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Thanks, but I'm really fine."

"Then I will trust your words, but if you faint I will punish you for lying to me." After saying those words, Kougami maneuvered his portable terminal and opened a holographic window. The information shared through the analysis lab was displayed on the small semi-transparent screen.

"His discipline… was it the shot put?"

Some decades ago, the weight of the metal ball was 7,26 kg. Now, as such a weight would have been too light, they threw 9 kg ones.

"We will send the corpse to the Public Safety Bureau as soon as we have finished capturing a three-dimensional model with the 3-D camera," Waku said while looking at the corpse. "There, we will certainly carry out a more detailed autopsy."

" … "

Using his inspector’s authority, Kougami checked the videos from the security cameras and street scanners around the crime scene.

"It’s strange … " Kougami tilted his head. "There’s no record of suspicious people."

Yamada gets closer to Kougami and takes a look too.

"This tennis court is a facility belonging to a private sports gym." Waku said. "Street scanners installation on the way leading to a private property is subject to numerous restrictions. The security cameras around the sports gym are not managed by the Public Safety Bureau but by an ordinary security company."

"Then, if we inquired at that security company…"

"We did, but…" Waku shook his head. "Something unbelievable clearly occurred."

"Something unbelievable?"

"It’s a cracking."

The moment he heard that word, Kougami widened his eyes. Cracking, an illegal break-in into a computer.

Waku continued.

"As street scanners are connected to the Urban Security Department of the Public Safety Bureau, cracking them is hardly impossible. However, it must be easy if it’s a cracking against a private security company."

"However," Kougami frowned, "under Sybil’s management, learning cracking techniques is not an easy thing. Your hue begins to cloud the very moment you plan to crack, and you are put under arrest before having acquired the skills."

"But this current criminal did a cracking" Yamada said while referring to the records of the street scanners.

"…mm, the nearest street scanner is on the highway. But it’s 50 m far from here."

"Taking advantage of a blind spot in the street scanners is not impossible either. It’s related to their position."

"Cracking, eh…? Kurata, who had been listening to the conversation nearby, also joined in. "There are some rumors about foreigners doing this kind of business within abandoned blocks …"

"In this case, it would be a trouble if the cracker and the criminal were the same person," Masaoka said.

"Even if he cracked, it’s not like the criminal lives in the sports gym or in the tennis court," Kurata said while checking on the portable terminal used by enforcers. "According to the records, there shouldn’t be anyone around here at night. How did he move without being caught by the street scanners?"

"There is no meaning in merely accumulating speculations, you know," Kougami tapped Kurata on the shoulder.

"What is that?"

"Firstly, let’s send the real corpse to Maru-san in the analysis laboratory. Then, we will question the people involved at the sports gym."

No matter how much technology had made progress, the basis of investigation hadn’t changed.

Before everything, detectives listened to the testimony of the person who first found the corpse.

The place was the sports gym waiting room. This time, the witness was a female instructor working there. Her name was Aoyama Ikumi. She didn’t raise athletes with built up physiques, she was the instructor of a fitness-yoga course for clear hue maintenance directed to ordinary citizen.

She had arrived at work at 7 am, earlier than anyone else, and noticed the irregularity in the security system. The security cameras were off and the automatic cleaning drone hadn’t started up. Then, after contacting the maintenance agent, she started inspecting each place within the facility of her own accord and she found the corpse in the tennis court. She reported it to the Public Safety Bureau. Dressed in a plain jersey, Aoyama had a pale face.

"Isn’t my hue getting worse for the corpse I saw?" She can’t  help but worry about such a thing.

— She's more concerned by her mental condition than by the human being that was killed? It may seem heartless, but this is what living under the Sybil System means.

Chapter Text

Kougami felt sympathy for Aoyama. Hue worsening is socially fatal. People whose hue is hard to get worse even if they see corpses are chosen by Sybil to enter the PSB ... She is different from inspectors and enforcers.

"Your hue won't get worse just because you've taken a glance at a corpse and freaked out, right?" Kurata unpleasantly said.

"Cut it out, Kurata," Kougami reproached his attitude. "I am sorry, Aoyama-san." Kougami said. Then he bowed his head as an apology in Kurata's place.

"You didn't have to apologize for him," Yamada muttered to himself.

"No ... it will not worsen ... won't it?" Aoyama muttered a bit reassured.

"A specialized counseling is already at your disposal. Please, be assured"

"Yes ... "

Waku had headed towards the PSB earlier.

Five people were inside the waiting room: Kougami, Yamada, Kurata, Masaoka, and the first witness Aoyama. Aoyama had already finished her hue check: Powder Blue. There was no need to measure her crime coefficient with a dominator, she was an ideal mental beauty. She was innocent and her testimony could be trusted.

"Were you acquainted with the man who was killed, Shimono Ryuichi?" Kougami asked.

Thereupon, Aoyama opened her eyes wide.
"Was that... Shimono-san?"

"There is no doubt according to the DNA analysis."

"I know him because... even if he was in a different course, Shimono-san was a user of this gym ..."

"What kind of man was him?"

"He was serious ... a man of few words ... and quite a hard worker. He was a person who had also strengthened his body with drugs and artificial parts, but more than anything, he gave great importance to his own body training ..."

"Did some troubles happen within the gym recently?"

"Nothing unusual ... as far as I know."

"Is there someone who was particularly close to Shimono-san?"

Aoyama tilted her head at Kougami's question, remembering, then she answered: "He was an athlete with a built up physique and a clear hue ... so I think he was a person who could come out easily as a recommended love partner. Apart from love relationships ... I'm sure enough there is the trainer who supervised him."

"What is the name, please?"

"It's Oribe Roma-san."

It followed that they definitely wanted to hear what Oribe Roma had to say too.

According to Aoyama, Oribe's office within the sports gym seemed empty. She had heard that every morning he went to work by car by 9:30 am. As there was still some time before Oribe would arrive, Kougami and his colleagues went to get information asking the other people also involved. However, the obtained information was not so different from what Aoyama had told them.

Using a line with a security system, Analyst Maru entirely copied the content of the personal computer that had been cracked and examined it in an offline environment.

From that place, he unhurriedly controlled if some trace had not remained or had been added.

In the meanwhile, Oribe had arrived.

At the entrance, Kougami and his team met Oribe who was coming up to the building. 

"I am Inspector Kougami from Division 3 of the Public Safety Bureau." He showed his holographic detective identification card.

"Yes ...?"

Seeing it, Oribe frowned in a puzzled way. It seemed that he still didn't know about the case. Shimono's death hadn't made news yet, and the people involved had been warned not to reveal information related to that case.

Oribe was brown-haired. He had soft facial features and he was wearing glasses with red frames.

He had a boyish face - or rather than it, it was difficult to guess his age. One may be right assuming that he was a college student, because he looked like one. However, saying he was older also seemed reasonable in its own way.

Oribe fixed his eyes on Kougami.

Thereupon, he experienced the illusion of being disassembled in parts, and being entirely ANALYZED. Yamada didn't like Oribe's eyes on Kougami, but he tried not to show it and let Kougami continue with the questions.

"The Public Safety Bureau...? Did a latent criminal appear nearby or something?" Oribe asked.

"Excuse me."

Using a function of the inspector's portable terminal, Kougami checked Oribe's hue. Pale turquoise, it's a beautiful color. It's impossible that a high crime coefficient comes out of this hue: Oribe is innocent too.

"It's not about a latent criminal, there is a real murderer," Yamada said.

"I am truly sorry ... but Shimono Ryuichi-san passed away." Kougami said with tact.

They couldn't keep on talking while standing in the doorway, so they moved to the sports gym waiting room. Kougami and Oribe sat at a round table with a cold design. For some reason, Yamada, Masaoka and Kurata kept standing.

"Now ... where is Shimono-san ... where is his body?" Oribe opened his mouth nervously.

"We have already transferred it to the judicial autopsy at the Public Safety Bureau," Kougami answered. "We have taken care of the crime scene preserving it as a three-dimensional model."

"It's a murder ... right?"

"If it weren't, the Public Safety Bureau wouldn't move, don't you think?" Kurata said, from the side.

"You are right ..." Oribe's gaze moved around restlessly, without calming down.

"Shimono-san ... How was he killed?"

"It's something related with the investigation, so we can't tell you." Answered Yamada.

"Aah ..." Oribe let out a breath between a nod and a sigh.

"We have some questions for you, Oribe-san," Kougami said. "Do you mind?"

"All right, if they are questions I can answer ..."

"You were Shimono-san's trainer."

"I was his counsellor as well."

"Were you under exclusive contract with him?"

"No, I wasn't. You cannot make a living with only one client nowadays, you know. Unlike in the past, the sports stars have decreased. Because of the breakdown of public order overseas, no international competition is organised, in whatever sport... Besides Shimono-san, I am under contract with tens of athletes with built up physiques."

"Is what we call a sports counsellor different from an ordinary counsellor?"

"It's considerably different, I dare say."

Was it because the conversation had shifted to his field of specialisation? The tinges of anxiety and puzzlement faded from Oribe's voice.

"As a general rule, sports where two fellow humans compete with each other: as professionals are currently forbidden. The reason is that competitiveness inevitably worsen the hue. Thereupon, professional athletes purely aspire to break records while simulations and fights against robots have become a standard during matches"

Oribe went on. "However, much as athletes are considered fit by Sibyl, it can happen that their records do not grow as expected, they seethe with jealousy for the good results of other athletes and their hue worsen. We sport trainer counsellors anticipate this kind of feeling and work to allow our clients - the athletes with built up bodies - to focus on the matches as much as possible."

"As his counsellor in charge, how was Shimono-san's hue before his death?" Masaoka asked.

"It was clear, for sure. His records stalled but ... it's something very common among the athletes around his age. He was not supposed to worry that much about it."

"Did he incur in someone's enmity?" Kurata mumbled.

"Weren't there athletes he was on bad terms with?" Yamada asked.

"I think there were some ... But not so as to lead to a murder ... it's a bit too ..."

"Well, I guess they could have also pretended to be on good terms with him outwardly, right? ..." There was a cynical side in Kurata's mentality.

"It's such a waste..." Oribe said regretfully from the bottom of his heart. "It was such a fabulous body."

"...?"

Those particular words were faintly stuck in the back of Kougami's mind. Why were they stuck? Kougami himself didn't understand well.

The discussion with Oribe didn't go any deeper than that, and Kougami and his team went back to the Public safety Bureau. It was time for a short break to eat something, Yamada leaves along with Kougami, while Kurata followed Masaoka.

On the way to the cafeteria, Yamada was lost in thought and didn't hear what Kougami was saying, until he heard a loud scream close to his ear. Kougami got a little angry when Yamada didn't pay attention to him, so he yelled at him to snap him out of his thoughts.

"What were you thinking about?"

"About the murderer who killed my little brother." Yamada blurted out those words, he didn't want Kougami to know about it.

"Why?" 

Yamada remained silent, he doesn't want to tell Kougami what's on his mind as he's still not sure if he's right or wrong. Yamada has a hunch that the killer isn't dead, and he's still killing more innocent people right now. Kougami thought it was strange that Yamada didn't say anything, so he stood in front of him and put his face close to Yamada's.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not," Yamada avoids looking Kougami in the eye, that's proof that he's lying and Kougami knows that habit.

"You're lying to me."

"No I'm not." Yamada said as he focused his gaze on Kougami.

Kougami knows how stubborn Yamada can be when he doesn't want anyone to know about his secrets, no matter what anyone tells him, he will never admit that he is lying or hiding something. This time, Kougami will let it pass, but will keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't do anything crazy again.

"Okay, I believe you, let's get something to eat and get back to work." His words didn't sound very convincing and Yamada noticed, making him more alert.

They reached the cafeteria, Yamada sat down at the table and Kougami went to get the food. As he waited, he delved into his memories, trying to remember the incident related to the death of his little brother. For some reason he couldn't remember clearly, not even when he killed the bastard who murdered his little brother. Kougami said that Yamada killed him, which is why his hue clouded, but he doesn't remember anything involving the killer.
 
For Yamada it was as if nothing had happened in the first place as he cannot remember what happened on that tragic day. Forgetting something as important as that made him feel guilty, how could he forget the man who killed his little brother?
There is a chance that he is still alive, and if Yamada doesn't remember his face, how could he catch him?

But there is Kougami, he still has to remember that case, and the murderer's face, since he was the one who was with Yamada trying to stop him. If he wants to remember, then he needs to tell Kougami, tell him everything that has been bothering him up until now.

Yamada knows that everything could be easier if he talks to Kougami about it, even if it is easier, he doesn't want anything to cloud Kougami's hue. He is afraid that the person he cares about will end up like him or lose their life, seeing someone die is something Yamada never wants to see again.

"You're thinking about sad things again, aren't you?" Kougami's voice made Yamada look up, he didn't notice when he came back.

"I--"

Kougami pats Yamada's head, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but I wish you would trust me more." He smiled when Yamada's eyes met his.

Yamada trusts him more than anyone, that's the reason why he wants to keep him safe, but he knows that in this line of duty anyone could lose their life, so even if he wants to protect Kougami, it will be difficult.

"I'll tell you when the time is right, I ask you to wait a little longer."

"Then I'll wait until you're ready."

Yamada will tell Kougami everything, once he is sure his hunches are correct, but for now he will continue to investigate on his own.

Chapter Text

After Yamada and Kougami finished eating, they headed towards the Public Safety Bureau headquarters; it's an octagonal tower building. Its height exceeded 60 stories and it looked like a tower with a gothic architecture from a distance. The days the weather was good, it was over-embellished with holograms. Its solemn appearance made it look just like the cathedral of atonement. They entered through the front entrance guarded by security drones placed on either side of it. Sybil's symbol and the MWPSB logo stretched out largely on the floor of the entrance hall. Within the Public Safety Bureau, they headed for the analysis laboratory inside the enforcers' isolation block.

Analyst Maru was a former physician specialized in anatomy.

In addition to being busy, since his workplace did not allow to meet a lot of people, he wished for a female subordinate.

Despite a not bad eyesight, he would wear customized glasses, feeling a hero of an old age American comic. He cheerfully used to say, "If I take off these glasses, I'll emit a beam from my eyes!"

However, as smart as he was, neither Kougami understood well that parody.

"How was the judicial autopsy, Maru-san?" Kougami started asking.

Maru answered while maneuvering a console in the analysis laboratory.

"Some findings have roughly come out."

The speeding up of both judicial autopsies and identifications was proceeding due to the introduction of drones and micro-robots.

"The name of the subject is Shimono Ryuichi. The disassembled corpse has been arranged on the fence so as to bring it together again, and discovered in that state. From the wounds and the reaction of subcutaneous bleeding, I found out that he was cut into small pieces after being killed, and not while still alive."

"What about the murder weapon?" Yamada asked.

"A drug killed him. A strong muscle relaxant drug and a solution of potassium chloride have been detected ... this is the reason why his heart stopped beating. I found a little injection mark on one of the parts. Then, what dismembered the corpse is a roller."

"A roller?" Kougami unconsciously repeated.

"An extremely heavy and huge roller. The type used for things like maintenance of sports grounds. Usually, it's something dragged by drones."

"Was he crushed and cut into pieces by that?" Yamada was skeptical. "Human skin is resistant against pressure. In normal conditions, I don't think a corpse would be dismembered even with the use of a roller."

"Exactly." Maru simply admitted. "Before crushing the corpse, this criminal made cuts on the skin with a blade. He cut it with the blade, crushed it with the roller, and cut it with the blade again ... He repeated the operation over and over, not satisfied until every single part was shaped into cubes with sides of about 10 centimeters."

"Didn't that take more time than dismembering him with a saw and a hammer?" Masaoka said while entering the laboratory together with Kurata, his voice sounded a bit astounded.

"I wonder ..." Maru folded his arms and thought about it for a while. "After all, he somehow managed to do it with the tools he had at hand, that's it, right? Setting aside the other parts, a roller is not so bad a tool to smash the bones into small pieces."

"Was that roller the one used at the sports gym?" Kougami asked.

"Yes." Maru nodded. "The crime scene and the place where the corpse was discovered are separated by no more than ten meters or so. The body dismantling operation was carried out in the sports gym refectory. It must have been a bloodbath, but the murderer took the trouble to clean it with the cleaning drone."

Kurata made a shocked face "Isn't it odd to dispose of the murder evidence with a cleaning drone?"

"In an ordinary situation, it would have been odd. Normally, when people find a corpse, they automatically report it to the authorities. This time, the eyes of the cleaning drones were under the control of the criminal because the surveillance cameras within the sports gym, that is to say the security system, had been cracked."

"Are the places where the murder and body dismantling were carried out the same?" Kougami asked.

"Mm," Maru shook his head doubtfully. "I don't know that far. The injuries on the corpse are too awful."

"Anyway," Masaoka said "If the place of the body dismantling operation is that close, it doesn't seem that he cut the corpse to pieces to make it easier to carry."

"Even so, I don't understand the reason why he brought it together again ... "

Once said so, lost in his thoughts, Kougami let out a low groan.

"What about the cracking code fingerprints?" Yamada inquired.

A program code can be analyzed through natural language processing and machine learning algorithms. These algorithms omit the parts not related to the program from the Abstract syntax tree (AST), and recognize the author's peculiarity, or things beyond peculiarity.

"It's particular, isn't it ...? There is absolutely nothing unnecessary." Maru said, deeply impressed. "The places where you can acquire cracking skills are limited within Japan. Sure enough, typical examples are the electronic warfare units of the Ministry of Defense ... Soldiers' fingerprints are easily recognizable. Teachers and students peculiarities are also easily related because of their branch of study."

"So, you say that this cracker has not those peculiarities."

"Exactly. Self-education, isn't it ...? Well, just in case, I will try to investigate the programmers and system engineers whose hue has worsened the past few years."

Kougami thought that line of action was unlikely to be successful.

If he had been a criminal able to trace and get fingerprints, he would surely have been unmasked as a latent criminal a long time ago. He is a skilled cracker, which means that he can even cover up the code fingerprints.

...

Kougami had a habit of training hard when he wanted to organize his thoughts, Yamada knew that, so he decided to accompany him to the Public Security Bureau's training room. Kougami thoroughly tormented his muscles using the machines. Leg curls at the lat pulldown were just the beginning. He forged big muscles through bench press and squat exercises using a barbell.

He repeated dashes on a sloped treadmill and fervently punched a sandbag made of artificial muscle material, accustoming his body to aerobic exercises. Yamada watched him silently, leaning his back against the wall. He always liked to see how Kougami trained, maybe it's because Kougami always trained without his shirt that Yamada liked to accompany him, even when he wasn't going to train himself.

"You are not going to train together with me?" Kougami asked as he walked towards Yamada.

"I'm not in the mood to train."

"So, do you want to take a shower together?"

Yamada was speechless hearing those words, he never thought that Kougami would say such a thing. He knew that once Kougami finished his usual schedule, he would take a shower in the shower room attached to the training room; to wash away the sweat. Then he always ingested the latest order made proteins and took supplements to improve the faculties of his body.

They were not the powerful products athletes with strengthened bodies used, but amino acids and artificial hormones specially developed, were broadly sold among the public.

Kougami liked training. When he trained, he felt like he could reach a deeper! Understanding of his own body.

"You're kidding with me again, right?"

"I'm not the kind of person to joke about something like that," Kougami said seriously, making Yamada's face turn red.

Was Kougami interested in him?

Or did he just want something from Yamada?

Yamada didn't know what was on Kougami's mind, but he wouldn't reject him; because he loves him.

"Okay, let's take a shower together."

Kougami smiled satisfied, he got what he wanted, now he can make Yamada his own like he always dreamed of. Those two reached the shower area, Kougami was the first to take off his clothes and enter the shower. Yamada hesitated for a moment, then slowly took off his clothes, finally, he slowly steps into the shower.

Yamada saw the drops of water on Kougami's back, glittering like diamonds. How can Yamada not want him? With desire in his eyes, he watched as Kougami smoothed his hair back with shampoo.

How can he not desire him?

He even carefully take the soap and cascade it down his arms and legs. What could be better than this?

Kougami noticed that Yamada was only looking at him and nothing else, so he turned his gaze back to him. He touched Yamada's cheek, ever so gently, and smiled. What could ever compare to this moment?

Kougami pulled Yamada closer to him; he wraps his arms around him. It was just Kougami and Yamada, under the hot water, with clouds of steam in the air. Kougami's lips brushed against Yamada's, softly, delicately, like butterfly wings, long enough for him to inhale his breath, feel the warmth of his skin.

Yamada felt the world fade as his lips met Kougami's; the fragrance of spring and the taste of warm honey were intoxicating. With his eyes clenched shut, Kougami's warm breath felt like a summer breeze, making Yamada lose his mind. He wanted to get away, to stop kissing Kougami, but his desire has gone crazy.

Yamada loved Kougami since they were 14 years old, he always did his best to hide his feelings, as he knew that liking another man could cause him problems. He wanted to continue being Kougami's friend, that's why he put up with everything to be by his side.

Yamada didn't want to have a one night stand with Kougami, he wanted something deeper than that, he wanted Kougami's love: to become his lover. That's why he wanted to get away, so he could ask Kougami about his feelings, because he still has a little bit of hope left inside of him.

Yamada pushed Kougami away: "Do you love me?" His bicolored eyes reflected an immense sadness.

Kougami's heart always broke seeing Yamada so sad, this time it was the same, he didn't imagine that his actions could hurt him.

"I love you, I should have told you before I did this, I'm sorry, my desire got the best of me."

Hearing Kougami's words, Yamada couldn't help but feel happy; he buries his face into Kougami's wet chest. Their bodies were so close to each other, holding each other as the water touched their skin. It was supposed to be just a shower, but they ended up confessing their feelings. It's not the best place to do it, but they didn't care at all.

Chapter Text

Again, a corpse was found.The current crime scene was the park located in Yoyogi, in Shibuya ward, three days after the corpse discovered at the sports gym tennis court.

The four of Kougami, Yamada, Masaoka and Kurata headed there.

There was no progress in the “puzzle corpse murder”. In the end, the fact that the security system of the sports gym had been cracked had become a huge hindrance. Even the investigation to track the code fingerprints analyzed by Maru ended in failure. Moving forward to the next corpse with no progress in the previous case… this was an annoying situation for the CID.

A sculpture by an artist officially authorized by Sybil decorated with holograms was exhibited outdoor in that park in Yoyogi. It was an abstract sculpture, made of square blocks combined together. A cleaning drone had discovered the corpse of a human stuffing tightly the sculpture interstices.

"Could it be the same criminal as the one of the tennis court…?" Kurata asked in a weary tone.

Kougami nodded, "The method is different but… I have a hunch there is a common point in this singularity."

Once the crime scene had been sealed off, the identification operations started by means of drones and micro robots. It was difficult to recognize because it had not kept its shape of human body, but that thing stuffing the sculpture was the body of "an entire person". They checked the records of the street scanners on the spot, but there was no suspicious hue. The body was immediately sent to the analysis laboratory, and Kougami and his team went back to the Public Safety Bureau.

...

Public Safety Bureau analysis lab.

"The victim is Endou Seiji. Occupation: athlete with a built-up physique, again. So, can we conclude that these are serial murders?" Maru went on. "The appearance is surely different from the one of the tennis court, but the cause of death is the same. He was killed by the injection of a muscle relaxant drug and then mutilated."

The current corpse was dismantled with a laser scalpel for surgical use. The criminal shaped Endou’s body into cubes with sides from 4 to 5 centimeters … what we call a cut into regular hexahedra. Because he used a laser, the wounds have been cauterized and the bleeding limited. All the cut parts of the human body have been meticulously vacuum-packed. These vacuum-packs are the same used in the tennis court. It sure is an unbelievable deviant.

"Is that so…?" Kougami tilted his head.

"There is no mistake in thinking that it’s abnormal, but the matter can’t be settled just by saying that the criminal is a deviant."

"What does that mean?" Yamada asked.

"Deviants are a bunch of people who kill only to satisfy their tastes and their views of the world, aren’t they? As long as we look at the past records, the crimes of these guys are sloppy. Moreover, under the Sybil System’s management, they are isolated at the stage where those deviances arise. This time, the criminal is as meticulous as a little nervous. The way he mutilated the corpse, and then the way he got rid of it. None of them show the impatience you can feel after killing a man."

"I agree with the Inspector," Masaoka said. "A methodical criminal. There is also the intelligence of not leaving evidence on the crime scene."

"By taking this kind of things into account, can we say he is a deviant?" Kurata wasn’t convinced yet.

"There are guys who are so stupid that they look like deviants, and guys who are so intelligent that look like deviants.The matter is that we shouldn’t confuse these two types," Kougami said in teaching tone.

"Haa…" There still was discontent on Kurata’s face.

"There are three mysteries we need to solve," Kougami counted raising his fingers. "One, the criminal’s motive. Why does he aim at athletes with built up physiques? Two, why has he mutilated the corpses? Since this operation took his time up to this point, the criminal must have had a reason ‘I absolutely have to mutilate them’. Three, what about the criminal’s hue and crime coefficient? Why isn’t he detected by the street scanners?"

Maru displayed the personal information about the victim, Endou Seiji, on the hologram monitor.

"An athlete with a built up physique… his discipline was swimming. Freestyle, huh? He  belonged to the publicity department of a company that develops and sells sports goods, the 'Artemis'. I heard that 'Artemis' publicity department has a large number of athletes, and they obtain good results in competitions in the whole Japan…”

Yamada leant forwards while peeping at the monitor. "When was he killed?"

"The last time Endou was recorded by a street scanner was yesterday at 10 pm," Maru answered. "Then, the corpse has been discovered this morning at 5 am. He was killed in between. This also coincides with the presumed time of death. Of course, there is no trace of someone with a clouded hue approaching Endou in any record. Right now, Waku is getting information at Artemis, accompanied by Torii and Amari. However, it looks like there is no result so far…"

Torii and Amari. Both are female Enforcers of Division 3.

"Isn’t there some common ground with the tennis court case?" Kougami asked.

"Common ground?"

"For instance, Endou might have gone to the sports gym in Setagaya too, or something like that." 

"Aah, that kind of things, huh? I’ll try to follow his movements on the street scanners." Maru maneuvered the console. The information on the monitor was rearranged.

"There is a record showing that Endou frequented the sports gym in Setagaya too. At that time, his counsellor in charge was…"

"Oribe Roma," Kougami said, anticipating.

"Isn’t it a suspicious thing?" Masaoka said.

"But his hue was clear," Kurata added.

"We will go to listen to what Oribe has to say once more," Kougami turned on his heel. "Then, we will aim the dominator at him. We might find out something if we precisely measure his crime coefficient."

Of course, the act of pointing a dominator at an ordinary citizen must be carefully carried out. The target is likely to experience a serious stress. However, if the Inspector acknowledges that it’s necessary for the investigation, pointing a gun at someone for the sole reason that he is “suspicious” is allowed. Even if an Enforcer draws his dominator in the street, there is a flexibility that lets it under the responsibility of the supervising Inspector.

Before going to the sports gym, Kougami receives a message on his portable terminal. The message is from Waku, informing him about another dead body. He needed to go to the crime scene as it involves someone he and Yamada know.
Waku will take over Kougami's duties for the time being.

Kougami informs Yamada about the matter related to his younger brother Jiro, he was at the crime scene along with one of his friends. Apparently, the body of the victim belongs to the father of Jiro's friend, the two youngsters found the body cut into pieces stuffed inside the drawers of the study of the house where they live.

...

Arriving at the crime scene, Yamada quickly approached his brother..

"Jiro." He said with a worried expression.

"Big bro." Jiro's face seemed less tense the moment he saw his older brother.

Kougami walked over to Jiro's friend, seeing that the young man must have been crying a lot, his eyes were all red and puffy. Concerned for the boy's well-being, Kougami asked him a few questions without pressing him.

"What's your name?" Kougami asked kindly.

"Riku." He said between sobs.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The boy did his best to tell Kougami what had happened, but there wasn't much he could tell him. Riku invited Jiro to his house, the two boys were going to play some games together. As they arrived and entered the house, Riku noticed his father's shoes in the doorway, signifying that he was home.

The boy thought it was strange, his father usually comes home very late. To confirm if his father was alright, Riku told Jiro to wait in his room while he went to find his father. Jiro does as he is told and heads to Riku's room.

Riku looked for his father in the main bedroom, but he wasn't there, so he went to the kitchen. No luck there either. It could be that his father is currently in the studio, working on something. With that in mind, Riku knocked on the door, waiting for a response from his father. However, that answer never came.

Riku opened the door and walked over to his father's desk, looking at some papers on the table, noticing small drops of blood on them. This worried him, as did the awful smell of blood that stung his nose as he approached the drawers behind the desk.

Taking a closer look at them, Riku saw something red spilling out of several drawers. With trembling hands, he opened two drawers and couldn't believe what he saw inside. Pieces of flesh and scraps of skin, a red jelly with floating pieces of bones stuck in multiple drawers.

He screamed in horror and ran out of the study. On the way, he tripped over his own feet and fell flat to the floor. Riku didn't get up, he stayed on the floor, crying his eyes out.

Jiro, who was waiting for his friend, had heard a loud scream. Worried, he quickly left the room to find Riku lying on the floor near the living room. He thought that something bad had happened to his friend, because he is lying on the floor without moving.

But that wasn't the case, and Jiro soon found out when Riku started sobbing loudly. Jiro couldn't understand why his friend was crying, yet he did his best to calm him down so he could tell him what happened. When Riku calms down a bit, he tells Jiro to call the CID, because someone killed his father.

This case is similar to the other two, Riku's father also frequented the sports gym in Setagaya, and the body was cut into several pieces; the same with the other two bodies. There was only one thing different from the other two cases, this one was messier than the others, there was blood present.

Kougami thought that maybe the killer who killed Riku's father is not the same one who killed the other two men. But, the fact that all of them frequented the sports gym was too suspicious. Killing two people on the same day made the inspector think the killer wants attention, or maybe he's making fun of the sibyl system.

It seems that for this suspect, killing is something the killer does very well, leaving no trace at the time it kills the victims. Everything is meticulously calculated without any errors, even the hacking. But what would the killer accomplish if he killed these people? Does he hate men with good physiques? Or maybe the killer has an inferiority complex?

Kougami wanted to find out, the reason why the killer targets men with good physiques, and why everything revolves around the same sports gym.

Chapter Text

While Kougami was busy questioning the victim's son, Yamada thought about going inside the house to see the crime scene, but his attention drifted to the other side of the street. He saw a strange man looking in his direction, his eyes were empty and a scary smile formed on his lips the moment Yamada met his eyes.

That man awoke something inside Yamada, forcing him to leave his job to cross the street. For some reason, the enforcer wanted to catch that man so badly that he left without telling anyone, following the creepy guy who was looking at them like he was having fun.

Yamada did his best to follow the strange man, arriving at an old and run-down residential area. Street vendors hawked their wares along the street, and as Yamada dodged both street stalls and elderly women bending down to pick up wares, he reached an old building apartment unit with some difficulty.

The door creaked and shuddered, so Yamada didn't dare use much force to open the door so as not to knock half off its hinges. First, he bent his body to inspect the building: there was a narrow corridor and stairwell, a small window that let in the sun's rays, and in front of two family units, next to their doormats, were two bags of garbage. Yamada let out a helpless sigh, then headed up the stairs.

Fortunately, the stairwell was made of cement, Yamada leaned over and quickly climbed the stairs, taking two at a time. After going up six floors and reaching the top, he stopped, looked left and right, and then walked over to the door on the left.

Yamada wasn't entirely sure whether or not the man he chased entered this rundown building, as he lost sight of him by the time he reached the old residential area. There was a possibility that the man entered inside this building, but is he behind this door?

Yamada trusted his instincts and decided to knock on the door, but it suddenly opened, revealing a face with a stubbly beard and a head full of thick hair. His beard ran from his earlobe down to his chin, his eyes emitted a cold, wolfish light, and he wore a filthy T-shirt, filthy underpants, and filthy slippers. 

This was not the man Yamada saw, this person looks completely different from the man he saw, the enforcer failed to catch up with that creepy person. He cursed in his mind and blamed himself for not being faster. 

Not wanting to appear suspicious, Yamada apologized to the man and told him that he got the address wrong. However, the man didn't pay much attention to him, and apparently didn't care either. He just looked at Yamada for a couple of seconds, then opened his mouth to speak.

"A strange man told me to give you this," he shows Yamada a piece of paper.

Without hesitation, Yamada takes the piece of paper, then unfolds it to see what is written on it. There was only one number written inside; 205. This number must belong to a room in this building, and obviously could be a trap set by that strange man from earlier.

Yamada still went to find room 205 though, there was no way he was going to leave without knowing who that man is. If that man's hue is unclear, then Yamada can use the Dominator against him. Either way, Yamada is trained to fight, there's no battle he can't win, so going it alone isn't as dangerous as it sounds.

When he reached the correct room, Yamada did not hesitate to try to open the door, luckily it was not locked. The moment he entered the room, Yamada quickly thought that the place was a bit strange, especially since it was so dark. The windows were covered with some kind of black paper that blocked the sun's rays, making it difficult to see clearly.

Yamada didn't have a flashlight, so he decided to remove the paper from the window so he could investigate this place. 
He got closer to the window and began to tear the paper, letting the sun's rays illuminate the room. Since it wasn't necessary to remove all the papers, Yamada only removed a few, then turned around to see a desk with photos scattered all over it.

He walked over to the desk, seeing the photos more clearly. At first he didn't think anything about it, because the photos are of landscapes, however, many photos are upside down. Yamada grabbed some of the photos upside down and turned them over, his mismatched eyes widening in shock. All those photos are of Yamada and his two brothers, and even Kougami was photographed.

"What the hell is all this?" Yamada wasn't sure who is the person who lives here and why would that person take so many photos, even photos of Saburo who is already dead.

Yamada had a feeling that the man who killed Saburo was still alive, and seeing this room with all these photographs could only mean one thing; the killer is still alive and lives in this place.

"I knew it, that bastard is still alive!" Yamada pounded his fist on the desk.

Yamada was so angry that he almost forgot the reason he came here, if it wasn't for the ringtone on his phone, he would most likely trash this place. Yamada takes out his phone, then looks at the screen and sees the upcoming number. The person calling him is Kougami, so he was going to answer the call but he saw a strange figure reflected on the phone screen.

...

Kougami finished with the questions, unfortunately he couldn't find anything useful in the boy's story. Maybe he could find something at the crime scene, so he decided to call Yamada, but when he turned around he saw Jiro alone.

"Hey Jiro! Where's your big brother!?" Kougami's loud voice caught the young man's attention.

"Big brother told me he was going to take a look at the crime scene!" Jiro raised his voice so that Kougami could hear him.

Kougami thought it was a bit strange, Yamada usually never goes alone to investigate anything, because he's an enforcer. But it could be that he saw something strange and decided to go take a look, better not make him wait any longer.

When Kougami entered the house and walked into the study, Yamada was not there, perhaps he was investigating the other rooms. With that in mind, Kougami searched every corner of the house, but there was no sign of Yamada.

"Where did he go?" Kougami wondered to himself feeling concerned for his lover.

It could be that Yamada returned alone, because something came up, but if that was the case, he would at least call Kougami to tell him what happened. Worried about his partner, Kougami called his number, but no one answered. He tried a couple of times, with the same result, Yamada didn't pick up the phone.

Since he couldn't contact Yamada, Kougami called his friend Ginoza Nobuchika and told him about the matter regarding Yamada Ichiro. Ginoza scolded Kougami, reminding him that Yamada is a criminal and that there is a possibility that he escaped. However, Kougami refused to believe that Yamada would do such a thing, not when they love each other.

Since there was nothing to do here anymore, Kougami decided to go back and talk more with Ginoza about the matter regarding Yamada's disappearance. The only one he can count on is Ginoza, even though he's harsh and hates enforcers. Kougami can't talk about this with anyone else, let alone ask for help.

Asking Ginoza to help him solve the murder case on his behalf while he concentrates on searching for Yamada is Kougami's only option, however, Ginoza refused to help him.

"I'm not going to help you with this, you're on your own." Ginoza never treated enforcers well like Kougami does, so there's no way he'll help with this matter.

"You just have to take my place, I'll be the one looking for Ichiro." Kougami didn't want to give up, so he kept pestering Ginoza.

"You should forget about Yamada Ichiro, I'm sure he ran away."

"He will never do something like that, something bad happened to him."

Kougami has no doubt that something bad happened to Yamada, because he would never leave like that without saying anything and running away is out of the question. There is no way someone like him, who still has a brother to take care of, would run away and leave everything behind. If Yamada escaped, who will take care of Jiro? Yamada loves his brothers more than anything in this world, and now that he only has one left, he vowed to protect him forever.

"Ichiro would never leave his little brother behind and you know it." Kougami reminded Ginoza of the type of person Yamada is, as the three of them have known each other for a long time.

"When Saburo died, Ichiro changed and became a criminal. He's not the same Ichiro we knew before." Ginoza said and wanted to end this conversation with those words.

"Since you don't plan to help me, I'll do it on my own."

Surely Kougami would be suspended for a while if he leaves the case without finding someone to replace him, but at the moment that doesn't matter to him, all he wants is to find Yamada. At first he thought that Ginoza would help him, but it seems that nothing would change his mind, that means there is no one else he can count on.

Maybe he can talk about this with Hosorogi Harumi, head of the Public Security Bureau, but there is a possibility that she thinks the same way as Ginoza, so it's better not to tell her about it. However, even if Kougami keeps quiet, sooner or later everyone will find out about Yamada's disappearance.