Archive of Our Own ^beta

He hadn’t slept all night. He hadn’t slept since he had become an enforcer. He had been in a dream ever since Sasayama died. This was it. This was it. It would just take one well placed bullet, and this would all be over. Carefully, Kogami set Tsunemori down on the pavement. She needed to be checked for a concussion. It would be okay. They would take care of her. Ginoza, too. He would struggle, but he would come out of it. Kogami knew it. They would be just fine.

“God…” Tsunemori groaned. She was trying to push herself up. “Not again, not…” Kogami spared her a glance as he reloaded the gun, the bullet shells clattering on the floor.

“This is just between the two of us,” Kogami assured her. This was not something she needed to stain her hands with. It was hard enough to live in this world. Kogami was not going to let this—this, Makishima , be the one thing to break her and cloud her psycho-pass. Of all things, Kogami wouldn’t let it be Makishima.

He followed the trail of blood and trampled oats, gun always at the ready. For being so injured, Makishima sure was making it far. The field was massive, and the path felt like it was only getting longer, stretching out in front of him. Makishima was heading for the hills. Kogami picked up the pace. The sun was setting. The air was cold on his skin. He was sweating. He hadn’t slept all night.

“You look like shit,” Kagari commented. Kogami rubbed at his neck as he sat down in front of his computer.

“When do anyone of us not look like shit?” Masaoka laughed. An angry huff sounded from Ginoza’s desk. Kogami cracked a smile. Kunizuka continued to type up her report.

The door opened, and Kogami leaned back in his chair to see Inspector Tsunemori glance over everyone in the room. Meeting his eyes, she said nothing for a long moment, then walked over to her desk.

Inspector Tsunemori, Kogami thought, has changed. She changed very abruptly, too, and Kogami couldn’t quite figure out the reason why. Right now, if presented with a gun to shoot Makishima between the eyes, Kogami believed she still wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger. Yet, it was as though she had lived a hundred years in a night. After going through her friend’s death and the memory scoop, anyone would be depressed. Something deep in Kogami’s mind, the detective in him maybe, said it was more than that. It was bone achingly deep, it was in her eyes and shoulders. Kagari swiveled around in his chair.

“You look like shit!” he said. 

Tsunemori smiled.

“I thought so too.”

Kogami was in a pharmacy surrounded by dead bodies. Throughout the discussion, he found himself thinking of Makishima, and he found himself continuously glancing at Tsunemori. She barely spoke a word, keeping this resigned expression on her face.

“What are your thoughts about this?” Kogami asked, standing outside as they wrapped up. Tsunemori pulled her jacket around herself more tightly.

“I think… it’s different than what’s going on with Makishima,” she said. “In regard to how the scanners are reacting.”

“Why?”

“The helmet and this whole case are very... obvious,” Tsunemori started. “If they had the technology to fool the scanners, wouldn’t it be better to conceal it? Besides the benefits of hiding your face, couldn’t you commit a less conspicuous crime? Makishima’s crimes have been, er, according to you, mostly hidden, right? Yet, he’s walking around with his face out, and nobody else could tell that it was him behind the crimes. Something like this is too obvious to be at least the same method.”

“You mean that the method of him fooling the scanners isn’t using the same technology as these helmets?” Kogami clarified, and Tsunemori nodded.

“Sorry, my thoughts are a little all over the place.” She was smoothing out the fabric of her jacket. “I’m having trouble putting it into words.”

“It’s alright. I got you,” Kogami assured her.

He had been thinking of something similar, in fact. However, while the method of keeping their crime coefficient low had to be different, he believed Makishima was still involved in this. It felt like it was the beginning of a message, a warning to watch out for more. It was going to keep getting worse.

Premonition proved hours later with Itoh’s attack, Kogami pulled out a cigarette. The helmet was an interesting piece of technology, and he could only bet there were more out there. It was only technology, though, and probably could be broken or shut down. There were other ways to render it useless, too, like if there was no one with a clear psycho-pass around. How could they deal with this? How could they deal with more of them? Would there be enough helmets to outnumber a division?

What was Makishima’s next move?

The ashes of Kogami’s cigarette fell to the ground.

Tsunemori was still in the office, her computer illuminating her face in the darkness. The bags under her eyes seemed worse. She didn’t look up as Kogami approached.

“Looks like you’re deep in thought,” he commented, and she flinched a little. Rubbing at her eyes, Tsunemori said,

“Oh, Kogami. Sorry, did you need something?” 

He shrugged. “Just was wondering about your thoughts about the second half of this case.”

“What about it?” She stretched her arms above her head, stifling a yawn. 

Kogami paused. If it had been Ginoza, Kogami would be shut down for sure. The Inspector Tsunemori of a few days ago might not have entirely believed him either, but here she was, looking like a hardened detective like the rest of them.

“I believe Makishima is involved with this case,” Kogami said.

If Saiga were here, he could’ve read the meaning behind the furrow in Tsunemori’s brows, the twitch in her hand where it was resting on the computer mouse. As it was, Kogami could only guess.

“I don’t disagree with you,” Tsunemori conceded at last. “What would you do if that’s the case?”

“If we can detain someone involved in the production of the helmet, we can interrogate them about Makishima, assuming that he’s directly involved in this case instead of just a mastermind behind the scenes.”

“Do you think we could find such a person?”

“I have a feeling that there are going to be more cases like this,” Kogami said, looking carefully for Tsunemori’s reaction. She blinked once, twice. Said nothing. He continued, “I doubt that someone would produce something as convenient as a helmet that allows you to fool the scanners, and only make one of them to give to your average man.”

“Average man?” Tsunemori echoed. “He did kind of kill his ex-girlfriend…” 

Kogami waved his hand dismissively. “Average in that he wasn’t a trained killer or a man with a cyborg body, hunting down people in an underground maze.” 

Tsunemori laughed slightly.

“Fair enough. So you think there are more helmets out there, and they’re going to be… given to other people? What would that accomplish?”

“Mass panic,” Kogami said with a shrug. “Rising crime coefficients, areas of high stress. It causes chaos, and leads people to doubt the society they live in. It creates more people that can’t immediately be judged by the Sibyl System.”

“Which in turn, further masks Makishima’s own crimes…” Tsunemori mused. “If there’s chaos and panic amongst the population, it’s likely we’ll have to go deal with that, rather than focus on whatever he could be doing elsewhere.”

Something clicked in Kogami’s mind.

“It’s like a distraction,” he said. “If there are more helmets, there’s more people to commit crime and cause doubt in society, but there’s also more of a smokescreen for Makishima. He’s planning something else.”

“That is, if this conjecture is all right,” Tsunemori added.

It was a little strange.

The points in question:

• Inspector Tsunemori came into this work a changed woman,
• It didn’t seem to be related to the death of her friend or the ensuing memory scoop,
• She put together rather quickly that Makishima’s abilities were inherently different than how the helmet worked, and seemed to agree that Makishima was involved with the case,
• She essentially lead Kogami to the conclusion about Makishima’s general end goal, but
• She immediately backpedaled into “even if this is true, we can’t do anything” territory.

Inspector Tsunemori knew something. Without meaning to, she helped Kogami figure out Makishima’s plot, then tried to tell him that it didn’t really mean anything. She flashed her cards, let him see her hand, and pulled back quicker than if she had been burned. Was it for Kogami’s own protection? Was she involved with Makishima now? Kogami couldn’t believe that. Yes, Makishima was the kind of charismatic man that could ensnare anyone if he put his mind to it, but Tsunemori was… different. She had to be. Kogami had to believe in that, if nothing else. He couldn’t start doubting her at this point, because without her Kogami would lose himself in the case. Ginoza was too deep into his own issues to help, and even if the other enforcers believed Kogami, they were inherently limited in the ways they could help. Tsunemori was his partner here.

She had gone home for the night. Despite the importance of the situation at hand, Kogami wasn’t going to call her now.

“You were right,” Tsunemori commented, leaving the briefing. Division 1 had broken into teams to handle the helmet riots across the city.

“About what?”

“There would be more crimes with the helmets.”

“It’s a simple deduction,” he said. Tsunemori laughed a little.

“What a competent detective you are.”

Kogami watched her back as she walked away.

“Inspector Ginoza, could I ask you to take your team and investigate the NONA tower?”

“Inspector Tsunemori, we’re closer,” Kogami insisted.

“I’m not taking you there,” Tsunemori shut him down. Ginoza perhaps heard this exchange, and sighed.

“Fine. It does look suspicious,” he conceded, and Kogami felt something like betrayal for the first time in a while. “But if nothing is happening, Inspector Tsunemori, you can expect a long report to the chief in your future and disciplinary action,” he spat out. The call disconnected from Ginoza’s end. Tsunemori sighed, and slumped down in the car seat.

“Why did you ask him?” Kogami asked, gritting his teeth. “We could’ve gone.”

“As an inspector,” she started slowly, “one of my duties is to keep the enforcers in line. This means preventing you, Kogami Shinya, from murdering anyone.” 

It was strange. It was pissing Kogami off. Something had changed about Tsunemori, and Kogami was starting to suspect that it was a change for the worse. She was cooperating with Makishima. Was that it? 

Murdering anyone. She knew he was going to murder Makishima.

Kogami didn’t know what kind of expression he was making. He just reached out.

Tsunemori flinched. She raised her Dominator.

He woke up in the med bay, again. Tsunemori was standing in the doorway. He couldn’t see her all that well.

“What happened,” Kogami groaned. “The riots.” Makshima. What happened to Makishima?

“Masaoka is dead.”

Kogami tried to sit up. His body was screaming at him.

“Ginoza is dead, too.”

Tsunemori was staring at him, and he couldn’t see a single thing in her expression. She was tired, maybe. 

“He died protecting Kunizuka from Makishima,” Tsunemori said, and before he could even ask, she answered, “Makishima escaped.”

She was his partner.

What was the point? What was the whole damn point? 

He slammed her against the wall.

“You kept me from going,” he gasped out. His nerves were still fried. His legs were going to give out.

“Alright. It won’t happen next time.”

“There is no next time!” He shook her. Tsunemori’s head hit the wall with a rather loud noise. She winced. “They’re fucking dead! Makishima is still out there!”

Tsunemori sighed, very lightly. She looked away, exasperated, dealing with a child. Kogami couldn’t recognize her at all. His vision was going dark with rage.

“See if you’re angry in the morning,” she muttered. “Just watch. This isn’t going to matter at all, in the end.” Kogami stumbled backwards and collapsed to his knees.

He hadn’t slept all night. Inspector Tsunemori sat down at her desk like she was resigning herself to a kind of fate.

“You look like shit!” Kagari said.

“Mm,” was all she answered with, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Talk to the inspectors like that one more time and I’m writing you up,” Ginoza said, throwing Kagari a nasty glare. Kagari shrugged with a grin. Masaoka chuckled.

She caught him leaving. He was actually rather scared to see her there, standing at the entrance of the garage. Jumped out of his skin a little, actually.

“Are you here to stop me, Inspector?” he tried to play it off. Of course she was. Dumb question. How the hell did she get here?

“I hope I can,” Tsunemori said, crossing her arms. “Regardless, I know you’re going to Saiga’s place.” Okay, that was weird. “Please, Kogami. We can work through this.”

“I don’t think so,” Kogami said. “Sibyl isn’t that fond of me, you know.”

Maybe Sibyl was fond of Inspector Tsunemori, for some reason. She seemed different. Kogami didn’t know how to deal with it.

He couldn’t let her stop him. She had a dominator. Confidently, he walked toward her. Tsunemori didn’t move, just tilted her head up to meet his eyes. She looked pained.

After a long moment, she broke first. Her gaze fell somewhere on the floor to Kogami’s left.

“God dammit,” she muttered. Kogami sighed, and walked past her to the motorcycle. 

He hadn’t slept.

“Kogami!” Tsunemori had dragged herself up the stairs, somewhere behind him. “Don’t do it!”

He raised the helmet, and brought it down. Once, twice. He stopped counting. Makishima stopped moving.

Tsunemori was screaming.

He hadn’t slept.

“Don’t you think Inspector Tsunemori is acting differently?” 

Kunizuka didn’t look up from her computer.

“She seems angry,” Kunizuka said. “Who wouldn’t be, though?”

They all knew that it was weird Division 1 had been taken off of Makishima’s case. Ginoza seemed like he was going to just explode on the spot. First, Masaoka had disappeared after the riots, and now the case they (Kogami, really) had been pursuing all this time had been switched up. Something weird was going on behind the scenes.

He found Tsunemori on the roof, head in her hands.

“I asked him to go there,” she muttered. Kogami sat down beside her.

“You didn’t know he was going to escape.”

“He didn’t.”

So she agreed with Kogami. There was no way in hell Masaoka would run away, not when it would put Ginoza in this position.

“If you had a problem that you were stuck on,” Tsunemori suddenly said, “and you had been stuck on trying to solve it for what felt like years, what would you do?” 

Kogami thought of Makishima.

“I would keep trying to solve it, even if it became only for my own satisfaction,” he said. At some point, he understood that it was no longer about revenge for those they had lost. It was about killing Makishima with his own two hands. Kogami knew that by now.

“Even if pursuing the answer drove you to insanity?”

“Even so.”

It was a beautiful day in Tokyo. The sun was bright in the blue sky. From the roof, Kogami could see people milling about in the streets. There were still repairs needed after the riots, but the people of Tokyo had a weird kind of resiliency, maybe because of their faith in the Sibyl System to put everything back together.

It was a great big joke. Kogami couldn’t remember the last time he laughed at it, though.

“I feel like this is killing me,” Tsunemori said, “but I can’t just stop now.”

“What’s killing you? Joining the CID?” Tsunemori shook her head.

“If only.”

Kogami pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and held it out to her.

“Want one?” Tsunemori let out a breath and shook her head.

“I don’t smoke.”

“You took one before,” Kogami commented, taking one for himself and lighting it.

“...What?” Tsunemori asked. 

Kogami blinked. Had she done that? He cleared his throat.

“Looks like I need more sleep than I thought,” he joked. 

Tsunemori said nothing.

“You remember Inspector Tsunemori,” Kogami started. Saiga nodded. “Is there any way you could look into her again?”

“I could find something, but why now?” Saiga set his cup down on the table. “From what I saw last time, I didn’t feel any such need to delve much deeper. Has something changed?”

“Yeah.” Kogami tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. “From my point of view, it seems like she found something out and can’t tell anyone about it.”

Inspector Tsunemori had, overnight, become an incredibly tired individual. She had seen her share of fights in a matter of twenty four hours or less. If something had happened related to the case, like another one of her friends being killed by Makshima, they would’ve known. She would’ve definitely reported something like that. If it was something in her personal life, like her grandmother had died, she probably would’ve mentioned it. It had to have been something else, like she found out a secret that no one could know. However, if it was something related to Makishima, Kogami couldn’t figure out what it would be that would prevent her from telling everyone else. Makishima or someone working for him could have threatened her, but knowing the kind of person Tsunemori was, that wasn’t a guarantee she would keep a secret. She always pursued her ideal of justice to the best of her ability, even if it meant losing something of her own in the process. Of course she wanted to protect what she had, but she understood the kind of threat that Makishima was. Perhaps then it wasn’t related to Makishima, but something else that could get her into real trouble. Something that would know if she spoke about it, regardless of where she was or who she was with. Something that was powerful enough to completely stop her in her tracks.

“The Sibyl System…?” Kogami wondered. He thought of Makishima’s escape.

Could the Sibyl System be working together with Makishima somehow? Was that why they didn’t want Kogami on the case, knowing that he would kill Makishima given the chance?

If that was the case, then the system was even more fucked up than it seemed initially, which was saying a lot. All perfect Sibyl was allowing a criminal to run free and possibly even cooperating with him. How could such a thing be allowed to judge everyone else? 

“Answer me.” Tsunemori struggled beneath him. He could see a glint of light reflecting in her eyes. “What is Sibyl planning with Makishima?”

“Let, go—” she gasped. Kogami continued to pin her down, leaning in a little.

“I know you know something,” he muttered. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. What is Sibyl doing?” Her hand was scraping against the floor of Kudama’s house. She was reaching for her dominator. “Inspector, I just need this information from you, and then we can go out separate ways.”

She was trying to kick him from an awkward angle. Kogami barely felt it. He pressed down on her neck.

“Kogami!” she choked out.

He hadn’t slept all night. Inspector Tsunemori would not budge. Kogami had a good feeling she hadn’t slept either.

“Kogami and Kagari, please deal with the men downstairs.”

“But then you’ll be dealing with four men on one!” Kagari protested.

“Do you really think you can stop them?” Kogami added. Looking up into his eyes, Tsunemori said,

“Yes.” Out of the corner of his eye, Kogami caught Kagari looking at him in disbelief. It was a tone she had never taken with them before, a blatant lie, one that left no room for argument. To drive it home, she finished with, “This is an order. If you do not follow it, I will take disciplinary action.”

If you do not follow this, I will shoot you, and maybe I will miss, maybe I will miss and hit you directly in the spine and put you in the hospital for three days, and then how will you chase after Makishima? Kogami interpreted.

He could try. He wanted to, very badly. If Kogami could get Kagari to block her, he could run upstairs. If he could get behind something, she wouldn’t be able to hit him, for at least a moment, and really that was all he needed.

If he tried, he could just knock her out. He could follow after Makishima and kill him.

Tsunemori went up the escalator, a frighteningly determined look in her eyes, and Kogami followed Kagari.

“Well, that was weird,” Kagari muttered, moving down the hallway. “I wonder what’s gotten into her all the sudden.” Kogami said nothing, watching the halls for the other enemies.

“I lost them at what’s supposed to be a dead end,” Shion said. “It’s just up ahead. It might be a trap, so be careful.” 

Coming up to the spot, Kogami clicked his tongue.

“A ‘dead end,’ huh.” A panel of the wall had been removed, revealing stairs that went even further down beyond the supposed four floors the basement was supposed to be. 

Nothing was going right. Makishima being here, Tsunemori’s attitude, the basement. Something went wrong, somewhere, and it just kept getting worse. Kagari peered over the railing.

“...Kogami,” he called out.

“What?”

“Go after Akane.” He glanced behind him, an uncertain grin on his face. “I really don’t like this.”

“You heard what the inspector ordered,” Kogami said, the slightest twitch in his legs. “And what about you?”

“Something’s weird here. She’s gonna be in more danger than either of us. If she yells at you, just blame it on me.” Kagari laughed, and, well, Kogami didn’t need that much convincing. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tsunemori, and it wasn’t that he didn’t care about Kagari; he just had a feeling he knew Makishima too well.

“Don’t complain if anything happens to you,” Kogami said, turning on his heel. He couldn’t see Kagari’s face.

“No, I think I will.” Walking away, Kogami could hear Kagari’s sigh from down the hall. “Ah, this really sucks.”

Racing back upstairs, Shion directed Kogami to the service elevator Tsunemori had taken.

“There aren’t any security cameras up where Makishima is, and I haven’t heard from Akane yet,” Shion explained. Kogami tightened his grip on the dominator. What was Tsunemori doing? The dominator wouldn’t work since Makishima was there, but she had taken the stun baton.

The thought was so quick that Kogami nearly didn’t even catch it.

“The dominator won’t work because Makishima is there!” he blurted out.

“What?” Shion asked.

The elevator finally opening, Kogami burst out and dashed up the stairs, ignoring the blood, ignoring the man collapsed against the railing.

The stun baton. She had to have known.

Why didn’t she say anything? Why did she go alone?

And how did Kogami… know?

There wasn’t any sound. That was the most damning thing of all. There wasn’t any fighting, and yet Tsunemori hadn’t announced Makishima’s arrest. Kogami came onto the floor, dominator at the ready.

“You’re late, Kogami Shinya.”

Something sank where Kogami’s heart was supposed to be. He turned towards the voice. 

Makishima Shogo stood at the foot of the stairs, one hand resting on the banister. The other hand held a helmet.

At his feet, there was a person. Kogami’s hand lowered. The dominator did not lock onto the body.

Her neck.

Her neck.

He hadn’t slept all night.

“You don’t believe me,” Tsunemori muttered. Kogami leaned back in his chair.

“Did you expect me to believe you instantly?” he asked.

“Do you really think I would call you in the middle of the night just to lie to your face about being stuck in a time loop? Do you really think I’m that crazy?”

Kogami shrugged his shoulders. “While there is no proof that time travel is impossible, there’s also no proof that you haven’t suddenly snapped because of—”

Tsunemori slammed her hands on the table.

“I’m not fucking crazy!” 

Getting up so suddenly her chair toppled over, Tsunemori paced around the small space of Kogami’s kitchen. 

“I’m not. I’m not. I feel like I am, because I’ve seen everything happen over, and over, and I know things and none of it can protect anyone because I’m not you or anyone else and I can’t do anything by myself and nobody would believe me even if I told them exactly how Kagari is going to die and the truth behind the Sibyl System, and I’m tired of waking up like this, and, and—”

She stopped. Her hands were in her hair. In the crappy interior lighting, Kogami could barely see the whiteness of her knuckles. He could hear the deep breath she took.

“My hue doesn’t change enough for anyone to believe me. I’m not, not criminally asymptomatic of all things, but if I said that I’ve seen Fuji Hiroko die a hundred times, or that I’ve died before, my psycho-pass doesn’t even go up enough for them to put me in a mental care facility.”

Slowly getting up, as though he was taking care to not startle a wild animal, Kogami went to the fridge and got Tsunemori a glass of water. Taking her wrist gently, he pulled her hand away from her head, and pushed the glass of water into it. Her fingers curled around it like a vice.

“Go sit down on the couch,” Kogami suggested.

As she sat down, staring into her cup like it was poison, Kogami found a notepad and pen. Tsunemori’s rant revealed a lot about what she had been through and found out. If Kogami was anything like Saiga, it would’ve revealed even more. Judging by this, he figured it would be trouble enough to keep this all in his head, even without time travel issues. He took a spot next to her on the couch.

“Okay, walk me through this.”

“...Earlier today, Fuji Hiroko was killed by a man wearing a helmet that copies the psycho-pass of someone in the vicinity,” she started. “Over the next couple of days, there are going to be riots caused by many people wearing these same helmets. The point is to cause general panic, and doubt in the Sibyl System to contain this. On the fifth, while the CID tries to contain the riots, Makishima and his men are going to go to the NONA tower to discover the secret about Sibyl.” Finally, she took a drink of water, and looked over at Kogami. “Did you get all that?”

“Yeah,” Kogami said, underlining “nona tower fifth” three times.

“Well, that’s what Makishima is planning, and what usually happens,” Tsunemori said. “Sometimes, things go differently, but this is generally where… Kagari dies.”

“In the helmet riots or at the tower?”

“In the tower. Kagari goes to the basement, which is Makishima’s real objective. Makishima himself goes up to the highest floor as a decoy,” she explained. “Which is usually where you go, even if I tell you not to.”

“I’d bet,” Kogami said, already making plans on how to get to the top of the NONA tower as quick as possible. “Do I kill Makishima there?”

“You have, once or twice,” Tsunemori admitted. “Not often, though.”

“Hm.”

Kogami could imagine it. Bashing in Makishima’s head with one of his own damn helmets.

So far, what she was saying made sense. Kogami had already believed there were going to be more helmets out there, and that they would be used to create doubt about the way Sibyl runs society. Speaking of Sibyl…

“Why does Makishima think to go to the NONA tower to find out more about the Sibyl System?” Tsunemori shook her head.

“I don’t know how he figured it out. You figured it out during the riots by determining what direction the riots were leading CID, and saw that the most important thing in the other direction was the tower.”

“You said,” Kogami started carefully, “you found out the truth behind the Sibyl System.”

Tsunemori glanced around the room. Judging by how long her eyes lingered, she found two of the four surveillance cameras.

“Never mind,” Kogami decided. “It’s not important right now.”

“Kagari was killed for finding out,” Tsunemori said quietly. If that was the case, then how did Tsunemori survive finding out? 

Rather, did she survive finding out? 

Kogami just nodded.

“Can you continue with what happens afterward? Usually, at least.” Tsunemori shifted in place.

“Makishima is detained, but escapes. The chief,” a flicker of emotion here, “wouldn’t let you on the case to find him, so you escaped using a helmet to chase him down. Makishima’s plan is to program a virus to destroy hyper-oats, and use the dependency on the crop to ruin Japan’s closed borders plan.”

Kogami scribbled down the route of the future, and leaned back on the couch.

“Did the chief not want me on the case because I would kill him given the chance?” Kogami clarified.

“Yes.”

So Makishima was important enough to the chief. Dominators couldn’t work against him, so perhaps he was going to be studied to advance the Sibyl System. Or maybe, since he couldn’t be judged, there was a special process to get rid of him. It would be bad if CID was just killing anyone who the Sibyl System didn’t outright judge a criminal, after all. Perhaps it came back to Sibyl’s secret, after all.

“What is ‘criminally asymptomatic?’” Tsunemori rubbed at her forehead.

“...Did I say that?”

“Yeah, while you were pacing around.” 

Tsunemori took another drink of her water. She said nothing for awhile, internally debating something. In her silence, Kogami pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“Being criminally asymptomatic means… your psycho-pass doesn’t react accordingly with the events going on around you. Makishima can commit crimes and his hue doesn’t react because he’s criminally asymptomatic,” she explained. “He’s not the only criminally asymptomatic person out there, but from what I know, it’s not entirely common.”

“If his hue doesn’t react, then Sibyl can’t catch him,” Kogami said. “Sounds like these criminally asymptomatic people are a pain in Sibyl’s ass.”

There was a plan they could make here. While Kogami was at a disadvantage (now, generally, for all his life), Tsunemori was an inspector with knowledge of the future. She had the clearance to make things happen, and she could get around the obstacles that would come at them. She just needed the assistance to make it all come together.

“I believe you,” Kogami said. Tsunemori looked up at him, brows furrowed together in what seemed like a heartbroken way. “I believe you. If you can’t do this on your own, make use of me. Tell me what you need me to do.”

“I don’t know,” Tsunemori admitted. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t think of a way out.”

She had been stuck for a long time, Kogami thought. He had no idea how many times she had repeated these events, but it looked like she had exhausted all her mental power. Having knowledge of the future was only useful if you stuck to flow of time. Changing one thing might change everything that came after, and then what good was your knowledge of a future that never came to be? If Tsunemori couldn’t move any further, then Kogami would take the steps for her.

Make use of me . They were pretty words. Kogami was not a deceptive man, but he was not a hero. If Tsunemori couldn’t shoot Makishima back then, she wouldn’t be able to shoot him now. Kogami would be using Tsunemori.

He put his hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll help you through it.”

His neck hurt. The bright morning light of the CID building was aggravating a headache in him.

“Yo, Kogami!” Kagari came walking up, grinning ear to ear. “You look like shit.”

He had been up all night planning with Tsunemori their next steps to stop Makishima. Of course he looked like shit.

This is generally where… Kagari dies.

Kagari was killed for finding out .

“What is it?” For a moment, Kogami only stared at Kagari. Kogami was not a hero. Saving everyone would be impossible. 

Leaning in, he whispered,

“Yesterday, Inspector Tsunemori said ‘fuck.’” 

Kagari stared at him.

“Yesterday, Ginoza said I could shoot you if you lied to me,” he declared. Kogami laughed. “Slander! How could you talk about an inspector like that?” Kagari slapped Kogami’s arm, and kept walking.

“Have you ever thought about giving up on it?”

Tsunemori blinked at him.

“On…?”

“This whole,” Kogami gestured, “time loop thing. Just… letting things be as they are.” Tsunemori was quiet. The ceiling fan hummed quietly above them in the empty office. Tsunemori was going to meet with Sibyl later. She smiled a little sadly.

“Do you really think I could leave it like this? Kagari and Masaoka dying, you killing Makishima. Could you possibly leave it alone?”

Kogami… didn’t know. For years, his goal had been to capture and kill Makishima. Everything else that happened either got him closer or further from this goal. Others dying, crimes being committed.

Helping Tsunemori, though, made it feel like something had changed.

Maybe Kogami should’ve been paying more attention to the world around him. The people that lived beside him, the events that passed him by. Birthdays, holidays, things like that. The passage of time. He had been caught up in his own time loop: Sasayama dying, chasing after Makishima, running around in circles, chasing his own tail. Nothing ever changing. 

Tsunemori was trying her hardest to change things. She couldn’t accept the future, Kogami couldn’t accept the past. Maybe they were more alike than either of them thought.

“What if,” he ventured, “trying to change the future is what’s causing it to loop? What if it could only ever be one way?” What if destiny was real and they were doomed to forever walk its path? “There are some things you can fight, and some things that you can’t.”

“So I’m just supposed to accept it like this?” Tsunemori seemed bitter. “Can you accept what’s happened to you? You can’t, can you? Every time I’ve told you to not go up those damn stairs, you run up them anyway and get the shit beaten out of you. You can’t give up. God.” Okay, so maybe she was pissed. After a pause, Kogami began to laugh. “What?”

“No, you’re right. I can’t give up.”

Maybe I should have , Kogami thought. He felt sick in his stomach. Maybe this is a sign we should be giving in . Is it all futile, in the end?

“I’m leaving now, Inspector.” He was going to head for Kudama’s place. Hopefully, he could get a way to change the biometric security for the hyper-oats factory. If there wasn’t, he was just going to kidnap Kudama and get to the factory before Makishima.

“Alright. Stay safe.” Tsunemori was going to get Sibyl to mobilize the CID divisions to protect Kudama’s house and the factory. Hopefully with more personnel, they would catch Makishima earlier. It was unlikely, but they needed all the help they could get. Who knew? Maybe Kagari being alive this time was a crucial part to stopping Makishima. 

Kogami turned to leave, but paused mid step.

“Inspector,” he called.

“Yeah?”

“If this doesn’t work,” he started, “are you going to try to explain it all to me again, next time?” 

Tsunemori was silent. She looked down at the floor. 

She was tired, Kogami knew. She was so tired of it all. She had to be praying that this was the last time. It had to end. Kogami had to end it, for her sake.

“I don’t know.” Tsunemori laughed. “It was a mouthful to say.”

She was alone. In this world where only she knew what was coming, she was alone.

“If there is a next time…” Kogami stopped, thinking for a moment. He smiled. “Tell me that you know I want a PSP.” Tsunemori blinked.

“What?”

“A black one,” Kogami clarified. She only stared at him. He shrugged. “What? I’ve always wanted to try it out. Nobody knows, though, so it will be our passcode. I’ll believe anything you say if you just tell me that.”

Tsunemori giggled. And kept laughing. She was laughing so hard, Kogami could see tears welling up in her eyes. Then again, she might’ve just been crying. 

“Alright,” she gasped out. “Okay. If there’s a next time, I’ll tell you.” She smiled. Kogami thought she looked like a mere reflection of what she used to be. “Take care, Kogami.”

“I’ll see you later, Inspector Tsunemori.”

She was crying. The angle was awkward, looking up at her face looking down at his. Between his slow blinks, Tsunemori had kneeled down beside him. Carefully, she helped him rest his head on her lap.

“I checked on them,” she said. “Kagari helped Masaoka and Ginoza. They’re all alive.” She took a shaking breath. “They’re all alive, because of you.”

That was a relief. It had all gone more or less according to plan. The deal with the Sibyl System was that they would bring Makishima in in exchange for Kogami’s safety, but, well, that didn’t seem very necessary anymore.

“Inspector,” Kogami said softly. “I killed him.” She nodded.

“Yeah.”

“You must be mad.” She shook her head.

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” 

Kogami smiled.

“I’m glad.” 

His blood was warm, maybe. Everything felt oddly cold. Kogami exhaled very slowly. Tsunemori brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

Is this how you felt , he wanted to ask, when you died for the first time ? 

“I’m sorry,” Kogami said. He felt tired. “I used you.”

“I know,” Tsunemori admitted. She tried to smile, maybe. Kogami couldn’t see her all that well anymore. The sun was setting. The air was cold on his skin. He was sweating. He wanted to sleep for a while.

“If there’s a next time,” he said, closing his eyes, “I’ll go with you again.” It sounded like he was so quiet. She was sobbing. Could she hear him? “Akane?”

He hadn’t slept all night. The office door opened. Looking up, Kogami saw Tsunemori staring at him. Kagari leaned back in his chair.

“You look like shit!” he commented. Tsunemori closed her eyes and sighed.

He hadn’t slept all night. He hadn’t slept since he had become an enforcer. He had been in a dream ever since Sasayama died. This was it. This was it. It would just take one well placed bullet, and this would all be over. Inspector Tsunemori was pushing herself off of the concrete.

“The PSP,” she groaned. Kogami stopped in his tracks. The concussion was worse than he thought. “You wanted a black PSP.” 

He turned to face her.

The passcode. He had told her that.

When?

Did it matter?

Tsunemori made it into a somewhat sitting position. She looked like she was going to fall over.

“I’ve been trapped in a time loop,” she said. “It’s been repeating over, and over, and I’ve been trying to prevent everyone from dying, and I can’t . I gave up.” Her hands raised up. She was tearing at her hair. “I gave up and let them die. Kagari’s dead. Masaoka’s dead. I let it all happen, and, and now you’re going to go kill Makishima. You told me you’d go with me,” she cried. “Where are you going without me?”

Kogami stared at her. He hadn’t wanted this to break her. He wanted to believe her. If there was anyone he could believe, it was Tsunemori. If there was anyone he could rely on, it would be her.

Carefully kneeling down, he gently patted her hair in apology.

“It’s not your fault,” he promised. This was all he could give her. “It had never been your fault. This was… something that had to happen.”

“Then why did time keep repeating? Why did it keep repeating if there was nothing I could do? It has to be my fault,” she insisted. “If only, if only I could protect you. Am I just supposed to let it end here?”

If she had accepted her fate, maybe time would’ve continued on. Tsunemori’s refusal to accept things as they were was what caused the events to repeat over and over. It was that stubbornness that Kogami admired. It was the thing that damned her. 

“I had to let it happen,” she sobbed. “We tried and tried, together, for so long, and you kept dying. I wanted you to live so badly. I’m horrible. I’ve sacrificed the others for your life.” 

Kogami took a deep breath in. Was he really worth that much? Maybe it was her fault, and maybe Kogami would never admit that. Kogami was not going to let this—this, her desire to protect him, be the one thing to break her and cloud her psycho-pass. Of all things, Kogami wouldn’t let it be himself.

“Don’t blame yourself any further,” he said. “It’s not… giving in. It’s nothing as desperate as that. Maybe this is how it’s always meant to be. It’s awful, and I’ve always cursed whatever god gave me this fate. But you’ve been trying your best, haven’t you? In spite of the things being thrown at you, you’ve continued on. It’s not to throw away lives in vain, but to take their sacrifices and move forward with them.”

Maybe it’s always meant to be this way, he doesn’t quite say, me leaving and you taking up my place. Maybe it always was meant to be like this between us, nothing more, nothing less. 

“It sounds like hell, and you’ve been dragging yourself through all this shit, trapping yourself in a cycle of grief. You can’t continue on this way. It’s not giving in, it’s not to let go,” Kogami said to Tsunemori and to himself. “It’s to move on.”

Kogami Shinya thought to himself that he was the only one that could give this to Tsunemori Akane: the strength to move on in life. To move without him.

“Even if it feels hopeless, it doesn’t end here. I won’t die. One day, we’ll meet again.”

Tsunemori lowered her head, and cried. Stroking her hair one last time, Kogami stood up, and began to walk away.

He followed the trail of blood and trampled oats, gun always at the ready. For being so injured, Makishima sure was making it far. The field was massive, and the path felt like it was only getting longer, stretching out in front of him. Makishima was heading for the hills. Kogami picked up the pace. The sun was setting. The air was cold on his skin. He was sweating.

Makishima was there, kneeling on the ground. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to find a replacement for me?”

Kogami was thinking of Tsunemori crying.

“I sure hope not.”

The thing about time loops was that they didn’t make any damn sense. Did it make sense for the whole world to repeat a section of events over and over with only one person remaining aware?

It didn’t. How the hell did any of this make sense?

Kogami learned, over time. She could tell. Akane had been with Kogami the whole time. Watched him, learned from him.

He wouldn’t give up on Makishima, never that. But his expression had softened, looking at her. Pity, maybe. Knowing, maybe. Remembering, somehow, subconsciously, remembering everything they went through together.

The cigarette she had taken from him just once, forever ago, just because she had been curious. He had remembered.

Fighting through an endless amount of the same few days. Being the only one to know the full truth, being the only one who could ever do anything about it. It was impossible for only one person to remember all that time.

Maybe she had never been alone.

Tsunemori Akane thought to herself as she walked away from the true form of the Sibyl System.

“Sir, we’ve arrived in SEAUn.” Kogami opened his eyes slowly. The boat was still rocking in the waves. 

“Alright, thanks.”

Coming out to the deck, Kogami stretched in the sunlight. It had been oddly comfortable, escaping Japan on a boat in the darkness. All things considered, Kogami had slept well through the night.