Psycho Pass: Colorful World

26

Yashiro was sitting on a stretcher inside an ambulance, finishing wiping her face with a damp white towel, when Daiki walked towards her. The sky was pitch black, and the lights of the police cars and ambulances made her close her eyes at times.

"Inspector Takahashi. Inspector? Takahashi-san!"

She blinked and raised her eyebrows for a second, turning her head towards the back of the ambulance.

"You heard me?" Daiki asked in a softer voice.

"No. What?"

Yashiro stood up, leaving the towel on the stretcher, and walked towards him half crouching so as not to hit her head on the ambulance roof.

"I just wanted to check if you're okay," he walked over and rested a forearm on the back door. "Takahashi-san?"

"Hm?" she paused, raising her head to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. You?" she grabbed the door with one hand and jumped out of the ambulance.

"You had us worried today," he frowned and turned to her.

"I went too far, I know."

"How's the, uh..." he pointed a finger at his mouth and nose for a second, looking at hers.

"You know, I played basketball as a kid. I walked into a backboard pole once. It's a little worse," she squinted, turning her head to one side.

He smiled and nodded, "How you feeling?"

"It was just a small cut, but it will heal spontaneously. They wanted to run some tests, but I'm fine. I'll probably be forced to have them when we get back."

"You should go home, get some rest."

"Have you found out anything about these people?"

"Some were identified. There's no connection to Agawa. What happened there?" his voice echoed. "We found your dominator, but it was never active."

Yashiro looked at him and suddenly heard the buzzing of a security drone pass by, until it stopped near the ambulance a few meters away from them.

"We had a fight. I barely got out of there alive."

"Why didn't you use your dominator? I'm not buying—"

"I froze," she widened her eyes, shaking her head and looking away. "I'm sorry."

The drone continued on in the direction of a man who was in another ambulance, ready to be moved to the hospital.

"What are you more sorry about, that people died or that Agawa got away?"

Yashiro frowned for a second, "If I could do things differently—"

"You'd shoot Agawa in cold blood and plant the gun just like you did Miyake," he replied in a low, cautious voice. "That was your plan, right? That's why you split up divisions the way you did from the beginning. You wanted a quiet place to do it."

"Wouldn't you rather see him dead than out there alive?"

"I'd rather not have to cover up another one of your executions. Tell me everything you say about Agawa is true."

Slowly, Yashiro lifted her chin and sighed, gazing at a distant black police car. She recognized Tsunemori's short brown hair among other people.

"I swear," she assured after a pause, looking into his eyes.

Daiki nodded with a sigh and responded in a quieter voice, his eyes more closed, "Okay."

They made their way to the rest of the divisions, who gathered in the uncovered parking lot on the top floor forming a large circle among themselves. There were new familiar faces.