Bound by Fate *Psycho-Pass*(Kogami x OC)

New Family

"Ko," I called back as I headed towards the door. "I'm gonna head to my room. I'll see you at the office." I didn't bother to wait for a reply and immediately opened the door to the hallway. Akane Tsunemori stood outside, poised to knock.

At that moment, I was sure our faces were exact mirrors of one another; both frozen in shock and red with embarrassment. Tsunemori was the first to collect herself by closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, her color had returned to normal and her expression was neutral once more. Is this what they meant when they told me her hue never got clouded? I wondered vaguely.

"Ginoza was getting impatient," she explained quickly. "I offered to come get you two. This explains why you didn't answer your door when I knocked." I blushed even more deeply at the implication, although Akane's expression remained completely unemotional. Immediately, I attempted to explain the situation, but I was cut off before I could speak.

"What are you doing here, Inspector Tsunemori?" Shinya's voice reached my ears before I felt his bare chest press against my back. At this point, I was certain that I was the color of a tomato. Damn you, Shinya Kogami, I mentally cursed at my... boyfriend? The term suddenly seemed too simple to describe what the ex-Enforcer had become to me, too simple a term to describe Shinya Kogami in general. I suddenly felt like we were in middle school.

Akane, thankfully, brought me back to reality. "Ginoza's annoyed," she answered him bluntly, unfazed by his shirtless appearance. Has she seen him shirtless before? The thought flashed through my mind without warning and immediately I felt a surge of jealousy course through me. Calm down, Otori, I mentally scolded. Jeez, I don't think I was ever this bad with Shogo. I shook that particular thought out of my head. Shogo was my past, and I needed to stop comparing him to Shinya.

Shinya nodded. "That sounds like him," he chuckled at the thought of his best friend scowling and pacing the office impatiently. "Anyway," he continued, "just let him know that Mariko and I will be there shortly."

"I don't think that'll be possible," Akane said firmly, looking at me now.

"Why not?" I asked, a bad feeling growing in my stomach. Tsunemori's look had turned grave and she looked unsure about how to state the next sentence.

Finally, she spoke. "The case," she began hesitantly. "It's about your brother, Rin; he was killed last night. We found his body floating in the river a few hours ago."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Numb. That was the only way I knew how to describe my current state. After Akane told me that my brother had been killed, I immediately shut down. No matter how many times Shinya called my name to bring me back from the numbness, no matter how hard he shook me and pleaded, I just stood there, frozen and mindless like a zombie. I had never cared about my brother – that was what I told myself. After he had sold me out, literally, I had convinced myself that I hated him, that I wouldn't care if he died, that I would probably even be happy if he did.

And yet, here I was, frozen in time, thinking of the last words my brother had ever uttered to me. 'My father will make your life hell.' I almost laughed at the bitter words. 'My father,' he had said. He had threatened me with our own father, and the worst part was, he didn't even hesitate in saying 'my'. It was obvious that Rin hadn't given a damn about me, so why was I so upset about him?

"Stop it," Shinya's voice broke through the fog. I looked up at him blankly from my seat. After realizing that I probably wasn't going to respond anytime soon, Shinya had pulled on a shirt in order to walk me to the office and cleared the room so I could have some privacy. Unfortunately, the case was still a case, so there was no way I could miss the briefing. Only Shinya remained with me. I pulled his big coat tighter around myself, unsure of exactly when he had placed it around my shoulders.