Psycho Pass: All Alone With You

The Geisha and the Hound, Pt. 1

The divisions of the Ministry of Welfare's Public Safety Bureau were as diverse as the roster of Inspectors and Enforcers charged with maintaining order under the watchful eye of the Sibyl System.  It was not unusual for an MWPSB division to request an Enforcer from another division for assistance.  Enforcers carried the heavy weight of the investigation and endured the darkness of crime so that the Inspectors did not have to bear such burdens. 

    The job, on both sides of the leash, had its perils, and Inspectors and Enforcers were injured or killed in the line of duty, which left vacancies.  For particularly difficult cases or those requiring specific skill sets, certain divisions could provide a wealth of experience while at the same time benefiting from a fresh perspective from an Inspector or an Enforcer outside of their area of expertise.  Still, the danger was ever present and always real.

    No one understood that better than Shinya Kogami.  As an Inspector, he had lost an Enforcer to a gruesome murder that left the MWPSB in shock.  The case left him with a crime coefficient beyond regulation value and a conscience beyond redemption.  A demotion spared him life in an isolation cell and put him back on the frontlines with the Public Safety Bureau, but he was much closer to the action than ever before in his career. 

    Being in harm's way was second nature to him, as familiar and comfortable as the gray jacket he wore with its fleece collar turned up.  He was a frequent visitor in the medical bay and for a brief time the physicians joked about keeping a bed open just for him.  His latest injury was a minor one—a sprained wrist—sustained in a street brawl when Kagari and he had been jumped by a pack of juvenile delinquents.  He was more apt to blame the injury on the sloppy execution of the punch than the strength of the jaw. 

    More sparring practice was in order to prevent a recurrence.  Having cleared the medical list, he was headed to the gym when the summons from another Division came across his wristcom.  Akane Tsunemori, and not Ginoza, had signed off on the temporary transfer, so he was not inclined to question it.  Kogami hoped the case would mean action in the field and not turn out to be one of her more altruistic pursuits.  If he couldn't spar with a combat drone, he would happily settle for the real thing.

    When an Inspector was expecting a fight, they often called on him because there was little doubt in his obedience and no hesitation when the order to give chase and bite was issued.  This ardent tenacity had earned him the nickname the Hellhound.  But it was this same pugnacious persistence that made him difficult to handle in the field. 

Impertinent. Insubordinate. Incorrigible.  These were the terms Ginoza had written on his most recent performance review.  Any other Enforcer might have ended up in an isolation cell, if only as a precautionary measure.  By law Kogami should have been taken out of the field and placed on desk duty, and he would have except for Inspector Akane Tsunemori's undaunted belief in him.

    That night in the park under the fireworks, Kogami had made a promise to her, one that he had every intention to keep or die trying.  As a result of that promise, Division 1's investigation success ratio was at the highest percentile in the PSB, and Akane was the lead Inspector for the second month in a row.  She clearly saw something of value in him.  Something Kogami could not see in himself.      

A force of nature, Chief Kasei had referred to him.  One day that assessment would send him to an isolation facility forever, but not now when he was proving too useful to the bureau and Kasei's political agenda.  Other divisions had taken note, to, and their Inspectors looked on, envying Tsunemori for what she alone possessed and what Ginoza despised.  First, it was, Division 5, Inspector Ikuko, who needed help unveiling a corrupt Inspector.  Then it was Division 3, who had been tasked with putting to rout a dangerous militia on the slopes of Mt. Fuji.