Ending the Omnipotence Paradox

Chapter 15

Armed with the information he'd received from Shion under the guise of needing it for their current mission, Kogami had tracked down one Mister Shizuka Homura - learning enough about the seemingly innocuous man to know he was exactly the type of guy Akane should be with, on paper. He had hoped that learning who the man was would quell the need for answers from Akane. But if anything, it had only fueled his nearly unhinged desire to know more.
She had been noticeably absent from the team debriefing that morning, having Ginoza and Sugo join the conference via video feed to represent the Bureau in her stead; an uneasy feeling sticking with Kogami each time one of them spoke up instead of her. He hadn't wanted to ask about her obvious omission from the pertinent meeting, but found himself itching for an explanation; agreeing to courier some evidence to the PSB lab later that afternoon in hopes of getting more details from Gino. Once he made it to the CID floor, however, he realized that her absence was even more personal than he'd feared.
Akane sat at her desk, dejectly holding a disposable coffee cup; Ginoza standing beside her with a hand on her shoulder, the words he was saying muted by the glass doorway separating the Division 1 office from the reception area where Kogami had come to a stop upon seeing them. He half expected her to still be holed up miles away in the comfort of her friend's luxurious penthouse uptown and he wasn't sure if her unexpected presence brought him solace or indignation. With a comforting pat, Gino walked back to his desk as she set her cup on the surface of hers and brought her hands up to cradle her face. Shaking her head, they dropped away with a visible sigh of defeat; her eyes looking to the ceiling in torment before they darted to where Kogami stood, her jaw dropping slightly when the look on his face registered with her. Not waiting for an invitation, he stalked toward the automatic doors, which slid open with his hasty approach, not the slightest bit ready for the unexpected confrontation he was about to start.
"What are you doing here, Inspector?" he inquired, the overt hostility in his voice causing her to noticeably recoil as she stood.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that...?" she replied in bewilderment.
"Don't play dumb with me, Tsunemori," he spat back as he stopped just a few feet from her with an accusatory finger pointed in her direction.
"Kogami, this isn't the time or place fo-" Ginoza tried to deflect on Akane's behalf; he and Kunizuka standing quickly from their respective desks, ready to react to his outburst as necessary.
"Unless your job title has changed again, Gino, I wasn't talking to you," he growled back at the Enforcer without taking his eyes off of her.
"Is this about missing the meeting this morning?" She questioned, the struggle to make sense of his indignation written across her face. "I'm sure the report Mister Ginoza has given me was adequate in detailing everything I missed that's of concern to the continuing operatio-"
"Yeah, I'm sure you're real concerned about our next move," he interrupted with a condescending scoff.
"What is that supposed to mean...?" She asked him in astonished confusion. "What is going on here?"
Kogami was relieved he had been made recently exempt from Sibyl's cymatic scans, feeling an impatient despair bubbling up inside him that he knew would have set off a psycho-hazard alert for anyone else. He barely registered the doors to the unit sliding open behind him as he took one step closer to Akane, placing his flattened palms on the top of her desk.
"Why don't you tell us?" he countered, the vitriol in his tone surprising even himself as her eyes looked into his helplessly. "Maybe start with why you're having after hours meetings with a parliament member at his private residence?"
For a moment he thought she'd stopped breathing, her eyes glazing over as his words permeated her consciousness. The shock only lasted for a brief second before her expression turned to one of pained disbelief as her wide stare met his again.
"Kogami, maybe you should take a minute and think about what you're accusing Tsunemori of here," Ginoza warned, earnestly eyeing both of them.
"There's nothing to think about, Gino," he disagreed while leveling his stare at Akane. "It's not an accusation she's going to deny; is it, Inspector?"
"You... you followed me?" She asked incredulously, as Ginoza took a cautious step between them. Kogami thought he heard another person gasp quietly behind him, but he was too invested in the conversation in front of him to be concerned with anyone else. "What happened to trusting each other?"
"The hell are you trying to pull here, Tsunemori?" He countered, realizing how her accusation made him look to those surrounding them but deciding to double-down anyways. "You lose one comrade and decide to go off script and start being reckless all of a sudden?"
"I'm sorry, I must have forgotten that you're the only one that gets to be reckless without a second thought to anything else. Forgive me," she countered skeptically, anger building in her tone. "Don't be a hypocrite, Kogami. What about throwing yourself between me and a bomb yesterday? Or using your own body as a shield to protect other agents from knives and gunfire? As if either were the first time you've decided to carelessly put yourself directly in harm's way on behalf of others."
"Well, maybe if you'd stop getting yourself in these situations, I wouldn't have to jump in and save you," he qualified with an indignant scoff.
"No one's asked you to save me, Kogami!" She yelled back in frustration. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"Oh, like you'd ever let anyone doubt that, Inspector," he spat back with a humorless laugh. She shook her head before responding, obviously taken aback by his ill-founded malice.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," she refuted solemnly. "And I won't have you storming into a government office to confront me if the only proof you have to back up your accusation is who I entertain in my personal time because you decided to sneak around instead of asking me a simple question."
She knew he couldn't deny that the means to his information had come less than honestly; the expression on her face morphing into a mixture of anguish and disappointment as she paused.
"The last time I checked, you are the only one here who doesn't trust me," she told him, and he swore he could see part of her breaking in her admission. "Maybe you should think about why that is before you come in here slinging allegations at anyone."
Realizing his anger wasn't getting him anywhere, he turned and stormed out of the office with a huff, sliding doors quickly opening and closing as he passed through without another word.
"Shinya, wait!" He heard as the partition opened again. Kogami pushed through his instinct to pause at the slightly frantic voice calling from behind him, gritting his teeth as his feet obstinately carried him toward the elevators.
"I've got nothing left to say here, Shion. Just let me leave," he said obstinately over the sound of heels clicking against the tile floors in his trail. He pushed the call button for the lift as soon as it was in arm's reach, breathing a silent thanks to whatever deity would listen when one set of doors immediately slid open in front of him. Hurrying into the small box, he quickly pressed the indicator for the Lobby while holding down the Door Close control, wishing the mechanisms could sense his frustrated urgency. That didn't stop the tall blonde from catching the metal partitions with her foot just before they shut, the bend of one of her long, toned legs not enough to distract him from the agitation in her eyes.
"Listen, I don't know what exactly caused that scene from you back there," she started, the determination in her features enough to make him release the elevator hold. "But I do know Akane and despite whatever you're thinking right now, I know she would never purposely betray us."
"Yeah?" He questioned skeptically. "Well, I know what I saw, Shion. And trust me when I say that your friend seems to be a little too damn good at keeping her secrets."
"Her secrets? Shinya..." the analyst admonished with a shake of her head. "Had I known you were going to use the information I found for you yesterday to attack Akane like this, I never would have agreed to even look."
The veracity of her words hit Kogami like a brick wall, it suddenly dawning on him that the team he'd left behind and the one Hanashiro had warned him about were indeed different.
"Seems like everything's coming up 'Team Akane' then, doesn't it?" The rhetorical question was heavily tinged with disillusioned betrayal.
"Oh, Shinya," Shion related with a disappointed head shake. "When will you ever see that it's never been about sides with that woman?"