Psycho Pass: Apology Of An Endgame

4

Annaisha frowned and her lips trembled at her own words, as if she could not believe them herself.

"He was reserved with everyone but her. She was his favorite student after all, the only one who understood his weird jokes. I always thought they had some kind of... relationship."

The three faces completely darkened in front of her, and for a few seconds they no longer heard the conversations of the tables around them.

"Takahashi-san never told us she was a friend of his," Masaoka exchanged a look with Kougami. "Do you think she might be helping him?"

It was then that Annaisha stretched back in her seat and cast an accusing glance at him, "What? Of course not! She would never do such thing."

"Are you certain?"

"I would trust her with my life."

They remained silent for a few seconds. Her tone had been as firm and confident as that of a woman who had nothing to lose, even though she was studying and had her whole life ahead of her.

"Let's not make any rash assumptions," the inspector cut the oldest enforcer off. "Remember that she was a friend of Kirino Touko."

"You sure of that, Gino?" Kougami mumbled inhaling deeply into his cigarette.

Masaoka's voice rose, "It doesn't explain why she hid her relationship from the MWPSB. If Kirino-san was a friend of hers, she would have provided us with any information."

"Unless there wasn't any!" Annaisha blurted out with a scowl. "Sorry. I just can't believe you think she would help a criminal and a murderer like that man."

Kougami took the cigarette from his lips and kept it lit between his fingers, smoke spilling out of his nostrils in whirls of air, "There is no man with integrity. People change."

"Not Takahashi-san."

There was a sudden silence in which the only one who smiled was Masaoka, and somehow, he managed to convey that same warmth to the young woman, who seemed to relax her body in the seat. Although she was not accused of anything, the fact that her friend became a suspect made her feel guilty, as if she owed her life.

"You're thinking like a friend of hers," Kougami rebuked her with a disappointed tone.

He suddenly got up to throw the cigarette into one of the nearest garbage cans. He looked like a child who cannot stay still for a single moment, since he wants to learn everything about the new world.

"Of course I am! It's because I know her that I'm sure she wouldn't betray a friend of hers, but above all, she wouldn't get involved with that man. She would report him at once even if her hue became clouded in the process."

"We are enforcers, miss," Masaoka uttered with an almost fatherly voice, getting up as well. "We don't think like cops or friends, but criminals."

"What will happen to her now?" she asked staring at the table, certainly hunched over.

Her boyfriend had returned and had a cup of coffee in each hand. Ginoza nodded his head and gave him the seat, "We are just looking for information. We really appreciate your help."

They had turned around to leave when the young woman's voice assured behind them, "You are wrong about her. She is not a criminal. You know... when the fire at the academy happened, it was thanks to Takahashi-san that we were able to organize ourselves to get out and get to safety. If she hadn't been there at the right time, I don't really know how it would have ended."

"History is riddled with false messiahs," Kougami muttered as he bowed his head to light another cigarette.

They went to the police car, and when Ginoza started the engine of the vehicle, he raised his arm to make a call with the communicator on his wrist, while different holograms were turned on displaying information about the car and its current position.