Psycho Pass: Apology Of An Endgame

8

"How convenient!"

Yashiro's face contorted into a repulsed expression as the smell wafted over her, but she stared at him through disheveled bangs, with her head slightly tilted to the side and her lips parted. He was a little taller than she was and certainly much heavier, for she could tell that he exercised regularly, yet she replied with an almost mocking calmness, "I beg your pardon?"

"He killed your mother. Surely you wanted to leave him there to die, didn't you?"

She curled her lip showing her teeth for a second, and grabbed his forearm with one of her hands squeezing hard, though he did not release the grip.

"I wanted Kirino-san back just like him—"

"But you wouldn't miss the chance to get revenge, would you?"

"Kougami—that's enough!" Ginoza yelled at him.

Yashiro frowned, her tempting narrowed eyes bathing his face until she whispered defiantly, "I understand... wanting to take revenge. I can see it in your eyes. There is nothing wrong with a cop having fun in his work. I will not deny my own personal relief as soon as I heard of his death."

"Kougami!" Masaoka growled right behind him.

"But nothing can take the pain away. Eventually you will learn to live with it. There will be nightmares. Hallucinations. Until one day... you will wake up with a different priority."

"Who do you think you are, manipulating others and talking about whether or not they deserve to be saved?" Kougami questioned almost in a shout.

"Sasayama was an enforcer. He has killed many innocent people himself. Why should it be a sin not to mourn his death, when he did never think of my mother or what I felt? You can take me to church—but I am not praying for him."

"You denounce Sibyl for its justice, but you act on the same basis."

"I act on the basis of my own values," Yashiro declared aloud, without waiting for a response. "You still refuse to see what is fading into you... Kougami. It's hard to be an arbiter of our lives. It's easier to play and delegate that role to someone else. You let go of your emotions in favor of reason. You thought Sasayama was weak for having feelings and being guided by them... but you were weak for hiding from them. Sasayama may never have made a decision of his own free will as an enforcer. But at least he chose to die... as a free man. Now I remember... you were the one who told him to stay off the case... and now you regret... because he is dead."

Kougami released her with a push. His eyes were wide open, still fully focused on her. Ginoza shot him an accusing glance and turned to her, with an authoritative and certainly distrustful tone, "Tell us what happened in the apartment."

Yashiro did not look directly at him, she was still attentive to Kougami's movements, who seemed to want to hit her at that very moment.

"We found out that Kirino-san could be kidnapped there and we went in. She managed to escape and then Touma showed up on the stairs. There was a fight. And then the fire. We had to get out through a window just before... everything caught fire. We thought Touma was dead. There was no way he could escape the flames—"

"But he did," Kougami sneered at her. "What caused the fire?"

"I have no idea. We did not look at the details."

Kougami began pacing the room, letting out a sigh of exasperation. Then he spluttered, more to himself, "Sasayama was right. The whole mastermind thing. Everything makes sense now. I should have listened to him. First—the fire at the academy. And now this. Someone wanted to help him escape."