Chapter 2: Nobody Knows your Mask. [2/2]

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     After what ended up as an accidental raid at Exoset club and gathering as much evidence posible, the MWPSB returned to the precinct. The murderer of Kimihiko Hayama was still free and yet to be identified, but now the suspect was aware that he was being investigated by the Law. Now stuck with no new clues or leads, it was back to deep investigating. For starters, going back into the CommuField of Spooky Boogie and maybe get this person's assistance like before. Tsunemori headed to the Analysts Kuranomori's lab with Kogami and put that theory to the test. Ginoza and Shinra headed back to the office while Tsunemori worked with the meeting. Though, it seemed the other Enforcers noticed the tense atmosphere because they decided to stay out the office until they were called in again.

     Shinra upon entering the office she drops herself before her work desk and turns on her tablet which made the screens before her lit up. Without a second thought she opened a page and started working on typing down her report on today's assignment. Could feel and strong and burning sensation from her side but she ignored it, as with ease and no breaks she typed in her full report of today's incident.

     Ginoza walked toward's his own work desk and sat down, yet he couldn't help glaring towards Shinra's direction. Eventually he decided to get himself involved on his own work to cool his head some. As he engulfed himself in work and begun calming down is when he began to also notice that the Enforcers haven't returned to the office. That made a slight frown of annoyance take over his face before he sighed heavily.  Fixing up his glasses back to his nose bridge soon his eyes shifted to stare in Shinra's direction again noticing how focused in her work she was at the time. I might have overstepped before... He thought to himself but being who he was, shook the thought away quickly.

     Ten minutes didn't passed before Shinra's hands stopped typing and she breathed out as she leaned back in her chair. Her arms stretching over her head slightly before slowly they ended folding before her chest with her eyes closing up for a second. After that brief second she finally pushes herself away from her desk a little to stand up and slowly approach Ginoza's work desk. "Just now I have sent to you my report of today's assignment and incident." She spoke while wearing a serious expression on her face. "Maybe that will settle things from before." She adds before pushing a few strands of her hair away from her eyes.

      Ginoza rose his eyes from his screens as soon as he noticed Shinra approach, making his expression turn stern again. Listened to her words but then he searched for her report and seemed surprised of how long it was for just writing it all now. "You just wrote this?" He asked skeptically.

     "Yes. I just wrote it and even check it twice before sending it to you, sir." Shinra answered before she looked down at her wrist-com which Ginoza seemed to had done it as well. "It appears we're needed." Shinra expresses then lifts her eyes to look over to Ginoza after closing the message, waiting for his response.

     "We'll discuss this further later. I'll read your report thoughtfully and then we can discuss about the incident again. Understood?" Ginoza stood up from his desk after shutting off the tablet, looking at her seriously.

     "I see no problem with that, sir." Shinra states but then turns around to head out the office with Ginoza following close behind. The whole Division 1 needing to gather back at the Analyst's lab.

     Once there, the three to sit down in the couch was Masaoka, Tsunemori and Kagari. Ginoza and Kunizuka stood on the right of the couch while Kogami leaned against a wall to the left. Kuranomori was working on her tablets while Shinra stood behind the couch with her arms folded before her chest. Tsunemori explained the situation with Spooky Boogie and how getting any more assistance turned into a failure. Now they all had to choose what will be their next move. Deciding that working with what they had will have to do, hopefully it will lead them somewhere.

     "Talisman's Saloon is packed with visitors like usual. Today's another busy day for the ghost of Kimihiko Hayama, giving out advice without a care." Kuranomori spoke while she worked on her tablets.

     "Not only is he not running or hiding, he even brings up what happened in Club Exoset." Kagari states while he leaned forward.

     "More importantly, what's his game? Is his goal to make it look like Kimihiko Hayama is still alive?" Ginoza questioned while staring at Kuranomori's screens.

     "Then there's no way to leave Hayama's bank account untouched along with the record of him not leaving his apartment for two months, right?" Kuranomori points out.

     "I wonder if his goal really is to simply hijack Hayama's avatar." Kagari comments.

     "If he commits crimes for kicks, it's posible, but... would someone like that kill?" Ginoza speaks as they all kept brainstorming.

     "Ginoza, don't try to understand the mind of criminals. You'll be drawn in." Kogami advises his superior.

     Ginoza scoffs and look's over to Kogami wearing and smug expression. "Is that a warning to yourself, Kogami?" He asks rhetorically and sarcastically, making obvious his hatred towards Enforcers.

     Kogami scoffs slightly in amusement before he lifted his head to smirk over to Ginoza.

      "Hey..." Masaoka spoke as if worried these two will start insulting each other or something. As there had been enough fighting today already.

      Shinra cleared her throat and rested her hands on the back of the couch behind Tsunemori while she looked at the screens. "Anyways...whatever the motives are our job is to find this individual and allow Sibil to be the judge." She states before her eyes shifted from Kogami and Ginoza, then she pulls away from the couch to stand straight again.

      "That's true." Tsunemori agreed with Shinra's words.

      "Even if he commits crimes for kicks, he's no fool. He expected that he'd fall under suspicion. He couldn't have cracked the Holo-Cosplay in the hall unless he prepared for it beforehand." Kogami states.

     "Either that, or he wasn't working alone." Shinra adds while she looked to Kogami but then all their eyes fell to Ginoza who spoke.

     "Whatever may be, if he's mocking us, then we'll just have to teach him a lesson." Ginoza paused for a second then faced the analysts. "Kuranomori, trace Talisman's access routes. We'll find out who he is and capture him this time for sure." He instructs.

     "Don't get worked up, Ginoza. He's confident in his abilities to hide his tracks. That's why he still goes in and out of the social network as nothing happened." Kogami suggests his superior.

     "Not just that, knowing the MWPSB is after him is most likely he could predict our actions on tracking him through the network." Shinra adds to Kogami's statement.

     "But what's the point in us sitting around doing nothing?" Ginoza questions.

     "There might be another way to get a lead on him." Kogami said while facing Ginoza now. "There's one more thing that I wanna check into." He adds.

     Shinra listened to Kogami's words and wondered what this other way could be, finding herself curious to know. Which took quite a lot of work to keep her face from showing her actual interest.

     "That's fine. Suit yourself. I'm still going to trace his access routes." Ginoza states while taking a look over to Kunizuka and Kagari. "Kunizuka and Kagari will be teaming with me." He paused then look's over to Shinra who turns to look at him. "What will you do?" He asks Shinra.

     Shinra felt eyes all over her at the time but she just pushed her strands of hair behind her ears before speaking. "I'll join you, sir." She decides quietly as she somewhat forced herself to say this. Being against his plan from the beginning but she had a feeling if she chooses otherwise they will be repercussion for her, again. Plus, it felt like she wasn't being given any choice either.

     Tsunemori was a little confused by Shinra's choice but said nothing about it and was left in charge of Kogami and Masaoka. "I'll make sure to inform you if anything is found, Ginoza." Tsunemori said politely.

     As the groups divided and were settled, Tsunemori's team headed out to Division 1 office while Ginoza's team remained with Kuranomori. Kunizuka moved onto the couch to sit down while Shinra rounded it and stood to it's left, leaning against the armrest a bit. "Kuranomori, can you trace the last access of Talisman or Spooky Boogie? The most recent?" Ginoza asks while stepping forward, still standing to the right of the couch.

     "It might take me a bit of time but I can." Kuranomori took a puff of her cigarette while she typed in her tablet. Many things popped out into the screen while she pinpointed the location of their suspect by it's last access.

     "So the new cutie robot is tagging with us this time?" Kagari smirks while leaning back on the couch while crossing his arms behind his head. "Not that I mind, is good having such a nice face around for once if we can't have Tsunemori." He added with a smug grin.

     Shinra looked to Kagari but then turns back to the screens again, deciding not to comment.

     Kunizuka breaths out quietly and look's in direction of Kuranomori. "Need any help?" She asks quietly.

     "No, I got the address right here. It was easier than expected to track down and pinpoint." Kuranomori admits before she turns around blowing smoke from her cigarette. "I've had send you all the coordinates but be careful. It seems to be in an difficult district." She adds before she kept on smoking until she had to press the butt on the ashtray.

     "Let's go." Ginoza said as soon as he verified he had received the coordinates. Turning around and heading his way out the lab. While Kunizuka and Kagami stood from the couch and were ready to go. "Thank you, Kuranomori." Kunizuka said while they start to walk to follow Ginoza.

      "This smells like another trap..." Shinra muttered to herself before following Ginoza as well. Though, her words were caught by the enforcer's ears.

     Kagari let out a low chuckle before he spoke. "What makes you think that?" He asks after staring over to Shinra.

     "Just a gut feeling." Shinra states honestly, no hesitation whatsoever.

     Kagari bursts laughing and shakes his head. "Don't let Ginoza hear you, or he will definitely scold you for that." He spoke but not loud for Ginoza who was ahead to pick his words up.

     "I'm aware. After all, gut feelings aren't logical nor can be proven like facts. Even so, he should know that a real Inspector needs to have a little gut feeling every now and then too." Shinra spoke quietly while holding back the urge to smirk amused. Soon the three had to quicken up their speed as Ginoza called them out to hurry up.

~ Time Skip: The Last Log In Location ~

     After their drive to the district and apartment building which gave the apparance to be somewhat abandoned, they entered with Dominators in hand all the way up to the actual apartment room which the coordinates indicated. A drone which they took along with them was ahead and stood before the door ready for the signal to burst it open. Ginoza standing behind Kunizuka on the right while Kagari and Shinra stood to the left with the Inspector behind. The drone scanned the door and seemed to not notice anything suspicious from it either so it stood before it on stand by.

     "Door breach." Ginoza lowly gave the command to the drone which easily pressed the machine against the door and pulled it apart. Making the entry for the Enforcers easy, while Inspectors stood at the door on stand by. Both Kunizuka and Kagari inspected the closest rooms pointing out their Dominators, but on the last room that Kagari checks it triggers a trap.

     As Kagari pointed his Dominator into the room he spots that it wasn't fully empty making him cuss while turning around as quick as posible. "Oh shit!" He starts to run back to leave the apartment along with Kunizuka who was beside him.

     Shinra who stood by the entrance with Ginoza beside her, quickly reacted as she sees the Enforcers hurrying their way out. "Get cover!" She yells as she pushed Ginoza away from the entrance and she ran to the opposite side, taking quick cover against the wall about two rooms away from the inspected one. It was a secondary corridor. The two enforcers managed getting out just in time before the bomb inside the room went off in one flashy explosion. As smoke and some debris settled down after the explosion, the small team coughed slightly. "That...was too close for comfort..." Shinra coughs while she moves to stand up, along with Kagari and Kunizuka who had ran over there for cover as well.

     "You say that, but I actually saw my life flash before me in there." Kagari exclaimed while coughing and panting slightly due the surprise.

     "That's true. Are you two alright?" Shinra asks the two Enforcers as she turned to face them with a small frown over her face. Whether it was worry or some annoyance it was hard to make out.

     "Yeah, I'm good here." Kagari said before coughing a few times more.

     "I'm alright as well. How about you, Inspector?" Kunizuka spoke after she cleared her throat some.

     "Good. Me? I'm okay too, there is no need to worry." Shinra breathed out in relief before she steps over to the main corridor where smoke and some fire still was coming out the now destroyed room. "Inspector Ginoza! Are you alright?" She called out to him while she dusted off her clothes. Searching out as she tried to get a glimpse of him, actually hoping he was okay.

     Ginoza who was on the floor, grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet after he removed some small debris off his right hand. "I'm fine!" He spoke a little horsed, coughing a few times himself but he stood up and took a look at the disaster left by that trap that was set for them. "Dammit." He cussed to himself, annoyed by what just happened.

     "He's pissed alright." Kagari commented before he moves to head down the corridor and find the emergency stairs.

     "Yeah, he's upset." Kunizuka adds but waits for Shinra to follow them along.

     "Can't blame him. This trap was no game, someone could actually had gotten killed here. He was actually expecting this move from us." Shinra frowns a bit more while they found their way to some stairs and climbed down.

     "Yeah, that was really intense. Guess your gut feeling came true, huh?" Kagari states while staring over to Shinra curiously.

     "I actually was hoping this time it wasn't real..." Shinra admits quietly.

     They group of four meet up downstairs, drones quickly had closed down the perimeter and not long other drones came to put off the fire. Ginoza had sat on small a wall ledge with a slightly bruised hand as Shinra, Kunizuka and Kagari approached him.

     At sight, Shinra breathes in and hurried to grab the first aid kit from one of the police drones and came back to kneel before Ginoza. "Give me your hand." She asks while holding out one of her own, opening the kit with the other to pull out some antiseptic.

     "It's fine. Just let the drone do it." Ginoza quickly spoke in an annoyed tone, only getting the response of Shinra grabbing his wrist and pulling his hand closer to her. "Hey! What are you-" He exclaimed with a frown, yet was cut off halfway by Shinra.

     Shinra used the antiseptic quickly to clean his hand before she started treating it. "The faster its treated, the faster it heals." She practically scolded Ginoza but not long after forcing treatment to his hand she had wrapped it up in bandages and finished up. Closed the kit, and stood up to go take it back to the drone she took it from.

     The two Enforcers stood not far from Ginoza observing how he picked slightly on his bandages. Though as he finally takes notice of them, he glares before he asks. "Why are you guys not injured at all?" He asked dead serious.

     "Hey, you don't need to give us that dirty look." Kagari states calmly.

     "Maybe somebody hasn't been behaving well?" Kunizuka casually said.

     This last statement making Ginoza frown while his eyes shifted for a second to Shinra who was walking back to the group. Before he could say anything more his wrist-com begun to ring and it was Kogami on the line. "What is it?" He answered.

     "We've got another victim. It's that Spooky Boogie." Kogami informed through the call. "We looked for someone from Inspector Tsunemori's class and narrowed it down to people who had affiliate income. Shoko Sugawara, twenty years old. The murder occurred in her home and was exactly like Hayama's case. We found pieces of her body in the sewer and yet her avatar is still wandering about in the net. The estimated time of dead is before dawn. She must have gotten killed after last night's raid on Exoset." Kogami gave the details.

     "Let's go back to the office and rework our strategy with Kuranomori. If this keeps up, we'll be right in the palm of his hand." Ginoza spoke quietly while rubbing his head slightly, but once done talking he finished the call and cussed lowly. "Dammit."

     "We are done here?" Shinra asks while her eyes lift up to where the firefighter drones were still working on. "The rest is left to the drones?" She adds.

"Yeah, we're going back." Ginoza states and stood up still with an annoyed expression over his face. Though he quietly walked to the car, not speaking another word.

     Shinra watched him carefully but then turned to look at the Enforcers. "It will be alright." Kunizuka reassured the young Inspector which made the girl surprised but nod at the Enforcer.

     As the four of them climbed inside the vehicle, once ready it was left on auto-drive back to the tower. Once again, the car ride being as tense and silent as before but this time it wasn't due to a fight. Thought, it seemed that Kagari noticed this awkward silence and tried to change it.

     "So... another victim, huh? Seems we have one psycho for avatars." Kagari commented quietly, in his attempt to change to atmosphere.

     "Mm. Seems that way." Shinra spoke lowly, not sure if speaking about the case now was a good idea. Which made her speak as little as posible.

     "It's more than just someone obsessed with avatars, but with real intent to kill for what he wants." Ginoza actually ended speaking, even if it was quietly.

     "It had turned out to be more dangerous than expected." Kunizuka comments honestly.

      Shinra took Ginoza's words as an okay for the subject to be touched now. "A person who kills once, is bound to do it again... or some people say." She states lowly.

     "I have heard about that somewhere." Kagari comments while leaning forward some. "Who told you that?" He asks Shinra.

     Shinra turns to look back at him before shrugging. "I don't remember...though, I don't think anyone told me. I must have read it somewhere." She answered honestly.

     "Ehhh..." Kagari hummed and sat back straight in his

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