Nobuchika Ginoza waited nervously in the dormitory common room provided to Enforcers by the CID. Despite only having lived in the dormitories at Headquarters for a few months, he normally felt very at home. He had often visited his father and his best friend, Kougami in these apartments when they lived as Enforcers, mostly in their last few months around. Now that they were both gone, this place felt like the closest to them he could be.

He poured himself a drink and joined his Siberian Husky, Dime on the sofa. Dime lazily whined and put his head on Ginoza's lap. Absent-mindedly, he patted his dog and felt the tightness in his stomach increase as he noted the time. He was waiting for someone. Not just anyone, the most important person left to him in this world. You.

The problem was that he had pushed you away from him time and again while he focused on becoming and staying an inspector with a clear Psycho-Pass, and it all turned out to be for nothing. Here he was, right where he had vowed to you never to be, doing the very same job he had hated his father for taking. He had tried to be so perfect and so strong, feeling like his father had abandoned him and living with the ridicule that comes from having a latent criminal as a parent. He had wanted to prove to everyone that he was different than Masaoka. That just because someone had a father as latent criminal, it didn't mean having to end up as a criminal oneself. He spent his life trying to show everyone, especially you.

Taking a swig of his father's remaining whiskey, Ginoza thought back to the first time the two of you had met.

At nine years old, Nobuchika had been confused and hurt that his father had gone from a top Inspector with the MWPSB to a latent criminal, living locked up in a rehab facility. During one afternoon visit, he had shouted at Masaoka that he hated him and never wanted to speak to such a criminal again. His mother quickly scolded him and told him to leave the room for a while. As he exited, the pained child clenched his fists and pledged aloud, "I will never become someone like you."

Stomping off to cool down, young Ginoza flung open the door to the stairwell to head outside. As he began his decent, he heard a soft echo of sniffles and whimpers coming from above. Curiosity leading his way, he walked quietly and slowly up the stairs until he came to the landing holding the source of the noise.

A little (h/c) haired girl was curled up into a ball, leaning into the corner of the landing with her head on her knees, arms crossed over her face, crying.

Not sure what else to do, the nine year old asked, "Hey, what's wrong with you anyway?"

You startled at the sound of another voice in your midst, but did not turn to face the boy. "Go away," you demanded.

"No way!" he shot back. "Why are you hiding in here? Are you a latent-" he began, until you whipped your head around and glared at him with sharp (e/c) eyes. Ginoza was surprised by your harsh glare, but he also found himself noticing what a pretty little girl you were. He tried not to blush at the new thoughts he was experiencing, and continued, "Well, then why are you here at this rehab facility?"

You stuck your tongue out at him and echoed back, "Why are you here at this facility?"

He clutched balled fists to his side and looked away, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes as he admitted, "My mother made us come to visit my father."

"Same," she said softly, which caused the young boy some surprise. It was the first time he was aware that there would be others like him, children who had lost their parents by verdict of the Sibyl System. He turned slowly to face you, feeling he could possibly make a new friend out of this horrible mess. The two of you stared at each other trying to decide if you should divulge more.

Ginoza walked passed you and sat on the second step leading towards the next landing. You turned so that your back was in the corner, and the pair of you began to talk. Gino started, "I'm sorry," pausing before continuing, "But then- why are you in here crying by yourself? Are you ashamed that people might see you with your father?"

"No!" you scolded defiantly. Taking a breath and huffing a piece of your (h/c) hair out of your eyes, you continued, "I just- I don't understand why he has to be in here. He's not dangerous! I know he's not. He's just sad."

"That's stupid!" Ginoza jeered. "Of course, he's dangerous! All latent criminals are! I mean, that's the first thing we learn from the Sibyl System. What are you, like five or just an idiot?"

You growled at him and wiped your (e/c) eyes, before shooting back, "You're stupid! And I'm not five, I'm seven and a half!"

"Well, I'm nine, so I'm older and I know more than you," the boy continued, only making your little face scrunch tighter in disapproval. "The Sibyl System never makes mistakes. It knows everything. Our fathers are just selfish! They didn't love us enough to keep their Crime Coefficient down!"

"Shut up!" you yelled. "You really are stupid! You don't know anything about my dad. Of course he loves me! He just got too sad, I told you that already!"

Ginoza was becoming more frustrated. Every person in this city knew that Sibyl always made the correct judgement and that one only need to follow certain steps to keep a Clear Psycho-Pass. Everyone. Even preschool children. He couldn't understand why you would be so stubborn. "So, you're saying the Sibyl System is wrong? You're saying the people here don't need treatment?" he argued.

"I didn't say that at all. I said I think that you are wrong!" you shouted as you stood up and balled little hands at him, cheeks burning red with fury.

Ginoza stood as well, equally angry, "You can't talk to me like that! I told you, I'm older than you! You seem crazy. Maybe you really are a latent criminal! Stay right here. I'm gonna go get a nurse to come check your hue."

As he walked passed you, you grabbed him by the arm and begged, "No! Don't do that! I didn't mean it! Please don't get anyone!" Tears began to stream from your eyes again and Nobuchika felt guilty. He leaned his back against the wall next to you, sighed, and ruffled his black hair.

He spoke quietly as you tried to stop your crying, "But you are serious, aren't you, or you wouldn't be so mad?" He had never encountered anyone that would even hint that the Sibyl System might not be for the best.

"I just-" you sniffled, "I just don't think it's as easy to keep a Clear Hue as you or everyone else says it is. There has to be more to it. Why don't they care about all of the sad things or scary things people see? What if things go wrong all at once and you feel so sad that you really can't control it. That makes it harder, I know it does! You can't just keep it clean no matter what." You weren't sure if it was true, but you knew your father would never have chosen to do this to your family and you would always give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes you can," replied Ginoza sternly. "I'll prove it to you. You wait and see. If I follow all the rules, I'll keep a Clean Hue." He was very sure of himself and watched your face to see if he had impressed the beautiful little girl next to him. He didn't even know why it mattered to him so much, as you were most certainly a pain.

You laughed quietly and shook your head, as if you knew even then how naïve this little boy sounded. Not wanting to continue arguing, you simply responded, "I'm (f/n)(l/n)."

"Nobuchika Ginoza," he stated with a tiny bow of his head.

"(f/n)!" came a woman's call from a few floors up.

"That's my mother," you told him before calling back, "I'll be right up, mom!" Starting up the steps, you paused, back still to the boy. "Ginoza? Are you ashamed of your father for being here?"

He tried to hide his disgrace from your eyes when you turned to face him. "Yes. I don't believe he can love us and come to a place like this, and don't tell me he just couldn't help it," he added bitterly.

"I won't," you answered, "but I think you might feel bad for being so hard on him someday. It's okay if you still love him, ya know? It won't make you a criminal. Promise."

Ginoza was surprised again by your words, but didn't agree. Instead he replied, "See ya around sometime," while pointing to the building.

"Sure! But I still think you're an idiot," you responded with a brilliant grin. As the little boy watched you run up the stairs to your mother, (h/c) locks bouncing behind, his cheeks reddened and he felt a totally new sensation as he fell completely in love with you.

After that, the two of you had been inseparable. You always played with one another when your mothers wanted to visit alone with your fathers. As you entered high school, the two of you made a new friend named Kogami. All three of you had decided to work somewhere for the Ministry of Welfare's Public Safety Bureau and studied hard to make those goals reality.

Dating off and on through high school and early adulthood, Ginoza had never wanted to be with anyone more. Yet, he always managed to ruin things between the two of you by focusing too hard on keeping his anxiety and insecurity in check. He had never been able to relax, too worried that he would let everyone else win if his hue became too clouded, too afraid to give control of his life away.

When Kogami became an Enforcer and you saw the way Ginoza now treated one of his best friends, you more or less stopped speaking to him all together. He would see you from time to time, coming from a visit with Kogami or even his father, icily ignoring him completely or scolding him for becoming so hard. Ginoza wanted to be free to just love his friend and his father, but in his mind, that was an impossibility if he wanted to keep from becoming a latent criminal…and so was being free to really let himself fall completely in love with you.

Ginoza hadn't even seen you in a year by the time Masaoka had been killed. When he saw you at the funeral, instead of feeling glad, he felt ashamed. He felt like an idiot for spending all of these years making a point to everyone and now having to accept defeat. So, he hardly spoke as you cried for the loss of his father and the loss of his arm. Nobuchika didn't take the chance to put his remaining arm around you when you had tried to comfort him in your embrace. You left still in tears over Ginoza's cruelness and this time, he let the guilt flow into him and began to accept responsibility for all the pain he had caused you and others over the years in his ultimately useless quest.

He spent two months as a patient in the same rehab facility where the two of you had first met, coming to terms with himself as a man, realizing that he didn't really have to play by the strict rulebook after all. Deciding to become an Enforcer was the best decision he could have made. He was well suited for the straight-forward work and though he was basically a glorified hunting dog, Ginoza relished the emotional freedom it allowed him to have for the first time in his entire life.

After getting himself in order, becoming used to his new mechanical arm, settling into a new home, new job, and new way of life, Nobuchika was finally ready to go after the one person he had truly desired to love freely and without fear. He hadn't been sure you would even accept his offer to see him here after the way he had last treated you…after everything that he had put you through since childhood. He had been elated that you agreed, but then worried that it was too late. He imagined how you would justly reject him after years of him not really trying.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Ginoza slung back another drink as he noticed Dime pop his head up alertly, and then he followed his dog to the knock at the door.

When he opened it to you standing on the other side, his breathing froze. You looked angry. Your eyebrows were furrowed, arms crossed, frown tugging the corner of your lips…and he found you stunning. You were older, wearied, frustrated, but to him still the same beautiful girl he had first met on the steps when he was nine. Your (e/c) eyes still shone brightly. He couldn't concentrate on finding words to say.

"Hey, Gino," you said, rather crossly.

"(f/n)," he stuttered your name, face flushing at how you made him feel like a school boy.

The pair of you stood there several minutes, just taking each other in. You stared at his new arm empathetically, and it seemed to Gino that you actually looked content to see he had lost his needless glasses and maybe even took a little pleasure in seeing his results of constant workouts as an Enforcer.

Finally breaking the silence, Ginoza asked nervously, "So, do you want to come in?"

"Sure," you said flatly, but as you walked passed him into the dormitory, you looked at him over your shoulder with your brilliant smile on your face to add, "But I still think you're an idiot."

Watching you walk to the couch, (h/c) hair flowing behind you, Ginoza's cheeks reddened and he felt a familiar sensation as he fell completely in love with you again.