Reason
from exile-wrath
for peppermini: Happy Valentine's Day, and sorry that these were uploaded later than the actual batch D: But do enjoy!
Summary: As Ginoza wanders through the mall with his son by his side, he remembers quickly why he fell in love with his wife.
Pairings: Nobukane
Notes: Non-Sibyl AU.
Once upon a time, they wouldn't have believed Ginoza Nobuchika to be a good father. To envision "Gino-san" with a child, Kagari used to laugh loudly with Kunizuka, was like "imagining Akane-chan as a tough guy like Kou-chan - impossible."
But here he was in the February snow, holding on to Ishiguro's hand and walking briskly on the sidewalk, staring intently at the store windows in the shopping complex. Tomorrow would be Valentine's Day, and Ginoza was, as many other men in the mall were, last-minute Valentine's Day shopping."What would Tomie like..." one man muttered next to him.
"Otou-san," his son piped up, waving a mittened hand furiously. "Okaa-san comes home soon, right? Are we going to see 'kaa-san now?"
His mouth twitched upwards, resembling a faint smile, and he settled a metal hand on Ishiguro's head. "Not yet, Ichi. Tomorrow is a very special day, so you can't see her yet. We have to get something that your okaa-san likes first." The child nodded obediently, looking back down at the sidewalk and the footprints in the snowy sidewalk.
Ginoza Ishiguro had been born six years ago, almost. Unfortunately, it had been years after Masaoka's death, so Nobuchika had never been able to introduce the old man to his grandson. (The best he had been able to do was bring Ishiguro to Masaoka's grave, but he still regretted his actions when Masaoka had been perfectly alive) The boy was quiet most of the time and exceedingly fond of his parents and the old paints and tools that his grandfather once used.
He also, unfortunately, had the curiousity of Kougami on a new case. "Ichi-" Ginoza turned around to reprimand his son upon feeling his hand let go, only to see him already running off. "Ishiguro!" he cried. "Where are you going?"
"Okaa-san, okaa-san!" Ishiguro sang, weaving through people's legs, eyes tracking Ginoza (formerly Tsunemori) Akane through the crowd. Nobuchika's heart almost failed upon seeing her. At least I didn't get the gift yet he thought gratefully or she would have seen.
"Oh? What are you and your father doing here, Ishiguro?" Akane asked, turning away from her conversation with Kagari to squat down and accept Ishiguro's delighted hug.
"Otou-san and I-"
"Ahem," Nobuchika coughed to interrupt his son. "I'm just taking him out to look around at the stores, Akane. H- How are you, and what are you doing here?"
"There's another stalker case," Kagari whined, flopping himself against a wall. "Akane-chan and I are here to deal with him. Or her. Whatevs."
"It shouldn't take too long, so when I'm off my shift I'll go home. Or... I could spend time with you two here at the mall," she added.
"It's fine-" stay calm, stay calm, she's not reaching for the helmet yet so it's okay "We'll be going home shortly after we pick up something here."
"I'll just go with you two after we catch this guy," Akane decided, and Nobuchika stared in momentary horror before nudging Ishiguro back to his mother.
"Ah... why don't you two take Ishiguro to get a snowcone since the stall is the way that you're headed?" he asked. Kagari opened his mouth to say something (probably rude) and Nobuchika only gave him a pleading look.
"But I'm not hungry-"
"If he's saying that, then he most definitely is hungry." Akane took Ishiguro's hand and looked at her husband with some amount of puzzlement before pulling him away.
"Is someone late Valentine's Day shopping, Gino-san?" Kagari sang before loping after the others.
Nobuchika winced before turning tail and dashing back across the street where someone was still muttering about Tomie, beelining his way to a small chocolate shop when they were out of sight. "I placed a reservation under Ginoza," he muttered to the cashier, who consulted a paper for moment and went to the back of the store, coming back out with a red heart-shaped box of custom chocolates Nobuchika had expressly ordered a week ago.
He took it in his hands while she began to wish him a happy valentines. But he had already lost interest in her, and even the box of chocolates.
Through the glass door he saw three people crowded by a bench. A woman and a short-haired man were arguing in hissed whispers, another man standing nearby but his expression showed he was unsure when to butt in.
Nobuchika exited the shop, planning to ignore the small group and quickly return to his wife and son, but the woman's face began to glow a flushed red and tears threatened to fall. The two men began to initiate a louder argument instead, in which the short-haired of the two reached into his pocket and--
It was mostly due to his time working at the police, but paranoia suddenly seized Nobuchika. He sprinted over and roughly grabbed the arm of the short-haired man, a stun gun spilled out of the pocket. It hadn't been off, but on standby, and he keenly remembered Kagari whining about the stalker case. "You-"
"Are you cheating on me with this guy too?!" the man screamed, and the woman halted her tears and stared at Nobuchika in confusion, protests coming out of her mouth a split second later.
"I-I broke up with you! Will you just leave me alone already!?" she snapped through her tears.
"Nobuchika…?"
He instantly recognised that voice.
Slowly, Nobuchika raised his head and saw his wife staring at him with mild confusion, their son holding tightly onto her waist. Akane's appearance made him remember the Valentines day present- which was on the floor, with the specially made chocolates spilt across the dirt and the box crushed and stained with footprints.
Akane noticed the box too. It didn't take a police detective to figure out what it was for and who it was for. Her present was ruined and they both knew it.
In desperation, Nobuchika's eyes searched madly around the increasing crowd, looking for anything, any sign he could use to fix the problem. Too bad that the struggling stalker in his grasp was making it hard to concentrate.
Suddenly, the idea came to him.
He roughly yanked the short-haired man to his feet, and dragged him towards Akane's direction. She raised an eyebrow but did not move back, Ishigaru hid behind her leg.
Nobuchika took a deep breath.
"Here's the culprit. Happy Valentines Day."
Akane simply stared and shrugged her shoulders. "I married you for a reason."
Kagari fell down laughing.
