(I could not sleep and I guess that means I cook. Once again thanks to free stock photos website pexel, so I did not have to draw the back ground. I honestly like this piece and composition enough to redraw all of my draft lines. For this piece, I am probably happiest about the color and lighting.)
By this point in his life, Kogami was grateful for moments where he could spend his time doing what makes him happy. Perhaps that was a considerably mediocre sentiment, some trite cliche from an old man's novel, but after long years of hunting and fighting demons and monsters and everything in between, it worked for him.
His hands moved on their own as he gathered all he would need for the weekend, packing everything neatly into an overnight bag. An alert on his wrist grabbed his attention, a call from his boss – so much for his time off.
“What is it?” he asked straight away, immediately resuming his packing while he waited for the bad news.
“Don’t hate me,” came Frederica’s apologetic but firm greeting. Whatever she wanted, it seemed there was no getting out of it. Kogami groaned inwardly. It seemed he wouldn’t be making it to Tokyo in time for dinner.
***
The car ride was long, but he didn’t mind it. He liked the time alone to think, to picture the weekend ahead of him and all that would encompass it, and when nightfall had completely ettled around him with still too much time left to go before his arrival, Kogami gave her a call.
“You’re late,” she greeted, as soon as she picked up. He could tell by her tone that she wasn’t upset; these days her own work hours were long and arduous, so she was probably still working.
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright,” she said, her sweet voice as kind as ever. If he could listen to nothing else for the rest of his life, he'd die a happy man. “I had reports to catch up on, anyway.”
A mental picture came to mind then, Akane sitting at her desk and typing away dutifully at the keys. He missed her hands. If he listened hard enough, Kogami could hear the very taps he pictured in the background.
“Are you hungry?” Her reply came in a knowing hum, long past the point of marveling at how he always could tell when food was on her mind. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered asking anymore – especially when his tardiness all but guaranteed her answer.
After a brisk tapping of his fingers on the GPS to add her favorite food stop in his route, Kogami asked, “Whose office are you stuck in this time?"
Akane, still clacking away at her keyboard, was quiet for the slightest of moments, though it was so quick that he had to wonder if it was his imagination.
“Same as last,” she said.
His fingers clenched silently against the steering wheel, eyes narrowing at the skyline.
"Aren't you too old to be getting jealous of something so trivial?”
"I'm not jealous."
Despite her attempt to stifle it, Kogami could hear her snicker on the other end of the call.
"Right, and I'm not starving." The car was on auto-pilot, but he laid his foot on the accelerator anyway, pushing the speed up a notch. "You should be more grateful, you know. We wouldn't be able to do this at all if not for him."
He had nothing to say to that, and Akane seemed to take pity on him then as she changed the subject.
“How close are you?”
“Thirty minutes."
“Alright,” she said, and in her voice he could hear her smile. He couldn't wait to see it in person. “I’ll be finished by then.”
***
Walking in and out of the Ministry of Welfare’s building with leisure was something Kogami couldn't get used to. The memory of that privilege from his Inspector days was too long ago to resurface in any sense of familiarity, far buried beneath the cold walls of this prison and the mockery of waltzing into a locked paddy wagon in order to venture outside. Those days, too, were well behind him now, yet they hovered in looming as he stepped off the elevator, another ghost of his past that he'd likely never be rid of.
The smell of takeout dangling from his hands caught Akane’s attention before anything else, too focused on proofreading to hear the doors slide open or his heavy footsteps approaching her desk from behind.
“Twenty-six minutes,” Akane announced, though her eyes stayed fixed on the screen. “Impressive.” Kogami smiled, then ruffled the top of her head in greeting.
While he waited for Akane to wrap up work, Kogami took his place in one of the exorbitantly upscale armchairs in the middle of the room, setting the bagged food down on a table far too luxurious for his taste. And when she was finally finished, Akane leaned back in her seat and stretched the ache from her arms, then stood to do the same with her legs. In that moment Kogami took note of the consequential upward shift of her skirt from sitting down for so long, revealing a sliver more of her thighs than usual, and he felt guilty a moment later when he realized he had been staring, as if willing the hosiery to disappear from her skin.
But she didn't bother to fix it, either, as she strode from the chair at her desk to the armchair across from him. It humored him to think she noticed his fixed gaze and decided to let him have the little treat – but knowing her, it was more likely the painfully casual air about her within his long-awaited company that made her pay no mind to it. Still, his mind liked to consider the alternative, considering what would eventually become of their night, as it always did.
常守 朱: "I want to be the reason behind your smile."
狡噛 慎也: "But darling, you already are."
When Kogami-san showed his soft-reassuring smile to Aka-chan in their parting scene at SEAUn (劇場版 サイコパス), I can't help but noticed how old looking he was 🤭🤣
Maybe it's just the laugh line, who knows? 😅😂
P.S(追伸): I always want to join the Shinkane Week since learning about it from last year; but am not quite sure about the period of submission. Should there be another one, I want to have this sketch as an entry. 😊☺️
Summary: After years of knowing each other, there are still some hidden talents left to be revealed.
A/N: Written for @shinkaneweek! Further author’s notes can be read on AO3.
“Wow, I’m hungry.”
Kogami looked down at her with a small grin and a bemused wrinkle to his eye. “I would hope so, if we’re getting lunch.”
“I know, but it just hit me extra strong.” As though on cue, Akane’s stomach grumbled, bringing a flush to her cheeks and a broader smile to his lips.
“And what are you craving today, Inspector?”
“Don’t call me that.” The response was instinctive more than anything at that point—he’d never stop using the title, even if its meaning had gone from overly-strict observance of work ranking, to a fond tease. “Isn’t it your turn to choose?”
“Mm…a new place just opened with crepes. It’s over by the park.” His smile warmed at her wide, interested eyes. “Shall we?”
Curse him and his knowledge of her sweet tooth. Despite knowing he suggested it because it was something she’d be interested in, Akane couldn’t resist the chance to try some crepes. She could only muster narrowed eyes of suspicion at his mischievous smile and let him lead the way.
The food stalls at the edge of the park were their favorite places to get lunch when the weather was nice enough. With how rarely they could get lunch together, they still hadn’t been able to try all of the new stalls.
But Kogami walked past the ones they’d been wanting to try, including the Thai stall he’d been eyeing for a while, only stopping in front of the crepe stall. The warm scent of chocolate and strawberries made Akane’s mouth water, even as she eyed Kogami doubtfully. “Shinya, are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He met her skeptical gaze with an easy grin, until she sighed in defeat.
“Alright. But I’m paying.”
“Akane—”
“My treat!” She pulled up her card on her comm before he could stop her. “What do you want?”
With that, she shooed him off to wait for her at their favorite bench while she ordered his savory crepe and her sweet strawberry crepe. The delicious scent of batter being spread over the pan and the fillings being warmed in the freshly-cooked dough made an excited smile spread over her face as she waited in line, and it ended up coaxing a matching smile from the worker taking her order.
By the time she accepted the finished crepes and made her back to Kogami, her mouth was watering, eager and ready for the sweet treat she held.
Then she saw Kogami, and she stumbled to a stop.
She’d been expecting to see him lost in thought, or checking a message, or even just watching her at the food truck.
But he was doing none of those things. His attention was entirely focused on a ginger cat rubbing itself on his leg.
Stray animals were rare in the city, especially outside of the Sibyl black zones. Any that were spotted were usually reported and caught to be put into a rescue. Kogami clearly wasn’t planning on doing anything of the sort. He was perfectly happy offering up his fingers for the cat to sniff and direct under its chin.
“Hey, little one,” Akane could just hear him murmur, “where’d you come from?” The cat let out a croaky meow, before going back to rubbing its cheeks against Kogami’s fingers. Akane couldn’t hear any other sounds from the cat, but Kogami quietly commented, “Oh, someone’s happy. Someone’s purry, hm?”
Shinya Kogami, former Inspector and Enforcer, pursued guerilla warrior, now part of Hanashiro’s most carefully-selected crew of detectives and officers…was baby-talking to a cat. The happiest cat Akane had ever seen, at that.
The cat meowed and sniffed at the air, before sniffing at Kogami’s fingers and giving them a delicate lick. “Hm? Do you smell something? I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you. Not yet, anyway…” With that, he finally looked up and saw Akane, standing stock still with his crepe carefully balanced in one hand and her crepe held over her delighted expression. “…Oh.”
He began pulling his fingers back, only pausing when Akane burst out, “Oh, please don’t stop! Please, Shinya, this is the best thing I’ve seen in weeks!”
His brows furrowed as a small smile tugged at his lips. “You can understand why that’s not appealing to me.”
“You don’t want me happy?”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
Akane shot him a playful grin before focusing on the cat, who looked distinctly perturbed to have its time with Kogami interrupted. “It’s okay,” she cooed, slowly approaching and holding Kogami’s crepe out for him to take. “I’m friendly, I promise.”
The cat still tensed up with every step she took, only starting to relax when she knelt close to the ground and held out her newly-free hand. It was much less willing to approach her, and she had a feeling it eventually did just because of the smell of Kogami’s chicken crepe still on her fingertips.
“Hey!” she laughed when it nipped at her. “How come you bit me and not Ko?”
“My charm must be irresistible.” His faux-cocky grin faltered under the blithe smile she shot him.
“Must be…though I’m not sure it was your ‘charm’ that got me.”
Those stormy gray eyes, usually so sharp and knowing, seemed almost bashful in the way they skittered away from hers to look at the cat. “Is that so?”
“Mm…it was more your intelligence…your stubbornness…your unshaking focus…”
His ears were turning pinker and pinker with every word she said and every inch she closed between them, until she was sitting next to him on the bench and his ears looked like they could catch on fire. “…Akane.”
“Hm?” She smiled sweetly when he finally met her eyes.
“Eat your crepe. It’s going to get cold.”
She giggled before obeying him, watching fondly as he picked out a small piece of chicken and dropped it to the ground for the cat to leap on. “I didn’t know you were so good with animals.”
“Neither did I,” he chuckled, an ever-so-soft curve to his lips as he watched the cat eat. “At least, not with cats. And Dime took a while to warm up to me.”
“I’m sure that was thanks to Gino-san’s influence more than anything.”
“Awfully rude to say about your superior.” Even if she didn’t already know him so well, the glint in his eye would have told her he was joking.
“Not rude,” she sniffed, “just honest.”
With a scoff, Kogami focused back on the cat, this time balancing a piece of chicken on his fingertips. Sure enough, the ginger critter approached and delicately ate the chicken without a moment’s hesitation. “I think this little guy is just friendly and hungry.”
“Humility’s a strange look on you, Kogami-san.”
He gazed sidelong at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were calling me arrogant.”
“But you do know better.”
“I’m still struggling to figure out what you do mean.”
“I mean,” she laughed, taking a chance on their secluded bench and leaning in to rest her chin on his shoulder, “you’re usually more self-assured than this.”
“I think I can be forgiven for being less sure about cats.”
“Well…it’s still sweet.”
“Sweet?” Akane’s chin slid of his shoulder when he leaned away just enough to look at her. “That’s a new one.”
“A bad one?”
“From anyone else, maybe.”
“Really?”
“Mm…I have an image to maintain.”
Oh, that smile. After all this time, it was still rare enough and gentle enough to make her heart squeeze. Who could possibly resist stealing a kiss from those sweet lips? She never could, and she wasn’t going to start now…even with indignant meows piercing through their peaceful veil of solitude.
For Shinkane Week 2019 (Day 4, Jan 1: Sweetness or Temptation).
Rating: M
Locations: AO3 | FanFiction
Synopsis: Promises aren't always broken or kept, and sometimes, truths are in-between.
She doesn’t mean to stare. In fact, she doesn’t realize that her eyes have settled over his scars. The old ones near his side are from bullets she recalls too well: remnants from the days when she’d been a rookie and he’d been lured into Makishima and Senguji’s trap. Others are minor--small and faded that might have been caused by fights that had ended more clearly in his favor. But the deep, red lines permanently etched into his skin draw her attention most. They move and disappear from sight once again as he replaces his shirt with a new one: loose cotton, she notes, the thought amusing her. He catches her watching him then and raises an eyebrow slightly.
“Is there something on my shirt, Inspector?” he asks, and she waves a hand dismissively.
“I’m sorry,” she says, feeling the blush threatening to creep to her cheeks. After all these years, she thinks, he still has that effect. She adds an amused smile, one that she hopes will make the tinge less obvious. “I didn’t know you owned a t-shirt.”
Repost of a fanfic from a couple months ago that I ended up making 3 additional art pieces for, linked below! Domestic fluffy bliss for the two "doomed narrative" cuties 💖
AO3 Link: Fever Dreams
Main pic
Comic
Akane’s Shirt
Message sent November 23rd, 2121, 14:02:00
Have you checked in on Akane recently? She left early yesterday for a “little cold”, but she’s had a fever that’s left the whole office concerned for the last couple of days. We only got her to leave today and stay out the rest of the week after she almost passed out during a chase. Want to make sure she is taking care of herself.
Hinikawa Sho
It's the knock on the door that stalls her out of the cold’s fogged stupor, when she realizes she's been staring at the same corner of the TV screen for a few minutes. Swiping a crumpled tissue across her nose before tossing it to the coffee table along with her blanket, Akane starts to stand when she suddenly hears the sound of a key in her apartments lock.
Shit. Shit. She wasn't in any condition to fight. Diving behind the couch, her head lurches in protest as she scrambles to find a blunt object for defense. Who was attempting a break in without disengaging the keypad entry, with such an old fashioned method as a key– oh.
"Akane?" A familiar voice calls, the sound of snow being knocked off boots and then discarded by the door.
"In here," She tries to answer, though it's more of a garbled croak that didn't sound like much of anything. She clears her throat with a few coughs and hears a sigh in response, footsteps approaching.
"Well, you somehow sound worse than I imagined you would,” Shinya mutters, looking her up and down with worry evident in his face as she stands to meet him, grabbing the back of the couch to steady herself. Then a faint smile touches his lips. “I don’t think I've seen this outfit yet,” noting her faded aquarium t-shirt with a sea otter waving on the front, a pair of loose cyan pajama shorts, and soft peach striped socks. “Cute.”
Shooting him a mock pout only makes his smile grow wider. “What are you doing here? I thought you worked today.”
He shrugs. “Gino owed me a couple favors, so he’s covering my shift–” he swings up a plastic bag full of supplies like a prize, “So that I can take care of you.”
“It’s just a cold, hardly something to get so worked up for, Ko.” Absent-mindedly, she swipes a hand across her nose with a sniffle, noting the translucent bag has her local grocers logo printed on it.
"I hope so, because I have a big briefing tomorrow and can't afford to get sick." Stepping closer, her eyes widen as she stumbles back in a panic, and he laughs. "Relax, I'm joking. I already took an immunity booster, anyway."
She should have guessed; hardly anyone risked close contact to contagion without the booster, these days. “Hhmph. How did you find out, anyway?”
“A little bird told me.”
She narrows her gaze. “A little bird.”
“Maybe ‘a little brother’ is more accurate.”
Sho. “Ah, he always does assume the worst.”
Shinya raises an eyebrow. “Probably because you frequently disregard your health when it comes to work.”
Akane gawks at the blatant hypocrisy. “Excuse me! Are you really in a position to make a statement like tha–”
She's suddenly aware of him dipping down, the sensation of him cupping a hand to her cheek and gently pressing his lips to her forehead, effectively silencing her. She freezes as he hovers there for a couple moments, a bit of stubble across his neck tickling her cheek, before he pulls back with a frown. “Hmm, you’re burning up. You definitely have a fever.” He quirks his head to the side with a teasing smile. “Are you blushing?”
“No! No,” she flusters as she grabs her face and he grins, “It’s the fever! And I don’t know how that’s possible, since I'm freezing!” As if on cue, she suddenly sneezes once, twice. “Bud It’d not dat bad,” she adds rather unconvincingly as she pads back over to the tissue box and rips another tissue out.
“Sure it’s not.” Shinya follows a few paces behind and sinks her back down to the couch with a gentle push. “Wrap yourself up in that blanket and I’ll start our lunch.”
Akane blows her nose into the tissue with a honk. “You’re making lunch?”, she asks hopefully.
“Egg okayu,” He calls from the kitchen, unpacking the fresh ingredients. “The best cure for a cold, at least according to my mom. She insisted I made the dashi last night so it had time to marinate.” He pours the stock into a pot and clicks the stovetop to life. “Oh, and she wanted me to tell you to rest and have a speedy recovery, by the way,” waggling a ladle at her. “So that you'll be better before dinner this weekend.” Akane smiles warmly at that. She had become quite close to Tomoyo in recent years; so much so, that it was more of a frequent occurrence for Akane to visit her than her own parents. In the way that Kogami had once taken her under his wing as a mentor, his mother had followed suit by practically adopting Akane years ago, when she had come to hand deliver Kogami’s sparse belongings from his enforcers quarters. Apparently, Tomoyo had already known her from the letters Kogami would send, as ‘the young inspector that he had mentored, who had taught him quite a bit herself’. What Akane did to earn fondness from a family of two very reserved people, she wasn't sure; but she was eternally grateful for Tomoyo over the years, as someone who understood and helped fill the void that Kogami's departure had left in her life, long after the rest of the division had moved on. Upon his miraculous return to Japan, it suddenly turned into Tomoyo inviting them both over for monthly dinners. It tickled her pink that she had both of the Kogami’s caring for her like this.
“Tell your mother that I am happy she raised her son well.”
Shinya glances over his shoulder with a fond smile. “What medicine have you taken today?”
“A fever reducer and lots of water.”
“Not Panacea?”
She wavers. “Is it necessary?"
Panacea was vital to ending cold and flu-like symptoms in the modern era, in the sense that it ramped up the process of the infection so that it could be over within a day. The drawbacks were it took such a heavy toll on the body that the users immune system becomes exhausted, and it's likely to deplete the energy of the patient for hours, depending on how bad the infection was.
She jumps a bit when Kogami puts a hand on her shoulder, not noticing his approach. He kneels with his arm slung across the sofa arm, and studies her carefully.
“This ‘little bug’ seems worse than you're giving it credit for, but it’s up to you.” shuffling a hand into his pocket, he procures a little plastic bottle and sets it on her lap.
Hesitantly, her eyes flick from the medicine to him with furrowed brows.
“Well, now it doesn't seem fair,” she mumbles under her breath. “I didn't know you'd be here with me today.”
Kogami chuckles. “And tomorrow.”
That makes her perk up. But still, to be knocked out when their time was always so limited…
She frowns at the pills, weighing her options.
“I won't force either decision, but if you’re up to it, I’d love to take you to that new crepe shop down the street tomorrow morning…”
Snatching at the bottle with renewed determination, he can't help but laugh at how easy it is to bribe her with a good meal. “Cheater,” she mutters with a smirk, before popping the lid off the bottle and grabbing her mug off the table. With one last grimace, she steels herself and tosses the pill into her mouth, swallowing it down with a wash of lukewarm tea.
“Atta girl.” Kogami squeezes her shoulder and smacks a quick kiss onto her cheek, before rising and heading back to the kitchen.
“It better be a damn good crepe,” Akane calls over the sound of him rattling through her utensil drawer. She smiles at his soft laughter in response.
“Thanks for coming over,” she adds after a while. “Especially for wasting a vacation day on it.”
“It’s far from a waste; I get to be with you.” The chopping of scallions and nori begins to fill the room.
"I won't be much fun to be around today."
“Just try to rest, okay?” Smiling softly, she turns back to the muted television and waits, letting her mind wander and bundling the blanket tight around her.
She's not even aware of her eyes drifting closed until the couch sinks beside her, Shinya plunking two steaming bowls of the oyaku on her coffee table and brushing her mess of crumpled tissues into the wastecan. It wafts and manages to invade what's left of her sense of smell, and her stomach rumbles softly in anticipation.
"So this is what you're into these days?" He asks, pointing to the muted television.
On the screen, a mascot suit of a giant pear runs between firecrackers, while a panel of hosts laugh in the corner of the screen. There's an awful lot of neon text. Akane shrugs, scooping a spoonful of the oyaku and blowing softly. "When you're sick, you watch game shows. It's practically a rule."
“Is that so,” Kogami mumbles, quirking an eyebrow as the screen flashes the individual reactions of each host. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
She rolls her eyes and swallows the spoonful. Instantly, she’s enveloped in the symphony of flavors; the fluffy rice soaked perfectly in the dashi, the creamy egg melting into the subtle sweetness of the onion, mixing together for a delightful wrap of rich, savory comfort. "Mmph! This is delicious!"
He hums, a smirk at her genuine satisfaction. “Glad you like it.” Taking a scoop for himself, he watches her amusedly as she begins to swallow down spoonfuls with vigor, pausing after each bite with joy dancing in her eyes.
“Shinya, this is amazing.” She gets out between mouthfuls. “A great cook and caretaker. You have all the golden qualities of a mother.”
Kogami chokes on his mouthful of porridge while Akane laughs, patting his back while he coughs.
“I’m joking! You’re too good to me, that’s all!”
“Ugh,” he sputters, “And you’re getting too unpredictable.”
“You love me, don’t deny it.”
Kogami stills at the offhand comment, his eyes softening as a small smile graces his lips. Though it wasn’t a secret, the admittance was still fairly new for them; suddenly flustered, she reaches for the remote for a distraction.
“Alright, I have an idea for a show we’ll both like.” Navigating her recorded list, she pulls up an episode that starts with flashing police sirens, a bold title fading on screen with a few bullet holes punched through the sides.
“‘Traced Roads’? Tsunemori Akane, are you into murder mysteries?”
Scoffing, her small body scooches closer to him and she plops her cheek against his shoulder. “So what if I am?”
“Don’t you have enough of that at your job?”
“Sometimes it’s nice to solve something more predictable. I could use an easy win now and again.” She points to the screen. “Now shush, I haven’t seen this one yet.” He chuckles, the movement shaking her as she nuzzles closer.
He had to admit, it was more entertaining than he had expected. Especially when a man with one line of dialogue showed up eight minutes in.
“That guy,” she says suddenly, “He’s the murderer.”
“Huh?” He looks over to her, slumped against him and half-asleep. She looked anything but alert. “He’s barely been on screen for five seconds, what’s your reasoning?”
“Trust me,” she mumbles around a big yawn. “It’s definitely him. Keep watching.”
He peers at her before looking back at the barely introduced character.
“Will do, Inspector.” He smirks when she bops him lightly on the shoulder in response.
Thirty five minutes in and he’s aghast. “How?” He strains, Akane’s giggling vibrating against his arm, “How did you possibly know?”
“I told you,” she laughs, “‘Detective’s intuition, my dear Shinya.”
“No,” he starts, “That man did not give a shred of evidence when you made that call. That was…unless he’s a recurring character?”
“Oh no,” she yawns, “He’s new.”
“That doesn't make sense.” Akane snorts.
“Relax Ko, it’s just pattern recognition.” Coughing a bit against his shoulder, she shifts against him and closes her eyes. “This show has been airing for years. Like I said, it’s ghetting very predictabble.”
Huh. He hadn’t factored in predictability based on how often the script had to be flipped. He had been approaching it more as a standard deducing process, but media was an entirely different ballpark. At this point though, he's more impressed by the fact that she's exhausted enough to start slurring her speech.
“They really need to hire new writers, keep it frecsh.”
“It seems it's also time for you to get some rest.”
Tensing against him, he rubs her shoulder reassuringly. “I'll be right here when you wake up.”
Relaxing under his touch of understanding, she rubs an eye and moves to a sitting position. “Did you bring a book?”
“Correct again.” He stands, padding over to what's left in the grocer’s bag, pulling out a stuffed manilla envelope and his latest novel. “I'll be on the couch.”
Akane stands, shaky and slow. “Just you?”
“Well. It’s probably not as comfortable as your bed.”
Akane folds her arms. “I wouldn’t agree with that.”
She looks him over as he plops his work on her coffee table, pulling his stashed away ash tray out from underneath, a pack of Spinels and a zippo from his shirt pocket. “Probably better, over here,” she adds.
Flashing her an amused look, he settles across the sofa and props a shoulder against the backing. Even now, she never knew when to quit.
"All right, all right," he drawled, "Get comfortable and I'll--um–ow. Hey! Akane!!"
As soon as he'd said it, she had crawled over him and dropped clumsily on top of his chest with an "oof", pulling the blanket around them and snaking her arms across his middle.
"Y'said to get comfortable." She mumbles against his collarbone. "Mm. Why are you so warm?", shifting to nuzzle her icy face against him.
"And why are you so cold!" He gasps, wincing at the contact on his bare neck. "I thought the okayu would warm you up!"
"Well, It helped."
He pecks her cheek with a dramatic sigh, tucking the blanket around them. “This woman, seriously,” he mutters.
She hums in contentment, eyes already closed as she wriggles into a better position.
“Wake me up if it starts to get dark.” She pauses, in thought. “Or if I start drooling.”
“Akane.” He stresses, squeezing her in emphasis. “Sleep.”
He feels her giggle against him while he shifts to grab the folder, propping it against her back.
There are many words people could use to describe Shinya Kogami. Reckless, bull-headed, cold, brutal. He had heard all of these adjectives thrown at him at points, as the years changed his titles from Inspector, to Enforcer, to fugitive, and now to special agent. He could not deny any of them. If anyone had even tried to define him as “domesticated,” they would be corrected on the spot, but not before being openly laughed at.
But that was the thing about the anomaly known as Akane Tsunemori; she seemed to take everything he thought he knew as a solid fact about himself and flip it on its head.
When he was with her, all of those hard edges of his personality just seemed to…smooth over. He smiled more. His coworkers had told him he seemed more approachable. Even now, he rolled a pen cap between his teeth in substitute of a cigarette, not wanting to disturb Akane's rest. Maybe my age is making me sentimental and soft, he thought, flipping a page of his current casefile, absentmindedly smoothing her fanned out hair.
Or maybe Akane was just that good.
As if on cue, he feels her shift under his touch with a small groan, and he glances down.
That's when he notices that her breathing is puffing out in short breaths. Her stuffy snores start to falter, her eyebrows twitch together. Was she dreaming? And were her cheeks always that…red? Worriedly, he cards the now damp bangs to place a hand over her clammy forehead; she's burning up. Shit.
Carefully, he wriggles out from under her tangled limbs and hastens to the kitchen for those cold patches he brought, soaking a washcloth in the sink. Gingerly lifting her head and resting it down on his lap, he dabs at her heated skin with the cool washcloth, delicately applying a patch to her forehead. By now she's started trembling, murmuring softly.
"It's the peak of Panacea’s effects, it's always worse before it gets better." Does he say this to comfort her, or to himself? He isn’t sure. He huffs; It was just a cold, a nasty one at that. It will end soon.
"Ko…”
His ears perk as she suddenly murmurs something coherent. "Ko…"
"I'm here Akane, it's okay–"
"Ko–"
"I’m here."
"--gami-san…?"
He freezes.
He hasn't been called by anything so formal in years. Not by her, at least.
"...Akane?"
She's starting to squirm, breath hitching, expression twisting like she was in pain.
"K-Kogami san…please." She murmurs, a small squeak from her pale lips.
He hunches over her, focusing on every twitch from her face, holding his breath.
"Don't–don't go…please–"
"I'm right here," he cuts her off, squeezing her hand for emphasis. "I’ll be here all night."
Akane’s eyebrows furrow together. "Kogami..."
An unsettling panic rises in his chest as he watches her. What was haunting her in those dreams? Why was it so…
"I can…save you."
Oh.
Oh no.
"Akane." He raises his voice, jostling her shoulder. "You're dreaming. You need to wake up."
"Please..." Akane's eyelids flutter, her breathing growing labored. "I can.."
“Oi! Inspector!” He shakes her harder, but she's limp as a ragdoll in his arms, showing no response to the outside world. If there was a hell, this would be a fitting punishment. "Akane, listen, I–"
But her sudden whimpering shuts him up completely. In his lap, The unbreakable Akane Tsunemori begins to cry. For him. For the worst of his crimes.
It’s a memory that’s all too-clear, sharpened like a blade and capable of slicing him apart.
His body ached from the fist-fight earlier, and an open slash on his cheek freely bled, dripping onto her tattered uniform. Kogami trudges with purpose as he cradles his inspector limply in his arms, on a route only he can see to this final destination. His final destination.
The man’s teeth grit together so tightly in anticipation, it feels like they could pop out of their sockets. He had lost so much and suffered for this chance, for the deepest pit of vengeance to breathe life; no longer flattened by the crushing reality where Shogo Makishima got off scotch free. Where Shogo Makishima continued to live and breathe, while Kogami’s close friend and mentor was tortured and mutilated, drowned in plastination resin, and pried apart to make some sort of fucking arts and crafts project. A piece of mutilated mediocrity. And for what purpose?
Makishima knew the enforcer was a victim to the system he wanted to destroy, and yet he played with him instead of making the death simple, like a cat to a mouse.
It was “art” with no meaning, strewn together purely for shock value, created by a “holier than thou” sadist.
And yet. It had been Kogami’s choice that had led to their encounter. Sasayama had sprinted after Makishima alone after Kogami had fallen, and Kogami had the chance to paralyze him with a shot from the dominator. To stop him from going after Makishima alone, like any good inspector should have done.
He hadn’t taken it.
And so his mentor died.
It had to be Kogami to avenge him. It had to be him to complete the cycle, to kill Makishima and splatter his remains in this godforsaken field in an art installation of his own.
There were no plans for “after.” All of these horrible, calculated years. It would finally be over. And he would throw away what little he had left in this world to see it through.
Well. It used to be that simple, before she came along.
Kogami had never accounted for a world where he had found hope again; he thought it was killed with Sasayama himself, until she had dug into the frozen tundra of his soul and unearthed it. From a dead desolate field, she had managed to find light again, like it was nothing.
Like it could have been found all along. Like it wasn't asking for a miracle.
What an incredible woman, this Akane Tsunemori. What a life-changing individual that he would never get to lay eyes on again. He did not want their final moments together to be like this; though, the sickest part of him had, hadn’t it? Part of him had left those clues behind, morbidly curious to see how far she had come in her training, itching to see how fast she could unravel his hidden messages left in plain sight, just as he had taught her. He couldn’t be prouder of her progress in a matter of months; she was the change he had yearned to see in this world. If they had had more time…well, he would never get to know, now.
For now he leaves her, broken and small, in a golden sea of wheat, adrift and to only to be pulled in the opposite direction with the tide, as he inevitably disappears from her life. It would be better this way, for a soul as clear as hers. He had weighed her down for long enough.
She didn’t have the strength to move, and she had barely been able to open her eyes. And yet, with the very last of her energy, he hears her cry out for him to stay. He feels the wrenching tear of their string of fate fray and snap as he pulls away, and is plunged into numbness. He leaves her, and can only hear the roaring of blood in his ears.
Perhaps he and Shogo Makishima were not so different, after all.
It was an inevitable outcome. Impossible to rewrite. He would never forgive himself for what he did to her that day.
Never.
Yet, her echoes of the past ring out to him once more.
"Don't," Akane pleads into his chest, pulling him back to reality. "Don't go."
"Akane," He begs uselessly into her hair, fully aware of how he doesn't deserve to hold her, to grieve this choice, to have ever darkened her with his ink black hue. This very moment that haunts her was meant to have been their end. She wasn’t supposed to hold onto his ghost.
His vision swims, and he knows he deserves this. Doesn't deserve her.
Never deserved her.
"I won't. I'll stay; I shouldn't have left you like that, I should have never let you get that close to me in the first place, I–I…" and while a tear falls to dot her cheek, his sanity crumbling around him, he hears it. His own strained breathing mixed with her slowing gasps. He doesn’t dare to move, watching as Akane's eyebrows slowly untangle, her expression softening.
Could she..hear him?
"I'll stay," he whispers desperately into her ear, cupping a clammy hand to her cheek. "I'm not leaving you. Never."
She mumbles something, nothing coherent but not in a tone of pain, more of confusion, and it spurs him to continue.
“I promise you,” taking a stuttering breath, “You have me. For as long as you want, until the very end.”
Akane shifts with a mumble, but her trembling has slowed to an occasional twitch, breathing back to its slow whistle.
He shakes his head with a sniff. “I’m here. I promise.”
Akane's face had returned to a peaceful expression. He let his mantra trail off as he squeezed her closer, Akane letting out a soft sigh and burrowing into his neck in her sleep. He may never deserve her, but he'd be damned if he hurt her like that again.
Never again.
“I’m with you,” he whispers against her skin, “As long as you’ll have me.”
When Akane finally wakes, it’s to a room dimly lit by the last rays of the evening. The first thing she feels as she shifts are a pair of strong arms wrapped carefully around her.
He stirs under her movements with a start, blinking a few times before his bleary eyes find hers.
“Hey,” she greets.
He offers a small smile, brushing a lock of hair from her face. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
Staring up at him in a haze, he retracts his hand to cover his mouth over a loud yawn. “You didn’t move…that whole time?”
He stops, face falling to a bit of sobriety. It’s just a simple statement, but it seems to hold a strange significance as his stormy gaze travels across her face. Blue shines through the clouds of grey in his irises as he whispers, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Something about that strikes her with a fogged recollection of the dream, but it’s gone as soon as it came. Still, it tugs her lips into a smile.
Until very recently, that statement from the man holding her this close would have felt like a lie, which is why he's never brought it up in the first place. Now, together at last, back in the same country, going from her trying anything to get to talk to him again, to having it available at the touch of a button. He was here, and he was finally here to stay. She snuggles closer into his arms.
