❛ – — i realize how naive it sounds now but , i started because i hoped it would make me feel closer to mister kougami , that somehow it could help me understand him . ❜ the shape of a laugh trembles and hesitates in her voice , a wavering dark sound smothered by a long draw off the cigarette . this is a ritual with pavlovian results , the heady smell of smoke sedates her fraying nerves with remarkable efficiency - in its wake the wanting comes in waves and akane misses shinya kougami just as sharply as the day she found his letter and his absence . an ineffable quality of vulnerability spreads like a dark stain in her eyes as she meets @unspector steady gaze with a quivering cynical smile .









