A Shot in the Dark Kogami X Akane

Awkward Teamwork

Akane sighed.  This was too much, even for her.   How the hell did Kogami even get back to Japan?  She shook her head to try to clear her thoughts. Luckily, it seemed that everyone else was feeling the same way, so no one had noticed her loosing her composure. 

Well, that wasn't completely true.

Kogami had noticed, and he called her out on it when he smirked and said,"Looks like you weren't expecting me, huh?"

Akane blushed and ducked her head down, embarrassed that he had been able to see through her so easily, while she wasn't able to get a read on him at all.

Sighing, she looked up at him, determined to make eye contact, and tried to tell him in a voice as even as she could possibly muster,"Well, it wasn't like you wrote me a letter ahead of time letting me know." Then she cringed at her comment, feeling bad for sounding so bitter.

"I'm sorry-...,"she started to say, but Kogami cut her off.

"Don't apologize to me, Inspector," he told her,"Honestly I didn't expect to see you again either," he admitted.

Akane looked up at him and shot him an apologetic look.  Despite Sibyl deeming Enforcers as nothing more than disposable hunting dogs, she understood that despite them being latent criminals, they were still people, and she hated it when they degraded themselves. Still, it wasn't like she could change his mind just by saying that; Kogami was too stubborn to listen to her anyways.

The one good thing about the whole situation was that Division 1 got to be off-duty for the rest of the day so that they could get over their initial shock and so that Kogami could get settled in.

*****That night******

That night, Akane pondered over her mixed feelings in an effort to fort them out before having to face Kogami at work.  It wasn't as if she was unhappy because she had to see him again; if anything she was relived that he was still alive.  Like Mika had said, it was a surprise that Sibyl hadn't executed him on the spot.

However, she couldn't ignore the fact that he had already disappeared from her life twice, and was likely to do it again.  And on top of that, she had an undeniable attraction to him.  In short, she was a train wreck just waiting to happen.  And when it did, it was not going to be pretty.  But no matter how she looked at it, there was nothing that she could do other than try to ride it out and try to do damage control. 

Taking a deep breath, Akane cleared her cluttered thoughts and fell asleep, trusting that her answers would come to her eventually.

*****The next day****

Akane showed up at work late the next day, which almost never happened.  Usually calm and composed, she was instead gasping for air with flushed cheeks and a dazed look in her eye.

Of course, everyone in the room was shocked at her late arrival, and were expressing various degrees of concern about her health.  Akane brushed off all of their questions before they could ask them with a self-conscious smile as she explained to them that she had over-slept, which seemed to put them at ease, even if it earned her a disapproving look from Mika. 

As she sat down at her desk, Kogami caught her eye and smirked at her.  "Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally decided to join us," he teased.  Akane rolled her eyes, refusing to be baited by him.

Luckily, Ginoza jumped to her aid before she had to respond to the snarky comment.  "Just leave her alone," he said, shooting Kogami a meaningful look.  After that they all settled into an awkward, tense silence.

Finally, Akane couldn't take it anymore. She got up from her desk and said to no one in particular," I think I'll visit Shion and check if she found anything." To her dismay however, Kogami got up as well and told her," I'll go with you, after all, I still haven't seen Shion since I got back."

With a resigned sigh, Akane followed him out the door, wondering how on earth she was supposed to deal with Kogami. Ever since he got back, she hadn't been able to even look him in the eye, much less have a mature conversation. She was a seasoned Inspector, dammit, yet like a scared little girl, she wasn't able to make herself face him.

Akane was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Kogami had abruptly stopped in front of her.

"Ooof!" she exclaimed as she ten right into him, and realized with some confusion she hadn't run into his back. While she had been wrapped up in her thoughts, he had managed to stop and turn to face her, the end result being that she had run into his chest.

Wrapping his arms around her in order to steady her, he looked down at her with concern. "Are you ok, Inspector?" he asked,"You've been kind of out of it."

Akane stared at her shoes and blushed. There was no way in hell that she could or would tell him that he was the reason why she was spacing out so much.

Instead, she managed to say in a quiet voice,"I'm fine, it's just that this case has been really difficult, and I was really shocked to see you again...." she trailed off. Without meaning to, she had accidentally told Kogami something that was too close to the truth.

However, instead of saying something snarky, he smiled at her sympathetically and whispered to her," I honestly never thought that I'd see you again, so this has been a shock for me too."  Akane shuddered as his warm breath on her ear gave her goosebumps.  Damn it!  She needed to have more self-control than that.  Still, it momentarily seemed like a very good idea to run her hands through Kogami's hair.

But before she had the chance to do something that stupid and reckless, Kogami abruptly pushed her away from him. "Let's not keep Shion waiting," he told her in a matter-of-fact tone of voice before turning around and walking away from her. Even though it shouldn't had, Akane felt rejected be Kogami's abruptness. Sighing, she trudged along after him.