Haunted kisses

First Kiss

Two months had passed and things were beginning to get back to normal. Well, normal wasn't the right word for him but it's Division 1 normal. Two inspectors, enforcers, another case to handle. To the outside world everything ended when the riots did but to Ginazo, that was the most crucial moment of where everything went to hell.

There was no word from Ko and he didn't expect there to be. As long as he was alive, that was enough for Ginazo to continue on. And while his status had changed drastically, so did his outlook on things. Tsunemori was no longer a rookie detective, she was his superior and someone he would protect. And she was probably the only other person who understood the pain he felt when the dust began to settle.

He had begun to drink when he was off duty. It wasn't intentional but he found his dad's old bottle of whiskey when he was clearing out his room. He never drank before, it was said to cloud one's hue but none of that mattered now. It was a little after eight and his shift had just ended. He went to the enforcers lounge area where he grabbed the half drunk bottle of whiskey he had left sitting on the counter. No one had touched it. It was an unspoken rule not to touch Ginazo's liquor.

He unscrewed the cap, taking a swig from the bottle itself as he sat down on the sofa. He leaned back, closing his eyes, focusing on the burning liquid that went down his throat and warmed his body. He found out pretty quickly that he wasn't a lightweight much to his surprise so a single sip wasn't going to do it. But he hated the taste of the stuff so downing enough to feel it was a bit of a challenge. He brought the bottle up to his lips again, taking as big of a sip as he could manage without making himself cough it all back up. As he pulled the bottle away the chirping sound of his wristcom went off. With an irritated sigh Ginazo tapped the device to see who it was. There weren't any huge cases at the moment so there should be no reason for him to be called back into work.

Inspector Tsunemori's name popped up on the holo and he set the bottle down on the coffee table before answering it. "Inspector?"

"Where are you?" came her sharp voice and he winced slightly at the tone. He didn't need to see her face to know something or someone had angered her.

"In the enforcer lounge. Is something wro-" before he could finish his sentence the call had ended and he let out another heavy sigh, grabbing the bottle and taking another gulp. If she was coming in here angry like that then he was definitely going to need the whiskey. But at least it wasn't Shimotsuki. Just a few weeks and Ginazo could already tell working with her was going to be a handful.

Taking one last sip before he set the bottle down he went to loosen up his tie, taking the glove off of his metal hand. He was still getting used to the appendage. It was a lot stronger than a normal arm and slightly heavier, making his weight shift more to the left than he'd like.

There was a soft click and he looked up at the door to the small inspector entering. Gino straightened his back, giving her a puzzling look as she stormed toward him. She stopped right in front of him, arms crossed over her chest, her legs practically bumping up against his knees as she glared down at him. "How long have you been drinking?" She asked.

Oh. It made sense now. One of the newbie enforcers must have made some comment about him drinking and she caught on. "What I do off the clock isn't your business, Inspector" he tried to say in a kind tone but it sounded more dry and cold than it did kindly. He understood her concern but this was a conversation he didn't want to be having at the moment.

"As a friend who cares about you, it is. How long?" She demanded.

"Who told you?" She was going to get more annoyed that he was avoiding the subject but perhaps stalling for tim would allow him to come up with a better excuse than 'drinking his sorrows away'

The brunette swiftly turned around to pick up the half empty bottle of whiskey. The blue MWPSB coat she wore hitting him in the face and he caught the faint smell of… Smoke? No. Cigarette smoke. When did she start smoking?

"I could smell it on you this morning" She said as she held it up, still glaring at him. "Drinking isn't the solution."

He huffed, looking away from her "I don't want to discuss this."

"Fine." She said in a far too cheery tone and that concerned him. The brunette walked around the couch, heading toward the kitchen area with the bottle in hand and Ginazo immediately shot up, going after her.

"What are you doing?" he growled at her but she didn't stop, didn't even look at him as she headed to the sink. He practically jumped over the couch to be able to reach her in time, grabbing the bottle before she could pour it out. "Don't."

Her brown eyes looked up at him with determination. "Are you going to stop?"

"Akane-Chan." He said in a low warning, eyes narrowing.

"Nobuchika-Kun." She mimicked his tone of voice. "You're better than this."

Gino glared darkly at her but let go of the bottle. "Fine. But you have to stop smoking as well."

Her eyes went wide and there was a soft pinkish tint to her cheeks before she quickly looked away from him, sitting the bottle down on the counter. Her shoulders slouched slightly and the fierce woman he was having an argument with was no more. "I'm not smoking." She muttered quietly.

"I can smell it on your jacket." He said softly, his own posture relaxing slightly as he placed his prosthetic arm on her shoulder.

Akane shook her head, her gaze dropping to the floor. "The smell reminds me of him."

She reminded him of the small girl he saw so long ago on her first. "I miss him too." He said softly and she looked up at him, wiping tears away that have yet to roll down her face, giving him a sad smile.

"I'm okay though. You don't need to worry about me Ginazo-San."

"I do. Because we're friends." He repeated the words she had used just a few moments ago, giving her a small, almost sheepish, smile.

Without warning she wrapped her slender arms around his torso, burying her face into his chest. Her body was pressed tightly against his and he awkwardly returned the gesture, staring down at her small figure. Ginazo was never particularly good with emotions or how to handle other people and their emotions. So he tried his best to comfort her. His flesh hand came up to stroke her hair softly and she felt him squeeze him tighter followed by the muffled sound of her sniffing. A few moments were spent with him awkwardly holding her before she loosened her grip on him, pulling her head away from his chest to look up at him.

Perhaps she wasn't expecting him to be staring down at her but when she pulled away to look up, their faces were now inches apart. He could feel the exhale of her breath against his lips and he was suddenly aware of the sweet smelling shampoo she wore. Neither pulled away and he looked up, his eyes meeting hers and he saw the same curiosity in hers that he felt.

She made the move. He was too terrified to have it become more than an idea in the back of his head. She lifted herself up on to her tip toes, eyes drifting down to his lips as she leaned in but she hesitated. That was enough for him to get the courage to close the cap between them. He captured her lips with his and it was a tender, gentle kiss. Slow and timid, both seemingly too scared to move to quickly. She tasted sweet like strawberries and he was suddenly self conscious about how he smelled and tasted.

The kiss ended faster than it began and both enforcer and inspector were staring wide eyed at the other. His cheeks felt warm and hers was a soft rosy color. "I-I have to get back to work." She stammered, taking several steps back, running her hands down her jacket and shirt to straighten it up. "No more drinking." She said quickly before running out of the room. And he was left wondering if that really just happened.

Did he just kiss Akane Tsunemori, his inspector? The girl that was nearly a decade younger than he was. He really was turning into Ko….