1.
The first time Kogami calls her by her first name, Akane is surprised.
She's been working long nights of late, in an attempt to prove herself to Ginoza. Somehow, her frazzled mind believed that this is the best way forward: drown herself in paperwork to prove to the older man that she knows what she's doing.
But late hours start to take their toll after a while, and Akane finds herself dropping off in random points in her work. She struggles against the heaviness in her eyes, making a deal with herself that if she can get through one more hour, she'll go home.
"…Tsunemori?" The low voice of Kogami cuts through her some time later, but she barely stirs. "Tsunemori, wake up." The shake on her shoulder wakes her, and Akane shoots up, bolt upright.
"Ko-kogami?" She blinks her sleepy eyes. "What's wrong?"
"You were sleeping, Inspector." Kogami seems amused, although that could just be the haze of sleep still hanging over her.
"Eh? I was?" Akane blinks again. "Oh, I must have been more tired than I thought…"
"Late nights aren't good for you, Inspector. You should sleep – at home." Kogami adds on, fixing his expression to be stern.
"But-" She goes to protest, but the Enforcer's look shuts her up immediately.
"Go home, Inspector." He practically orders her, and Akane knows when to accept defeat when she has to. She packs up all of her stuff with Kogami watching, and then bids him goodnight before resigning herself to the journey home, yawning a little.
"Goodnight, Akane."
She doesn't realise until she's about to drop off to sleep in her own bed that he called her Akane.
2.
The second time Kogami calls her Akane, it's in a yell.
She's walking down the corridor, placing earbuds in her ears, deciding to start listening to some radio show on her way home. The earbuds are why she doesn't hear Kogami call Inspector from down the hallway, and so she continues to walk off obliviously.
She'll later learn that Kogami calls at least three times before she hears his yell.
"Akane Tsunemori, could you listen to me?" The question rips through the noise in her ears, and she turns around, her eyes wide.
"Eh? Kogami?" She's confused.
"Did you forget? You told Inspector Ginoza that you'd babysit us Enforcers for an hour, until he gets back." Kogami leans against the office door, a distance away from Akane, who flushes with embarrassment at her forgetfulness.
"Oh!" She hurries back. "I forgot."
"Clearly." Kogami shakes his head at her. "Don't make me use your full name again, Inspector."
3.
The third time, Akane is convinced that Kogami might have been drunk.
"Kogami, are you alright?" Akane asks nervously. Kogami looks flushed, and uncharacteristically, he's grinning widely.
"Ah, Akane, calm down!" Kagari pats her on the top of the head – he's definitely drunk, Akane know that. "Stop worrying about Ko so much. He's a grown-up: he can handle himself."
"Yeah, Akane, calm down." Kogami reaches over and hits her shoulder – maybe he was aiming for her head, she doesn't know. She starts with surprise at the sound of her name from his mouth. "I'm fine."
"Anyway, it's our frreeee time!" Kagari stretches out the word, smiling lazily. "Who cares what we do?"
"You've got a pretty name, Akane." Kogami informs her. "Akane."
Ginoza shoos everyone off a few moments later when he walks in, and Akane's left with the memory of how close her lips were to Kogami's.
4.
The fourth time Kogami says her name, it's after Yuki's death.
"You couldn't have done anything, Inspector." Kogami says gently. He's in the hospital bed from the blasted bullet wounds, and the usually strong inspector is seated on a chair beside him. Her head hangs low: he hasn't seen her eyes in a while.
"I'm an Inspector. I should have been able to." She dismisses his comment with a shake of her head.
"And I'm an Enforcer. I also should have been able to act." He challenges her, and she finally looks at him, her eyes wide.
"You were injured, Kogami! You did enough as it was!"
"And you had no way to judge Makishima. Don't blame yourself, Inspector." He counters.
"I shouldn't be called that." She shakes her head again. "I'm not worthy of that title."
"Fine, then. Don't blame yourself." He pauses, his eyes resting on the top of her head as she bows it again. "Akane."
5.
And the fifth time he says her name, it's when he's leaving her.
"Goodbye, Inspector." Akane clutches the phone to her ear, not wanting Kogami's voice to fade from her ear as his presence has already.
"Wait!" She speaks without thought. "In that world where we are equals, when we meet not as Enforcer and Inspector but as two normal people, what do you call me?"
"Huh?" Kogami shows confusion for a moment. "I guess… I guess I'd call you Akane, Inspector."
"And I'd suppose I'd call you Shinya." She whispers his name to him for the first time: before this moment, she's only mouthed it to herself.
It's silent for a moment, and Akane wonders if he's gone.
"I'll miss you, Akane." Those four words hang in the air for an age even as the phone goes dead.
I'll miss you too, Kogami.
I like to think that this fic could proceed my last one, since they're both around the topic of Kogami calling Akane by her name. This fic is shamelessly hinting towards ShinKane, and perhaps one day I'll actually write something where they're a couple and not this angsty lark I write instead.
I hope you enjoyed this rather short fic, and if you did, please leave me a review! Until next time, bye! :)