Pairing: GinAka
Canon universe.
Behind the silhouettes of the dark buildings, she saw something that blinked, a crisp dot of supremacy through a despicable evening. The night was warm and hot. August was uncivilized and despondent, finally unfolding what lay hidden during the rest of the year. The pavements threatened to melt, the sun was causing a stir and people committed crimes, ultimately uncaring about anything the outside world was cooking up. "I want to go swimming," she said. The road was leaning to the left. The steering wheel copied its curvature and convergence, an eerie display of control being taken from them, doled out in doses small enough for them to leave it alone. Ginoza was quiet. He thought before talking, before unbuttoning her blazer, before pressing delete on the first draft of a report. "Swimming?" he wondered, looking down on his hands, placed on his knees by his purposely uninterested hunch.
"Tomorrow. Do you want to come?"
He moved his feet, vaguely mimicking the movements of a driver. A quick glance at her, then the road. "Yes."
She was tapping at the destination screen with a thoughtful expression, scrolling a tiny bit, pinching the screen to zoom out. A horizontal wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. The display clicked once and the car started. He smiled. "I hope you know where we're going." She placed the screen back into its place, made some additional arrangements, giving him an off put look. "You're doubting me," she surmised, turning his offhand joking comment into a pique of her own. "And yet you came along." She put her seat belt on.
They'd traveled for almost an hour and a half when the car turned off the highway onto a dusty country path. The auto-service frostily declared that the car was no longer in cruising mode and had to be manually steered. Tsunemori reached for the broad untouched steering wheel. Her feet sought the pedals, reminding herself; "Gas next to door, clutch closest to the console." She reached in under the seat and pulled her car seat forwards. Ginoza straightened up, quietly gritting his teeth and swallowing. His left hand ventured towards the car door for any kind of support. Tsunemori checked the display twice, but when her left hand reached for the gear, it was steady.
She carefully guided the vehicle along the road, shifting gears with smooth movements, subtly pushing the engine to do better. The nature was frizzy, unkempt. It was green enough to look artificial. "How do you know this place?" he asked, unconsciously ducking for a low-hanging branch outside the car. "I used to come here with my grandparents," she replied, not taking her eyes off the road. The next time they dipped down from the hill, he saw something amazing and blue. It was the sea.
The sunlight was bleak, but Akane didn't let herself be hindered by the conforming clouds. Once they'd stopped the car in front of the tiny sandy beach she went to the trunk and brought out a blanket and a bag. She ventured down towards the water and he followed, couldn't wait to find out what she would do. Having draped the sensible quilt across the part of the sand that was the most level, she stepped out of her shoes and placed them right beside it. A click on her holo-bracelet made her monochrome outfit disappear. She wore a white bikini underneath. He wasn't sure if he should turn away. On the beach, far away from office buildings and whatever they had built between them, he felt as if he was merely an onlooker. This was her reconciliation with the ocean. He stopped, felt a ripple of warmth seep through his chest, a dreadful fear of there never being enough of her, enough of time.
She waded out into the water and he shadowed her, halting only when the sea threatened to corrupt his shoes. She stopped once it reached her thighs. It got deep fast. He saw the goosebumps, the shivers that burned through her like cheap alcohol. "Ahh," she quivered. "I didn't think it would be this cold." Clearly stalling, she turned around. "Aren't you coming?"
He shook his head. "Watching you is enough."