Exile: Saa... After Urobutcher's masterpiece, I was pondering what if Makishima was an Inspector too. Add to that my love of ShoAka/ShinAka/GinAka, and this was born.
Kisari Ryu belongs to me.
Summary: When Akane gets her first boyfriend and mistakenly announces it to her coworkers, on her first date, Kougami insists on coming along for protection, Ginoza is eating lunch conveniently at the same place, and Makishima is mysteriously working at the cafe. Half an hour later, her boyfriend learns that Tsunemori Akane, no matter how cute, has at least three rather possessive coworkers that wouldn't mind killing him.
"Hm? What's with the smile, Akane-chan?" Kagari asked lazily as he played on his game console right when the Inspector entered the office. He and Yayoi had just finished their shift, so Kagari was enjoying the ancient game series called Pokemon he had discovered awhile ago. Kougami glanced up from his desk, and Ginoza looked up briefly before going back to watering his little plants.
Tsunemori grinned widely. "I just got a boyfriend! We're going on a date this Friday."
SNAP Shinya's hand gripped the cup that he had been about to drink from a little too hard, crushing the plastic in his hand and spilling coffee everywhere. His expression was unreadable as he stared at his tablet.
CLANG Ginoza dropped his watering can on the floor, the metal ringing harshly as he quickly bent down to pick it up before water leaked onto the steel. Kagari could have sworn that the man's eyes had turned a bit like Kou-chan's whenever he was on the job.
PTSCH The doors had slid open again right after Tsunemori had made her announcement, and Makishima Shougo, the Inspector that was head of Division 3, tripped in an unsightly manner upon hearing the words. His smile made Yayoi really start wondering how he hadn't been demoted to an Enforcer yet.
"Tsunemori-kanshikan."
"Tsunemori."
"Akane-chan."
"What did you just say?" all three of them synced, glaring at each other briefly right afterwards.
Remaining oblivious to the dark demeanors around the three men, "I went to my high school reunion yesterday, see. And one of my old friends asked me out."
Someone fumbled with the watering can again for a second.
Another caught the dropped box of tissues which he had been about to use to wipe up the coffee.
The third's smile faltered a bit as he picked up his papers.
"Tsunemori, is he a trustworthy person?" Ginoza demanded, pushing his glasses up, the lenses glinting in the light. "How long have you known him?"
"Ehhh... We used to be next door neighbors when I was little! My parents know him already, too. He's a pretty nice guy," she said thoughtfully.
The statement rammed into him like a sack of bricks.
"What kind of person is he?" Kougami asked warily, hands twitching to punch something.
Akane tilted her head to the side, thinking. "He's really sweet and quiet!"
The guy she's dating is the complete opposite of me. He realized with horror. Shinya's head thunked against his desk.
Finally, Makishima stepped up to the batting plate, the other two having struck out. "Mmm? Akane-chan, can you actually see yourself marrying him?" he asked bluntly. The ones that had been moping shot their heads up, glaring at him for asking such a question.
"Maybe?"
All three hardened MWPSB personnel felt their souls float from their mouths.
"Ah... eto, Kougami-san?" Akane stammered nervously. "Why are you coming with me?"
Passerbys glanced in her direction, mostly to stare at the Enforcer trailing right behind her, hands stuck in his pockets. He wore a lazy expression as if he didn't have any reason to be following her.
"There might be a case where you're needed even though you're on vacation, Inspector," he answered vaguely.
"What does that have to do with you following me on my date?" she rebutted.
"Just in case you're called on duty we can go straight to the scene instead of you having to hurry back."
Akane stared up at him dubiously, and then sighed. "Fine, Kougami-san. Just don't behave like we're on a case, please," she requested.
They soon came to the cafe that she had agreed to meet her boyfriend at. Kougami narrowed his eyes upon seeing a young man with light brown hair and grey eyes look up from his phone and run towards Tsunemori excitedly.
"Good morning, Akane!" he greeted cheerfully, hugging her. Must not maim must not maim Shinya told himself, though he couldn't stop a little snarl from his throat. Akane enthusiastically greeted him back, and Kougami saw red when the shrimp had the gall to kiss her on the cheek.
But he was a professional, he was a detective. And since he was an Enforcer, the Area Stress Level wouldn't detect him.
When they finally finished the minor greetings, Akane snagged her subordinate's sleeve. "Ryu-kun, this is Kougami Shinya. He works under me at the CID. Kougami-san, this is Kisari Ryu, one of my former schoolmates and my boyfriend." The two males looked at each other, Kougami a bit ticked at the informal way she addressed the shrimp and Ryu a bit wary of the attention-drawing man that seemed a bit too close to his girlfriend.
"Nice to meet you, Kougami-san," he said politely, holding a hand out to shake. Shinya shook it briefly. "May I ask why you are here today?"
"It has to do with our job. I'm unable to tell outside civilians," he replied blandly.
Akane began wondering about his real motives, but then shook her head. Kougami-san wasn't the kind of guy that would bomb her date for fun, after all. "So, shall we go eat?" she asked cheerily, grabbing Kougami's hand to tug him into the cafe.
Ryu stared in abject horror, knowing exactly what was going on. "That's my girlfriend and date!" he muttered, striding after them. "Why the hell does she have to have a possessive coworker, god?"
Akane rubbed her eyes, not sure of what she was seeing.
Shinya glared, promising pain.
Ryu simply continued interacting with the waiter obliviously.
And Shougo looked down at the Boyfriend, jotting down their orders as he pondered the best way to get rid of him. "So a mint ice tea for you, a coffee for Akane-chan, and an ice water for Kou-chan?"
It finally got into Ryu's head that there was something off with this waiter. "Makishima-san, what exactly are you doing here?" Akane finally asked. "Aren't you on du-"
"Ne, Akane-chan. What a coincidence!" Shougo interjected with a smile.
The brunet swore that there was a conspiracy going on. "What are you doing here?"
"Working, obviously," he replied. A vein popped on Akane's forehead.
"Makishima! Don't be like that!" she reprimanded, "I don't know what you're up to this time, but please don't rack up any damage charges. It's bad enough when you and Kougami-san are within three meters of... each... other..." she glanced at the Enforcer cautiously, who was blatantly ignoring Makishima's existence.
Ryu looked around uneasily. "Um, Akane? Do you know this guy?"
She took a deep breath, exhaling, "This is Makishima Shougo. He's the Head Inspector for Division 3. Don't ask me why he's here, I don't know. Don't ask him, either, or he'll give you a vague answer," she advised.
"Why dost thou wound me so?" the white-haired man teased.
"Thou hast no reason to be here at this place and at this time," was her rebuttal.
"Stop quoting Shakespeare, you two," Kougami sighed, observing the shrimp's uneasiness with amusement. "Makishima, get our orders and quit dawdling."
He smirked knowingly, walking away. "Hai, hai."
Akane slumped in her seat, sighing. "Seriously... I'm so sorry, Ryu."
He laughed nervously, "Oh, i-it's nothing, Akane-chan. It's okay."
She brightened up immediately. "Thanks, Ryu! You're the best!" she was about to stand up to give him another peck on the cheek (she was sitting across the table from him, Kougami sitting between her and the window), when there was the sound of someone in dress shoes walking up to their table.
"Tsunemori-kanshikan?" Ginoza asked, feigning surprise. "What are you doing here? And Kougami?" he carried a food tray from the counter. His eyes turned to examine the stranger. "Who's this?"
The girl felt her jaw drop. "G-Ginoza-san, what are you doing here?" she questioned, her mouth going dry.
"It's my lunch break and I came here to eat, of course," he answered in a seemingly innocent manner. Ginoza made a move towards the empty chair. "May I sit here?"
"E-Eh, go ahead," Ryu allowed, scooting in so now he was sitting diagonally from his "date". Ginoza nodded politely, setting his food down before picking up his fork to eat. "Akane, who's this?"
That was the third time this had happened. Something was going on, Akane would bet her career on it. "Ah... this is Gin-"
"You can drop the honorific, Tsunemori. We are technically equals, after all," he cut in before returning to his. Akane felt a bead of sweat run down her neck.
"This is my fellow Inspector for Division 1, Ginoza Nobuchika," she introduced resignedly. "Ginoza, this is Ryu, my boyf-"
"Food's here!" Makishima's cheerfully fake voice announced as he came up to the table with the order on a tray. "Saa, here you go."
Akane gave in to her urge to express her suspension of disbelief and slammed her head against the tabletop wearily.
When Makishima had also finally served their meals as well, Ginoza eyed Kougami warily. The man changed his position from leaning on one hand on the table to sitting back with his arms crossed. In the kitchen, there was an audible yell of, "Your shift's over, Makishima!" and on cue, Ginoza began "coughing" hard, causing Ryu to jump up, startled, and accidentally knock over his glass of ice tea, which happened to roll towards Akane and spill its contents on her skirt.
"Oh no- I'm so sorry, Akane!" he said hastily, and she laughed it off, excusing herself to the restroom to clean off the sticky tea and change her compact.
When she was out of sight, Makishima appeared from seemingly nowhere and sat across Ryu. "For you are far from worthy and have been deemed unsuitable," he quoted, smiling in a way which Ryu felt his neck hairs prick up.
"Wh- wait, what's going on?" the poor guy stuttered, looking around at the three MWPSB employees which had effectively boxed him into a corner and were looking at him with intent that made him suddenly regret ever going on this date.
The trio exchanged glances, and Ginoza spoke up first, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "What are your intentions to Tsunemori?" he demanded in his interrogation room voice.
"We- we're just da-"
Before he could state a coherent reply, Kougami ran him over verbally, "What makes you think that you are capable of looking after her?" he queried, "Also, are you aware that, as a normal civilian, if you were to date her, you may become a liability to her on the job?"
"What do you m-mean? O-Of co-"
Shougo smirked, looking at the nuisance with both parts amusement and scorn. "You are undeserving of being with Akane-chan," he clarified.
Ryu was practically trembling like a leaf, the sheer intimidating auras coming off the three men making him feel scared. "Th- that's for her to decide," he said bravely.
Famous last words.
"Tell me, what would you do if you had to protect her from a heavily armed enemy that was wearing one of those helmets from the riots a while back?" Kougami demanded, "Are you even capable of of protecting yourself, much less her?"
"Are you an intellectual equal that can converse with her in terms of quotes and books, and has a Hue of a constant color to match hers?" Shougo questioned smugly.
"Do you think that you would be able to get her out of a catatonic state after she witnessed her best friend killed in front of her very eyes, and her being unable to do anything about it because the criminal was wearing a helmet?" Nobuchika dealt the final card hand in an utterly one-sided game of deconstructing-the-nuisance's-pride poker.
Ryu's mouth opened and closed like a fish; he was unable to come up with a sufficient argument. He looked the three of them silently, gobsmacked for words. "Y-You three..."
"We've done those things for her. Seeing her even considering a person like you as a potential partner is an insult," the one to his right snapped, pushing his glasses up again.
"The thing is, Akane-chan is all too dense to notice our emotions towards her. However, I myself am all too willing to await for her eyes to open," the amber-eyed inspector diagonal to him explained, spreading his hands innocently.
"In the meantime, shrimps like you can keep off and away from Tsunemori," Shinya finished.
As if on some unseen signal, the two Inspectors stood up and exited the cafe, getting into a waiting car. The only male left leaned back into his previous position, and right then, Akane came back, having cleaned off the stain before putting the outfit back in her program. "Eh? Where did Ginoza and Makishima-san go?" she asked in confusion.
"They were done with their jobs here," Kougami answered blankly, eyeing Ryu from the corner of his eye, who seemed to be thinking on something. She nodded and way down to finish her food.
Ryu didn't move a muscle, repeating the scene in his mind over and over again. Finally, he made up his mind. "Akane-chan?" his eyes met hers.
"Hm?" she was beautiful, he could see it. And her eyes carried an innocent happiness that was very rare these days.
No wonder those three felt so protective and possessive of her. Ryu knew now that he was absolutely no match. "Um, I think we should just stick to being friends."
Akane blinked several times, slowly. "Why? Did something happen?" she wasn't all an idiot, something must have happened to make him change his mind so suddenly.
He stood up, shaking his head, and looked at her regretfully. "You're a great person and all, Akane-chan, but I think you're a bit of an idiot sometimes. I'm not the right one for you. There's at least three other guys that are you that are much, much better for you..." he took a deep breath, "They've done so much, and you're breaking their hearts by being with me."
She was really confused now. "Who are you talking about?" she asked cluelessly. Kougami had to try to not headwall don't there.
Kisari laughed, a short, bitter, envious laugh. "See? You don't even know them. Trust me though, they'll make you happier than I ever could." With those last words, Ryu bowed shortly and walked out the doors of the cafe.
"..."
"Kougami-san?"
"Hn?"
"What just happened?"
"... You really are a cute idiot sometimes."
"Eh?"
He sighed. "Nevermind. By the way, quit calling me by my last last. It's kinda old, coming from you. And no honorifics, either."
"...okay, Shinya?"
Akane tried not to faint when she walked into work the next day and Makishima practically ran up to her begging her to call him Shougo and Ginoza pretty much demanded to be called Nobuchika with Kou- no, Shinya smirking in the corner.
"So, seeing that they're all in splendid moods today, I guess they managed to get rid of her boyfriend, huh?" Kagari asked, spinning on his chair. "Wish I could've been there."
"Little Nobubu looks so happy whenever she calls him by his first name!" old Masaoka whispered as he nearly sobbed with delight at his son's expression.
Yayoi stifled a snort at the childhood nickname the father had for his son. "The bet is still on, Masaoka," she reminded. "No sure tell that she is going to get together with your son, so don't get too happy."
"I don't get why you bet on Makishima, Yayoi," Kagari whined. "Kou-chan's definitely going to get to her first."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, Makishima and her get along fairly well and understand each other crazy good."
"Nobuchika will win her heart and I'll win the bet," the oldest Enforcer stated stoutly.
"Yeah right, Masaoka. Kou-chan will win."
"It's Makish- quiet, they're looking over here!"
As he went back to work, Kagari allowed himself a feral grin. "Boyfriends beware, if anyone tries to get Akane-chan, there'll be blood to pay."
*dies drowning in fluff*
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