I wrote this after dinner tonight for Ginoza's birthday. I posted it on Tumblr, unedited, and w/o formatting (as Tumblr likes to undo RTF formatting it seems) at 11:21pmEST on 11/21. Just in time... but I went back and did a spell check just now (a few hours later) as well as some revision. So here is a little morsel of GinAka for Gino's DIRTY THIRTY!
It had been a long day.
And that was an understatement.
Had Tsunemori really not noticed it was my birthday? I can't believe she had the nerve to make me go out with Shimotsuki and Tougane all afternoon. Never mind having to stomach that untrustworthy prick's attitude, that newbie needs to get over herself, already.
He raked a weary hand through his hair, as he recalled his own personal biases, which he had held onto for nearly two decades, until only a year and a half ago. He chuffed, refusing to acknowledge Mika's behavior as anything similar to his.
I, at least, kept most of my beliefs to myself. I definitely never treated my enforcers in such a shitty way.
He seethed for a bit, not only because of the verbal abuse he had to endure, but also because the one person he'd hoped would remember his thirtieth birthday had forgotten. More than a bit disappointed, and slightly embittered, he collected his few items from the lonely, otherwise empty office save Shimotsuki-kanshikan and Tougane, and headed back to the comfort and solitude of his quarters.
First priority: A fucking drink. Or five...Happy goddamned Birthday, Nobuchika.
He could feel his blood beginning to boil as he descended in the elevator to Level B1. Quickly he caught himself, and tried to talk himself out of his self-pity.
If it had been that important, I should have at least casually mentioned it in the office earlier this week, he chastised himself.
As he walked down the golden-hued, dim-lit corridor, he smelled an array of food. He stomach began to turned as it piqued his senses.
Aughh, that smells amazing. And now...I have to cook a birthday dinner for one.
He huffed in exasperation as he arrived at his door and flashed his badge.
He had been looking at his wrist, checking the time when the door slid open.
"SURPRISE!" cheered a host of voices.
Startled, he looked up to find four pairs of eyes smiling at him. Hinakawa, Karanomori, Kunizuka and...
She didn't forget after all...
The green-eyed birthday boy felt his jaw go slack in unabashed bewilderment. Words failed him at the sight of plates of various hors d'oeuvres and glasses at the ready to dole out the festive drinks that covered his coffee table and kitchen countertop.
He stepped past the threshold into his apartment, an embarrassed smile accompanying the flush on his face.
I can't believe they did all this...for me.
"And to think I was ready to come back and sulk for the evening," the former inspector admitted with a shake of his head.
Shion laughed.
"Do you really think Akane would miss an important detail like a thirtieth birthday? Come on, now! Give your friends a little more credit!" the blonde said, continuing to chuckle.
"I do feel bad about having to give you the assignment I did," his adorable superior admitted with a guilty look. "But it was the only way we could make this happen."
Yayoi popped a bottle of champagne, and carefully poured him a glass.
Taking the vessel in hand, he waited for everyone to have a glass of their own.
Akane raised her glass, a cue for everyone to join the salute.
"To Ginoza, your health, and another thirty years. Happy Birthday!"
"Kanpai!" they cheered, clinking their glasses with one another's.
After an incredible spread, cooked up by the covert quartet themselves, and a delicious red velvet cake, they sat around the living room, actively emptying bottle after bottle of wine, sake and whiskey. Dime lolled about at Ginoza's feet, unaffected by the din of lively conversation.
Shion and Yayoi had begun to lose the restraint they maintained with each other in public. The casual closeness and touches did not go unnoticed. Even the shy and usually anti-social Sho had a little fit of the giggles at a story the voluptuous analyst had recounted.
Ginoza, who had a respectable tolerance for alcohol, could feel the warmth in his chest and face. He felt relaxed and loose, but still in control of his faculties. Akane, on the other hand appeared virtually stone-sober, even after at least a few glasses of wine and two shots of whiskey. She had gone over to the kitchen area to warm the sake per order of one veritably inebriated vixen.
"So Gino-kun," Shion said a bit loudly, showing her intoxication. "Now that you are thirty, does that mean you'll finally get yourself laid?"
Snorts and giggles erupted from the redheaded hacker and the usually stoic brunette sitting on either side of the brazen bombshell.
Ginoza sputtered, getting a few drips of whiskey on his lap as he choked on himself.
"What the hell? No! N-no! I am not that kind of person," he defended, gasping as he fought to regain steady breath.
"Aww, were you waiting for the one to cash in that V-card?" Shion provoked further.
Ginoza just stared at her in disbelief. He mouth opened to retort but the no words came.
Why of all the audacity...even if she is correct in her assumption.
The flush and fluster of frustration came to a head.
"I don't believe that is any of your business, Karanomori," he rebuked his nosy colleague. "But to be honest, I used to put a little too much faith in the idea that Sibyl would find a suitable match for me. So I focused on my career instead. And now...it's a little too late."
And empathetic silence engulfed the room. Only the hum of the microwave kept it from being stifling.
Akane, standing only four or five meters away on the other side of the archway, wanted so badly to come to her friend's defense. But this was a matter in which she had no standing, being a lover-less virgin herself.
Ginoza is a genuine and patient man. Someday he'll find someone who sees all of those good qualities.
"Well, just because you are an enforcer, doesn't mean you can't meet someone. It just means you are a bit...limited," the analyst countered, trying to be helpful.
Ginoza sighed exasperatedly.
"You're an intelligent and loyal person, among other things, Ginoza,"Akane complimented as she returned with a tray of sake flasks and cups. "How someone hasn't seen that in you yet is unbelievable."
Three pairs of widened eyes moved from a bemused Ginoza, to an aloof Akane and back.
With a new-found interest, Shion pressed on with her inquisition.
"So, theoretically speaking, Gino-kun...if you could pick the kind of person you could be with...what would they be like?"
After knocking back a small cup of sake, the tipsy enforcer gave the question a moment of honest thought.
"Well, first off, she'd have to be strong-willed. I really can't deal with push-overs. Besides, I know I can be a prick sometimes. They'd have to just accept that fact. Someone with whom I can go tit-for-tat. Intelligent, too... because when we're old, there's got to be mental stimulation and companionship. Someone trustworthy...who would be equally dedicated."
He had been staring into his glass of whiskey on the rocks as he contemplated. But the silence continued, the lack of response catching his attention. Looking up, he found odd looks vacillating between him, an oblivious Akane who was examining her sake flask's artwork, and each other.
When suddenly it the pieces came together, finally comprehending the relevance of his dissertation. His unquestioned loyalty and protectiveness of his friend and former partner, the innate preference to her company, coupled with his proclamation of the type of woman he ultimately valued...
It's her...Have I been so wrapped up in my head, that I never stopped to consider what Akane means to me?
The revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. He suddenly felt a little nauseous and uneasy.
"Alright, guys, after this drink, I think I need to wrap things up," he said, head in hand, as if trying to make a headache go away.
There were groans of protest.
"Awww, just when we were really getting to know the other side of you..." Shion whined, feigning disappointment and eliciting laughs from her two other fellow enforcers.
"Are you okay, Ginoza?"Akane piped up. She was more concerned that he was unwell, than the gathering coming to a close.
"Eh...I'll be alright if I get some sleep," he replied wearily.
Akane rose after finishing her flask of sake, finally with a soft tinge of blush on her cheeks, to go and clean up the rest of the food in the kitchen.
Sho, Shion and Yayoi all downed the last of their warm beverages, and said their goodbyes to Ginoza while Akane continued her task. She waved nonchalantly as they walked out the door.
The man of the hour seemed distracted and exhausted. He came over and took a dish out of the petite brunette's hands.
"Seriously, Tsunemori, you've done so much for me today. I can finish it tomorrow."
She shook her head with a small smile.
"Nope. It's your day. Let me finish what I started. I'm just as stubborn as you are when it comes to stuff like that," she retorted, that small smile now shifting into a smirk as she took back the dish and washed it in the sink. "Tit for Tat."
Ginoza's eyes grew wide as she threw his own words right back at him, when he had thought she wasn't paying attention. He just watched, mouth agape in his celebratory haze, as she wiped the counters down before folding the towel and setting it next to the sink, as if there had been no implication in her words.
"There. Now I'm almost done."
"Almost?" he asked, genuinely confused.
She made her way around the kitchen island and stopped only a few feet in front of him, encroaching slightly on his personal space.
Akane stepped forward, looking up at him, as she rose onto her tip-toes while simultaneously reaching for his shoulders and pulling him forward.
The initial shock of their lips meeting in a firm but awkward kiss, stunned him motionless. It took a few seconds for it to dawn on him to respond by reciprocating the gentle pressure. That singular moment was enough to set him ablaze from head to toe. His fingers that grazed her cheek tingled with a foreign sensation, just before she released her hold.
"And you thought I didn't notice," she chuckled.
"I...Akane..."
She hushed him with the tip of her index finger pressed where her lips had just been.
"Happy Birthday, Gino," she replied, giving him a mischievous glance as she turned and left, the doors hissing shut behind her.