"Ginoza-san! Ginoza! Ginoza Nobuchika!"
Ginoza hears her voice, clear at first but fading away quickly. He is fearful only of never hearing it again. He wants to call out to her, but can't force words out of his mouth. If he could, he would tell her that his given name sounds so natural in her melodic voice, melodic even as it fades.
Goodbye, Tsunemori. Goodbye, Akane, he thinks.
Everything goes black.
He is surprised to find himself awake, but once he comes to, he waits for the blackness to dissipate. It doesn't. It lessens slightly, but a black haze overtakes his every thought.
Vaguely, he hears a strange mix of sounds. Metal scraping on metal, surgical tools clicking against each other, the sound of fluid dripping.
Tsunemori, he thinks he says. She cannot hear him. No one can hear him. He is not speaking at all.
If I sit up, surely they will bring her to me. They will understand.
As he moves, a familiar pain stabs through his left side. A voice, nothing like the one he wishes to hear, tells him firmly to lay still before addressing a nurse for a sedative. Ginoza recognizes the voice. His mechanical arm technician? From the other side he hears the MWPSB lead surgeon talking rapidly.
"Ginoza-san, if you can hear me, I need you to lay as still as possible. I'm sure it hurts. Your arm has been damaged again. Please, we're just trying to help."
But why does it hurt? Why does my arm hurt? It can't feel anything.
Outside the operating room, Tsunemori paces back and forth. Shion sits on the couch, pleading with her to sit down, to relax. After all, there's nothing she can do now.
"You expect me to just sit here and wait for them to bring me the bad news?"
Shion casts her glance down to the floor.
Tsunemori takes a deep breath. She hadn't meant to lash out like that.
"I'm sorry, Shion-san. I don't mean to take my frustration out on you."
Shion looks up at her and tries unsuccessfully to smile. "Well, we're all worried. Normally it's Ginoza-kun who does all the worrying, but without him here to take it on, it's only natural that we're all falling to pieces."
"If only I had made it in time..."
"Akane-chan, there's no use blaming yourself. He's an enforcer. He performed his duty. It's just too bad they criminals were armed. We have no idea where they acquired the firearms. The dynamite probably came from a demolition site, but that's all we can say for sure."
A nurse comes out from the operating room, and Tsunemori jumps to get to her.
"How is he?"
"They're still operating. There's no way to say right now. I'm sorry I can't give you any more information. If you'll excuse me, I need to get something for Ginoza-san," she hurries down the hallway.
As she watches the nurse walk away, Tsunemori seems to finally crack. She slowly sinks to her knees. She does not shake, she does not cry, but she sits on the cold floor, hopeless, resigned.
"Akane-chan? If you're going to sit, you should at least get out of the hallway," Shion says this as gently as she can.
"Shion-san," Tsunemori's voice is barely louder than a whisper.
"What is it?"
"I can't lose Ginoza-san, too."
Shion gets up from the couch and walks over to Akane. She crouches on the floor in front of her and puts her hand gently on the inspector's head. She succeeds in smiling this time.
"Ginoza-kun has really toughened up in the last few years, and even before that he was pretty sturdy. I can't say for sure, but my gut tells me he's going to get through it. Come," she grabs Tsunemori's hands and pulls her to standing roughly. She leads her to the couch. "Sit here. I'm going to get you some coffee. And maybe some chocolate," Shion winks, her eyes full of concern but her demeanor light as ever.
Reluctantly, Tsunemori obliges and sits. She puts her hands over her eyes and breathes deeply.
"That's better, Akane-chan. I'll be right back."
Shion's heels click down the hallway, and tears fill Tsunemori's eyes. She knows Shion is right. Ginoza was the strongest enforcer they'd had since Kougami left, and she might be stronger than he is now. She wonders why he hadn't gotten away from the dynamite. He must have had time. She would ask him, if he made it through the surgery.
No, when he makes it through the surgery, she forces the thought through her head. Not if.
The clinking of tools and the scraping of metal have both stopped. Ginoza hears now only the hum of machines, a beeping which must correspond to his heartbeat.
He still has a heartbeat.
He will hear Tsunemori's voice again.
Slowly, the events start coming back to him. A difficult case, a promising lead, criminals caught in the act, firearms, and then - panic seizes his heart as he remembers - dynamite.
They threw a stick of dynamite at him. He would have had time to get away, but the sizzling of the fuse brought a wave of nausea over him as his father's dying words echoed in his head.
He remembers flying through the air, falling to the ground, Tsunemori screaming his name as she arrived. She should have gone after them. She should have left him. But she didn't. He had never heard her voice so desperate, so hurt. How could he bring this on her? He wasn't Kougami. He didn't make mistakes that hurt her.
But this time he did.
His heart thumps loudly in his chest, and the pain on his left side has yet to abate. Still, his thoughts, painful as they are, have become clearer. The haze lessens. He uses every ounce of strength he can find in himself and opens his eyes.
Sure enough, his arm technician stands over him next to the surgeon. The technician is the first to notice Ginoza's open eyes.
"Ginoza-san? Can you hear me?"
With another enormous effort, Ginoza inclines his head slightly. The technician smiles.
"That's good. I won't ask you any more questions. You must be exhausted." Ginoza does not nod this time, but he doesn't close his eyes either.
"What happened?"
"Your team encountered some criminals in an abolition block, so you didn't have any support from the drones. Your dominators, of course, were still functional, but the criminals were armed with both firearms and dynamite."
The machine monitoring his heartbeat begins to beep more quickly.
"Ginoza-san, I can stop there if you want."
Ginoza forces words out of his mouth. His throat is dry, his tongue feels heavy.
"No, please, I'm alright. What happened next?" The words are quiet and cracked, but comprehensible.
"Inspector Tsunemori informed us that you split up to search for them as they fled, and you encountered them by yourself. You used your dominator on one of them, but obviously you couldn't handle all four at once. One of the criminals shot you with a gun, another threw a stick of dynamite at you."
Ginoza remembers this part. He feels sick.
The surgeon takes over the explanation.
"The bullet hit your abdomen and the dynamite exploded before you could avoid it. It took off your mechanical arm and reopened the old wound, but in a way, you were lucky. If it had taken off your organic arm you would have bled out, but Inspector Tsunemori got to you quickly enough to seal off the seam where your shoulder meets the mechanism."
"How did I get out of the abolition block?"
The technician smiles again and answers.
"Believe it or not, that tough little inspector carried you most of the way out herself. Enforcer Sugo found her as she was almost through to the paddy wagon and carried you the rest of the way."
"Where is," speaking is taking so much effort and hurts so much. "Inspector Tsunemori?"
"Ah," the surgeon says. "She hasn't moved from the room outside since you went into surgery. It's not even a proper waiting room. Analyst Karanomori has been in and out checking up on her. You were in surgery for about five hours."
"Inspector Tsunemori?"
The nurse from before calls Akane's name. She looks up from her coffee cup, heart racing. Shion, still sitting by her side, holds onto her hand tightly.
Akane doesn't know what she expects from the nurse's face, but her chest expands with relief at the sight of a huge smile on the nurse's lips.
"Enforcer Ginoza is awake. It will be a few weeks before the damage to his arm is repaired, but the bullet caused minimal damage and after some therapy he will eventually be able to have a new mechanical arm attached."
Shion barely manages to grab the mug from Akane's hand before she jumps up, tears spilling from her eyes as she takes the nurse's hands and thanks her over and over.
"There's no need to thank me, Tsunemori-san. Although it might be appropriate to thank the surgeon and arm technician."
"Of course, of course!" Akane's words spill out faster than her tears. "Can I see him?"
The nurse nods. "Be careful. He's drugged up pretty well, but both his stomach and his shoulder are going to be very sensitive. We are also hoping to move him to recovery, so perhaps you can accompany him."
Akane looks back at Shion, who gives her an encouraging nod. Akane grins, tears still streaming down both cheeks, and rushes into the operating room.
Ginoza is sitting up, feeling incredibly off-balance because of his missing arm. The door opens and he can't suppress the joy in his heart when he sees his inspector rush through the doorway.
"Ginoza-san, Ginoza, Ginoza," she sprints to his side and grabs the hand he has left in both of hers. She is not very gentle, but Ginoza's heart swells at her enthusiasm.
"Tsunemori," he says quietly. "I'm okay."
She looks him in the eye, and he feels a pang of regret at the sight of her red eyes and her tear-stained face.
"Please don't cry, inspector," he says softly.
Her tears flow even faster, but though her eyes are red, they are full of relief, and she smiles beautifully. She is his sunshine, even through the biggest of storms.
"You gave me such a scare, Ginoza-san."
He lowers his eyes from hers.
"I'm sorry. I didn't fulfill my duty. It's my fault. They had dynamite and it reminded me of..." he can't say it. "Well, it reminded me of the day Kougami got away." It is easier to focus on Kougami when he speaks of that day, rather than Makishima or his dad. "I let my feelings get in the way."
He hears Tsunemori sigh deeply.
"Ginoza-san, look at me," she says, but he can't bring himself to. "Ginoza, please?"
When he still doesn't respond, her voice grows firm.
"Enforcer Ginoza."
"Okay, okay," he looks up sheepishly. "You have to go all the way to our positions? That's a little harsh." He gives her a small smile.
"Only when you won't listen to me," she squeezes his hand tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay. It isn't your fault. We should have been more prepared."
"At any rate," Ginoza doesn't want to listen to her way of excusing his mistakes. "I'm even more useless like this. They said it's going to be at least three weeks before they can even attach a new arm, let alone be out in the field with you. You don't need a useless enforcer kicking around the tower, doing nothing."
Tsunemori lets go of his hand and puts her hands on her hips. She half-smiles crookedly.
"Stop insulting my enforcer," she says with a wink.
He sighs, hoping to appear nonchalant, and tries to keep his heart from speeding up. The way she used the word 'my' in that sentence got to him. It wasn't the first time she said something like that. Something to indicate that he is hers, and no one else's.
"Stop saying foolish things," he retorts.
She laughs and pokes his nose. "It's not foolish, silly, it's true. You're my enforcer, and I won't stand for anyone insulting my enforcer. Even you."
He rolls his eyes, but can't keep a blush from tinging his cheeks. She continues to smile at him, and he fidgets under her gaze.
She is the next to speak. "Where's your surgeon and the technician? I need to thank them."
"They were just doing their job, Tsunemori."
"Well it was a job that mattered very much to me, and they clearly it well."
As if on cue, the surgeon walks into the room, holding a tablet.
"Inspector Tsunemori," he greets her. "Your enforcer here was quite fortunate," Ginoza winces at how even the surgeon refers to him as belonging to Tsunemori. As much as he likes it, it is embarrassing.
The surgeon hands her the tablet, and she looks over the medical report. After scrolling through it, he prompts her to sign it. She signs at the bottom and hands it back to the surgeon.
"Surprisingly, there's going to be no long-term damage, other than him needing a new arm."
"The bureau will obviously take care of the expenses for that, so make sure it's the most optimal one."
"Of course," he nods. "Only the best for the CID."
"The nurse said something about moving him to recovery?"
"Ah yes, that's right. Let me go get you a wheelchair, and you can take him down there yourself."
Tsunemori extends her hand to shake the surgeon's. "I'm indebted to you, doctor. Thank you for all your work."
"Not at all. Just doing my job," he moves to address Ginoza. "You're a tough man, Ginoza-san. Try not to come back to see me anymore, okay?"
Ginoza smiles. "No problem. I'll do my best to stay away from you."
The surgeon calls a nurse, who brings in a chair.
"Do you need some help getting him down from the table?"
But Tsunemori has already wrapped Ginoza's regular arm around her shoulders.
"No, thank you. I can handle it."
As the nurse leaves, Ginoza tries to struggle against her, but the pain in his stomach is too acute for him to fight her.
"Tsunemori, you should let someone else -"
"That's just about enough of your complaining," she cuts him off. "Besides, didn't they tell you I carried you most of the way out of the abolition block? I can handle a little bit more exercise. You aren't that heavy," she winks at him again.
"You're as ridiculous as ever, it seems," he says in resignation. He can't really complain. His arm around her shoulder brings their cheeks close together, close enough that he's sure she can feel the blush radiating from his cheeks. He fights to cool them down. It doesn't work.
But what does it really matter? She probably knows all about it anyway.
Once she sets him in the wheelchair, he expects her to stand back up straight and move behind him. She startles him by moving in front of him and sticking her face right up by his. Her eyes are hard, but shining.
"Ginoza Nobuchika."
He swallows nervously. "Yes?"
"Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again. That's an order."
With that, she moves her face the inch closer that it needs for their lips to meet, and Ginoza leans into her kiss before he can stop to think about it.
When they pull apart, he says, "I wouldn't dream of it, inspector."
She brushes his lips with hers softly once more, then straightens up and moves to the back of his wheelchair. She pushes him forward, and they head down the hallway toward recovery. Shion, who waited outside the operating room, catches up to them.
"You know, Akane-chan, you should really pick a room without windows for that kind of thing." She pokes Tsunemori in the side, who squeals with embarrassment.
Ginoza, who can only imagine the look on her face, laughs as loud as his pained body will let him.
"How improper, inspector," he says playfully.
A distinct pout makes its way into her voice.
"That's enough out of you, enforcer."
Shion's trilling laughter echoes down the hallway, and the ominous feeling of fear and uncertainty fades away from their thoughts. Fleetingly, they allow themselves a moment of hope and lightheartedness.