As snow flurried peacefully down over the white canvas of the mountainscape, an icy breeze tossing it this way and that, it came to settle lightly over the half-buried grey fleece jacket that stood out starkly against the pristine surroundings.
Kougami's bare fingertips twitched, digging into the snowy earth a little. Then, all at once, he came to with a violent jerk, wrenching himself upwards and coughing up a mouthful of the stuff before his hand flew to his head with a sharp groan. His vision doubled, then tripled for a moment before going back to normal, and he stayed on all fours for a few moments as he tried to get a hold of himself.
Damn...feels like I was hit by a train...
A sudden realization struck him then, not unlike a train, and he straightened up onto his knees, still gripping his forehead as wild blue eyes roamed the landscape.
"Inspector!" he called roughly, groaning as he slowly began to stagger the rest of the way to his feet.
The snowfall was beginning to pick up...Kougami couldn't see the wreckage of the car anywhere, either. Most likely it had been caught up in the thick trees partway down the mountain, torn to shreds much like the two of them would have been if they hadn't gotten out in time. But if that was the case...
"Inspector!" Kougami called again, the growing urgency in his tone breaking through the underlying hoarseness gripping his throat. "Inspector Tsunemori! ...Akane!"
Not much time must have passed, he realized, partially due to the fact that he hadn't woken up buried in snow, partially due to the extra weight he could feel around his middle...impatiently, he zipped up his jacket both to stave off the cold and hide the results of Makishima's antics, folding his arms across his chest as the chilly wind picked up around him and trudging through the deep mounds of snow surrounding him.
Shit! Where'd she go?
"Mnh..."
Kougami's eyes flashed, and his gaze darted over the landscape again, his pace quickening in the direction of the faint sound, barely certain he'd heard it over the sound of the wind.
"Akane!" he bellowed tersely again, looking back and forth and folding his arms more tightly across his chest as he dragged his legs through the high-piled snow; it was too cold, and the spiraling snowflakes and howling wind indicated more bad weather was on the way soon. "Akane! Hey!"
He did a double-take as he trudged by a large mound of snow, catching sight of Akane's crumpled form behind it...he uncrossed his arms and dropped to his knees next to her, gripping her shoulder firmly as he gave her a rough shake.
"Inspector," he growled. "Hey – Tsunemori – wake up..."
She jostled under his hand but did not stir...Kougami's expression twisted in discontent, and he moved his hand swiftly up from her shoulder to the side of her neck to check her pulse; slow from the cold, but still strong.
"Akane!"
Akane expelled a faint breath that clouded in front of her as she moved her head a little, her eyelids fluttering but staying closed...Kougami cursed under his breath and looked around them again as he balanced next to her on one knee. They had fallen down quite far, though it seemed the copious amounts of snow had broken the worst of it even if they'd likely skidded a long ways after that. He couldn't even see where the road high on the mountain was anymore through the trees that amassed toward the higher regions...down in the valley of the sprawling mountain range, where they were, a smattering of rocks and evergreens were the only other thing that dotted the otherwise bleak white landscape for as far as he could make out.
"Headquarters. This is Hound One." Kougami spoke instead into his wrist terminal. "Need a coordinate check on current position – hm?"
The terminal flickered, the display hazy with static as it tried to establish a connection, but the wind picked up again and the weak signal died as quickly as it had stuttered to life.
"Tch..."
An endless expanse of white in all directions...Kougami's breath expelled in a sharp cloud around him as he dropped his wrist again in exasperation; he couldn't get any kind of bearing on where they were. No tracking, no comms, no Dominators. No use going back up the mountain, the road was kilometers above them on a steep cliff face that he could barely see through the flurry of snow, barred by thick trees and unforgiving rock faces...and possibly enemies.
What happened?
Grimly, Kougami turned his attention back to Akane, leaning over her as he made short work of checking her head to toe for injuries, calling her name again as he did so.
No blunt trauma...cranial and spinal integrity in tact...no visible lacerations. Superficial lesions...must've been when we crashed through the trees...
Letting out a quiet breath in relief, Kougami glanced over into Akane's scuffed face again, but she didn't move...out cold, but she otherwise looked to be in passing condition.
The wind picked up again, howling around them and stirring up the snowflakes still falling fast onto the bright white tundra...Kougami scratched the back of his head.
"Well, Inspector," he said to Akane. "If you ask me, there's nothing left but dumb luck on our side right now, so we might as well use it. No use staying here and freezing to death in a blizzard...they'll never find us in time with the comm systems out."
He leaned over her again, sliding his arms under her back and legs and lifting her up out of the snow. She was still only wearing her pressed black work suit and pencil skirt, and Kougami didn't like her odds out in the midst of winter where they were...there were enough landmarks that he trusted himself to pick a direction and stick to it without getting turned around, and the quicker they found a way off the mountain, the better.
"Besides," he continued dryly, rising slowly to his feet with Akane in tow. "Can't have Gino and the others bailing me out twice, right? Just gotta...n...nghh..."
Heavily, Kougami sank back onto his knees in the snow as quickly as he'd stood, slumping forward and closing his eyes.
"Tch..." It was a moment before he moved again, but then he lifted his head a little to smile ruefully down at Akane, though she didn't so much as stir. "Nh...sorry. It's been a really...long week..."
His tone grew strained for a moment as he pushed up onto his feet again, trying to see through the growing snow flurries began to obscure their surroundings more and more...the cold was already seeping through his fleece-lined jacket, and Akane shivered slightly in his arms. Resolutely, Kougami expelled a harsh breath and slowly began to trudge through the snowy landscape once again, leaving footprints knee-high in his wake as he and Akane were swallowed up in white.
"Any updates?"
Ginoza folded his arms tersely as he stood behind Shion, glancing at the cigarette smoke drifting up from her silhouette in slight disapproval as she typed furiously into her console.
"If I had any, I'd tell you," Shion responded, without taking her eyes off the massive network of screens in front of her. "No hits for Kougami, and Akane's terminal is completely offline."
Ginoza glanced down sharply as his own terminal flickered to life, bringing his wrist up to answer the call.
"Division Two," came the crackling voice on the other end of the line. "We had to postpone the – crrk – investigation of the accident site."
"What?!" Ginoza's eyes flashed. "Why?!"
" – crrk – have to evacuate – crrk – if we don't – crrk – caught in the blizzard."
"And you've not found either of them?!"
" – crrk – have to pick this back up when the storm passes – crrk – rescue squad is still searching, but – crrk – nothing so far..."
Ginoza slammed the side of his fist into the side of the cool steel wall next to Shion's terminal, and her monitors flickered just slightly.
"Damn it!" He closed the connection to his terminal and took his glasses off briefly to press his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose.
"Easy there, Inspector." Masaoka spoke up from the far corner of Shion's office, his arms folded grimly over his chest. "Ko was in rough shape when we got him outta Makishima's hideout, but he's dealt with worse shit. Nothin' we can do right now but wait for the rescue team to turn something up. Besides – if anyone's got a chance, it's those two. 'Specially if they're together."
Shion took another drag of her cigarette and moved her hands back to her console.
"I'll keep trying to get a lock on Kougami's terminal," she said over her shoulder. "If Akane's comes back online any time soon, you'll be the first to know."
Barely visible through the tumultuous sleet and snow, the outline of a small, rectangular structure became an abandoned shelter as Kougami's heavy footsteps slogged gradually toward it...likely once a stopgap for roaming park rangers and other environmental authorities traversing the vast mountainside, it looked to have fallen out of use for some time in the wilderness; the concrete exterior was marred and cracked, the cheap steel door shut tight by a cheap padlock and the four-square windows fogged.
Kougami didn't think twice before breaking in as easily as though the facility had been open to them in the first place, a flurry of snowflakes following them inside the dark room as he staggered over the threshold.
"Shit..."
Expelling a heavy breath, he kicked the door shut again behind him and then leaned against it, letting his head drop back against the metal for a moment as his stomach let out a deep groan.
"Nh..." Akane shuddered slightly against him, and Kougami cracked his eyes open again to look down at her...her skin was near-translucent by now, and both of them had a blue tinge to their lips; Kougami pushed away from the door.
"Guess it's better than nothing," he said to her, though currently the tiny interior was not much warmer than the outdoors.
An old, dusty wooden desk sat in a corner, an empty steel storage cabinet facing it; alongside it, a barren fireplace and against the far wall, a single cot with a stripped mattress left atop it, which Kougami carefully set Akane down on top of before straightening up and crossing to the switchbox next to the door.
"Down for the count, huh?" he said to her.
Checking on her one last time, he straightened again and shouldered open the door again.
Around the back of the shelter he found an old rain barrel and some slats for storing firewood; a few old logs were still propped there, though most were too old or too wet from the snow to be of any use.
Even so, between the stored logs and the smaller branches of sparse evergreens protected by their surrounding foliage, it wasn't too long before Kougami had dumped an armful of it into the deadened fireplace within the shelter, pulling his lighter out of his back pocket to light both the sparse kindling and a cigarette, which he took a long drag from as he straightened up, weak flames beginning to flicker and grow in the hearth as he did so.
"Inspector. Wake up."
He stood over the mattress he had deposited Akane on, taking another drag of his cigarette as he leaned down to shake her shoulder lightly again.
"Nh..."
Tch...she's really cold. Kougami's fingertips grazed her icy cheek for a moment, and he glanced over his shoulder in exasperation at the small fire in the hearth, the meager flames struggling to warm the barren room...then faltered a little as his stomach gurgled again, scowling as he expelled a breath full of smoke.
I feel like shit...
They would have to stay until the blizzard passed them by, unless their terminals came back online, neither of which looked to be happening any time soon. Glancing out the frosted window again, Kougami sighed, taking a last drag of his cigarette as he moved onto the old mattress next to Akane, reaching over the top of her to put it out against the glass pane.
"...Kougami..."
Kougami started a little, glancing down as he felt a light, frigid touch graze his bare stomach, realizing with embarrassment that his shirt had slid up a little when he had moved to discard his cigarette. Akane stirred a little underneath him, but although her eyes were cracked open, they were glazed over.
"Inspector," Kougami greeted, relieved to find that she was all right.
Akane didn't respond, however, her half-lidded eyes beginning to drift shut again.
"You okay?" Kougami prompted.
"Nh..."
Kougami waited patiently, though holding himself up on all fours the way he was didn't feel good in his current state...Akane shifted a little beneath him, a vague smile passing over her features.
"Mnh...heavy..." she slurred in a whisper as her fingertips trailed with the faintest touch in circles over the sides of his sick belly, her eyes barely open.
Kougami sighed.
"Yeah. I'm stuffed tight." He looked over her for a moment, relenting to let her fingertips move absently up the sides of his stomach as he realized she was seeking the warmth radiating from him. "Nh...come on, you need rest and warm up. You got knocked around a little too hard."
Shifting his weight, Kougami moved to lie down on his side next to Akane, pulling the front of his fleece-lined coat over the top of her and drawing her closer to him to try and get her to stop shivering. He eased his heavily-burdened stomach slowly into the space between them, and Akane curled around him for warmth, rubbing her palm in slow circles over his gurgling, aching flank as she did so. Kougami groaned despite himself as her lips inadvertently grazed the top of his solid gut, her small hands roaming over it as she pressed herself against him, and another sleepy smile played across her face at the noise that escaped him.
"Don't worry," she murmured vaguely against his skin. "I'll take care of your tight tummy..."
She sank into Kougami beneath his jacket, her hands finding their way under his fitted black shirt...Kougami grunted softly again as light fingertips explored his rock-hard belly, feeling an electric shiver race through him, but settled down to hold her closer nonetheless so she could start warming up, exhaustion slowly creeping into him now that he was lying down.
Grrrgrgrwwwghhhh.
"Ouh..." Kougami clenched his jaw for a moment, inadvertently curling over Akane a little as she huddled against his chest.
My stomach...
He expelled an impatient breath of discomfort, rubbing Akane's back a little over the top of his coat as he felt her shudder again from the cold and settling in to endure the long and painful process of trying to digest everything he'd been forced to eat. Gradually, Akane's hand began to slow against his stomach as the warmth surrounding her coaxed her back from the verge of consciousness, and Kougami relented to close his eyes as well, suffering in silence with his arm draped limply over the young inspector huddled beneath the coat he was wearing while her finger hooked lightly into his throbbing bellybutton as she slept.
Akane's eyebrows knitted together in a frown, and she shifted a little, cocooning herself further into the surrounding warmth she found herself enveloped in. She didn't understand why Kougami always kept his room so cold; the PSB was sterile and unwelcoming enough as it was, and even though he wasn't given much of a choice on where he stayed, he usually seemed actively opposed to doing anything that would make it more comfortable.
She recognized a familiar gurgling sound nearby, the noise rousing her a little more from her sleep, and she stirred again.
"Nh...Kougami?"
Akane cracked her eyes open slowly, stretching a little, and sure enough, Kougami's face swam into focus next to her, one arm folded under his arm as a pillow as he slept on his side. Akane smiled, a little embarrassed to find herself cocooned in his coat with him, his other arm still draped limply across her...the coat smelled like him, and she moved her hand over underneath it to rub his firm belly a little as small growls and groans continued to roll around in it. He looked tired, and she was reluctant to wake him when he very much needed some extra rest.
And so, very carefully, she began to sit up, lifting his arm off her and sliding out from underneath as she looked around.
Where are we?
Shivering a little as she swung her legs over the side of the empty mattress, Akane glanced briefly at the small fire going in the hearth – Kougami must have started it when they arrived – and then crossing over to one of the frosted windows. She couldn't make out much outside...did that mean they were still on the mountain? The car was nowhere in sight...she had lost control of it after they had been hit, and then...
An assassination attempt? Someone with a grudge against the MWPSB, maybe?
Akane sighed, walking back over to the meager cot in the corner of the room and sitting on the edge of it, her hip flush against Kougami's back as he slept. After a moment, she glanced down at him fondly...he looked a little more approachable when his expression was neutral like that, though it had been a long time since Akane had considered him intimidating either way. She supposed he must have somehow gotten them both to this shelter after the car flipped, wherever they were now...would she have simply died in the snow if he hadn't been there?
Grr. Grllp. Grrgh.
Akane suppressed a soft chuckle, reaching around Kougami's waist from behind.
"Why is your tummy so grumbly?" she mused, though not loudly enough to try and wake him.
She found his stomach and began to rub it gently, glad that he seemed to have slept off the majority of the food he'd been made to eat, even if he still had a little bit of a belly...he could deny it all he wanted, but he had definitely put on some weight around his middle, Akane realized as she ran her hand over it.
Grlrlrlrlp.
"Nh..."
Expression creasing slightly in discontent, Kougami rolled onto his back, his fitted black shirt riding up just a little over his belly chub.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Akane asked, her hand still rested against his stomach as she smiled down at him.
"...Nhh..." Kougami rested the back of his hand over his forehead, cracking open his eyes to look at her. "No."
"That's good."
Kougami propped his hand behind his head, surveying her tiredly.
"You okay?" he grunted, and Akane nodded reassuringly.
"I seem to be fine," she offered. "Though I've got a feeling that you might have something to do with that."
Kougami closed his eyes again, groaning slightly. "Comms are down. Gonna have to wait it out 'til this storm passes."
"Yeah." Akane nodded, then moved her hand in a small circle over his belly in indication. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm...fine." Reluctantly, Kougami began to sit up, resting his elbow on his knee for a moment and sighing as he raked his hand roughly through his hair, inadvertently making it stick up even more wildly in all directions. "Tch...sorry. I guess this is all my fault, huh?"
Akane looked at him in surprise. "What, us being here? How so?"
"I let myself get captured, didn't I?" Kougami rolled his neck and then swung his legs over the side of the bed to sit next to her, bracing his hands on either side of him. "If I'd held up better, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Akane shot him a reproachful glance, then followed his gaze down to the floor, intertwining her fingers in her lap.
"I don't think that's true," she countered. "You were really sick, after all. Besides...the only reason you were out on the field in such a condition was because we fell into Makishima's trap."
Kougami scoffed, mildly exasperated as he closed his eyes. "I told Gino not to follow that lead..."
Akane giggled slightly. "Maybe he'll listen to you next time."
"Yeah, right."
He reached into his pocket for another cigarette, and Akane sighed, pushing herself up and wandering back over to the window to peer out of it.
"It's pretty bad out there," she observed. "Could be days before this lets up."
Kougami took a long drag and then expelled it, following after her...Akane flushed slightly as he rested his elbow against the glass above her head, his front pressing into her back as he leaned down to see what she was looking at.
"There's a rain catcher out back," he murmured. "Not much we can do about food, though. Guess we'll just have to hope that they – ouhh..."
Akane glanced over her shoulder as his weight increased against her, then twisted around between the window ledge and his body to face him, moving her hands hastily to the sides of his waist to support him.
"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked as she felt a deep groan from inside his stomach, the area quaking against her and causing the color on her cheeks to darken slightly.
"Nh...yeah, it's nothing. I'm fine."
Akane's hands lingered on his sides for a moment, and Kougami looked down at her silently...but she dropped her arms after a pause, nodding a little.
"All right."
Kougami straightened up and took another drag of his cigarette, sauntering over to stoke the small fire and throw a couple more logs on it.
"There's a map in here," Akane noted as she pulled open the dusty wooden drawer of the small desk by the window. "It's not as though it's going to tell us where we are, but it might help us get our bearings, or at least plot a rough course for getting out of here if the snow stops."
She glanced over at Kougami, catching his arm wrapped around his stomach as he crouched in front of the hearth and frowning at him a little.
"Nice going," Kougami acknowledged, grunting a little as he dusted off his hands on his pants and pushed himself to his feet again. "Nh...let's take a look."
Akane folded the old, worn paper map out across the desk surface, and Kougami came up alongside her, eyes scanning over the print.
"Been a long time since I've seen one of these," he mused. "Everything's GPS these days..."
"Well, GPS is more convenient, and faster," Akane said as he trailed his finger across the page to follow the indicator for a river running through the mountain range. "Wouldn't old maps like this get outdated really quickly...?"
Kougami chuckled slightly.
"Better to have an outdated map than a malfunctioning GPS," he said through his cigarette, lifting his arm and tapping the handcuff-like terminal on his arm.
"I guess you're right..."
Akane's eyes slid over sideways away from the map as she heard Kougami's stomach again, but didn't say anything.
"Once it dies down I'll do a loop and see if I can catch wind of where this river is," Kougami said, finishing off his cigarette and tapping the map again. "Should be able to follow it back if we don't get caught up in an avalanche or something."
"An...an avalanche?"
Kougami smiled and turned away, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"I'm joking. Besides, if we're lucky they'll actually find us before we have to worry about going anywhere."
"That'd be nice..."
Akane sighed and crossed the room to sit down by the fire, drawing her knees up and gazing into it in contemplation. Kougami leaned against the wall beside her and started on another cigarette, and they lapsed into silence for a while, resigning themselves to the limited activities of the small cabin while the blizzard raged on outside. After a while, he took to pacing, eventually ducking outside to fetch more wood and then asking for Akane's terminal so he could busy himself with trying to fix it with the screwdriver and small pair of pliers he found inside the same drawer as the map.
Akane left him to it without protest, listening to his stomach gurgling and groaning in the silence of the room as he did so. She could tell as the hours whittled away that he was trying very hard to hide the fact that he had a stomach ache, but she held her tongue, staying by the fire to salvage what warmth she could from it.
She looked up briefly as Kougami passed her by and dropped his coat over her shoulders, on his fourth or fifth cigarette by now as he crossed over to sit at the desk and look over the map again, giving his back to her.
Gwwoooorghhhh.
"Mm..."
She heard him grunt quietly, his arm moving up in front of him, she assumed to rub his stomach while he marked potential landmarks they could look for on the page. Akane looked back at the fire, drawing his coat more securely around her (though it smelled more like smoke than his own scent by now).
GWOORGH.
"Unh!"
Akane heard a thump as Kougami banged his arm on the underside of the table from clamping it suddenly it around his stomach again and frowned at his back, unfurling herself and crossing over to stand at the desk beside him.
"Think we're somewhere around here," Kougami grunted, tapping the upper left corner of the map where he had circled an area. "Road's here, and I didn't see any trace of rivers on the way over here, so this area's more likely where we ended up..."
"Good to know. That'll make it easier," Akane acknowledged, then looked over him. "Kougami, are you still sick? Your, um...your stomach is making those kinds of noises again."
Kougami raked a hand through his hair, tracing the flow of the road on the map with one finger.
"It's not like that," he dismissed. "Just ate some bad Hyperoats, that's all."
"Huh?" Akane watched his profile for a moment, confused.
"It's nothin'."
Akane frowned at him. "You ate Hyperoats that were past their expiration?"
"Nh..." Kougami reached into his back pocket for another cigarette, but to his dismay, the back was empty...he sighed and tossed it aside.
"Kougami..." Akane's expression grew strained, though her face was lined more with anxiety than annoyance. "That's not...why didn't you say something?"
"It's no big deal." Kougami sat back in the wooden chair and closed his eyes.
Akane looked at him incredulously.
"It is a big deal...that's the one major flaw of the genotype modification," she protested. "It's really not safe to eat those unless they're fresh. My friend Yuki ate a donut made from Hyperoats once that had been sitting out for too long...she couldn't move for days, Kaori and I had to stay at her apartment and rub her belly the whole time just to get her through it..."
"Well, I'm fine."
Akane fixed him with an exasperated look, and he cracked one eye open to look at her.
"...Are you pouting?"
"Wh – n-no!" she said hastily, turning away and folding her arms. "At least try to get some more rest if you're not feeling well."
Kougami groaned as his stomach let out another gurgle, then sighed and set his hands on his knees to push himself to his feet. "...Fine."
Akane watching him saunter over to the cot, concerned.
"Do you want your coat back?"
"Nah, you keep it." Kougami dropped onto his back on the mattress and slung an arm over his eyes, running his hand up and down the length of his stomach.
Akane colored a little, watching him for a few moments before she went to settle back down in front of the fire, relieved at least that he had agreed to lie down. She pulled his coat more securely around her and gazed into the flames, mulling over their situation. Gino would want a full report as to what had happened, after all, and her time was better spent putting that together in her head than listening to the surprisingly distracting sound of Kougami's hand running over his stomach to the side of her, or contemplating whether the heat on her cheeks was from the fire or not.
The crackling and spitting of the flames gradually began to die down as time passed...Akane prodded at the smoldering logs every so often, lost in her thoughts as the silence settled around the tiny room. Every so often, she heard a low, strained groan or grunt from the direction of the cot as Kougami struggled with his stomach ache, but it wasn't until some time later, when a particularly loud, sharp noise forced its way through his clenched teeth, that she finally looked over.
"Kougami?"
She stoked the fire one last time and then got to her feet, venturing over to sit on the side of the cot next to him. He was curled on his side toward her, his knees drawn up a little and his face pale...she could see beads of sweat clinging to his skin whenever his features caught the light, his breathing slightly labored as he regarded her.
"Can't sleep, huh?" Akane said softly.
Kougami folded his arms across his chest where he lay, lips curling back a little as his stomach let out a sick-sounding noise.
"...Not so much – nhhh!"
Akane looked over at him again worriedly...he folded one arm under his head, his eyes closing for a moment as he expelled a sharp sigh. She shook her head.
"You sound like you're getting worse," she observed, surveying him with concern and folding her hand over the top of his larger one absently. "You don't have to be so stubborn about it, you know. If you would just admit that your belly hurts –,"
"...Nhhgh..."
Akane's brow knitted, gaze sweeping over his crumpled form as she heard him groan again. After a few moments, Kougami's eyes cracked open, sliding over tiredly to look up at her as he lay curled limply on one side.
"Inspector..." he murmured. "My belly hurts."
Akane faltered a little in surprise, then expelled a small breath, her fingers curling a little more tightly around his own.
He must be pretty bad off if he's actually admitting to it...
She shook her head.
"You don't say. Come on...show me where," she prompted softly, and then reddened slightly as Kougami began to shift laboriously onto his back and took her hand.
His belly was warm and soft through the thin material of his fitted black shirt as he pushed it up into her palm, the pressure forcing another gurgle out of him that Akane felt against her fingertips as he indicated the wide area across his gut in which the worst of the pain had set in. He was so bloated and sore, she realized, even compared to how he had been a couple of mere hours ago, his belly distended and swollen from the gastric upset caused by the bad oats.
"Kougami..." Akane murmured slowly, sliding a hand all the way across the taut underside of his gut and back again. "What have you done to yourself...?"
Kougami closed one eye as his stomach groaned again, gazing up at her weakly. "Hey, it's not like I had much choice...you saw my gut before, right?"
"But..." Akane trailed off for a moment, then drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening abruptly as realization dawned on her. "You mean before...when I found you...are you saying that all that food was...?"
Kougami's stomach answered her question before he could, and Kougami groaned as it erupted beneath Akane's worried touch, growling and gurgling so loudly that the sound filled the entire cabin.
"Ouhhhh..."
Akane felt the heat rising inexplicably in her face again as Kougami's body twisted beneath her hand, his tight shirt riding up a little ways over his strong torso and thick belly, long legs spreadeagled across the mattress as he tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable...only Kougami could manage to make something like a stomach ache look sexy, Akane thought in exasperation, though she only reddened further as she caught the thought passing unchecked through her head. Objectively, of course, she had always been able to see that a lot of people would probably find Kougami attractive, with his sharp jaw, wild eyes, and broad shoulders, and the way he smelled when she was close to him, or how his voice sounded when he murmured quietly to her to wake up when she accidentally fell asleep in his quarters, not to mention how brilliant he was with solving cases and catching criminals, but...she reminded herself that such things were hardly relevant at the moment – or ever – and there were far more pressing things to worry about.
She reached her hand soothingly back and forth over Kougami's broad torso as she rubbed his belly, though she was too embarrassed to reach for his soft, bare underside pushing out from the bottom of his shirt despite how distended his lower belly looked.
"Ohh...my gut..." Kougami arched his back again in discomfort, inadvertently forcing his shirt to slide up all the way to his bellybutton, then slumped back down as another heavy groan tore through his insides. "Ohhhh..."
"You're so bloated..." Akane murmured worriedly, running her hand in a circle over his stomach. "Your belly's gotten really swollen, Kougami..."
Kougami expelled a sharp breath through his clenched teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as he clutched the sides of his stomach with both hands. "Nrgh...I'll be fine. Just gotta...shake it off...in a...ouhhh..."
Akane rubbed his gut a little harder, twisting around and drawing her knees up onto the mattress so she could fold them underneath her as she faced Kougami more fully, reaching up to brush his sweaty bangs out of his face.
"D-damn...ngh...uhh...my belly..." Kougami's fingers dug hard into his thick gut, straining. "Ohhhhh..."
"Kougami..."
"Nh, shit..." He rolled onto his side again toward Akane, curling up as he wrapped his arms around his middle. "Ouh...what the hell is...unh –!"
"Easy..." Akane rested her hand against his flank as his stomach began to worsen, listening to the aftermath of the Hyperoats starting to tear through his guts with renewed vigor...she remembered how bad it had been for her friend Yuki after nothing more than a snack, and she felt a sudden, renewed sense of righteous disgust and anger toward Makishima for what he had done to her poor Enforcer.
Kougami let out another sharp breath, his forehead nearly grazing his knees as he tightened his grip around himself. "Sh-shit..."
Akane ran her fingers softly through his hair, shifting so that he could rest his head on her knees while he curled up, reaching her other hand around to stroke her thumb over his tensed jaw. His stomach let out a huge gurgle, and she felt a shudder run through his heated body, broad shoulders tensing up around his ears. Akane leaned over him, resting her forehead against his as she entangled her fingers lightly in his dark hair and closing her eyes for a moment.
"Shh..."
Kougami looked up at her hazily upside down from her lap, going cross-eyed for a second. Akane drew back a little when she felt his gaze on her, her hair slipping down around her face, and faltered as she realized how close they were.
"Nhh..." Kougami's face twisted briefly in pain, but then lifted one arm from around his stomach to reach up and tuck the strands back behind her ear, and she felt her face flush slightly as his calloused fingertips inadvertently grazed her cheek.
She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly tight, and she worried that Kougami would be able to hear her heart pounding. She slid her hands down out of his hair and around his jaw, running her thumbs gently over the sides of it...he tilted his head backward in her lap, their lips pressing together for just a moment.
Akane's eyes were wide as he pulled away, stunned and frozen...Kougami simply watched her, however, and a few seconds later she expelled a soft breath, her hands still cupped around his jaw to tilt it back toward her as she leaned over to kiss him upside down again, lingering longer this time before drawing away sharply again, reaching up to graze her bottom lip with her fingertips...he was so rough.
Kougami reached up again, wrapping a hand more gently around the back of her neck to coax her back down, and she obliged willingly, her eyes fluttering shut as she began to kiss him again. He tasted like smoke from his desperate attempts to cope with his stomach ache, but she didn't care, sinking into him more deeply after a few moments as her hands slid down from his jaw to his broad shoulders and chest, clutching the thin material of his shirt a little.
Kougami pushed himself slowly up onto his elbows, his movements starting to grow aggressive again before he reigned himself back in...Akane made a small noise against his lips, her eyes still closed as he twisted around to face her the right way up, his hair sticking up unkempt from where she had run her fingers through it. She leaned back again, still sitting chastely with her feet folded under her as he turned onto all fours in front of her, breaking the connection between them for just a moment before he leaned in again, the force of his movements inadvertently pushing Akane back a bit. Her hands moved back up softly to the sides of his face, exhilaration starting to rise up in her and drown out the nervous thudding of her heart.
"Mm...nrhh, ahh!" Kougami broke away suddenly as his stomach let out a desperate, terrible groan, his hand flying up to his hanging belly as his head dropped down in pain against Akane's collarbone, gritting his teeth as his insides tore at him.
"N-nhh...uhh..." Expression still twisted in pain, he lifted his head again in a stubborn attempt to ignore it, his lips grazing Akane's again for just a moment before she set a finger against them.
"Don't," she whispered softly, her hands slipping down to his shoulders and beginning to push him lightly backwards, following suite as she spoke against the corner of his mouth. "Your tummy's too sick...let me take care of it..."
Kougami let out a strained grunt as Akane slowly guided him down until his back was against the mattress again, leaning over the top of him on her hands and knees as she resumed kissing him once more, though after a moment or so she began to stray, her lips grazing over his jawline and down his neck to his chest.
"Nh...Akane," Kougami murmured, watching her fingers curl around the material of his shirt again. "What're you...nrgh..."
Guuuuuurglllle.
"Nhhhh..."
Akane flushed as Kougami groaned and arched his back again in discomfort, pushing his aching stomach up into her hands as she slid them down his sides and then under his shirt, feeling his belly stretch out beneath her palms as his insides roiled. She ran her hands up his broad torso, sliding his shirt up along the way until his vulnerable, hurt stomach was exposed, soft and unprotected despite the strength she could still feel rippling through his powerful body as he moved. His belly rumbles suddenly sounded twice as loud as she pushed his shirt out of the way, and she blushed again as she held the sides of his bare stomach, softly kissing the surface of it as she leaned over him.
"Nhh...hey..." Kougami managed, though his low protest didn't sound very convincing. "Nrgh..."
Akane smiled slightly against the thick curve of his belly as she heard a strained, blissful groan escape him at the sensation of her hands running over it again, pressing her lips against him more firmly as she tried to help his poor, sick, aching tummy feel better.
"Akane," Kougami grunted again, his voice slightly strained. "You – nhh. Nrrghhh...ohh, my gut..."
He pressed his stomach up into her small hands a little more, and Akane in turn leaned more deeply against him, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment...she began to move down his diaphragm toward his navel, her lips grazing lightly across his skin as he did so, but she felt his belly muscles contract nervously all of a sudden as she reached it, and she peered up at him for a moment.
"What's wrong?" she asked curiously, catching his sharp eyes surveying her from over the curve of his stomach...her face reddened a bit. "Is it...sensitive?"
She reached toward his bellybutton again, but felt the same nervous twitch as she did so and paused, rubbing his belly reassuringly as watched him.
"...It's nothing, forget it," Kougami uttered, letting his head drop back.
He was still tense, however, and as Akane dropped her eyes back down to his stomach, she caught the subtle bruising around his navel, some of it fresher than the rest, her shoulders lowering in realization.
"Don't worry," she said softly, moving her hands up again. "I won't hurt it."
Kougami clenched his stomach again, but Akane set the tips of her fingers very gently against the bottom of his bellybutton, exploring the soft lower edge of it with feather-light touches as her breath played lightly over the surface. She heard a slight noise escape him, goosebumps rising on his skin, and she began to lean down before a large hand moved up stubbornly over the area to protect it. Undeterred, Akane took a hold of his thumb and gently pulled his hand away again, stroking her index finger down over the dip in his stomach before leaning in again and softly beginning to make out with his bellybutton, her fingertips still lightly grazing the bottom of it as she did so.
"Nh...u-uhh..." She felt him twist a little beneath her, his fingers closing around her own as she held on to his thumb to keep him from interfering...after a few moments, his other hand slid up into her hair, resting against the back of her head as she focused her efforts on his abused bellybutton, his back arching upward again and forcing her more urgently up against it.
Akane in turn began to kiss him more heavily, letting go of his hand in favor of resting her palm against the side of his warm, tightening belly as she worked on his navel, a small noise escaping her every so often as she did so.
"K-Kougami..." She stretched up the length of his body, and he tilted her jaw up as she got closer, lifting his head back up off the mattress to kiss her forcefully again.
Akane kept one hand down below on his bellybutton, rubbing it fervently even as she closed her eyes to sink into the kiss...she could tell as she drove her fingertips deeper in his navel that it was only pushing him to be even rougher and wilder than he was before, but now that she was expecting it she didn't mind quite so much. She made another small noise as his other arm wrapped around her from behind, drawing her upwards toward him with a sharp jerk, and she gasped slightly as the movement accidentally upset her balance. She faltered for a moment on her hands and knees, trying to regain it, but collapsed down into Kougami's arms, her eyes widening for a moment as she found herself buried in his neck.
"Nnff..." Kougami twisted a little beneath her as he took the brunt of her weight on his straining stomach, and Akane reddened considerably, shifting with him as she felt his waist move against her legs.
Slowly, she began to sit up as she realized he was tolerating he straddling his middle, her expression curious as she did so and her face brightening still further.
"O-oh," she uttered softly in surprise, one hand resting lightly against Kougami's chest as she sat up on his stomach...she tilted her head a little as she looked down at him, but then drew in a sudden, sharp breath, her eyes closing as she did so. "A-ah..."
Grgrgrgrrrgrrwwrrgghhhhhhhhh.
"M...m-mnhh!" Akane arched her back, pushing her hips against him as one of her hands came up to entangle in her own hair...underneath her, his bloated, rumbling belly felt like a sloshing waterbed and a running engine all at the same time, and she sank into it again more deeply, her free hand still resting lightly on Kougami's chest to balance herself.
She felt his hands come to rest against her thighs on either side of him, unsure whether she should be embarrassed that she was still in her pencil skirt and blouse from the office...but the unforgiving material of her skirt only served to press her legs more deeply into Kougami's sides as she sat atop his stomach, and her breath hitched audibly as his belly let out another heavy gurgle, the flush on her face starting to creep down her neck as well.
"M...mnh..." She cracked her eyes open, slightly breathless as she looked down at him. "Aren't I...hurting you?"
Kougami grunted as she moved against him again, his hands still rested against her thighs as he looked up at her.
"I can take it," he uttered, shifting again and thrusting his gut up into her to elicit another small noise from her...she knew he was lying, but his stomach ache was driving her wild, and his strong hands on her thighs purposefully prevented her from moving away from him, his wild eyes sharp and absently dismissive of how sick his gut was.
Grwwwoorrrrrrghhhh.
"Ohhhhh...my stomach..."
Kougami grunted, his head dropping back as his body twisted again beneath Akane from the strain, and she ran her hands slowly down his front as his chest arced toward her, a sliver of electricity racing through her as he moaned and groaned over his belly ache.
"Shh," she murmured again, gently rocking her hips against his stomach like a rolling massage, its contents sloshing audibly as she did so.
Grrrrrrrgrrrrlllp.
"Nh...shit..." Kougami's expression twisted even as he held Akane firmly on top of him, his lip curling a little. "Damn, my gut...ohhh..."
"Easy," Akane breathed as he grew more restless beneath her, her heart thudding still harder as she saw what a mess his belly pains were turning him into. "I'll make you feel better, I promise..."
"Nrgh...unh...ohh..." Kougami writhed against her, his belly roaring. "My stomach...unh...I ate too much..."
Akane's face burned fiercely as the words forced their way from Kougami's throat, and her hands slid down from his chest to roam over whatever parts of his stomach she could reach around herself, feeling the destruction inside him coaxing more and more desperate noises past his clenched teeth.
"Nnnrgh...!" Kougami's brow knitted together for a moment, but then his expression started to clear as Akane kept moving against him, and he cracked open his eyes a little to look at her as she coaxed his shirt the rest of the way over his head, dropping it to one side.
Akane flinched as his gaze landed on her and quickly dropped her attention back to his body...to her relief, she could tell she was making him feel good when he wasn't feeling well, but she felt suddenly self-conscious with those glinting gray-blue eyes on her. Even so, she kept riding his belly, her fingertips trembling a little as it sloshed and gurgled and vibrated beneath her...before she could stop herself, a soft whimper escaped her, squeezing her eyes shut, and she felt Kougami's warm hands slide up her legs and around to the small of her back to steady her as her movements became more passionate. Inwardly, she berated herself – he was too sick, and she was surely starting to hurt his soft belly even more, but she couldn't stop. Her back arched again as Kougami drew in a breath, his stomach filling the space beneath her as she sank more deeply into it, another soft noise escaping her as she did so.
"Kougami..." she begged softly, one hand finding its way into her hair again as she felt his belly rumbles against her, biting her lip a little. "Mm...nh..."
Grrrllllp. Grrrgghhh. GWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOORRGHHHH.
"A-ahh!"
Kougami moved to push himself slowly halfway up into a sitting position and catch Akane as she slumped, her head falling contentedly against his collarbones in relief as she buckled, her cheeks burning red and her breathing labored. He ducked his head down a little, the edge of his jaw grazing her forehead, and she tentatively peered up at him, one hand still curled softly over his chest. After a moment or so, however, she reached both hands up to cup his jaw, starting to kiss him softly again and feeling a shiver go through her as she promptly felt herself enveloped within his arms. She leaned into him a little more, but then her breath hitched as he began to unbutton his jeans behind her, dropping her hands from his face and wrapping them around his back instead to cling to him softly.
"Kougami..." she whispered again, anxiously this time, burying her head in his chest as she felt him pause to look down at her.
"What is it?"
Akane squeezed her eyes shut, holding him more tightly as her sense of self-consciousness grew.
"It's...just..." She expelled a soft breath, comforted by the fact that of all people, Kougami was nearby for her to hold on to, even though he was also the one causing her heart to pound nervously in her chest, and possibly one of the last people she wanted to say such a thing to. "It's my...I've never..."
She squeezed her eyes shut more tightly and pushed her face into his chest, hands balled up against his back...however, she heard a low chuckle of understanding against her ear, and felt one of his large hands come to rest lightly on her hip.
"Don't sweat it, I'll go easy," he mused, and Akane's shoulders relaxed a little, though a soft, slightly exasperated sigh escaped her a moment later.
"It's annoying when you're so sure of yourself about everything," she mumbled, though she couldn't find any real annoyance to inject into her tone.
"Heh. Duly noted, Inspector."
Slowly, Kougami pushed himself to sit up the rest of the way, Akane sliding down off his stomach and into his lap as he did so...she drew in a sharp breath as she did so, her grip tightening around him for a moment, and he set a hand against the back of her head, looking down at her calmly.
"You okay?" he prompted, and she expelled her breath again.
"...Yes..."
Hesitantly, she slid her hands down from his back to his sides, blushing a little as she realized his stomach was still pressing into the front of her hips and thighs now that they were both sitting upright, then drawing in a shivering breath as Kougami's large, rough hands ran up her back beneath her shirt, leaning forward to kiss him again as she rubbed the sides of his belly, comforting it as best she could before he started getting too rough.
Some time later, however, she found herself horizontal on the plain mattress, curled quietly into Kougami's flank in nothing but his large coat, her head resting against his chest and her arm draped around him in vain attempt to keep him warm as well, even though heat still radiated from both of them where they lay.
She lifted her head a little after a while, a small smile lingering on her face as she peered up at him from under his arm.
"How's your belly?" she asked sleepily, reaching down and rubbing the broad area a little.
"All better."
"Liar."
Kougami chuckled slightly, pulling his other arm out from behind his head to look at his terminal.
"I'll live," he amended. "It's not so bad when you rub my stomach like that."
His terminal flashed, and he saw the signal bars flicker for a few moments before dropping again...he tilted his arm a little, and a couple of bars returned temporarily.
"Hn. Looks like systems might be coming back online. Might not have to go trudging through the wilderness again after all."
Akane looked up as well, tilting his wrist toward her so she could see.
"That's a relief. They probably already have a team out searching anyway."
"Yeah, doubt Gino's too happy about losing one of his Inspectors, or a good commodity," he said wryly. "I should be able to patch the comm's coordinates through to them if the signal holds up."
"Okay..." Akane paused, then curled into him a little more under his arm. "Maybe...in a few minutes?"
"Hm?"
She closed her eyes, her arm sliding more securely around his waist as she buried her face in his chest.
"Just...a little longer..."
Kougami watched her for a moment or so, but then let out a slight chuckle, lowering his wrist and tucking his hand back behind his head, his eyes drifting shut as well.
"Whatever you say, Inspector."