Disclaimer: The characters of Psycho-Pass belong to Production I.G. and Funimation.
Day Three
It is a very strange feeling to know that he is alive rather than feel it.
He slowly opens his eyes and blinks tiredly several times. A familiar ceiling comes into his view.
His last memory is that he was on a field work with Akane behind his back as usual. After a sudden scream, everything went black.
From his current predicament, there is only one explanation.
Akane shot him for the second time.
As he did absolutely nothing to provoke her, she must have shot him accidentally.
...What the hell?
Well, explanation can wait.
His eyes take in his environment. Then they froze upon the sight of the girl at his bedside.
Akane is sleeping soundly in a sitting position, her arms pillowing her head on his bed. He notices that she is holding his left hand; he cannot feel anything though.
His annoyance fades away, replaced by some warm feeling he cannot name.
At least she cares enough to stay here all night.
Akane begins to stir to wakefulness, eventually sitting straight and stretching her back, her brown eyes still dreamy. They widen to full alertness upon noticing his gaze on her.
Almost jumping out of the chair, she stands up with a sheepish look on her face and bow deeply.
"I'm very sorry, Kougami-san. It was very childish and unprofessional of me."
He notices a very deep blush on her cheeks. It is a rather funny sight; now she looks exactly like a cherry tomato.
"I promise such absurdity won't happen again." Glancing at him timidly, she straightens a bit. "Will you please accept my apology?"
He very much wants to tell her that despite his amused irritation, everything is fine, but the only thing he can do is blink at her.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Kougami-san", she said with a guilty look. "You've just awoken and now I'm making you overexert yourself. Karanomori-san said you'll be up and around in several days. Until then, can I stay here? I mean, if you don't mind my company?"
Perplexed, Kougami nodded mentally, but she seems to get his message anyway.
"Thank you", she beams at him, her eyes curve into a lovely shape with her innocent smile.
She moves the chair closer and sits down again. Picking up her handbag, she produces a book. A suspiciously familiar-looking one.
Mentally, his brows go up. Did she invade his personal space and take his book here?
Again, she seems to know what he is thinking. She smiles sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry to take your personal belonging here without your permission, Kougami-san. But I saw this book you usually read on your desk and I just thought that you might be bored, lying here all day so..."
"Would you like me to read this to you?" she asks shyly.
He shrugs in his mind. That seems enough for her though.
She opens the book with great care and begins to read aloud the first lines.
Her voice has a soothing quality to it, and her narration, though not flawless, is good enough for his ears.
Having nothing to do with most parts of his body numb and useless, he just looks at her, the most interesting object in the pristine, simple room.
All the little signs from her body language is screaming that she is pretty nervous around him. Although for what reason, he did not know. And the way she looks at him, the gentle expression in her eyes, and her shy smiles, are subtly different from when she interacts with Kagari, to whom she seems quite close.
Could she be harboring affection for him?
He mentally shakes his head, clearing all the weird thoughts and speculations away.
She is so young and free with all the rare qualities for teenagers these days, not to mention beautiful. Seriously speaking, she could have anybody she wishes. There is no reason why she would be wanting to waste herself on him.
Strangely, this line of thoughts darkens his mood dangerously..
He just notices that Akane has stopped reading for a while and is staring at him worriedly.
"Is there something wrong, Kougami-san? Are you feeling unwell?"
He tries to shake his head and shrug, but to no avail.
"Maybe I should go get Karanomori-san here. Please hang on for a minute, Kougami-san."
Carefully putting his precious book down, she hurries out of the room.
Although Kougami normally prefers silence, the sudden lack of her soothing voice becomes very painful for his ears.
For the first time of the day, Kougami curses his temporary inability to move.