September 1st, 2016: Thursday

Akira was met with an unusual sight when he stepped into the clinic. Normally whenever he was told to stop by, Takemi would be behind the glass at her reception area, typing away at her computer. If she wasn't there, it meant she was in the exam room, tending to another patient.

Today though, he reached out and removed a piece of scratch paper taped to the window with a hand written note on it.

It read, "Kurusu-san, come into the exam room. I'll be waiting."

Akira raised a brow and looked over to the door. It wasn't like her to actually use his name, and she wasn't adverse to calling him "guinea pig" in front of others. Must be important, whatever it is.

He could hear someone rummaging around in the exam room, so he took a cautious step in and came across Takemi filling a padded suitcase with vials upon vials of what he could only assume to be the medicine.

She perked up when she noticed him. "Great, I was worried you wouldn't get here in time."

"What's the special occasion? You were pretty vague about it in your texts." He gestured towards the suitcase. "Good news, I hope?"

"Very," Takemi said quickly. She placed the last of the vials into the suitcase and clicked it closed. "The medicine's done. I put the finishing touches on it last night."

"I'd say that counts as good news." Akira gave a small nod of his head. "Congratulations, Doctor."

"We're not quite done yet, my guinea pig," she said quickly. She thrust the suitcase into his hands. "I have an appointment with an old colleague at Inokashira Park. And instead of a guinea pig, I'm in need of a bodyguard. I want you to come with me to make sure these stay safe."

"Expecting trouble?" he asked.

"No, but it pays to be careful. I'll be honest, I'm pretty nervous." She presented her hands to him, showing the slight tremble in them. "I… don't trust myself not to drop it."

Akira nodded. "Alright. I'll come with. There's nowhere I'd rather be, anyway."

"Charmer," she said with a wink. "Wait here, I'm going to change. Lab coats are so last season."

Akira snorted and watched her as she left the exam room, leaving him alone. He took a look around, taking it all in one more time.

Takemi's completing the medicine was rather bittersweet, if he had to be honest.

It was purely a good thing that it would help a lot of people. Miwa-chan would make a full recovery, he was sure of it. A lot of others would only benefit from her hard work.

Selfishly, he wished the trials never ended.

He ran a hand across the bed. How many days had he spent sitting here, chatting the day away with her? They weren't even discussing the trials, they were just talking.

Now he had no reason to come here beyond buying medicine. Would she even keep selling them to him? Their deal was over. The medicine was done. She was practically swimming in patients now. She was a verifiable town doctor.

As he was looking around, he caught sight of the coffee mug he bought her a few months ago. It was just a coffee mug to her, he was sure, but to him it was the closest thing to a bouquet of flowers he could give her.

More time must have passed than he realized, as Takemi stepped back into the exam room, dressed in her spider-webbed dress and leather jacket, carrying her purse. "Ready to go?"

She stopped and tilted her head, a puzzled expression on her face. He never noticed she pouted a little when she looked confused. "What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, just…" He shrugged. "Reminiscing, I guess."

"I'm sure you'll look back fondly at all those times you passed out form the medications," she said, rolling her eyes. Her frowned quickly turned into a wry grin. "Make sure you watch that suitcase. If anything happens to it, those tests won't even come close to what I do to you."

He held up his one free hand in a salute. "I'll protect it with my life. This I swear to you."

"I guess I'll take it," Takemi said with a small grin.

The man in the well-fitting suit took the briefcase from Takemi, holding it in one hand as he pushed his glasses up by the bridge. "And this is everything?"

"All the data, specimens, and sample medicine," Takemi confirmed. "Everything you need to produce more. I do have backups, of course, but I'd rather not have to dig those out quite yet."

"Of course," the man said. "Based on your report, the results are truly amazing. We'll perform a final exam with our own equipment to be safe, and then we'll be ready to help a lot of people, including Miwa-chan."

Takemi sighed. Akira couldn't help but notice she looked uneasy, despite everything. "The rest is up to you, then."

The man picked up on her feelings. "She'll be fine. We'll do everything in our power to make sure she becomes healthier than she's ever been. That's my vow to you."

She nodded, though Akira could tell she didn't quite fully believe that. Logically he was sure she did. They had better equipment than her, and she was able to produce nothing but excellent results.

There was always that kernel of doubt that dug it's way into the brain. She would doubtlessly be nervous until word came down that Miwa was on the road to recovery. That was her way, after all.

The man turned to face Akira. "So, this is your assistant? Kurusu-san, right?"

"That's right." Takemi gave him a wry look out of the corner of her eye. "He was the perfect guinea pig."

"I can't say I wholly agree with your methods," the man said solemnly. "But I can't argue with the results, and I'm sure you followed the strictest of safety protocols."

He gave the briefcase a small pat. "I should go. I need to get these submitted right away. Please put some thought into my offer, Takemi-san?"

Akira raised an eyebrow. An offer?

Takemi shrugged. "I'll think about it. No promises."

"That's all I ask. Takemi-san. Kurusu-san."

The man turned on his heel and strode away, carrying with him the summation of Takemi's life's work.

The two stood in silence, watching the man retreat into the distance. Akira glanced at Takemi. She wrapped her arms around herself. Try as she might, she couldn't hide her nerves.

He cleared his throat. "She'll be okay."

She let out a long and tired sigh. "I know. It's just…"

"Yeah. I know."

"Thanks again, by the way."

"For what?"

Takemi gave him a look that made Akira feel like the dumbest man alive. "Without you, the medicine would have never been completed."

He rubbed at his neck and stretched it. "Well, I can't say I'll miss the taste. Hopefully they make a grape flavored version for Miwa-chan or something."

Takemi snorted. "You like grape flavor? Here I thought you had some taste."

"Bah." He waved her off. "Should have figured you were a filthy heathen."

Another silence fell over the two, more easy this time. He could still sense some tension within her, but it wasn't as suffocating.

"It'll work," she said, more to herself than to him. "Based on the tour of the medical facility and the discussions I had with the development team, I'm confident they'll succeed and Miwa will be out of the hospital in no time."

"But?"

Takemi clicked her tongue. "You know me too well, guinea pig. I guess I'm not entirely comfortable with the final result being out of my hands. They're all confident doctors, but… I don't know. Maybe I should accept their offer."

"The guy mentioned something about that," Akira commented. "What offer?"

She took in a deep breath. "I was offered a full time position as the head of research and development. They were impressed that I was able to formulate a cure to a rare disease with my comparatively limited supplies. They think I can be a great asset to them, and the rest of the medical community."

Akira furrowed his brow. On the surface, this seemed like a no-brainer. To go from a simple physician running a back alley clinic to the head of R&D? Why wouldn't she take it?

Unless… a full-time position…

"You'd have to close the clinic," he reasoned. "Wouldn't you?"

She nodded. "I'll start first thing next month. Enough time to close the Takemi Clinic of Internal Medicine."

"What about-?" Akira stopped himself. What about me? No, that was the complete wrong question to ask, don't let your mouth say something your brain didn't review. "What about your patients?"

Takemi gave him a long look. Did she know what he was going to say? He doubted she was psychic, but she was full of surprises.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

There wasn't an accusation in the words. It was a simple, genuine question. One that Akira wasn't entirely sure how to answer.

"I… I guess it'll be weird not seeing you in Yongen-Jaya," he said, hoping the half-truth would be enough. "You help a lot of people there. It's like… you're a fixture. There's Leblanc, the backing cages, and you. You're part of what makes that area special."

She didn't answer.

He held up his hands. "I'm not saying don't take the offer. It's not like my words hold much sway with you, anyway. Yongen-Jaya will be fine without you, I'm sure. A lot of people would benefit from you being with them."

Another quiet moment, one that stretched for what felt like eternity, until Takemi let out a chuff of laughter. Beneath her breath, she said, "You think too little of yourself, guinea pig."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothing." She waved a hand. "Besides, we both know that old neighborhood wouldn't last a day without me. I turned them down."

He sputtered. "Y-You what?"

"I'm not cut out to be the head of a whole department. I can run a project like any other, but that's a little above my skillset," she explained. "But we came to an agreement that I'll offer assistance to them to develop new medicine. The clinic will stay open.

"Once the medicine is complete, I'll be able to see Miwa-chan and receive my reward: her smile."

Takemi's own smile was small, but Akira swore that it could light up the sun all by itself. Above all else, he helped bring that out of her. Maybe that was his reward?

"Speaking of, I suppose I should give you a reward as well. It's only fair, after all, since you held up your end of the deal."

Akira shook his head. "No need. Just knowing I helped is all the reward I need."

"Is that so?" She looked him up and down. Her eyes narrowed at him.

An alarm started to blare in his head. Something about that expression told him he was in danger.

"You know, you seemed pretty upset at my clinic closing." She crossed her arms and shifted her weight. "I think it's about time you told me the truth. We both know that exam story was a load of crap."

"I wasn't-"

"Enough, Kurusu. Why did you keep coming to me?"

Akira was pretty good at lying to strangers. He could throw on the mask and quickly turn into the aloof delinquent so many at the school thought of him as and give short, simple answers. It's what they expected and they took it at face value. It was easy. Perhaps a little too easy, but it was useful.

But to those who knew him? Who genuinely saw past that façade and saw the man beneath the mask? That was harder.

"The truth is…" he began to say. It was for my exams.

When he looked into Takemi's eyes and saw the woman he'd grown to fall in love with, the easy lie on his tongue refused to be made manifest.

Her eyes are so beautiful, he thought. Why would anyone hurt her?

"I wanted to see you."

No!

"Really? Couldn't get enough of passing out after those tests?" She shook her head and let out a small chuckle. "Don't tell me, you're in love with me?"

What do you think?

"...I am."

FUCK!

Takemi blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I… love you. I have for a while now."

SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!

She didn't answer at first, she stared at him with wide eyes. That crushing silence returned and Akira felt like he was about to throw up. He could feel himself sweating bullets.

"That's…" She shook her head and waved him off, slipping back into that cool demeanor. "Very funny. I'm flattered. Now go home, it's getting dark."

Excellent. Just the out Akira needed. He could take it, go home, and pretend the whole conversation was just one big joke.

"It isn't a joke."

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!

Takemi's smile slowly fell. Her cheeks began to turn red. "Oh. Oh God. You're… you're serious, aren't you?"

He averted his eyes. He could feel the heat rushing to his face. He mentally berated himself for opening his big dumb mouth.

"You're…" She took a deep breath. "After all you've done for me, you deserve a serious answer."

He nodded.

"I…" She closed her mouth. Opened it, then closed it again. She was finding the best way to turn him down, he knew. He thanked her for that, at least.

"You know what? Let's take a breather."

He blinked and furrowed his brow. "Huh?"

"I'm tired. It's been a long day. I think we should get some sleep and then… talk about this more later, okay?" She bowed her head slightly, a gesture he's never seen from her. "You'll get your answer, I promise, just… not now."

"Yeah." He tried, without success, to swallow the lump in his throat. "Later…"

"Yes." She shifted her weight again. "Um… See you later?"

God, this was horribly awkward.

Takemi turned and walked away. He was certain he had never seen her move that fast before in his life.

Once alone, he let the tension wash out of him as he sank to the ground. He blew a raspberry at the situation and ran a hand through his hair.

"Way to go, Joker," he said to himself. "You really fucked this one up, didn't you?"

A/N: I went back and edited Hero/Heroine to reflect the new dialogue. Check it out if you're interested, but that story remains otherwise unchanged.