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Akane already had their target subdued by the time Gino made it to the scene. Her dominator was shifting back to its neutral position as he darted towards the shell-shocked man. A quick glance between culprit and Inspector made it evident that the capture had not come easily. Akane’s breaths were coming down heavy in puffs of hot air, and there was a bruise forming on her right cheek.
Gino scowled. He twisted the man’s arms tight behind his back. If the paralyzer hadn’t knocked him out, he’d be screaming in pain.
“Mr. Ginoza,” Akane warned, and he cuffed the man without another word.
The rest of the team arrived in short time, and the culprit was handed over. Aside from answering a few routine questions, Gino nor Akane exchanged any words on the drive back to the PSB.
Gino’s jaw set in the passenger seat. If Akane noticed his displeasure, she didn’t say. Sometimes he thought she did a better job at separating her personal feelings from work than he did. The silence they’d come to know had been comfortable, understanding even; But at times like this, Gino wondered if it was more for her benefit than his.
They unceremoniously part ways at the PSB.
Or, they would have, if he hadn’t grabbed her arm at the last minute and pulled her into an empty break room. The lights were off, as it was after-hours, and only a sliver of light from the hallway crept through as he hovered over the inspector’s small frame.
“Why did you go off on your own?” Gino demanded in a low voice. He rarely lost his temper with her anymore, not since her rookie days (and even then, they were unfounded and projected insecurities), but this had been one step too far. “We were already en route to the scene.”
Akane blinked, taken aback, but quickly recovered. She shoved him off—Or tried to, but Gino didn’t budge either. Even in the dim light, her eyes were bold and steadfast. “We couldn’t let the culprit get away, and I was closest to the scene.”
That practical way of speaking had a way with aggravating him.
“A culprit that was dangerous and armed,” he hissed.
“But no one was injured today, and the mission was successful. We managed to avoid the worst.”
“No one was injured?” Gino pushed closer. As expected, Akane stood her ground. Her chin tilted higher and higher, evidence of their difference in height as their chests almost pressed up against one another. Her stare only hardened. Always ready to fight back, this one. Someone passes by the room in a rush, a flurry of paper and footsteps, but neither of them flinch at the prospect of being discovered like this. Gino brings his gloved hand to her swollen cheek. “Tell me how, when you look like this.”
“This is hardly an injury.”
“Then what is, Tsunemori?”
“I handled the situation and cleared the scene, Mr. Ginoza. It’s over.”
But it didn’t feel like it was. Gino still saw it in his head: Akane’s heaving chest, the fresh bruise on her cheek, the culprit laying on the ground by her feet. If anything had happened differently—
Akane’s eyes blinked and flickered when Gino swept his thumb over her cheek. He sighed as the anger and irritation all but melted away. “So it’s fine if no one is injured but you?”
“Mr. Ginoza…” She touched his cheek too, and he wondered what he must look like to her. For as much as he towered over her, he felt small and pathetic in front of this woman. “You worry too much,” she told him. He leaned into the palm of her hand.
“I think between the two of us, I worry the right amount.”
“You’ll get wrinkles if you frown so much,” she put her thumb between his brows. “Right here.”
“I fear it’s too late for me.”
Akane doesn’t laugh, but her shoulders relax, and Gino realizes then that she was just as worked up as he was and felt foolish about the whole thing.
“I’m sorry for running off on my own,” she says, “But it’s our job, you know that.”
Gino dipped his head, touching her forehead with his. He feels her breath on his neck and it grounds him. “I know, and… I apologize for my outburst. I just wonder… if you really don’t need me after all, Tsunemori.”
Akane pulls back, an unpleasant frown plastered on her face that made her look like the rookie in his memories. “Why would you think that?”
He wants to hide his face in her neck, like a spoiled child, but resists. “You’re a far more capable inspector than I ever was. How can anyone—How can I hope to keep up with that? You do well, even without me on your heels.”
“Is that really how you feel?”
“Yes.”
It’s so quiet, Gino could hear his own heart pounding in his ears. He thinks it was wrong to admit what he did, but it was the truth. If he took his eyes off her, even once... he dreaded to think of the places she'd go that he couldn't follow. Akane brings her hand up to his face again and he braces himself for a slap.
She slides her slender fingers into his mouth and yanks both of his lips apart, pulling him down to her level.
“I run off on my own because I know you’re coming after me!” she admonishes right to his face. “You can’t honestly believe that I’d be fine without you.”
Gino tries to speak, defend his case, but found it difficult with Akane’s small but firm digits in his mouth. He didn’t have to guess how he looked to her right now, because she finally, finally gave him that bright smile of hers, and his heart did somersaults in his chest.
He just nodded, completely at her mercy as drool dripped down his chin, and he never felt more like a dog, her dog, than this moment.
She must’ve liked the view very much because she graced him with a kiss to his lower lip.
It breaks him out of his reverie. He pulls her fingers from his mouth and deepens the kiss, swiping his tongue along her lips. She permits him entry and he wastes no time taking what he can get. Her hands, wet with his saliva, threads into his hair, and she makes a small noise in the back of her throat that’s heaven to Gino’s ears.
There’s a faint knock on the door, a startled yelp, and a flush of embarrassed, “Omigod, excuse me—I’m so sorry, I saw nothing! I’m sorry!” That stops them in their tracks.
Gino is just grateful their interruption had the sense not to turn on the lights as they scurried off.
“We should… get going,” Akane laughs into his chest, breathless.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Gino confesses. Akane gives him a sideways glance.
“Who said I was leaving?”
He’s more than pleased to let her lead him back to the Enforcer’s quarters.
If there were any lingering doubts he had after their conversation, Akane made doubly sure he wouldn’t have anymore once the night was over.