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Kougami was at a loss. The fight was over and, despite him winning the fight against the new inspector, SAD had lost their prize. He found Frederica and Gino speaking with the MWPSB staff and decided to hang back. There was no reason for him to announce himself. Most of those present weren’t exactly fond of him.
Frederica was the first to notice. She broke from the group and quietly approached him. Kougami pulled out a cigarette and flicked his lighter on.
“Not quite the result we wanted.”
“No, but PSB have agreed to share any relevant information they manage to get from him.”
Kougami exhaled smoke away from his boss.
“So, what now?”
She sighed. “I’ve sent Sugo back to get treatment. Plus, all my work is piling up the longer I stay.”
They watched as Ginoza conversed casually with those from MWPSB, as if he belonged with them. Even the new inspectors seemed to be treating him with a certain amount of familiarity.
“I’m putting Ginoza in charge of our department’s negotiations. Somehow I think he’ll get more out of them than I can.”
Kougami let out a soft snort, before taking another drag.
“Do you mind staying to help him? I don’t want to leave him on his own.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Not sure they’d like me around.”
She laughed. “Relax. If anything, you can make him look better. Besides,” she said, then paused for emphasis, “I heard Tsunemori may be released.”
Kougami nearly choked on his cigarette.
Tsunemori kept her eyes on the view outside of the window as he drove. She seemed to be taking in every mundane object they passed. Kougami preferred to drive himself anyway, but at the moment it was a nice distraction from the silence. Eventually, they arrived at a little food place that Tsunemori had remembered before her imprisonment.
She opened the car door and stopped, quietly contemplating the building exterior. Kougami watched her. An image of her as a junior inspector came to the forefront of his mind. He wondered how much it had changed since she had last visited. Finally, she turned to him with a smile.
“Shall we?”
They found a quiet corner. Tsunemori was quick to order so she could give him her full attention. She looked as if she still couldn’t believe they were sitting across from each other sharing a meal.
“So, where did you go while you were away?”
Tsunemori was openly curious at Kougami’s life outside Japan. He skipped some of the harder topics: the crushing emptiness after Shambala Float, searching for a purpose, the lonely days he spent with no destination in mind. Instead he described strange cities and people who spoke languages he’d never heard before.
The food was simple, but good. Kougami savoured the flavours and the company as they ate in silence. Tsunemori was sipping her tea, having finished her meal, when he asked how she’d been. What had she done in the years since he’d left?
She placed her tea back in the table, her smile a little dimmer than it had been.
“I’m looking forward to this all being over.” Her fingers clutched the cup. “Although, this has made me realise how little time I spent outside work.” She laughed. “No wonder Ginoza was always berating me.”
“What about your school friend?”
Tsunemori brightened, seemingly glad he’d remembered. “Kaori got married a few years back. We struggled to find time for each other after that.”
He almost suggested she come and join the Suppressing Action Department when she was released. Tsunemori seemed so confident they would rule in her favour he didn’t even think about the possibility of her being sent back to isolation. Something held him back though.
They left before he could figure out why.
It was strange the little things that jogged his memory so quickly. The entrance to PSB headquarters had barely changed, but Tsunemori kept having to prompt him with glances and hand gestures. After all, he was now escorting her. It was disconcerting.
The elevator doors pinged and the two stepped into the main CID corridor. Kougami held back a little to let her walk ahead, stopping when she did. Tsunemori’s eyes lit up.
“Kou managed to bring you back, then.”
“Ginoza!”
Gino had a smile spread across his face as he approached them. He stopped in front of Tsunemori, keeping a strictly professional distance that they somehow made look intimate. Kougami felt like an intruder. A weight settled uncomfortably in his gut.
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you. I got caught up speaking with Inspector Shindo when visiting my old man.”
Kougami stopped paying attention to the words. Instead, he was caught up in their expressions. Tsunemori had asked him questions with curiosity and awe, but now she laughed and teased Ginoza as if they had only seen each other last week.
Similarly, Gino’s posture was the most relaxed Kougami had ever seen. He was no longer guarding himself behind glasses, instead trading jibes with Tsunemori and chuckling at comments he would’ve brooded over in the past.
Logically, Kougami knew Gino had changed. He’d seen it in the way his old friend mentored Sugo, and fielded calls from Chief Shimotsuki with surprising humour. However, Kougami had subconsciously brushed it off. After all, Ginoza treated him similarly to back when they were inspectors together.
But Kougami remembered how Ginoza and Tsunemori clashed as inspectors. The difference between then and now was so stark, Kougami was forced to wonder about the time between. When did they begin to trust each other so unconditionally? Their conversation continued as if they’d known each other’s plans, even without speaking for two years.
“…Because I knew you’d do something reckless, like try to infiltrate Bifrost.”
“I’d do something reckless? You mean the way you got yourself arrested for murder?”
Barely a beat passed in silence. They burst into laughter simultaneously, and seemed to mirror each other as they turned to Kougami. It was a dance he didn’t know.
“Is everything all right, Kougami? You seem a little quiet.”
Kougami shook his head at Tsunemori’s concern and forced a smile.
“Unfortunately, we should probably get going,” Gino said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “Kou and I are booked onto the flight this evening.”
Tsunemori seemed a little sad as she glanced between them. “I understand. You’ll give my best to Sugo, won’t you?”
Kougami kept his focus on the clouds out the window as the aircraft passed through and then flew above them, barely skimming the tops.
“Frederica says we should be able to get some rest when we get back.”
Kougami continued to gaze out the window. Beside him, Gino chuckled at his behaviour.
“You’ve changed,” Kougami said as he finally turned to look at his old friend.
A raised eyebrow. “You only just noticed?”
“I know how you and Tsunemori used to interact.” It felt stupid saying it aloud. “I suppose seeing how well you get along made me realise how much you’d moved on.”
“We had to,” Ginoza replied, serious. “There wasn’t much left after.”
Kougami didn’t have to ask what he was referring to.
“We haven’t talked about my time away,” Kougami said, as an invitation.
“Do you want to?”
He remembered how lost he was after Shambala Float. He said nothing in response. The silence lingered before Gino broke it with a sigh.
“Come over to my place for drinks tonight.”
“Don’t you want some rest?”
Gino shrugged. “We have time.”
Kougami leaned back in the seat, staring at the clouds which were starting to get closer to the plane again. They were going to land soon.
Maybe he and Ginoza had more to talk about than either had realised.