He was back. Kougami was finally back, his warmth ever so familiar next to her body.

But that warmth was slowly turning cold.

"Why?" Akane gasped hoarsely. "Why did you...when I thought I could live again without you...why?"

He lifted up a hand, and stroked her cheek.

The puddles of blood around her mixed with the sprinkling rain, diluting its vibrant colour.

xXxxXxxXxXx

After Makishima Shogo was murdered, Akane laid on the grass and cried. She wasn't crying for herself, but for Kougami.

When Gino-san was demoted to enforcer, Akane realized that she needed to be strong. Her division needed her, and from that day on she decided no more tears will be shed.

Shion looked concerned, scared that her baby girl had grown up too fast. Akane was able to disguise her emotions in a flash, and sometimes her serious expression was rather frightening. It seemed that as long Kougami was gone, her world will never be upright.

"Good morning, Kagari." He smiled, looking up from his video game he was immersed in.

"How are you, Masoka-san?"

The old man waved at her, humming softly to himself as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

Akane nodded briefly at the two, although her hallucinations could never reply. But their warm smiles as they went among their normal business were comforting to her, and that was enough.

She wondered why Kougami never appeared, like those two. Unfinished business, she supposed.

The hallucinations gradually stopped, but not the nightmares.

xXxXxXxxX

When the case closed and life was slowly turning back to normal, Akane

slipped on a plain white shirt and suit jacket. She looked at the skirt before deciding on a pair of business pants. Her apartment, once filled to the brim with cute things from jellyfish hair ties to fluffy pillows had undergone a significant change.

It was rather plain, if not dull apartment now. Books and files were littered over her desk, her walls a plain matte white.

In her apartment was the only place she allowed herself to think of him.

Sometimes when she couldn't sleep, Kougami would appear in her mind. Akane would clench tightly onto her pillow, muffling sobs until her body stopped shaking and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

But in the workplace, she forbid that man to enter her thoughts. Whenever he got mentioned, albeit quietly, she dismissed it and feigned a smile.

Ginoza always thought that smile was strained.

Akane thought it was fine. She would continue to do this, every single day until he came back.

She mustn't lose hope. Hadn't she sworn it, on that last phone call with Kougami? Akane had vowed that they would meet again; not as inspector and enforcer but as equals.

xxXxXxXX

A simple acknowledgement. I'm going to die now, huh? Without ever keeping my promise to him.

That was reality.

Cruel, isn't it...?

The inspector closed her eyes, waiting for the gunshot as footsteps grew near.

Kougami-san...

BANG!

She was sure she was dead, her heart still in her chest and body frozen. But it was odd, there was no pain whatsoever.

No...pain? Akane finally opened her eyes, confused.

Kougami was sprawled underneath her, blood slowly pooling around his body.

"Kougami...san?"

It wasn't an illusion. He was here, but not in the tearful reunion she had imagined a million times over-

"KOUGAMI-SAN!"

Her eyes flashed as she looked around to whom had fired the shot. The criminal she had been hunting down for the past week gasped irritably at his mistake and retreated.

"You- Why?- " Akane's breaths came in sharp gasps as she bent over his crumpled body. Had the bullet been covered in coagulant?

His blood was red, it soaked her palms as she tried to stanch the wound.

She didn't know how, just that it wouldn't stop bleeding.

"D-don't you dare, Kougami-san, don't you dare leave me alone again!" She screamed hoarsely, those silver eyes she loved so much glistening in apology.

In the end, he had come back. But most cruel of all was that he was snatched away, once again.

Sorry it's so short and depressing, I just felt the need to write about Akane's days after Kougami left her hehe~ There won't be a continuation of this chapter, and we'll be back to fluff!

-Alliandoalice