Moving on! As much as I liked the way they chose to end Kuuga, I really wanted to fill in some of the blanks, so here we go!

Three things uploaded within a year! The curse is lifting!

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"I'm so sorry for your loss."

Ichijo was so tired of saying that. The new-made widow left and the door closed with the softest click, as quiet as the voice he'd used to explain her husband's death to her, the quiet voice that avoided waking the baby who would only know her father through pictures and stories. One of the last victims of the Grongi War.

Two days. Two days since the battle at Kurogatake. Two days since Godai had laid bleeding in his arms. Ichijo had been back and forth between work and the hospital more times than he cared to admit to himself, but Godai remained in the coma of healing. The last x-rays showed fewer fragments in his abdomen, but Tsubaki still couldn't hazard a guess as to how much more time the Amadam would need.

"How're you holding up?"

He nearly jumped out of his chair, eyes snapping up to find Sugita standing not three feet away. He immediately dropped his gaze, on the pretense of the paperwork in front of him. "Oh, Sugita. I'm all right." The lie was easy. He didn't even have to think about it. And he knew Sugita didn't buy it for a second, but the older man offered an understanding smile anyway.

"Good. I wanted to talk to you..." He folded his arms, face going a bit more serious. "Why don't you take a few days off, Ichijo?"

His mouth was only half open to protest when Sugita continued, raising one hand to cut him off, "It's not just you. The chief is giving everyone in the task force a turn at a bit of leave now that things are winding down. Someone has to be first."

Yeah, someone did, but it didn't have to be him. Ichijo leaned back in his chair, tried to think of some excuse to avoid this, but the look on Sugita's face told him that if he argued, then the suggestion of a friend would turn into an order from a superior, and he didn't want the chief getting involved in this.

"Alright."

Sugita blinked, leaning back just far enough that Ichijo felt a little offended by the apparent surprise. Still, the old detective softened the blow with a smile. "Glad I don't have to argue with you about it. Take the rest of the week. Keep an eye on Godai for us."

"I will." He didn't bother denying where he'd be spending most of this time off. When Godai woke up, he wanted to be there. It was selfish as hell, but Ichijo was well beyond caring.

—

Visiting hours were over by the time he left work that day (and nevermind that Sugita was giving him a hard side-eye for staying late). The next day, instead of going to Headquarters, he got in his car and drove to the hospital.

Godai was still the only patient in the three-bed room. Ichijo wondered if Tsubaki was trying to keep it that way on purpose, but it could just be that patient influx was low. There hadn't been many non-fatal injuries in the last weeks of the Grongi War.

It was a morbid thought, and he pushed it away before crossing the room to lean on the wall next to Godai's bed. There wasn't much change, just by looking. His face would twitch occassionally, and his breathing was faster than any normal person's would be. Ichijo knew what to look for, and the strain caused by accelerated healing was obvious to him. If Ichijo focused for too long on one area, he started seeing the blood again.

He closed his eyes, let out a slow breath to settle himself again. Then the door slid open. "Ichijo." Tsubaki didn't sound surprised, and Ichijo was even able to smile when he looked at his friend.

"Morning," he greeted, which Tsubaki returned with a nod and a little hum as he moved to the other side of Godai's bed. He studied him for a second before looking back at Ichijo.

"He's improving quickly... he'll probably wake up before the Amadam is finished repairing itself, like last time."

The reminder was unpleasant. 'Please aim here.' A request Ichijo had hated, but knew he had to obey. And no matter that it hadn't come to that, that Godai was alive, the memory still made him sick to his stomach.

"Ichijo?" Tsubaki's voice called him back to reality, and he'd definitely left too much silence, because Tsubaki was watching him with concern, sharp and just on the edge of urgent.

"Sorry." He tried to make the apology casual, without real success, but Tsubaki nodded. He understood. Ichijo's lips quirked upward in gratitude, but only for a moment before something else occurred to him. "Have you been able to autopsy Zerogou's body?"

One brow arched, and Tsubaki's small smirk wasn't entirely teasing. "Aren't you on time off?"

The surprise only lasted a second. It wasn't like Ichijo being at the hospital this early wasn't a dead giveaway. He shrugged off the question. "I am. I still want to know."

Stubborn silence persisted for only three seconds before Tsubaki shook his head in surrender. "I have. It was pretty much what I expected, from what I saw in Sangou after he used the same power... the crystal in Zerogou was larger than any of the others; same size as the Amadam, I'd say, though in about as many pieces." He looked down at Godai, down to his waist, and then up at Ichijo again. "I also found about a hundred bullet fragments, before I stopped counting."

There was a question in those words, in his eyes, but Ichijo couldn't answer it. He broke their gaze and stared at his feet instead, swallowed an emotion he couldn't name. He was trying to think of something to say to that when Tsubaki sighed. "Just as well, I guess. Make sure the bastard didn't get back up... have they had any luck finding a body for B-Ichigou?"

It was mercy, and Ichijo was grateful for it, able to raise his eyes again even if only to shake his head. "No. The currents were so chaotic that day, she could've drifted in any number of directions." And that didn't sit well with him, but there hadn't been any sighting of her alive either.

They seemed to be on the same page, there, and Tsubaki shrugged. "Can stay at the bottom, for all I care." He stepped around the bed, one hand lightly clapping Ichijo's shoulder. "I gotta get to work. Try and relax, hm? You've earned some rest."

It was Ichijo's turn to raise a brow. "And you haven't?"

That got a smile, though Tsubaki's eyes flicked toward the bed before he answered. "I'll rest once he's out of here." Despite the joking note in the words, they carried weight. Even with Godai on the mend, Tsubaki wouldn't trust him to any other doctor.

And neither would Ichijo. He returned the thin smile, his own hand raising to brush Tsubaki's wrist just before the contact broke. There were no more words needed, and Tsubaki closed the door quietly, on his way to check on others. Ichijo settled himself into the chair beside Godai. There were other things he would do today, but for now, none of them were as important as this.