Upon his demotion to enforcer, Ginoza was quite disappointed to learn that he would no longer be sitting adjacent to Tsunemori (Inspector Tsunemori, he mentally corrects himself).

Sometimes he catches her glancing over at him. She doesn't avert her gaze when it happens, instead smiling and nodding quickly before returning to her work. He wonders if her eyes are searching for him, or for the former Hound 1 who once occupied the table he was sitting at now.

Not that he minded at all, because from where he was sitting he had a clear view of her as well.

"Ginoza-san, would you like to come up for a drink with me?"

The sender's box read Shepherd-1: Tsunemori Akane, but he had to reread the contents of the email multiple times to make sure she hadn't accidentally sent him a message meant for Kunizuka or Inspector Shimotsuki instead. Peeking at her from the corner of his eyes, he notices her looking at him expectantly, and when she stands up to walk outside he follows suit.

Sipping on her Oolong tea, she asks absently, "Are you aware, Ginoza-san, that the whole office is convinced that we are in some sort of illicit Inspector-Enforcer relationship?"

Ah, it was about that. Tsunemori, of all the people, worried about trivial workplace gossip.

Ginoza grits his teeth and wonders why a sudden pang of irritation swells up in his chest.

"Yes, Inspector. I realize that we have been spending quite a sizable amount of time with each other because of the recent cases. If it bothers you, you can always assign another enforcer on the job. I really wouldn't be—Wha!" He winces as the abrupt chill of a soda can against his cheek surprises him, that, and the amused expression on his partner's face.

"I'm just here to tell you that it's no big deal."

She invites him again the next week and this time reminds him to call her Akane outside of the office.

He contemplates on having her call him Nobuchika as well, but discards that thought when he realizes the overwhelming potential for embarrassing nicknames.

"Hey, Kunizuka-san. Is there something going on between Ginoza and Inspector Tsunemori?"

Yayoi pauses filing Mika's nails for a second and continues on with her manicure while Shion giggles uncontrollably.

"You really shouldn't be worried about that, Mika-chan. Don't worry, I have information from a trusted source that our dear Ginoza-kun is still an extra pure one thousand percent virgin."

Mika resists the urge to correct her that it isn't Ginoza she's curious about.

It isn't long before the weekly rooftop sessions become daily and Ginoza learns to ignore the prying looks as they walk together out of Division I's office.

Akane drops Ginoza off at the enforcer's quarters after a particularly long day of work, both hauling binders full of case reports to his room. As they stood at his doorstep for a while to catch their breaths, Ginoza struggles with his thoughts.

Come inside and stay awhile.

He imagines himself saying these five words to her, imagines feeling the weight of her head on his arm and the warmth of her body, flushed and pressed up against him, how content he would be with her just lying on his bed against him, and he is so lost in thought he doesn't notice Akane's hands moving towards his prosthetic arm.

The metal used to rebuild his severed limb was incapable of feeling physical sensation, yet Ginoza swears that a jolt of electricity runs through him as Akane's fingertips brush over his hands, his fingers- and he is so stunned with the sudden display of intimacy that when he does remember to hold her hand in return she had already withdrawn it.

"Well then, good night, Ginoza-san. Thank you for your hard work today."

"L-likewise, Inspector, I mean, Akane."

He waits until he hears her car pulling away from the driveway before burying his face in his hands and letting out a long sigh.

Masaoka appeared in his dreams that night; wearing the sweater his wife knitted him for his 30th birthday. The one with green and brown argyle patterns that he had left unopened, sitting on the living room table 20 years ago.

"I want grandchildren, Nobuchika. Get off your ass and make some already. Adoption's alright too."

He wakes up drenched in sweat, skin still tingling with the sensation of Akane's hands on his and ears ringing with the moans of Yayoi and Shion from the floor above him. He groans and stands up on his bed, punching the ceiling a few times as the noises subside to a faint soooorryyyyy, before the silence gave way to even louder screams of pleasure.

Mentally makes a note to threaten Shion into prescribing him sleeping pills the next day, he covers his head with a pillow and worries himself back to sleep.

On the night of Makishima's death, Ginoza regained consciousness to Akane sitting beside him, trembling as she clutches the remains of Masaoka's metal arm.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him."

He isn't sure whom she was referring to, or why she was even apologizing, but the fact that she was alive, breathing in front of him was enough of a relief. He had lost far too many things that day.

It is not until he is informed of Kogami's disappearance that he understands the meaning of her words.

"What an idiot. He didn't care enough about anyone but himself- always obsessing over the stupidest things and taking for granted those around him who actually gave a rat's ass about his well-being. He imprints himself on the most ridiculous people and abandons everything he's built up so far for stupid sentimental reasons like 'honor' and—"

"I miss him too, Ginoza-san."

"Though I have to admit, Akane, you really are something else. I mean, you did upstage me after working as my junior for only 4 months."

"To be fair, it was a pretty intense 4 months."

They stare at each other, and, without missing a beat, burst out laughing, voices ringing loud and clear in the sun and tears welling in their eyes, and it's moments like these that Akane wishes she could force the Sibyl System to understand: yes, humans are weak and emotional, and stumble and err and grieve, but eventually we'll look back and learn to laugh at our own failures and foolishness; and we'll get back up, battered and bruised but stronger than ever, eyes trained forward and footsteps bounding ever onwards to the future.

He is at a loss when he tries to explain (to himself) the extent of his feelings for Tsunemori Akane.

It wasn't as simple as affection- though there definitely were traces of that there, from the way he gently ruffles her hair when she's slumped on her desk mulling over a particularly complicated case report, or the way that her usually strict eyes soften when she smiles at him, full of sadness, nostalgia and resignation, when he brings up an anecdote about his days as an inspector ("It's rare that you'd talk about the past like that, Ginoza-san").

There were boundaries that they would not cross, and the constant reminder of Kogami's absence still weighs heavily on their minds.

But for now, he is content.

She is alive, and so is he.

There would be plenty of time to rationalize and classify emotions into their respective categories.

And even after having lost it all, for the first time in a long time, Ginoza Nobuchika thinks he can learn to be happy with himself.