You Promise This Time? A Kogami/Tsunemori fan story

Better Left Unsaid

Each word that escaped his mouth hurt just as much as the last. Akane wiped the tears off her face as she sobbed. A twinge of pain surged through his chest. He hated see in her cry more than words could express. He hated being the cause of her pain. He wanted to hold her but shook the thought from his had as knew he would end up regretting it. Akane gripped him by the shirt, now angered by the fact he even had the nerve to say such pitiful things. She didn't want to hear any of this. She had only just gotten to see him again. For years she was eager to cross paths with him. Even if it meant the last time. Though now that the time had come, she regretted the thought. Now that it was really going to be goodbye, Akane no longer felt like letting go. Even if she knew it was happening, she wanted to reject it with every fiber of her being. Shinya swallowed hard before speaking again. "Akane... I-" she let go of his shirt. "Save it." She turned away from him, now juggling a million different thoughts in her head before finally reaching a breaking point.

Back at the MWPSB, Gino and his subordinates went to go check with Shion on the whereabouts of Inspector Akane Tsunemori and the criminal that took her hostage. Shion was able to hack the programming inside the white van he used as a getaway vehicle and used GPS tracking to follow the van to its destination. Shion succesfully tracked the killer but was surprised to read from Akane's dominator that he had been exterminated. Shion scratched her head, a slight confusion washing over her. "Guess that settles that problem. It appears the inspector managed to handle the situation herself. " Karanamori puffed on her cigarette, leaning back in the computer chair she occupied for most of her days at work. Ginoza walked over to confirm the statement himself. "That's all well and good but we still have a missing inspector! Gino tapped his foot on the floor impatiently, waiting for the blonde woman to give him answers as to where she could be. Yayoi intervened, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure the inspector is safe. She managed to get away from the criminal possibly, so she should be able to find her way back. We have the communication watches for a reason." Ginoza relaxed a bit at her calming words, while proceeding to fold his arms. "Fine but if she isn't back in an hour or so, we need to send out a search party. She could be in danger still." With that, Vino walked back to his desk. The rest of the group proceeded to whisper to one another. Gino just ignored their obnoxious behavior. Shimotsuki just ignored everyone as well, awaiting more orders like a corporate dog. She gritted her teeth at the thought of having to send a search party after Akane. She could care less about that woman. To Mika, she was a traitor. "Helping the enemy back in SEAun like that..." she thought to herself, visibly irritable. It disgusted her. She knew she wasn't to be trusted. She was too caught up in her ex partner to do her job the right way. She knew that their beloved inspector was not to be trusted for that reason alone which was exactly why she was to retired. Permanently....

"I  don't want this to be the end. Not for you, not for me, not for either of us." She wiped away more pesky tears. "So that's why I want you to run. Get away from here. As far as your legs can physically take you. Besides, you need to live your own life too, Shinya. I want you to live. I want you to experience life as anyone else would. Get married, raise children... That's what I want for you too! Please understand that. I just... I know I need to let you go but... It's hard to... Because for years now I just haven't been able to forget. Everything you said...When you and I were partners, fighting crime...How you saved me... I can't ever forget that and I won't. You've impacted my life in so many ways and I feel like I haven't thanked you enough for it. Which is why this has all been so hard. Which is why I haven't been able to move on from the past..." Kogami's heart began to ache as though it were ready to burst. She never called him that before. "Shinya..." It was such a foreign word coming from Akane. He had only used her first name for the second time now, she didn't seem to notice he had not addressed her as he usually had back in the day. Akane finished her thought as Shinya stepped closer to her. Startled, she tripped on her feet, now fumbling backwards. Kou managed to grab her before she fell, helping her regain her balance. She let out a small sigh and thanked him.

He smirked while wiping his eyes, trying to hide the fact he was on the brink of tears himself. "Quite clumsy, aren't we, inspector?" She smiled back and hit his chest lightly. The moment of happiness was then extinguished as they both stopped smiling. Realizing everything they told each other previously was to be carried through. Akane lowered her head before letting more salty, bittersweet  tears roll down her round cheeks. Shinya broke from his usual cool nature as he also began to feel tears fill the corners of his eyes. Was this it? Was this truly goodbye for good? Was there no way they could work it out? These were the questions that enveloped her conscious. Beating against her head like a wild animal trapped in a cage.
She wasn't ready to say the words. It stung like a thousand needles in her chest. Deep down, he felt the same but would never dare to admit it. Eventually, the two of them mustered up the courage to say what both of them had been eager to for so long. "Goodbye" they both uttered softly as they started to part ways. At long last... They had said those horribly bittersweet words.