Psycho Pass: All Alone With You

Until Death...Do Us Part? - ACT 1

 Lying on his stomach, eyes blurry with sleep, Kurnan crawled to the edge of the bed on Asura's side and laid his head in her lap. The fine satin of her nightgown felt soft against his skin as he rubbed his cheek against her thigh.

"Are you humming that sad song again?" Asura Rai ran her delicate fingers through his tousled black hair and peered down into his face with a smile.

"It's a love song," he corrected her.

"It's still sad."

"Some love songs are sad. It can't be helped." Eyes closed, he reveled in the warmth of her body and the flawlessness of her pale skin. As she combed her hair, the long black tresses fell over her shoulder and caressed the back of his neck.

Asura brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. Smelling like roses, her fingers lingered on his face as if she were committing it to memory through her touch. "Where do you go when you close your eyes?"

Enforcer Shinya Kogami was awakened from the dream by fingers gently running through his hair. The tousled black forelock covering his eyes was slick with sweat and clung to his feverish cheeks and forehead. Disoriented by the abrupt awakening, he blinked rapidly through his confusion, but was unable to remember his location. The back of his throat felt raw as if he had been shouting for an extended period of time. He tried to swallow, but had difficulty.

With his gray coat draped over his shoulder like a blanket, he was lying on his side. Despite the warmth it provided, Kogami shivered restlessly. His entire body ached, every muscle in rebellion, and he was having trouble breathing through his nose.

Strange. The pungent scent of roses came, unhindered, through his nostrils. For only a moment, his sinuses were clear, and then just as quickly, they were fully closed up again. The dull pressure of clogged sinuses created an itchy sensation in his head that he could not scratch, and he groaned, feeling quite miserable. Perplexed by his whereabouts, he focused his attention on Inspector Akane Tsunemori who was kneeling beside him.

Despite the concern in her face, she offered him a pleasant smile. "What was that song you were humming?"

"I was humming?"

"You must have been dreaming." Akane's smile broadened. "And she must have been very pretty."

Kogami frowned. He was not in the mood for even the slightest levity. "I don't remember."

Swallowing with difficulty, Kogami finally recognized where he was. The MWPSB had dispatched Division 1 to investigate an incident at a prominent, local theater. While his colleagues were inside the building, he was left behind, asleep on the padded seat in the back of the paddy wagon.

Kogami slowly sat up with Akane's support. Holding his head in his hands, he rested his elbows on his thighs and fought to keep down what little food there was in his belly. He was feeling much weaker than he wanted to admit and wasn't certain he would have accomplished a simple task like sitting upright without her help.

Akane brushed a damp lock of hair from his feverish face. "You look terrible."

"A consequence of breaking your fall, Inspector." Kogami squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them until they were red and irritated.

"Me falling on you may have injured your back, but had nothing to do with giving you a head cold."

"No more desserts for you. Not sure I can handle it." He pressed his fingers into the acutely inflamed sinuses on both sides of his nose.

"Clearly your sense of humor hasn't been affected."

"Was I being funny?"

"Kogami, I'm a little worried about you," Akane said, ignoring his taunt. She tried to get him to raise his head, but to no avail. The stubborn Enforcer listlessly avoided her touch and pulled away. "Ginoza made a mistake signing you out of medical." Pushing his hand away, she forced him to raise his head and examined his eyes. "Did Dr. Iseya give you some medication? Your pupils are pinned."