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Ginoza was never one for parties, much less office parties, even before he was demoted to Enforcer.
Yet, he decided to go on this one occasion, anyway. What else did he have to do, when it was near Christmas and his only options for celebrating the seasonal activities were therapy and punching a drone in the gym? Maybe he could whip up a nice holiday dinner in the kitchens, but there were few people he cared to share a meal with.
One person that came to mind was better off not naming.
The other was enjoying a glass of champagne from across the room with her other inspectors.
He’d gotten used to seeing her in office attire, but tonight she was wearing a modest, long-sleeved velvet dress and strappy heels. The dress was a lovely shade of burgundy, cinched at the waist with a belt. There was nothing untoward or inappropriate about the attire at all, but that didn’t stop some of her coworkers from thinking they could cozy up to her anyway.
One of the dress’s sleeves was sliding off her shoulder, and a male colleague had shrewdly placed his palm on the exposed skin.
Ginoza furrows his brows at the invasion. He plucks a glass of champagne off the buffet table and crosses the room in smooth strides, not taking his eyes off the offending hand even once.
He imagines sinking his teeth into the fleshiest part of the appendage when he pointedly slides in between the two. Instead, he ignores the other man completely and minds the woman in the dress. “Inspector Tsunemori, a toast?”
Akane looks up at him in mild surprise but doesn’t hesitate to tap her glass to his. “Of course, Mr. Ginoza. Cheers.”
As they drink, Ginoza looks over the rim of his glass as the other inspector excuses himself with haste. He feels a bit of pride in running the man off. One glance at Akane’s disapproving look though, and he knows he’s overstepped his boundaries. He clears his throat and takes another sip of his drink as she hooks her arm with his cybernetic one in quiet forgiveness. Her soft brown hair brushes his shoulder and he knows what this must look like to everyone else. A bit of revenge on her part. He’ll give her that, at least.
“I still have to say hello to my superiors before I turn in for the night.” A polite heads up if he truly meant to stick by her hip for the rest of the evening. He pretends to think about it and swirls the remaining champagne around in his glass.
Akane’s senior status and experience made her valuable to the PSB, but also dangerous, and that came with its own set of corporate responsibilities and annoyances. She’d been offered multiple promotions in her career not limited to department changes or relocation offers. All fancy work jargon thinly veiled as an effort on their part to further control her.
He wonders if she will be poached again tonight.
Akane looks up at him, and seeing the crease in his brow, prods him in the stomach with a slender finger. “If you’re not going to accompany me, get me another drink.”
Ginoza chuckles and gestures the way forward with his other arm. “I’ll do both.”
Akane has become an expert at hiding her tells over the years. Ginoza can hardly read what’s on her mind as she greets the appropriate parties one after the other. He follows on her heels like a shadow and aside from the occasional remark, remains so quiet and still, they forget he’s there. Sometimes he socializes with another Enforcer and friendly Inspector but never allows Akane to leave his sight otherwise. She was popular in the department even without her own prompting, due to her involvement in multiple high-profile cases. New recruits were especially wide-eyed at her presence, considering her to be a bit of a legend.
Yet, as it goes with popularity, there was an equal amount of animosity, and no amount of sparkly holiday decorations would cover that up.
He was scowling at a pair of sneering onlookers when Akane appeared and slipped her hand into his.
“That’s not very nice, Mr. Ginoza. It’s Christmas.”
He gives her hand a little squeeze. “So it is, Inspector.”
She pulls him from the middle of the room and closer to the large windows overlooking the city at night. Red velvet curtains had been strung up on the occasion of the party, and Ginoza wondered who would go through such efforts for one night. Tucked away like this though, with the curtains on one side and the tension rolling off Akane’s shoulders on the other, he appreciates the curtains for another reason altogether.
Shielded from the rest of the room, Akane sighs and leans her face on the cold window. Ginoza watches as her breath fogs up the glass and wishes he could remove even the slightest bit of burden off her mind.
“Want to get out of here?” He asks after a beat.
“I’m so tired, I can’t think,” Akane says.
“They didn’t deserve your attention.”
“I wish it was that simple.”
“You don’t have to come to these events if you don’t want to.”
“Then why do you come?”
She was looking straight at him now, head still tilted towards the glass, and he nearly takes a step back. Sharp brown eyes pierce through him, seeking the truth, and he starts to understand just a little why that man left Japan without facing her first.
The edge of her lips quirks into a smile and she bursts out laughing. “I’m just joking, Mr. Ginoza. You’re so serious all the time! This is a party, remember? Not a covert op.”
“It’s not the party that has me on edge,” Ginoza replies, but his shoulders relax all the same. “Your boundaries with people are far too loose.”
“They can goad and flirt with me all they like, they’ll forget about it after all the drinking.”
I won’t always be here to protect you, Ginoza wants to tell her, but fears he’s already met his quota for overstepping his boundaries for the night and shuts his mouth. Noticing his frustration, Akane reaches for his cold, metal wrist and her features soften.
“I’ve placed quite a burden on you. I’m sorry for that.”
“I chose this.”
“We both did.”
Then, without another word, she brings his wrist up to her lips and gives it the slightest kiss. A rosy-pink mark from her lipstick is left on the metal, Midas touched, and Ginoza’s cheeks turn the same shade. He swallows thickly.
“This is exactly the kind of behavior I mean, Inspector.”
Her voice is warm with a smile when she speaks next. “No one’s looking.”
“How is that any better?”
“I’ve already been with an outlaw. An Enforcer won’t be such a shock, would it?”
Ginoza’s jaw drops, aghast as Akane bursts into laughter, shaking his arm with her jitters and hiccupped giggles. He convinces himself it’s just the alcohol getting to the both of them when she tells him to take her somewhere quiet if their current company bothered him so much. He was more than happy to oblige.
On their way out, with his jacket over her shoulders, Akane points to a mistletoe hanging on the door frame upon their leaving.
“Mistletoes are poisonous,” Ginoza states passively. Like he didn’t know what she meant by pointing it out.
“Doesn’t that make it worth it?”
He looks at her. Mischievous smile and all with a glint of adventure in her eyes, and feels the slightest bit lucky that he gets to see these playful expressions she makes.
(A certain someone was missing out.)
“I guess it does.”
The doors shut behind them, immediately drowning out the noise of chatter and Christmas tunes, and he kisses her.