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.”
“Muscle relaxant for my back. All thanks to you. And something for my cold.” Kogami sat back, breathing through his mouth, and laid his head against the headrest.
“You look like you can barely keep your eyes open.”
“It’s a challenge. Is Ginoza looking for me?”
“Not yet. I left you out here to sleep, but Kagari heard you singing in your sleep.” Akane chuckled as she draped the gray jacket over his shoulders. “He got worried and called me. Maybe you should come inside, so I can keep an eye on you.”
Kogami saw movement just outside the rear of the wagon. Gulping audibly, Kagari quickly stepped out of his view.
“Don’t be mad at him,” Akane scolded. “He was worried, and now I can see why.” She stood up and held her hands out to him. “Come on, let’s get you inside. You’ll be more comfortable in there.”
“What’s the case?”
“We’re still not sure what we’re dealing with, but it seems routine.”
Kogami ignored her hands and stood up under his own effort to prove to himself that he could. Chilled to the bone, he shrugged into his gray jacket and zipped it closed all the way up to the neck. It didn’t seem unusually cold outside, but he was freezing. Struggling to feel the tips of his fingers, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a pack of cigarettes.
“Because that’s a good idea, right?” Akane took the cigarette from his lips.
Anger brought clarity. Short tempered due to ill-health, Kogami snatched the cigarette from her hand. “Allow me some small comfort.” He quickly lit the cigarette before she could reclaim it.
The caustic smoke burned as it rolled across the raw tissue in the back of his throat. Kogami choked violently, staggering to the back of the wagon for fresh air. He coughed in convulsive fits that made every muscle in his body spasm in pain. Unable to catch his breath, he stumbled from the back of the paddy wagon, lost his balance, and nearly fell face first on the curb.
Kagari caught him before he could hit the ground. “Easy, Ko. Jeez, can’t believe Inspector Ginoza insisted on bringing you along.”
“That’ll be enough of that,” Akane said. She snatched the cigarette from his hand and threw it down in the street where she crushed it out.
Too busy coughing and gasping for breath, Kogami leaned helplessly against Kagari. He had neither the will nor the strength to challenge either of them. As the burning in his throat subsided, he forced himself to take slow, deep breaths through his mouth. Too weak to stand any longer, he dropped to one knee on the pavement. Kagari clung to his jacket to hold him in an upright position.
“Oh, this isn’t good,” Kagari said. “Akane, this isn’t right. I know we’re just latent criminals with few rights, but this is cruel to drag him out here in this condition. Ginoza’s gone too far this time.”
Hands on Kogami’s shoulders, Akane wavered with indecision. “Maybe I should call for a wagon to come pick him up and take him back to headquarters.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Kogami said. He winced, hearing the wheezing in his voice. Feebly shoving Kagari away, he stood up. Though stooped at the waist, balancing over his knees, he eventually straightened, but not without some effort. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine,” Kagari said. “Since when did you start singing in your sleep?”
“I was dreaming.”
Scratching the back of his head, Kagari grinned impishly. “Did that dream include Akane in a maid’s outfit—” He cut himself off immediately when the veteran Enforcer’s malevolent gaze fell across him. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Funny,” Kogami said, “I thought you were trying to end up in the infirmary with me when we do get back to headquarters.”
“Kogami! Just because you’re not feeling well doesn’t give you the right to threaten Kagari. He was just concerned about you.”
“Like I said, I’m fine.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he sighed and let his head fall back onto his shoulders. He was perspiring heavily and felt the beads of sweat rolling across his skin. “Are we going to stand out here all day or go inside?”
Akane rolled her eyes. “You really are impossible.”
“I try my best.”
“Come on, Kagari.”
Wary of being in Kogami’s forward field of vision, especially when the Enforcer was in a bad mood, Kagari bowed and extended his hand toward the theater entrance. “After you.”
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