He awoke disoriented and seemingly bumping and bouncing in a well-lit space. Blurred figures slowly came into focus as Calvin became aware of a tingly, warm sensation circulating his body. Two figures loomed above. One was a paramedic; the other pushed flowing locks out of her face. He smiled, or thought he did at least.

      “Hey.” Hiromi’s voice soothed the ringing in his ears.

      “Mornin’.” Calvin murmured. He tried to blink away the grogginess and sit up. He slid his right elbow back to prop himself up, but his left arm was unresponsive. The clasp of a strap around his ribs clicked tight and another source of pressure pushed firmly on his upper chest.

     “Don’t- don’t try to move.” Hiromi’s face came into focus, flushed slightly pink and deeply shadowed with exhaustion. His view followed her arm as it led down past his chin to her hand pressing on his chest.

     His very bare chest, Calvin observed. Muscles he’d never been confident exposing outside of locker rooms were on full display as they strained against the straps of a gurney. A hot wave of abashed self-consciousness rushed through when he zipped his gaze up to Hiromi’s eyes and found them no longer positioned to meet his. Her lips pursed slightly with an intake of breath before the gentle pressure on his sternum coaxed Calvin to lie back on the pillow.

      He took the opportunity to further survey his position. A large bandage was taped to his lower right abdomen. The pleasant tingling lazily flowing through his veins seemed to be coming from a small IV drip-feeding into his right forearm. At the foot of the gurney he could see the shredded remains of his suit stuffed into a bag, above which the distorted reflection of his surroundings shone in two small windows. Ambulance. That explains a lot. Calvin mused. Hiromi was holding his left hand. Calvin could see that, but unlike the smooth and slender fingers patting his sternum, he couldn’t feel it.

     “Whasswrong with my arm?” Calvin asked, struggling not to slur through the anesthetic. His brow tightened in concern. Hiromi looked over at the paramedic, who lifted Calvin’s bloodstained ballistic vest into view. The Kevlar puffed in several places along the back where the vest had intercepted bullets. Calvin counted five, plus one in the upper left and another in the lower right where clean holes had been punched through the material.

     “If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say you got yourself shot, chief.” The paramedic drawled, reminiscent of John Wayne.

     “Don’t worry, we’re taking you straight to the operating room. You’re not gonna die, but I wouldn’t count on using that arm anytime soon.” The paramedic patted Calvin’s foot, dropped the vest and slid past the gurney. As he passed Hiromi, the medic gave her a wink and advised her to “Take a picture… it’ll last longer.”

      Hiromi’s cheeks burned scarlet and her hand retracted from Calvin’s chest at high velocity. The medic chuckled as he slid into the passenger’s seat of the cab. Calvin couldn’t help but notice how Hiromi tucked her hand into her lap as a tight fist, one completely unsuitable for fighting. Memories of the last hours started to trickle in. He tried to close his fingers around hers. They obliged only slightly.

     “Um… are you living up to your namesake, Agent Laurens?” Hiromi queried. She leaned over him, face angelically eclipsing the ceiling light.

     Calvin blinked rapidly for a moment, just taking in the calming sight of her tension melting away. “Nah…” He grunted. “Not dead yet.” He said. The more he worked it, the less his tongue felt disconnected from him. “Sorry I left you to clean up the mess.”

     She shrugged and sat back on the bench seat. “Seemed like you needed the rest. All four of the perps are alive, only one’s in critical condition. Civilians are all fine except Fahran, who got a nasty bruise from our friend the waitress.” Calvin’s face scrunched as he struggled to recall. Hiromi flicked her finger forward. “Right, you missed that part.”

     Her eyes flicked to the rear window of the ambulance. “Everyone needs treatment though. We’ve got a little caravan going behind us.” She stared off for a few seconds before offering her next question.

     “How do you know about me?”

     Calvin raised his right shoulder in a lopsided shrug and took a deep breath. “I read your report. Been sitting on Lewis’ safe house since the raid.” He said. Hiromi’s stare dropped down to him, brow line taut. He glanced over at her. “Don’t worry, I didn’t make the connection till you took my gun. Not a stalker or anything”

    Hiromi nodded slowly. “So you’re with the surveillance team. They didn’t give us names.” She stated, her concern dissipated just enough to allow a glimmer of embarrassed mirth to warm her cheeks. “Sorry I called you ICE.”

    Calvin groaned as the ambulance jostled over a rough patch of road and made a turn. “Aaah, I was gonna correct you, but I didn’t want to ruin a fourth date secret.”

    Hiromi’s left cheek pulled back in a sardonic grin and she let her eyes roll. “What, you don’t count gunplay as a twofer?” She asked, sitting back on the bench and turning her head away in a dramatic huff. “Jerk!” She dropped the act as quickly as it had been raised.

    “Besides,” Calvin reopened, shaking off his bemused smirk to consider more serious things. “I get the impression you’re not a fan of our customs enforcement brethren.”

    Hiromi cocked her head aside dismissively. Calvin hesitated, wondering if his next thought was worth pursuing. He found he couldn’t resist.

    “The inscription on your weapon. It’s ‘Aku-Soku-Zan,’ right? ‘Swift death to evil?’”

     Hiromi covered her eyes with her free hand and grimaced. “You noticed that?” She asked.

    Calvin bit his lip and nodded before sallying into the unknown. “Some might think that’s a bit of a radical statement.”

    A flat smile peeked out from the shadow of Hiromi’s palm. Her hand pushed upwards, smoothing out her bangs. Calvin looked up at her, anxiously awaiting a response.

     Hiromi took a deep breath and let her reply wander out through a long dry sigh.

    “Yes. I didn’t really think about appearances when I had the engraving done. It gave me a reputation as being kind of an extremist… it followed me from highway patrol to FLET-C.” She pulled the left of her lower lip under her teeth and let it slide back out before continuing.

     “Half of my training class through FLET-C was going into ICE. You know how it is, rumors tend to get out and spread like wildfire… The others weren’t too keen on ‘Little Miss Japan’ and her ‘mantra of murder.’” Hiromi blinked, old frustrations in her eyes. “They weren’t at all afraid to tell me what they thought of me around the dorms. Or on the sparring mats.” Her hand squeezed her knee at the recollection. “The whole thing left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.” Calvin let his head roll back to the center of the gurney and stared up at the ceiling.

    “Wow, that’s… rough. And personal.” He said. That came out wrong. He cleared his throat and refocused on her face. “What’s the real story then? Why Aku-Soku-Zan?”

    “It’s for my uncle. Something he always said.” Hiromi’s words came with a gentle squeeze of the hand and a new sincerity in her eyes. “He was always going on about ideals.” Her face drew stern and she deepened her voice to mimic the memory of his accent.

    “’Rid yourself of evil! Then you can really make a difference! Help others however you can.’ That sort of thing.” Calvin could have sworn Hiromi’s dark eyes started to sparkle as she went on.

    “When my father’s job brought us to America, my uncle was denied a long-term visa for being in Japan’s army reserves. But we kept in touch. He always ended his letters with that same ‘Swift death to evil!’ As a kid I thought it was the coolest quote of all time. Even more so when we heard he’d become a policeman in Kyoto.” Calvin kept his eyes fast on her, the throbbing in his side held back by intrigue and morphine.

    “It was practically scripture to me when I got word he’d been killed on duty.” Hiromi laughed softly to chase the melancholy from her visage.

    “Turns out he got it from a comic book.”

    Calvin’s question gushed out of him, freed by opiates and riding high on relief. “Is your uncle’s name Saito?”

    Hiromi exhaled with a bemused puff. “You’ve read it too?” she asked. Calvin nodded. “Oh gosh, you’re a nerd, aren’t you!?” She followed up, splitting into a full-cheeked smile. Calvin turned his head to beam over at her. “Are you kidding?” He laughed.

     “I spent a day doing paperwork for requisitions so I could carry a Jericho on duty because it’s the gun from-” Hiromi finished the sentence with him. “Cowboy Bebop!”

    The ambulance began to slow. The paramedic riding shotgun turned back to check on the couple. “We’re here. I need to get the check-in started, get ready to move.”

    Hiromi’s face turned grim. She nodded and set Calvin’s hand back on the gurney as the ambulance’s brakes hissed the vehicle to a complete stop. The paramedics climbed out and shut the cab doors. Calvin shook his head once, trying not to think about the impending surgery.

    “Y’know, when you told me about your dogs, I wondered.” He muttered. Hiromi’s smile returned, not nearly as energetic as before.

     “Why else would I name a Corgi ‘Spike?’ Hiromi asked as the rear doors of the ambulance swung wide, framing a medical team in front of the hospital and a gorgeously inky, star-filled sky. The paramedics grabbed the end of the gurney and unhooked the tethers.

    Calvin watched, struggling to keep the anxiety out of his voice. “Hey, Hiromi? Have you got plans for tomorrow? I feel like I owe you a do-over for tonight.”

    Hiromi shook her head and answered. “No, just writing the ‘why I shot people’ reports.”

     “Yay!” Calvin exclaimed victoriously as the paramedics pulled his gurney halfway out of the vehicle. The first set of wheels dropped to the ground with a clack. Trembling panic now openly filled Calvin’s voice. “My place, anytime after work? I’ll text you the room number.” Another tug, the metallic snap of the gurneys other wheels.

     “Okay, I’ll be there!” Hiromi laughed out as the team started to move.

    “Cafeteria Jell-O’s on me!!” Calvin shouted over the clattering of the gurney and the clamor of the medical team discussing their destination as they raced to the hospital doors. “Dress casual, I don’t think they’ll let me wear a tie over one of those goofy gowns!”

    Hiromi kept laughing at the sight of the ridiculous man she’d spent an evening with making plans as he was wheeled away.