The programming that told him how to act in certain situations was usually 1000% perfect. Very few things could make him divert away from his programming. But being a chobit, L had essentially completely free will. And if he felt the need to, he could break away from his programming.

Usually every night was the same, you'd set up the futon, put on some pyjamas and go to sleep. L would shut down into sleep mode and wake up exactly when you'd told him to wake up the next day. To prevent from overheating, he was programmed to shift around in his sleep like a normal human would, to maintain temperature. For him going to sleep was pretty much the same as humans, just with the fact he would wake up at the time provided on the dot. No sleeping I'm, no being groggy and sleepy. He only lost energy when his battery was low.

So when he found himself awake at 2 in the morning, several hours before he was meant to wake up, he was a little confused. You were still asleep next to him, wrapped up in the blankets and completely unaware.

He sat up, looked around and tried to figure out what had caused him to wake up. The room was dark, the only light coming in through the crack in the curtains was from the moon and a street light. It was quiet, no one else in the apartment would be awake at this hour. The streets outside were quiet, only crickets chirping.

So what had caused him to wake up?

Did he need to be charged up? Can't be... he was fully charged. Had you accidentally told him the wrong time? Nope, he still had the alarm set for 8:30am. Something had caused him to divert from his programming and wake up, that only ever happened if either he needed something or if he'd detected some kind of danger he needed to be alert for.

He got up, quietly so he wouldn't wake you. Looking around the apartment for anything that may have set off his sensors. Something falling? Something in an apartment above?

He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary inside, so he went to the balcony to look outside. He pulled the curtains open, quietly slid the glass door open and stepped outside. The gentle wind pushed the curtains back, made his hair rustle and his oversized pyjama shirt flow. Looking around, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The street light was on, the crickets were chirping, the street was empty. No people out at this hour, cars all parked in the driveways, everything seemed normal.

Expect...

Catching his eye, he noticed the front gates to the apartment complex were open. That wasn't normal. They were always locked at night to prevent trespassers, only residents with a key could get in. And yet, they were wide open, swinging slightly in the wind.

Someone was in the complex.

Immediately he cycled through all that data he'd gotten on crimes, and looked for information about trespassing and breaking into places. Was it a robbery? Was it a stalker? Whatever it was, someone sneaking into private property obviously has malicious intent. L couldn't see anyone from the balcony, but he knew someone must be in the complex.

Quietly he put his slippers on, and slipped out the door to investigate. His detective instinct and urge to keep you safe kicking in. His eyes had a night vision lens in them, so even in the dark hallways he could see perfectly fine. He crept through the halls, listening for any noises and keeping an eye out for any movement.

He truly had some amazing sensors if he managed to detect the gates being opened from all the way inside.

"L what on- ah your sensors"

He jumped slightly, turning to find Mr Watari behind him. Also in pyjamas and up investigating.

"L detected unnatural movement and has to protect (y/n)" L said.

"I know, I built you with those sensors for situations like this. I heard the gates open, someone has broken in, I've already called police" Watari replied.

A floorboard creaked, and their attention immediately turned to the source of the noise around the corner. The two stayed quiet, on the same wavelength and very slowly and quietly crept toward it. L stayed in the front, now he'd learnt capoeira he could fight if he had to. And given how heavy persacoms were because of their metal skeleton, a kick from him would really hurt.

Peeking around the corner, he saw a person standing in the hallway seemingly looking for a certain apartment. They wore a hat so their hair was covered, but they seemed to be tall and slim, with shifty brown eyes. They carried a backpack and in their front pocket a small figure was sticking out. L couldn't quite tell what it was, but it seemed to be somewhat doll like. Maybe a toy? Or a smaller persacom like Rem?

He made sure to save the image into his hard drive for later to use as evidence. This wasn't exactly how he expected his first case to go, being a break in to his own apartment but here he was. And his goal was to protect you, and solve this case.

L looked back at Watari and nodded, silently telling him someone was there. Watari had come prepared with a stun gun, since actual guns were very illegal to own without a permit and extensive training. Watari did actually have the training, he had a sniper certification. But to there was really no need for such violence and injury, maybe even death when a shock and slap would do just fine.

There was a silent agreement in that nod, the two of them deciding to tame action. L was the first to step out, and immediately a flashlight was shone at his face to see who was there.

"A persacom? Tch, some security guard" the man scoffed.

"Breaking and entering is illegal you know" L replied.

"What will a robot do about it? By the time the cops show up I'll already be gone"

"There's cameras in my eyes you know. We know what you look like now criminal"

"We-"

Before the man could finish, Watari stood behind L and held the stun gun up ready to shoot.

"Drop any weapons, I'm a trained sniper. Get out of the building, the police have been called" he announced.

The intruder sprung into action and began to book out down the hall to escape. L and Watari took off after him, L being a persacom and Watari being and older man, L was the one who sped ahead. The noise was starting to wake people up, and as they ran down the halls lights in apartments began to turn on. By the time they got to the ground floor, L had almost caught up to the intruder, but it was clear that he was going to get away. There was just too much distance, but there was one thing L could do.

As they ran across the garden to the gates, L lunged forward and grabbed ahold of the man's hat with the tips of his fingers, the hat slipped off and L stumbled forward almost tripping over. The man had escaped, but L has evidence. That hat, which more than likely contained DNA evidence from hair or skin, would secure the identity of the criminal.

Watari finally caught up, and the criminal has vanished into the night.

"Damnit, well we did get footage on your hard drive we can give to the police" Watari puffed.

"L got his hat! For DNA evidence" L smiled.

"Wha- wow you are going to be a great detective if you thought of that so quickly"

Watari took the hat, looking it over for any strands of hair that could be used. Sirens started to be heard in the distance and the police approached just slightly too late.

The fuss had awoken half the apartment, and all the residents were coming out in their pyjamas to see what was going on. Including you, who'd woken up to the noise, saw L was gone and panicked.

"L!" You called out, shoving the entrance doors open.

"(Y/n)!" He called back.

You booked it over to him, scooping him up in your arms and hugging him time.

"Oh thank god, what happened? Are you ok? Nothing broken?" You asked.

"L is ok. I even got evidence" he replied returning your hug.

"Evidence?"

What in dicks fuck was happening at 2am on a Wednesday?

"Someone broke in, L managed to detect it and grabbed the guys hat before he got away. Thanks to him we have DNA evidence and footage of the guy, the police have evidence now" Watari explained.

"Someone broke in? Like for a robbery or what?" You asked.

"No idea. But L is definitely working as I intend when I built him. Those sensors are for situations like this"

Even though the situation was a bit scary, and half the apartment was now awake and grumpy, you still found it in yourself to be proud of L for acting quick.

"Wow, well done L. You're seriously already a great detective" you smiled.

"L made sure to protect you" he smiled back.

"You definitely did, I didn't even wake up until a minute ago. You're amazing as always L"

He tightened his grip on you for a thankful hug, and giggled in joy at your praise. All he wanted was to keep you safe, and he loved when you thanked him for it. Putting a kiss on your cheek, he was glad you felt safe with him.

"L will always protect you, because I love you" he said.

Returning his kiss, you tightened your grip on him too.

"I love you too L, you're gonna be the world's greatest detective"