Kogami slowly rubbed at his weary eyes, momentarily resting his forehead on his folded hands. A quick check of his wristcom showed that he had worked well into the dawn. Forty hours with no sleep. Unfortunately, it was looking like Ginoza might have been right about Akane's paranoia. Despite the death threats, no bad guys arrived in the night. No intruders stole into her apartment while she slept. The night had passed uneventfully with the exception of one unsettling nightmare. A few sips of hot tea and a bedside vigil had sent the young Inspector back into a peaceful slumber among pastel pillows and stuffed animals.

The case files to cover their sleepover story were complete and awaiting her review. He had taken the time to password protect all of them. If Ginoza wanted to see his work, he would have to wait until Akane had signed off on each one. It was a ploy to redirect is old friend's anger where it belonged, squarely on Kogami's shoulders.

He toyed with the idea of a quick power nap while Akane was in the bathroom getting ready for work. Breakfast was almost ready. Everything he needed was laid out on the counter: pancake batter, eggs, and chocolate chips, just as she had asked. That's when he heard a noise from the front door. The familiar grating sound of an umbrella stand sliding across unpolished wood.

Rolling the toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other, Kogami glanced at the bathroom door. There were no immediate shadows on the floor at the threshold. Akane was still getting dressed. He snatched the tie from his neck and tied it around the handles to prevent them from being easily opened. Taking the stun baton from his pocket, he deftly slipped around the corner and into the open closet in the hallway. Pressed against the wall, he snapped the baton to extend it and waited for the intruder to come farther inside. His intuition had proved correct and his simple trap effective.

The intruder was quiet and cautious. Kogami risked a quick peek and saw a gloved hand moving the umbrella stand away from the door to avoid knocking it onto the floor. From the front door to the living room, the interloper moved with a deliberate measure of stealth. There was nothing for him to truly fear at that time in the morning, especially when he was only expecting to encounter a young woman, alone, in the apartment.

That thought only infuriated Kogami. Patiently, he waited until the perp had moved passed the closet and just beyond him. He wanted to strike quietly and effectively, taking the guy down before Akane even knew something was amiss. Bringing up the stun baton, he hyper-focused on the base of the man's neck.

"She's in the shower."

"Then this'll be easy."

There were two of them!

Kogami stifled a gasp of surprise in the back of his throat. Advantage now was more important than ever. He could not know the level of their training until he engaged them, which made it imperative that he take down and incapacitate one of them while he fought with the other man. His advantage of surprise was nearly lost when the first perpetrator turned to face his compatriot and saw Kogami in the corner of the closet.

Springing from the shadows, the Enforcer landed a crippling blow to the back of the second man's skull. There was a satisfying numbness that went through his fingers and into his wrist as the baton fractured bone under the force of the impact. On the mark, the baton delivered a sobering shock to the spinal cord. The man convulsed erratically and dropped to the floor, still quivering in the throes of the stun baton's effects. He dropped a small metallic object from his hand. The partially opened parcel cutter, meant for slicing open heavy cardboard boxes, slid across the hardwood floor and vanished under the couch.

The first man, glancing at his companion on the floor, was quick to react. He slashed at Kogami with his cutter and scored a lucky shot, dragging the razor across the Enforcer's right hand. Kogami dropped the stun baton, which the intruder kicked back into the corridor near the front door. Completing the offensive maneuver, he brought the razor back up across Kogami's face, slicing the skin above his right eyebrow.

Enough of that! Kogami grabbed the assailant's hand to prevent him from striking again with the cutter. Stepping into him, he shoved his elbow into the man's sternum and knocked the air from his lungs with a stunning blow. Blood had been drawn, flowing along the side of his face. Blood for blood! Dirty fighting was something he enjoyed. Snatching the toothpick from his mouth, he held it tightly between his fingers and drove it into the man's eye. With a howl of pain, the attacker reeled back, pressing his hands against his face.

There came a loud rattling from farther in the apartment, accompanied by the pounding of angry fists on the bathroom door. "Kogami! What's going on? Why can't I open this door?"

The assailant made only a moment of eye contact, then with a crazed grin raced into the living room toward the sound of Akane's voice. Kogami laughed. Akane was, for the moment, safe with a door between the intruder and her well being. The perp didn't know that. Eager to sacrifice himself to accomplish his task, he turned his back on the most dangerous thing in the room: her hound.

With a well placed kick to the back of his head, the bloodied Enforcer sent his rival flying backwards, the cutter still grasped in his hand. Kogami grabbed the arm with the weapon and gave it a savage twist that wrenched the shoulder and dislocated it from the socket. In an effort to break free, the man managed to land a wild punch on the cut above Kogami's eye, further opening the wound.

The Enforcer caught the flailing arm and used his knee to force the assailant's elbow to bend backward in a unnatural angle. The impromptu knife went flying in one direction while the body of its wielder went another. Soaring over the couch, the man somersaulted in the air and landed on his back, crushing the coffee table beneath his weight. Glass and wood shattered beneath the force of the impact.

"Kogami! Open this door right now!" Akane demanded.

He was in predation mode and not open to any discussion. Akane didn't need to see what was coming next. In no particular hurry, Kogami waited for the intruder to crawl back to his feet. His opponent was not too steady and knew the fight was over, soon to end in his disadvantage. The objective was impossibly beyond him, behind a door, and a bloody MWPSB Enforcer stood between him and that end goal. Though the anarchist could barely see between the ruin of his eye and blood running through the other, he sought some means of escape.

That's right, Kogami thought, take the easy way out.

To help the criminal make the right decision, Kogami glanced at the window. Thinking to outrun the Enforcer, the perp made a break for it, but Kogami was a stride ahead of him. Shifting his weight from back to front, he used the criminal's forward momentum to throw him off balance and through the plate glass. It shattered noisily as 180 pounds was propelled through the center of it.

The criminal landed in a heap in the corner of the fire escape, but he was still moving. His face had taken the brunt of the impact with the window. Deep gashes marred his face, and shards of glass jutted from the lacerated skin. Kogami grabbed him by the hair and slammed his forehead into the steel railing. His second assault was perhaps too overzealous because the criminal flipped helplessly over the rail. A ten story drop awaited him. Kogami wasn't certain if he'd survive it; so he grabbed one of the man's flailing hands at the last minute and held on, slapping a cuff around his wrist.

"Give me your other hand!" Kogami shouted. He propped his foot against the railing and used his weight to counter the man's plunge. "I said, give me your other hand. I have no problem letting you drop. You can tell your story to the concrete."

Barely conscious, the criminal tapped at the top rail with his free hand. Kogami cuffed it and abruptly let go. With a yelp, the assailant fell three feet, no more, his wrists handcuffed around the bottom railing. He swung suspended in that fashion above the street.

Kogami returned to the apartment to find Akane standing in the doorway. She had managed to wriggle a hand through the door and undo the tie he had knotted to lock her inside the bathroom. Wrapped in only a towel, she stood clutching it about her slender body as she stared in shock at the unconscious man lying on her living room floor and the shattered glass from the busted window across from her.

"Wh-what just happened?"

"You were right," he replied. "That's what happened. If you hadn't listened to your gut instinct, your morning might have gone quite differently." He took a deep breath, as the adrenaline rush within him subsided. "Got another pair of cuffs?"

Akane stepped back into the bathroom, where she searched through her clothes hamper and tossed him a pair.

Jamming his knee into the back of the criminal's neck, Kogami put the cuffs on his wrists and tightened them until the metal visibly pinched the skin. It was not standard protocol, and he risked reprimand. In his mind, however, the perpetrator was lucky he was even alive. Even if Kogami had a Dominator in his possession, the Enforcer would have taken his time to dole out a bit of personal justice for himself on behalf of Akane.

"You might want to call this in. Get some back up in case there are others lurking nearby. And," Kogami added, grinning mischievously, "maybe put some clothes on, before you catch pneumonia. Not necessarily in that order."

"Mr. Kogami. This—this isn't the time for joking. I've got an unconscious man on my floor and another," she struggled to see out onto the balcony, "another one swinging from my fire escape."

"It's not up to me, Inspector. Depends on how comfortable you are facing Ginoza wearing a bath towel. I don't think he'd notice, but Kagari would."

She blushed profusely, her cheeks crimson in contrast to the pastel pink towel. With a cry of alarm that sounded like a mouse caught in the open, the Inspector hurried back to the safety of the bathroom. In short order, Kogami heard her calling in a Code 285: Special Circumstance—Officer in need of immediate assistance."

"Good girl."

The code was a good choice. While she was unharmed and his own injuries were minor, the call would have the whole of Division 1 on the premises in eight minutes. By then the man on the floor might be conscious enough to answer questions, and the man hanging from the balcony might still have the barest of sensation in his fingers. Until then, it was time to make the breakfast he had promised her.

When the time the cavalry arrived, Akane was dressed in a formal suit. Fresh coffee was perking, and the apartment smelled of hot cakes and eggs with an underlying scent of cinnamon and vanilla. Kogami kept himself busy in the kitchen as drones and forensic pillbots did their work.

"You made a good call, Ko. Risky as hell, but worthwhile," Masaoka said quietly. "Girl could have been in serious trouble if you hadn't been here."

"I'm here because she asked me. If there's any praise to be had, it's hers."

"So, Kogami!" Kagari slumped over the breakfast nook, holding his head in his hands. His face was all teeth and cheeks, which were nearly as bright as his ginger hair. His was a toothy grin to rival any Cheshire Cat. "Can I ask the obvious question?"

"If you mention anything about panties, you'll be eating pancakes through a tube."

Kagari's disappointment was evident, exaggerated by an overdramatic frown. But like the moods of a tropical storm, it was short lived. "Are those chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Hands off!" Kogami slapped his hand with the hot spatula. "Those are Akane's. Here." He pushed a dish toward the younger Enforcer. "I ran out of chocolate chips. I made those with cinnamon."

"Even better!" Kagari grabbed two handfuls, ignoring any syrup, and devoured one in a single bite. "This is delicious!" He swiftly ate the other one. "Who knew you could cook? Or look so seductive in an apron." Winking an eye, the red-head leaned once more across the counter. "Give it up, Ko. You went through Akane's drawers, didn't you?"

"Pops? A little assistance?"

Masaoka grabbed Kagari by the ear and maneuvered the overzealous Enforcer back toward the crime scene. "Get back to the kids' table and leave the adults to their business!"

"Something to eat before you go?" Kogami asked.

"Coffee, if you got it."

Kogami poured Masaoka a cup and nodded in thanks as the older Enforcer took their younger colleague back to the working crime scene. From the corner of his eye, he watched the Inspectors, who were standing across the room debriefing. Ginoza fiercely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, an obvious tell of his annoyance. He was asking the questions. Akane nodded, arms crossed over her chest, and calmly fired back answers. She was back to her old self and that pleased him. There wasn't much more to worry about except the sizzling of the batter in the pan before him.

"Hey," he said as she walked over to join him. "Sorry to turn your kitchen into a diner. Seemed like the right thing at that moment."

"It was, Mr. Kogami. I'm really sorry you got hurt in all this. Does it hurt?" She squinted in pain while examining the stitches just above his brow.

"No big deal. Looks like we'll having matching shiners for the next day or two."  He put a plate in front of her.  "Better eat up before it gets cold. Or worse."

"Worse? What could be worse?"

"Kagari could come back for thirds. I ran out of chocolate chips and had to use cinnamon. He doesn't care."

She nibbled on the edge of the pancake, her face lit up with excitement. "These are to die for!"

Kogami laughed. "Might be a poor choice of words, considering recent events. Those criminals were armed with box cutters. They meant to do you some serious harm."

"I know. If it weren't for you being here, they might have gotten their chance. I'm not too thrilled about it."

He glanced up from his work. "Speaking of not being thrilled." Kogami indicated Ginoza through a subtle nod. "Was he mad?"

"He wants to be, but he was wrong. I'm afraid he may be harsher with you than he was with me."

"I can handle it."

Akane's eyes widened, and she straightened abruptly. Kogami recognized the specter of Ginoza before the shadow of his former friend could fall across the counter.

"And what can I expect from your version of this sordid story?" the senior Inspector asked with a sneer.

"Same as hers," Kogami replied, never looking up from the stovetop. He picked up three eggs in one hand, cracked them neatly, and began scrambling them. "We were working on a case. It got late. That's all."

"Is it?"

"Something you want to say, Inspector? I'm all ears."

"Maybe I do—"

"Maybe if you had listened to Inspector Tsunemori instead of trying to make her look foolish, this could have been avoided. Maybe it would have been you sitting here, cuffing the perps and keeping her safe." Kogami aggressively worked the eggs against the hot pan. "Doubt you have any cooking talent, but that's besides the point. You were wrong. Again. And it could have meant her life. Her life. Does that mean anything to you?"

"I—"

"I'm not finished. Masaoka tells me the drones found three other perps waiting in hiding. How many more are out there? The threat was real, all too real. You need to spend less time worrying about tending the hounds in the kennel and a bit more on your responsibilities to your fellow Inspector." Kogami turned off the burners and gently placed a paper towel over the eggs to absorb any residual grease. "There. I'm done."

Chided by the truth in every word, Ginoza paled. His eyes were hidden beneath a dark mane of hair, but Kogami felt their ire. "I'll expect a full report by this afternoon, Enforcer Kogami."

"Trust me. You'll have it."

Shoulders stiff with fury, Ginoza glared at Akane and left them to oversee the prisoner transport.

"Was that wise putting him on the spot like that?" She made a sandwich of her pancakes and eggs.

"He'll get over it. He'll rationalize it away—minimalizing and negating facts—placing theory above experience. I'm nothing, just a latent criminal. My words have little meaning to a man like him."

"But that's not true. I've learned so much just listening to you."

"Oh, really? Such as?"

"When you get a gut feeling, don't ignore it."

"And?" He removed the apron and neatly tucked it into the handle on the front of the stove.

"And that there are boundaries that should not be crossed."

"Oh?" Heart racing at her choice of words, Kogami braced himself for a lecture about their ranks and their delineation.

Akane put her hand on his sleeve. "And some boundaries that really don't exist, except within our minds."

Simultaneously, their wristcoms lit up with an incoming message alert. "Looks like the scanners picked up one or two of those bad guys trying to run away," Kogami said.

Akane nodded in agreement. "All available Inspectors and Enforcers are being summoned to the area." She smiled sadly. "It's been a very long night, Mr. Kogami. Are you up for the hunt?" She held up his tie and put it around his neck when he bent over, allowing her to reach over his head.

"You know, you're going to owe me one after this," he whispered.

"Private protection. Nightmare watch. Tea and breakfast. I owe you more than one, Mr. Kogami."

Grabbing his jacket, Kogami shrugged into it with a smile well hidden by the action. "Let's go."