She couldn't sleep.
Thoughts were taking over her mind, and she just couldn't put her tablet down. Once she read the first article on the matter, she was hooked.
He, on the other hand, just wished for her to put the damned device up and get some needed rest.
"Kogami, there was a woman who got pregnant with two babies at one time. Not twins, but TWO babies because she had two uteruses." The inspector said, poking his bare back to make him wake up for the fifth time since he had gotten in bed. "Do you think that's why I'm gaining weight so fast? Can we handle two babies at once? Can-"
"Akane." The enforcer glared up at his lover. "What does it say that the chances of having two uteruses are?"
She read further down.
"One in five million."
"Now, I highly doubt that there are two babies on the inside of you. The doctor confirmed that there is only one heartbeat. One heartbeat means one baby."
"You're right…"
Kogami rolled his eyes and turned back on his side.
Akane kept scrolling on through different stories of different women's pregnancies. She covered her hand over her mouth when she saw the next story of a woman getting pregnant while she was pregnant.
'She is only one of 32 women ever known to get pregnant during a separate pregnancy.' The young inspector sighed with relief when she read that statistic. She couldn't believe all of the things that could happen while she was pregnant.
She knew it annoyed Kogami to no end with her worrying, but she just couldn't help it. How could pregnancy be considered something normal? Another life was forming on the inside of her, for crying out loud! She had a right to worry.
She rested her hand on her abdomen that had barely started to show that she was carrying a child. If anything, she just looked like she had gained some weight.
"You know." Kogami yawned, looking over his shoulder. "You're going to be sleeping at your desk again tomorrow if you don't go to sleep soon."
Akane looked at the clock. It was almost midnight, and they both had to be in their division's office by 6:30 to relieve Ginoza and his team.
"Plus, the new rookie you're training will be reporting as well. Don't you think that it would be a bad example?"
"I get your point." Akane groaned, shutting off her tablet.
Kogami pulled her down gently by the waist to his chest. He liked it when she was close. It made him rest easier to know that if something happened, she was already in his arms and he refused to let her go.
"There was a woman who had the hiccups 24/7 the last four months of her pregnancy."
"Akane. Go to sleep."
…
"Some women don't know they're pregnant until 30 weeks."
Kogami put his hand gently over her mouth. "Shhh."
She finally got his point and gave up, letting herself drift to sleep.
—-
The new rookie felt out of place already. She had just met an irritated Inspector Ginoza Nobuchika, who apparently was not supposed to be the inspector on duty.
The orange haired enforcer was already at his desk fooling around with a game when she came in. The tall and dark man had come in five minutes after she had gotten there.
He had nodded to her and gave her a causal "hey" to let her know that he had acknowledged her presence, but went straight to the inspector that was glaring daggers at the approaching man from his desk.
"Where is Inspector Tsunemori?"
"She was making an acquaintance of my toilet this morning, so she's running a little behind." The man explained.
Wait… Was this one an inspector, too? Were there really four inspectors in this one division? That would be the only reason he would have talked about the other inspector using his toilet, right?
Mika casually sat in her chair, trying not to make it look as if she was purposely listening to her senior's conversation.
"So, you're our new boss, huh?" Kagari suddenly asked, making the young inspector jump in her seat.
The brunette glared at him. She had heard that these enforcers were nothing but dogs, and that under any circumstances they did not associate with one another.
"What's with the sour look?" The enforcer asked. "I was just gonna say that you must be pretty good to get to your position at your age. Sheesh."
Inspector Shimotsuki stuck her nose in the air and turned her chair in the opposite direction, making it plain to this thing that she would not talk to it unless she had to.
"Sorry I'm late, Inspector Ginoza." A voice said from the doorway as the door slid open.
Mika turned her attention to the doorway and saw a brown headed woman bowing out of respect to Ginoza.
"It's about time. I have been waiting half of an hour for you to show, Inspector Tsunemori."
"Sorry about that." The woman said, walking all the way in to the room.
"Are you feeling better?" The man that had walked in after Mika had went to the inspector and looked at her for a moment.
"I'm fine, Kogami." The woman gave a reassuring smile.
Inspector Ginoza got up from his desk and approached his partner.
"I am well aware of your condition, Akane, but please don't make this a habit."
"I'll do my best to try harder next time. I promise."
The man gave her a little more of a relaxed look. "Good. I leave everything in your capable hands. Have a good shift."
Once the inspector had left, the one who was now in charge put her things at her own desk and turned to Mika.
"So, you must be our new rookie." She greeted with a smile. "Welcome to Division One."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Mika said, standing and giving her senior colleague a bow. "I am Inspector Shimotsuki Mika."
"Well, Ms. Shimotsuki, I apologize for making you wait for so long."
"It was no problem, really."
Akane sat down in her chair and pulled up some stuff on her computer screen.
"It says here that you are still a minor."
"Yes ma'am." Mika nodded.
"What kind of minor chooses to dive in to a job like this?" The inspector asked, looking to the rookie.
"Sybil had thought it was appropriate."
"Yes, that does make sense, but there has to be a reason to make you be assigned to do something in criminal investigations so soon."
"Inspector Tsunemori, you are aware that Inspector Shimotsuki was involved with the Oryo Rikako case, right?" The dark headed man asked from his desk.
"Yes, Inspector Kogami." Mika nodded. "I was close friends with two of the victims."
All three people in the room stared at the rookie in shock.
"What? Is there a problem?" She asked.
"I think you have it wrong, here." Kogami said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down. "I'm not an inspector."
"Wait? You're an enforcer?" Mika gawked at the man.
"Yeah." He sighed. "No one has called me 'Inspector' for four years, now."
The young woman turned back to Akane. "How can you let a dog speak up so freely like that?"
Akane glanced and both Kagari and Kogami, who were watching to see what the inspector would do because of the rookie's words.
"I don't know what you were told in the academy, but all enforcers are human just like we are."
"Human? They're criminals! Tools for our use! How can you call them human when the reason that they exist is to hunt down their own?"
"Ms. Shimotsuki, I advise you to think before you speak. Enforcer Kogami and Enforcer Kagari are both two of the four enforcers in our division, and they both do amazing jobs. They also still have the ability to hear your words."
Both inspectors had their eyes narrowed at each other when an alarm went off.
"Attention. There is an elevated stress level in Shinjuku in block C. The on-duty inspector and available enforcers are required for intervention on the scene."
"Okay, let's get going." Akane said, grabbing her jacket and leading the team out.
Once they had gotten to the specified area, a drone ejected each of them Dominators.
Mika stared like a dumb puppy at hers while it went online.
"You'll get used to it." Kogami told her, causing a scowl to emerge on her face.
"He's just trying to help you, you know." Kagari glared. "If you want our respect, I would be a little bit nicer if I were you."
"Okay, you three, that's enough." Akane gave them all a look. "Now, the reports are stating that the man that we are looking for is Satsuma Keiji. A drone flagged him down, and he took off somewhere, refusing to get treatment. If we find him soon, hopefully force will not be needed."
"Understood."
"Okay, Kogami go with Inspector Shimotsuki. Kagari, you're with me. Whatever you do, do not get separated."
"Right."
The two groups went their separate ways, blending in with the people on the streets.
Kogami did as he was told, making sure to stay at Inspecror Shimotsuki's side as they went through the street. He quickly dragged her to a nearby alleyway, almost causing her to shout, but he put his finger to his lips and pointed towards the back.
The two carefully proceeded. Once they got to the end of the alley, Kogami paused to look at a crate that was sitting in front of them.
"Hold on…"
He put his Dominator in the back of his waistband and began to move the bulky thing.
"Yeah. I thought so." He said, tapping on his communicator.
"Shepherd 2, this is Hound 3."
"Go ahead, Hound 3."
"There is a crate in the alley to the right of Kosa that covers a line leading in to the sewers. This is near the place that the drone flagged the suspect down. Do you wish for me and Shepherd 3 to proceed?"
"Just wait for me and Hound 4, okay?"
"Copy that."
Kogami knelt on the ground and looked at it. He was sure that the crate had been moved recently. It wasn't all that hard to move, so he was sure that the suspect could move it back over the hole before he descended.
"It just had to be the sewers." Kogami sighed. "Those fumes won't be good for her at all."
"I can handle it, thank you." Mika glared at him.
"Oh, I'm sure you can." Kogami said. "I was talking about-"
"Okay, show me what you got." Akane interrupted when she appeared in the alley with Kagari.
"The crate looked as if it was moved earlier, so when I noticed that, I moved it again to see what was under it."
"You're sure he went in?"
"Has Ko been wrong before?" Kagari smirked.
"Okay, let's go." Akane agreed -and started to move past them.
"Wait." Kogami said, putting his hand on her shoulder and pulling her back.
"What is it?"
He leaned near her ear and whispered something that Kagari and Mika couldn't hear.
"… You're right, but-"
He cut her off with more whispers, causing her to sigh in defeat.
"Fine." She turned to the other two members of the team. "You three are going to go in. I am going to track your movement from up here."
"We already have a map of the system, so we are all three going to split up and corner him." Kogami explained.
"I'll be up here, waiting to take him in."
"You're going to let them split up from me?" The rookie asked.
"They can be trusted." Akane said, nodding for the two enforcers to proceed in to the sewers.
Inspector Shimotsuki glared at her partner as she went in after the two enforcers. She was not happy with the way her colleague interacted with the dogs at all.
—-
Division One returned to the PSB after a successful capture of the suspect. When he had come out of the sewers, he had been covered in the contaminated water.
Kogami and Kagari were at his toes as he made it to the surface where Akane was waiting with her Dominator drawn. When the smell of the man hit her, she didn't take time to talk him down. She pulled the trigger on the Dominator, and ran to the side while Kagari put the suspect in restraints, so she could throw up.
Mika came out of the sewer just in time to see Kogami at Akane's side, rubbing her back while she lost her breakfast.
She avoided looking at either her partner or the enforcer the whole way back to the PSB. She was starting to see that the relationship between the two was much more than that of just an inspector and enforcer should be.
Akane had gone to change her clothing somewhere in the building, and Kagari took the suspect to be processed and given treatment. That left Kogami and Inspector Shimotsuki in the Division One office alone.
"That was a pretty easy job for your first day." Kogami said as he typed up a report on the events that had happened earlier.
"Look. I don't know what you're trying to do here, but I am not Inspector Tsunemori." Mika glared at the enforcer. "Don't think I'll be treating you in the same way she does."
Kogami looked at her for a moment, taking in what the rookie was saying.
"I don't know what you know about our division or the things that you have heard, but Inspector Tsunemori is the reason you were assigned to work with us. I think you should be acting a little kinder when it comes to the choices that she makes." He said. "She takes her job seriously, and you are beyond lucky to be her stand in when she takes her leave in a few months."
"Stand in?" Mika looked at him confused.
"Forget it." Kogami said, turning back to his screen. "The Inspector will tell you when she wants to."
"Tell me what? Is she sick or something?"
"Sorry about that." Akane said as the doors opened. "How embarrassing of me to get sick like that while we were apprehending a suspect."
"It's fine." Kogami said, still typing away on his tablet.
"Remind me to eat something light from now on." She said as she sat down.
"You're eating just fine."
Inspector Shimotsuki watched the way that the two interacted with each other.
They went back and forth as if it was a normal thing for them to talk about her eating habits, and the way he defended Tsunemori when Mika had said something out of line about her seemed weird, too.
There was something going on between the enforcer and inspector, and she was going to expose it to Inspector Ginoza and the Chief.