Takigawa smiled into Ayako's bare shoulder. He breathed deeply as he leaned in to press his lips to her neck and peppered light kisses across her skin. He wrapped his arms around her waist, closing his eyes as her lithe body leaned into the embrace. She was standing at the kitchen counter, just doing a little baking while she waited. It was late. Takigawa had only just arrived home. Things were still busy in the aftermath. There had been numerous riots within the first few weeks. Humans who didn't want androids stealing their homes and jobs. Worried about competition in the workplace. New laws weren't in place yet, but there were placeholders to stop any outright abuse and violence. He'd been all over the city dealing with android related crimes. Not just murders. The force was so short staffed they had detectives working the beat to help. He tried to switch off his work brain, nuzzling Ayako's soft red hair.

"I wasn't sure when you'd be back," Ayako sighed as she pushed away from the counter and turned in his arms. He much preferred it this way and didn't hesitate to pull her closer again. He accepted the kiss she pressed to his lips, pulling back just enough to touch their noses. "That bad, huh?" she added with a sympathetic air. He looked tired. His eyes were getting dark circles beneath the rims and his long hair was looking messy and out of place. His tie was crooked and his blazer had been tossed on the sofa on his way in.

"That bad…At least there aren't any outright riots anymore." He refused to release her, even as he stepped back. He left his hands resting on her slim hips while he admired the long skirt and silk shirt she was wearing. Ayako was content to let him have his way as he stroked small circles on her hipbones. Her hands rested on his forearms, thumbs stroking the warm skin beneath his shirt. "It seems the majority are open to android rights. It's just a few old bigots out to cause trouble," he continued as he looked at the counter. There was flour on the surface, along with a lump of dough.

"I thought I'd give baking bread a try," Ayako replied to the silent question in his hazel eyes. As usual, his grandmother's recipe book was lying open on the counter. Takigawa smiled softly as he looked at the neat, cursive script that he still had no idea how to read. He kissed Ayako again in silent thanks, feeling spoiled as always. Ayako smiled into the kiss, pulling back as a small scoff sounded from the living room. They both turned to look, but didn't part.

"I'm going to regurgitate my thirium if you don't stop," Charlie teased as he crossed to the sofa and sat down, moving Takigawa's jacket to hang over the backrest neatly. Takigawa left Ayako in the kitchen to join Charlie, flopping next to him on the sofa and crossing one leg over the other. Ayako huffed and shook her head as she returned to kneading the dough on the counter. She needed to make sure it was well combined before leaving it to rest.

"Jealous much? I could kiss you too," Takigawa offered with a wolfish grin as he leaned closer to Charlie. Charlie's LED was glowing blue, the amusement clear on his face as he planted a hand on Takigawa's forehead to hold him back. Takigawa continued to press forward playfully, wrapping his arms around Charlie in a loose embrace. He pouted his lips, humming and kissing the air teasingly.

"Please, no!" Charlie objected firmly as he pushed, watching Takigawa flop back along the sofa, clutching his chest.

"Oh, the rejection!" he teased in a forlorn tone. They both settled down as Charlie flicked the TV to the news channel. Sure, they got enough of this at work, but they couldn't help it. The current report seemed to be a long story, covering the android revolution from beginning to end. They watched the familiar footage of John standing on the car. Takigawa couldn't suppress his flinch at the closeup footage of bullets tearing through his body. He jerked with both hits, blood spraying the air in slow motion. Lin's reaction was the worst. It was heartbreaking, even though he hoped everything was all right. He couldn't be sure though. He hadn't been able to contact anybody, and no one had contacted him.

"So far, there's still no update on Mr Wishart's current whereabouts or condition, nor has anything been heard from the other victim, one Mai Taniyama," the reporter continued as viral internet footage showed the moment she'd been injured and taken away by a private medical team. "The helicopters used are registered to Elijah Kamski, who seems set to return to Cyberlife, fully reinstated as CEO, in the upcoming months. We're hoping to receive a response from Mr Kamski in the coming week, so stay tuned for more updates!" The report concluded, and news shifted to the weather. Takigawa sighed miserably. He'd seen the story about Mai shortly after returning home that night. He'd had no idea she got caught up in all this. It was only when he'd asked around that he'd found out about the body in her shop. The footage had shown Naru leaping in to defend her. That explained how she'd gotten involved, but not what the hell she'd been thinking of by going into the recycling plant.

"You're worried," Charlie observed in a sympathetic tone, giving Takigawa a sideways look as he remained focused on the incoming reports. There were a few small gatherings around New York and California, but Detroit was largely peaceful. It made sense in a way, since Cyberlife's main office was there. A few new anti-android groups had appeared, but now there were actually pro-android groups forming. The ranks were filled with both humans and androids. There was a lot of hate in the world, but also a lot of love.

"Yeah…Can you blame me? Hell, Mai's like a little sister to me. It drives me crazy not knowing if she's okay…Her grandmother can't confirm it one way or the other. Some confidentiality thing," he grumbled with a frustrated sigh. Charlie nodded his agreement. He was fond of Mai too, and John. Takigawa huffed as he remembered the amount of times they'd stopped John from free running across the streets, or scaling buildings he wasn't supposed to, or hopping barriers he knew he shouldn't. In a way, he could have foreseen John getting in trouble like this, but not Mai.

He could at least guess that Mai wasn't dead yet. The shop had remained closed, but it wasn't up for sale, and her grandmother hadn't called him about funeral arrangements. He knew she'd let him know if anything like that happened. He'd been close to Mai and her grandmother since Mai's parents had been murdered. He'd been the responding officer, and although he hadn't handled the case directly beyond that, he'd been sure to keep in touch. He'd helped Mai's grandmother fix up the café during his downtime, and he'd even worked a few shifts. He wasn't technically supposed to have a second job, but it hadn't hurt anyone. He could have put it down as volunteer work if anyone had asked. Mai hadn't been old enough to help at that point. She'd started taking on weekend shifts at fourteen, and by sixteen she'd handled evenings. She'd fully taken over once she turned eighteen. Her grandmother was too old to be on her feet all day.

It had been almost four months. Hopefully, he'd hear something soon. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew her injury had been severe, maybe worse than John's in some ways. She'd been stabbed in the neck. It could have killer her instantly. At the very least, it would have caused some sort of nerve damage. Stuff like that was hard to recover from. He knew two officers who'd been shot and sustained nerve damage. Sometimes it could be fixed. Sometimes it couldn't. Either way, it took a lot of time and repetitive exercises. Hopefully, the long, drawn out silence was because of an extensive recovery phase.

He hoped the same for John. If John had died, then he was sure it would have been announced and Mr Wishart would have made a public declaration. With that in mind, John was probably in the same boat. He'd suffered serious injuries and massive blood loss. After seeing how pale he was, and that Lin had given up, Takigawa had expected the worst. He'd waited for the first two weeks for the tragic announcement of his death. He'd been surprised and hopeful when it hadn't come. Lin and John's powerful declaration had touched the nation. Everyone was waiting on the edge of their seats for news.

Takigawa had considered contacting the Kamski estate somehow, or asking Cyberlife directly, but they likely wouldn't answer. He knew that RT600 android may remember him, but she likely wouldn't be allowed to speak, even if she wanted to tell him. They were probably busy anyway. The phones would be ringing off the hook with reporters and crazy people pretending they were concerned relatives or friends trying to get their five minutes. Stories like this always brought out the crazies. They saw it at the station quite a lot. People would try to claim lost kids, amnesia patients, some would even try to get suspects out of jail. He didn't envy the people who had to deal with that side of things.

"I'm sure you'll hear from them soon," Charlie prodded gently as he shifted his gaze away from the TV. Takigawa nodded and gave him his most hopeful look, though he knew it likely seemed full of doubt. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was hard not knowing anything. Charlie gave him a thin smile of agreement. He felt anxious, too. Mai had always been kind to him, and John had always been mischievous and endearing with his constant habit of flouting minor traffic laws.

"I hope so," Takigawa replied as he slumped back in his seat and looked at the news reports. More news was rolling in of trouble in New York and Washington. Larger protests against androids. Police had moved in to regain control of the situation. He couldn't really focus on it too much. He was still worried about John and Mai. If I see those kids again, I'm never letting them out of my sight!