Kogami slowly woke when he heard a baby crying from another room.
He started to get up to go and tend to the child, but was restrained by another human, who had him in a tight grip at his waist.
He looked down in total shock, seeing Akane's head on his toned stomach.
"Akane? Akane!" The enforce her shook her awake.
"Hn?" She sleepily looked up at him. "What is it?"
"Where in the hell have you been?" He pulled her up in a sudden embrace and held her tight. "I thought Togayama had gotten to you."
"Togayama?" She pulled back, looking confused. "Who is Togayama? One of your book's characters?"
"No, he's the suspect in the case that Division One has been working on. You know, the case that you snooped around in."
"Ko, you were up writing late again. You probably dreamt all of that up."
"What?"
"Once you have some coffee, you'll feel better." She said, kissing his cheek lightly.
Akane got out of bed and put on a robe, and left the room to go take care of their baby.
Kogami looked around the room, confused. This was neither his or Akane's bedroom. They were in a totally different place.
He got up and followed a hallway in to the kitchen, looking at the closed doors as he went. Where was this place? Who lived here?
When he entered the kitchen, he saw a little girl with black hair doodling on a piece of paper.
"Daddy, look." She held up the paper, and showed it to Kogami.
"Daddy?" He looked at the little girl like she was crazy. "You're confused. My kid is only six weeks old."
"Daddy." The girl looked at him like he was an idiot. It looked like he was almost staring in a mirror when he looked at her. She was his daughter all right.
"Ayaka?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and looking at her again.
"Silly daddy." She laughed, and rolled her eyes.
"Then… Who was…?"
"I'm going back to work today, so I need you to run some errands for me." Akane said, as she came in to the kitchen with a baby laying on her shoulder.
"Uh, Tsunemori, I-"
"Tsunemori? Are you feeling okay?" Akane asked, putting her hand to his head.
"Daddy is being silly today." Ayaka giggled.
Akane looked at Kogami's face and saw how confused by everything he was. It was almost as if he had amnesia.
"You know… I'm going to call Ginoza and ask him to give me an extra few days off." Akane began typing on her communicator.
"Let me talk to him, he has to know what is going on."Kogami said, taking her wrist so he could use the communicator.
"What? Do you want to get me in trouble?" Akane asked, taking her wrist back.
"No, of course not." He answered, backing away.
"Go lay back down while I cook, okay?" Akane said, shooing Kogami away.
"Okay." He nodded slowly as he left the room. He kept glancing from the baby on Akane's shoulder to the little girl that was supposedly Ayaka.
Something was wrong here. Very wrong.
—-
Akane came in to their bedroom after a few minutes to check on Kogami.
"How are you feeling?"
Kogami looked up from a book that he had found on a desk across from the bed. It was titled "Sibyl Law" and had said that it was written by Kogami Shinya.
"This isn't right. This is all wrong." He said, throwing the book down.
"Shinya!" Akane gasped.
"The System isn't something I made up, damn it!" He threw his arms in the air, and walked over to Akane, gripping his hands a little too tight on her shoulders.
"You were kidnapped! Me and Karanomori saw you on the scanner feed outside of the shut down Satori building."
"Shinya, you're hurting me." Akane said, trying to get him to let go.
"There's no way that it was all just fake."
He let Akane go and sat back on the bed with his head in his hands.
"I know." Akane suddenly said, getting an idea. "Why don't we go to the park? That always relaxes you. Plus, we haven't had our first official outing with Shou, yet."
She got out some fresh clothes for Kogami and handed them to him.
"Take a shower, and I'll get the kids ready, okay?"
She gave him a quick peck on his cheek and left the room.
Kogami picked up the discarded book and looked at the author's description.
Sure enough, his picture was on there, staring him back in the face.
"Kogami Shinya lives in Tokyo, Japan with his wife and growing family. He got inspired to write this series when he met the love of his life one night when a party he was at while he was a student at Kagari University went south. She was doing what she did best when he met eyes with her— kicking butt and enforcing the law. Five years and one marriage later, Kogami Shinya is now a part time author and a stay at home dad who enjoys lots of coffee and spending his free time outside with his family."
Kogami put the book down and shook his head. None of this was making any sense.
Once he got out of the shower and got dressed, he went back in to the kitchen to see Akane brushing Ayaka's hair in to a ponytail.
"Daddy, we're going to the park!" She beamed, looking just like Akane in that moment.
"Y-yeah." He nodded, hesitantly smiling back at her.
"Will you get Shou's stroller from the closet?" Akane asked, gesturing to the door Kogami was standing next to.
"Yeah." He nodded and opened the door. On the inside of the closet were a bunch of coats and stacked boxes. He found the stroller among the clutter and pulled it out and unfolded it.
"He's in the living room, if you want to put him in while I finish up with Aya."
"Okay." He nodded and went in to the other room.
His hands were shaky when he reached to lift up the baby. He had barely gotten used to Aya being around, but now he had a son?
It made him happy at the thought of having another child with Akane, but this world didn't feel right in the least.
He lifted the baby in to his arms and stared at him a little longer before putting him in the stroller.
—-
Akane had been right about the park. He was relaxed.
She had laid a blanket on the ground under a big oak tree, and they had a picnic.
Once they had finished eating, Ayaka went to go play while Kogami and Akane watched from their spot. Shou was sleeping in the stroller next to the young couple, content from his own meal that Akane had given him.
Kogami laid his head in his lover's lap and stared up at her. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled.
It was peaceful. It was everything he had ever wanted.
No Sibyl System controlling society. Freedom to breathe the outside air. Most of all, a family of his dreams he didn't know he wanted.
In this world, he was no longer a dog. He was free to be Kogami Shinya, and that was one of the things he thought he would never have again.
Every time he had ever been near this woman was the only time he ever felt free to be himself. Kogami loved her for that.
He reached up to kiss Akane, but stopped when she said his name.
"Ko." She said, looking at him with a serious face.
"What?" He blinked, confused by her sudden seriousness.
"Ko. Get up." She said.
"Wha-?"
"Get up!" Her voice changed to Kunizuka's, and everything around him began to fade away.
"Kunizuka?" Kogami groggily asked as he sat up in his bed. "What's going on?"
"Ginoza's group is calling for back up." She said. "Inspector Tsunemori is in danger."
"I'll be right there." He said, quickly jumping to his feet and grabbing the nearest t-shirt and throwing it on. It wasn't time to look good.
He had been dreaming just now. Everything had been a fabricated lie of his own making.
There was one thing he knew wasn't made up, though.
He did love Tsunemori Akane.
And he needed to get to her to tell her that to her face.
—-
"Your friends just arrived, Inspector." The man's voice came back over the speaker. "Are you ready for your big debut?"
Akane put all of her effort in trying to move once more, but her limbs wouldn't budge. Her voice was gone because of a shot of some sort that they had given her, so she couldn't scream for help.
"Now, now." Another man's voice came as the door opened. "Don't you worry, miss. The fun is about to begin."
The contraption that she was stuck to began to sink down the the floor below. The man followed down with her.
They were in a fully lit auditorium, now. Akane could hear Ginoza's voice outside the doors, yelling commands.
"This is the MWPSB! Release your hostage and come out with your hands up! If you don't comply, lethal force can and will be used!"
The man took a nearby microphone and laughed in to it. "That's cute, Inspector, but there is only one person that we will allow to come in without a fight."
Akane's vision finally became clear, now allowing her to see the man fully.
He wore a nice suit and tie and had a bandage wrapped around his head where his right ear should have been.
Her eyes widened in realization.
This was the man that Division One had been hunting.
"Bring us Kogami Shinya."
Togayama Ichi.