Chapter 67
Without a doubt, this kind of personal revenge behavior could not gain the approval of the traditionally-minded Officer Shima.
"Too dangerous. He couldn't hold it steady at all—what if his hands shook..."
"This bomb is very stable, and the structure is quite simple." The youth said flatly. "It should be designed with amateurs in mind, so stability comes first."
Amateur Criminal: "...Why do you understand this so well?"
Officer Shima also wanted to ask this question: "Yeah, why do you know these things?"
When asking, Officer Shima actually had some guesses in mind.
This person seemed like some yakuza young master out for a stroll who accidentally encountered this low-level crime and whimsically decided to teach the perpetrator a lesson.
Japanese yakuza were legal, so as long as the person hadn't committed any illegal acts, police couldn't arrest them. But behaviors that weren't worth promoting still needed some education.
He just didn't know which group's young master this was—he knew quite a lot, hopefully he didn't have any unsavory ideas...
Then Officer Shima heard the other party's answer.
"I'm a student from Metropolitan Police Academy's Onizuka Class. My Assistant Instructor was originally a bomb disposal expert from Explosive Ordnance Disposal, so I learned a bit from him."
Officer Shima: "...Huh???"
Ibuki Ai's jaw dropped: "A Police Academy student???"
The criminal, who had been crying hysterically, suspecting he'd encountered a pervert and nearly thinking he was done for, hiccupped in shock.
For a moment, the air here was utterly silent, and no one knew how to describe their feelings.
From what they'd just witnessed, absolutely no one would think there was a Police Academy student involved! Did the Police Academy teach you how to threaten criminals after catching them?!
If your instructor knew what you did, he'd cry!
After a long while, Officer Shima finally remembered some rumors about Onizuka Class.
...Maybe that instructor was already used to it.
His mouth twitching, he thanked the other party for his assistance, then turned to call the local police station to come handle the aftermath and take the criminal away.
When they came out, they discovered local police had already arrived and were evacuating people. Upon inquiry, they found that this criminal had also called the manager with threats, but the manager hadn't taken it seriously. When that security guard went to find the manager just now, the manager finally realized the seriousness and also called the police...
This evacuation was quite a loss—after this incident, the mall lost half a day's revenue. Plus with the criminal's confession, the manager would bear most of the blame and would probably be fired after today, which somewhat achieved the criminal's original purpose.
It just came at a high cost—he'd have to spend a few years in prison and was left with serious psychological trauma. Word was he couldn't stand the sound of clocks anymore.
If the criminal could reveal where he bought the bomb, he might get a few fewer days in prison, but that was all work for the local police station and had nothing to do with the Mobile Investigation Unit.
In any case, Samukawa Shinryu's behavior of leaving serious psychological trauma on the criminal—completely inconsistent with his Police Academy student identity—left a deep first impression on Officer Shima. So much so that when he discovered the newcomer assigned to him was this very person, he instantly felt darkness before his eyes.
Samukawa Shinryu had punished the criminal in his own way within the rules. Strictly speaking, even with a strict supervisor, he'd have to write a self-reflection. Meanwhile, his former partner when he was a detective in Investigation Division One had fabricated evidence to catch criminals faster, and after being exposed, could only resign... then died accidentally on the night of his resignation.
Officer Shima was now truly afraid of these people with strong personal ideas. Just cleaning up their messes would be exhausting work, plus he'd have to watch that they didn't actually cross the line.
Especially Samukawa Shinryu—looking at him, he seemed like someone who could easily cross that line. Officer Shima didn't even understand why he wanted to become a police officer.
"I think..."
"I don't want what you think, I want what I think." Captain Kikyo interrupted Officer Shima's windup without hesitation. "He'll be here soon. Go downstairs to meet him so he doesn't get lost. This isn't a police station after all—if you hadn't been complained about for dumping noodle water from high places, we wouldn't have had to change locations..."
Ibuki Ai didn't think as complexly as Officer Shima. After all, he was also a problem child and quite happy about it: "Great! Our car is so big, we could fit ten more people..."
"We can't fit ten more!" Officer Shima quickly said. "At most four more people, but Mobile Investigation works in pairs of two. Don't get carried away!"
Ibuki Ai put both hands in his pockets and bounced in place twice: "Samukawa-kun is coming, right? I run fast—I'll go meet him first! Don't forget to come down too, Shima-shima, so the newcomer doesn't think he's being excluded!"
After saying this, he ran out in a flash and disappeared from sight.
Officer Shima's arm, raised halfway to stop him, froze: "..."
Why did he feel like his future was looking dim? His partner was an intuitive type who acted before thinking, and the newcomer he had to train was a dangerous character with too many ideas...
When Usuha Izuki arrived, he didn't think much about it. After all, the Mobile Investigation Unit had so many people—he could be assigned to any group. So when he saw Ibuki Ai, he was stunned for a moment, not expecting such a coincidence.
"What a coincidence!" Ibuki Ai came over super enthusiastically. "How long is Samukawa-kun's internship? Anyway, during this time you'll be with me and Shima! If there's anything you want to know, you can ask me—Shima sometimes doesn't feel like talking..."
"I'm not unwilling to talk—it's that most of what you say is useless content!" Officer Shima hurriedly caught up from behind. "Samukawa-kun, since everyone already knows each other, we can skip introductions... Go get your equipment now, then we'll head out on patrol. No amount of explanation beats direct practice... I'll give you ten minutes. Can you make it? Ibuki, you lead the way. I'll get the car."
Ibuki Ai had never trained a newcomer before and was very excited to pull Usuha Izuki to the equipment room to get gear, chattering enthusiastically along the way. Usuha Izuki used all his strength to avoid becoming a chatterbox too, barely maintaining Samukawa Shinryu's silent, steady male image.
However, this attitude made Usuha Izuki feel something was off. He couldn't help opening the system to check and found that Officer Shima had normally contributed a wave of suspicion values, but Ibuki Ai was absurd—after he explained that day that he was a Police Academy student, Ibuki Ai had never given him any suspicion values again!
The system said quietly: [I told you early on not to rely too much on [Black Screen Aura]. It has poor effects on some people, like this Ibuki Ai.]
Usuha Izuki immediately felt pressured: [How poor is the effect? Is the sinister filter still there?]
[That's still there, but since he's already decided you're a good person, he generally won't suspect you much under normal circumstances...]
[That's good then.] Usuha Izuki breathed a sigh of relief. He really wasn't good at dealing with people who were emotionally intense and direct. [As long as the sinister filter is still there, that's enough. As for other things... gaining people's trust is hard, but making people suspicious isn't simple?]
System: [Your psychological resilience really is the best among all my hosts...]
Most people didn't like being suspected. Usuha Izuki was truly unique. Considering he'd said things like "more used to being suspected" before, the system couldn't help wondering again what the host used to do.
Under Ibuki Ai's introduction, Usuha Izuki quickly understood the situation at this base. After getting his own handcuffs and baton, he returned downstairs, planning to get in the patrol car and begin daily patrols.
Due to the nature of their work, Mobile Investigation Unit members all wore plain clothes, and their cars weren't like those with obvious police paint jobs and Metropolitan Police markings. Instead, they chose very common vehicles. When incidents occurred, they'd put portable police lights on the roof and sound sirens to clear the way.
Usuha Izuki had prepared to see some beat-up car, but instead saw a cute, green-painted van with advertisements for melon bread printed on it.
"..." Usuha Izuki fell silent for once.
Ibuki Ai introduced: "The previous car was scrapped, so only this one was usable. Although the top speed is a bit low, I quite like this car! High school girls often come talk to us!"
"They're asking about melon bread prices..." Officer Shima helplessly poked his head out from the driver's seat. "Stop wasting time. Get in—we should start patrolling."
Only two people could sit in front, while the back was originally a kitchen for making melon bread. Now it had been cleared out to store some equipment and could seat several more people.
Since they needed to brief Usuha Izuki as the newcomer, for convenience of conversation, they had Usuha Izuki sit in the passenger seat this time while Ibuki Ai sat in the back compartment.
Ibuki Ai had a lively personality and could naturally join conversations even from the back, never seeming left out.
Officer Shima calmly introduced the Mobile Investigation Unit's daily work: "...That's about it. We're only responsible for preliminary investigation. If there are no results within 24 hours, we can't interfere anymore, or the local police station officers will have complaints."
Ibuki Ai loudly complained: "It's work that has a beginning but not necessarily an ending!"
"Everyone has their role." Officer Shima had obviously been beaten down by society and calmly accepted this point. "Many things happen simultaneously every day. There's no need to invest too much energy in one case. Doing good preliminary investigation preparation for local station detectives is already our best effort. The rest isn't our responsibility anyway."
Usuha Izuki pondered: "So if we encounter a case, as long as we solve it within 24 hours, the local station can't say anything, right?"
Officer Shima: "............"
He knew this guy wasn't the type to obediently listen! This was clearly a preview of troublemaker behavior!
Ibuki Ai even happily joined in: "Right! Exactly!"
"I understand." The intern newcomer responded flatly. "I'll work hard."
Officer Shima: "............"
It's over—this guy will definitely work hard in weird directions...
Nothing had happened yet, but Officer Shima already felt his stomach starting to ache.
Just... just two months of internship... Only two months! Nothing might happen!
Hang in there!