Chapter 71
When Usuha Izuki was doing his internship, Instructor Onizuka didn't really relax either.
Theoretically speaking, once interns were sent out, the Police Academy wouldn't pay individual attention to them, since following standard procedures, nothing would generally happen.
But this batch had produced someone like Samukawa Shinryu, and he was assigned to the Mobile Investigation Unit, a place with relatively high accident potential. While Instructor Onizuka handled daily work at the Police Academy, he felt very uneasy, constantly worried about suddenly receiving a call to come pick someone up.
"Hagiwara, Samukawa hasn't called you, has he?"
"No."
"Then should you call him?"
"...It's work hours. Calling on the first day of work wouldn't be appropriate, would it?"
He wasn't a child anymore. Getting a call from his Assistant Instructor after just a few hours of work would be embarrassing if colleagues found out.
Instructor Onizuka sighed.
He now felt like someone who had finally found a foster family for a very unfriendly and fierce cat, constantly worried about receiving complaint calls from the foster family, or even returns.
It wasn't until afternoon, with no complaint calls coming in, that Instructor Onizuka finally relaxed a bit. But just as he was about to get off work, he suddenly received a call from Mobile Investigation Unit Captain Kikyo.
Damn! How could he forget that the Mobile Investigation Unit worked 24-hour shifts!
Instructor Onizuka reluctantly answered the phone: "Good evening, Kikyo."
He had some relationship with this captain, so he could call her by name and had her private contact information.
Hagiwara Kenji's gaze immediately turned over.
Having arranged the internship, he naturally knew who Samukawa Shinryu's current captain was. Hearing this surname, he felt it might be about Samukawa Shinryu.
"Instructor Onizuka." Captain Kikyo's tone was very calm. "I wanted to ask about Samukawa-kun's detailed situation."
Hearing it was indeed about Samukawa Shinryu, Instructor Onizuka noticed Hagiwara Kenji's gaze and simply put it on speaker while responding.
"Ah, isn't he with you now? He does have some accident-prone constitution, but he doesn't do it on purpose. Accidents always find him, and the Mobile Investigation Unit is already on the way to accident scenes anyway, so it shouldn't be a big problem, right? Besides, he's quick-thinking and might be able to help. He's already our Police Academy's number one student for case-solving rate..."
Captain Kikyo: "............"
She only said one sentence, and Instructor Onizuka was so guilty he explained this much all at once!
Officer Shima, listening to this call with Captain Kikyo, felt the Police Academy wasn't having it easy either... Suddenly his blood pressure felt much better.
People probably need comparisons.
After Instructor Onizuka finished his guilty explanations, Captain Kikyo calmly spoke: "He did help. Today with one case, he solved it in less than an hour after arriving on scene."
"Oh!" Instructor Onizuka breathed a huge sigh of relief, his whole tone becoming much more relaxed. "That's good then. No problem, use him as you like. When we asked about his preferences, he said he liked frontline work. He didn't care about not joining Investigation Division One as long as it was frontline work. Very dedicated..."
Officer Shima, who had been silent, looked troubled: "............"
No good. Remembering how Samukawa Shinryu played with criminals and easily broke down their psychological defenses, this answer made him completely unable to feel at ease.
Was it because frontline work allowed more direct contact with crime scenes, convenient for observing others' methods and playing with criminals, that he wanted frontline work?!
After Instructor Onizuka finished praising him, Captain Kikyo said: "Samukawa-kun's abilities are indeed very strong. Thank you for his contribution to our Mobile Investigation Unit's performance. But some of Samukawa-kun's behavior makes us feel uneasy. We wanted to ask if this situation has always been like this?"
Instructor Onizuka's heart immediately sank as he frantically signaled Hagiwara Kenji: "...Uh, go ahead and ask. My Assistant Instructor knows him better and is also listening."
He knew there was never any good news in calls related to Samukawa Shinryu!
Hagiwara Kenji had already moved to the phone with a serious and worried expression: "Hello, Captain Kikyo. I'm Hagiwara Kenji. What happened with Samukawa?"
"Wait a moment. I'll have his partner talk to you. He was on scene and knows better than I do."
And so, both sides of the phone call switched people to continue the conversation.
Instructor Onizuka waved his hand for Hagiwara Kenji to stay away from him. He didn't want to hear things that would affect his heart health—his hair was already almost gone.
Because Samukawa Shinryu was so prone to encountering incidents, Instructor Onizuka, exhausted physically and mentally, had made it routine to wait for Hagiwara Kenji to listen and then give him a summary. These things couldn't be hidden anyway, so no need to worry about Hagiwara Kenji being biased.
Hagiwara Kenji took the phone to the hallway: "Hello?"
"Hello, Assistant Instructor Hagiwara. I'm Shima Kazumi. Samukawa Shinryu is currently in my group." Officer Shima said. "How much do you know about his situation?"
Hagiwara Kenji asked very cautiously: "Which aspect are you referring to?"
"...First, regarding his inappropriate attitude toward criminals. Are you aware of this?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "......"
That "first" was very telling—it felt like there were more problems waiting for him... What had Little Shinryu done in just half a day of work?!
"His attitude toward criminals is a bit unforgiving." Hagiwara Kenji said tactfully. "But it's all for efficiency."
Hearing this statement full of favoritism, Officer Shima was greatly shocked: "Insisting on defusing bombs while criminals held them was also for efficiency?"
Hagiwara Kenji was also shocked: "...??? When did this happen?"
"Just the day before yesterday. A mall employee who'd been fired installed a bomb to get revenge on the manager. When I arrived on scene, the criminal was already crying hysterically and even developed psychological trauma from countdown sounds—he can't even stand electronic clocks now."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Heh, heh heh, I see. He did something like that. I really didn't know about this... Thank you for telling me, otherwise I'd still be in the dark."
Because Mobile Investigation Unit reports were written at the station before being submitted, while Samukawa Shinryu's statement was made at Metropolitan Police, with euphemistic omissions in the statement creating a time gap, even Matsuda Jinpei hadn't noticed the problem.
Otherwise, Matsuda Jinpei wouldn't care whether he was familiar enough with Samukawa Shinryu—he'd definitely scold him much worse than before.
Discovering that Hagiwara Kenji wasn't someone who would lie with his eyes open, Officer Shima breathed a sigh of relief: "Right, that was the day before yesterday. He said he wanted to teach the criminal a lesson. Then today on scene, he said he wanted to teach the criminal a lesson again, so he helped improve the criminal's method, saying things like 'just one step away from perfect crime.' The criminal's mentality seems to have collapsed too..."
Although Hagiwara Kenji was angry enough to feel dizzy, he still tried to defend him in front of outsiders, though because he was too angry, his usually sharp mind was somewhat sluggish.
"Uh, that's going too far. Have him write a self-reflection. Some things really aren't appropriate to say. Maybe because he was always involved as an innocent bystander before, his behavior was a bit free, and he hasn't adapted to his police identity yet... He might have OCD and can't stand seeing flawed methods. Smart people all have quirks..."
Officer Shima: "...Let's just say that's it. I'll watch him and make him talk less in the future. Let's set this aside for now—here's another problem."
He could tell this Assistant Instructor was really bewildered with anger and probably really didn't know beforehand.
Sigh, rather than continuing to make things up, better to stop. He could feel the other party's anguish from racking his brains!
Being an Assistant Instructor was too difficult—even biological mothers weren't like this!
Officer Shima felt a bit sorry for Hagiwara Kenji, but thinking about how he'd be the one suffering for the next two months, he felt he deserved more sympathy.
Besides, he didn't just have Samukawa Shinryu here—there was also Ibuki Ai, that guy who couldn't be controlled no matter what...
He wasn't a washing machine that could wash one piece of clothing or a whole pile the same way... His mental exhaustion had limits!
Hagiwara Kenji recovered: "What's the other problem?"
"...About his sense of justice." Officer Shima put on a pained expression. "He said he has no sense of justice. Is this also acceptable? How did he pass his interview?"
Hagiwara Kenji was a bit puzzled: "Why would he suddenly say he has no sense of justice?"
Officer Shima was silent for a moment: "Because I suspected he acted toward criminals with a sense of justice, so I said I hate people who consider themselves righteous... He suddenly said that and told me to feel at ease. How could that be reassuring?"
Hagiwara Kenji breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, I see."
"...Why do you seem completely unconcerned? This should be a very serious problem, right?"
"Because Samukawa is actually quite mischievous. He was probably joking with you." Hagiwara Kenji put on rose-colored glasses. "Don't let his constant poker face fool you—he's actually very lively inside and likes telling cold jokes. You'll get used to it."
Officer Shima: "...I don't think he seemed to be joking. He looked very serious."
"Because he's a deadpan comedian."
"So when he said he knew a deceased police officer and became a police officer to understand that person's thoughts—was that also a joke?"
"Hm? This is the first time I've heard that story."
Officer Shima asked cautiously: "You must have asked him why he wanted to become a police officer during his interview, right? How did he answer then?"
"...Because someone said he'd eventually turn to crime, and he wanted to prove that person wrong." Hagiwara Kenji coughed. "Very inspiring, right?"
Inspiring my ass!
And here he thought the Assistant Instructor wouldn't lie with his eyes open—turns out he was just bewildered with anger earlier?!
Officer Shima spent a full half hour communicating with Hagiwara Kenji, running down Instructor Onizuka's phone battery before stopping.
Captain Kikyo had even finished her extra meal and returned: "How was it? Did you ask everything you wanted?"
"...I asked."
This phone call solved no problems and only increased his stress.
Saying everything was mischievous joking—what kind of logic was that? This Assistant Instructor's attitude of deflecting responsibility and refusing returns was too obvious!
Captain Kikyo: "What did the Police Academy say?"
"They told us to use Samukawa with confidence, not to have prejudices. We're police officers who should treat even criminals kindly and help them return to the right path—we shouldn't be even harsher with Police Academy students." Officer Shima said dryly. "Basically, they trust Samukawa very much and want us to trust him too."
"...I'm mainly worried that if he stays on the frontlines long-term, it might affect everyone's impression of police."
Officer Shima sighed: "That depends on your choice—do you want case-solving rates or police image? Though I think this should be something for the Police Academy to consider, but they passed him in the interview..."
Captain Kikyo was silent for a long time, still reluctant to give up: "...Let's see! As long as no one complains, it's fine!"
"Shima—there's a case!" Ibuki Ai shouted loudly. "We need to go!"
Officer Shima responded and hurried over, still pondering.
Working one day and resting three days, and most of the time in the car—there shouldn't be complaints in the short term...
...Right?