Chapter 8: The Scenery Just Ahead

This is the story from then on.

The 'Serial Child Kidnapping Incident,' which had eluded the police for half a year, was resolved in a blink of an eye, in just one night.

This was because the information I extracted from that violent man included the location where the children were being held, and I had pinpointed a place where the incident could be resolved all at once—so in a sense, it was a natural outcome.

I knew the whereabouts of the kidnapped children, irrefutable evidence, and Police Officer Kagurazaka decided to cooperate with me.

With that, Police Officer Kagurazaka, the embodiment of action, didn't even care about his own injuries and stormed the holding location on the very night he apprehended the kidnapping perpetrator “Ziryuu.”

After that, they rescued all the children who were being held captive there, secured the physical evidence found at the scene, and the incident was resolved in the blink of an eye—that’s how it went.

They brought all the rescued kidnapped children back to Himuro Police Station for temporary, confidential protection to hear their accounts of their time in captivity and to have doctors check their physical condition, but somehow information leaked, and by the next morning, parents and news media rushed to Himuro Police Station.

The overnight resolution of the incident, with its details still unknown, was made public to the world before they could hide the inconvenient truths for them.

It was reported as, "A police officer from Himuro Station 'coincidentally' found the scene where the kidnapped children were being held and rescued them," something along those lines.

◆◆◆

"…Haaah… What time is it, now…? …!?"

It was a rare morning off without my sister, and I had slept soundly due to the fatigue from the children's rescue operation that had lasted until late last night. I woke up to find that it was already past noon.

Realizing that everything I had planned to do today was ruined, I hurriedly jumped out of bed and headed to the living room, where I saw my father holding a vacuum cleaner and watching the news.

"Oh, Rinka, you're awake. It's rare for you to oversleep, so I didn't wake you, but did you have any plans?"

"D-Dad…"

Judging from the state of the living room, the housework I was supposed to do was already finished.

I felt apologetic towards my father, who was showing his usual gentle demeanor with a smile.

"…I'm sorry. I was a little tired…"

"No, no, there's no need to apologize. I'm always causing you trouble, Rinka. If you don't let me do this much, I'll be the one getting scolded instead."

My father, hurriedly denying my apology, offered me a freshly poured cup of coffee.

I obediently accepted my father's offer and sipped the coffee, and the lingering drowsiness was dispelled by the bitterness.

My father looked at me as if suddenly remembering something.

"By the way, Kirika will be coming home around evening, I hear."

"…I didn't hear about her sleepover yesterday until right before she left."

"Kirika asked me not to tell you beforehand. I thought she would tell you herself."

"I need to know things like dinner plans, otherwise I'll be inconvenienced. I wish you'd tell me next time."

"Hahaha, sorry about that. But Kirika is already a third-year middle school student, you know, she doesn't like being treated like a child too much. She's old enough to think for herself to some extent now. We have to acknowledge that to some degree."

I became aware of my eyes narrowing at my father, who was unusually protective of Kirika.

"A third-year middle school student is still a child. They can't resist bad adults at all, and they don't take responsibility for what they do themselves. We still need to keep a close eye on Kirika."

"Seriously… you get so inflexible when it comes to Kirika…"

My father made a troubled face at my unyielding attitude.

I always appreciate his hard work, but this was something I couldn't compromise on.

Although the incident that had been the foundation for the high crime rate in society was resolved yesterday, there are still countless bad people in the world.

Especially a good-looking girl of her age could easily become a prime target.

Restraining her firmly is just right.

My father, looking troubled by my forceful tone, pointed to the news report about the resolved kidnapping incident that had just started playing and opened his mouth, trying to persuade me.

"Look, see? The kidnapping incident that was said to be unsolvable—it seems the police properly resolved it, you know. This country isn't as dangerous as people say. You shouldn't be so uptight, Rinka, it's okay to enjoy student life a little, maybe go out at night and have some fun?"

"…………I'm glad to hear that there are brave and capable police officers. I'm relieved about that part too. But that's a different matter from this. No matter what Dad says, Kirika is still a child, she can't resist bad adults, and this world is full of malice."

My father is optimistic. Even in the current situation where crime incidents are said to be increasing worldwide, he still has a part of him that thinks our country will be alright.

I, who can read people's hearts, assert that that's wrong.

Malice can arise at any time, from places unknown to the victims, and attack unexpectedly.

I decided that the conversation was over and downed the coffee in my cup in one gulp.

I opened my phone, intending to contact Police Officer Kagurazaka since the news was reporting information as he had promised, and noticed that I had received a message from him quite a while ago.

『Received: April 16, 9:34 AM

Sender: Officer Kagurazaka

Subject: Want to talk about what’s next

Body: Processing here is finished. Waiting at the coffee shop you specified.』

"…………"

"Wh-what's wrong, Rinka? Your face turned pale. Did you have plans for today after all?"

I checked the time.

It was already past 1 PM.

The case processing that I had expected to take longer had finished sooner than expected for Police Officer Kagurazaka.

◆◆◆

"Well, as you requested, I resolved the case without involving you in the processing and without making the existence of 'unique abilities,' the supernatural, public, but… I was wondering if you had betrayed me, you know."

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry… I, n-n-n-nodded off… N-no, it's not like I'm making excuses or anything, b-b-but…"

"…No, wait, wait. I'm not angry."

In the corner of the coffee shop I had rushed to, Police Officer Kagurazaka was sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed, waiting for me.

Police Officer Kagurazaka's sarcastic words, opening his eyes slightly at me as I approached in a flurry, were meant to sting me, but apparently, he wasn't angry.

…I tried reading his mind a little, and it seemed there was no falsehood in his words.

He really is a good-natured officer.

"Um, um, um, about your injuries, are you alright…? You seemed to have sustained quite serious injuries protecting me, and I wouldn't want you to push yourself…"

"Ah, it's fine. I've already done first aid for now, anyway. I'm planning to go to the hospital after I finish processing various things related to the case… ah, no, it's not as serious as it looks. I'm used to this much, so don't worry about it."

"Ugh… I-I'm so sorry… Ah, um, I confirmed in the news that you kept your promise. I'm really grateful that you didn't make my existence or my power public."

"No, that's nothing much. I know better than anyone that it's difficult to prove the existence of supernatural powers even if you make a fuss about it. More than anything… personally, I thought it was much more valuable to secure your cooperation than to recklessly make the truth public. That's really all there is to it."

My proposal to Police Officer Kagurazaka after apprehending the “Serial Child Kidnapping Incident” perpetrator, the transporter “Ziryuu.”

It was an exchange condition: that he wouldn't make the supernatural power of unique abilities public, that he wouldn't reveal anything about me to those around him, and if he accepted those, I would cooperate with him in future incidents involving unique abilities.

Police Officer Kagurazaka had looked a little troubled, unsure of the situation with “Ziryuu” suddenly losing consciousness, but when I told him the location of the kidnapped children's confinement as a glimpse of my usefulness, he immediately nodded in agreement without hesitation.

As a result, they were able to arrest the perpetrator and rescue the abducted children that very night, but because he accepted my conditions, they couldn't prove that “Ziryuu” had committed the kidnappings and it seemed he was arrested only on charges of assault against Police Officer Kagurazaka, as someone suspected of being involved in the incident.

Well, as Police Officer Kagurazaka said, even if they were to assert the existence of unique abilities, they couldn't be judged under the current law, and since their existence wasn't widely known, they wouldn't be recognized as a crime anyway.

However, Police Officer Kagurazaka's expression clouded over slightly, as if he still had doubts.

"But, there's something I don't understand. Unlike that man we caught yesterday, you weren't using your power to commit crimes. You shouldn't have had that much need to hide the existence of your power, even to the point of making a promise of cooperation. Why did you go so far as to make an exchange condition for such a thing…?"

"Um, well, that's… um… that…"

That's obviously because I've done a lot of shady things using this power.

But of course, I can't honestly say that.

"Um… ah, that's it! I believe that a large organization is involved in this series of incidents! If we make conspicuous moves here to make the existence of powers public, I thought they would target Officer's life first and foremost! In that case, someone with even stronger and more sinister powers might come to this area, so I wanted to somehow prevent that!!"

"…I see. It makes sense in a way, but… couldn't you have come up with a slightly better lie…?"

"I-it's not a lie, you know!"

"Ah, yes, yes, let's just go with that, shall we."

"It's not a lie, you know!?"

It's not a lie, it's true.

The majority of it is self-preservation, but there was a little bit of that reason too.

I'm not a battle maniac who wants to fight strong unique ability users, nor do I have the desire to know my limits.

That's why I want to act so that those of my kind won't approach this area if possible.

However, Police Officer Kagurazaka's eyes directed at me had a look of being dumbfounded at a simple lie told by a child.

It was highly regrettable, but at this point, it would be difficult to deny it any further.

To at least change the subject, I decided to bring up the topic that Police Officer Kagurazaka would probably want to talk about most.

"…More than that, I'll cooperate with you from now on, but what kind of incident are you chasing, Officer? Maybe it's an incident that I already know something about, and I'd be grateful if you could tell me about it."

"Hmm, ah. That's… no, before that, let's talk about that after we've uncovered the mastermind behind this kidnapping incident."

"Eh? W-well, that's fine, but…"

I was taken aback, as I had thought that the explanation about the incident Police Officer Kagurazaka was chasing was the main topic of this meeting.

Certainly, if a large organization is the mastermind, this kidnapping incident is quite deep-rooted, and considering what I saw at the place where the kidnapped children were rescued, I can understand his desire to prioritize resolving that first.

"For me, I'm not trying to build a very deep relationship with you at this point and rush to solve the case all at once. It's just to confirm whether you're really willing to talk to me and to convey my gratitude to you."

"Haa… well, indeed, we don't really know each other well, and we're in a coincidental relationship where we just happened to entrust our lives to each other, so I don't mind that, but… but, I don't particularly need gratitude from Officer, you know. It's not like I was acting to actively help Officer either."

"No, certainly, I'm grateful to you enough, but the gratitude I wanted to convey to you here isn't from me."

Saying so, Police Officer Kagurazaka took out a letter from his bag.

The letter, with short words of gratitude written on it, was plain, unadorned, just a simple piece of paper.

"----It's a letter from that couple who caused the bus hijacking, they asked me to deliver it to you."

"Eh… those people, from them?"

The woman who sprayed bear spray and the man who misled me with words that didn't intend to take responsibility.

Police Officer Kagurazaka was telling me that it was a letter of gratitude from those people to me.

The letter, which I took in confusion, was thin and had faint damp marks on it.

『To the nameless girl,

We caused you and others a lot of trouble during the bus hijacking incident, we are truly sorry.

We heard from that officer that our son, whose whereabouts were unknown, was rescued.

I don't know if you were involved. But, somehow, I have a premonition that you were the one who helped us. Thank you.

I am truly grateful that you were on that bus, I just wanted to convey that.』

Such a simple message was written in the letter.

"…Officer, you immediately told these people that their children had returned, didn't you?"

"Yes, they were criminals, but there was a reason why they were driven to it—their child had gone missing, and they were threatened. Of course, it doesn't justify their crime, but if I could reassure them, that would be best, wouldn't it?"

"Yes… I think so too."

"…Originally, they probably weren't people who would become criminals. That's what I thought when I met them."

For a moment, the thought that Police Officer Kagurazaka might have broken his promise and told them my details crossed my mind, but reading the message, I immediately understood that wasn't the case.

They, who had been driven to the point of committing crimes by complying with threats from someone who called himself the kidnapper, must have had no choice but to cling to my words, which had no credibility.

It wasn't just them whom I had encountered, there were more people who had been kidnapped and committed crimes.

And the guys who had driven families, who originally should not have committed crimes, to that extent were probably still living elegantly somewhere, even now.

"…I've been searching for powers that can't be proven by current science for a very long time. I've finally encountered one, and honestly, I'm not confident that I can say I'm being calm right now. But, facing the victims of incidents involving supernatural powers like this again, I thought that the irrationality of innocent people being exploited for their own benefit must absolutely not happen. …No matter what, no matter how, I thought I must not allow existences that cannot be punished to exist…"

In front of me, a unique ability user, Police Officer Kagurazaka declared that he would not forgive crimes committed by those with unique abilities.

Clearly, to me, the person he would need to cooperate with from now on in pursuing cases that science cannot track.

He declared to me, even if it meant becoming hostile to me.

"And, I know from the bottom of my heart that I can't manage to pursue these many incidents alone… I know that. That's why… I want to ask you again in words."

On top of that, he bowed his head to me.

"----Please, I'm begging you. Please solve criminal incidents caused by those with unscientific powers, together with me… I may not be able to give you any reward, any benefit at all…!"

Even so, he said.

"Because I have to solve those kinds of incidents that I can't reach alone!"

Police Officer Kagurazaka's tattered emotions twisted, as if wailing.

Was he keeping his head bowed because he didn't want his current expression to be seen?

Thinking such things, I clearly saw his heart's cry.

Everything he was saying was about his own circumstances.

No matter what circumstances he had in the past, it's no reason to involve ordinary people, and Police Officer Kagurazaka probably knows that too.

Even so, even if that's the case.

Even if it meant kicking aside such principles and morals, because there was something he wanted to achieve, he had no choice.

I gazed blankly at his head, bowed so deeply it seemed like it would hit the table.

A grown man, approaching thirty, was bowing his head to a child who had just become a high school student, asking for her help.

How much pride would he have to cast aside to do that? I, a child, only understood that it wasn't something that could be done easily.

Depending on the person, some might think he's acting unadult-like, pathetic, but… I didn't dislike Police Officer Kagurazaka's attitude.

Rather, my respect for him was stronger.

I paid respect to his attitude.

Clearly, I also responded to his sincerity and spoke my true feelings.

"Kagurazaka-san, I don't trust the police as an organization. To be more precise, I think most people other than myself are not worthy of trust. So, I'll probably never trust anyone other than myself in the true sense of the word from now on."

"…"

But.

"…………But, Kagurazaka-san hasn't told a single lie since meeting me, has he."

I said, as if recalling it.

"Unlike me, who's only concerned with self-preservation, trying not to get caught and not to cause harm, Officer has been running around for someone else's sake all along. He's been treating even a little girl like me with sincerity all along. Even when faced with supernatural power, I know he was desperately trying to protect me, rather than catching the supernatural being right before his eyes, whom he had been chasing for so long. I also know that he was prepared for his own death, but still tried to get me to escape. And he can also make decisions like bowing his head to a little girl who is a full decade younger than him, without telling a single lie. I think those are invaluable, great virtues."

There's no need to think about it.

There's no need to think about it.

My action at that time, when I thought it would be okay to let this person know my secret, which I had never confided in anyone, was undoubtedly from the bottom of my heart.

I am a petty girl, obsessed with self-preservation and ulterior motives, but if this irreplaceable good person still desires it.

"Let's do it, Kagurazaka-san. Let's eradicate the criminal incidents involving unique abilities that are rampant in this world, the guys who look down on the world, thinking they are special."

I, to make the world a place where those around me can live peacefully.

Police Officer Kagurazaka, to solve criminal incidents that cannot be tracked by science.

And so, we, who were different in every way, took each other's hands.