One shot
He had fallen asleep, waiting for her. All of the sudden, a bang was heard, it sounded like a bag of meat had fell to the ground. Touma Kento woke with a start; he peered round the corridor where the sound came from. He raced towards the source, and pushed opened the door.
"Utsumi –san!" He called anxiously, before clambering to her unconscious body. Touma lifted her against himself and had his arm around her shoulders. Trembling unnecessarily, insensibly he dug for his phone.
"Ambulance, I need an Ambulance!" He shouts into the receiver forgetting to sound like a professional. The person over the phone yelled back a certain order; Touma hit himself in the head mentally.
"We are at the theatre house on 32street Mukima, please hurry!" The other person sounded irritated when he put down the phone but Touma could not care less.
"Utsumi –san! Wake up! Hey! Wake UP!" He shook her but she did not respond or make a sound. It was worrying, especially for him – a new detective with an experience in months not years.
Touma felt for her pulse, for a moment he had a scare but it was there. The pulse weak but it showed that she was still alive. With a quick movement, his coat was off and around the fallen woman – senior detective. She was freezing, almost like a dead body. Touma kicked himself again, why was he thinking of such inauspicious things? He looked at her face; it was badly bruised, cut and scrapped – all because of a suspect. The suspect whom almost got away with a serious crime if not for this detective, but then…
She was crying, Touma had never seen anyone cry so desperately, it was not hushed or suppressed but was an outburst loud and uncontrolled. She must have kept those emotions locked deep inside her; this case drove those emotions up the wall. All these and Utsumi-san's past, only one person knows best.
"Kusanagi –Detective" Touma spoke over the receiver, he moved closer to the window at the same time.
"Kenta? Something the matter?" Touma placed his hand on his head, rubbing it wondering if he could explain the situation properly.
"Utsumi –detective, is in the hospital" Touma said with a knot in his stomach, he turn around to face the long corridor; where the night shift doctors and nurses came on duty. He peered up to the red light 'Operation in progress' it read, on his left then to the glossy windows.
"What happened?" The voice on the other hand sounded more dark and serious. Touma closed his eyes, almost immediately everything that had happened raced through his mind. Like a silent movie that played over in a second.
"She was attacked by a suspect; it does not look very good…She was alright a few minutes ago…" Touma began, but was cut off by an obvious alert Kusanagi
"Which hospital are you at?" He asked, Touma reported accordingly. "Okay, wait for me there. Have you called the chief of police? Go and report to him now. Do you understand?"
Kusanagi Shunpei snapped his phone shut, pushed himself away from his office chair and strut towards the doors. He was not anywhere near the hospital at the moment, he will be there in an hour or so. Utsumi Kaoru, what did you do recklessly again? Kusanagi punched the buttons roughly, his mind filled with concern of his protégé. He glanced at his watch, at this time he will be stalled by the evening traffic. Unless… Kusanagi Shunpei snapped open his phone once more, he scrolled down the list of contacts and finally to the name he wanted to see.
9 – 4 – 7 - he dialled impatiently, and waited for the phone to connect him through. It clicked, and as usual a stern and firm voice answered the call.
"Kusanagi – kun…" it said, without speaking further. The person was just acknowledging the caller.
Kusanagi took a hesitant breath, "Yukawa, Utsumi – Kun is in the hospital right now. It sounds serious, go and see her okay?"
On the other end, Physic Professor Yukawa Manabu digested the news quickly. He looked over to his assistant who scanned his strange expression. The professor nodded, "I got it" Yukawa closed his phone.
"I am going out for a while; I will not be back today." Yukawa said, retrieving his coat. He pocked his glasses, at the same time he heard a scoff behind him. Yukawa paused, turned to face his assistant.
"Sensei, please don't tell me it is the female detective again…" Hiromi Kuribayashi – the eternal assistant folded his arms irritated, "Asking for help on her cases? Sensei, please don't assist the police in their investigation anymore!" He glared at the professor, his voice was slightly raised. For a good reason, the professor have helped the police for more than 6 years and for every single time, experiments have been stalled because of his involvement. The school board will not be happy with him if the assistance interferes with the university.
Kuribayashi was about to persuade further when he realized that the professor expression was no longer neutral. "Wait…It was not the female detective?" He moved a few steps closer to the professor, "Who was it then?"
"Kusanagi shunpei…"
Kuribayashi bristled, "There, another detective… Sensei, please don't…" He was certainly fed up with the police involvement in their lives.
Yukawa put on his coat, and opened the doors not giving much concern of his assistant protest.
"He called to tell me, that Utsumi – Kun was hurt in the line of duty."
A blanket of awkwardness covered the atmosphere; for once Kuribayashi looked ashamed with himself.
"Is she…alright?" he stammered, shocked to hear the news.
Yukawa peered over his shoulders "I am going to get the answer for that now" he uttered before shutting the doors behind him. Kuribayashi twirled his fingers nervously, oh dear. Ahhh, wrong timing again!
He moved towards the sink to deposit his coffee cup, "Eh…?" he whispered to himself "Was the professor feeling concerned?" He pushed the blue button and cold water ran over his fingers, "He can show concern?" Without thinking about it, he pressed the red button. Almost immediately, he jumped in pain. "Ouch!"
He pressed his scalded palms onto the cloth nearby, scolding himself continuously in his mind.