Kimigami
Amagami (c) Enterbrain and respective holders.
Assistant Police Inspector Jun'ichi Tachibana craned his neck and squinted his eyes as he drove his unmarked sedan slowly beside a small, tree-lined park. He spoke with increasing trepidation into his car mike.
"Two-Six, Two-Six, are you sure you saw them head into the park?"
A thin voice at the other end answered, "Yes, Chief."
"Where are you now?"
"I'm outside the north entrance to the park."
"I'm at the southwest end. I can't see them, so I'm heading into the park on foot. Stay there."
"Copy."
Jun'ichi parked his car and switched the engine off. Checking to see that his equipment was in order, her stepped out into the cool night air, pulling his dark sport coat tightly around him.
The night wasn't going well. Tasked to capture a pair of hoodlums robbing female train commuters in a certain area, he had planned to catch them before they could victimize more people. The only problem was they had moved so quickly in the evening press of passengers at the small train station that his two policemen had lost contact. Then one had spotted them entering this small, shrubbery-filled place from the southwest end, pushing their latest victim in front of them—female, about one and a half meters tall, glasses, slim, with a pageboy haircut and brown handbag, wearing a long double-breasted tan coat. He had to find them quickly, or end up with another robbery on his hands—or worse, if the last case two weeks ago was anything to go by.
The park's lampposts flung their yellowish light on the footpath, but had not enough power to light the space beneath the groves of trees. Jun'ichi felt nervous as he slowly, quietly walked along, his eyes trying to pierce the gloom.
A shriek somewhere further down the lane made his blood run cold. He ran towards the sound.
-oOo-
In the dim light thrown from the open door of a public restroom he saw the men he had been tracking. Standing between them was the woman Two-Six had presumably seen before with them.
He watched as one of the men, a large, rangy youth with flat-top hair, grab her shoulder from behind. The woman grasped the hand that had latched on to her and the man's beltline. With a grunt she pivoted and pulled, flipping the man over in the neatest jiujitsu throw the detective had seen in quite a while. He landed with a woof on the ground and she followed up by introducing the miscreant's nose to the heel of her shoe. He expressed his gratitude by clapping his hands to his face and rolling away from her, shouting.
Jun'ichi spotted the other man creeping up the woman's blind side. "Stop!" he yelled, drawing his gun from under his coat. "Police!"
In the short time the woman was busy with his partner, the short, balding goon had produced a rattan stick from under his jacket and moved round to the woman's flank. Only the sound of leaves being trod underfoot gave him away as he raised the stick and swung it down.
The woman caught the blow on her shoulder and staggered forward, turning to face her attacker. Jun'ichi saw her raise a hand to protect herself, and the stick came down on her arm. The woman cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Jun'ichi raised his pistol as the robber brought the stick high above his head for an even greater blow. Taking aim at the backlit figures, he held his breath and squeezed the trigger.