Jurai City was the bustling heart of the Juraian Empire. Bounded by the sea in the east and intersected by four rivers, the roughly 150 million people who lived in its 57 wards made it by far the largest city on planet Jurai and, as far as anyone knew, the known universe.

Kanzaki was just one of these wards, nestled near the city's center and renowned for its high-quality life. It's no secret that the coveted "Juraian Dream" and Kanzaki were often considered synonyms. In the city, Kanzaki had the lowest rates of poverty and crime, the highest property values, the best schools, and the least broken public infrastructure, the last one being considered the most impressive. By all accounts, anyone who grew up in Kanzaki would've certainly considered themselves very fortunate and lived a happy life.

One particular Kanzaki high school had a large dojo bustling with noise and cheering. Two people stood on a mat spanning the entire floor and bouted in martial arts, but only one person was ever being rotated out after losing. The one who wasn't losing was a girl with short, red hair who grinned as she built up a huge streak.

She was in the middle of a bout with her fifth opponent in a row, who she was pushing back with a flurry of punches to his body and face that forced him to block and back away. Eventually, he tried standing his ground and threw a punch at her, but she ducked under it and cleanly swept his leg. She playfully slapped him on the cheek as a finisher.

"Next!" she called out.

A female opponent tried being methodical with defensive, probing kicks, but she didn't seem sure of what to do afterward. The red-haired girl rushed forward while she was in the middle of another kick and blocked it with her left arm. With her right, she landed a soft punch to her stomach, making her fall down and tap out.

"Next!"

This opponent was subdued the quickest. She let him lunge forward with a futile grab and catch him off balance at precisely the perfect moment. Hooking the back of his forward leg with her own and grabbing the bottom of his face, she almost effortlessly pushed and made him fall on his back, triumphantly placing her foot on his chest.

Next!"

Her next opponent went in aggressively, throwing punches to force her back, but she knew that he would transition to a spinning kick. Moving faster than he anticipated, she slid down and connected her foot with his one foot that was still on the ground, making him fall face-first and hitting him softly on the back of his head.

"Next!" she said once again, but to her surprise, nobody came up to face her. She scanned the large room and found that those who saw her fight had gotten disheartened seeing everyone else lose to her and decided against having a go.

"Come on, everyone," she pleaded. "This sport is all about restraint. I promise you won't get hurt that much."

Her instructor, content with letting her run things herself, finally stepped in. "You can't make them fight if they don't want to, but… if you're up for it." He confidently cracked his neck and stretched. "You've yet to take on your sensei."

Chapter 4 – Unfulfilled Mitsuki

Her sensei found himself lying with his back on the ground, completely stunned at the speed and ease at which she had beaten him.

"Can I take your belt, sensei?" she asked him.

He got up with a grunt. "Mine's not good enough for you. I say, you're only eighteen, but you may already be the best youth practitioner in the city. You certainly have a promising career ahead of you with those moves of yours."

"I see. Well, I guess I'll think about it. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, respectfully bowing.

After changing back into her school uniform, she walked through one of the halls of her school, she slowed to notice the crowd of students looking at the board listing the highest scorers for their class.

"I can't believe it, she was that high?" one of the boys asked.

"Well she's the Queen of Kanzaki, of course she'd get the highest score!" a girl answered him.

"I heard she studied for twelve hours for finals and aced them. No wonder she's at the top!"

She took a look at the board, even as she knew who they were talking about. There was a list of students with a tally of the highest accumulative exam scores from both semesters, adding up to 1000 points. She quickly recognized the name besides 992 points: Mitsuki Tsukushi, nicknamed the "Queen of Kanzaki" by the study body and faculty— a fitting title, she thought.

One of the students finally noticed her standing behind them and got everyone to do the same. It was a nigh incomprehensible noise of disbelief and excited cheering.

"Tsunami, you are so smart!"

"You should become a university professor or something!"

"What are you going to study? I bet it's something that'll make a lot of money! Tell us!"

Mitsuki defensively put her hands up and started backing away. "Look everyone, all I can say is this is just a stepping stone for me. To be honest, the only thing I regret was not getting a perfect one-thousand! But where I'm going, I won't need to fret over some eight points."

The school's intercom interrupted the moment. "Attention all students and faculty, the graduation ceremony will commence shortly. Everyone, please gather outside in your designated seating areas.

Mitsuki couldn't help but grin at the announcement. After all, she had a very special place in the ceremony: she'd been unanimously selected by the Year Twelve student council to be this year's student speaker and give a closing speech that would be broadcast on local television. Not that she was desperate for the attention—everyone in Kanzaki seemed to know her—but she hoped it would cement her status as someone… great. That was the best word she knew to describe it.

"If you'll excuse me," she said to her peer as she walked away.

The cloudless and pleasant weather was perfect for an outdoor graduation ceremony, and a large stage with a podium and microphone was already set up for people to go up and speak to everyone.

The ceremony began with the traditional walk for all of the graduating students, as well as shorter lists for those who made specific achievements. Mitsuki herself had five: perfect attendance, the highest culminate exam scores, the highest number of community service hours, the winner of the annual inter-high martial arts tournament, and, of course, voted as the most likely to succeed.

Near the end of the ceremony, it was time for her to get up again to deliver her speech. There was no need for a teleprompter; she had already memorized the speech's 2000 words from beginning to end.

"Fellow students of Dazaifu High School, faculty, parents… friends, we're all here today because we stand on the cusp of becoming the vanguard of Jurai's next generation. We have all proven our devolution to ourselves and to our community and our loved ones."

"For this year's graduating class, this may seem like the end of a large part of your life. No more after-school clubs and sports, no more sharing and cleaning and eating in classrooms, no more lectures on traditional literature…"

She deliberately paused to let the predicted cheering and applause from the students come out.

"School has been a part of our lives for a long time and it may be sad for some to see it end, but this is certainly not the end of anything. It's just the beginning—the tip of the iceberg—because when we leave Daifuzu today as adults, we will stand up to today's demands and meet them head-on, and that requires more education, more diligence, more connections, more memories, and… and…."

She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed one particular woman sitting in one of the middle rows: a woman dressed in fine, upper-class-looking clothes that screamed politician. She was Koike, better known as "Ms. Yukino", North Kanzaki's immensely popular representative on the Jurai City council…

And, her mother, once. Immediately, she could feel her death grip on her microphone as the words of her speech couldn't squeeze through the blockage in her throat. Sensing that the crowd was beginning to wonder what was wrong, she forced her throat open and continued speaking as if nothing happened, but the still-confused looks she was getting made it clear that it wasn't working. As attractive as the nearby stairs off the stage were becoming to her, she knew she had to labor on until her 2000 words were over.

By imagining as hard as she could that Ms. Yukino wasn't in the crowd, Mitsuki managed to get through the rest of the speech without any major hiccups, but it wasn't something she was proud of. Her tone and demeanor were completely shot from earlier, and the applause from the audience looked more forced than enthusiastic. The principal sensed the tension from the sidelines and quickly stepped to continue the ceremony, finally allowing Mitsuki to sulk away off the stage. Since she had already graduated, she had no obligation to stay, and as soon as all eyes were away from her, she walked down the short stairs and immediately bolted off the school grounds.

From her seat, Ms. Yukino sighed at seeing her daughter unceremoniously run away and knew she had to follow, but she was also supposed to give a speech and had to make up an excuse to leave. Thankfully, she had brought an aide for her and now whispered in his ear.

"Tell them that something came up. Give my speech for me if they ask."

"Yes, miss."

She stood up and sped-walked out to the school's parking lot and immediately hopped in her aircar and sped off in the general direction of where her daughter went.

A memory ran in Mitsuki's head from that day eleven years ago, the one that she'd tried and failed to wipe from her mind. She stood beside her father, sobbing and whining as Koike carefully packed a few things into a briefcase and quickly walked out of the door of their home for the last time.

"Papa," she said as she tugged on his shirt. "Why is she mad at us? Did we do something bad? Is she mad at me?"

Her father knelt and hugged her tightly. "You're a good girl. This is… just what happens… sometimes."

"I want her back! Tell mommy to come back!"

He sniffled slightly. "I'm sorry. I can't. I can't do anything."

Mitsuki had to smack herself in the face to stop thinking about that memory. She had run as fast as she could until she reached the safe, picturesque neighbors of North Kanzaki, a place she learned to navigate well growing up. This suburban part of the city had large houses that were fenced-in by solid walls on all sides which blocked out both sight and noise. Walking through it alone was like a giant maze, but that was what Mitsuki wanted now.

She knew that one day, she'd be face-to-face with Koike, but she wasn't ready for that, least of all today! The surprise was an emotional punch in the gut that sapped all of the courage out of her, and she knew that she just couldn't do it today. She needed somewhere quiet, somewhere solitary that could be her escape from today.

But wherever that was, she couldn't get to it in time. In the distance, she heard the growing hum of an aircar behind her. Mitsuki didn't need to turn around to know it was Koike, and she ignored her and kept walking. Undeterred, Koike parked her car and got out to catch up to her on foot.

"Mitsuki! Mitsuki!"

The moment Koike got close enough to put and hand on her shoulder and touched her shoulder, Mitsuki turned around and violently shoved her away.

"Don't touch me! Don't talk to me!" she yelled at her. "You don't deserve either, not after what you've done!"

"I know. I know. I know that my decision was hard for you, I wouldn't have expected otherwise. But that's okay! You don't need to understand, you just need to know that you're an adult now, and I want to be back in your life. Because I'm your mother, Mitsuki!"

Mitsuki clenched her fist and slapped Koike across the face as hard as she could, almost making her fall to the ground.

"You had your chance to be that person, but you chose to be Ms. Yukino instead," she told her pronouncing her new name with disgust. "That was your decision, not mine, but now you're getting second thoughts? Well, too bad for you! You're an adult, just deal with it!"

"I know the decision I made isn't something that can be forgiven, but that's not what I want. I'm asking that you take the chance and move on because that's what I'm ready to do. Let's just… start over!"

"Start over? Just… start over?"

Gritting her teeth, Mitsuki lunged in for another smack, but at the last moment, she pulled her hand away, sensing the pointlessness of hitting her again. As Koike naturally recoiled, she took a look at her daughter, disappointed but… seemingly understanding. They both knew that there was nothing more to be done here.

"Go," Mitsuki told her quietly.

With a tear coming down her face, Koike silently backed away and got back in her aircar. She took one last look at Mitsuki through her door mirror as she drove away.

She had been able to put up a tough front, but once Koike was gone, Mitsuki let her tension spill out of her body and found a little nook between the house walls where she could hardly be seen and sat down on the ground. Then, she lost it completely and lay down on one side, sobbing.

"Go... go…" she mumbled to herself. It was ironic. When she was the Queen of Kanzaki, she was the sun, the person everyone else seemed to revolve around, but when she was outside, when she was just Mitsuki Tsukushi, she was a cold, lonely void.

That's what she really was. She took in everything people warmly gave her but put nothing out in exchange; she was empty. What was she going to do? Where would she go? What kind of job did she want to have? What kind of dreams did she have? She didn't ask excuses for others, but herself, because she had no answers for any of these questions.

Some queen she's turned out to be. What kind of great person could feel so unfulfilled?

"Great?" she asked herself. "Am I great?" That's something she'd been always been telling herself. She was a "great woman" because she was the best, and she was the best because she was different from other people—superior, more focused, and more determined. But could she really call herself the Queen of Kanzaki from the pavement of a street dripping with her tears?

Just then, she heard the rumble of another aircar come by, this one being a Kanzaki Police vehicle. The vehicle suddenly stopped as it came by and the lone officer driving it leaned through his window to call out to her.

"Hey! Are you hurt, young lady? Do you need to go to a hospital?"

Mitsuki quickly stood up and dusted herself off. "N-no. I'm fine, thank you."

Seeing the redness in her eyes, the officer pressed on. What are you doing over there? Is something wrong?"

"I was just…." Mitsuki trailed off, making her shake her head. "I'm just going through something personal right now, okay? I just need… somewhere quiet to be alone."

"Well, that dirty corner isn't doing you any favors," he said jokingly. "Listen, if you want, hop in and I'll give you a lift to the station. We'll let you stay with us for up to twenty-four hours and provide amenities, no questions asked. What do you say?"

While the suddenness put her off slightly, Mitsuki figured that she could trust a police officer, of all people, so she found herself slowly walking over to his aircar and entering the rear driver's seat.

"Great! You'll be safe and snug in just a few minutes!"

As the car began moving again, the officer began fiddling with his dispatch radio.

"All cruisers in sector four," a female announcer said over it. "Possible 10-52 reported at 13th and Furukawa Drive. Requesting 10-85, over."

"Sorry, dispatch, I'm in the middle of a 9-8-1 en route to the station, over," the office said.

"10-5 cruiser #34. Your latest report describes you were currently on 10-10A, confirm. Over."

"Acknowledge dispatch, I… uh… I forgot something at HQ and picked up 9-8-1," he chuckled "I won't be asking for overtime, over."

There was a pause before dispatch responded. "Acknowledged, thirty-four, over."

"Were you not working until just now?" Mitsuki asked the officer.

"Ah, don't listen to that gibberish," he answered casually. "Hey, let's listen to something on the radio, huh?"

He switched off his dispatch machine for the regular radio. Randomly spinning the dial, he came up with JHK, Jurai's national news broadcaster.

"This is JHK with breaking news. Seniwan leader Mishoto Kuramitsu has vowed "revenge and fury" for the recent attack on the naval vessel Shushi. The source of this attack, which happened right on the border between Jurai and Seniwa, has not been independently verified, but has nonetheless heightened tensions between the two countries. Some experts fear that the point of no return has been reached."

"Interestingly, Mishoto had hinted that the speech he made today was originally going to be spoken by his younger cousin, Mihoshi, but that did not happen for unknown reasons."

"Juraian imperialism knows no bounds!" declared Mishoto over the radio. "That fop Azusa and his inbred lackeys think that we Seniwans are of lesser stock, that we're lesser people, but they're deluding themselves! We Seniwans are a strong and proud nation which does not serve others. If the Juraians want us to kneel, then we shall oblige them… only to lower them into their graves!"

The officer shut off the radio. "Well, isn't that guy something? You think there's going to be a war with Seniwa?"

Mitsuki shrugged. "It's not for me to decide. Hey, are you sure we're headed to a station?"

By the time she'd asked the question, they had driven from the quaint neighborhoods of North Kanzaki into the dense streets of the city center.

"Yeah, mine is station five, downtown Kanzaki," he answered.

"Downtown?" Mitsuki repeated. "Do you live in North Kanzaki?"

"Oh, no. Not old enough to settle down there yet!"

"Then… what we're you doing over there?"

"I uh… I was visiting an old buddy of mine from high school. Tsunami, kids these days ask all kinds of questions!"

He took an unexpected turn off of the main road into a side alley, and another turn in another direction, his aircar barely able to move through the tight corners.

"Shortcut of mine," he explained. "When you work my job long enough you get used to taking them."

"If it's a shortcut, then why are we slowing down?"

That question seemed to be the last straw for the suspicious officer, who didn't answer it as he came to a full stop and got out of the car. Mitsuki found herself breathing heavily: she had learned stranger danger, but she wasn't ever told it could come from a JCPD officer. She stood stiff as a board as she saw the officer walk over to her passenger door and open it.

"Please get out of the car,"

"You said the station. This isn't it," Mitsuki said with uncertainty.

"Change of plans," he said simply. "Get out of the car."

Mitsuki glanced at a small remote the officer was mostly hiding behind his back, and suddenly she felt the seatbelt she fastened herself in unbuckle itself, allowing the officer to pull her out of the vehicle and throw her against the nearest wall. When she recovered her bearings, the officer had already closed the distance, leaving her no room to escape.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. I've been starved for action for months!"

"What's wrong with you!?" she screamed. Immediately, she realized that there was no hope in trying to call for help. Whatever sounds that weren't blocked out from the thick buildings of the alleys were drowned out by the passive traffic from the streets.

"Protect and serve doesn't come free, girl. It's those little extra incentives that help guys like me keep Kanzaki nice and clean. That's just how it is."

He began by softly touching her hand and running his fingers up to her shoulder, but at that moment, Mitsuki's martial arts instinct kicked in. With both hands, she grabbed his right and locked it in place as she ducked under it and repositioned herself to his right side. With just enough space, she landed a strong kick to his stomach, but his body armor absorbed most of the shock and she didn't send him sprawling on the ground as she expected. Instead, he staggered back a few steps and took out his police baton.

"Fiesty, aren't we?" he taunted. "That's okay, I like them that way, young and feisty!"

Mitsuki's confidence suddenly dipped— for as good as she was, she'd never practiced against weapons before— and she attempted to flee again, but as she tried running, the officer lunged at her feet and toppled her onto the ground. He grabbed her body and turned her around so she faced him, but that was when suddenly—

"Get your goddamn hands off her!" a man suddenly roared from the end of the alley.

Both he and Mitsuki looked curiously behind him and, to their surprise, it was another JCPD officer who was pointing his gun at the other officer. Mitsuki noted that this mysterious officer looked older than her assailant, with a couple of silver hairs sticking out. A veteran officer, she figured.

"Lay another finger on her and it'll be the last thing you touch!" he continued.

The Kanzaki officer finally got up off her and gave the older man a furious glance. "Who the hell do you think you…wait a minute, I know you! You're that Detective Yoritomo, from Fukaba Ward. What are you doing in Kanzaki?"

Yoritomo shrugged. "I got bored over there, threw too many guys in the slammer, so I thought I'd do a little volunteer work. And boy, did this place need it."

"Well, you're out of your element, old-timer," the Kanzaki cop told him. "Unlike that Fukaba dump, Kanzaki is a civilized town; you start shooting here and there'll be a scandal. Now put that gun down before you lose your retirement."

Yoritomo scoffed. "Believe me, you're not the first dirty cop to tell me that. But you're right, I'm not from around here, and that means that whatever mess happens, it won't be me that'll have to clean it up."

"Don't try and intimidate me! I have my body cam on! Just a few minutes of editing the footage, and I'll be all clear!"

"You sure about that? Might want to check that camera."

The Kanzaki officer looked down at his camera and discovered, to his surprise, that its lens had been smashed in by Mitsuki's hard kick.

"Oh, sorry, did I just blow up your whole get-out-of-jail-free card?" Yoritomo jokingly asked. Just then, another police car pulled up behind him, and he turned around to the younger officer who got out. "About time you showed up, Kayabuki! Look what I reeled in, a badge about to pounce on that girl over there!"

"In Kanzaki? I almost can't believe it," Kayabuki said as he drew his gun on the Kanzaki officer. "Alright, it's over for you. Step away from that girl, put that baton down and then put your hands on your head."

The Kanzaki officer was speechless, but realizing that everything had already fallen apart for him, he meekly surrendered to their demands. Later, as Kayabuki drove the man away in his cruiser, Yoritomo collected notes from a few questions he asked Mitsuki. Out of respect for her, he made sure to keep a solid meter away from her.

"Okay, that should be enough to put this guy in the slammer for twenty years at least," he said as he put away his handwritten notes. "But hey, are you really alright? You still need somewhere to be… alone?"

"Not anymore," Mitsuki answered. "It's out of me now. I just need to think about what I'm going to do. I have no idea right now."

"Well, neither did I when I was your age, but you'll figure it out eventually. Maybe look up to someone you admire and just do what they do; can't go wrong with that. Anyway, I gotta get back to work. I'd drive you home, but I didn't bring my aircar with me."

"That's okay. And thank you… old man," she finished off as she parted ways with the officer.

"What did you just say to me!?" he called out to her as she jogged away. "My name is Junichiro, and I am not an old man!"

When she was out of sight, Junichiro looked directly at the camera. "Hey, how much am I getting paid for this cameo again?"

Without saying a word about what had happened to her father when she returned home, Mitsuki holed up in her room and spent the rest of the day thinking hard about everything before coming back to her unanswered question: "was she great?". She realized that right now, the answer was no, but she had a good idea of how to turn that around.

"Maybe look up to someone you admire and just do what they do." That's what Detective Yoritomo had told her earlier, and she realized that he was great, and she wanted to emulate him, but how? After today, she wanted nothing to do with the Jurai City Police Department, but there was another police force that she knew a bit about that would try instead.

The next morning, wearing her nicest clothes for the occasion, Mitsuki walked through the double doors of a building and approached a man sitting at the front desk idly drinking coffee.

"If you're looking for the JCPD, young lady, then you're in luck, they're not here," the man at the front desk joked as she approached the desk. "Don't tell them I said that. Welcome to Galaxy Police Kanzaki Headquarters. What can I do for you?"

Mitsuki swallowed confidently before answering. "Could you tell me a bit about your organization—what you do?"

"Interested in joining, are you? Well, the Galaxy Police is responsible for keeping law and order out there in space when Jurai, Seniwa, or anyone else can't, or won't. Our officers are the best of the best; we have to be, really. If it weren't for us, open space would be a warzone of pirates, mercenaries, and other lowlives just doing whatever they wanted."

"And how exactly do you become a Galaxy Police officer?"

"The Academy. Sort of like a university for cops. Spend two years there and you'll become one if you pass. Completely free of charge too, if you pass."

"Do you think it's a good career to get into for… someone who doesn't have anything else? No other plans?"

He shrugged. "Out of school and you want to jump into the big adult world, do you? Sure, the Galaxy Police always needs more badges up there, and bright, young people like you are exactly who we're looking for. I wouldn't say it's easy, but for those who commit, it's the best job out there."

Mitsuki nodded. "Okay, that settles it. I want to join."

"Great!" he said as he reached for some papers under his desk. "It's just a matter of a basic few questions for the database. Name?

"Mitsuki Tsukushi."

"Age?"

"Eighteen."

"Residence?"

"8-2-1-4, Kanzaki, Jurai City."

He turned the paper around for her and handed her his pen. "Alright, just sign your name on the bottom, and you'll be shipped to the Academy as soon as you're ready. Hey… don't I know you? Oh yeah, I saw you on TV yesterday. Queen of Kanzaki, huh? Nice ring to it."

Mitsuki signed her name on the paper and looked back up at him. "Don't call me that, please."

"I wouldn't return to Jurai until just that ordeal with Kagato in the National Assembly last year," Mitsuki said as she began her monologue. "I really didn't feel like I had any reason to go back, not that I was finally doing something that I really wanted."

"It seems to be me you wanted to get out of your mother's shadow," Kiyone noted. "You obviously hated her."

"I used to, but these days I pity Koike. I guess she was a lot like me back then, but she took too long to make her decision, and it hurt people around her. Maybe she thought she was supposed to be great too and wanted more out of life, but she can't be both Koike Tsukushi and Ms. Yukino at the same time."

Mihoshi leaned in closer. "Why not? Did she legally change her name and can't take it back? Or, did you forget to mention that in the story?"

Mitsuki blankly stared at her. "Bubblehead."

Preview of Next Chapter

Kiyone: "So now that we've all gotten to the Galaxy Police Academy, they said we have to do something they call orientation testing."

Mihoshi: "What!? They didn't saying anything about testing in Teishang! I didn't study at all!"

Kiyone: "You think you have it bad? I can barely speak Juraian as it is. Come to think of it, how am I talking to you now? The next chapter of Academy Days!, 'Entrance Exams!?'"

Mitsuki: "It's unquestionably going to be a piece of cake!"

Author's Note #4: Returning to Kanzaki.

One of Jurai City's many wards, Kanzaki was originally featured in the fifth chapter of Galaxy Police Complex "Kushi-Yori Investigations", which starred Mitsuki and Junichiro Yoritomo—who makes a small appearance in this chapter. Originally, "Kushi-Yori Investigations" was going to touch upon Mitsuki's upbringing in the city and maybe feature one of her parents, but that got cut in favor of devoting time to the chapter's main plot.

Koike, or Ms. Yukino, also exists in Galaxy Police Complex, so far her role in that story is that of the new president of Jurai City in the aftermath of the sixth chapter. Originally, Ms. Yukino wasn't intended to be Mitsuki's mother but rather just a random politician. When the ninth chapter of GPC, "Operation Heiwa" releases in the future, it will feature Ms. Yukino needing to be rescued by Mitsuki and her comrades in SIFO, which should make for an interesting interaction between mother and daughter.

This chapter again gives hints that Jurai and Seniwa are going to war, but this time it seems like an eventuality. Time will tell how bad the war will be and how it will affect the incoming class of the Galaxy Police Academy.

The chapter's title, "Unfulfilled Mitsuki" is an homage to the seventh episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena, "Unfulfilled Juri", and this chapter even begins similarly, with Mitsuki repeatedly beating everyone at martial arts while Juri beat everyone at fencing.