A certain young girl roamed around the house, playing a little chase with her other elementary friends. Giggles and playful chats scream from every room, all the while the parents do not mind their play-through and continue chatting with their neighbor. Not just a little "tag, you're it!" Game. The young girl is playing cops and criminals with her friends. And she is playing her role as one of the police officers in the game.

She and the children sprint all over the house, acting that they arrest criminals if caught with a bit of rope. The others pretend to shoot at each other with their bare fingers and take cover at any cover they can find. Childish laughs emitted along the way, the little girl was soon called over by her father, to which she responded and sprinted back at him with a small toy gun in her hand. The father then kneels before her.

"Sumida, my girl," the father said. "Could you put that toy gun down and help me in the kitchen?"

"Oh? Are we making a pie?" the little girl asked.

"Your favorite, my darling," the father replied with a smile.

The little girl takes a deep breath. "Apple pie?"

"Yes!"

"Yay!" the little girl dropped her toy gun and immediately ran to the kitchen

A couple of chuckles emit from the father's mouth, picking up the toy gun and catching up with his precious sweetie child. On the other hand, the mother was still in the living room to talk with their neighbors. Entering the kitchen, he finds his daughter is already sitting on the chair, and before her, the dough and components for the filling.

"Sumida," the father called as he walked over to that counter. "Help me with the dough."

"Hai, Otō-chan," Sumida nodded, soon grabbing a small part of the dough and begin rolling it on the floured counter.

The father smiles warmly at his precious girl, taking a circular ceramic bowl onto the counter and filling its base with the dough. Looking back to his daughter, she had made several dough strips, small and large, for the roof of the pie. The father even assists her in decorating the pie. As they are almost finished with it, the daughter then asks.

"Otō-chan."

"What is it, Sumi-chan?"

She looks at him with starry eyes. "Is working as a police officer is awesome?"

"It is, Sumi-chan," the father replied. "But it's also hard."

"Why is it hard, Otō-chan?" the innocent girl asked back. "Do catching bad guys is hard?"

"It's not all about catching bad guys, Sumida," the father replied. "As police officers, we also have to do investigations to bring justice to the bad guys. But most of all, we keep the peace, not just for ourselves, but for everyone."

"Oooooh," the girl looked quite astonished. "Investigation? Peace?"

"Investigation is like what you always do, Sumi-chan," the father playfully booped her nose. "Always finding interesting things in unlikely places. As for peace, well, when no one and nothing wants to give us a hard life."

After finishing the decorations, the father places the pie into the microwave and sets it to cook. He then turns to find his daughter holding something in her hands, a piece of paper.

"Here is for you, Otō-chan!"

The father accepts the paper and reads it. A childish abstract drawing of the father himself and the daughter, one in blue uniform and another covered underneath a brown coat. He couldn't help but smile at such images of the girl's mind.

"Why are you in a brown coat, Sumi-chan?"

Her face immediately gleams bright. "I want to be a detective!"

"Ha ha ha," the father chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be fit for the job, Sumi-chan."

"But didn't you say it's hard?" asked the girl, frowning.

"It is," he nodded. "But I will help you as an awesome detective one day."

"Yay!"

The father smiles again, then crouches to hold both her shoulders. "Do you want to hear another story about Sherlock Holmes while we wait?"

The girl could almost jump on the ground, enthusiastically brightening her face like a sweet angel. "Hai, Otō-chan!"


It wasn't easy as a detective.

Walking slowly and carefully through a dilapidated apartment block, she searches for a clue. And it was one without a warrant at that because who needs one when no one's owning the place. What makes it more irritating is that it's raining outside, just after she entered the place.

Though it was not all that good, she's entering a possible hostile place to look for clues, a clue to add in her case against the well-known Shiba Matsubara and her gang of gun-dealing criminal scum. There are other infamous criminals she could have chosen. But the reason why she racked the case against Shiba, is because this woman had more dealing against authorities than she does against other criminal competitors. And the detective wants to make sure that Shiba's bullying will end when she finally cracks enough evidence against her.

Moving from room to room, she finally finds her clues. Some documents are left carelessly on a table, and some crates are stored in the room. The detective pulls out her pistol and scans the room cautiously. Confident the room's clear, she enters. But then immediately stop.

This feels easy. Too easy.

She again scans the room as she takes a couple of turtle steps. When she suddenly felt a wire under the soles of her shoe after the next step. In 0.5 seconds, she bows her head and quickly trailed where the wire leads to.

A grenade trap was strapped on the doorframe next to her.

"Goddamn shit!"

The detective immediately dashes out of the room and turns the left corner.

*BUAAAAAAARRRRR*

The large explosion made her tumble, deafening her ears, and her head went into vertigo due to the shockwave. With a gun in hand, she forces herself to stand up-

*DUAR-DUAR*

Instinctively, she rolls to the left into the open door and takes cover from a storm of bullets. She stands against the frame and then returns fire down the hall.

She then hears a laugh. "Well, well, if it isn't Sumi-bitch."

With indignant, she peeks carefully. "How's that trap working out for ya'?"

Aside from a few henchmen and that skinny man, Maru, Shiba is visible at the end of the hall. "So they were right about you, huh? You're too stupidly stubborn to die."

"Thank you!" Sumida grinned. "Now, how about you drop your guns, and I'll take my time arresting you?"

"You must be a blind idiot even to suggest that," Shiba shot back with her pistol. "Besides, what do you gain from trying to stop me?"

"Ensuring the safety of the citizens."

"Oh, that's so clichéd," Shiba responded. "Makes me wonder why you kept chasing me up until now. Are the cops really that bunch of cowards?"

"Another good reason why I'm trying to stop you, Shiba Inu," the detective mocked back.

"In your dreams, Detective Sumida," Shiba then motioned to her men. "Gentlemen, we'll be leaving. Would you take care of the detective?"

"We got this, boss!" a few henchmen began firing at the detective.

"Sayonara, Sumida," Shiba playfully saluted before she, Maru, and a couple of henchmen left, leaving the remaining gunmen to deal with the detective.

Sumida could only grunt at the escalation of this situation. "You pussy!"


Half an hour later.

Aside from the smoke coming out of the dilapidated apartment and some dead men in the halls, colorful sirens flash the night. Officers roamed throughout the area to secure it and find evidence if possible. And Sumida is resting, sitting on the back of a police cruiser with a heaving sigh. It's been a while to have that such shootout, but getting tired from that isn't very pleasant. A person walks over to her, none other than her police chief.

"Alright, Detective Sumida," the chief began. "Mind telling me what the hell happened in there?"

"I almost got my hands on an evidence back there," Sumida replied. "Turns out just another stupid trap."

"Well, you're the one who believed Matsubara's associate," the chief then looked back to the building. "But that… that's just too much even for us."

"I guess I'm gonna go back to ask that associate about this trap."

"Don't bother."

"Huh?" Sumida glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"He's already got a lawyer. The best one," the chief replied. "Looks like he's going to be let out sooner than you hoped."

"Arrgh, just my luck," Sumida bowed her head.

"Now, now, you already stirred too much problem for this woman you obsessed about," the chief took a deep sigh. "How about you take a couple of days off? You look like you're about to break your back from all that chaos."

"But what about-"

"Just forget about her for now," the chief replied sternly. "I'll go look up another case so you can busy yourself with it. Don't argue with me. We already had enough criticism as it is, and we don't need extra paperwork now, do we?"

Sumida loses her tongue and sighs out in defeat. "Fine. I'll take my days off."

Sumida was soon relieved of her duties and finally returned to her humble abode.


Present-day.

Sumida lazily awoken from her slumber, partly annoyed by chastises of her alarm clock. After turning off the alarm, she yawns and stretches her arms once more before going to the bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth. It's early in the morning, and she has time to eat some breakfast. And her favorite, as always, rice mixed with raw egg, with a side of vegetables to go with it.

She also takes this time to turn on the TV, on the news channel. Some thieveries, assault, fraud, and murder crimes were represented in and outside the city. Yet, the only news that had her head lifted was a couple of attractions, animals, and infamously, the Sentinels vigilante group. She sighs, cursing that this vigilante group will undoubtedly have her work on more paperwork if she doesn't stop them as soon as possible. And there's Bakimura Store and Shiba.

Either way, she shakes her head and finishes up her breakfast. It's time to dress up as a detective, and she does not forget about her badge of occupation and her trusty pistol. She then looks to her phone, wanting to see what schedule she has for today. The usual investigation work around the morning, probably helping out a fellow officer as well. And then… the schedule on Sakurako's project movie.

"I wonder if we can finish that movie for this week," she sighed again as she pocketed her phone. "I hope bringing that scum of a woman was a good idea."

She was about to grab her keys when her head turned at a particular table decorated with frame pictures. Her eyes were immediately glued to one such picture. Grabbing hold onto it, she looks over the picture, caressing the frame gently like it was a smooth oak. In the picture contains an image of a woman and a man, both in blue uniforms. The man was her father, and the woman… was herself during the graduation as a police officer—the proudest moment of her life.

Sumida merely sighs once again. "If you only hadn't put me as an officer for a quite while, Otō-chan. Then again… it wouldn't be all that easy if it wasn't for you."

*TUNG-TUNG*

Sumida raises her eyebrows and puts back her picture frame. She inspects her phone once again and finds a message icon stroking. Checking the content, it's from Sakurako. She's asking if Sumida is able to come this afternoon.

Sumida creates a genuine smile, pressing the keys along the way before sending her message. "So this is what family feels, huh? But it's nice to have someone to take care of."

Sumida pockets her phone before grabbing her keys off the table. And lo, she goes to work, as both a peacekeeper and an investigator.