Show Business

"The criminal is..." Saguru trailed off, knowing that it was expected of him. These people wanted this to be entertaining and they expected him to offer them that entertainment. It was like he was a showman and the people were his audience.

Saguru whirled around, as gesture everyone had been expecting but gasped at none the less. Interested 'ooh's broke out from the crowd of people as he pointed at the middle-aged man that looked much like his father in appearance and finished: "You."

The man's face twisted in rage and disgust. Saguru doubted the man realized that it only made him look as ugly as the demons of folklore. Saguru no longer saw a kind man, all images of the man he missed gone as he walked over to the strager and pulled out a computer hardrive disk.

"This disk holds waterproof evidence of you taking part in the drug smuggling business", Saguru said. He waved the disk in his hand, taunting the man with a smug smirk on his face. "Looks like it's game over for you, Mr Thornmill."

Enraged, Thornmill attempted to launch at Saguru, an act both the crowd of people and Saguru had been expecting. Saguru should have been hit and then stagger backwards so that the man would think he could escape. Then Saguru was supposed to break his exit. But it had been a long day and Saguru was tired of games.

Thornmill never reached either Saguru or the disk as the detective stepped to the side, completely avoiding the attack. He brought his elbow to the back of the man's head, knocking the criminal unconcious.

As the police officers made to grab the knocked out culprit, Saguru knew the crowd was expecting him to say something cryptic or wise. They wanted him to say something they could recite to their friends, bragging about how they got to see the high school detective Hakuba Saguru solve a case.

With a sigh Saguru handed the disk to another officer, the man thanking him for a job well done. Saguru turned his gaze to the people circling them. He knew he could not let them down. This was what he was born to do. Making others believe that the world was still a good place, even though he hated it with all of his heart.

"For every person wanting to break the law, there are ten wanting to stop him", Saguru finally said and, as expected, the crowd began clapping their hands. Saguru whirled around and marched out of the room. To the the crowd of people and police officers it seemed like he was off to save more people, to him it was something entirely different. He knew that he was running away from the truth, from what he was.

Owari