Always With You
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters
Chapter 14 – Like bees to honey
Technology is a wonderful thing… most of the time.
Ask Police Chief Fujita about it… only… don't do it unless you have lots and lots of time to listen.
Chief Fujita's day started out normal. His station dealt with the normal crimes such as theft, assault, murder… as I said, the usual stuff.
And then the noon hour hit, and chaos ensued.
It began as a simple case of harassment and self-defense. Officer Yumida was driving down Cherry Blossom Street toward the station when he witnessed four hoods harassing three pretty, young females in front of the Happy-To-Serve Quickstop. Officer Yumida immediately accelerated to the maximum allowable safe speed for a busy neighborhood in order to intervene.
In his report he describes two of the young ladies as being similar in size and build. He also noted that both of these ladies had spiked hair. He described the other young lady as a brunette with medium-length hair, about three inches shorter in height than the other two. Before he could reach the parking lot he witnessed one of the two spiky-haired young ladies flipping one of the males through the air and onto his back. The second spiky-haired young lady stepped to the outside of an assailant's attempt to grab her and delivered an elbow strike to the man's face. When a third man tried to grab the brunette, the first spiky-haired young lady performed a leg sweep that was followed immediately by dropping the same arcing leg heal-first onto his chest. The actual assault and self-defense took place within a 20-second window of time.
Officer Yumida went on to describe how the other assailant ran away from the trio and towards the street. Officer Yumida was able to capture the final assailant easily. As a matter of fact, the assailant asked to be arrested. His words were, "just keep them away from me."
Officer Yumida also noted that, while the first three males were "laid out" by the two spiky-haired girls, the third girl did participate. When the first assailant tried to rise, the brunette took one foot and "stood on his head."
It is standard policy in such an assault to have both the victims and the assailants brought down to the police station in order to properly record the details of the incident. Because there were seven passengers to transport (including three who were currently unable to stand on their own) Officer Yumida called for backup.
Meanwhile a crowd was gathering. Several people in the crowd identified two of the "victims" as actresses. Using the camera features and text features on their phones, word of the incident quickly spread. In recent years news services have begun offering rewards for on-the-spot reports. When the news agencies receive newsworthy information they promptly type up a brief report that is then sent to the phones of all of their subscribers.
Within five minutes of the actual incident, three of the major Tokyo news agencies were phone-mailing and emailing a combined total of over 350,000 subscibers. By the time that backup had arrived and the three cars had driven six blocks to the police station, the news was spreading like wildfire.
Tsuruga Ren was sitting with Yashiro in the dining area of LME when several of the people seated at surrounding tables began checking their phones and talking about Kyoko's arrest. Ren was halfway out of the cafeteria before Yashiro even realized what they were talking about.
Fuwa Sho was sitting in the studio demonstrating the chording for his newest song when one of the musician's phones buzzed. Sho was about to make a biting comment when he heard, "It says that Kyoko is being taken to the Cherry Blossom Police Station." Sho was out of the door and pulling Shoko with him before the musician had even finished the message.
Kurosaki was just walking out of a meeting at Kamisaka Enterprises, Inc. when two ladies walked by him talking about the incident.
Rumiko, who was still with Julie on the set of Ronin's Children, received the alert on her own phone. Yamada Genjo heard the news from a crew member.
Each and every one of them was in their vehicle before Officer Yumida even pulled into the police station.
Chief Fujita always worked in his office with the police radio on. Years of practice had allowed him to ignore the radio calls and continue to work until he heard something requiring his personal attention. The story of three young ladies beating up four grown men definitely required his attention.
Officer Yumida, as the on-site officer, had elected to place the assailants in the two additional cars and to place the three pretty young ladies in his own car. He would later claim that the ladies might have been distraught and in need of counseling. While the four assailants were being hauled to the interrogation rooms, he politely escorted the three ladies to sit in front of his desk.
Mogami Kyoko was the first to be recognized by the police officers. Chiori Amamiya was recognized soon thereafter. Officer Yumida finally had to ask his fellow officers to please return to their seats so that he could finish his paperwork.
The first to arrive were Julie Hizuri and Nishimura Rumiko. The chief took one look at the two ladies and decided that it would be best for him to conduct the debrief in his own office. This turned out to be fortuitous when Yamada Genjo walked in and immediately caused a sensation among the female officers. He was told by the chief to wait outside of the office.
The next to arrive were Tsuruga Ren and Yashiro. If the ladies were excited by the appearance of Yamada Genjo, they were joyous at the arrival of Ren. When Ren walked to the Chief's door he was waved in. Chief Fujita and Ren had become acquainted when he advised the actor on his role as the serial killer B.J. Striker. This sparked a protest from Yamada, which was then aggravated when a very agitated Fuwa Sho walked up and demanded entrance.
The final arrival, having come from the greatest distance, was Director Kurosaki. When he observed the chaos in the chief's office he elected to remain in the bullpen area. The only problem was the number of times that one officer or another decided that he must have been one of the detainees. They kept trying to escort him back to the holding cells.
Everyone was talking at once and demanding attention, until the Chief shouted for silence and ordered them all into the empty courtroom. Next he began to weed the disinterested bystanders back out of the courtroom. Finally he was down to six ladies and four men. Taking a deep breath to calm his irritation, he began his questioning.
As he had suspected, the case was cut-and-dry: The four assailants attempted to assault the three victims, at which time the assailants were victimized and the victims were victorious. Simple, see?
Simple, that is, until Sergeant Inihara stepped in with additional information. Interrogation of the assailants revealed that they had been paid to make their assault on one Mogami Kyoko. The Chief read the description of the young man who had paid the assailants and the two older ladies gasped in recognition. Sergeant Inihara immediately issued an APB on one Choshi Kazu.
And then the arguments began. It seems that three of the four men had reasons why they should be the one to protect Kyoko from Kazu.
Fuwa Sho argued that he was the most able to clear his schedule during the days, since most of his work was at night. Kyoko told him that she didn't want his protection and repeatedly ordered him to "go away."
Yamada Genjo suggested that it was only natural that he spend time with Kyoko since he was playing her love interest in her current movie. Kyoko declined his assistance politely.
Tsuruga Ren simply said that he would protect his kouhei, and that was that. Kyoko expressed her chagrin at the idea of harming his perfect work record, though she did suggest that at least she knew he might eat better.
Director Kurosaki, for reasons that will be explained later, realized that he would have to resign from the struggle.
It was Julie who provided the solution. "Chief, wasn't it the young lady with Mogami Kyoko who stopped two of the assailants? Then why don't we ask…Aiko Mari, wasn't it? Why don't we ask Aiko-san if she would stay with Mogami-san?"
By the time that the famous people had all been escorted out of the building and past the gathering press, Chief Fujita declared that he was going to go get a drink and go home.
Later that evening poor Chief Fujita, seeking the comfort of his loving wife and daughters, collapsed into his easy chair and spoke about his day. Everyone became angry at him because he had failed to get autographs.
* * *
As Julie prepared to drop Rumiko off back at the television station, Rumiko said what was on her mind, "It's like bees to honey, isn't it."
"Hmmm? I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I said, it's like bees to honey. That girl doesn't have to do a thing and the men start swarming. And not just any men; do you realize that four of the top names in Japan just rushed from all over town to the assistance of one little teenaged girl?"
"You see what I mean?"
"Yes, you were right, Julie. But what worries me is this: what if Choshi Kazu doesn't stop with this attack?"
Julie sat up and met her friend's eyes. "I don't know, Rumi-chan. I just don't know."
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Notes: I deliberately wrote this chapter in a rambling way in the hopes of communicating the "feel" of the chaotic afternoon. I hope that it's not too confusing.
