Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Chinatsu’s POV
   These few days had been tough for Chinatsu. The number of creatures that appeared had been increasing, and the police force were constantly dispatched to take them down. There was one time when a large group of tiny, green skinned humanoids called goblins attacked a small village. They were so numerous that the police had to ask the help of the army. With their superior numbers and weaponry, the army of goblins were taken down successfully. Even so, the casualties weren’t anything to sneeze about, and the entire village had to be rebuilt.

   Right now, the opinion of the entire police force in the Tokyo Department had been split into two: those who wishes Minase to take part more in the subjugation of the creatures, and those who want him to have little to no involvement in it. Chinatsu is one of the former while having complicated feelings about it. However, Chief Hayashi belongs to the latter group, and his word is the law. Even that one time when they were taking on the minotaur-centaur hybrid, Chinatsu ended up calling Minase even though she didn’t receive permission from her superior. As a result, she was called to the Chief’s office and given a stern lecture.

   “We the police are the ones who are supposed to protect the civilians! Even though Minase’s strength is abnormal, he’s still a civilian! We’re the ones who are supposed to protect ihm, not the other way round!” he told her.

   To be honest, it’s much easier to be said than done. Just now, for instance, terrible things might have happened to the city if Minase wasn’t near the scene by complete coincidence. According to him, the wolves that appeared had some kind of sac on their body. When they burst, they release gas that can melt things. Not only that, the gas spreads very quickly, and they can even break through magic.

   “...which is why your team can’t collect any sample of the wolves. I’m really sorry about that.” he apologized over their conversation on the phone.

   “It’s fine. You did what you had to do. Besides, I very much doubt we can even analyze the sample we collected. By the way, how did the public reacted to you?”

   “They’re being hateful as usual. Not that I care.”

   “I-I see…”

   Chinatsu gets cold sweat every single time this happens. Minase doesn’t seem to mind the public’s huge disdain on him so far, but that might change one day. And when it does, Chinatsu can’t stop shuddering as she imagines what Minase might do.

   “By the way, are the Graylock sisters doing anything out of the ordinary?” he asks.

   “I didn’t receive any report from the team being put in charge of keeping an eye on them ever since they were given the assignment. As such, I think that the girls are on their best behaviour.”

   The Graylock sisters are another group that gives Chinatsu a headache. Even though Minase has assured her that they meant no harm, she’s still worried that they might be up to something.

   “I see. That’s good to know. Well, that’s it from me. Do you have anything to tell me, sergeant?”

   “No. I have nothing in particular.”

   “In that case, let’s call it a night. Good night.”

   “Yes, good night to you too.”

   Chinatsu hangs up and lets out a tired sigh. Between Minase, Bouchard and the Graylocks, she’s getting more and more stressed out.

   The next day is Sunday. It’s usually half-day for civil servants unless an emergency came up. When Chinatsu reached the police station this morning, every other police officers who were already there are preparing to head out. She stops Date who was also busy with his own preparation.

   “What’s happening, Date-kun? Is there an operation?” she asks him.

   “Oh, good morning senpai. Yes, there’s indeed an operation.”

   “Understood. I’ll get ready right away.”

   “Actually, Chief Hayashi wants you to stay.”

   She stares at him with a surprised expression.

   “What? Why?”

   “The thing is, we’re supposed to keep an eye out for a protest that’s about to happen soon in front of the PM’s office.”

   Chinatsu shakes her head disapprovingly. “They’re at it again? Let me guess. It’s about Silver Wolf.”

   “Yes, senpai.”

   “And I’m not allowed to join the operation because why?”

   “It’s not that you’re not allowed to. The chief was just looking out for you.”

   “How so?”

   “You’re in charge of Silver Wolf right? What will the protesters think if you show up at their protest?”

   Chinatsu couldn’t help but sigh. Nowadays, she’s totally being treated like Minase’s manager. Both the media and the public have a very hard time on reaching him, so they had to do with her instead. She would be criticized harshly during interviews, and the people she passed by always give her a dirty look.

   “I’m thankful for the sentiment, but I’m not going to shy away from it just because I might get bombarded with blames and jeers. Besides, I’ll be wearing my helmet and gas mask. No one will be able to recognize me in that get-up.”

   “I guess it’ll be fine then.”

   “I’m glad that you understand. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll talk to the chief right now.” she tells Date.

   “Um, okay. Good luck in that, senpai.”

   After insisting to Chief Hayashi for a few minutes, Chinatsu was granted the permission to be part of the security force. Satisfied, she leaves his office and gets ready to move out. She puts on her bullet-proof vest and brings along her helmet, riot shield, metal baton and gas mask. Once she’s properly equipped, she drives her car towards the PM’s office. As usual, Date is hitching a ride from her.

   “I hope the protest won’t turn ugly.” he mumbles as they depart.

   “No need to worry about that, Date-kun. I’ve been on the security side of protests for a few years now. Unlike most countries, Japanese tend to be peaceful during protests.”

   “Well, that only applies to regular protests, right? This one is far from that. I mean, they’re protesting the existence of Silver Wolf.”

   “You sure look and sound like you want to join the protest.” Chinatsu observes.

   “To be completely blunt with you, I do. You still remember the conversation we had with him, right? Someone like him doesn’t deserve to be the protector of mankind.” he says bitterly.

   “Allow me to be blunt as well. If you’re thinking of joining the protest to try and get the PM to fire Silver Wolf just because he’s dangerous, I’m afraid that you still have ways to go.” she tells him.

   Date shows her a dumbfounded expression.

   “Why are you saying that, senpai? Do you like Silver Wolf that much?” he demands.

   “Calm down and listen to me, Date-kun. First off, even if the PM somehow fires Silver Wolf, what’s next?”

   “Um, what do you mean by that?”

   “Just because he’s fired, it doesn’t mean that he’ll magically disappears, right?”

   His eyes widen as he finally understands.

   “Silver Wolf is a mercenary. If he can’t find a job here, he’ll just go somewhere. I’m pretty sure that there will be lots of other countries that are willing to go broke just to hire him. Let me ask you this, Date-kun. Do you really want him as our enemy?”

   “Definitely not.” he squeaks.

   “As such, we need him in Japan. I just wish those protesters can see this as well.”

   “I’m really, really sorry senpai. You’re right. I’m still a greenhorn for not being able to notice such things.”

   “It’s fine if you made a mistake. As long as you’re willing to admit that you made it and move on.”

   They eventually reach a site near the PM’s office. There are lots of people here carrying home-made banners and flags. Some of them reads “We want him gone!”, “We hate Silver Wolf!”, and “Do something about him!”, just to name a few.

   “It’s like a parade.” Date exhales.

   “A parade organized by people with nothing better to do.” Chinatsu says drily.

   “Some of them are starting to notice us. I guess you should get into your disguise, senpai.”

   “You’re right, Date-kun. Just one thing. They’re not disguise. They’re actual equipment that helps to protect me.”

   Chinatsu wastes no time in putting on her helmet and gas mask before she’s spotted.

   “How do I look?” she asks Date.

   “Unrecognizable.”

   “Good. Now it’s your turn.”

   “Please give me a moment.”

   They then spent the next few minutes in checking their equipments.

   “I hope we never have to use this.” Date says when he’s checking on the condition of his gun.

   “Me too, Date-kun. But we’ll never know what’s going to happen. Now let’s head out. We wouldn’t want to keep Captain Yamasaki waiting.”

   “Yes, senpai.”

   They got out of Chinatsu’s car and join the rest of their colleagues to head to the PM’s office. All of them are dressed similarly, but some of them have different equipment, such as a few stun batons here and there. A few of them are carrying tear gas grenades on their belt.

   The protesters make a wide berth to allow the police to pass. A lot of them are scanning around at the group of police with their eyes, no doubt looking for Chinatsu. Thankfully, they couldn’t find her since majority of her face has been covered.

   Once they reach the gate of the office, Captain Yamasaki turns around and addresses the police officers who are present.

   “Right, I’ve already briefed you all about this operation in the meeting just now. However, Sergeant Wakaba was absent, so I’ll go through it one more time. Until the protest is over, we are to stand guard in front of this gate and let no one passes through it. We will not use violence or make any arrests unless it’s absolutely necessary. That is all.”

   As he’s talking, more and more protesters have gathered at the front of the office. Chinatsu roughly counted a total number of 500 to 600 of them.

   “I just realized this but, is the PM even in his office right now?” Date asks Chinatsu softly. “I mean, today is a Sunday.”

   “He is. That person is someone diligent who’s always working, even on Sundays.”

   “His private life must be very terrible.”

   “No kidding. I heard that his wife is planning to get a divorce.”

   “Yikes.”

   “It’s bad to gossip about someone else, you two. Besides, we’re still working.” Captain Yamasaki whispers to them.

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   “I’m sorry, sir.”

   “My apologies.”

   As time goes on, more and more people are gathering here. It’s not only the protesters. Some regular citizens who have nothing better to do are also watching the protest from a safe distance. And then, Chinatsu saw a familiar face among that crowd.

   It’s Minase. And he’s eating some takoyaki.

   Chinatsu was so stunned she rubbed her eyes and look again just to make sure. Sure enough, it’s really him.

   “Is something wrong, senpai?” Date asks her.

   “Silver Wolf is here in person.”

   Chinatsu’s colleagues around her start to look around curiously. Date spots Minase almost immediately.

   “Oh, there he is. It’s kind of weird to see him without his armor.”

   “The two of you knows what he looks like, right? Which one is him?” someone at the front asks.

   “The boy who’s eating takoyaki.” Chinatsu replies.

   “That one? He’s much younger than I thought.”

   “Well, he’s still in his second year of high school.”

   “He’s the same age as my son then.”

   “To think someone as young as him is even more dangerous than a nuke.”

   “And look at him! He’s being so nonchalant even though he’s the reason all these people are doing this protest!”

   “For now, let’s just ignore him and focus on keeping watch on these protesters.” Captain Yamasaki tells his subordinates.

   As the time goes on, the protesters are getting more numerous, louder, and increasingly demanding.

   “Where’s the coward Yoshimori? Bring him out!”

   “He has a lot to answer for by hiring that dangerous Silver Wolf!”

   “Exactly! He’s in there, right? Tell him to come out!”

   A man who’s probably in his late forties turns around to face the crowd. He then raises his megaphone to the front of his mouth.

   “We can’t lets this go on any longer! Today, we will march in and force that Yoshimori to get rid of Silver Wolf once and for all!” he shouts.

   After hearing that speech of his, the protesters got even more worked up. A lot of them are cheering and clapping. Chinatsu assumes he’s the one who organized this protest.

   The crowd starts to move towards the gate. The officers who make up the first line of defense raise their shield and brace for impact.

   “This is looking really bad. I think you need to take back what you said in the car, senpai. You know, about the Japanese being more peaceful than the people from most countries.” Date mumbles.

   “I guess you’re right.” Chinatsu admits reluctantly.

   She looks towards Minase. Instead of looking worried or alarmed, the boy is looking on with an amused expression. She has a sinking feeling that should the protesters turn violent, he’s not going to step in and help. Not that she was expecting him to.

   As the two groups are about to clash, Chinatsu hears a faint whistle. A few seconds later, she hears some inhuman growls and snarls.

Jin’s POV
   When Jin woke up this morning, it didn’t take him long to ran out of things to do in order to pass the time. He has yet to get any game console, and he no longer has any part-time job. Nyri is once again occupying the television, and it’s showing an anime about magical girl that Jin isn’t interested in. He doesn’t feel like studying, and he doesn’t have any friends to hang out with. It was then that he remembered watching the news yesterday which featured an interview about someone who’s against Silver Wolf.

   “We’ll be protesting in front of the Prime Minister’s office tomorrow! If you care about the future of this country, make sure to be there and do your part!” the person told the audience.

   Jin was so bored he decided to head there.

   “I’m leaving the house now. Watch over it for me while I’m gone.” he tells Nyri.

   “Will you be back before lunch?” she asks without looking away from the television.

   “It’s hard to say. If I’m not, just cook cup noodles to fill your stomach for a little bit. You still remembered the steps, right?”

   “I do, but I don’t wanna eat those. They don’t look filling at all.” she complains.

   “Just eat the food inside the refrigerator.”

   “Without having them cooked?”

   “It’s not like you’ve never eaten raw food before.”

   “You are one horrible master.” she grumbles.

   “Hey, you’re the one who wanted to come out.” he reminds her.

   “...Fine. I’ll wait until you’re back, no matter how long it takes.”

   “That’s a good dragon.”

   The PM’s office is too far to walk on foot, so Jin decided to take the bus in order to shorten the distance as much as possible. Once he’s nearby, he walk towards the place. He knows that he’s going the right place since he sees protesters all over the place.

   “Do you think the PM’s really going to do as we demand?” he overhears a protester asking another.

   “He’d better. I heard that he’s paying Silver Wolf a seven-figure salary. Per month. I don’t even get one-hundredth of that amount! How is that fair?”

   “What do you do for a living?”

   “Oh, I’m unemployed. I live at my parents’ house.”

   “You too, huh?”

   Jin sneaks a glance at the duo who’s talking. He hates to judge someone by their looks, but those two seriously look like the typical unemployed people who often complain to the internet about how their life isn’t going well: overweight, unkempt facial hair and just plain unappealing. If Jin wasn’t summoned to Ifezan, he would probably grow up to be one of them, except for the fact that he already left his parent’s house.

   Along the way, Jin passes by a takoyaki stand ran by an elderly man. He hasn’t eaten takoyaki for a long, long time, so he decides to buy some.

   “One box of takoyaki, please.” he requests from the old man.

   “Please give me a little bit more time to get ready. I’m still getting prepared, you see.”

   “I understand. Don’t mind me and take your time.”

   “Are you here for the protest, young man?” the old man asks Jin while he’s shredding some cabbages.

   “I’m only here to observe from afar since I’m bored. I’m not interested in joining them.”

   “Yup, I thought so.” the old man grunts.

   “You thought so? How could you tell?”

   “You’re polite, for one thing. Some of those runts demanded takoyaki from me a while back, but they got mad after I said that I needed more time to get ready.”

   “What does being polite have to do with not being part of the protest?”

   “Trust me. When you’ve lived as long as I did, you could find out about someone’s personality just by observing how they treat others. Someone polite like you would never take part in nonsense like this.”

   “Um, I still don’t see the connection.”

   The old man looks around before he speaks, and when he eventually did he’s whispering his words.

   “You’re definitely someone who works hard instead of sitting around and complain all day. On the other hand, I can bet you anything you want that most of these so-called protesters are just jealous of Silver Wolf since he’s getting paid lots of money.”

   “That reminds me. I passed by two of them who said that they’re unemployed.” Jin recalls.

   “See? They don’t care about the country, they just want less competition so that the government could give them more money!”

   “Just being curious here, where do you stand in all this?”

   “Me? I’m on Silver Wolf’s side.”

   Oh. Another Jin’s very rare supporter. He had to act indifferent so that he’s not found out.

   “Don’t you find him dangerous?” he asks the old man.

   The old man scoffs at the question.

   “He’s dangerous all right, but I trust him way more than any slimy politicians that we have in the government.”

   “Why is that?”

   “One way to find out about someone’s true color is by giving them power and see what they do with it. That Silver Wolf is so strong he could even control the weather. Even so, did he do anything bad with his power? Did he tried to take over the world? No. He’s satisfied with using it to earn a living. I’d say he’s a good guy.”

   Jin is far from being a good guy, but it still feels nice to hear someone thinking about him in that light. As they’re talking, the old man is finally done with his preparation and starts to cook Jin’s order. Once done, Jin pays for it and takes the takoyaki from the old man.

   “Here’s your order, young man. I’m sorry that it took so long.”

   “It’s fine.”

   With his takoyaki in his hand, Jin heads to the PM’s office. Lots of police officers are guarding the front gate when he got there, with even more number of protesters. As he watches from a safe distance, the side of the protest got more and more agitated, and then he hears a faint whistle coming from somewhere.

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