CAREER CONSEQUENCES
Jay Pantig
[chanel_jay@mailcity.com]

DISCLAIMER:
Taiho Shichauzo/You're Under Arrest is owned by Kosuke Fujishima and is presented by TBS, Kodansha Ltd., Banda Visual Co. Ltd., and Marubani Corporation. Japanese manga presented by Kodansha Morning Party Extra, English adaptation brought by Dark Horse and Studio Proteus. I own nothing, zip, wala, nada (except this fic), so please don't sue me!

Are you dreaming? Or is this reality?

How can you be so certain . . .

That the world you see while you’re awake

Is more real

Than the world that you created on your own?

The world that belongs only to you?

So . . .

Who is awake,. and who lies in sleep?

Which is the dream . . . and which is reality?

*****

Natsumi. Natsumi, please . . . wake up . . .

*****

“I’ll be going on ahead, Natsumi.”

Tsujimoto Natsumi looked up from buttoning her blue police blouse, an inquiring look on her otherwise mischievous face. “Why are you in such a hurry today?”

Her partner’s right hand automatically moved to brush her long braided hair over her shoulder. “I have to meet with Nakajima-kun today before going on patrol,” Kobayakawa Miyuki said, the gentle smile she had equaling her gentle - and yet sometimes deadly - nature.

“Oh really?” Natsumi’s eyebrows shot up. “How are the wedding plans going?”

All the heads in the women’s locker room of the Bokuto District Police Station turned to face their direction, the station’s reputation for meddling with other people’s affairs highly evident. Miyuki looked around, blushing and embarrassed, before giving her best friend a stern look. “Natsumi, just because we’re engaged, it doesn’t have to mean that we can talk about it freely, especially here,” she whispered.

“Eh? Why not?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“What?”

Miyuki sighed. “Never mind. I’ll meet you at the office.”

Natsumi grinned at her partner’s back as Miyuki hurriedly left the room.

*****

It’s funny. When Miyuki and Nakajima finally got engaged, I had expected - as have the others - that they would be more open to each other now in public. Instead, they got even more embarrassed to be seen together by other people. They never really were much for public attention, I guess.

But at least we knew that they’re finally tying the knot! About time, too! And knowing that I had a role at delivering my best friend’s happiness made me proud of myself. However embarrassing that might have been . . . damn . . . never should have let Aoi and Yoriko make me drink so much.

I frowned at the memory. That whole fiasco almost ruined Nakajima-kun and Miyuki’s entire relationship, and had hung my friendship with my partner on a loose thread! I could remember - Miyuki had kept avoiding me and had locked herself in her room since the news spread out that I had slept with Nakajima that other night. Too bad they didn’t take it in the literal form, that I had really only slept with him, and not the way the people here think, seeing as they always twist things around to totally unbelievable things. Especially Yoriko.

Helping them get back together, as well as assisting (or forcing) Nakajima-kun in buying an engagement ring seemed worthwhile though. Though Miyuki wasn’t really happy about me placing that small firecracker in the ring’s box (thus my ruining what could have been a totally romantic moment even if I wasn’t there), she never sank down from the clouds afterwards. With the exception of a few events, such as the time when we got into an accident with Today and a truck . . . and that whole Bee-1 thing with Kachou and Superintendent Arizuka and the Metropolitan Police . . .

Thinking back reminds me of my own man. Too bad Toukarin had to go back to the Himalayas. Again!!! He promised he’d be back earlier this time, though, hopefully with nothing that would interrupt our reunion.

I slammed my locker shut and turned around, only to see that everyone in the locker room was looking at me. “What?” I asked.

“Natsumi . . .”

I brought my hands up. “Hey, don’t ask me about Miyuki, I don’t know anything!”

They all looked at each other.

“Seriously guys. Maybe we should give them a break for a while.”

One of the desk girls placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you should be here, Natsumi?”

“Hmm?” I glanced at my watch. “Oh, no! Miyuki’s going to kill me! I have to go - see ya!” I said. Somehow I managed to spend more time in the locker room than I had intended to. At times like those I was glad that Miyuki had a huge patience with regards to her friends. As her partner, best friend, and roommate, I had seen her punish (or more accurately, electrocute) perverted criminals before, and all was done with a calm look and a small, yet almost gleeful, evil smile on her face. It sent shivers down my spine - how such a quiet, gentle woman could still be so deadly. And to think that she had invited me to stay with her in her apartment because she said she needed a . . . a bodyguard!! Really. Never mess with an unpredictable woman.

*****

Natsumi opened the door leading to the Traffic Department where she and Miyuki worked. Her lavender eyes scanned the room in search for her partner, landing on a tall, bulky figure at the far end of the room near the section chief’s desk. “Hey, Nakajima-kun!” she called out.

Nakajima Ken lifted his sunglass-covered eyes and saw Natsumi standing near the door. “Tsujimoto! What are you doing here?”

“I came to look for Miyuki. She said something about meeting you today.”

“She left for the garage just a few seconds ago. I guess she wanted to warm up Today before you leave,” Futaba Aoi said as she . . . he passed by, a service tray in his hand.

Natsumi smiled. “I should have known.”

“Well we do know that Miyuki loves her car very much. Besides, her constant maintenance probably helps - catching traffic violators is easier if the vehicle is in top shape, ne?”

“I have to get going then -“

The intercom on the section chief’s desk started to beep, alerting the people inside the office, including Natsumi.

“Robbers had managed to perpetrate a bank robbery near 3-Chome. Chief Tokuno is requesting for assistance from the Traffic Department. Keep an eye on and pursue the runaway vehicle, a red Toyota LiteAce with plate number . . .”

Bokuto Station’s Traffic Department Section Chief listened to the message for a while before turning to his subordinates. “Futaba, please head to the communications room and have them repeat the message to the officers on patrol.”

“Yes sir,” Aoi said, bowing before taking a brisk walk out of the room.

*****

“I’m going out on patrol anyway. I’ll be telling Miyuki about the news,” I said, adrenaline already pumping in my blood. Chasing vehicles gave me excitement most of the time, even if I wasn’t the one driving. And we haven’t even begun patrolling yet!

Nakajima-kun, now standing from where he originally sat, stared at me, a concerned look on her face. “Tsujimoto.”

I winked at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll be careful on patrol.” The worrywart - he didn’t really have a thing to worry about. Miyuki’s the most careful and most talented driver I’ve ever met in my life! She had more reasons to worry about him. Though motorcycles were my life, I had to admit that they were more dangerous compared to cars. Still, Miyuki had decided that when she and Nakajima finally got married, she would resign, since, if one does think about it, police work was still dangerous, even for traffic police officers. Look at that whole Bee-1 problem - I would have been six feet under by now if it weren’t for Toukarin . . . and he also never stopped scolding me about that sudden decision afterwards. I hope Miyuki reconsiders, though. I couldn’t imagine anyone else driving her dearest car, and I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else either.

“I’ll be seeing you guys later, okay? Bye!” I said, finally walking out of the room. I whistled my way to the garage, feeling slightly elated.

*****

Nikaido Yoriko was peeping inside Garage Number 7 where Miyuki’s personally customized Honda Today was kept when she heard footsteps behind her. Swiveling around, she found herself looking at Natsumi, who had a sly look on her face. “Oh! H-hi, Natsumi . . .”

Natsumi crossed her arms on her chest. “Sneaking up on Miyuki again, huh?”

“N-no, of course not!” Yoriko protested.

“What exactly had you hoped to find out, eh?”

“Nothing really . . .”

“Hmm.” Natsumi leaned back, eyeing Yoriko with suspicious eyes.

*****

Yoriko could never resist the chance of passing up some juicy gossip, so she usually satisfied her hunger for information by sneaking up on people. I guess she thought Miyuki used Today to buy what she needed for the wedding since we were using it to go around the district anyway. Luckily for my partner, Miyuki was just soooo responsible that she refused to stop by anywhere except for gas and lunch. And for snacks of course, if both of us were hungry.

“Miyuki and I have to go on patrol now, so why don’t you run along like a good little girl and head on back to the office,” I finally told Yoriko.

She suddenly stared at me, her eyes becoming wide beneath her glasses. I can’t tell what, but there’s something about her look that made me cringe. “Wha-? What’s wrong with you?”

“Mi-Miyuki . . . but -“

I shook my head. “No buts. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be at the communications room? They might need you, you know - there’s a chase going on and . . .”

I paused as I saw her shiver in front of me. What was wrong with her? She was making me worried, and I absolutely hated feeling this way. I liked the feeling of always being in control, but there were really times when things could get way out of hand, especially in our line of work . . . yet at least I usually knew what the problem was. And I could still think of something, anything, to make things right again (like say hunting Nakajima down whenever he does something that hurts Miyuki’s feelings and making me worried sick about her). Now Yoriko was just standing there, staring at me.

Before I knew it, Yoriko ran away, but I caught tears running down her cheeks. What had I said? I don’t think I mentioned anything wrong. I had always seemed to have the tendency to hurt other people’s feelings without knowing. I really had to start thinking before acting next time. Come to think of it, how many times had I promised that to myself anyway?

Scratching my head, I walked inside the garage, preparing myself to face my partner who was definitely going to scold me for being late. Again. There were times when I wondered how Miyuki bears with me. I should be grateful, though. Nobody could get through my stubborn behavior more than Miyuki did. I guess I’m lucky to have her as my partner. And with the way I usually try to resolve her own problems, she’s lucky to have me, too!

*****

Miyuki was sitting on a bench near her car, reading a book that she had just bought the other day. Her sharp instincts enabled her to sense that Natsumi was very near. “We’re already ten minutes late for patrol,” she said just as her partner entered the garage, without even looking up from her book.

“Whoops . . .” Natsumi gave a small laugh. “You know, you’ve got to tell me how you do that, finding out if anyone’s around even without looking! I’m sorry . . . I passed by the office - you said I’d meet you there . . .”

“I assumed that you’d be there before patrol time. What were you doing in the locker room anyway?”

Natsumi shrugged. “I guess I was daydreaming a bit.”

Miyuki closed her book and stood up, sighing. “Oh, well. No use talking about that now. Let’s get going. We just might be able to bump into the runaway van,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“You’re cruel!” Natsumi grinned. “And I had told Kachou I’d inform you!”

“I found out from the radio. They had it announced, you know.” Miyuki walked to the driver’s side of the car. “Shall we?”

*****

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

I reached out to open the car door, barely even noticing that Miyuki had not taken the car covers off yet. “Huh?” I blurted out as my gloved hand hit the cloth. Weird.

“Hey, Miyuki, I thought you were warming up the car. Why is it still covered?” I asked. It wasn’t like Miyuki to not rev up the car before leaving. I took the covers and lifted them.

What I saw shocked me.

The windshield of my partner’s beloved car had been shattered, shards of broken glass glimmering wickedly inside the car as if it was smashed from the outside.

Anger ran through me. Who was the jerk that did this?!? Damn him to hell - how dare he vandalize our patrol car?? I raised my head to look at Miyuki. Yoriko must have known - she had been crying . . . why hadn’t she say something sooner?!? The worry I had earlier came back, this time entirely directed towards my partner, who must be so upset, considering that she loved her car so much . . .

She wasn’t there.

I blinked, confused. “Miyuki?”

I hesitantly walked to the other side of the car, expecting to see her crouched on the ground, crying. She never liked showing anyone how she really felt - she was an incredibly stoic person, so I wouldn’t be surprised . . . but when I got there, she was still nowhere in sight.

“Miyuki, where did you go?” I muttered, staring at the vandalized car.

And then I saw the splotches of red paint splattered all over the driver’s seat. Damn again . . . as if wrecking the windshield wasn’t enough . . .

I wanted to slam my fists onto the car hood to release my anger. I looked at my shivering fists, though, willing them to stop ‘lest they caused more damage to the car.

Only then had I noticed that they were covered with bandages.

I brought them up to my face, staring at them in disbelief. “Wha-?”

Then I saw blood . . . Kami-sama, there was blood everywhere! On my hands . . . on my arms . . .

I sank to my knees, barely noticing the pain from the scrapes the ground made on my bare skin.

*****

Natsumi . . . what do I have to do? I can’t help you - I want to, desperately, but I can’t . . . they won’t allow me to come near you, and I could only look from so far. But if only you’d wake up . . . if only you could see . . .

*****

Kami-sama, what was this . . . am I going insane? No . . . no . . . Miyuki, help . . . HELP!

*****

You’re strong . . . you can pull yourself out of this . . . for your sake and mine . . . please . . .

*****

I sat there for a while, hugging myself, staring at nothing. Looking up, I dragged myself towards the car, where I opened the door to the passenger side and sat there, amidst the glass splinters and red paint . . .

What was wrong with me? What had I done? And where was Miyuki? Kami-sama, I needed her . . . she was the only one who could make sense of this . . . the only one who could listen to me . . . I needed her so badly . . .

*****

Natsumi’s neck practically snapped back as Miyuki made the sudden turn. The car rolled more than 360 degrees on its wheels before coming to a complete stop, leaving her stunned and breathless.

As soon as she got her bearings back, she turned towards her partner, who was leaning heavily on the steering wheel. “Miyuki? Miyuki, are you all right?” Natsumi asked, concern marring her face, failing to notice the broken windshield and the sting of the wounds on her arm where shards of glass scraped through as she had tried to protect her face.

Reaching out to shake her partner awake, Natsumi was surprised when she felt something liquid seeping into her gloves. Finally paying attention to her partner’s back, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the wound where a bullet had gone through, the deadly shell now embedded deep into the driver’s seat surrounded by splotches of Miyuki’s blood.

“Kami-sama . . .” Natsumi whispered. “Kami-sama, no . . .”

She hastily unbuckled Miyuki and herself, gently laying her injured partner’s head on her lap, noticing yet another wound, this time the shell had not left Miyuki’s limp body. Hands shaking, Natsumi fumbled with the car radio, trying to seek for help. “Officer down! Officer down! Yoriko, Nakajima, somebody, please! Help me!!” she shouted frantically over the line.

Natsumi watched helplessly as her partner’s life liquid steadily drained out of her body, staining the car seats . . . their uniforms . . . the hands that were pressed tightly on top of her wounds which were still of no avail . . . Tears came out of Natsumi’s eyes as Miyuki softly moaned in pain.

“Miyuki . . . what will I do? Kami-sama, don’t leave me . . . we still have so much to do . . . don’t leave me, you hear?!?” Natsumi cried. Picking up the car radio again, she shouted, “HELP! Please!! We need a doctor - we need an ambulance! Anything! Just . . . somebody get over here!!!”

Frantic voices sounded over the radio, but she paid no attention. Natsumi just leaned forward on top of her partner and sobbed. An act that she had rarely done in her entire life.

*****

There were times when I could get so caught up in something that I would fail to notice almost everything else. This had got me into trouble countless of times, as there was really no place for ignorance in my line of work. But I do take my job seriously - always kept a sharp eye at my surroundings especially if there was an emergency. That was one task I should not fail, as my partner cannot drive and watch out for all kinds of trouble all at the same time . . .

Kami-sama . . . the images were coming by so fast . . . I couldn’t see anything . . . hear anything . . . other than that vivid memory playing in my head . . .

We had encountered the runaway vehicle. The jerks were stupid enough to run a red light when it was obvious that a patrol car was parked at the corner of the street. As Miyuki drove after the traffic violator, confident as always with the way she handled her car, I looked up the license plate at the computer installed in front of me, eventually finding out that they were the robbers that had been announced earlier that day.

I radioed for backup before returning my attention to the van. The driver tried to shake us off, I guess, because it turned an awful lot, but my teamwork with Miyuki, as well as our knowledge of the streets enabled us to stay on its tail. I became so confident that we could catch it, that when I started encouraging Miyuki to hit the nitro and floor it I didn’t notice . . .

The last thing I could clearly remember before the world turned into circles was Miyuki’s voice. She had shouted “Look out!!” just before I got jerked from my seatbelt in a sudden, desperate turn. Then the windshield suddenly exploded, and in all the confusion I still somehow managed to raise my arms to protect myself from the glass shards that came raining on us . . .

I couldn’t even feel Aoi’s hands as he helped me up from Today’s car seat. I couldn’t even hear him offering to take me home. Everything was a blur now . . . all I could see was the event replaying over and over . . . and the haunted look on everyone’s face as Miyuki was loaded into an ambulance, surrounded by medics desperately trying to revive her . . .

If only . . . if only I paid more attention . . . if only my eyes were sharp enough . . . if only . . .

“If only.” Yes, those were words of pure regret. Miyuki . . .

*****

I tried to save you . . . but . . . where have I gone wrong, Natsumi? Why couldn’t I . . . that whenever I try to, it always . . . Was it really meant to be this way? That you . . .

Please, let me go near her. She needs me! I should be right there beside her, not here . . .

*****

“Natsumi-san, will you be all right by yourself?” Aoi asked me as he led me inside my apartment. Miyuki’s apartment.

I stared at him blankly and nodded, though I’ve barely heard what he had said.

“Yoriko and I will be checking up on you tonight . . .” He then gave me this gaze. The gaze I had been receiving from everyone during my short bouts of insanity. Kami-sama, I hate that gaze . . .

Somehow I managed to drag myself from the reception hall and stumbled my way to the kitchen, scrubbing my hands thoroughly at the sink. There was still blood . . . I had to get it out . . . damn . . . damn . . . it wouldn’t come off . . .

I slumped to the floor, my face wet with water. There were no tears, no emotions other than the numbness I felt . . .

I stood up, my knees shaking. I could barely support myself. Where was insanity when I needed it? At least before all this came crashing down I wasn’t this weak . . . wasn’t as hopeless . . . or maybe I was drunk?

I guess so . . . I felt nauseous. Maybe this was all just a stupid hallucination made by the alcohol. Damn. I should take Miyuki’s warnings more seriously next time.

Yeah, this was all just a stupid dream. A dream where I would wake up, with Miyuki looking down on me, that concerned look on her face . . .

I leaned heavily against a wall, too late to realize that it was not a wall but the door leading to Miyuki’s room. As it wasn’t tightly closed it burst open, sending me sprawling inside, tumbling until I came to an abrupt halt by bumping myself on Miyuki’s table.

The world was slightly swirling as I groaned and grabbed hold of the top of the table. I pushed myself up and slumped on the chair, my arms spread out in front of me. In the process, they hit an item on the table, causing it to fall and hit the ground. I ignored it and squinted my blurry eyes, focusing on one item until they cleared.

What had once been a mixture of white and black with speckles of red became clearer. I slowly sat up properly, my gaze still at the resin models of my Motocompo and Miyuki’s Today, complete with the “Bokuto Police” markings at the side and the sirens on top. She made these years back, and they had once been in the Traffic Control Office before we vacated our desks because of that training where we were assigned to different stations and had to separate ways for a year, seeing each other only during the evenings when we’re both at the apartment. As she wouldn’t be using or even seeing Today for all those 12 months, I guess looking at those models was the next best thing. She had always planned on bringing them back to the office, but she never did.

Underneath the models was this piece of paper, a letter written on it. I was half tempted to read it when the object that fell from the table earlier suddenly made a short beep. Startled, I turned to look at it. It was a familiar red alarm clock, the one that she gave me years back, when I had joined the Female White Bike Troopers and had to leave Bokuto . . . and her. Only now, instead of hearing Kachou’s voice, as she had programmed it to play whenever it alarmed, I could hear Toukarin’s . . .

I picked it up, my hands shaking as I stared at it, before moving to turn it off. Laying it gently back on the table, my eyes fell towards the salutation of the letter, where I found my name written on it by Miyuki’s neat handwriting . . .

*****

Miyuki sighed happily upon completion of her work. It was slightly hard to ask Natsumi to give up the alarm clock for the night, as she could hardly believe that Miyuki’s had run out of batteries, and that Miyuki didn’t had a spare. <That is kind of hard to believe, Miyuki,> she chided herself. <Even I would be shocked if that happened.>

Placing the newly programmed alarm on the table with care, she took out a paper and pen and wrote down her thoughts, all directed towards her partner . . .

“Dearest Natsumi,” she started.

Surprise! Knowing how forgetful you are (most of the time), I wouldn’t be shocked if you asked me, upon my giving you this letter and that gift you’re holding, what the occasion is. For starters, today is the anniversary of the day you owe me a debt. You probably have a confused look on your face right now, and I’m probably laughing inside as you read this in front of me, but just to remind you, you still owe me that ten cents you threw at the Sumida River five years ago. Yes, it was a foreign coin. You wouldn’t be able find a Japanese coin with a “head” and a “tail” anywhere, because we have no such coin!

Do you remember now? Well, if you do, this would be the right time to say “ Happy Anniversary, Partner!” Yes, Bokuto Station’s “Tokyo Policewomen Duo” (as I hear them call us) is now five years old!

I’ll bet, when we first met, you never would have thought that we would actually be together for five long years, let alone five minutes. Wipe of that guilty look on your face - you were just being honest, and I appreciate that. I guess I still have “Fox” to thank for that chase he gave us. Though we never really found out who he was, if it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be living right under the same roof (floor) with me every night. You wouldn’t be beside me in Today, working hard, being . . .

*****

. . . the best partner I could ever ask for. You wouldn’t be there for me whenever I needed help, both with business and with my personal life (even though you usually know I’d rather be left alone with the latter . . .).

You wouldn’t be my best friend.

Natsumi . . . thank you. For everything you’ve ever done for me. For looking out for my well-being, especially when I’m facing difficulties. I don’t know where I would be without you now.

In our line of work, though we may only be traffic control officers, our lives are constantly in danger. You don’t know how much my heart pounded the moment when you had almost killed yourself with the helicopter in that entire fiasco with Inspector Imoto (we really have to talk about your reckless behavior). If SPO Toukarin hadn’t been there . . . I would have been so guilty I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help you. I still am, actually. The horror of almost losing you . . . it’s too much to bear.

As the person behind the steering wheel, whenever we get ourselves involved in shootouts (which is thankfully rare), we cannot deny that I am the one who is usually targeted. You had been able to save me countless times by warning me ahead of time if someone had poised a gun towards Today. But . . . there are times when disasters could just not be avoided. No, don’t look up from the letter to tell me that that would never happen - just finish what I have to say first.

Natsumi . . . if that ever happened, know that it’s not your fault, that you had not failed in your duty to protect me from all danger. I don’t want you to suffer through the same guilt I felt back then. Both of us know that when we took up this profession, the danger of getting hurt or being killed had been part of our job, and could not be prevented. Just continue living as you had, and follow all your dreams. All I would like to ask is for you to remember the good times we had shared instead of the bad. Just as you hate seeing me upset, I never want to see you sad. Besides, I have a feeling that you would tell me the same thing, if you had thought of this letter first.

Well, I certainly know that you hate crying, so I think I’ll stop here. I’ll be entertaining any questions, thanks, hugs, gifts (if you had actually remembered and had bought me anything!), and kisses from you the moment you lift your eyes off this paper.

Once again, Happy Fifth Anniversary. May we have many more to come.

Your best friend and partner,

Miyuki

P.S. Does my last sentence mean I’m not resigning? We’ll see!

P.P.S. Better take good care and enjoy that alarm clock! It took me some time to convince Officer Toukarin to let me record his voice for it, not to mention that it was difficult finding the extra memory to add that recording along with your second most favorite person in the world!!

Picking up the alarm clock again, I listened to the various recordings inside - the voices of Kachou and the newly added voices of Toukarin.

No. She was wrong.

Toukarin was the one that came second.

My most favorite person in the world was her . . .

I remember. The anniversary would have been tomorrow. Miyuki would have given this to me tomorrow, in person. But she’s not here. She won’t be tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next . . .

I made my way to Miyuki’s bed and crawled under the covers.

There, on Miyuki’s bed, surrounded by her scent and the warmth of her blanket, had the numbness worn off. There, as I sought comfort, had the tears began to fall. There, as I imagined myself being embraced by Miyuki, had I finally cried once more.

*****

“Kobayakawa-san, it’s time . . .”

They are calling me, Natsumi. I have to go. No matter. They had taken pity on me, and had let me come near . . . embracing you in your sleep as I wept was comforting enough. But I will come back. Tomorrow, as we celebrate our fifth year, and the day after that, and the day after that . . .

Until you are sitting beside me once more, racing against the wind, at 100mph.

‘Till then. Good night . . .