Hayato stood there with his mouth agape.
'What? What is she doing here? Could it be? No, but if she is, what am I going to do? This is too fast!'
He never needed to touch upon the delicate topics like relationships and sex since Hikari died when he was 13. Since the death was so traumatic, he neglected to raise Hikaru up thoroughly. Hikaru was surprisingly independent and strong just like his mother. He didn't need to worry about him.
In fact, it seemed that Hikaru was the one taking care of him. He tried to keep his pain to himself. He didn't want to bother his son with his weakness. His son was doing so well, he didn't want to get in the way of his son's future.
Now that he saw this, he was overloaded with responsibilities and didn't know where to start much less introductions. how would he get to know her? Should he treat her as a friend or a girlfriend of his son? If he simply treated her as his son's friend, would he be an idiot that he couldn't take a hint? He didn't want to be uncool in front of his son.
Only hushed breaths left his mouth. Making an interesting vocal sound. Much like the sound of choking.
"Who are you?" Chiho asked brazenly.
"That's my father."
"… Why isn't he saying anything?"
"I don't know… Maybe it's the dust on your hair."
Hayato's eyes looked up to the dust on her head and then her shoulders. What were they doing? He then looked to Hikaru's eyes which exuded confidence and a bit of laze.
'Have they done it already?'
He noticed that the girl seemed irritated by the sight of him.
'Is that why she's mad? Because I interrupted them?"
Chiho ignored him and walked past. Hikaru followed.
"Son, I-" Hayato finally spoke.
"I'll see you at home dad." Hikaru said as he left with a wave.
"O, ah. Yea sure."
He looked at their backs shrinking in the distance and lowered his head. Now he was wondering whether to be happy for him or worried that he could be walking down a dark path. Maybe he was having casual sex because of his mother's death.
'I'm already failing as a father. Damn it.' He clenched his fists.
***
It was getting quiet at the police precinct. It normally does as it gets dark. Very different from what is portrayed in national or American tv shows.
Japan has a relatively low crime rate. There are many possible explanations for that. One of those being strict gun laws that came on the day when guns first entered the country. There's a claim saying that they're the first country in the whole world to impose gun laws. Written into Japanese Law since 1958 that "no person shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords."
To own a gun, you must attend an all-day class, pass a shooting range test with a minimum of 95% accuracy (to reduce accidents), do background checks, psychiatric tests, criminal record checks, interviews with friends and family and retake exams every three years, only to own air rifles and shotguns but no handguns.
As a result, the police or citizens rarely use guns. The respect for police authority combined with use of sub-lethal force has generated less fear of being shot and led to a peaceful relationship. There is no study to test this claim. However, Japan is proud of this idea.
The sounds of phones ringing, computer typing and papers filing dominated the booking and holding room. Occasionally instant hot water dispensers would re-boil automatically at coffee and matcha stations.
Three police officers faced their computer chairs at each other and gossiped while observing a male and female police officer chatting. Well only the male officer was doing the talking.
"Oi, oi, oi! There's no way he's actually doing it is he?" Denji exclaimed.
"No way, that's impossible!" Eito denied.
"She's just being nice to him." Explained Hibine.
They watched officer Hiromichi prattle on enthusiastically with Aina, who is the hottest female officer on the force. Aina was dressed in navy blue blazer and a high waisted pencil black skirt while this is the uniform, no one wore it better than Aina. Her petite body showed off her curves.
Hiromichi was a rookie who joined this year while Aina has 3 years under her belt. Not only are they separated by experience but there was a stark difference between their looks. Aina is a bombshell and Hiromichi was cute but average. The only thing he got going was a young age of 19.
Aina could be dating anyone else with a higher position or better looks. The only rookie who had a chance was officer Arata. Although he joined the same time as Hiromichi, he scored the highest in the shooting range with an accuracy of 100%. He has a long fringe split in the middle and despite the old-fashioned hair style for someone his age, he pulls it off with his good looks.
However, Arata wasn't easy to talk to. He wasn't unfriendly but he was just focused. He didn't seem interested in making friends.
Aina had a stoic look on her face. She seemed disinterested and that baffled the trio. Normally, a woman like Aina would try and leave the conversation without hesitation. It was strange that she simply allowed him to talk to her. Did she secretly have a thing for him but was acting aloof to fool others?
The trio discussed that it could be his personality. He was passionate and warm. He didn't seem to have much potential but there was a child-like innocence to him. The boys started to envy at the possibility.
Two officers escorted a man in handcuffs. He had blood on his mouth and all over his shirt. The precinct became quieter as staff turned their heads. The officer walking behind jolted as he bumped into the guy in handcuffs.
"Oi, keep walking."
He stood there. Not moving.
The police who walked ahead turned around but couldn't see the expression on his face as his head was lowered.
"I said keep walking." The officer said from behind.
There was no response. A thick trail of saliva started spewing from his mouth.
"Oi, did you hear what I said!"
The officer grabbed his shoulder and suddenly the man turned around. He put his handcuffs over the officer's head and bit into his neck.