Purpose

"Otto san wa usotsuki... Demo... Daisuki!
(Dad was a liar... But... I love him...)” 

20 December 2010, 10 AM
While the outside was cold with falling snow, the inside of the Seigi Division’s front counter at the Miraii City Police Department was heated with a loud, restless crowd.

"How long more?!”
"Its been almost a decade!”
"Why you guys so slow?!”

While the front clerk tried her best to control the situation, a police officer who had just arrived, saw the situation and stepped in, clapping his hands to grab their attention.

"Ladies and gentleman! My fellow citizens! Can I-… can I have your ears?!”

They quieted down slightly, though some still shouted back.

"No!”
"We pay taxes!”

He took a deep breath, lowered his head and shoved his hands forward and backward three times.

"Li- listen! Please! Thank you!”

He slapped his chest.

"I am Detective Kitai! Im not… Im the one in charged for this case! I lied… Yes! I understand! I understand everyone concerned! But please, acting like this wont help! We trying our bes-”
"Not good enough!”

One man yelled while the front clerk scratched her head. ‘Detective’ Kitai frowned and continued.

"Mister! Please?”

The man crossed his arm and listening.

"Thanks!”

Kitai brought his hands together and bowed slightly.

"Just like you, we… police officers… are human! We trying our best with our resources, we also have plenty of cases to handle and we have families to feed! If you can give us time and space, I promise these problems will be resolved!”

He bowed deeply, hoping they would understand.

"And I did it again… making another promise that I couldn’t keep…”

Moved by his sincerity, they crowd slowly walked out.

"Wo- wow… But…”

The front clerk lowered her head, holding her arm.

"O- officer Ki-”
"Officer Kitai! My office!”

The front clerk was about to thank him when a higher ranking officer suddenly stepped in. Later, at the Watch Commander’s Office, Kitai trembled as his superior adjusted the air conditioner to its lowest temperature.

"You cold?”
"No- no sir! Why he blasted the aircond in this weather, in this economy?!”

He gulped as his supervisor reached for a file labeled ‘High Priority Case: Amarok’.

"Si- sir, my apologiz-”
"You handled them well! I tried and failed, so Im the one who should apologize…”

He flipped page after page.

"Amarok here amarok there… yet we found… nothing!”

He slammed the file shut and shook his head.

"No cruicial evidence, no witnesses… not even the victim’s body! Relatives refuse to cooperate! We sent tactical team to raid the forest, yet nothing happened, but when the hunters go in, they don’t comeback… Strange, don’t you think?”

He looked at Kitai, who was deep in his thought.

"Amarok, the wild beast… Rumors spread online like a chocolate melting on a donut, causing havoc among the public… And with all the speculation on the internet, so many reports are just hoaxes and false information, turning this case into a big mes-”
"Officer Kitai! Officer Yamaguchi Kitai!”

His superior slammed the table but no reaction.

"Donut sold out!”

He shouted, snapping Kitai back to reality.

"Wha-… I- Im so sorry, sir!”
"You and your donut addiction!”

He chuckled while placing the file back between the Drugs and Public Mischief folders. Kitai clenched his fists and lifted his head.

"Sir! Please assign me to this case!”
"Haa?!”

His superior frowned and flinched slightly.

"Officer Kitai! You do realize your position, right?”
"I do, sir! But…”

Kitai gritted his teeth as a vision of his tween daughter’s smile flashed in his mind.

"I made a promise! I need to keep them!”

His voice was firm and his eyes filled with determination.

Later, at the Amri Pastry...

"...and that’s the story!”

Kitai slammed his forehead against the table. Amri, the store owner, blended a coffee as the tickling clock struck 2:30 PM.

"We know each other since highschool yet you never change, always an idiot…”

Amri said and Kitai lifted his head.

"At least this idiot found a maiden!”

Kitai grinned. His friend chuckled and brought a cup of coffee to him.

"So, got the case?”

Amri placed the coffee and a plate of soft, warm, creamy donuts on the table.

"Is this a novel?”
"No-… Aaaah!”

He nodded, smiling as Kitai reaching for the donut.

"But yeah… I still wanna do it…”

He said while staring at the donut. Amri pulled out a chair and sat in front of him. 

"Its out of your league, man!”

They stared at each other for a moment then Amri quickly stood up.

"Ahh hell nawww!”
"Oh come on! You working fo-…”

Kitai glanced around the store, quiet and empty before lowering his voice.

"...for intelligence anyway!”
"Intel agent! Im just a midman! They will execute me if they find out I been feeding you information these whole time!”

Amri puts his hands on the table, frowning and Kitai let out a long sigh.

"Fine… They not interested in this case?”
"They busy dealing with the dark guild! Drug and smuggle cases spiked these past few years… If we don’t stop them, Malaysia and the rest gonna put tariffs on us!”
"You having it rough too huh…”

Right before he could take a bite of the donut, his radio crackled.

"5 Sam 5, we have active 211 in Eight Elephant Mart, 3 km from your 20! Suspect is armed, male, teenager, brown coat!”

He sprinted out of the pastry shop with the plate of donuts, leaving the coffee behind.

"5 Sam 5, show responding!”

He pressed the PTT button on his radio before sped off in his car, turning both the light and siren on. Amri sat back down and calmly sipped the abandoned coffee.

"Eughh… I forgot to put sugar…”

A teenage boy trembled inside the mart, desperately smashing the locked cash register drawer. His eyes were red and his arm covered with claw-like scratch mark.

"OPEN! OPEN!!!”

He screamed while one of the employee peeked from outside the store, and the other reported the situation to the dispatcher.

"Yes yes, he’s still inside!”
"Please hurry!”
"Help is on the way!”

The police car sirens echoed throughout the area and the robber ran to the back with the drawer. Unfortunately, the back roller shutter was secured with a padlock.

"Officer! In there!”
"Go! Take cover!”

Kitai ordered the employees as he grabbed his gun and radio, standing behind the front glass.

"Control, where’s my backup?!”
"5 Dave 10 is 15 minutes away!”

He tried peeking inside but shelves blocked his view. Still, he could see the roller shutter shaking violently and hear gunshots from the back.

"I cant wait that long, my donuts waiting for me! Shots fired! Im making entry!”

Placing his radio back on the holder, he slowly entered the mart and closed the door behind him.

"MCPD! Drop down your gun and-”

He immediately slid to his left, taking cover behind a shelf as the robber appeared and began firing.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”
"Cant do that, boy! Come out with your hands up!”

He carefully shorten the distance without being way too close.

# > > > > > > > > > > ENTRANCE/EXIT < < < < < < < < < <
#
#   Cash
#   register 
#   desk
#                               Aisle 1
#           S          S          S          S          S
#           H
#           E
#           L
#           F          F          F          F          F
#
#       Kitai              Aisle 2
#           S         S           S          S         S
#
# 
#
#           F          F          F          F          F
#
#                            Aisle 3
#           S          S         S          S          S
#
#
#
#           F          F          F          F          F
#
#                            Robber
#                      Roller Shutter
######################################
*Illustration purpose only

Kitai pressed against the shelf in the narrow aisle, lowering his gun.

"Listen kid! Im not here to hurt you, Im here to help! Why you doing this?”

The robber’s eyes widened for a moment but he shook his head.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!”
"You are my business!”

The robber fired the padlock multiple times until its empty. Hearing it, Kitai quickly make his moved. At the same time, the robber threw the gun to his right while sprinting left with the drawer toward the exit.

"Kid!”

Kitai holstered his gun and chased after him. At the moment, a pickup truck drove by and fired several shots. One bullet struck the teenager in the chest and collapsed.

"OH MY GOD!”

Kitai grabbed his radio as the truck sped away.

"Requesting RA! Suspect was shot by a black UV with no plate number! Heading South on Masuyo Street! Breathing, unconscious!”
"5 Dave 15 copy, en route!”

Kitai gave first aid while waiting for the ambulance.

"Stay with me, big boy! Stay with me!”

End of Chapter 1…

Extra 01:
Amri brewed a new coffee and temporarily closed the store. He walked to his car and noticed an A4-sized paper tucked under the wiper blade.

“Im pretty sure I paid the parking ticke-”

It turned out to be a citation notice for expired roadtax, signed by Officer Yamaguchi Kitai with a note ‘No need to thank me!’

"Sun of a beac-"