Fushimi Roku was handling the ’kidnapping case,’ and after the paperwork was completed at the station, it was recorded as fieldwork, so no one informed him about returning to the team.
He didn’t receive the message, so naturally, he didn’t know Minamoto Tamako left Kujo Yua’s house to report to the station.
By the time Minamoto Tamako arrived, the police station was already in chaos, with everyone on the phones, mobilizing patrol police, traffic police, fire departments, and other units to carry out crowd evacuation.
The riot squad had already set out, bringing police dogs to search major malls, shopping streets, and transport hubs.
The Ikebukuro Suburban Center covers about 2.35 square kilometers, which is the central area, while the entire Ikebukuro region, including East, West, North Ikebukuro, and surrounding areas, might cover roughly a third of the Toshima District, approximately four to five square kilometers.
Although it doesn’t seem large, within this several-kilometer area, it covers the East Exit Commercial District, West Exit Commercial District, East Exit Underground Shopping Street, West Exit Underground Shopping Street, Sunshine City 60 Commercial Complex... We could say every inch of land has been developed to the extreme. The source of this content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
Furthermore, Ikebukuro Station is one of the major transport hubs in Tokyo, including JR Yamanote Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Saikyo Line, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Yurakucho Line, Suburban Line, Tobu Tojo Line, and Seibu Ikebukuro Line, among others.
Most importantly, the daily traffic at Ikebukuro Station is about three million people.
Should a terrorist attack and explosion occur here, it could indeed kill hundreds, with severe consequences imaginable.
The rapid response of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department wasn’t because Ikebukuro Police Station received an anonymous threat letter.
Since the economic bubble burst, these kinds of threat letters have been frequent; they treat them as pranks, otherwise, if anyone writes an anonymous letter and the station must send people to lockdown, wouldn’t the entire Ikebukuro be paralyzed?
The main reason is Chief Kujo forcefully proposed and announced the lockdown, demanding a thorough inspection of the entire Ikebukuro area.
Director Fujiwara was initially against it until Chief Kujo promised to take full responsibility, and the lockdown directive was issued to various departments of the Police Department.
Minamoto Tamako was not a newcomer, seeing the frantic scene in the office, she wouldn’t be at a loss; she knew what to do, heading straight to the logistics department to collect equipment, waiting for Chief Kikuchi to gather people and depart.
However, logistics unprecedentedly rejected her request:
"Sorry, Officer Minamoto, your issued gun had a minor problem during its daily inspection, it’s being repaired right now, come back next week to retrieve it."
Minamoto Tamako felt puzzled; she always took great care of her firearms, and even if the issued gun hadn’t been fired, she would regularly oil and clean it.
The last time she stored it, the gun was in good condition, and logistics wouldn’t move it randomly. It’s usually locked in the gun cabinet, so how could it have issues during the inspection?
"What’s the issue?" Minamoto Tamako leaned both hands on the logistics counter, stretching her neck to look at the staff’s form.
The logistics department staff immediately turned the form over, squeezing out a professional fake smile and said: "There’s a foreign object in the barrel."
Minamoto Tamako became anxious, asking: "How is that possible? I inspected it before storing it! Let me see the inspection report..."
"It’s mostly due to the aging gun cabinet; a mouse got in and defecated in your gun’s barrel." The logistics staff recited as if from a script, "The report is still being drafted, it’s not out yet."
Minamoto Tamako thought to herself, why is it that she’s encountering poop everywhere today? First dog poop, now mouse poop, truly unfortunate.
"Alright, notify me once it’s sorted."
Minamoto Tamako didn’t press further, considering advising Chief Kikuchi or the station chief later to allocate some funds for replacing the lockers; a place as important as the gun cabinet letting mice in can’t be left unchanged, right?
She returned to the office, just in time to see Chief Kikuchi assembling people; they were about to go out to search for explosives, and Chief Kikuchi was even solemnly instructing the staff to write their wills.
Minamoto Tamako quickly jogged back to her station and stood upright, head high, waiting for Chief Kikuchi to call names.
"Nagashima Shinichi, Ooi Jaku, Oogawa Yuhachi, Kinoe Hideyoshi... The above-named personnel follow me, heading out now to the East Exit Underground Shopping Street!"
Chief Kikuchi closed the roster, turned around, and left, followed by a large group of people, all wearing coats and carrying issued guns.
Minamoto Tamako looked left and right, as the previously lively and crowded classroom suddenly became empty, leaving only her, the criminal police officer, and two female employees from outside bringing tea and water.
Minamoto Tamako was stunned for a moment, quickly chased out and caught up with Chief Kikuchi before he got in the car, pulling him back and asking: "What about me? Why aren’t you taking me?"
Chief Kikuchi was prepared, dramatically slapped his forehead, and said: "Almost forgot Officer Minamoto... Oh, Officer Minamoto, where’s your issued gun?"
"Uh, logistics said my issued gun has mouse poop in it..." Minamoto Tamako explained: "Even without a gun, I can do evacuation work!"
"No, given this special situation, what if you encounter a terrorist attack during crowd evacuation? How can you effectively fight back or protect the public without a gun in your hand? Taking you would be irresponsible to everyone!"
Chief Kikuchi flicked his sleeve, releasing Minamoto Tamako’s hand, embodying an image of unswerving impartiality.
There was reason in every word, and it wasn’t workplace gender discrimination. Minamoto Tamako truly couldn’t refute, she could only stand at the entrance, watching everyone get in the cars and leave.
Minamoto Tamako stomped her foot in anger, thinking it was all because of mouse poop, preventing her from participating in the mission!
And Jun, seriously, of all times to act out, he had to pick this moment, causing Fujimura-kun to miss the mission too, having to stay home and clean the dog poop...