Leave of Absence Candidate

As Shiraishi continuously "pushed/kicked/threw" people, Murasaki Tora suddenly attacked, and it was a surprise attack from behind!

Of course, Shiraishi had already realized it, and even... had a tacit understanding with Murasaki, deliberately exposing a weakness.

It looked as if Shira Tora, taking advantage of Shiraishi's inattention, fiercely gripped his riot baton and clamped it onto Shiraishi's right knee!

Normally, this kind of riot baton should be used to restrain the waist, but...

Murasaki had a plan. Even with the tacit understanding between him and the Chief, it would at most be exposing a weakness, not purely acting—with the Chief's Strength, he couldn't possibly be restrained by a riot baton around the waist!

Even...

It was more exaggerated than Murasaki had imagined. He went all out, and even used his momentum to directly push against the back of the Chief's knee, but the Chief merely... bent his knee slightly and immediately stabilized his stance?

Fortunately, Murasaki hadn't been completely unprepared; the instructions he gave Yamada were correct...

Shiraishi's right knee loosened slightly, and it naturally turned into a spinning left elbow strike—the elbow strike, combined with the force from his twisting waist, if Shiraishi hadn't already seen Yamada charging forward with a riot shield, he wouldn't have counterattacked like this. Otherwise... Murasaki would have been on leave of absence, and not just for one day!

Bang—

Yamada charged forward and blocked, feeling as if he'd been hit by a small car. It didn't feel like the strength of a carbon-based lifeform, but...

Because he held it correctly, even tilting the riot shield slightly with some skill, he was sent flying, his arm pressed tightly against his chest, winded, but... he was indeed not injured!

Unbeknownst to him, this was also Shiraishi deliberately adjusting the angle of his elbow strike at the last moment to encourage him, making its blocking efficiency even more perfect.

Even so, Yamada still collided with Murasaki, and the two were sent flying together. At the same time, Gen, cooperating seamlessly, moved forward and swung his riot baton towards Shiraishi's waist while he was twisting and hadn't yet straightened up.

Gen was holding a Long Riot Baton, which was more convenient for poking, chopping, and sweeping.

Short riot batons were generally paired with riot shields, one hand holding a shield and the other a baton. Long batons were usually held by a dedicated person, forming a three-person formation with the other two holding riot shields and riot batons. The direct offensive capability of a riot baton wasn't very strong, not as good as a police expandable baton. It was mainly used to interfere with opponents and create opportunities for the riot baton users.

The police officers who had used Long Riot Batons before were mostly caught by Shiraishi grabbing the shaft of the baton, either disarmed or flung away, a textbook example of common mistakes...

Now, Gen finally remembered how to use the Long Riot Baton. And while Shiraishi was delivering the left elbow strike, his right side must have been open, after all, Shiraishi was only human and couldn't grow an extra hand. At this moment, seeing the riot baton in Gen's hand about to sweep towards the towel hanging at Shiraishi's waist!

However, Murasaki, who had just been knocked away by Yamada, saw Shiraishi's lower body out of the corner of his eye as he fell, and immediately grinned—his physical strength was one thing, but his fighting skills were actually this strong too... To react like this in this situation, was he even human?

That's right, simultaneously with the left elbow strike, Shiraishi used the slight instability of his right knee from Murasaki's impact, adjusting his stance to a Three-Seven Stance, left front and right back...

Although it was different from the "kneeling stance" in Karate, the principle was the same. Murasaki naturally understood what it meant!

From Gen's perspective, he was staring intently at the tip of the Long Riot Baton, preparing to sweep upwards and dislodge the towel, but...

The last inch of distance seemed to become an eternity. The Chief's waist suddenly moved backward at the same speed as Gen's charge—the Three-Seven Stance integrated offense and defense, and was known for its quick activation. At this moment, reversing the activation to dodge backward was also possible!

Gen's momentum was spent. He swung with all his might, but only grazed the towel, failing to pull it off...

However, at this moment, Fujisato Seiko suddenly attacked from the side, grabbed Shiraishi's elbow-striking arm, preventing it from returning to its original position, and used the momentum to leap up, her left foot viciously hooking the back of Shiraishi's calf—O Soto Gari, Judo's signature throw!

However, Shiraishi's physique meant he couldn't be thrown by grabbing his arms and collar like a normal opponent. Fujisato's move looked more like she was hanging onto Shiraishi, desperately pulling with both hands, but only managing to hold onto one arm.

Judo, which excels in various throws and takedowns, was indeed a martial art that was good at "using small to overcome big," but...

Fujisato's standard Judo O Soto Gari at this moment only half-hooked Shiraishi's arm, her heel kicking Shiraishi's calf. It felt like kicking a soft wall; he didn't move at all!

Fujisato Seiko:???

Fujisato had anticipated it might not succeed, but she hadn't expected... not even to disrupt his balance?

Meanwhile, Kawai, whom she had just instructed, charged forward, thrusting his T-baton towards Shiraishi's solar plexus, intending to further unbalance him...

But this was not what she had agreed with Section Chief Fuji!

Because Fujisato Seiko hadn't managed to shake Shiraishi at all and was hanging on him, this caused... Kawai to see that he was about to poke Fujisato!

Although these police batons were generally safe and not made of rigid material, making fatal or serious injuries unlikely, being poked unprepared by a T-baton would likely result in minor injuries.

Seeing this, Shiraishi quickly changed his move, from pushing to embracing, and instead shielded Fujisato on his other side...

However, Kawai, flustered, tripped over his own feet... and fell flat on his face!

"Ah!"

Kawai exclaimed, and subconsciously raised his hand to grab something...

Zzzip—

Kawai grabbed a towel and pulled it out.

"Ouch!" Kawai fell and only realized he was holding something after getting up.

Shiraishi, Fujisato, Murasaki, and the others:...

"Huh? Huh huh huh huh!" Kawai was holding a towel!

"Section Chief Fuji! We succeeded!" Kawai immediately cheered.

Fujisato:...

Fujisato was initially a little embarrassed. In the end, it was the Chief who deliberately exposed a weakness to prevent her from getting hurt, and... it was Kawai's flat fall, which had completely caught the Chief off guard, that allowed her to pull off a towel!

But at this moment, a cheer erupted, and the next moment...

A group of police officers rushed forward, cheering and tossing Kawai into the air!

"We succeeded!"

"Someone got a towel!"

"You beat the Chief!"

"Does... does that really count as beating him?"

Even though it wasn't me who got the "Paid Leave Towel," it's still some kind of achievement!

Shiraishi didn't dampen the mood, and took a breather before saying, "Alright, that's enough for today... one person succeeded in the challenge! It seems you can use some police equipment after all, but... it's no wonder you rank so low in the city. You still need a lot more practice!"

"Officer Kawai, you're on duty at the 5-chome Koban tomorrow, right?" Shiraishi had to keep his promise.

But...

Fujisato Seiko and the Station Chief of the 5-chome Koban's faces changed instantly. When Fuji and Kawai had made their plan earlier, they hadn't thought much of it, driven only by their desire to win. Now that they thought about it carefully...

If Kawai took leave, it would mean the Chief and herself, along with Station Chief Igaki, would be on duty together? She'd even have to patrol with the Chief!

What was the difference between that and being inspected by superiors for an entire day? It would be three times more tiring than regular duty!

Fuji and Igaki immediately looked at Kawai...

[I just want to slack off peacefully, please don't let the Chief come over, this is my lifelong plea!] Igaki's overwhelming desire even projected an OS into his eyes, which Kawai's Mind perceived.

"Um, well..." Kawai's eyes darted around.

"I can't go back on my word, I can't refuse!" Shiraishi specifically said.

"Right! This is the result of everyone's hard work, so..." Kawai said, looking at Gen and Yamada.

However, the two of them also realized the bug of only grabbing one towel—if anyone took leave, it would mean their partner would have to shadow the Chief for an entire day tomorrow...

Seeing them both shake their heads slightly, Kawai immediately said, "It's Deputy Chief's contribution that's the greatest! This towel should belong to the Deputy Chief!"

At this moment, Kawai marveled at his own emotional intelligence.

Murasaki didn't try to be modest this time either and calmly said, "Well then, I'll trouble the Chief... My main work tomorrow will of course be the Arrest Technique Training for another group of police officers! Of course, since I'm troubling the Chief to help today, I'll lend a hand tomorrow too, hahaha..."

"Then I'll be counting on you," Shiraishi also said to Murasaki.

That's right, each police officer had to train once a week, so for Murasaki, it would require at least two days of instruction, as it was impossible for someone to be on duty during training!

Everyone: ...

Looking at the smiles of the Chief and the Deputy Chief, everyone felt like they had taken the beating for nothing today