Vacation Candidate

Just as Shiraishi kept "pushing/kicking/throwing" people away, Murasaki Tora suddenly made his move—and attacked from behind!

Of course, Shiraishi had noticed long ago. He had even... tacitly coordinated with Murasaki and deliberately left an opening.

It looked as though Murasaki had taken advantage of Shiraishi's inattention, fiercely using a riot baton to clamp down on Shiraishi's right knee!

Normally, this kind of riot baton should have been used to restrain the waist or abdomen, but...

Murasaki had a clear understanding of the situation. Even if the chief had coordinated with him, at most he would leave an opening. He could not possibly rely entirely on acting—given the chief's strength, there was no way a riot baton alone could restrain his waist or abdomen!

Even...

It was even more outrageous than Murasaki had imagined. He had put everything into it and used his momentum to drive straight into the back of the chief's knee, yet the chief merely... bent his knee slightly and immediately stabilized his stance?

Fortunately, Murasaki had not been entirely unprepared. The instructions he had given Yamada had been correct...

Shiraishi's right knee loosened slightly, and naturally, he followed with a spinning left back elbow strike—an elbow strike combined with the force of his twisting waist. If Shiraishi had not noticed Yamada charging in with a riot shield, he would never have counterattacked like this. Otherwise... Murasaki really would have been taking leave, and for more than a single day!

Bang—

As Yamada rushed up and blocked it, he felt as though he had been hit by a car. It did not feel like the strength of a carbon-based lifeform at all, but...

Because his grip had been correct, and he had even skillfully angled the riot shield slightly, although he was sent flying and his arms were pressed tightly against his chest, leaving him short of breath, he really was not injured!

What he did not know was that Shiraishi had done this to encourage him. At the last moment, he had deliberately adjusted the angle of his elbow strike, making Yamada's block far more effective.

Even so, Yamada crashed into Murasaki, and the two were sent flying together. At the same time, Gen stepped forward in perfect coordination. While Shiraishi had not yet turned back around, he swung his riot baton up toward Shiraishi's waist.

What Gen held at the moment was a long riot baton, which was more convenient for thrusting, chopping, and sweeping upward.

Short riot batons were generally paired with riot shields, with a shield in one hand and a baton in the other. Long batons, meanwhile, were generally carried by a designated officer. Together with the other two holding a riot shield and a riot baton, they formed a three-man formation. The long riot baton was not actually very offensive, not even as useful as a police expandable baton. Its main purpose was to interfere with the opponent and create opportunities for the riot baton.

Previously, most of the officers wielding long riot batons had been caught by Shiraishi grabbing the shaft. They were either disarmed or flung aside. It could be called a complete collection of common mistakes...

Now, Gen finally remembered how a long riot baton was supposed to be used. Moreover, while Shiraishi threw his left back elbow, his right side had to be open. Shiraishi was still human, after all—he could not grow an extra arm. At that moment, the riot baton in Gen's hand was about to sweep up and hook the towel hanging at Shiraishi's waist!

But Murasaki, who had just been knocked away together with Yamada, caught sight of Shiraishi's stance from the corner of his eye as he fell. He immediately bared his teeth—his body being powerful was one thing, but his fighting technique was genuinely this strong too... He could even react in a situation like this. Was he even human?

That was right. At the same time as his left back elbow strike, Shiraishi used the weakness in his right knee caused by Murasaki's collision to shift into a Three-Seven Stance, left foot forward and right foot back...

Though it differed from karate's "bent-leg stance," the principle was the same. Murasaki naturally understood what it meant!

From Gen's perspective, he had been staring fixedly at the tip of the long riot baton, preparing to sweep it upward and hook off the towel, but...

The final inch of distance seemed to stretch into eternity. The chief's waist suddenly pulled backward at the same speed as Gen's charge—Three-Seven Stance combined offense and defense, and was known for its quick initiation. Reversing that initiation to dodge backward was naturally no problem!

Gen had committed all his force. Even when he desperately swept upward, he only brushed the towel slightly and failed to pull it off at all...

But at that moment, Fujisato Seiko suddenly charged in from the side. She grabbed the arm Shiraishi had just used for the elbow strike, preventing it from returning to position. Then, using that force to leap up, she viciously hooked her left foot behind Shiraishi's calf—O Soto Gari, judo's signature throwing technique!

But Shiraishi's size meant she could not trip him the way she would an ordinary opponent, by gripping both arms or the front of his jacket. Fujisato instead looked as though she were hanging from Shiraishi, desperately tugging with both hands yet only managing to hold one arm.

Judo, which excelled at all kinds of throws, was indeed a fighting art relatively skilled at overcoming strength with technique, but...

Fujisato's standard judo O Soto Gari merely left her half-hanging from Shiraishi's arm. Her heel kicked behind Shiraishi's calf, and it felt as though she had kicked a soft wall. He did not move at all!

Fujisato Seiko: ???

Fujisato had indeed considered that she might fail, but she had not expected that she would... not even disrupt his balance?

And Kawai, whom she had just instructed, had already rushed forward. The T-baton in his hand thrust hard toward Shiraishi's lower back, intending to make him lose his balance further...

But this was different from what he had discussed with Section Chief Fuji!

Because Fujisato had not shaken Shiraishi at all. She was hanging there, which meant... Kawai was about to stab Fujisato!

Although this kind of police equipment was relatively safe and was not made of rigid material, making fatal or serious injuries unlikely, getting hit by a T-baton without warning would still probably cause minor injuries.

Seeing this, Shiraishi hurriedly changed moves. He switched from flinging her away to pulling her close, protecting Fujisato on his other side instead...

But in his panic, Kawai's feet... tripped over themselves, and he fell flat on the ground!

"Ah!"

Kawai cried out, instinctively raising his hand to grab at something...

Riiip—

Kawai grabbed a towel and pulled it free.

"Ow!" Only after getting back up from his fall did Kawai realize he had something extra in his hand.

Shiraishi, Fujisato, Murasaki, and everyone else: ...

"Huh? Huhhh?!" The thing in Kawai's hand was the towel!

"Section Chief Fuji! We did it!" Kawai immediately celebrated.

Fujisato: ...

Fujisato had originally felt a little embarrassed. In the end, the chief had only exposed an opening because he was afraid she would be hurt. And... Kawai's fall had been completely outside the chief's expectations, which was why he had managed to pull off a towel!

But then, a burst of cheers erupted, and in the next moment...

A group of officers rushed over, cheering as they tossed Kawai into the air!

"We did it!"

"Someone got a towel!"

"We beat the chief!"

"Does this... really count as beating him?"

Though they had not personally obtained the Paid Leave Towel, they had at least achieved something!

Shiraishi did not spoil the mood either. After catching his breath, he said, "All right, that's enough for today... One person successfully completed the challenge! Looks like you can use police equipment a little, after all. But... no wonder you rank so low in Tokyo. You still need much more practice!"

"Patrol Officer Kawai, you're on duty at the koban at 5th Street Intersection tomorrow, right?" Naturally, Shiraishi intended to keep his promise.

But...

Fujisato Seiko and Igaki, the chief of the 5-chome Koban, immediately changed expressions—when Fujisato and Kawai had made their plan earlier, they had not thought much about it. They had simply been eager to win. But now that they considered it carefully...

If Kawai took leave, would that not mean the chief, Fujisato, and Chief Igaki would be the three people on duty? Fujisato might even have to patrol together with the chief!

How was that any different from being inspected by a superior all day? It would be three times more exhausting than an ordinary shift!

Fujisato and Igaki immediately looked at Kawai...

[I only want to slack off in peace. Please, please don't let the chief come over. This is the one request of my life!] Igaki's overwhelming desire was so strong that it seemed to carry inner thoughts through his gaze and into Kawai's heart.

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

"I can't break my promise. You can't refuse, okay?" Shiraishi said pointedly.

"Right! This was the result of everyone's efforts, so..." Kawai said, looking toward Gen and Yamada.

But the two of them had also realized the bug in only grabbing one towel—if anyone took leave, it meant their partner would have to spend the entire next day on stakeout with the chief...

Seeing them both shake their heads slightly, Kawai immediately said, "The deputy chief contributed the most! This towel should belong to the deputy chief!"

At that moment, Kawai was amazed by his own emotional intelligence.

Murasaki did not decline again. Calmly, he said, "Mm, then I'll trouble you, Chief... My main duty tomorrow, of course, is Arrest Technique Training for another group of officers! Of course, the chief helped out today, so I'll lend a hand tomorrow too, hahaha..."

"Then I'll leave it to you," Shiraishi said to Murasaki as well.

That was right. Every officer had to train once a week, so Murasaki naturally had to supervise at least two days. After all, someone had to remain on duty during training!

Everyone: ...

Looking at the smiles on the chief and deputy chief's faces, everyone felt that today's beating had been for nothing...