Deterrent Power

After finishing their late-night snack and getting her testimony, Shiraishi remembered something and asked Gina, "By the way, where do you live?"

It was already eleven at night. Although Gina was no ordinary Little Girl, Shiraishi still wasn't comfortable letting her go home alone.

"Nowhere! You guys raided it the day before yesterday!" Gina said irritably.

"Hm?" Fuji looked at her suspiciously—what did she mean, raided it?

The day before yesterday, raided...

With his astonishing [Memory], Shiraishi immediately made the connection. The police station had indeed shut down a container warehouse the day before yesterday.

"I see... that warehouse, right? You can't blame us. Places like that aren't allowed to be rented out as living quarters. They're a serious safety hazard—not only do they easily breed crime, but if a fire breaks out, we're the ones who get blamed. We still have some unclaimed personal belongings in storage. You can go pick them up... or not." Shiraishi said it as though it were only natural.

Warehouses obviously could not be lived in, but the individual containers had been illegally converted into cheap rooms. After receiving complaints from residents a week ago, the place had officially been shut down the day before yesterday—at the time, Gina had still been in detention and had only gotten out today.

As for why she "didn't have to pick them up"?

Some of them might have been stolen goods...

If you picked them up, you'd have to spend a few more days in detention!

"How about I stay at your place? I heard some runaway girls stay over at middle-aged men's houses." Gina deliberately teased him.

"Where did you hear that? If you hear that again, call the police." Naturally, Shiraishi could not agree to such a request.

Seeing Shiraishi look at her, Fuji immediately said, "I live in the police dormitory. I can't take in outsiders."

"Did you run away from home?" Shiraishi asked hopefully—but it was obviously impossible. After all, she was an old friend of Beika Police Station. If she had a home, they would have found it long ago.

"What a shame. I'm an orphan... You people who've won at life could never understand, right? Do you pity me? I had no choice but to support myself!" Gina said deliberately.

"I see. What a coincidence—I am too. I used to live at Shiraishi Orphanage in neighboring Kamurocho. But when I was your age, I worked part-time jobs while teaching myself, and got into the University of Tokyo." Shiraishi shrugged.

Gina: ...

Gina had never expected that even the topic of being an "orphan" could leave her so thoroughly speechless!

"Are there any relief measures for this sort of situation?" Shiraishi asked Fuji, not knowing much about it.

After all, he had never worked at a local police station before and did not understand these policies.

"It doesn't mean much. She'll be eighteen next month, and once she becomes an adult, she'll have to qualify for assistance all over again... Sigh..." Fuji seemed to have looked into it long ago, but... police officers were not gods, and this country was not some paradise where everyone lived free from want. Some problems simply could not be solved."

But Shiraishi still had a solution!

Shiraishi made a phone call. "Hello, Director... Sorry for calling so late... It's like this..."

"Mm, that's great. I'll leave it to you..." As he spoke, Shiraishi explained Gina's situation to someone on the other end.

After hanging up, Shiraishi said to Gina, "I'll take you to Shiraishi Orphanage in a little while... Help out there. They can't pay you, but they'll provide food and lodging. Think about whether you want to go to school or look for work afterward, then report back to me before next Monday!"

"Huh? I'm not your subordinate..." Gina clearly disliked Shiraishi's commanding tone, but... objections were invalid.

The founder of Shiraishi Orphanage had already passed away. The current director was Old Madam Shiraishi. Previously, Shiraishi had transferred one-third of his salary to Shiraishi Orphanage, and he was now its second-largest sponsor. Having Gina help out and mooch food and lodging for the time being was naturally no problem.

As for the largest sponsor?

That would be the Young Miss Ayako, who preferred to remain anonymous...

Shiraishi also believed that although Gina was a thief, she had specifically come looking for him after seeing the news to provide clues. That showed she knew how to repay kindness. Even if she would not immediately turn over a new leaf after his advice, she certainly would not steal from an orphanage...

Then Fuji volunteered, "I'll take her. It's in Kamurocho anyway."

After all...

Though the distance was not far, at this hour they could only take a taxi or drive a police car, and those "small cars" were still very inconvenient for Shiraishi!

"I never said I was going..." Gina muttered softly, but in the end she said, "Hmph, then I'll go see whether you're just bragging!"

"Then I'll leave her to you." Shiraishi entrusted her to Fuji.

Fuji went back to get an unmarked Criminal Affairs Division police car and drove Gina to the orphanage in neighboring Kamurocho.

As for Shiraishi himself...

He simply ran back to Kagemaiha Apartments at night!

Fuji soon reached the streets of Kamurocho, but...

Beside the quiet road leading to the orphanage, two groups of tattooed men were passionately brawling, and Fuji ran right into them!

Tokyo's Anti-Boryokudan Act had been enacted five or six years ago, and the vitality of all major Violent Organizations had greatly declined. Even so, as the headquarters of the Tojo Clan—the largest Violent Organization in Kanto—Kamurocho remained a crime-ridden area.

Fuji slammed on the brakes beside them. Not only did the people fighting stop and look over, but Gina in the passenger seat was startled as well!

"Hey, this is Kamurocho... Just leave it alone, okay?" Gina naturally knew what kind of place Kamurocho was.

But Fuji clearly would not pretend not to see just because "this was Kamurocho." She got out of the car and flashed her Police ID. "Police! Stop it, all of you!"

"Police? Never seen you before..."

"Hey—Kamuro Police Station doesn't have any beauties like this, hahaha..."

The Violent Organizations of Kamurocho were still full of vigor. They even dared to whistle and make lewd remarks at a female police officer... but they did stop fighting!

"Which precinct are you from? Don't stick your nose into this!" the leader snapped.

"Even if you're enforcing the law across districts, you should know where you are, beautiful."

Seeing that neither side seemed particularly respectable, Fuji merely said, "I don't want trouble either... Disperse immediately!"

"Damn! Don't know when you're being given face, huh?"

"Disperse? I fucking—"

One hotheaded punk immediately started cursing, even looking ready to throw down.

Fuji had kept her Police ID raised the whole time. One of the group leaders deliberately stepped closer, craning his neck forward provocatively—then he saw it...

"Beika Police Station? Next door? Wait... I remember..."

The man seemed to recall something and instinctively jerked his head back.

"Beika Police Station... Could it be..."

"Ahem, miss... Officer, your chief... wouldn't happen to be Officer Shiraishi, would he?"

"A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding... We were just joking around!"

"Th-that's right... Look at our tattoos, ma'am... We're all from the Tojo Clan... Just messing around!"

Beika Police Station... no, to be precise, the name "Shiraishi" itself seemed to possess some kind of magic.

The moment they heard "Shiraishi," every member of the Violent Organizations present went pale, their attitudes making a complete one-eighty...

Fuji: ???

Though she had no idea what was going on, Fuji still said, "If you're joking around, don't disturb ordinary citizens!"

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll be leaving right away..."

Fuji didn't believe they had merely been joking around. They were all affiliated groups of the Tojo Clan, and it wasn't as though they never fought. It was just...

Seeing that they really did scatter like birds and beasts, Fuji decided not to make more of it and simply drove away.

Even after she had gone far away, she could still see the two scattered groups in the rearview mirror, bowing and scraping toward the back of her car...

Gina turned around excitedly to watch and asked, "Hey, could Uncle be their protector or something?"

"Don't talk nonsense! The chief used to be the section chief in the Organized Crime Division, so of course they're afraid of him!" Although Fuji also found their attitude strange, she naturally defended her chief.

Of course, Fuji's "explanation" wasn't actually wrong... That was indeed the reason!

It was just that, in practice, Shiraishi had been even more extreme...

The Tojo Clan?

Among the dozens of offices belonging to the Tojo Clan's subordinate groups across Tokyo, there wasn't a single door Shiraishi hadn't kicked in!

Dongdong: Bonus chapter—please vote with monthly tickets~