NOVEL NEXT Ch. 15
Chapter 15
Kawai never revealed the riddle. She tossed off a careless "You'll understand once the winner's decided," then dragged Minamoto Tamako off to the bathhouse.
Fushimi Shika hated riddlers. Kawai's threat slipped into his left ear, slid through his slick brain, and floated out the right.
Pathetic, he thought.
If Tamako wanted that diary, her "bestie" Kawai would never burn it on a whim. Odds were she was just trying to scare him.
Evening drill. Shika "volunteered" for laps around the parade ground, clocked in with the class leader, hit the bathhouse, then headed back to the dorm to cram police statutes.
Lights-out roll call came at ten. The dorm leader knocked, counted heads, and another exhausting but satisfying day was over.
Reveille would be at 6:30; Shika turned in early, determined to break his night-owl habit. Yet the moment he shut his eyes, memories from his previous life surged up unbidden.
"Only procedural justice can guarantee substantive justice for all!"
True enough. If procedure is tainted, you get deception, inducement—even torture.
Proper procedure at least keeps the innocent from being framed.
"You're not defending a murderer; you're defending the integrity of the legal system!"
"Look at yourself—are you even a lawyer anymore? Have you forgotten why you started?"
"Shut up!"
Shika jerked upright.
Outside, a shrill bell cut the night—the emergency-assembly signal.
Shadows flickered under the dorm-room door; footsteps pounded in the corridor.
No time to think. He threw on his uniform, squared his blanket in under a minute, and yanked the door open.
Cadets were already pouring toward the parade ground.
Hidenori jogged past; Shika caught his arm. "What's going on?"
"Night drill," Hidenori said without slowing. "Seniors say they love yanking freshmen out of bed for live-fire duty. Tradition."
Shika yawned. Police-school training made the army look cushy.
When he reached the parade ground, he found not just Class A and B freshmen but seniors about to graduate as well.
A low chorus of complaints rippled through the ranks.
"Why drag us upperclassmen into this?"
"Last year it was only the new kids..."
"So much for precedent."
Within ten minutes the formation was complete.
An instructor signaled for the count. The class leader barked:
"Numbers!"
"Minus two, exception one!"
"Salute the duty instructor!"
"One absent—excused! All others present and correct!"
Hands snapped up in salute. On the flag-raising platform stood Instructor Sakurai in her blue-and-white uniform, returning the salute with textbook precision.
At the words "one absent," a bad feeling pricked Shika's gut. He tried to spot Kawai in Class B, but too many bodies blocked his view.
Hands clasped behind her back, Sakurai raised her chin. "Remember what the principal told you at matriculation?"
Without waiting, she climbed the steps and glared down at them. "Discipline is the lifeline of every police officer!"
Just the opening line told Shika someone was about to be skinned alive.
"Cadets, you bear the responsibility of safeguarding society and protecting citizens. Our duty is sacred; only justice, courage, and loyalty can justify the badge on your chest!"
"Yet there are always maggots who would soil this noble calling!"
She clicked on a high-beam torch. A spear of light speared toward the base of the flagpole. Two instructors marched a female cadet forward.
Shika's premonition solidified.
The cadet was Nagano Kawai.
"This cadet violated curfew, broke into the instructors' dormitory, attempted theft, and refused to cooperate when discovered. The offense is severe."
Sakurai trained the beam on Kawai's face; Kawai squinted against the glare.
Murmurs fluttered through the ranks. Breaking into the teachers' quarters? Who steals from instructors when cadet dorms are right there? Has she lost her mind?
"Silence!"
Sakurai's voice cracked like a whip; the field fell mute.
"I have reason to believe this isn't her first offense and that she has accomplices. Therefore, tonight she will serve as our live subject for an interrogation practicum."
Shika's stomach tightened. He wasn't worried Kawai would talk; he was terrified Tamako would step forward on her own.
In full view of the formation, the instructors set up a low platform: one table, two chairs. Sakurai and Kawai sat opposite each other; a desk lamp glared into Kawai's face.
"In standard questioning, bright lights disrupt the suspect's vision, preventing them from reading the interrogator and ramping up psychological pressure."
Sakurai flicked the switch off. "But seasoned offenders know these tricks. Good-cop/bad-cop, a whispered sidebar—wasted effort."
"For serious felonies, we employ... unconventional methods."
Two instructors hauled ice buckets onstage and upended them over Kawai.
Chunks of ice and near-freezing water cascaded down. Gasps rippled through the formation.
Her uniform soaked through, turning translucent and clinging to her skin. She bit back a groan, shivering violently.
Hokkaido in April averages 3–12 °C; the cold cuts to the bone.
Shika had endured the academy's "ice-bucket challenge" at matriculation—three days before he felt warm again. The brass called it forging character; everyone else called it hazing.
"It's perfectly normal for suspects to get rained on," Sakurai said, back ramrod straight as she swept her gaze across the cadets. "If it isn't raining, there are other options."
Seeing the formation frozen in dread, she gave a curt nod and turned back to Kawai.
"You don't want to sample them all. Name your accomplices and the academy will forgo criminal charges. You'll still be expelled, but no record."
Minamoto Tamako tilted her face skyward; her eyes filmed with tears.
She could hear her own heart hammering. The instant the ice hit, cold had lanced up her spine, raising gooseflesh everywhere.
Enough... just stop...
She drew a breath to speak—
"Don't you dare look down on me!" Kawai's shout sliced the night.
Heads whipped around. Sakurai's face flushed with anger. Tamako's pupils reflected Kawai's sharp, defiant grin.
"Leave it to me," Kawai called, voice steady. "Justice will prevail!"