-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: accidents.txt
[Disclaimer: You're Under Arrest! is property of Kosuke Fujishima. This
is a work of fanfiction. No unauthorized reproduction or commercial use
of this piece is permitted.]
Thanks go to David Siegel, E.L. Toh, and the Demented Otaku for their
prereading. Comments and C&C are welcome.
Accidental Intentions Part 1
by James Chu
---
Monday
---
Sunlight streamed down from the sky through holes in the clouds,
illuminating the central highway with alternating patches of light and
darkness. Small wet patches still lingered on the pavement, waiting for
the afternoon sun to dry them out.
---
Barrel into receiver, receiver into stock.
---
A small Suzuki econo-box raced home beneath the overpass. Several
motorcycles squeezed between the lanes of traffic, passing trucks and
minivans.
---
Scope onto rails, magazine into receiver.
---
A couple luxury sedans passed by, cruising along past an old beat up
station wagon.
---
Charging handle to the rear, safety off.
---
A brightly colored bus rumbled toward the overpass. A small police car
kept pace with it.
---
Finger off trigger guard, steady pressure on the trigger.
---
The front right tire of the bus exploded. Strips of rubber flew out of
the wheelwell as the tire quickly disintegrated. The bus's brakes
locked, the rear tires smeared burnt rubber on the pavement. The police
car accelerated as it tried to get out of the way of the foundering
behemoth. As the bus settled forward due to inertia, the front right
wheel rims touched the pavement in a shower of sparks. The bus suddenly
wrenched to the right as the rear left tire lost traction and the bus
initiated an uncontrolled skid. Chunks of asphalt puffed out from a pit
in the ground. The police car made
a final lunge left as it avoided being crushed by the bus. The front
tires of the bus turned even further right as the driver grabbed the
wheel in a panic move. The bus turned over and slid toward the overpass
columns. The police car braked a bit, attempting to use its puny brakes
to slow down the sliding bus. With a sickening crunch, the bus slammed
into a support column, sending concrete chips showering down.
Everything became strangely silent.
---
Natsumi bolted out of her seat before the car had come to a stop, nearly
ripping off her seatbelts in the process. She grabbed the emergency
release on the bus roof and tore the hatch off, tossing it several
meters away. Quiet crying and moaning wafted out of the passenger
compartment along with the pungent odor of fresh vomit. Natsumi turned
her head to peer around the concrete column that had nearly bisected the
bus.
Miyuki was wrenching the other emergency cover off with all her
strength. It finally gave way and Miyuki ducked her head into the
compartment.
Natsumi looked inside the bus. A slightly bloodied, but otherwise
coherent woman stared at back her in shock. Several crying
schoolchildren clung to her in desperation.
"I'm here to help," called Miyuki from the other side of the bus.
Natsumi flashed a nervous grin to the folks on her end, "Yeah, we're
here to help you."
The schoolteacher blinked for a moment and then remembered the situation
that they were in. She gave a wan but encouraging smile to the children
clutching her clothing and softly instructed them to exit the overturned
vehicle as carefully and as orderly as possible.
The children obeyed. Natsumi gave out a breath of relief when she noted
that the childrens' injuries were all superficial cuts and bruises.
Miyuki shattered the momentary sense of calm with a terse command from
her side of the bus, "Natsumi, I need you!"
Natsumi made her way around the shattered reinforced concrete column,
taking care not to let her clothing snag on steel wires. She gasped
when she rounded the edge of the column -- the bus was much more heavily
damaged on this end. Another teacher and many schoolchildren sat in a
group a few meters away from the bus, the teacher grasping many of the
children in a teary hug.
Natsumi could only see Miyuki's back from her angle of vantage, it was
clear that her partner was tending to someone. Natsumi rushed over and
into the hatch. Miyuki was attempting to bandage the side of a small
girl with a strip of cloth torn from her skirt.
"Natsumi, get the first aid kit."
Natsumi hastily backed out of the bus and ran to their patrol car. She
popped the hatchback open and grabbed a long white box from beside her
beloved minibike. She also grabbed an emergency blanket roll and a
portable spotlight. On the way back to Miyuki, she tossed the blanket
to the schoolteacher.
Natsumi crawled back into the bus and kneeled next to her partner. With
the illumination from the spotlight, she could tell that the small girl
had taken a nasty laceration on her leg, possibly from the shattered
glass or from a protruding bolt. Miyuki grabbed some gauze and pressed
it hard over the cut and then let Natsumi wrap medical tape around the
leg.
Miyuki turned to Natsumi with teary eyes, "I called HQ while you were
getting out of the car. Yuriko said that ambulances are on their way."
The little girl murmured through gritted teeth, "I feel cold."
The girl's face started to take on an ashen quality and her eyelids
started to flutter. Miyuki shifted herself a bit and reached around a
twisted support bar to get a better grip on the makeshift bandage.
Natsumi layered both their jackets over the child, lifted the child's
good leg onto an overhanging chair, and then tapped the radio hanging
from her left shoulder.
"Yuriko where are those ambulances?!"
Yuriko's harried voice crackled from the handpiece, "They should be
there in under a minute. What's the status?"
"We're trying to get this thing under control. We got a child here
that's losing too much blood."
Miyuki looked up, her cheeks now wetted with tears, "We need an
ambulance, Natsumi! She's bleeding to death out here!"
"We have paramedics on route. Hold on Miyuki! Administer pressure for
now," crackled the radio.
The sound of distant medical sirens filtered into the bus. Natsumi got
up from her knees and peered out the hatch. She saw an ambulance
advancing toward the bus along the highway shoulder. She nudged her
partner over and got a firm grip on the bandage.
"I'll handle it, Miyuki. You guide that ambulance in. Go!"
Miyuki crawled out of the bus. Moments later, a couple of paramedics
created a wider egress with a hydraulic jaw. Two medics rushed in
through the gaping hole and proceeded to bind the wound with a quick
clamp and gently put her on a stretcher. Natsumi got a firm grip on one
of the stretcher's handles and helped the medics take the girl to the
ambulance. The ambulance pulled out of the accident scene as soon as
the doors closed. Natsumi turned around and joined her partner in
performing triage.
---
It was an exhausting three hours for the two policewomen. After getting
the children and their teachers routed to the appropriate treatment
facilities, the pair had to clear the highway. Fortunately, other units
had arrived to assist them.
Aoi Futaba jogged briskly toward the two in his summer skirt and pumps
with a piece of chalk clutched firmly in one of his dainty white gloved
hands. One of the highway crew that was inspecting the damage to the
overpass gave a short wolf whistle. Aoi smiled winsomely at him and
waved, but continued his jog.
"Miyuki, Natsumi you have to see this," whispered Aoi in his strangely
feminine contralto, "It's urgent."
Miyuki clipped her pen to the clipboard that she was using and followed
Aoi back to the bus tire marks. As Natsumi trotted behind the two, she
noted that Aoi had a somewhat sinuous sashay to her walk that she was
never able to throw in her own stride. It drove her nuts sometimes, the
fact that Aoi was more feminine than she was.
The chalk outline around the tire marks was only partially complete.
Aoi had outlined a small pit in the asphalt that was a few meters away
from the start of the marks. Miyuki peered at it.
"Natsumi, quick! The camera!" barked Miyuki.
Natsumi quickly complied, handing over the instant camera to her
partner. Miyuki grabbed the camera and took a few quick shots of the
pit. Then she motioned Natsumi and Aoi closer to take a look.
Miyuki pointed at a small misshapen metallic object from the pit. It
looked not unlike a lopsided mushroom. Natsumi's stomach knotted up
when her brain recognised the object. A bullet.
This was no accident.
---
On the drive back to the precinct house, Natsumi looked at her partner.
Miyuki was clearly shaken. Her grip on the steering wheel was so tight
that her forearms were shaking. Her normally placid face was almost as
pale as the injured schoolgirl's.
It was Miyuki's eyes that hurt Natsumi the most. They were darting
about the road ahead of them, searching for hidden dangers. Natsumi
swore that once she found this mystery assailant, she would either use
him as a practice target or manually castrate him.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, the normally chatty Aoi being
quiet for the duration of the trip. As they pulled into the station
garage, a familiar bike was parked in the space next to theirs.
---
As the two women and the transvestite made their way up from the garage,
they came upon a strange sight. A crying young woman was on a bench
clutching Nakajima just a little too closely. She was beautiful, noted
Natsumi, with an extremely curvaceous body, from the way her simple
dress draped about her. The normally composed patrolman had his
trademark shades slightly askew, and his hair was somewhat messed up.
Several small children were sitting around the
bench. A couple of paper cups and some tea were scattered around the
linoleum floor.
Nakajima's face grew red as he saw Miyuki coming up the staircase.
"Wait, I can explain...," stuttered Nakajima.
Miyuki stood ramrod still as she gave Nakajima the Stare of Death. She
cleared her throat and tapped her foot.
"IWASTRYINGTOHELPCONSOLESOMEOFTHECHILDRENWHENSHESTARTEDTOCRYSOISAIDF-
ORHERTOCALMDOWNANDWOULDSHELIKESOMETEA," blubbered Nakajima. He blinked
a couple of times and pushed the woman off him. She blushed as she let
go of him and smoothed out her dress. Miyuki raised an eyebrow.
"BEFOREICOULDREALIZEIT,SHEWASCLUTCHINGMELIKETHIS,HONEST!," whimpered
Nakajima.
"Hmmph. Well, I'll talk about it later. I have to get debriefed by the
chief," said Miyuki in a not-quite-forgiving voice. She turned and
marched toward the chief's office.
"Oooooh, men!," exclaimed Aoi as he strode by. He turned his nose up in
the air and then trotted after Miyuki.
Natsumi crossed her arms.
"Go after her Ken, you lugnut! I know you're telling the truth. How
the hell do you get into situations like this, anyway?"
As Nakajima scurried down the hallway to catch up with Miyuki, Natsumi
sat down on the bench next to the young woman. Natsumi eyed the woman
carefully. She was one of the schoolteachers that was on the bus. She
had noticed the teacher out of the corner of her eye when she was
carrying out triage, but hadn't really paid attention
due to having to handle other, more injured people at the time. She
gave the teacher a weary smile. When the teacher sensed that the
situation was safe, she spoke.
"Oh, I'm sooo sorry. It's just... just... he's so much like my
boyfriend. I was so scared today. It won't happen again, I promise,"
the teacher said in a quiet, but rich voice.
Natsumi flashed a thin smile.
"Remember, Nakajima is taken already, okay?"
The teacher nodded, as Natsumi got up to go join her partner.
---
A large blackboard covered in a grid of words and pictures hung at the
front of the briefing room. A wood podium stood off to the corner of
the room. Several rows of oak tables and seats filled the rest of the
room. The active police officers in the station were milling about the
room and talking to each other about the day's events. The Captain
walked into the room. The officers snapped
to attention in sync and then sat down. The Captain moved to the corner
and pulled the podium out and in front of himself. The debriefing
started.
Several people compiled the information that the various witnesses had
provided about the accident scene. Various officers got up to sketch
the layout of the scene on the blackboard.
Much outraged discussion was heard when Aoi put the location of the
bullet on the crudely drawn map of the scene.
Natsumi filtered out the rest of the debriefing. That bullet was meant
for someone.
---
Miyuki caught Natsumi just as she was rushing out of the door of the
briefing room.
"Hey there, Natsumi. What's the rush?"
Natsumi was happy to see that Miyuki's shock from the day's earlier
events had been put aside for now.
"Miyuki, I'm going downstairs to check on something. Wanna tag along?"
Miyuki nodded her assent.
The two women made their way into the basement of the precinct house.
After navigating the twisted halls, they came upon their intended
destination: Forensics.
---
Natsumi and Miyuki blinked a bit as they entered the lab.
The forensics lab brightly lit and immaculately clean, a stark contrast
to the rest of the basement. One of the lab coated scientists turned
around from an item he was examining and picked up something from a
rack. He then manuvered around the various
gurneys and lab tables until he got to the officers.
The scientist held a sealed plastic bag with the offending bullet in it
as if he was holding a live sack of snakes.
"What's up, Doc? What's the prognosis?" Natsumi asked.
"Given the highly illegal nature of possesing firearms in Japan, I'm
wondering how someone got a weapon of this type."
Miyuki raised an eyebrow.
"What type of weapon?"
"Something that fires a very high velocity bullet. The shape of the
impact crater made in the asphalt fits the profile of a high velocity,
long range, low deflection shot. This bullet came from a sniper rifle.
Whoever shot this bullet is probably going to do
it again. Find him before that happens."
---
The partners went upstairs and told the Captain about the news from
Forensics.
The Captain reviewed the information.
"Kobayakowa, Tsujimoto. I'm sending Futaba and Shizuka out to look for
more info on this sniper. You two, go get some rest. You've had a hard
day."
"Captain, I want to go find this guy!" Natsumi sputtered indignantly.
"I agree with Natsumi," said Miyuki. "This sniper is a public menace.
We should find him as soon as possible."
The Captain calmly folded his hands together.
"You're right about this criminal, Miyuki. He is a menace. I commend
you two on your willingness to bring this criminal to justice, but your
physical and mental readyness needs to be at their peak levels for this
kind of case. If we make any mistakes, this
sniper will take advantage of them mercilessly. Go home. You two are
dismissed for today."
---
Natsumi sighed as she opened her bedroom door. It was a very long day.
As she prepared for bed, she wondered what tomorrow would bring. She
fell asleep at 11 PM.
---
The clock hits midnight. Another day starts.