『Outside Observation - Metropolitan Police Department Class A Case: Schrödinger's Rebellion』 ◆ Shackles on Ability 【2】

◆ Shackles on Ability 【2】

“Ugh—!!”

With a strong, decisive step, he slides in to quickly rescue the police officer.
From overhead, rubble falls one after another with a loud crash, accompanied by smoke.

“It’s okay, we’re evacuating now. Hold on to me.”

My gaze meets that of the man with the dull, lifeless eyes for a fleeting moment.
Contrary to his bold actions of storming the Metropolitan Police Department alone, why is it that I cannot feel any “will” from him…?
And that phrase.

“Even though you’re an ability user?”

(How does he know that?……)

Haise had assumed that his power was information known only to Councilor Ichinose, who is deeply involved with the “A-Unit.”
The sense of unease he felt during the “Joint Verification Meeting” as well.
What if what he suspected to be a bluff was actually something else?

A man’s voice echoes from deep within the rubble.
Haise turns around.
The man speaks to Haise with cold eyes.

“Choose.”

It was a quiet, composed voice. As if to say he would never be caught… such a calm voice.

“Will you fight?”

He drops his gaze toward the rubble.

“Will you save them?”

The culprit presents a choice. But Haise does not hesitate.
Turning his back, he lifts the rubble.
The man sneered as he watched him start to walk away, carrying the young police officer’s shoulder out of the smoke.

“Just as I thought—”

He watches Haise with a satisfied look.

“You’re a detective to the core.”

Haise does not look back.
Just as he opened the door to the emergency staircase, he heard footsteps from the floor below.

“Haise!”

It was Saeki, who had left the scene earlier, calling out and looking up.

“I’ve handed them over to the rescue team!”

He looks at the injured person being carried.

“Another one?”
“Yeah, give me a hand.”

Haise looks back at the hallway where he had just been. But the man was no longer there.
Saeki asks Haise for confirmation.

“Did he get away?”

Haise shakes his head slightly.

“……He didn’t follow.”

He could have followed at that distance. But the man didn’t come.
As if he never intended to follow from the start…….

Two explosions occur. The hallway of the Metropolitan Police Department was like hell. Smoke covers the ceiling,
and the high-pitched sound of the fire alarm continues to ring.

“……Someone……!”

Haise runs toward the voice without hesitation. Someone is trapped with their leg under a collapsed shelf.
Saeki shouts.

“Haise! It’s going to collapse!”

But Haise already had his hands on the shelf.
The iron frame creaks.
Haise grits his teeth, lifts it slowly, and signals to Saeki.

“Now!”

Saeki grabs the officer’s arm and drags them out. As soon as they hit the floor, the ceiling collapsed near the shelf as if it had been targeted, and a dull sound echoed through the area.
The officer was coughing in the smoke.
“Cough, cough…… thank you……”

Haise closed his eyes for just a moment. The instant he heard those words, the scene from that time flashed back.

Spreading flames…… a collapsed building. A small life he couldn’t save.
Haise said nothing.
“Can you move?”

――――――――――――――――――


Several hours later, the cleanup of the explosion site on the third floor of the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters was almost finished. White fire extinguishing powder still remains on the floor.
Haise stares at the images. Metal fragments scattered among the floor debris. The unnaturalness of the fracture surfaces of the thin cylinders.

At that moment, Saeki’s voice is heard from behind.
“The bomb disposal unit’s conclusion is an improvised explosive device.”

Haise answers briefly.

“……I see.”

But his expression does not change.

Saeki continues to share information.
“The surveillance cameras only show a hooded figure.”

He taps the thumbnails lined up on the edge of the tablet screen, changing the viewpoints one after another.

An empty hallway, an empty emergency staircase.
And the “culprit” who suddenly appeared out of nowhere with the explosion.
But for some reason, the “culprit’s” face is either barely out of frame or blurred in every shot. Pinching out (zooming in) is meaningless.
The only evidence is Haise’s testimony.
After a while, Haise mutters.

“This is strange.”

“What is?”
Haise points to the metal fragment data.

“The disposal unit should also know that the power of this improvised bomb is too weak.”

Saeki crosses his arms and looks down at the data. Indeed, as Haise pointed out, it is. An explosion with only minimal power.

“You’re right, I think so too.”

The disposal unit must realize that it is impossible for an “improvised bomb” to be the cause of an explosion that caused such massive damage to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Yet why does no one point it out?
Furthermore, that is not the only strange thing. There were no deaths among the people caught in the explosion. Of course, there were injuries, but none were fatal.
“It’s as if…… it were a bomb meant to be shown.”
Muttering that, Haise slowly closes the tablet.

“For an explosive device,”

(It’s too perfect—)

“It’s too clean, isn’t it?”

Saeki frowns.

“Clean?”

“Yeah, the way the fragments scattered was uniform.”

Haise speaks to Saeki in a low voice, mindful of his surroundings.
“A normal improvised bomb would scatter much more randomly.”

The moment Saeki understands what Haise’s words imply, the color drains from his face. The eerily exemplary way the metal fragments scattered, as if they had been placed there with some kind of intent, which is unthinkable under normal circumstances, only emphasizes their unnaturalness…….

“In other words, that means……”

Haise does not answer.

(That culprit had to hide the fact that he was an ability user—)



He just looks out the window while pretending to be “as usual.”
The grounds of the Metropolitan Police Department. The sky is blue as always.
The only difference is that the media has gathered, seeking excitement—.

People hungry for stimulation, drowning in greed.
Haise’s gaze as he watches that scene is cold.
A few days later, Haise stopped by the hospital to check on the progress of the rescued police officer and to take a statement.
The white curtains in the hospital room sway in rhythm with the wind.

On the bed, the police officer is bandaged and has his leg suspended.
Haise quietly sits on the auxiliary chair.
“Do you remember the culprit?”
The officer nods slowly.

“Yes. He was a young man in a black hood……”

“Did he say anything?”

The officer traces his memory for a while, then finally opens his mouth.

“‘Ability users……’ he said.”

Haise’s eyes react slightly.

“‘The police…… are keeping ability users.’”

Silence spreads in the hospital room. Saeki exchanges glances with Haise.
Haise just said quietly with a calm expression, not changing his look.

“Thank you. You might still be confused. Please rest well. I’ll come again.”

Haise and Saeki bow slightly and leave the hospital room.
Saeki whispers to Haise.

“That just now……”

Haise answers while walking.

“I know what you want to say.”

He stops for just a moment and looks at Saeki.

“If there were such things as ability users……”

He smiles quietly with somewhat lonely eyes.

“The world would be much noisier…… wouldn’t it.”

Saeki could not respond to those words.
He cannot help but feel incompetent, only able to watch Haise’s back.
Haise, who continues to walk while acting brave, was not an ability user, but just a single detective.

On the monitor in the windowless conference room, surveillance footage of the Metropolitan Police Department was playing.
Haise’s figure was projected there.
A Public Security executive was complaining with a dissatisfied look while crossing his arms.

“He’s not using his ability—.”

The Councilor shows an arrogant smile while staring at the screen.

“Because he is a detective.”

The executive scoffs.

“Then the ‘Ouka Project’ won’t progress, will it?”

He is filled with inner dissatisfaction. The executive was irritated by the unexpected outcome.


The Councilor is silent. And he answers quietly.
“He will use it eventually. ……To ‘protect.’”

What those suggestive words refer to, only Ichinose knows. However, it was certain that “Haise” is at the center of all these events.
On the monitor, Haise and Saeki are walking through the building.
No one but them notices.
That the terrorist…… and the explosive fragments are evidence placed by “Public Security.”
And—

That the “State” is observing him.

The cherry blossoms at the headquarters have not yet bloomed.
But the invisible “branches” were definitely growing—.
They were capturing Haise’s body like supple, winding vines. In order to make that beautiful and ephemeral flower bloom…….

Next update: Friday at 21:00 (may have a few minutes of error):

『Like a jellyfish living in a closed tank』

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※ This is an entry for the #CreativeAward2026