Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath, pushing down the irritation in his heart as he turned his gaze toward the flustered girl inside the office.
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Present!!!"
Fugaku was nearly startled by the girl's shout. His face remained stern as he reminded her, "There's no need to be so loud."
Izumi's pretty face instantly flushed red with embarrassment.
It was all because of Keizumi-senpai's intense training—she had been conditioned to respond reflexively and loudly anytime someone called her name, terrified that a delayed reply might anger him.
"Even I don't know why Keizumi has such a problem with Itachi. Maybe it's just a personality clash?"
Fugaku mused, "You don't need to take what Keizumi said earlier to heart. I know you're one of Itachi's few friends. And right now, he really needs the company of a friend."
"Because…"
"His best friend is already gone."
Izumi knew exactly who the clan head was referring to—Itachi's best friend.
Itachi had mentioned him before—often, in fact. Whenever he talked about that boy, Uchiha Shisui, the usually reserved Itachi would suddenly become animated and talkative.
"Uchiha Izumi…"
"Present!!!"
Fugaku: "…"
Izumi: "…"
Clasping her hands in front of her, Izumi looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. She bowed quickly and apologized, "I'm terribly sorry!"
"Ahem."
With a note of concern in his voice, Fugaku said, "If you feel that Uchiha Keizumi isn't a suitable evaluator for you… I can make some arrangements to assign you someone else who might be a better fit."
Fugaku genuinely worried that this girl might get dragged down by Uchiha Keizumi.
Of course—
By 'dragged down', he didn't mean her reputation or purity. He meant her life. Uchiha Keizumi had a history, after all!
Earlier, when Fugaku said Izumi was one of Itachi's few remaining friends, that wasn't entirely true.
After Shisui's death…
The only friend Itachi had left was this girl—Uchiha Izumi.
No matter how strict or harsh he might be with his son—no matter that he had once pushed Itachi so hard for the sake of awakening his eyes that their family bond nearly shattered—Fugaku still saw himself as a father.
And a father… should at least give some thought to his child's circumstances.
Izumi froze.
"Change evaluators…" She hesitated. Keizumi-senpai was a lot of pressure. One wrong move, and she'd get a full verbal beatdown from him.
But still—
Clenching her teeth, Izumi raised her head and spoke earnestly: "Fugaku-sama, I joined the Police Force to become a qualified enforcer of the law! Keizumi-senpai might be harsh, but I believe he'll shape me into a competent, outstanding officer!"
"Even though yesterday was my first time working with him, he already taught me a great deal. Maybe what we need is just some time to adjust to each other."
She had never met anyone who upheld justice as firmly as Uchiha Keizumi.
Even if his methods were a bit extreme.
Even if he seemed to have some sort of grudge against Itachi.
He was still, without a doubt, a good man.
"I see…" Fugaku sighed. Even after all his hints, this girl still insisted on staying under Uchiha Keizumi. There was nothing more he could say. He could only offer one final reminder: "Then remember this—never go against his orders. Treat him as your superior officer at all times."
"Yes, Fugaku-sama!"
Izumi nodded solemnly.
…
The next day.
With faint dark circles under her eyes, Izumi sluggishly climbed out of bed—she hadn't slept well last night. She'd had several nightmares in a row, filled with visions of that criminal, that child's corpse, and even dreamt that Keizumi-senpai spent the whole day harshly scolding her.
She had no idea how the Police Force would handle the bodies of the criminal and the victim…
Nor could she imagine how much despair that child's mother must be feeling right now.
Her husband was dead. Her child, too.
And worse—the child had been killed by the father.
It was just too cruel.
Rubbing her eyes, Izumi shook off the jumble of dark thoughts in her head. She adjusted the collar of her pajama top, which had slipped off one shoulder in her sleep, and glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table.
Izumi snapped wide awake.
She'd almost been scared breathless.
"Oh no!"
"It's... it's already 9 o'clock! I'm done for! I forgot to set my alarm last night! And I forgot to remind Mom to wake me up this morning!"
There was no time to change into her Police Force uniform—no time for breakfast, either. Izumi rushed out the door barefoot, her pale face completely drained of color.
And then—
She saw her mother, Uchiha Hazuki, chatting outside the door with her senior, Uchiha Keizumi.
She watched, utterly frozen, as Senior Keizumi turned his gaze toward her.
At that moment, Izumi was struck by an absurd thought—wouldn't it be better if she just died now? At least her corpse would look more presentable than what awaited her.
"Ah... Izumi, you're up?" Her mother, Uchiha Hazuki—still elegant despite raising her daughter alone—showed a slightly apologetic expression. "This Keizumi-sama came looking for you earlier. I was about to wake you up, but he told me not to. He said... he wanted to see just how long you planned on sleeping."
Izumi stood motionless.
Completely dazed.
She genuinely felt like her end was near. She really should've listened to that senior kunoichi's advice and written her will ahead of time—it was about to come in handy.
"Se... Senpai..."
Her voice trembled.
Uchiha Keizumi looked at the girl before him, whose entire spirit had dimmed from fear and helplessness. His face remained expressionless as he said: "Go change. You're two hours late. You'll work four extra hours tonight. And your weekends for the rest of this month? Gone."
"Y-Yes… huh?"
"...Huh?"
Izumi blinked, stunned. She stared in disbelief at the man who was known among the other officers as the 'Great Demon King who kills off trainees without hesitation'.
For a moment, it all felt surreal—like she still hadn't truly woken up.
"You thought I was going to kill you, didn't you?"
Izumi: "…"
There was no hiding her thoughts in front of Keizumi-senpai!
Uchiha Keizumi said flatly, "If the day ever comes when you betray justice, I will kill you without hesitation. For now, you've got thirty seconds. If you're not in front of me by then, your evaluation will be marked as a failure, and you can crawl back into bed and sleep until tomorrow."
Izumi immediately jolted.
"Yes, Senpai!"
She rushed back inside, slamming the door behind her as the sound of frantic movement echoed from within. Clothes flew as she changed on the run. At the twenty-ninth second, a window on the second floor flung open—and Izumi jumped straight out, landing solidly in front of Uchiha Keizumi.
"Huff... huff…"
Her heart was pounding wildly. Her Police Force uniform was all crooked and looked like she'd thrown it on blind.
She stood nervously beside Keizumi-senpai.
Head down. Not daring to speak.
"Keizumi-sama, Izumi is a special child. Her personality… is different from the other Uchiha. If she's caused you any trouble, please…"
Mrs. Hazuki didn't get to finish her sentence—Uchiha Keizumi cut her off.
"All I care about is whether she does her job. Let's go."
Izumi clutched the hem of her uniform and obediently followed behind Uchiha Keizumi.
Just then, she noticed he was holding something in his hand.
It looked like a takeout bag from Ichiraku Ramen.
"I don't waste food," Uchiha Keizumi said casually, tossing the bag at her.
Izumi hurried to catch it, flustered.
She instantly remembered—Keizumi-senpai had said yesterday they'd be meeting at Ichiraku Ramen this morning.
Izumi's eyes filled with shame and regret.
"I'm sorry, Senpai..." Her voice caught in her throat.
"Rookie, the reason you should be sorry—" Keizumi said coldly, "—is not because you were late, but because justice was late with you."
Clutching the Ichiraku bag,
Izumi lowered her head again.
"…Sorry."
...
Uchiha Keizumi walked down the main street of Konohagakure. Behind him followed a young girl holding a box of ramen and a pair of chopsticks, slurping up the now-soggy noodles as she walked.
Most of the pedestrians who saw Uchiha Keizumi couldn't hide their unease.
Parents quickly pulled back their rowdy children, scolding them not to misbehave.
Clearly, these people had heard of Uchiha Keizumi's 'reputation'.
Or perhaps someone in their family—or among their friends—had once crossed the line and received 'special attention' from Uchiha Keizumi. They were either now dead by his blade… or rotting away in Konoha's prison.
"G-Good day, sir!"
Keizumi halted. A villager had suddenly rushed up and blocked his path.
The man held a small box in his hands. Summoning his courage, he bowed low and offered it with both hands.
"Thank you for capturing the men who murdered my fiancée three months ago! I've been drowning in sorrow all this time and didn't get the chance to properly thank you. Please… please accept this token of gratitude!"
Uchiha Keizumi didn't bother remembering the names of every member of the Uchiha clan, nor did he make it a point to recall how many had died by his hand.
But the victims of evil—he remembered them clearly.
The man before him, face full of grief, was a civilian genin from Konoha named Takikawa Osamu, twenty-five years old.
Three months ago, his fiancée had been raped and killed by a group of drunken men.
Uchiha Keizumi had tracked down the three perpetrators.