No one had expected Takashi to actually strike the boy—not even the policewoman.

That's why, when it happened, no one could react in time.

But the officer quickly came to her senses, afraid Takashi might continue, and stepped in front of him. "Kitahara-kun, that was too impulsive. He's just a child."

"And what? Isn't she a child too?"

Takashi gently pushed aside the dripping hair of the girl and pulled her in front of him.

Everyone saw her swollen face and the blood at the corner of her mouth—clearly fresh.

The policewoman clenched her fists, chest heaving in anger, but gritted her teeth. "That's still no reason to hit a child. You don't have that right."

According to Japanese law, minors under 16 can't be criminally prosecuted.

Even for crimes like murder, grievous bodily harm, rape, robbery, drug trafficking, arson, bombing, or releasing hazardous substances, they might be held accountable—but usually their punishment is reduced.

It shows how lenient Japan's legal system is toward minors.

And not just Japan—youth crime is a global issue.

Even though the officer sympathized with Takashi deep down, she still had to step in.

"So she just has to endure being bullied?" Takashi stared her straight in the eyes, unwilling to back down.

Premeditated murder already gets treated like this—then this kind of bullying would at most result in a verbal warning from the police and writing a statement of assurance before being let go.

The reason why that little boy could act so arrogantly in front of Takashi, who was dressed in police uniform, wasn't just because of the notoriously useless Japanese police—it was also because he knew the police wouldn't dare do anything to him.

When mistakes come without consequences, making mistakes becomes easy.

Don't always assume children understand nothing.

Some kids nowadays are incredibly shrewd. Maybe they don't understand the law, but they know what benefits them.

Offenders who know they're minors and won't face punishment will act even more recklessly.

Human nature has always been a twisted, crooked tree—not a blank sheet of paper. Only punishment can bring about reform.

"But that judgment shouldn't come from you. It should be left to the law."

The female officer knew how empty her words sounded, but she was a police officer. She had to say it.

"You hit me!"

Maybe feeling emboldened with someone to back him, the little boy reacted.

He jumped out from behind the officer and pointed at Takashi, shouting, "Just you wait, I'm gonna get my dad to deal with you!"

Seeing the brat still daring to act up, Takashi didn't say a word—he simply raised his leg and kicked the boy in the chest, sending him flying.

He rolled several times across the ground.

Takashi strode toward him.

"Kitahara-kun, stop!"

The female officer once again blocked Takashi, preventing him from getting any closer.

"If you don't have the courage to stand up against injustice, then don't stop those who do." Takashi's gaze remained calm.

He wasn't acting on impulse.

He didn't regret what he'd done.

"You can't protect him today. I'm telling you that now."

As their eyes met, the female officer slowly lowered the arm she'd raised to stop him.

Just as Takashi had said—she didn't have the courage to stand against injustice.

It hadn't been easy for her, coming all the way from a remote village to Tokyo, and finally making it into headquarters.

She had gone through a lot and suffered greatly.

She had a bright future and couldn't act rashly.

"Thank you."

Takashi showed no sign of blaming her.

She was just an ordinary person.

You can't expect more than what someone is capable of.

If he were an ordinary person, the most he could do would probably be to silently cheer her on in his heart.

But fortunately, he wasn't.

When things like this happened, he didn't have to stand by, powerless, and watch.

That was exactly why he worked so hard all this time.

So that no one could bully him, and so that when something went wrong, he could actually do something about it.

Takashi stepped on the squirming, struggling boy.

The moment he decided to act, he hadn't planned on stopping.

With the boy looking up at him in terror, Takashi stared coldly down and said, "No need to call your dad. You're going to take me to him."

The camera lens stayed locked on Takashi, and in that moment—his words, spoken while stepping on a child—were broadcast nearly in real time to everyone watching the livestream.

[Damn, this is lit!]

[Honestly, this is way more exciting than variety shows.]

[If all Japanese police were like Takashi, the 'September 1st problem' would be greatly reduced.]

[Wait, what's the 'September 1st problem'?]

[It refers to the sudden spike in underage suicides in Japan around the time school starts.]

[Why?]

[Because they're terrified of going back and facing endless bullying again. They'd rather die than go back.]

[Why not report it to the police?]

[In 2021, a second-year high schooler named Yuta committed suicide.

He had suffered brutal bullying: his kendo gear was taken, his phone messed with, his fingerprint replaced with an upperclassman to send messages to girls, beaten with foam bats, duct tape over his face, attacked with adult toys, tied up completely and stuck to a tatami mat, filmed in indecent videos that were then shared... ten charges in total.

In the end?

The male instructor involved still teaches peacefully at the school.

Of the five student bullies, the worst one only got charged with indecent assault and sentenced to two years of protective observation.]

[The Juvenile Protection Act protects way too many scumbags.]

The internet had all kinds of people—some supportive, others against.

[He's just a kid. Isn't a little education enough?]

[Isn't this all just staged drama?]

[Kicking a child that hard? Was that necessary?]

[Aren't you setting a bad example for kids?]

But these comments were quickly met with Takashi's fans firing back.

[Your mom raised you for decades and still couldn't fix your broken brain.]

[What kind of show would dare to go this far?]

[Right, shouldn't have kicked the kid—should've kicked you.]

[My kid knows right from wrong, thanks.]

Takashi's fans may be a little crazy, but their combat power was real.

After all, being a Takashi fan meant being ready to take on the entire world. If you're not strong, you can't survive.

"Chief Konoe, bad news."

Having finally dealt with the scene and taken a smoke break in a back alley, Police Chief Konoe had just lit a cigarette when a junior officer came rushing over.

"Murakami, how long have you been with me? Still so reckless," Konoe snapped in irritation.

But when Murakami handed over his phone, Konoe's eyes widened in shock, and the cigarette fell from his fingers.

___

20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics

Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!

Don't forget to leave a review too~

Check out the other translations too

___