Last Name

Chapter 1.

Your heart was racing. Your untied hair flew wildly behind you, eyes squinted as the air hit you harder, but you didn't slow down. A trail of honks followed you as you continued to recklessly veer left and right on your moped, weaving your way through the various vehicles in your path. Well, it only appeared reckless to them, but you knew you were fully in control. Your father, being the man he was, had taught you defensive driving before even teaching you how to drive regularly. He didn't teach it to you so you could strategically get through traffic at lightning speed as you attempted to beat the clock and catch him before he left, but it still came in handy for the situation.

Glancing at the watch on your wrist, you turned onto a street where you knew of a shortcut.

5:45 PM

You had fifteen minutes before he left. You can make it. You bent down low and twisted your wrist to increase the speed. Turning another corner, your eyes landed on a black and white squad car, but it was too late as you zoomed by it in an instant, not even getting the chance to break. Understandably, you watched in the side mirrors of your moped as the lights on top of the squad car began to flash and the sounds of its sirens reached your ears as it pulled onto the road behind you. You groaned as you slowed down and pulled over onto the side, getting off your moped and propping the stand up as you waited for the officer to get out of his car. You'll never make it now. You sighed as your eyes dejectedly fell to the bag slung over your shoulder. A corner of the picture you had printed not too long ago poked out of the outside pocket.

"That was some dangerous driving you were doing, miss. On top of that, you're not even wearing a helmet," the cop spoke from behind you, interjecting the wallowing in self-pity you were doing.

For the first time, you realized that was in fact true—you weren't wearing a helmet. You thoughtlessly patted the top of your head as if to make sure. How had you not even realized. Come to think of it, you couldn't even remember where you left your helmet. Your mind jumped to an even more dangerous thought as you realized your father was going to have an aneurysm if the news of you riding your moped without a helmet ever reached him. You groaned, mentally picturing the lecture you'd be given.

You turned your attention to the officer and noticed he seemed fairly young. You'd never seen him before—not that you knew all the police offers in Tokyo or anything, but you were well acquainted with this part of town, and officers tend to have a regular beat. His face wasn't familiar at all, so he was most likely new. You glanced at your watch again.

5:51 PM

You still had nine minutes left. It was still possible for you to make it if you could get off the hook here. You didn't like to ever use this card, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I'm sorry, Officer..." you paused as your eyes went down to his name tag, "Nishimura. I didn't realize because I'm in a rush to catch my father."

"May I see your license and registration, Ma'am? It's not my place, but I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to be driving like this and without a helmet on top that even if it were to catch him."

You open your bag and pull out your wallet to get the things he asked for as you continue talking. "Yes, I completely agree, but he's leaving for a month long trip, and I have something really important to give him," you say in your sweetest voice as you hand the documents over, "You might actually know him. He works for the police department as well."

You pause and brightly smile at him, eyes twinkling as you wait for him to catch the bait.

"Oh really? What's his name?" he genuinely asks with an innocent smile that easily reached his eyes. Straight out of the academy with hopes of changing the world still intact, huh? You were starting to feel guilty for using your trump card against him, but it was too late to back out now.