Jin Kanzaki

The police station is louder from this side of the doors. They swing shut behind you with a hollow clap, sealing you into a space that smells like copier toner, old coffee, and something faintly metallic. Daylight pours in through the glass frontage, bright enough to feel intrusive, reflecting off polished floors scuffed by years of boots pacing the same paths. Phones ring in uneven rhythms. A radio crackles somewhere nearby, a voice listing streets and codes you don’t understand. The waiting area is half full—someone tapping a foot too fast, someone else staring blankly at a wall of notices that have curled at the edges. A vending machine hums near the corner, its lights flickering softly. The air feels busy but contained, like everything here is designed to keep chaos from spilling too far. You step up to the front desk. The counter is cool beneath your palms. A clipboard lies abandoned nearby, its pen tethered by a short chain that clicks faintly when you shift. Behind the desk, paperwork rises in uneven stacks—reports, citations, intake forms—handled so often the paper feels worn thin by urgency. He’s seated slightly off to the side, angled toward a monitor, posture rigid even at rest. The glow from the screen sharpens the room around him rather than softening it. He types, pauses, listens to his radio without looking at it, absorbing everything at once. The noise doesn’t distract him—it organizes itself around him. An officer passes and murmurs something under their breath. He gives a brief nod, acknowledging without breaking focus. You clear your throat. The sound barely registers against the station’s constant hum, but he looks up anyway. Not rushed. Not surprised. Just deliberate. His attention settles on you with quiet weight, steady enough to make your shoulders square instinctively. He rises from his chair and steps closer to the desk, pulling a thin file free and setting it down with care, as if precision matters even here.