It happened when she was five. Mirai remembered it very clearly: the day her mother left. The rain poured and thunder rumbled across the sky. Mirai clung to her dad's side, huddled underneath the umbrella.

"Dad, where is mom going?" Mirai asked him, but he did not reply. He watched on, wearing a solemn expression.

Wrapped in a blanket was her mother. Two of the mansion's maids carried her suitcases and led her to a black van. Before she climbed in, her mother stopped to look over her shoulder at the mansion and family she was leaving behind. A bitter expression Mirai saw, and it was the last she'd ever see of her.

It was strange, Mirai never recalled her mom and dad not getting along. Then again, she was five then, and she was seven now (even if it felt like her mom left just a week ago). Everyday Mirai looked out of her window on the second floor of the Keikan Mansion, imagining that she'd pass through those silver gates again. It never happened.

The two maids escorting her mother left with her, leaving only one maid to attend to the mansion. But, two weeks later, she too left. The once-lively Japanese mansion now collected dust, and without a caretaker.

Mirai's dad was the police chief of a small fishing town called New Tako, so he may be called on duty at any moment. While he may be gone often, he tries to spend every night reading to Mirai from the stack of books by her lamp.

Her dad opened the picture book, reading aloud the title "Super Joe and Friends, Save the City!". Super Joe was Mirai's favorite superhero. Whenever her dad isn't around, she tries to stay up late to watch American cartoons in the living room.

But today... she wasn't feeling it. Mirai pulled back her bright blue covers and gently pushed the book down.

"Huh? I thought you liked Super Joe." Her dad was surprised.

"I do!-- buuuut Mirai has a better idea!" She said with her golden eyes glowing: "Mirai wants to hear a story from Dad! You're a hero too, right? Right?" Mirai rarely heard stories about his job. He was a police officer, a crime fighter, there had to be something exciting for him to tell!

After some pleading, her dad caved, showing a soft smile. On the outside he was trying to look cool and mature, but there was definitely some pride he felt on the inside. "I don't have any stories to share that happened recently, so how about one from when I was a new officer fresh from the academy?"

"Yeah!" She nodded. Mirai, dressed in her blue footie pajamas, then cozied into her covers, snuggling with her giant fish plushie with buttons for eyes.

The story began in the heart of Osaka. Keikan Ren graduated from the academy a few weeks ago and was currently stationed by a convenience store. He parked his cruiser in the parking lot, drinking some coffee he bought because he skipped breakfast.

After a while of inaction, in the midst of the swarm of midday traffic, an engine roared as a red blur blasted by. He was driving so fast that the cruiser swayed from the wind gust.

Ren sighed and picked up his radio. "We have a racer driving recklessly in the city. He nearly hit a pickup truck and passed a red light, backup is requested."

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A furious pickup driver stuck his head out of his window and yelled some obscene words at the racer.

The racer lifted his foot off of the gas, sneering. "This baby has some power in it. It'll sell nicely once I get it to the warehous–" The sound of a siren interrupted his thoughts. A police car entered his rearview mirror. "Shoot, and I thought there weren't any coppers here." He pressed firmly on the gas pedal, swerving around the car in front of him.

The two weaved through traffic and raced a few blocks, but the red imported sports car far outmatched Ren's cheaper vehicle. The gap widened by the second... but before the racer had sped too far ahead, a police van suddenly pulled into the middle of the intersection, stopping right in front of him!

"AAGH!" The racer stomped on the brakes, pulled the handbrake, and slid into a U-turn. The bumper narrowly scraped the van's side, and he barreled down the road. "Since when did they start to train their officers to drive like maniacs? What were they thinking?!"

While the van may have been objectively much slower, it proved a greater challenge for the racer to shake. Behind its wheel was a true talent at motorsports, and her maneuvers were far bolder than what Ren dared to do.

Soon they reached a long stretch of road with less traffic. The racer was able to let loose all of his horsepower, and the gap widened exponentially. The van disappeared from sight, as well as every other pursuing officer.

"Phew... now for a place to hide." He slowed down, checked his mirrors, and scanned his surroundings. "I can't get to the freeway, they have it blocked off." And so, he found his next best choice: a tight alleyway. His small sports car could squeeze into places the typical police car could not.

He pulled into an alley and moved at a crawl, trying to cause as little noise as possible. The sound of sirens was very distant... it seems they lost him.

The racer grinned, sighing with relief. "Finally."

Wait... he squinted. In the light at the end of the alley, he saw the very faint image of a black bumper. His eyes widened. "Oh sh–" The racer stood on his brake pedal.

The van pulled forward, blocking him in the alley. Climbing out of the police van was a shorter woman with navy blue hair. With a smug face she strode towards him, her hand resting on the holster to her gun. "Really? An alleyway? Ya' may be good at racin', but I can tell ya' suck at hide n' seek."

She was ready to pull her gun at any moment he decided to make a move. The alley was so tight that he couldn't open his doors. He was stuck. She had him.

After the racer was cuffed and placed in the van, Ren decided to stop by the scene of the incident. "You know, what you did in that intersection was reckless." He said to the woman.

She didn't seem to be bothered by him; she stuck her nose up and giggled, "Oh who cares, I was the one who detained him and that's all that really matters!"

"Does everything have to be a competition for you, Sayaka?"

"Tch, of course it does!" She chuckled, "That's what makes it fun. Once you start having fun, a job seems less like a job and more like a hobby. You should try it; detain enough folks and one day you may be higher in rank than a sergeant like me..." She then grabbed him by the uniform collar and pulled him in for a kiss. "... just not me me."

-_-

"Ewwww! Kissing!" Mirai gagged, sticking her tongue out.

Her dad chuckled, "Oh don't give that face, you'll do it too one day."

"Is that how you met mom?"

He shook his head, "We met in the academy. She was always the competitive type. She strove to climb the ranks as quickly as she could and held a spirit to match her ambitions. But... only one of us became the police chief." Ren slightly smirked.

"I wanna be a hero too! Just like mom, just like you!" Mirai smiled.

"A police officer?" Ren raised an eyebrow, "It's dangerous work, are you sure?"

Mirai nodded. She didn't realize it at the time, but this very interaction is what will set her on the path towards her dreams of heroics...

But it wasn't going to turn out as she had imagined.

"Mirai's gonna be the police chief when you retire, you can count on me!"