Report 15: Blossoms Scattered

is the fifteenth chapter of the Hyper Police manga, and is the first chapter of Volume 3.
==Plot==
Natsuki; Batanen and Tomy discuss Sakura's strange mood swings while hunting. Beliving it to be a mating instinct relating to the approaching Spring. The four split up; Natskuki and Sakura go up to the roof, while Tomy and Batanen go inside. The giant arphoropod they've been hunting shows up, but Sakura is too angry about Sakunoshin to realise. Natsuki collapses through the roof and lands on the ground floor, which turns out to be a bath house. The sight of large naked men surrounding her (genuinely concerned about her injuries) terrifies her when she comes to; Batanen warns the men to run, knowing she is about to summon her familiars. Natsuki covers her eyes after the shock, finding their flacid, burnt genitalia just as disturbing. Sakura concentrates on the wall in the hallway, which displays Wanted Posters, including the arphropod they were hunting.  Later, Sakura has Sakunoshin reported; while her description of his face is unhelpful (it was dark and has been distorted by her memory) and they can't find anyone on record with that name, wearing old Samurai clothing has some chance of a positive identification.
Back at Lamp Shinjuku, Ayami offers a still-traumatised Natsuki coffee to calm her down. Tomy is concerned about Sakura, who talked about killing someone as she left the bathhouse. He then brings up a new bounty on his laptop that Sakura put out, identifying a man called Sakunoshin as a rapist. He and Batanen look at the portrait, which barely reminds them of Chikura, the man they saw at the beach the other day. Nastsuki runs out of the cafe, intent on stopping Sakura from killing him and putting herself up for execution; Batanen and Tomy meanwhile work to have the bounty taken down.
Elsewhere in Shinjuku, Sakunoshin Chikura has gotten himself lost over the night, having lost track of Sakura, who he still believes to be his lover Kasumi. A gang of monsters walk up to him, demanding he pay them to walk into their territory. Taking out his sword, they quickly give in and offer him their money in exchange for their safety. Sakunoshin is confused by their money, and questions if he really is in Japan. Moving through a commercial district, he becomes very hungry when seeing food up for sale. Walking into a restaurant, he finds Sakura ordering a large order of noodles, fish and rice. The two trade looks, initially believing they have found who they were looking for and then concluding they were wrong. Sakura becomes increasingly frustrated with Sakunoshin's glances, and quickly finishes her lunch. She then realises that she can't afford to pay for her meal, having spent everything she had on the bounty; Sakunoshin steps in to pay for her as the chef accuses her of theft.
The two leave the restaurant and talk futher. Sakura's Osakan dialect is seen as proof to Sakunoshin that he is indeed in Japan. When asked where he lives, Sakunoshin responds that he comes from Owari; Sakura is confused by this - Owari is a long-defunct province. She figures he means the city of Nagoya (a city in that former province), but is again confused - Nagoya has been flooded for a century. Sakunoshin can't comprehend all the changes that have taken place since he was transported through time; he feels a pain in his heart. Sakura offers to treat him, but he feels he must find Kasumi; she then offers to put her bounty hunter skills to finding her, unaware that she is in a different time.
Nearby, three men notice the two, recognising Sakunoshin on the Wanted poster. Moving up, they demand his surrender; concerned that the men will attack Sakura next, Sakunoshin quickly takes them out with his sword, earning the admiration of Sakura for his skills. She offers him a bounty hunter job right as Natsuki runs in; believing Sakura is about to kill the man, her familiars electrocute the two. Realising that they have been shocked, she runs away, scared that he might die from the shock and she be executed. Sakura rages at the Nekomimi as she considers burying them to hide the evidence.
==Characters==
*Natsuki Sasahara
*Sakura Bokuseiinmonzeninari
*Batanen Fujioka
*Tomy Fujioka
*Arthropod monster
*Bath House men
*Makota Tachibana
*Ayami Tachibana
*Sakunoshin Chikura
==Further notes==
==Sources==
15