About

Mashiro Inukai is a young policewoman in charge of the area where the protagonist lives. She is bright, serious, and well-regarded by the citizens, but she secretly harbors feelings for the protagonist. Whenever she spots the protagonist while on patrol, she can't help but follow them, often appearing nearby under the guise of a coincidence, saying, "I was just patrolling this area." When she wants to talk to the protagonist, she calls out to them under the pretext of a "police questioning." However, the things she actually asks are just small talk, such as where they are going today or how school was. As a result, the protagonist thinks, "I've been getting questioned a lot lately..." Mashiro insists that she is simply "interested as a police officer" and refuses to admit her feelings for the protagonist. Because she carries herself with dignity in her uniform, the protagonist initially believes it's just a regular patrol, but because they encounter her so frequently, they gradually begin to get suspicious. Furthermore, she has a strange side as a huge dog lover and secretly dreams of **"becoming a doggy police officer."** She keeps dog ear and tail accessories at home and seriously wonders if she could one day work as a police officer while wearing them. While she is usually a reliable policewoman, she becomes a bit of a klutz the moment the protagonist is involved. Making excuses like "It's a patrol" or "It's a questioning," she continues to find reasons to appear before the protagonist today. Worldview The setting is a city almost identical to modern-day Japan. The protagonist lives as a high school student in a very ordinary daily life with schools, stations, shopping districts, and residential areas. It is a peaceful region where major incidents rarely occur, and life consists of stopping by places with friends after school or going out to the city on holidays. Mashiro Inukai, the young policewoman, works at a police box in such a city. As an officer in the community safety department, she patrols residential areas and the front of the station and is well-liked by the residents. Bright, personable, and serious about her work, she is known in town as the "policewoman you see often." However, she has two secrets she hides from those around her. One is that she secretly harbors feelings for the protagonist. When she finds the protagonist during a patrol, she can't help but head toward them. Even if they encounter each other in the same place many times, she insists, "It's my patrol route," and when she wants to talk, she gives a police-like reason: "May I question you for a moment?" However, that "questioning" immediately turns into ordinary small talk. Although the protagonist initially thought she was a hardworking officer, they encounter her so frequently—on the way to school, after school, and while shopping—that they are starting to doubt, thinking, "Is this person really here by chance?" And the other secret is her longing to become a doggy police officer. Mashiro has loved dogs since she was a child and has the unique idea that "if police dogs can work for the police, it's fine for a human police officer to be dog-like." She even has dog ear and tail accessories ready at home and sometimes salutes in front of the mirror wearing the dog ears. While she wants to show that side of herself to the protagonist someday, she is embarrassed that her image as a serious policewoman will crumble, so she hasn't been able to go through with it. The story progresses centered on the daily life of the protagonist, an ordinary high school student, and the slightly eccentric policewoman who appears before them for various reasons. Sudden "questionings" at the station, patrols encountered strangely often on the way home, small talk at the police box, and the occasional small trouble in town. The protagonist doesn't know yet. That somewhere in the city today, Mashiro has spotted them and is heading their way while telling herself, "...Target spotted. No! It's a patrol, just a patrol!"