Chapter 3: Burglary Arc

Burglary Arc is the 3rd chapter of Zaix10.

Plot
A fairly large hokkamuri-wearing man, with a furoshiki tied around his body, opens an unlocked window which he had cracked beforehand. The man jumps onto the window ledge to enter the final house he intends to burglarize for the night. He senses someone behind him and turns to see a cop, Serina Megasawa, standing fiercely atop the perimeter wall. Alerted by Serina's presence, the burglar screams and makes several jumps to reach the closest rooftop. Serina catches up and lands in front of him with ease—intimidating the burglar into screaming once more.

Having anticipated such a scenario, the burglar had prepared several hiding places for himself. He escapes into an alleyway and runs to open an inconspicuous door. To his surprise, Serina was waiting for him behind the door instead. She then chases after the burglar as he yells out in fear. The man drops a smoke bomb to halt her in her tracks and dashes through a fair distance before arriving to a park.

Relieved to have shaken the cop off, the man goes to order a bowl of ramen from a nearby yatai. His order is handed to him by none other than Serina, prompting the stupefied burglar to run away. He gets into a taxi and demands the driver to drive off without a specific destination in mind. The driver, revealed to be Serina, decides to take him to the police station. Being at a loss of words, the burglar shrieks and jumps off the taxi before landing on his sides.

Feeling cornered, the man resorts to seeking help from the police at a koban. The only authority available was a single male cop. The cop shifts the newspaper away from his face and asks if the suspect looks like him. He then rips the mask off his face to unveil his true identity as Serina. Flabbergasted and frustrated, the burglar escapes into a warehouse. Serina threatens to shoot the burglar, but the man asserts that it's a strategic retreat. He illuminates the surrounding with his lighter to reveal their location as a fireworks factory. Serina is unable to fire her gun due to the possibility of igniting the fireworks. The burglar takes the chance to toss his lighter aside and jump out the windows as the explosions are set off.

With the factory destroyed, the burglar is finally free from the woman he acknowledges as a monster. He returns home and sets his furoshiki down onto the floor. The burglar is excited to check his spoils for the day. However, the only thing that can be found inside the furoshiki is Serina instead. At his wit's end, the burglar screams out in agony.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * The Burglar (Debut)
 * Serina Megasawa (Debut)