Synopsis
Mika Shimotsuki rises from Inspector in Division 01 to Chief Inspector of the entire Criminal Investigation Department, but her early years on the job are shaped by tragedy: two close childhood friends at Oso Academy, Kagami Kawarazaki and Yoshika Okubo, are murdered by their classmate Rikako Oryo, leaving Shimotsuki with a lasting animosity toward criminals of any kind. That resentment makes her rigid and often condescending toward the Enforcers under her command.
Her rivalry with Akane Tsunemori defines much of her early career — Shimotsuki resents what she perceives as favoritism from Bureau Chief Joshu Kasei and struggles to accept Tsunemori's unconventional methods, even as she comes to rely on Yayoi Kunizuka as the one Enforcer she genuinely respects. Overconfident and quick to reject advice in her early days, Shimotsuki gradually softens after spending time with a latent criminal who challenges her worldview, growing into a more measured, even compassionate leader.
By the time she becomes Chief Inspector, Shimotsuki is widely respected by the colleagues who once found her insufferable, including Nobuchika Ginoza, whose teasing about their shared history she has come, however grudgingly, to tolerate.
