View topic - Koshonin (The Negotiator)

A new seige occurs in a room at a factory. The male criminal, appoints Reiko as the negotiator. Kirisawa responds to this request and sends Reiko to the scene while the rest of the SIT remain at the command base.

"How many bullets is the gun loaded with? Seven? Five?" Reiko pretends to inquire but she is telling the team through her wireless device that five out of the seven hostages are men. As she converses with the man, Reiko allows Kirisawa and the rest to refine his criminal profile by identifying his gun as a Tokarev gun and through the use of gun jargon.

A bold Reiko tests the criminal. Despite his show of irritation, Kirisawa listens gleefully to Reiko's exchange with the man. He also gets increasingly absorbed in their thrilling conversation.

Reiko attempts to find out the criminal's purpose as she calmly checks out his movements. However, he senses that their conversation is being picked up by the wireless device. From his calm composure, the team deduces that he isn't a criminal delighting in harassing Reiko. What is his actual motive? ... At that moment, the criminal issues Reiko an outrageous demand. "Undress. Undress! Prove that you aren't carrying a gun!"

It appears that the man is thinking of using Reiko to escape. Kizaki informs Reiko through her wireless earpiece that the snipers have the criminal's head sighted in their crosshairs, and are ready to shoot him dead.

But Reiko says "Don't shoot" as she slowly starts to remove her clothes. The breath of the SIT team members are caught in their throats at the unexpected turn of events. Reiko's earphone and mike is broken by the criminal, and they lose contact with her.

Before long, the police find out that the criminal is a former Self-Defence personnel called Sakuma Yuji. They also learn that he was interrogated as a suspect in a post office robbery case but was released due to a lack of evidence. There is still no trace of the 120 million yen that was stolen in that robbery.

At that moment the sound of a gun shot is heard from that room in the factory. Who fired the gun? Who was shot!? Kirisawa gives the assault team instructions to prepare to storm the room, but he receives a call from Reiko that Sakuma has been safely restrained. "Please don't launch an assault," Reiko continues as Sakuma points a gun at her back, and Kaori, the female who was supposed to be a hostage, points another gun in front. Kaori is Sakuma's accomplice and had pretended to be a hostage. She brings a duralumin case from the corner of the room and opens it. Wads of cash are inside the case. They grant Reiko's request to put her clothes on but, in the meantime, Sakuma empties all the bullets from the small gun Reiko had strapped to her body.

Then, following what Sakuma had told her, Reiko opens the door of the room as she holds a gun at him. She instructs the line of police to keep a distance because the criminal may have hidden explosives, and to prepare a car. However, when they reemerge again, Sakuma is the one holding Reiko at gunpoint. In contrast to everyone else who is shocked, Kirisawa, who had anticipated the current situation from Reiko's appearance, is calm.

Sakuma releases all the hostages besides Kaori. He pushes Kaori and the duralumin case into the car prepared by the police and pointing his gun at Reiko, makes her drive as they make their getaway. Sakuma and Kaori are elated at the success of their plan but the car comes to a sudden stop after travelling some distance. The figures of the SIT members including Kirisawa appear in front of the car! In that instant when Sakuma wavered, Reiko presses her small gun to Kaori's temple. Their eyes meet and at Reiko's words that she had inserted a new bullet, Kaori's expression changes. If Sakuma shoots, she will shoot too. Seeing Reiko's solemn face, Sakuma is unable to move. The police surround the car and arrest Sakuma and Kaori. But no bullet had been loaded in Reiko's gun.

The team returns to the headquarters. Kizaki grabs hold of Reiko. "What would have happened if he shot?" Kizaki asks as he closes in on her. "If it was a bullet from the gun Sakuma held, it would have penetrated and exited my body. If I was immediately transported to the hospital, my life should have been saved," Reiko calmly replies.

The next day, Reiko, who has gone to visit Mariya, is irked by his words and leaves the prison a short while later. On the way back, Reiko recalls the day her father was killed. There's a lone man watching Reiko. He follows Reiko but when he reaches the front of her apartment, he addresses her for the first time. His name is Kudo Mikio. Calling himself a news journalist, he shoves his name card to Reiko and asks about her relationship with Mariya. Reiko strides off briskly.

Right after that, Reiko, who was called out by her friend Rumiko, once again senses someone behind her as she makes her way home. She calls Kudo and tells him, "Please stop tailing me," but Kudo is at a different location. Then who is it? The person watching Reiko standing stock still from the shadows is Amari ...!?