Koishi was gradually beginning to forget what normal sleep felt like.
She?d had maybe a week to bring her schedule back into shape, and now she was being called out again by the professor. Something about ?team-building exercises? - along those lines, at least. Sango passed the message on and didn?t bother going into any real detail. That was enough to slightly concern her.
Given that most of her time now involved school, Siren-scouting and now these training sessions, Koishi was learning to savour the little time she had to cool off. She?d almost physically merged with the couch in the living room, lying square on her back. She was exhausted - this whole magical girl business wasn?t as easy as some of those anime out there made it look. It asked for hours of her time, and more physical exertion than she?d ever given in her life up until now.
Sometimes she?d watch some sparkly show about a girl like her getting powers and fighting off evil, just to perk her mood up. Other times she?d have something on in the background while she lay back, taking the moment to recharge. Every so often she?d close her eyes and open them to realise an hour had passed and she was late for dinner. She was well-rested enough from these naps to function normally, but as a result her spare time was mostly spent being either barely conscious or not conscious at all.
On this day in particular, she was on the verge of dozing off as the news droned on in front of her. She?d stopped appreciating the news quite as much since things had started around here - stories about the economy and politics didn?t mean much compared to a war for the sake of humanity.
?...And now, we have one of our reporters live at the court where Morichika is about to face trial. Hatate, over to you.?
That sentence pulled Koishi out of her daze. She hauled herself off the couch into what could be mistaken for a sitting position, rubbing at her eyes. Her hair was a tangled, jumbled mess, but she?d take care of that later.
The television in front of her showed a woman outside of Gensouto?s district court - in her twenties, perhaps, wearing a plain white shirt with a checkered skirt, and clinging onto her microphone for dear life. Koishi could make out an almost manic glint in the reporter?s eye as she reveled in every moment she spent on public television.
?Thanks, Gendo! I?m coming to you from outside Gensouto?s district court, where famed businessman Rinnosuke Morichika is set to be accused of running the largest crime ring the city?s ever seen. The rumours about him have been bouncing around for years, but it was only recently the prosecutors managed to find something solid against him - testimony from one of the higher-up employees in his underground cartel!?
Koishi?s heart crumpled up in her chest. It had to be Tewi they were talking about. Any remnants of her sleepy state before had vanished now, and she was watching the television with all the attention she could muster. The newscaster, Gendo, was a man in his fifties with a smart-looking blue suit, his humble smile the opposite of Hatate?s youthful smirk.
?Interesting, Hatate. So, this witness, have they been taken in by the police??
?They?re not saying anything official on the matter, but it?s assumed they?ve been placed under witness protection, and they?ll likely get a pardon for their crimes as well. They?ll be moved well out of Gensouto so that they can?t get caught up in any sort of payback.?
The hand gripping Koishi?s chest let go, and she could breathe again. That news was fantastic. Tewi had escaped. She had a chance to start again now, free to live a second life away from this gang nonsense. That was one point off her mind, and her sigh of relief was enough to attract other residents.
?Nya? What?re you watching, Koishi-sama??
Orin came through from the kitchen, a few scraps of dinner still clinging to her face. Utsuho followed in afterwards, taking Orin?s hand as if by instinct. Now that Koishi was aware of youkai they?d given up on hiding themselves, taking human form whenever they felt like it.
?Eh? The news? What?s so thrilling about that??
?N-Not much, I guess. Just that the guy on trial right now tried to kill me a couple of times.?
Koishi didn?t quite have the nerve to say she was relieved because a girl she barely knew was safe. It sounded too sappy, too mushy. A simple desire for revenge probably flowed a lot better, and given the sudden interest in Orin?s eyes it had worked.
?Huh? Why he do that? Did you call him a bad name or something??
Utsuho was still a little behind in the discussion, and Orin gave her a little pat on the head as she pulled her onto the couch alongside Koishi. Suddenly all three of them wanted to see how this trial went.
Sango didn?t come in until a few minutes later, by which point the trial had already begun. Her attempt to ask what was going on was met with three hushes. Koishi passed a quick thought along so the dolphin was up to speed, but the moment she was done with that she was back to focusing intently on the television.
The Gensouto court was very proud of its transparency, and as such high-profile cases were occasionally shown live on television so that the city?s inhabitants could see their judges at work. In addition, of the three or four judges the court had, this was the sort of trial where they would bring out the most famous of them all. Even Koishi, who wasn?t exactly up-to-date with the law, had heard of the woman sitting sternly in the judge?s chair.
?So
that?s Judge Shiki...wonder if she?s really as good as they say they are.?
Eiki Shiki, to give her full name, was the Gensouto court?s pride and glory. To this day she?d never presided over a case and made a ruling which was considered unfair. Her sentencing was just, her conviction absolute, and her desire to find the truth nigh-limitless. Now that she was actually looking at the woman, Koishi had to had to that list of compliments by saying she was also quite beautiful - her well-kept black hair almost matched her judge?s robes, and she stared out into the court with piercing blue eyes. One hand was tightly clenched around a wooden gavel, while the other lay across a set of paperwork.
At the judge?s side stood another woman. She was clearly much younger than Judge Shiki, but she was regardless at least a good head taller. She was dressed snappily in a dark blue suit, but her stance did nothing to make her look remotely professional. She was slumped against the wall lazily, to the point where if the wall were to give way she?d simply fall backwards. Her hair was only in slightly better condition than Koishi?s - done up in a pair of dark brown pigtails, but still with far too many loose ends and stray strands. Her pale red eyes were only half open, and looked set to close completely at any moment. She was never referred to by name, but occasionally she?d pass over a few papers to the judge, so Koishi figured she had to be some sort of assistant. Maybe they?d deliberately picked someone so lazy-looking in order to make Judge Shiki look even more impressive by comparison.
The camera slowly panned across the room, stopping opposite the judge?s chair. This was where the defendant stood, though in this case stood was barely the right word. Rinnosuke Morichika, dressed in a flame-red tuxedo, was stepping to and from like he was trying to make his way out of some unseen box. There was, however, no sign of concern on his face - and given that Judge Shiki was glaring straight at him, that was an impressive feat.
To silence him, the judge slammed her gavel into the desk.
?Order, ladies and gentlemen.
I hereby call this court into session in the case of The People vs. Rinnosuke Morichika.?
-----
?To begin,? Eiki started, without dropping so much as a beat, ?I will ask of you, Morichika-san. You stand trial for a wide range of crimes, as you well know.?
She picked up one of the pieces of paper the attendant had given her. Sure enough, there was a list of charges almost as long as the judge?s arm. Her brows rose in surprise for a moment before returning to their default glare.
?You have been charged with fraud, larceny, tax evasion, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and accessory to several dozen murders and assaults. On each of these charges, how do you plead??
Rinnosuke didn?t answer, still walking around like he was trying to escape. He appeared restless, but not from panic - more from boredom. Eiki was having none of that, and slammed her gavel against the desk again.
?The defendant will stand in place and answer the question! How do you plead??
Only then did Rinnosuke finally stand still. He made a deliberate point of slowing down gradually rather than stopping outright, the closest he was allowed in this court to actual rebellion.
?Yeah, whatever, I didn?t do anything.?
He began to fidget with his tie, not once looking the judge in the eye. He was going out of his way to disrespect her, and she knew it. If it was in her power, she?d have taken that as proof and declared him guilty on the spot.
But she wasn?t going to do that. She was better than him. She had worked alongside the prosecutors for months to get this evidence together, and it was going to finally put this bastard behind bars where he belonged. It was rare for even Eiki to meet someone quite this sociopathic - someone lacking in any sort of morality, someone this blatantly
twisted. She was disgusted by him, but at the same time slightly frightened. She had to clear her throat before she could start.
?A-Ahem. In that case, I will hand over to the prosecution to present their evidence. Raikoji-san, if you would??
The prosecutor stood up at that point, walking out from the bench. Though Eiki would never call her it in the courtroom, when they were off duty she was Sumire. She dressed neatly, in a dark blue suit that just about presented her figure. She was young and eager, looking ready to burst out and slap the defendant across the face with her evidence. From her raised vantage point, Eiki could make out a keepsake the lawyer had hidden beneath the bench - a shako cap, the sort the Japanese army used to use. Sumire had told her over drinks that it had been her grandfather?s, and that she?d wanted to keep up the family tradition of keeping the people of Gensouto safe - if admittedly in a way that didn?t involve actual fighting.
?Your Honour,? Sumire began, with the utmost dignity. ?This man, Rinnosuke Morichika, is perhaps one of the most hardened criminals Gensouto has ever seen. He has plundered millions with his rigged gambling houses, made a fortune from his underground cartels, and personally ordered the murders of at least twenty innocents. I?m not going to put any spin on it - this man is a threat to society.?
She spoke with scorn, looking angrily at Rinnosuke. The man didn?t so much as blink, and instead simply applauded her.
?Well, lady, that?s quite the imagination you?ve got there. If only you had the evidence to back it u-?
?The defendant will remain silent while the prosecution presents its case!?
Eiki hammered her gavel against the desk again, with more force this time. Rinnosuke stepped back overdramatically, putting a hand over his mouth.
?Oh, forgive me, Your Honour.?
This man was deliberately trying to get a reaction out of her. Eiki could feel it in every step he took, but it was her duty to stand resolute and give a fair ruling. Even if she?d seen firsthand the evidence that made Morichika one of the most dangerous men she?d ever met.
She?d kept her dealings with the Prosecutor?s Office secret - after all, her duties were impartial, and she wasn?t expected to come into the case with any sort of bias. But that was the one part of the job she?d never quite kept to - if there were monsters out there, she wanted to have the best chance possible of apprehending them. Morichika was just that sort of man.
Sumire cleared her throat. She started to read from the first of several documents she?d brought with her, reciting it like a dramatic script.
?First and foremost, we have testimony from a reliable witness - a former member of Morichika?s group. She will remain unnamed, but she was his adopted daughter and has testified that she played a part in rigged gambling events at his casino, The Rabbit?s Foot. Her testimony was thorough, accused Morichika directly-?
?Objection.?
Rinnosuke grinned to himself as the defense attorney finally spoke up. Like her defendant, she seemed distinctly uninterested in the case, sitting back with her feet on her own bench. Her long black hair ran down her back effortlessly with a single knot, not a single hair out of place. Her suit was red, like that of her defendant, but she?d undone the buttons to present a white shirt underneath. She muttered her statement out, absent-mindedly looking at her own paperwork.
?Your Honour, the girl in question was orphaned by an abusive relationship. She had been through various traumas before her adoption by Morichika, and thus we cannot rule out that this testimony wasn?t some sort of twisted spite.?
Eiki and Sumire winced at once. It was a cruel suggestion, but just the sort that this defense attorney was known for. She?d never been one for law school, leaving with something barely resembling a degree, but since then she?d built a mighty reputation for being able to cheat the system and find loopholes in every ruling. It was safe to say that Eiki did not meet with her casually over drinks.
?...Objection sustained. Hakurei-san, please take your feet off the bench.?
Reimu Hakurei did so with a muffled ?hmph?, still sitting back. She was bored out of her skull, and that had Eiki confused. She should?ve been concerned - there was all sorts of solid evidence incriminating Morichika, and she had to know that. So why was she so at ease? Both the defendant and his attorney were unconcerned, and that had Eiki genuinely frightened.
Sumire grimaced, shuffling her papers around to bring the next one to the surface. She cleared her throat, straightening her back before going in for another attack.
?Well, even discarding the daughter?s testimony, there?s a variety of evidence that the court has against Morichika. After we acquired a search warrant we inspected his apartment, and found conclusive evidence linking him to the murder of Layla Prismriver three months ago.?
Eiki raised her eyebrows, pretending to be surprised with a well-practiced expression. She knew the case - Layla Prismriver, a famous singer, found dead in her apartment after a supposed fight with her siblings. The trio all had solid alibis, however, and the police had no leads other than a rumour Layla was being financed by an underground group.
The pieces had fit all-too-neatly into place from there. This was it, Eiki thought to herself. There was no way the guy was getting out of this.
?We found a gun in the apartment, with Prismriver?s prints on the barrel. It was supposedly a family hand-me-down - an old Colt revolver - but it still had two filled chambers. Not just that, but Morichika?s prints are all over the handle, as well as the trigger. We can assume this is the gun that killed her, and the bullet wound matches the calibre. Presumably there was a struggle, she tried to pull the gun away, and-?
?Objection.?
The same bored moan rose from the defense attorney, now twirling a stick in one hand. There was a reason she?d never been one of the high-ranking students at law school, but damn if she didn?t know how to twist the facts.
Still, Eiki was shocked by Hakurei?s call for objection. What could she possibly have against that? The prints were taken by the court?s forensic scientist, Goro Ogawa. They were trustworthy, certain, how could she-
?I?m afraid the evidence your forensic scientist gave you is outdated. Your Honour, if you?d like to read this.?
Hakurei finally stood up from the bench, walking over to the judge?s seat and passing a piece of paper to the attendant. She examined it for a moment, letting off a quiet grunt, before handing it over to Eiki.
The judge?s grip nearly ripped the paper in two.
Apologies, but the analysis given previously was flawed. The prints on the gun's barrel were not Layla Prismriver?s, but rather Morichika?s own. ~Goro OgawaThat was his signature, no doubt. Ogawa had signed this of his own volition, and it had negated one of the biggest pieces of evidence the prosecution had. It was too unlikely, too coincidental - why would he even run a second test?
For the tiniest moment, Eiki looked down into Morichika?s eyes.
The sly grin on his face got the whole story across in an instant.
...A bribe.She should have guessed. Of course Morichika wasn?t going to leave himself in trouble like that. He didn?t need Hakurei for the most part - he was going to buy his way out. She had a suspicion that the rest of the prosecution?s evidence was going to be declared ?outdated?, as well.
But she KNEW this man was guilty. She?d seen the evidence first hand. She could see him practically oozing with cruelty from where she sat. Her shoulders tightened, and for a moment she looked ready to leap down and attack the man.
A hand on her shoulder was her cue to stop.
?Easy, boss. Easy.?
The scruffy attendant clamped a hand over her shoulder. It wasn?t a sign of comfort - Eiki knew this because she?d been given this grip several times over their years working together. This was their unspoken code for ?let it go, there?s nothing you can do?.
After almost half a minute of silence, Eiki forced the words out of her mouth as if they were venomous. She had to resist the urge to be physically ill as she looked the killer in the eyes, and he looked back at her like she was nothing. She knew for a fact this man was a menace, but the courts were shackling her to a not-guilty verdict.
?Objection...?
She didn?t want to say it. She point-blank refused to say it.
And yet, in the name of justice, in the name of the court she?d devoted her life to, she had no choice.
?...sustained.?
-----
?Koishi-san, are your human courts always this lousy??
Sango sighed as she watched this farce of a trial unfold. Orin frowned, her arms wrapped around her master in support, while Okuu simply nodded and pretended to understand exactly what was going on.
Koishi felt the floor of her stomach give way. She knew that Morichika was guilty as well, and there was foul play at hand here. But the courts were just getting toyed with, and she could see the frustration on Judge Shiki?s face. Several times the scruffy attendant had placed an arm on her shoulder as if to hold her back - without it Koishi almost expected the judge to play jury and executioner as well.
For half an hour, the four of them watched the trial play out, unable to look away in the same way that a car accident was mesmerising to the human eye. There was no doubt as to what the final verdict would be, and eventually the prosecutor had run out of evidence to present. Everything she put forward was declared ?outdated?, with a newer analysis that conveniently proved Morichika completely innocent. No doubt the analysts had been bought out, but even knowing that there was nothing the judge could do.
?The prosecution...withdraws its case.?
The prosecutor sighed as she returned to her bench, having presented a grand total of zero charges. Normally this wouldn?t be allowed, but given that none of their previous evidence was supposedly ?accurate? it was permitted. Rinnosuke sighed to himself as she did so, looking up to the judge with an expression that screamed ?I told you so?.
?Well, good to see we got this nonsense cleaned up. Now if you'd please stop wasting my time? I have work to do.?
He sounded thoroughly bored, and he made a point of talking down to the judge. If insolence was a crime, there wasn?t a court that?d find him innocent. Sadly, it was a little too late for her to hold him in contempt of court, and the judge tapped her gavel against the desk to end the trial.
?Case dismissed. Morichika-san, you are...free to go.?
The camera cut back to outside the court, where there was already an outroar. It was clear to everyone that something was going on, and there were crowds bustling around outside the building to try and make a complaint. Not that there words would mean anything, though - the court had spoken, and its word was final.
Koishi turned the television off before she saw this charade continue on for a moment longer. She?d seen enough.
?C?mon, Sango-san. Let?s get ready for this team-building thing, or whatever it is I?m getting hauled into.?
Sango nodded solemnly, walking off with Koishi to make some preparations. Both of them needed to distract themselves after what they?d just witnessed. Okuu and Orin were left behind, with the raven still not quite keeping up.
?Unyu...is Koishi-sama going to be okay??
Okuu looked frightened, and was more than happy to have Orin wrap an arm around her. Given they?d spent practically their whole lives together, the pair were close in spite of their different races. Orin hugged the raven close, whispering words of comfort in her ear.
?Don?t worry, Okuu. Koishi-sama?s gonna be fine. Just you watch.?
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Shoutouts to Ruro for being okay with me throwing in a little White Rose cameo.
