"Family Court is now in session with the honorable Judge Matsumoto presiding. All rise!"
All the spectators in the crowded room rose to their feet, as a door to the right of the courtroom opened and a somber older man in black robes climbed to the raised dais and sat behind the bench.
"Be seated!" As the spectators sat down, the judge turned to the bailiff and asked to have the first case called.
"Taisho vs. Taisho! Our first case involves the divorce proceedings of Sesshomaru Taisho vs. Kagome Taisho! Would the plaintiff and defendant please approach?"
Suddenly, four people stood up and made their way to the front of the courtroom and sat at the opposing tables. On one side, a stunningly beautiful, silver-haired, golden-eyed Japanese male dressed in a dark blue Armani suit sat himself down next to his lawyer, a balding nondescript older man. On the right side of the courtroom sat an equally beautiful, blue-eyed, petite, Japanese female with her lawyer.
The woman's attorney stood up and began her oratory. "Your honor, my client Kagome Tashio is suing for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. She seeks to dissolve the marriage of 3 years and take back the use of her maiden name. She does not seek any alimony or other spousal assets. She has willingly attended all of the court-ordered mediation sessions and often done so alone because her husband could not be bothered to make an effort to attend. This proceeding has dragged on for more than a year and we feel that is unreasonable. The only reason that we are in court today is because the defendant, Sesshomaru Taisho has refused to sign the final divorce papers.
Your honor, it's clear from Mr. Tashio's actions that although he is uninterested in continuing the marriage, he is also unreasonable in the roadblocks that he is creating for this divorce. Thus, we would like to petition the court for a court-mandated dissolution of the marriage, without the need for Mr. Tashio's signature. You will find everything in order and that the year-long separation has also been maintained, thus we feel that we no longer need Mr. Taisho's signature. My client would like to put this difficult episode behind her and move on with her life. Please, your honor, let's help her make that happen. Thank you."
With those words, the female attorney sat down and as she did so, her beautiful client turned a slitted-eyed glare to her male counterpart on the other side of the room, only to find his head lowered and his clawed fingers typing on a small PDA. 'Typical,' she thought. 'He can't even be bothered to pay attention on the day we're being divorced!' 'There's no way to tell if that's even work-related or one of his many outside affairs! It doesn't matter anymore one way or the other. I'm done!'
The judge turned to the male Taisho's table and asked his attorney, "Mr. Myoga, do you have a statement on behalf of your client?" With those words, Sesshomaru lowered the Blackberry and turned towards his wife, hoping to catch her attention. However, she would not look at him.
Mr. Myoga, arose to make his oratory. "Your honor, my client Sesshomaru Taisho is an extremely busy man with the sole responsibility of running his family's large conglomeration of businesses. He travels the world for work and cannot be expected to drop everything merely to attend these sessions."
"Mr. Myoga, said the judge. "Your client has only attended one court ordered mediation session in two years and turned in none of the personal paperwork that was asked for as part of this proceeding. Every time there has been a court date, you have stood in front of this court and told me that Mr. Tashio wanted to maintain his marriage due to his commitment to his wife. However, sir, the court has seen no examples of this 'commitment'. I am unwilling to delay this matter further. Mrs. Kagome Tashio has shown more interest in maintaining this marriage than your client, despite his many avowals to the contrary. Thus, at this time, I am ruling in favor of Mrs. Kagome Tashio. This marriage is hereby considered dissolved. There will be no distribution of marital assets. Each party to the marriage will take out of the marriage, what they brought into it. Mrs. Tashio, you are also approved to take back your maiden name."
With that, he pounded his gavel on the podium and asked the bailiff for the next case.